get to write for a paper! browngreen: today I went to the coffee shop where I've been working with my dog. we biked up and sat outside in the sun and I studied since I had a couple hours free.
This coffee shop is the only "cool" place in town. this town I'm in now it super old fashioned and stubborn/change resistant. It's a strange place, to be sure. Just to shed a little light on it, most of the uptown area has been declared as Historic by the National Bureau of Historic places. Nearly every building has a plaque on it stating that it has been registered as a historic property and therefore cannot be torn down, and must be maintained.
However, the city council does NOTHING to help the town out inso far as getting business into the upstown area so that the shop owners can afford to take care of their gem/monumental building. The place I work for is run by a foundation to restore the uptown area, and in the meantime teach anyone wanting to learn how to do such a thing. This business plan would not only restore the buildings, but would teach skills that can be used through the city, and the state. It's a sustainable strategy.
The foundation bought the old YMCA building which is AMAZING. They want to restore it and open it up as an art school/restoration and preservation school. Eventually (I hope) it will also be a venue for a Rockies guild to help finish the Continental Divide trail system and combine my two passions: art, and outdoor recreation (this is why I took the job at the coffee shop). If there's room at the school, I'll maybe get to do my thang up there-- planning outdoor retreats for people who need to get away and unto the mountains. I'll be a guide and by then, also the medical staff. The retreats will also be geared towards outdoor physical fitness and environmental esthetics, drawing nature, photographing still lives, as well as portraits of persons in the outdoors (read: action shots )
OK--- SO....
So far, there are donors from Washington DC (Cochran Gallery), the U of Utah (Or maybe Utah State) Art Dept, and some big wigs from Denver who know nothing about the town, but like the idea of this school here.
The foundation went to the city to say "hey, we got this going on and a $250,000 grant for this year, but it's not enough money to completely restore the old Y. We have several world reknowned artists willing to teach on a volunteer basis when the school is opened, and more donors coming down the pike. But we need your support"
And city council said "I see no value in this"
here's the thing I've come to realize about this town. When I go to job interviews and say I have an MBA, I get negative feedback from the interviewer. I've actually had an interviewer say "I'm not relaly impressed with your schooling"
And a month later, he called and offered me a job!
It's just like this around here. So the city council says there's no value in restorning the old Y building, or teaching locals how to restore the uptown and training them in trades that would feed back into the community. How can they not see value in that?
Well, the thng is that around here, people say the opposite of what they really mean because they don't want to show they are impressed and they are threatened by good ideas.
It's so old school and funky.
So, city council now is trying to steal this idea from the foundation, acting like they came up with it first (not the art school part, but the training people in restoration to restore the uptown). Of coruse, they don't have the Y building, tho....
I guess I'm glad that it looks like maybe this town won't always look so dilapidated after all.
In the meanwhile, I work for the foundation at the coffee shop and am meeting a lot of the movers and shakers of this community. Today I met a man who runs the underground newspaper, and I asked him if he'd like to hike the eastern ridge (whish is the continental divide) with me, and he said he would, this sunday, and if I can, would I write an article for his paper detailing my trips out and about in the nearby mountains.
It won't pay anything, but it's a start, and it combines two of my worlds in a way that is needed here in this town. PLus, it means I'm going to have to get out and have fun more often!
So it's all a shot in the dark. I'm not counting on anything, but I think it's a really cool opportunity I have to use my voice and hopefully make a difference in a community I care about.
I think it's just wonderful!
BG
Re: get to write for a paper! summerparis: That's so cool! I like your writing style already. Always good to have clips and to build up a book. It sounds like you can network with some interesting people who share a lot of your interests.
Congratulations! Songbird
Re: get to write for a paper! Lumpy: [quote author=browngreen link=topic=19010.msg171197#msg171197 date=1127245270">
today I went to the coffee shop where I've been working with my dog.
[/quote">
I hope that they're paying you more than the dog. I'm sure you'll do a great job on the article. I really enjoy the way you write.
Re: get to write for a paper! browngreen: LUMPY--
Yes, they pay just a few pennies more than the dog. But she's a very talented dog.
BG
Re: get to write for a paper! tyrogers: CONGRATS BG!!! That sounds AWESOME!!!!!
BBH
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