Last night, after deliberation and forethought, we made the spontaneous decision to go to Saranac Thursday, an event held every week during the summer at the local brewery. Proceeds from this weekly event go to the United Way.
I love to people watch at Saranac Thursday, because folks range from NeimanMarcus to People Of Wal*Mart and all points in between. Last night we met up with some of my former co-workers and their partners, as well a couple of people that we have met via mutual friends and/or the Internet. All in all, a good time.
While we were visiting, the conversation made its way through a myriad of topics, as conversations fueled by alcohol often do, and the subject of TED talks came up. Earl was unfamiliar with TED Talks but I had discovered them a couple of years ago when I came across the first explanation in a talk that actually kind of changed my life in a way, The Power of Introverts. Since discovering these talks, I have installed the TED Talk app on my iPhone and when I’m feeling out of sorts I’ll dial one up in search of some sort of inspiration. A favorite of mine is Steve Jobs’ Stanford University commencement speech, “How To Live Before You Die”. In fact, I enjoyed Steve’s speech again this morning. My day has been quite productive and enjoyable because of it.
I was delighted to hear that our friend Ann does a similar thing with the TED app; she dials up the “Inspire Me!” category when she’s feeling the need to feel inspired. I find this interesting in a way, because she’s has a really good vibe about her but I guess all of us can use some inspiration to keep our vibe adjusted accordingly.
Helping each other out, it’s rather awesome.
This led to the conversation about an upcoming TEDx Event here in Utica, as two of the other folks that were part of our little social circle last night as coordinating the event. John (and his better half Christine) and I all worked together at my previous employer. (Christine, John’s better half, impresses the hell out of me with what she has done with On Location Vacations or OLV.) Ryan, the organizer of the local event, and I met on Twitter a few years ago and then met IRL (In Real Life) at John’s photo gallery showing earlier this spring. Ann (the aforementioned inspired by TED person) knows everyone that was in the little circle we had formed last night.
It’s a small world after all.
Last night we had the opportunity to meet Ryan’s girlfriend, Sara and she was telling us about her experience trying out someone’s Google Glass. She found them to be amazing. That was just another confirmation for me that they are freakin’ awesome and are going to be on the “must have” list. Quite inspiring as well and that’s two IRL hits I’ve had with Google Glass. w00t!
Earl gave me the “think of the budget” look when he saw my smirk.
If I had to describe last night I would have to use two words: inspiring (surprise!) and dynamic. I don’t think it was the beer making me feel this way, I think it was just a groovy night and I needed the reminder that good things do happen close to home.
I hope to have the chance to be in the audience at TEDx Utica (but if not, I’m certain I’ll still enjoy the videos) and in the meanwhile, I’m going to continue to enjoy this feeling of inspiration.
It’s making me smile. And smiling is good.
