Visiting the Downtown Aquarium – The giant grouper was cool!

The girl at the ticket counter mentioned that there was going to be a wedding at the nurse shark tank. Wait, did she say “at the tank?” No, it was IN the tank. A turtle accompanies the best man.

To have and to hold… and to maintain buoyancy.

Mr. Giant Grouper decides to crash the wedding.

Creepy jellies

For food, an excellent Italian restaurant, Locanda del Borgo (delicious gnocchi, veal scalloppine) and a tummy-filling Korean place, Seoul BBQ.

K took me to the Denver Navy Day Ball! It was a grand formal affair celebrating the 234th birthday of the U.S. Navy. It was held at the Wings over the Rockies Museum, an old WW2 hangar that was, for that evening, decorated with white linen-clothed tables, candles, and wine glasses amidst restored historic aircraft. The theme was the 1940’s, “Dungarees and Dixie Cups.” The men and women in the different armed forces looked sharp in their dress uniforms (the Marines have it best, I think). Their female guests sashayed in curvy gowns with bright red lips and flowers in their tightly curled hair. Scarily, a handful of husbands made the unfortunate decision to come in zoot suits (oh no!). Not K, he was in a tux. Since this was a surprise for me, we had to spend the afternoon finding something for me to wear, ultimately finding a perfectly fitting, gorgeous gold cowl neck dress from Ralph Lauren. It was so beautiful.

The event started with an hour-long ceremony filled with fascinating military traditions. We stood for the Parade the Colors, Navy Hymn and Taps, raised our glasses in response to the commanders’ toasts, and honored a Pearl Harbor survivor. There was even a small table set for one at the front to remind the guests of comrades in service who are missing in action or prisoners of war. At some point, the oldest and youngest soldier cut the cake with a sword. The program ended with two bells, customarily signaling the end of the day on a ship.

Then it was dinner and dancing… to a live 7-piece swing band! Yessss! The whole evening was sublime!

I went seriously OCD in the preparations, but I figured this crowd would understand. Like fragrant white lilies in the freshly-painted bathroom. Bottled drinks chilling in a bright pink bucket of ice. Potluck contributions re-plated on proper serving dishes. Attention-grabbing colorful paper napkin cones. My mother the natural hostess would be proud.

The local GenYM group only became active a few months ago. We first got together for dinner one Saturday night in March and five of us ended up hanging out at one guy’s house till 2 in the morning playing board games. In April, we spent the day in downtown Detroit. This is but the third time we gathered in one place again and already everyone’s comfortable with each other. It’s okay to be weird or geeky or horribly inept at certain things. The candor with which everyone reveals their personalities is refreshing. Last Saturday gave me a much-needed recharge!

Having only had 4 hours of sleep, the following morning I trooped with ZingIT to Cedar Point! Whee! It was a fun fun time. My favorites were the Top Thrill Dragster, Power Tower and SkyHawk. We’re going to make it an annual event.  Somewhat alarming 2 seconds of the day: I almost passed out on the Millenium Force. Clearly, I am not astronaut material.

Followed by a brisk canoe ride on the river Huron

Taste of Ann Arbor food festival on Main Street

K and I perfected our lasagna recipe! I can bring delicious leftovers for lunch the rest of the week.

Chedd’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese
That’s right–they serve only grilled cheese. Pick from over 30 kinds of Wisconsin cheese, a dozen types of bread, extra meats or vegetables and condiments, and they’ll grill it for you! Yummy! Why don’t we have something like this in Michigan?

The BCT = bacon + smoked cheddar + tomato + baby spinach on cracked wheat

Denver Art Museum
They had a whole floor dedicated to American Western art — something I’ve never learned about before.

Favorites:
Charles Marion Russell’s tiny (adorable!) detailed watercolor illustrations in his letters to friends
Frederic Remington’s famous Bronco Buster, the bronze statue that’s been reproduced over and over using different techniques
Albert Bierstadt’s large landscape of Estes Park, Colorado

Outside the museum, the 35-foot Big Sweep keeps the city clean.

Buckhorn Exchange, est. 1893

How about a rattlesnake appetizer? Fried alligator tail? Rocky Mountain Oysters perhaps? For dinner, try some buffalo or elk.

It was disconcerting to see the hundreds of animals on the walls!

Leadville or Bust, an 1880’s style Burlesque Show

Burlesque is a humorous theatrical entertainment involving parody and sometimes grotesque exaggeration.

By the 1880s, the genre had created some rules for defining itself:
* Minimal costuming, often focusing on the female form.
* Sexually suggestive dialogue, dance, plotlines and staging.
* Quick-witted humor laced with puns, but lacking complexity.
* Short routines or sketches with minimal plot cohesion across a show.

- Wikipedia

Another great Denver spot:
Piatti Locali, Cherry Creek – Fresh Italian food with a local focus

Why, that’s General George Armstrong Custer! Also known as Steve Alexander, recognized by the U.S. Congress and the Michigan and Ohio senates as the foremost living re-enactor of Custer himself. He even lives with his wife in Custer’s old house in Monroe, Michigan! I attended a presentation where he related his life (that is, Custer’s) and how the press helped accelerate his career. He was an engaging storyteller and remained in character the entire time.

It’s a nifty coincidence that this talk occurred the day before we held a similar presentation in our Second Life sim. Our event was called “How the West was Worded,” featuring talks by Wild Bill Hickok and Doc Holliday (played by our usual members using new avatars) and a presentation by our in-world librarian and editor about how the concept of truth changed during the evolution of newspapers in the 19th century. It was well-attended with over 40 people, almost hitting the maximum number of players on a server. Success! It’s so awesome that we have all these smart folks in our online community that are passionate about these things and want to share their knowledge with others. Can’t wait for the next one!

T-Rex Puppet:

Jellyfish:

Nicole’s pink alien:

Robots from the Liberty Robot Supply Store:

And the best one there:

The little robot kid stood like a robot the whole time! So cute!

What a hectic past three weeks! Suddenly I found myself thrust into all these social events and networks — meeting new people, attending dinners, organizing field trips, building online communities. It’s been one activity after another and with different groups.

It’s been a 6 days since my last outing and I am still recuperating.

Though it was fun! Seeing how I participated in them (read: I have a habit of volunteering for everything), I’m in it for the long haul.

Hmm, maybe I should throw a debut party to officially launch this new social life. Ha!

Yep. Saturday morning, K and I drove up to this public shooting, err, area up in the mountains near Boulder. It started snowing when we got to the top. That didn’t help things. I managed to fire four rounds using a Colt .45 with a bird’s head grip, scaring myself with my own yelps all the while. Then I decided that was enough experience I needed on that front.

It was amusing to follow that particular activity with genteel afternoon tea at the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. We shared a pot of Lapsang Souchong, a smokey tea that tastes like campfire. The flavor grows on you. I think I prefer a lighter brew because when the aroma is really strong, I start thinking about grilled fish. Childhood kitchen association. We tried it again in the IT office and it’s much smoother, subtler and drinkable. The server did say, it’s a love/hate kind of tea.

Afterwards, we watched The Watchmen. Whooo! I am happy with the rendition, though I admit my biggest expectation entering the theater was “please don’t ruin it!” Given the medium, I thought Zack Snyder did a pretty good job delivering the main storyline in a deliberate, clear, and still entertaining manner without resorting to (too many) superhero movie moments. The one big disappointing feature for me though was how they portrayed Ozy, my favorite character from the graphic novel. For the most part they tried to stay true to his character, but in the ending scenes, there was scorn in his expression as he explained his motives. To me, the success wasn’t about being the grandmaster, but about finding the Perfect Solution, a dream shared by nerds everywhere. I missed the part in the novel when he discovers the results of his plan and rejoices in it. Anyway, there was much debate after the movie, and if prompted I can keep going.

Ah but that movie was just the beginning of the NerdFest! One of K’s friends had invited him to join a D&D game that night. Dungeons & Dragons? Wait a minute, that’s on my GTD101 list! We showed up at his friend’s house as they were halfway into the session. They were six guys and one woman (the wife) around a table in – I could hardly contain my glee – the basement. I was content to just watch, but they let me play an NPC for one of the episodes. My name was Thytus Innocen, a human helmsman on a flying ship. I lost 32 pieces of silver during a card game. Whee! The whole event was just fascinating. There was so much detail — maps, miniature characters, various sizes of dice, character sheets. Behind the Dungeon Master (DM) was an entire bookshelf of reference material. The game ended at 1 in the morning. (Or was it 2 am? Daylight savings kicked in at some point.)

The next day, we went to the park to hang out and read, but we stumbled upon a battle! The local SCA group was holding swordfight practice in preparation for the Crown Tournament. We were welcomed by a lady and her lord consort and two other lord friends. As the men donned their armor and thrust their makeshift swords and spears, our hostess was sewing a tunic using black wool and gold trimming. Could this weekend be any nerdier?

It was actually pretty neat meeting all the new people and seeing the world the way they do. Overall, a fun weekend for learning and experiencing different things!

GTD101 Update:
53. Watch a D&D game
87. Eat out in a restaurant I haven’t tried before.