The other day, I woke up right on time. I had been dreaming. In the dream, I was searching through the things that I had left behind. They were all at PEHP. It didn’t look like PEHP and it didn’t have any of the people I remember, but I thought it was PEHP. I found important things of mine along with the stupid things. Clothes that went to the DI long ago mixed in with important photographs. I was frantically searching. Sceverenia was there and someone who adored me was in charge. I was trying to gather the important things that I had lost. To make matters worse, there was a forest fire outside the building. They were evacuating people, but I stayed, looking for my artifacts.

I woke up feeling like I had lost everything. I still feel the panic worrying about all those things. I had found a pair of old pajamas. They smelled like my mom. I knew my mom was alive, but they smelled like something I would never get back: my home in West Valley, and my life before I gave up on Corporate America.

When I was a teenager, I didn’t want anything to do with business. I planned on being a teacher so I could write. When teaching didn’t work out, I went scurrying back to the business world. I had never wanted a part in it, but I wanted their luxuries like health insurance. I am finally living that life that I wanted to live. I am a writer. I write every day. I get paid for my writing. Yet, I lost something in Corporate America. I don’t know what it is, but it’s important.

I had this dream when I was in San Antonio. Saint Anthony was the patron saint of children and lost items. Before I fell asleep the night before that dream, I asked San Antonio to help me find what I have lost. Ever since we moved to Sugarhouse, I have been having dreams that I have lost something very important. It’s something different in every dream. I asked San Antonio to help me find out what I have lost to put those dreams to rest.

Then I had that disturbing dream. I was looking for some pictures of a long ago crush and old friends. I had made a collage of photos that was actually quite beautiful. I couldn’t find them, but I KNEW they were there because I had see them there before. I kept finding important things among the silly and inconsequential. I never did find the photos or collage.

I don’t believe that I am missing a group of photographs. In my dream, I had lost something at PEHP. When I worked there, I still believed that I could make it in the corporate world. I felt like it was beneath me, but I thought I could live there and achieve greatness in my spare time. By the time I quit, I was planning on becoming a full-time writer. I learned very quickly that I wasn’t ready to be a full time writer yet.

Somehow I feel like I’m not ready for anything. The websites are doing well, but I feel like it’s all just part of a bubble. At any time, I could lose it all and have to run to a “real” job to make ends meet. When I worked at PEHP, I truly felt like I was destined to take the world by storm. Now, I feel like I just want to do my best to make the world a little better. I lost all that surety that I would be alright. I want that cockiness back.

Is it really good for me? That feeling of security that we should be something great? I expected fame, but I don’t know if that’s something I should be clinging to right now. I’m not really in need of fame. It seems like it’s not as important as achieving something. Of course, no one will know I’ve achieved anything if I don’t have some modicum of fame. Am I content with future generations appreciating my work unbeknownst to me? Will any of my work survive history? Will any of it be worth reading in the future? A lot of what I write won’t survive. It’s too fluffy. What I think about Mario Kart isn’t going to mean anything when people read it in 100 years. If I could read Andy Warhol’s opinions on the Andy Griffith Show, would I care? Probably not…

Maybe it’s not that at all. Maybe it all has to do with the photos and collage. Maybe I’m just missing my old friends…

When Mike and I went to Austin, we could hear the bats in the bridge making mouse noises contentedly, but we couldn’t hear the ultrasonic noises they made to fly. This homemade device can make those noises audible to you.

• Make Podcast – Weekend Projects: Batometer at I Make Things

Mike and I need to make this before we go to Austin next time so that we can enjoy both facets of the bats.

Matt Reinbold‘s CodeAway is tomorrow! It’s at the Sprague Library.

September 2006 CodeAway

Saturday, September 23, 2006 1-5pm

Sprague Library – 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT – Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

You can RSVP via Upcoming.org:

• Upcoming.org: CodeAway at Sprague Library (Saturday, September 23, 2006)

Bring your laptop, your friends and your bragging shirt and come show us your best!

Mixed in with the “Purity” and “Class of 2005” bracelets, I saw an “LDS” bracelet. I pulled out my camera to take a picture and the cashier asked me,

“What are we taking pictures of?”

I felt guilty, but I answered,

“That bracelet says LDS.”

“Are you not from here?”

“No, I’m from here, but I bet the rest of the world doesn’t see that every day.”

“No, I guess they don’t.”

I suddenly felt very self conscious, as if I was caught revealing the inner workings of Utah to the world. In a way, I guess I am…

Faith Envy: yeah, I’ve felt that. It’s why I have a little Buddha and St. Jude on my desk.

• Learning The Lessons of Nixon » Faith Envy

I keep hoping some of that peace and calm will rub off on me. If only I could believe in that imaginary friend in the sky, maybe I would be able to relax and be safe in the knowledge that everything happens for a reason.

Instead, I collect religious artifacts, hoping they will transfer some of that devotion.

The latest?

I found this milagro cross in San Antonio. It was exactly what I was looking for…

It took a lot of looking to find one that didn’t have a gun on it. I don’t know why people would need blessings for their guns, but I prefer this one. There are cats and stomachs and hearts and people and unborn fetuses. If only I could buy faith, life would be so much easier…

Weird Al Yankovic has released another single off his new album, White and Nerdy. It’s a parody of Ridin’ by Chamillionaire. You can see the video for it here:

• “Weird Al” – White & Nerdy

I love this song! It’s my new Geek theme song (the old Geek theme song was “It’s All About The Pentiums“)

Also notice the cameos in the video. There’s Seth Green, Donny Osmond and Judy Tenuta. I love all the inside jokes like the fired-up Pacman in the background and the Live Long and Prosper signs he throws with his hands.

You can see all the lyrics here:

(Continue Reading…)

This was really cool. You can turn your t-shirt into cute undies or a swim suit (for guys).

• Your T-shirt, Reinvented as a Swimsuit « The Spreadshirt Blog

I am enjoying reading Spreadshirt’s weblog. I had no idea they had one. Thanks, Matt.

Today marks the three year anniversary for Pick Me! Three years ago, I walked into Mike’s office and said, “I want a blog.” He suggested that I turn to companies that specialize in blogging like, say, Blogger, but I insisted that I wanted my OWN blog on our own server, so he set me up with some homebrew software that he had been using on figby.com for years and I was off and running.

Within a year, we were converting the homebrew software to WordPress. Not only did my weblog get a change, but figby.com was also converted. We’ve been working with them ever since. I love the plugins that make my life easier and I’m grateful to Mike for keeping things running smoothly in the background so that all I need to do is let the words flow out of my fingers.

This weblog (and the others I write for) wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my minister, Sean Parker Dennison. He did a sermon in late August called, “What I did over the summer.” What he did was read weblogs. I had never heard of a weblog before then. Suddenly, the world opened up to me.

When I started Pick Me!, I thought it would be a portal to the publishing world. It is, but not in the way that I thought. I thought that I would be able to use my blog to get freelance work with magazines like Seventeen or Self. Instead, I have an audience that reaches further than both of those magazines put together. Every time I get another comment on “When Your Best Friend Ditches You For Her Boyfriend”, I realize that I am reaching more people with my own blog than I ever aspired to by hoping for freelance work.

Most importantly, thank you for reading my weblog every day. I look at the stats and I see you reading. You come by every day to see what I’m serving up and I appreciate it. I see you using RSS aggregators to read my site and I appreciate that too. No matter how you’re getting my words, I’m glad you’re reading them every day. I imagine you out there, just like me when I read other people’s blogs. I know you laugh with me and worry about me. I can feel you on the other end of the line and all I can say is “Thank You” in return.

Thank you…

I can’t believe it has been five years since that day. I almost forgot about it, actually.

I was on a newsfast five years ago. I wasn’t watching the news or listening to NPR or anything. I had stayed away from the news for a few months. When I turned on the radio to listen to music, they were talking in guarded voices. The usually jovial DJs were serious. They didn’t want to spread rumors, but they had just heard that there had been a plane crash in New York. The plane had accidentally hit one of the World Trade Center buildings.

It didn’t take long for us to learn that it wasn’t an accident.

Even on my newsfast, I heard about 9-11 before the second plane hit. All those people who worry about not being informed if they don’t watch the news can rest easily. People always LOVE to talk about bad news.

I had been heading to a Coldwell Banker conference and meeting at the Little America hotel. All of us stood around the hotel lobby talking about the news. The hotel had set up a couple of televisions in unused conference rooms. Coldwell Banker made the mistake of going ahead with their silly little conference. The speaker made a reference to the event and how if we allow the terrorists to get in the way of our business, then they’ve won. I don’t remember one other word he said.

I snuck out of the conference. I was self-employed. They didn’t pay me to be there, but I still felt like I had to sneak out of the conference. I went to the unused conference room where there was a television. It was full of hotel employees and real estate agents. By then, both buildings had been hit. We watched the smoke coming from the buildings and listened while Orrin Hatch made accusations about Osma Bin Laden. I wasn’t so sure.

I assumed that these were home-grown terrorists.

My first instinct was to blame that neo-Nazi group in Idaho. Even now, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case and the whole Al Queda thing was just something the Bush administration made up so they could invade the Middle East.

It has been five years and I have gone from an intense sense of patriotism and outrage to an intense sense of self-loathing and outrage. We let the terrorists get in the way of our business, and no matter how many innocent Middle Eastern countries we bomb, the terrorists have won.

Because we have sunk to their level.

This is a video from Braniff Airlines about flying in the future. Here we are in the future and I’m am STILL waiting for my shiny spacesuit.

The scariest thing about this video is this phrase:

“You don’t have to carry a passport because a friendly computer already knows more about you than you do.”

Not only is this NOT true here in the real future because of the increased flight restrictions, it IS true because our computers know far more about us than we would like them to know.

Via: Boing Boing: Future of air travel, as of 1975

Back in 2004, I wrote an entry about butterflies and how I had never had one land on me.

• Pick Me! » The Happiness Butterfly

I talked about Hawthorne’s quotation:

“Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne

I had decided it was baloney and challenged my readers to post in the comments if they had ever had a butterfly “alight” on them.

“If you have ever once had a butterfly alight on you, I want you to leave a message. In all of my days of staying still and waiting for them, I have never once had a bloody butterfly land on me. Ladybugs? Yes. Flys? Hell, yes! Butterflies? Not once.”

Every summer since, I have received new comments from people talking about the butterflies that have landed on them. Just today, Leslie commented:

“Last Thursday I had a monarch butterfly land on my hand of its own accord while I was getting ready to leave work. The butterfly first flew past me and then turned around and landed on my hand. It was relatively windy that day, and the butterfly had to hold on tightly (which is did). It stayed on my hand for 20 minutes or more! I even put a picture of it up on flickr and called it My Numinous Experience.“

“It was awesome! One of my first thoughts was that it was my Dad’s spirit coming to visit, and that filled me with happiness! Yes, I too will remember this magical time forever!!”

Here is the picture she is talking about:

Since I wrote that piece, I HAVE had many butterflies alight upon me. It’s not because of some mystical occurence, however. Mike and I went to the butterfly exhibit at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park last spring. With that many butterflies in such an enclosed space, it’s no wonder I had a couple land on me.

Mike even got a picture:

It’s funny how entries that I wrote so long ago have almost found a life of their own. Rereading it was like reading it for the first time. I was so unhappy back then that I didn’t believe that butterflies ever landed on people. With so many lovely comments from people all over the world, my faith in the beauty of the world has been restored.

I was waiting for them to bring me my food. It was a little windy outside and I was feeling breezy, happy and cool. I only had the camera running for a few seconds before they brought me my food and I was able to eat.

Projected from a car onto buildings and trees, this “graffiti” shows a tiger running the same speed as the car it is projected from. The animation is based on a sensor in the car wheels that monitors the speed of the car.

• wildlife

More graffiti should be like this. It is beautiful. It accents the city it inhabits and it is non-defacing.

Via: Wooster Collective: Karolina’s Wild Animals

The September Utah Geek Dinner has been announced. You can see the official announcement here:

• DevUtah » Blog Archive » September 2006 Geek Dinner

Here are the details:

Date and Time: September 20, 2006 6:30pm
Location: Los Hermanos Restaurant – 395 North State Lindon, UT 84042 Phone: 801.785.1715 Google Map
Dinner Format: Networking – Our tables will be groups where we allow each person to talk for a couple of minutes. The groups will be mixed up a couple of times so that you eventually get to meet everyone.
RSVP: Add your name to the wiki or add yourself to the Upcoming.org page.
Join: To hear about these events in the future, join the mailing list.

Phil is looking for restaurants with private dining rooms that will hold a reservation and allow us to be by ourselves in it. If you know of any, please comment here or on his site.

I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact that I will never be able to get a picture or a video of Maggie sitting on my chest. She comes to me when she wants to, not when I have the camera ready. It’s usually at night when the light is impossibly low. She is so close to my face that I can’t get a good shot. It’s impossible for me to get a good picture or video of her when she is sitting on my chest, purring.

I’ll just have to remember it.

This is the most awesome flash mob I’ve ever seen. Over 200 people descended upon a Home Depot. For five minutes, they shopped normally. After that they shopped in slow motion for five minutes. They returned to normal speed for five more minutes before standing completely still for the last five minutes.

This is such a different form of art that only lasts for the twenty minutes in a random store and is only performed for the customers and employees of Home Depot. Have a watch:

There are more videos available here:

• Improv Everywhere Mission: Slo-Mo Home Depot

Via: Sunspots: The blood sport edition – Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

The hard night is not the problem for me. I work so hard that by the time my head hits the pillow, I am asleep. No, I am not one of those that is haunted at night by thoughts of terrorism, memories of Katrina and worries about health insurance.

My hauntings visit me during the day.

It happens at the most inconvenient times. Maybe a friend will casually mention that she had to take her kids to the doctor. She doesn’t mention anything about how she was going to pay for it, so it’s obvious she has health insurance. She doesn’t even need to think about it. She just takes the kids to the doctor, pays the overpriced co-pay and maybe even complains about it. She doesn’t live in my world, where health insurance is a luxury and the COBRA plan that I have is soon running out. We’re scared to see the doctor for anything for fear that they’ll reject us for new coverage. It’s probably a hopeless case anyway…

“Are you listening?”

“Oh, babe! I’m sorry. My mind kind of wandered out there. What were you saying?”

She goes on talking and I push the haunting aside. When the world is crashing in, what gets me through the long hard day?

Work.

I can’t do anything more for the people who were devastated by Katrina. I can’t stop a group of people who really want to do the country harm. I can’t even control whether I will have health insurance after April, but I can do one thing: I can work. I can do my best to make the world a little better in my own way.

I can add a few more quotations to our collection, so that the important thoughts of our generation will be saved for posterity.

I can pass on a few exercise and diet tips so that others will live longer and stronger.

I can review a couple of gadgets and tell you whether they are worth your money or if you’re better to save your bucks.

I can put some words together about how I survive my day.

That’s all I can do and I’ll keep doing it until I can’t do it anymore. After that, I have no idea how I’ll survive the long hard nights or days.

Via: ministrare » UU Blog Carnival #3

Mike and I were walking home from Noodles in Sugarhouse. We had both enjoyed a nice walk and a nice dinner when we passed the Salt Lake City Weekly box. It screamed, “Goodbye, Sugarhouse.”

• Salt Lake City Weekly – Goodbye, Sugar House

After enjoying a nice meal at the complex that “some still think the end result a disaster,” I was a little angry. The article states that the new complex was the product of compromise and disappointment. It also states that it’s not walking friendly, which is what the residents of Sugarhouse want.

He’s right. The reason I love to live in Sugarhouse is because I can walk to so many places, but The Commons at Sugarhouse is NOT a disaster or a disappointment. What used to be there before? Spoons and Spice and several failed dance halls. Now, we have many stores and even more restaurants.

I know they’re scared that we’re going to lose Sugarhouse Coffee, Orion’s Music, The Blue Boutique and maybe even the oxygen bar. I don’t want to lose any of them either, but honestly, it’s not our decision to make. The guy who owns the land gets to make that decision. If he’s smart, he’ll keep the rent at a level where he can keep customers coming. If he’s not, he’ll learn soon enough.

Calm down, City Weekly. It’s not quite time to say goodbye to Sugarhouse. I actually resent the idea that we are so fragile a community. A new strip mall isn’t powerful enough to kill us.

Mike’s book (Teach Yourself Javascript in 24 Hours) has been out on the market for a while. We saw a copy of it in the stores last month, but the other day, it was on an endcap at Barnes and Noble with all the other Teach Yourself Books from Sams.

There is something very reassuring about seeing his book in such a prominent place in the store with the rest of the series. Sams is really working to get his book in front of people. Mike worked really hard on this re-write and so much had changed in the world of Javascript since the last edition that it was almost a full re-write.

For almost a year, Mike was working on this book, so it is really nice to see it in print and on the end of an aisle like this. I remember feeling this good when Mike released his first book with Sybex. One Dot Bomb later and Sybex is gone, but Sams is still here and so are we. It’s like this book is an announcement, “We survived! We’re back!”

On Thursday, I got my Valley Schwag delivery. It’s the fourth one they’ve sent out, but the first one I’ve received. I’m totally stoked about it and I can’t wait to wear my new t-shirts! Check it out!

Mike seemed a little jealous, so I’m wondering if I should sign him up as well. I asked him and he said no, but his eyes said yes…

The August Geek Dinner was less of a networking opportunity this week because Phil had Pete Ashdown come speak with us about Net Neutrality. Pete is running for the U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch and is particularly well versed in Internet issues because he is the founder of X-Mission, Utah’s oldest ISP. Here is an edited video clip explaining his position on Net Neutrality.

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music – Variation on Egmont

Pete is running his campaign on a very different platform than other candidates. His website has a collaboration wiki and he is writing a blog (or campaign journal). Any Utah Geek that doesn’t vote for Pete has forgotten how important it is to have a senator in Washington who actually understands what the Internet is.

You can see the complete and unedited video (47 Minutes) here on Google Video:

Thanks, Phil, for bringing Pete to the Geek Dinner. It was a great meeting and I’m looking forward to September’s Geek Dinner.

To find out more about the Utah Geek Dinners: DevUtah

Sometimes things show up in my “To Be Published” list and I don’t remember where they came from. This is one of those. I think someone sent me a link to this, but YouTube was down that day, so I put it in my “To Be Published” list.

It was a good choice. Koopa, the turtle, paints paintings and Kira, the human, posts them on eBay. Twenty percent of the proceeds go to turtle and tortoise rescue programs.

• TurtleKiss.com

Every time I see a turtle at a pet store, they just sit, unmoving, in the aquarium. I always thought of turtles as boring pets, but Koopa makes it obvious that with a little love and training, a turtle can be just as interesting and affectionate at any other pet. My entire view of turtles has changed.

I hate going to the gynecologist. My doctor is a wonderful person and I actually feel guilty that I HATE to go see her. It’s not her, it’s the procedure.

Something happens to my mouth when I’m lying on the table. I end up talking and talking far too much about things that aren’t really important because I’m so uncomfortable. This time, I almost forgot to ask her the one thing that I wanted to ask about:

“Oh, before I forget, I had a question to ask.”

“Okay…”

“When you read Cosmo and those other magazines, they make you think that everyone has a Brazilian wax, but…”

“They don’t.”

“Yeah, you would know.” By then I was sitting up. “So, what would you say is the percentage?”

She looked above my head as if she was reading the answer off the wall behind me. Her nose crinkled and she responded, “I’d say about ten percent. Of course, that includes all the variations.”

“Yeah, why should I know about variations? It’s like they’re creating different haircuts or something.”

She laughed, “It just the media. They’re just trying to do something new.”

I nod and she asked me if I’m still taking generic on my birth control prescription. “You’re going to bleed a little this time.” She handed me a pantyliner, but I came prepared with a pad.

“Yeah, I know. I do every time…”

When is birth control going to go over the counter so that I don’t have to do this every year?

Weird Al Yankovic is releasing his new album, Straight Outta Lynwood, and the first song is available for free on his website:

• Weird Al- Don’t Download This Song

Don’t Download This Song is a funny take on the music pirating issue. Since Weird Al makes his money from selling CDs, I would think that he might be happy with what the RIAA is doing to “protect” his rights, but the sarcasm in the song tells another story.

Full Lyrics, with links to the issues after the break:

(Continue Reading…)

Just a reminder that the August Geek Dinner is tonight. Here are the sordid details:

Tonight at 6:30 pm at the Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon (Google Map).

See more here: DevUtah » Blog Archive » August 2006 Geek Dinner

I loved attending last month’s Geek Dinner, so I’ll definitely be there tonight. Mike has been feeling sick, so he may or may not come. We’ll have to see. If you have been reading my blog and want to meet me in person, show up to the Geek Dinner and introduce yourself. I’ll be wearing my “Fractions Speak Louder Than Nerds” t-shirt from Threadless.

Matt Reinbold has set the date, time and location of next month’s CodeAway. So that we don’t have to meet in a super-secret location, we are having the CodeAway at The Sprague Library in Salt Lake City:

September 2006 CodeAway

Saturday, September 23, 2006 1-5pm

Sprague Library – 2131 S 1100 E, Salt Lake City, UT – Google Map

Downstairs Conference Room

Free wi-fi courtesy of X-Mission

You can RSVP via Upcoming.org:

• Upcoming.org: CodeAway at Sprague Library (Saturday, September 23, 2006)

Last month’s CodeAway was so much fun that I’m looking forward to going to this one!

Sixteen years ago, I looked out the window of my mother’s home in West Valley. I peeked at you in your tuxedo. You were painfully thin back then because you spent your days lifting engines off the truck. The tuxedo fit you beautifully, but I could see your hands shaking from all the way up in my mother’s bedroom.

I thought those shaking hands were some sort of disease that would end badly, but a few years later we learned that it was merely a familial tremor and nothing to worry about. I also thought that I was marrying a strict Mormon boy and my life would be filled with church activities and Relief Society. Wrong on two accounts, we live a happy, atheist life here in the land of Zion.

I’m so grateful to you. We have someone crashing on our couch this weekend, so our anniversary will have to wait until we are alone to celebrate it. That doesn’t mean I forgot you, though.

I love you, dear heart, more than that day sixteen years ago when I stole a glance of you from my mother’s window.

This month’s CodeAway was awesome! I wish I had gotten more video of our conversations. Dave Turnbull showed us his Google Map Mashup for the Pete Ashdown for Senate website. He added my house onto the map of Pete supporters.

Matt Reinbold talked about his two awesome weblogs, mutednoise and BloomBurst. We brainstormed ways to enhance the interactivity and to drive more traffic to them. His coverage of the remix culture on muted noise is excellent. If you like cool videos, go there and see what he has gleaned for you.

I was working on new ideas for The Quotations Page and they suggested some great ones like a MySpace widget that allows MySpace users to post The Quotes of the Day on their page. Halfway through the evening, we realized that Mike’s entry on The Gadgets Page (10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever) was only four diggs away from getting on the front page of Digg.com, so we went online and gave it our three digs and Gary Thornock gave us the final fourth to get us on the front page. Thanks, guys!

Next month, we might be meeting in a more public space that doesn’t need to be super secret and undisclosed. If you were wishing for BarCampUtah, you should come to next month’s CodeAway. It’s like a mini BarCamp!

Update 08-21-06: Matt has posted his recap of the August CodeAway here: BloomBurst – August CodeAway Recap

The date has been set for next month’s CodeAway: Pick Me! » September 2006 CodeAway

I was waiting for my family at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. I had done all the shopping I cared to, so I was sitting by the fountain while they looked in the Sony store again. I was happy just to rest there. Sometimes the best time for vacation is the time when we have nothing to do.

I could see the water moving slowly in the fountain. It had been turned off and I could see each coin in the water. The sun was coming in through the skylight and reflecting off the water into my eyes. Because the fountain had been turned off, the water had strange currents.

I am continually surprised by Las Vegas. Tacky souveniers are right next to famous designers. You can buy a Fendi and a refrigerator magnet within steps of each other. All the while, the most interesting thing is the defunct fountain and a little bit of sunlight.

I can see myself in the rear view mirror when I sit in the back of Stacey and Dan’s Hummer. I can’t take a picture of what I see, though. The camera gets in the way…

Last November, I wrote about the closing of The Salt Lake Costume Company. The building still sits vacant. Taggers have sullied its windows with graffiti and the sign still says that there is a clearance on costumes.

• Pick Me! » The Death of the Salt Lake Costume Company

Last week, I received the following email:

Hi Laura:

I was very touched to see that someone besides me mourns the death of the costume company.

My grandfather, Clifford Allen, owned it from sometime in the 30s or 40s until his death in 1987 at the age of 81. My grandmother passed away two years after him, and my dad, his two brothers, and two sisters didn’t know what to do with it, so they sold it.

I drove by it yesterday (Aug. 6, 06) and was very nostalgic it’s still there, but sad about it’s condition and demise.

The costume company burnt down in the Winter of ’63, approximately, but I was way too young to remember it. My dad and uncles spent almost a year rebuilding it from scratch.

I hope it doesn’t seem too weird to be so sentimental about a building, but that was such an integral part of my life, for so many years.

I played there as a child, worked for my grandfather (who would usually pay my brother and I a dime, or a quarter, for the entire day, which was generous considering we had usually played hide ‘n seek amongst the costumes all day!).

I worked there even when I was a college student, even though I never made more than minimum wage. It was so much fun working there, though, I didn’t want a job that paid more!

Sincerely,
G. Allen
Kearns, UT

I emailed him a response and asked if it was alright if I shared his story with the rest of the world and this is the reply he gave:

Laura:

Yes, please go ahead! I would be flattered.

[My grandfather’s] last living sibling, Thelma, died only a few months ago. Every one of his numerous siblings lived past 95, several past 100. He was diagnosed with cancer several months after shocking his entire extended family by announcing that he was becoming World weary, and wouldn’t at all mind if God called him home soon.

My oldest Brother told me several years ago that the cancer he died from is extremely rare, except for people who work in the dry cleaning industry, for whom it is relatively common. I still remember lighting the boiler in the morning, which was right next to the dry cleaning equipment, and smelling the pungent smell of perchlorethyelne, which usually made me dizzy.

My parents and/or my brother might have some pictures from the costume company’s earlier days, if you’d like to post any more.

Sincerely,
G. Allen

I told him I would be happy to post whatever he submitted. I loved the Salt Lake Costume Company. I don’t know how anyone who passes its vacant walls can’t grieve a little.

Last year, I sweated and agonized over whether I was going to get a press pass for CES. This year, I’ve already received my verification, months earlier than last year. Part of me is jumping for joy that it was so easy. The other part is worried that something MUST be horribly wrong and they didn’t really approve me. That side of me is sure that something will go wrong at the last minute.

I guess I won’t believe that I got the Press Pass until I receive it in the mail.

My badge holder and pass from last year’s CES is hanging on my desk at eye level. I hardly ever look at it anymore, but I used to look at it a lot. It made me feel like I was a “real” writer.

Now I feel like a real writer all the time.

I didn’t even realize I had changed my vision of myself until just now.

Just one quick local note. If you live in Utah, you need to vote for Pete Ashdown. He’s running against Orrin Hatch, who has been in office for 36 years. That’s a long time. If you’re even on the fence about this, remember that Orrin Hatch is a space alien. Weekly World News broke the story back in the late Eighties. I can’t believe the guy is still in office after that PR fiasco. Once the Weekly World News is against a candidate, they usually don’t have a chance. It’s only further proof that Orrin Hatch is a space alien.

On a more serious note, we need a senator in office that understands this big Internets thing. Senators that think the Internet is a series of tubes that can get clogged are charming, but they shouldn’t be able to create law. I can’t vote against Senator Stevens in Alaska, but I CAN vote for a candidate that truly understands the Internet.

Pete Ashdown was the founder of Utah’s first local ISP, X-Mission. Not only did X-Mission survive the Dot Bomb, it has flourished here. Pete donates Internet access to the Salt Lake County libraries through X-Mission. For that alone, he gets my vote.

If you are living in Utah, please vote for Pete Ashdown. It doesn’t matter that he’s running against Orrin Hatch. Maybe you’ve voted for Orrin before. That’s okay. I’m sure he was grateful for that vote and thanked you personally. This time, give your vote to someone new who actually understands how the new world works.

It’s not true. I’ve also heard rumors. Growing up in Salt Lake City helps, too. It used to be that whenever I told someone I was from SLC, they would ask if I was Mormon. I don’t get that as much now. I don’t know if they just assume I’m LDS or they no longer have any questions about the religion, but I’ve answered a lot fewer about the predominant religion over the last couple of years.

The most asked questions used to be:

• Do you have more than one mom? Well, when my Dad divorced my mom, he remarried a lady, but I don’t really consider her my mom. Oh? You mean the polygamy thing. No, I’m not from a polygamist compound. I’m also not LDS. In fact, MOST people in Utah aren’t polygamists. The few who are keep to themselves.

• What’s with the funny underwear? They’re called garments. You have to go through all these rituals in the temple to earn the right to wear them.

• What do they do in the temple? I don’t know firsthand. I’ve heard stories from ex-Mormons about washing rituals and such. All of it sounds pretty boring, actually. Most people imagine ritual sacrifices or deviant sexual rites. I can safely tell you that they are NOT practicing either one of those. Sorry, real life is so boring compared to what our imaginations can dream up.

Now, the most asked question is:

• Do you ski? Nope. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never bothered to learn how to ski. I’m clumsy enough without purposely falling down hills with boards tied to my feet.

There is plenty of information about the LDS church and Mormons online. Wikipedia is actually very accurate. Here are some interesting entries that you might like to read:

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Mormon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Anti-Mormonism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Temple garment – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The More Good Foundation also has a directory of LDS websites that you can peruse:

• Directory of LDS Websites

Ironically, living in Utah gives you a wealth of both good and bad information about the LDS church and its members. Growing up non-Mormon in Mormon Town was difficult for me, but I’ve come to terms with it. I actually like Salt Lake City despite the strong religious influence. I’m just not that good at fielding questions about it.

I was looking over some of my old entries and I realized something different about them. I don’t swear anymore. Sure, I swear when I speak, but in my entries, I don’t swear anymore.

I don’t know when this habit started.

In fact, I find that I don’t swear as much when I speak either. I usually swear for comedic effect, but that punch is ineffective online. You can’t hear people laugh uncomfortably online. Sometimes an uncomfortable laugh is better than a blank stare. Online, everything is a blank stare, no matter how much you swear.

I find it an interesting trend in my writing. I always thought writers were censored until they were washed clean of swearing, but the more I write, the more I realize that swearing is just lazy communication. Shock is easier to ellict than empathy and I used to settle for shock in everything I did, but it’s not enough anymore.

Carolyn Duncan had such an interesting story at the Geek Dinner that I had to do a video just for her.

If you are interested in the Utah Geek Dinners, you can find out more information at DevUtah.

Carolyn’s “real” weblog can be found here: The Carolynn Blog

The weblog she talks about in the video is here: Why Provo Labs Is Hiring Carolynn Duncan

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music – Variation on Egmont

I procrastinated working on the Geek Dinner video because I thought that the audio wouldn’t work. I was imagining going through all 60 minutes of audio and thinking, “Man, he said a great thing. I wish my camera could have caught it.” Instead, I had so much good footage that I had a hard time picking and choosing the best. In fact, the interview with Carolyn was so awesome that I am editing that for its own video tomorrow.

It took a lot of ruthless cutting to get this video down to just under six minutes. It’s a long download, but these Utah Geeks (and one nerd) have so much to say about the community here and Utah technology in general. I asked them why the Geek Dinners are so cool and what they thought about the Utah Tech industry.

The best answer: Watch Out!

Music Credit: Atmospheric Royalty Free Music – Variation on Egmont

You can also embed this video on your own webpage:

• YouTube – Utah Geek Dinner: July

• Google Video – Utah Geek Dinner: July

A special thank you to Phil Burns from DevUtah for setting up the monthly Geek Dinners!

Those featured in the video (in order of appearance):

James Carroll
Matthew Reinbold – mutednoise and BloomBurst
Tom Gregory – alt-tag.com
Susie Gregory
Gary Thornock – Gary Thornock’s Weblog
Niki Thornock – Audio Conversions
Robert Merrill – Utah Tech Jobs and SOS Technical
Richard K. Miller – Richard K Miller dot coooooooooom and More Good Foundation
Jordan Gunderson – Jordy Blog
Chris Sandberg – Business and Technology and Answer Wiki

Update 08-08-06 8:05 am: Robert Merrill posted pictures from the Geek Dinner on his weblog: July Geek Dinner Report– Utah Tech Jobs

Update 08-08-06 12:18 pm: The August Geek Dinner will be August 22 at the Los Hermanos Restaurant in Lindon (Google Map) at 6:30 pm. See more here: DevUtah » Blog Archive » August 2006 Geek Dinner

If you don’t know who Robert Scoble is, you’re not going to understand how Internet Famous he is and why going to this lunch was like breaking bread with a rock star. M. David Petersen made a podcast of the lunch and recorded all the amazing things that Robert Scoble had to say.

• GeekCast – Robert Scoble and Local Salt Lake City Geeks Not-So-Anonymous – O’Reilly XML Blog

I have about fifty minutes of video from the lunch. While it’s tempting to just post it all here, I’ve edited it down to just under two minutes of the coolest things that were said.

This is one of those rare times where I filmed the event, but didn’t live it through the LCD screen. I was able to just hold the camera and still enjoy the moment. Some day, the camera will become so much a part of me that I won’t even realize when I’m filming.

David took pictures and he snapped this photo of Mike and me. He happened to capture me looking incredibly bored and sad. I’m not bored. I swear it! Do I always look this sad? It’s not the way I was feeling, I can tell you! I was totally stoked to be there!

I carefully chose my shirt that morning. I wore JETRIS from Threadless. I thought a pixelated Jesus was a completely appropriate shirt for Robert Scoble’s visit to Salt Lake City, Utah.

A special thank you to all who came to the lunch:

Robert Scoble – PodTech
Patrick Scoble – I didn’t hear. Who are you working for?
Gilbert Lee and Tad Giles – The LDS Church Website (These guys have 10 hours of content to translate into almost 100 languages every six months. They totally ROCK!)
Ryan Hawley
Jared L Smith
Tim Stay – Know More Media
Michael Hoover
M. David Petersen – Thanks for recording the entire thing!
Me and Michael Moncur – Starling Studios

P.S. There are three two people who came to the lunch and didn’t get on this list because I didn’t have a card. If you are one of them, contact me and I’ll put you on the list.

Rumors from my minions (thanks, Bob!) tells me that Blue Man Group is going on tour again! I’m happy because they are coming to Salt Lake City the day before Halloween! They’re giving me Halloween presents! Yeah!

• Blue Man Group – How To Be A Megastar 2.0 Tour

If you have never seen The Blue Man Group, you need to see this concert. If you HAVE seen The Blue Man Group, you need to see this concert, because I’m sure they have something totally new and unique planned for us!

Plus, they have a new album available exclusively at iTunes:

I’m going to see them at the Venetian next time we go to Las Vegas, so I’ll see if they are selling the album there or if it’s REALLY is an iTunes exclusive. I’ll keep you updated.

Mike took me to Tres Hombres because I had a headache. You would think that the sunshine streaming in from the skylight and the loud music would have aggravated my headache. Instead, I was happy to just sit and watch the leaves of the healthy tropical plants sway in the cool breeze from the swamp coolers.