Blurb from the story I'm writing...

Ok so work was incredibly slow today as 3/4 of the office wasn't in, so I worked on some of the Teen Fiction story I'm writing called "The Mysterious Ophelia Majestic." I've pasted it below. Let me know what you think! I need all kinds of constructive feedback! Thanks!

[An excerpt from the chapter entitled "An Odd Situation"]

A gentle breeze tickled Ophelia’s face like a feather. Gazing up at the sky, she saw that the thick fog and clouds had dissipated. All was eerily clear. The two biggest stars at the end of the line were burning incredibly brightly, and the ones in between were exploding in colors like fireworks. She thought she could even hear a faint popping sound coming from them, as if the stars were all at war. As she watched them, she felt a magnetic pull deep within drawing her towards the woods into which the figure had scurried. Her heart told her to follow him, but her mind told her it was dangerous. Deep down she got the sensation that whatever had darted off into the forest was deadly. But Ophelia also felt deadly, and maybe whoever or whatever it was could help her.    

The partygoers below paid no attention to the rainbow explosions going on above them. On a walkway branching off from the gazebo towards the middle of the lake, some students were lining up to board what looked like gondolas. Ophelia was surprised she hadn’t noticed the long boats in the first place. They were strewn across the lake with what looked like a shadowy figure standing in each one, waiting with their single oars to pick up the students to take them on a moonlit row.  The people waiting in the boats were most likely Jolievue and Venteforte teacher chaperones. Of course there would be chaperones. The teachers wouldn’t want any Venteforte boys and Jolievue girls sneaking off together into the shadow of the forest. Because of the dim lighting, Ophelia couldn’t recognize any of her teachers. They all seemed identical and sexless in the darkness.

An ominous sensation paralyzed Ophelia, fixing her to the roof for the time being. Perhaps it was all of the contrasts around her that created this sense of foreboding within the girl. The sky and the gazebo were bursting with colors and sounds while the lake and the boats were completely still and lifeless. The air was thick with the scent of spring, and as Ophelia breathed in the scent of orchids and pine, she felt even more weightless than she had been while running through the air. The floral aroma made her feel intoxicated and breathless. It was more like a poison than a perfume. She stretched her arms out wide and clutched the roof that she was sprawled across to keep herself from spinning and rolling off. A feeling of nausea overwhelmed her.  Something was not right.

 After a while, Ophelia breathed normally again. She heard a clock strike eleven o’clock. At some point, a band beneath her under the cover of the gazebo had started playing French classics. The sound of “Un Jour en France” drifted up to her on the breeze, and the Jolievue and Venteforte students danced out onto the walkway before boarding the paddle boats.  Those still underneath the cover were stomping their feet to the rhythm; many singing along. The whole spectacle reminded Ophelia of an Edgar Allen Poe story Madame Fountaine had read to her on a cold, winter night when she was a little girl. The tale revolved around a vain and self-righteous prince who holds an extravagant and jovial party. As the noblemen and noblewoman at the party merrily dance and drink the night away, all the while the Black Death rages in conjunction with a storm outside the palace, destroying all life. Eventually Death transcends the mighty fortress and claims the lives of everyone at the prince’s party, emphasizing that mere mortals cannot evade death forever.

Shaken back into reality, Ophelia realized that the shrouded figures in the boats waiting for the students to file out, whose identities Ophelia couldn’t distinguish, resembled what Ophelia had imagined Death to look like in that story.

The Venteforte boys and Jolievue girls spilling out onto the walkway were chatting and laughing loudly. If anything was amiss, they seemed oblivious to it. The candles floating on the lake and surrounding the gazebo gave everything and everyone an eerie glow.

Ophelia was struck by the grisly appearance and ferocious demeanor of a large, burly, and hairy man helping the Jolievue girls into the boats. He was standing completely upright and still, and had the same appearance of a massive grizzly bear standing on its hind legs. He reminded Ophelia of a more stoic version of the beast she had witnessed Clement turn into earlier. She squinted at the crowd of faces beneath her, trying to spot him. But all of the Venteforte boys seemed identical in the moonlight, as did all of the Jolievue girls. They looked like normal teenage boys and girls. The giggles and shrieks of delight from the Jolievue girls made her wish that Sophie had accompanied her. They all seemed so enraptured by the magic of the night, and so keen to get onto the gondolas. Ophelia had no idea why. After all, they were just boats going out onto the water.

The Venteforte Bear standing on the edge of the walkway moved in sudden, jerky movements as he helped each girl into the boats. Ophelia was surprised to see that there were two Ventefort boys to every one Jolievue girl on each paddleboat, along with one of the chaperones.  

Suddenly, Ophelia felt a surge of adrenaline within her that not only made her feel weightless, but invincible as well. Her mind told her to stay put and keep an eye on the Jolievue girls and protect them if need be. But she felt restless as well. In the end, passion took over. She stood up just as a sneeze tickled her nose and leapt off the gazebo and into the night.

Magical Weekend in the Mountain Town of Breckenridge

Work was exceedingly slow last Friday, and I was feeling really spontaneous, and so I basically decided at about 2 PM that I was going to make the drive to Breckenridge after all. When I told Dawn, she was like "oh, well you should probably leave at 3 to beat traffic." But I told myself that I should stay until 5 to get work done, but at 2:30 I looked around and realized that literally everyone in my office was gone...and that I had been munching on candy from my co-worker's drawer for the past hour out of boredom. I might as well be doing something productive, such as driving to Breckenridge.

So I headed home, packed a duffel bag full of clothes for a couple of days, grabbed my dear friend the Map Lady and hopped into the Exploder. I should probably admit before I proceed that before I even got into the car I gave the Exploder a pep talk. I knew the drive was going to take a good hour and a half if not more if there was traffic, and I needed to make sure that the Exploder was up for it after his recent hospitalization. I would also be traveling out of the city of Denver into the mountains so I was a little scared that I'd be trucking along up a steep incline, flooring the gas pedal, when either 1) the car would actually explode, or 2) the pedal would break from the pressure of my foot on it and I would have to "flint stone" by way to Breckenridge. Did I want to risk it? Of course. Do you even know me at all?

After some consoling words, baby talk, and strange looks from fellow members of my apartment complex who were also lucky enough to get off work early on that Friday, I took off.  The flow of traffic out of the city was incredible. It was a beautiful afternoon and it seemed like EVERYONE was leaving for the weekend with the cars laden with boats and bikes and other summer gear. After all, its late September and it's still in the 80s here.


It took me longer to get to Breckenridge than I thought. Not only was there lots of traffic, but I was driving in the right lane behind all of the massive trucks practically the entire time because the drivers here are aggressive! If I could have gone the speed limit of 70 MPR I totally would have, but at times it actually seemed like the Exploder was growling at me. Seriously though, I swear the engine was making a weird noise...or maybe I'm just paranoid. Luckily I had the sweet melody of country to soothe me, as well as the British Map Lady's lulling voice telling me "at the roundabout, turn right." The villages I passed were so quaint, sleepy, and peaceful. There were so many beautiful lakes and sparkling streams. They looked just like fairytale towns, or medieval ones like you might find in parts of Europe, although obviously not with as much history.

Breckenridge seriously looked like a town from the countryside of Germany. It must have been the architecture of the buildings and the smell of meat cooking in the air. I picked up Alex and his friends on Main St (the street were the festival would be held the next day and the biggest street in town) and we went to the Breckenridge Lodge where they have a place called "the grotto" where there is an amazing steam room and jacuzzi with a waterfall. After spending a relaxing time there we went back to his friend Pat's family's cabin, which was actually more like a lodge. Alex, Pat, and three of their other friends had flown up to Breckenridge from El Paso, Texas on Pat's family's private jet along with their 4 dogs. Yes, 4 dogs flying on a jet without carriers or anything. Two were chihuahuas, one was a Black Lab named Abby, and the other was a mutt that had recently had hip surgery and the sutures were still in place (a little gross). Pat's parents were really nice people and I even met two kids from Denver who had driven up just like me! They live in Washington Park which is like 5 minutes from Cherry Creek where I live.

It was a really fun weekend. On Saturday, despite the fact that it was frigid and downpouring, we took a gondola down the mountainside to Main Street for the Oktoberfest. We all bought the Brecktoberfest Steins and filled up on beer straight from Germany before watching some German dancing and music playing. I was really happy that a lot of the music they played I had heard 2 years prior at the real Oktoberfest in Munich! Poor, little Alejandro was sick so he joined us later after he had slept for a while. The sun even came out from time to time, which led to much cheering and much people "prosting" each other. The atmosphere was so friendly and I talked with and met so many cool Coloradans, and, like I said, from the appearance of the place I actually felt like I was back in Germany.

Although I had planned on having a relaxing weekend where I did apartment stuff, I'm actually really glad that I went to Breckenridge. Because 1) I got to see Alejandro who is literally a brother to me 2) I met his awesome friends 3) I got cultured from a German stand point and a Coloradan one 4) The Exploder made it both ways 5) I got to see Breckenridge before it became swarmed by ski and snowboarders as it will in the winter.

Work's actually getting really busy...so the next few months I'll be working hard. But I'm very excited because in a couple of weekend Caroline's coming from San Francisco to see her brother Will and I here, then the next weekend I'm most likely going to San Fran to see all my friends there, then the weekend after that my cousin Chani's most likely coming, then the weekend after that Alex deBoutray's coming! I have a lot to look forward to. If anyone else wants to visit, the more the merrier! Just make sure you visit on a weekend.

I hope everyone's having a great week :) I'll post some pictures from the Brecktoberfest weekend soon.

Thank God it's Friday!

So the storm in the region that was raging the past couple of days has finally ceased it's fire, and just in time for the weekend. This morning is sunny and mostly clear, and the highs for the weekend are in the 80s! I can't believe it, especially since the past couple of nights it's been in the 40s and 50s. I guess it's kind of nice though because I'd hate sitting inside all day when it's nice and warm outside.  So in that case, Denver, it really is ok if you pour down rain during the week as long as I'm not outside! That's not selfish or anything, is it?

Like I said, I'd talk a little bit about the social media marketing session in Littleton that I went to during the monsoon of Wednesday night. I got there late so I missed some of the first part, but I was there for the meat of the lecture. The speakers were all working in PR for small companies in the area, and they were all guys who reminded me a lot of characters in "The Social Network..." just huge computer geeks. But they were very personable and social (I guess you kind of have to be if you're using that kind of media), so it wasn't a waste of my time at all.

Some of the key points to remember when using social media to market your company's products are:
--Social media is everything besides static content and webpages
                       -Therefore it's anything that enables you to chat with people
--The key is to drive traffic to websites to purchase your products
--Get people to share photos with their new product
--Have pages that attract specific audiences
                       -CladeHealthTracker, the app designed by Aegis, is useful because it prevents reliance
                        on paperwork and files to keep your medical records organized
                       -Many audiences would be attracted by this, because when individuals go through
                        periods of immense change their mental and physical health might fluctuate as well
--Key audiences whose lifestyles might be positively effected by Clade are: pregnant women, individuals with terminal illnesses, parents of children going through puberty, kids going to college
--Research your landscape so that you know your audience really well
                       -Rely on "search" data: What are people searching for on Google?
--Provide incentives for people
                       -It's possible to track success based on how many people use certain coupons
--Target competitors in particular
                       -Send advertisements based on demographics, competition
                       -Send coupons to people who "like" the competitors
--"Celestial Seasoning"
                       -People change how they refer to things based on seasons
                       -Be wary of how you word and phrase sentences and headlines
--Listening is key
                       -Are people talking about a specific product?
                       -Consider sentiment--are people thrilled or pissed off?
--Realize the key influencers and the people guiding the conversations
                       -Sometimes they are individuals and sometimes they are web properties
--Content is KING
--Psychological share motivations
                       -What motivates people to share?
--How is what you're producing visible online?
                       -Put ads in places where people visit frequently and direct them to your webpages

Some of these tips might seem pretty self explanatory, but I found it really helpful just to lay them out. Apparently less people than expected are buying the CladeHealthTracker app, so you should spread the word. Our facebook page is: CladeHealth Tracker, and from there you can access the Apple store to actually buy the product. So spread the word to your friends, friends! Honestly, even if you've been hospitalized for small things like minor surgeries, fractures, etc, it's still handy to have because it sends reminders for when to take certain pills (even vitamins!) and will keep track of your allergies and vaccinations.

There's a lot I could do this weekend. I still need to get a big couch and dining room table, as well as hang some pictures I bought yesterday, but one of my good friends that I studied abroad with in Lille is going to be in Breckenridge this weekend for their Oktoberfest so I'm deciding if I want to go up there on Saturday for the day. It would be a good chance to see the mountain town before ski season! Don't worry--I wouldn't get my purse stolen at this Oktoberfest (knock on wood).

That's all for the moment! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Second Week at Aegis Creative Communications, Inc.

I have begun my new life in Colorado and it's been quite the whirlwind of a couple weeks. My dad and I did the road trip from Seattle all the way to Denver through Eastern WA, SE Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and finally through the north of Colorado. We stayed overnight in Twin Falls, Idaho and then after that completed the drive and ended in Lakewood where we stayed in a hotel right across from Aegis. Because my dad was teleconferencing many of the mornings, we usually started the drive pretty late, like around 10:30-11 AM, which meant driving fairly late into the night. Let me tell you that driving at night with a car completely jam packed with all of my belongings and an old GPS (or Map Lady as my dad prefers to call her out of respect) is not the ideal situation. When we finally made it into Colorado, to get to Fort Collins the Map Lady took us on this random highway in the middle of cow country where there were absolutely no street lights, nor a medium in the road to prevent us from crashing head-on into cars coming from the opposite direction. I feared for our lives, and was ready to swerve off the road in case a sleeping or drunk driver drifted into our lane. But then there was always the chance that a deer could prance out into the road, so I knew that we were screwed in many ways if anything darted into our path that night.

Fortunately, we made it safely to Lakewood. The next day I got to my apartment in Cherry Creek where I'd be spending the next year of my life (at least), and found out that there's no elevator to help me in the move-in process. So after a couple of hours of my dad and I huffing and puffing up the stairs, our bodies not yet accustomed to the high elevation (Denver is the mile-high city after all), we collapsed onto the clean carpet of my two-bedroom and gazed around the sparse apartment. It's really very spacious with high, vaulted ceilings and a cozy, bright sun-room with a large bay window. There's even an electric fire place which I know will be very useful in the colder months. My apartment looks to the west, and I have an extraordinary view of the mountains, which I am sure will be even more spectacular come winter when the trees have lost their leaves and a layer of white coats those distant giants. My snow board is safely stored in front closet...clearly I'm not an expert snow boarder because I've had the thing for seven years and have yet to get a stomp pad. I was wondering why every time I went up to the mountains with friends I would be the one falling on my ass every time we got off a lift because my left foot would not stay put on the slippery board (yes I'm goofy-footed in snowboarding terms). But that stomp pad shouldn't be hard to get.

And besides some minor set-backs, such as my car not starting the first Friday of work and requiring $1,085.00 of repair because of a wiring/electrical problem, I've had a great experience in Colorado thus far. My "Aegis Family" as I like to call them, is incredibly supportive and helpful. I was a little fearful coming out here because I'm a single girl moving to a brand new place where I only have a few connections. I really couldn't have asked for a better work environment, though. They are so professional but it is obvious everyone really cares for each other. My car luckily (if I can even use the term "luckily") broke down about a five minute walk from work outside of a Brueggers Bagels, and Patrick, the Operations Manager here at Aegis, walked over to provide me with some moral support as I awaited AAA to arrive to tow the car. The CEO of the company also put me in touch with her husband Dan who is a mechanic and who has had good experience with Pickering, an auto repair shop in Lakewood. Obviously I am not a mechanic in any way, shape, or form, so being able to throw his name out as a reference was very helpful too. I didn't think they'd take a young, blonde girl like me seriously, especially since my strength is in the arts, not mechanics. So my car was towed there, and they gave me a little, red, loaner kia for the weekend which certainly did the trick for me for a couple of days. They didn't even make me pay for it...I think they felt bad that I was driving a 1992 Ford Explorer, or "the Exploder" as I prefer to call it. Yes, the car was made when I  was three years old, but it does have a lot of character! Needless to say, I was not ready to spend my second weekend in Denver sitting on my butt in my apartment, so I was thankful I had some mode of transportation when the poor Exploder nearly exploded and was in the auto repair hospital.

And so the weeks have passed. I now have cable and internet in my apartment and am no longer living in the dark ages, so I feel like I'm starting to get used to this routine of 40 hour work weeks. Life in the real world really is exhausting though. During the week I go to work, make the 15-20 minute commute home, work out, eat dinner, watch a show or two, and go to sleep usually by 10 PM. Such normalcy in my life might seem odd and restrictive for someone like me who is so keen for adventure, but I'm actually really liking it. It's like I know what I should be doing at all times, and the time that I do have to relax I make the most of. My apartment complex also has a pool, so last Sunday when it was 85 degrees out was definitely a good day to lounge around by that. I also live right by Cherry Creek itself and a 4-mile historical trail. Although there isn't much shade, it provides an excellent environment for running. My body is finally adapting to the altitude, so I do my long runs on weekends while I use the gym during the week.

The weather is, however, is extremely bipolar. For instance, like I said last weekend was beautiful with the sun shining every day. I have a really attractive tan line from my running top. But last night it was storming and it even SNOWED in some places just twenty minutes out of Denver! I drove to Littleton, CO (20 minutes South of where I live), and it was monsooning out. I was going to a social media marketing lecture at the Apple store there, and ended up being late because traffic was ridiculous and I could barely see. I was so terrified that my car would break down on the highway and I would be stuck to fend for myself in such miserable weather. But, I eventually made it, and it was a really informative session, especially because a lot of my job at Aegis will be utilizing social media websites such as this one, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, to advertise some of the applications we're developing. Such as the CladeHealthTracker iPhone and iPad app. I'm going to post another blog more about that lecture a little later, because I really did learn some interesting facts about social media that I hadn't known before and that other people should know--especially because such insight can really help a business prosper.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. I'm really considering getting a dog...I have so much space in my apartment and I just want some big, furry animal to hug and cuddle with. Dawn, the president of Aegis, has an adorable dog named Zeeta and they aren't exactly sure of her breed but they're thinking somewhere along the lines of Husky/Lab mix. She's really the sweetest dog ever, so I'm sure that I'll steal her away from time to time to take her running. Dawn has been training for a half marathon and says that Zeeta does her long runs with her and still has an abundant amount of energy at the end. So until I actually get my own puppy, I know that I'll have plenty of dogs to hang out with because Denver is really a dog-friendly city. I'm thinking along the lines of a German Shepard/Lab mix. I'll probably just go to the humane society/pound from time to time to see if any puppies are brought in. I just don't want to have a small dog...I need something that has really strong legs and can put up with my energy and love for the outdoors and hiking. Thank God my apartment allows pets! The fine isn't too bad either. It's just $20.00 extra a month. Just add it on, baby!

Well that's all for now. I'll post about the social media lecture a little later!