Fishnette

So we decreed a handmade Christmas (Occupy Crafts?). This involved a lot of knitting for me, which the orthopedist says is not good for the tennis elbow. 

My big accomplishment was a pair of felted slippers in Hawkeye colors for my brother.

Before:

And after:

Nephew Charlie, Jim & i also made wine-cork trivets. i helped Charlie make button bracelets for folks, with instruction from Kristen Brown. Nephew Andrew did some knitting and made some sweet blankets out of fleece fabric. The nieces made Charlie & Andrew duct-tape wallets. Jenny, Marland & Marshall gave the boys boxes of homemade treats.

All in all, a pretty successful season. Except for the slight pain in my elbow. And i need to finish Dad’s second Cyclone slipper. Go Cyclones!

Almost three years ago, i attended Ignite Boulder 2. One of the things i loved was that it was in an auditorium where i’d given a final exam a few days before, and now people were drinking beer and laughing in the room.

At that time, watching the great 5-minute sparks, i thought to myself, “Geez. i should do this sometime.” But what would i talk about? And how would i fare standing up before the crowd of 850 people that Ignite Boulder has become?

This fall, someone actually asked me to speak at TedX Boulder - but i was attending a conference that weekend. But the invitation sparked my Ignite spark - why DIDN’T i just volunteer a talk and see what happens? So i did.

My talk, “White Guys Rule the World, That’s Why it’s so F$%*ed Up,” was based on writing i’d done for PoliticsDaily in the past, including my last article for the site before it closed. The gist: We need more women running for political office in 2012. It’s a message i strongly believe.

Although i was pretty nervous, i had a great time delivering my presentation and watching the other great sparks. Even managed to wear a dress for several hours, however uncomfortable, to keep with the theme of the Holiday Ball. (The organizers of this event, including my former student @pug, totally rock, btw!)

For me, this was a great learning experience - about creating a short deck, about timing a talk (the slides auto-advance very 15 seconds) and about managing fear. 

Plus, it was tons of fun!