2 Chainz!!!

   Pretty sure the Surgeon General would recommend against the amount of twerking I saw tonight!  #2chainz

I'm different 私は違う

3 Chainz?!?!

   And if only I had known about all this earlier, I would have gotten into sports a long time ago!  http://deadspin.com/the-sports-careers-of-rappers-ranked-1496662701?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Everyone knows it's windy

   It is super duper crazy windy outside. And the wind is driving them crazy. So they're paying it forward by driving me crazy.

   Sing it with me:🎵 Who's sitting down right by my bedside, snapping her jaws & whining at me? Who wants outside though she JUST came inside? Everyone knows it's Aki! 🎵

   An intensely-alert dog can be surprisingly irritating. Cute, but definitely irritating. ;)  She's hearing the wind howl and is doing a little howling of her own.

   I peeked out back and my barbecue grill cover is missing… not sure if it was the wind, or Taylor. Chow Hound strikes again?!!!

Massive Shiba cuteness!

Creative Community

   I'm on a Southwest flight, LA bound, and flipping through the in-flight magazine, found two quotes from entrepreneurs that begin to sum up why this week's layoffs hit me to the core:   

   "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn

   "Surround yourself with people who are doing interesting things, who are thinking interesting thoughts, who challenge you to be better, and who come from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences. That, combined with appropriate moments of 'me' time, provides the perfect breeding ground for great ideas." - Alexis Ohanian

   These speak to me because I've had the pleasure and privilege of being surrounded by an incredible variety of types and talent in my sixteen-and-a-half years in Kansas City, and most notably those with whom I work. And because great opportunities have existed for me to move between departments, I've spent quality time with a great number of creative geniuses, and been impacted by all. Rohn said we are the average of the five closest people; I'd argue (perhaps because I'm an extrovert?) that we are the average of ALL whom we meaningfully encounter.

   When I think about my Kansas City tenure, I've been blessed to be a part of many different circles: artists, music lovers, pet rescuers, and an array of athletics and hobbies (scuba, hiking, kayaking, yoga, running, snowboarding, rock climbing, etc.). Everyone in those circles are amazing and important influencers on me, but my artist friends stand out...

   One of my greatest joys is getting to know others well. The caliber of creatives at Hallmark is, quite frankly, what my Alaskan buddy, Greg, would call "an embarrassment of riches." My fellow artists, writers, and directors amaze me every day with their work and their thinking. But beyond that, they amaze me with their unique brilliance and talents outside of their 9 to 5.

   Among them there are elite athletes, animal crusaders, people who care for others on a level I'd have previously thought unattainable; artists who write, writers who draw, and many that seem to do absolutely everything well; they lead ethnic festivals, make handcrafted musical instruments, make films, make the cutest babies imaginable, travel, cook, speak many languages, and are infinite wells of wit and wisdom. I've never encountered one who was reticent to share their gifts--in fact, they all relish it, and we ALL benefit.

   Because of this community, my job hardly feels like work. Okay, there are deadlines. There's plenty of stress. But what a joy to be in this company. I started at Hallmark when I was twenty-two, and might have moved on long ago if not for my friends who are family. I believe this is why we all stay.

   Our Hallmark family became 250 people smaller this week. I've spent the last nine and a half years in leadership; I get it. Results aren't good enough to sustain the expenses of such a large staff, and I don't fault those who had to make heart wrenching decisions (there's no torture like laying off a great, loyal employee--NO ONE wants to do it--and my heart goes out to the leaders who did).

   I can't imagine how difficult it was to hear that you were being dismissed. I really can't. But as someone who is staying, I can tell you that we are grieving the loss of these people from our almost-daily lives: unexpectedly running into them on the stairs; an impromptu lunch; a brainstorm; a project; a tutorial. Sharing our stories or just a hug or a smile; reminiscing about past assignments; and especially hatching new ideas together.

   The thing about working in a creative capacity is that what you bring to your job is who you are. You can't extricate your identity as a creative from the work you create; if you did, it wouldn't have heart. This is what makes us good at what we do. And it will always be tough to lose a member of this community of sharing and caring, regardless of the reason.

   I have complete faith and confidence that everyone will chart a new course and succeed. I mourn the loss of how we might continue to influence one another at work. It may be selfish... But I so love, value, and appreciate the gifts I've been given by my coworkers. I surely wouldn't be the person I am today if not for them.

   Case in point, Mark Cook is a longtime cartoonist and animator for Hallmark, & retired last week. He busted out this incredible painting. My friends and coworkers never cease to amaze me with the depth & variety of their talents! I'd bet he has never explored this side of himself at work, in his 20+ year career. How exciting for him to do so now—can't wait to see what he does next!

   Endings are also new beginnings...

Color Run Posts!

   Better one month late than never, right? Here's a description of the race with photos. Here is a peek at the colorful after-party. And here are a few videos I took during the race. Thank goodness for the iPhone & especially the Otter Box Defender!

HSGKC Mug Shot

   Check out the Art Unleashed mug that I just created. Shutterfly generously sent me a code for a free mug (I only had to pay shipping), so I decided to create one that commemorates this year's event, which I plan to donate to the art auction. Here's hoping it will bring in some good money for the animals!
   Click & drag the image below to see all sides of the mug... this preview is almost as cool as the real thing! And did you know that if you post about your Shutterfly project and email a link to shareproject@shutterfly.com, they will give you a $10 credit for a future order? Talk about paying it forward. Thanks, Shutterfly!

Mug

View the entire collection of cards.

Glow Runners...

Finally posted photos from the Glow Run... And here too!

Glow Run

My Glow Posse. Don't mess with these ladies, or it's Glow Time!

Amy, Lexie, Britten, me, and Madeline (Nicole took the photo)

FYI: 5,600 runners + spectators = too many for River Market:

Party on, Glow People!

And we're off!

Halfway through the race, a black light tent, so you could really appreciate all the crazy costumes!

The big finish:

The after-party DJ and dancers:

And our group photo: Britten, Lexie, Amy, Madeline, me, and Nicole:

   Although the pictures make is obvious how FUN the event was, this was also the worst-organized race in which I've ever participated. No one could tell where to line up for the starting line, which side of the gate you needed to be on, and when the race actually started. The DJ was playing to the stage crowd, but made no announcements. Even worse, there were several legitimate safety concerns:

   They needed a lane for runners vs. walkers/strollers. The streets are narrow, and runners spent a lot of extra energy dodging slower entrants—and it didn't seem smart to be doing so in the dark. When it's 90 degrees, water should be free & plentiful. We paid $2/bottle before the race, then waited 20 min in the crowd after crossing the finish line to get a bottle of water. (No recycling bins to be seen, either.) People were vomiting as they finished the race, and couldn't get out of the dense crowd due to the shoe-tag-removers (should reclaiming the timing chips take priority over water?). It was also frustrating to finish, only to find out that the food was gone. I hope the KC Running Company takes all of this feedback into account for the runners in Omaha & Wichita, and hopefully for KC again in 2013.
   I finished 96th in my age group, 1333 overall, with a time of 30:52. Not good, but I have to be happy with that since I haven't been training... other than the races themselves that I've run, in the last two months! Too hot.

   Photos are from my iPhone, as well as from KC Running Company's Flickr page, the Glow Run 5k Facebook page, and Action Sports Images. Thanks, guys!!! EVEN MORE PHOTOS HERE: page 2!

Color Run Videos

Here we are coming in to the pink color station:

Call me Coloriffic:

   Here's another video of the crowd celebrating that Youtube won't let me embed, because a Taio Cruz song was being played by the DJ when I filmed it. Nice going, Youtube.

Color Run After-Color-Party

Here is what color runners look as they begin the race:

 Here is what most color runners look like after the Color Run:

And here's me: HARDLY ANY COLOR!!!

   I cannot figure out how I finished this run so clean! (Relatively speaking.) I had volunteers hit me directly with the powder all over. I slowed down. I went right up to them and spun around to get all sides coated. I even put my face in it! Most of the powder seemed to blow off while I ran... and it's certainly NOT because I was fast! I haven't run since Dog-n-Jog on June 10, and that was only a mile. Guess I need to sweat more to get the colors to stick. (How would that be possible, given that it was over 90 degrees for this race?!) It's a mystery.

with Deb's son and his best friend

At least I managed to get a lil' in my hair:

Nothing like my Meetup friends, though:

   There were more opportunities to get coated with color, in the mosh pit in front of the DJ booth. Every few minutes, the DJ instructed everyone coming in from the finish line to throw their color packets into the air.

Coloriffic ride, after picking up the dogs from home

   This "fake" tat lasted 2 weeks—I was beginning to worry that it wasn't fake!!! And the green spots on my scalp lasted several days as well, despite several showers. It may not be corporate-appropriate manager attire, but it was hidden by my hair. So I was none too worse for wear.

   Photos & video are from my iPhone (well-protected by the Otter Box... that thing has paid for itself!), as well as the KC Star's Mingle page, the Color Run Facebook page, Zazoosh, my Meetup friends, and my friend Deb Huffine.

The Color Run

   This morning was The Color Run, another in the line of popular "adventure races", and the first of its kind in Kansas City. I was up bright and early (5:15 am... shudder) to head out to the sports complex where the Chiefs and the Royals play—with 15,000 of my closest friends—to join the fun. The event was so popular that they expanded it to Saturday AND Sunday, and had 30,000 registrants. They said this is the highest registration anywhere in the country for the Color Run so far. Yay, KC! Hopefully they will make a ton of money to benefit the Ronald McDonald house! This is also one of the biggest runs in KC that I'm aware of (Trolley Run has been hovering around 12,000; the October KC Marathon may be the only race which eclipses it?). 

   The process is pretty simple: show up in a plain, white shirt. Line up in 1,000-person waves, which launch every 5 minutes, beginning at 7:30 am. Here we are lining up in a huge chute... in our nice, clean, white (but not for long!) t-shirts:

   Clouds of color marked the race in four "color stations", where volunteers douse you with giant squeeze bottles full of intensely-colored paint powder: yellow, orange, blue and pink! (This is pink, but it's so dense and hazy that you almost can't tell!)

The runners gathered to cheer on the others as they came in to the finish line:

Here's a montage of the color dust all over the road:

   So why is this run so happy?  Maybe it's the charity. Maybe it's the color. Or maybe because this event isn't timed? As we ran, we each carried along our personal color packet, given to each registrant (mine was super-intense-purple—but I never threw it. I saw a little boy without any and gave mine to him. He was thrilled!). At the finish line, everyone danced to the DJ and when he told us to throw our colors up in the air, we created a technicolor cloud over the mosh pit.
   It was awesome living it up with all the other Color People, including the sumo wrestler (how he didn't incinerate while running in that suit, I will never know!)

Oops, I used the same photo twice. No more wine while blogging!

   This race was all ages, all skill levels. Many people ran with their kids in strollers. (I swear, next year, I'm taking Taylor!) A few people decided to get extra color for the ride home by rolling on the ground. Color craziness, I tell you! It was a total blast & I would for sure do this run again!!!