I had the craziest week. It started with a whollotta bad luck. I went out to NY because my ex was shutting down our old house and I needed to move the stuff I had stored there. I spent several days in various airports - apparently some pilots were having an unofficial strike and many planes were grounded leaving us standby's on terminal hold. On Monday I was told that I'd probably not get on a plane that week. I then rented a car and drove from Chicago to Denver and then in my own car over the mountains to Glenwood Springs. I finally made it back to work Wednesday and had lost two days on the construction of the Abundance Tree so we had to hustle - at work I had tons to clean up and then I'd catch buses over to Mark's (did I mention that my car died the morning after returning from Denver?) Sigh. We finally got the tree done and installed in place on Friday night - a day or so later than I'd planned but not bad considering the circumstances. I wasn't particularly happy with the finished product - I love the concept but with this iteration we were making a prototype for what I'd like to travel with - a woven design made with discarded branches. But we decided to leave some leaves on some of the top branches and I think that made it look messy.

But then it was as if my karma train switched tracks - We got some awesome press on the tree - including front page Sunday morning in the Post Independent and Aspen Times. I won a ticket to see the Dalai Lama speak at the Aspen Institute. I started to see the way clear for some ideas that I've been working on - how I could weave them together to make a living - how I could use my newly uncovered organizational abilities to further my creative career. I ended up being paid a little more than expected for the tree which essentially means that I have enough after paying for the parts to buy everyone who worked on it a few drinks but still - it's nice to turn a profit - no matter how small. And it's a prototype that I think will open up a lot of good in the future.

I'm so glad I moved back up here. I love the opportunities - it's always been such a good place for me. I just couldn't get Denver - I hated the commute which was five times shorter than the one I have now - but so much less beautiful. I hated the party scene - I love a good party, but the scene is so useless. It's such a waste of good energy. When I was up here before we created - we were always creating projects and making them happen. In Denver, it was hard to gather three people for anything that didn't involve tits and ass or pharmaceuticals. And I just couldn't find the good in that. The backbiting and gossip was outrageous and again - none of that here - or at least in such small amounts that it's more than manageable. Everything here is easier too - it seems from the outside that it's more expensive - gas is more, food and lodging - but there are these hidden costs to living in Denver - and they rack up a bill that you don't realize you're paying. Somehow we have money here - we have a nice place to live, and we have opportunities. We couldn't figure out how to do that in Denver. So people say that when you run to somewhere new, you're still there - it's a valid point, but not always true. Sometimes, it really is where you live and whether it matches the kind of person you are. I don't know if this place matches me completely, but I know that I meet more interesting and exciting people here, that I have opportunities here, and that I always seem able to get amazing jobs here. I also create more, get fabulous press, and feel free from the pressure to conform - things that didn't seem to exist in Denver.