From the Mind of Trevor Stone

For many years I've assumed that when I turned 42 I would throw a big party, invite a bunch of hoopy froods, and see if everyone knew where their towel was. As it turned out this week, I had about 2000 people at my birthday party, I didn't have to plan the event, and I didn't see many towels.

Element 11 is a long-standing regional Burning Man event in the Utah desert. It's normally held in July or June, which tend to be prime busy-in-Colorado times, particularly since Apogaea—Colorado's regional burn—is the second weekend of June. This year the organizers moved Element 11 to the last weekend of September, maximizing the amount of planning time in a year of chaos, minimizing the number of excuses for people to not be fully vaccinated, and balancing days which aren't too hot with nights that aren't too cold. Since Burning Man itself was cancelled and I didn't want to go to Plan B/Renegade Burn, I figured I'd have plenty of spoons for a regional in another state. Plus, I didn't have to plan a complicated themed birthday party.

It felt really good to be able to wander around, meet strangers, give hugs, dance to big sound, and share food. So far, it seems the policy of "proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test" was successful as I haven't heard that there was any COVID spread at the event. The fact that almost everything was outside certainly helped. I've now got a bit of a scratchy throat and some sore body parts, but my home-COVID test was negative, so I think this is just my immune system having forgotten how to deal with other people's garden variety germs, plus a depleted sleep schedule. I feel significantly less lousy than I did after getting back from a summer road trip.

The month leading up to the event was pretty jam-packed. I spent a bunch of time researching and ordering components for a solar and battery system so that Kelly could sleep with a CPAP, but I didn't give myself enough lead time and the project failed to come together before the trip, culminating in a comedy of errors including a brand new multimeter that needed aluminum foil shoved in the battery compartment in order to operate. Fortunately I've now got months to get things right and up my electrical game before our next camping adventure.

In addition to wrangling electrical components I spent a lot of time in the last month and a half playing with Colorado Redistricting Commission maps. The state has a new citizen-focused redistricting process, ideally reducing the political maneuvering involved, and anyone could submit their own maps and comments. I'm disappointed the commission and staff didn't follow my advice to (a) split census blocks in more natural ways so that neighbors stay in the same district and (b) allow slight variance (order of hundreds) in district size, following the "must be justified" portion of the law. Overall, though, the process seemed to work really well, and almost everyone at the hearings I attended was polite and on-topic, a rarity in the political world these days. There were a lot of "We don't want to be in a district with those people" comments, which make me sad as a collaborationist, but are understandable given the trend in the last half century for people to self-segregate politically.

I also spent a bunch of energy the weekend before Element 11 first picking apples and then helping press them into cider. We ended up with way more fruit than we could process and at the end of the day had more liquid than anyone could take away, particularly when the cooling system failed a few days later. I've got a cider brewing with wine yeast and a cyser (honey + apples) brewing with ale yeast; I'm hoping these turn out better than my last round of cyser which—three years later—still has a harsh flavor. This was a total blast, but cut way down on event packing and prep time.

I turned 36 today.
36 is a multiple of 12, so this year matches my birth year in the Chinese zodiac: year of the goat[1].

I got married last week in what my wife points out was my dream wedding.
There's still a pile of presents on my floor from people who love us.
On brunch the day after the wedding, my dad played a very touching song whose opening had come to him a week before I was born but the remainder hadn't formulated until last week.
My wife and I had waffles this morning betwixt bouts of gettin' it on.
We gathered produce at the farmer's market and collaborated on a tasty salad.
We joined my parents for a gorgeous sunset at the Center of the Universe followed by a wondrous dinner at The Gold Hill Inn.
Three friends in distant parts of the country, from different parts of my life, emailed to wish me a happy birthday.

Things are pretty good; it's nice to baaahsk in the sun.


[1] Often translated as "year of the sheep," but next to a picture of a goat, with 羊 (yáng) a character for any member of that family. I briefly toyed with the idea of using 山羊 (shānyáng, "mountain goat/sheep") as my Chinese name.

(If you didn't get the following message by email, I probably don't have your address handy. If you would like to receive such messages by email, email me at trevorstone dot org.)

Hi everybody! (Hi Doctor Nick!)

In honor of (a) my birthday and (b) not having anything better to do, I'm hosting a game day at my place in western Lakewood! Card games! Board games! Word games! Mah-jong games! Tea from China! Exclamation points!

The details (extra points if you spot a devil)!
* Show up between noonish and whenever! If most people have left by evening time, I might head out to drum so call if you would show up after, say, 7.

* Get thyself to 857 S. Van Gordon Ct. #C-204, Lakewood, CO 80228. If you use the Internet to get directions, pretend the address is 657, otherwise you'll end up two blocks away. I live in the Ponderosa Ridge complex behind the Vitamin Cottage at Alameda and Xenon. Take 6th Ave to Union, south to Alameda, west/south to Xenon, left and through the parking lot. Building C is near the back of the parking lot and I'm on the side of building opposite the parking lot, near the fence.

* If you get lost, call 303-980-5148!

* If you have a game you'd like to play or a snack you'd like to share, bring it! If not, just bring yourself! Also feel free to bring friends, neighbors, significant others, imaginary elves, and shoulder angels/devils!

* I may make this a weekly gig for the next month or so. If you can't make it this time but would be interested in future game days, let me know! If you don't opt in, there's a decent chance I won't bother you about it again. If you aren't interested in playing games but would like to hang out sometime, this is an invitation to say so.


Other places you can wish me "Happy Birthday" in person this weekend:
* Friday night card games at Witches Brew coffee shop in Denver (sixish to midnightish)
* Saturday night drum circle near Frederick: (see the announcement for directions) (sevenish to midnightish)
* Sometime Saturday somewhere in Boulder (afternoonish to eveningish)

I'm not a fan of socially mandated gift giving, so don't feel you need to bring me a present. In return, I won't clutter your house with stuff you don't need. If you have something you don't need and say "OMG! Trevor should totally have this!" then I might take it off your hands. If you feel compelled to spend money in honor of arbitrary calendar dates, use it to make a donation to a quality nonprofit like KGNU, KVCU, ACLU, or EFF; they probably need it more than I do.

Be seeing you!

Today is the birthday of both J.R.R. Tolkien and Apple Computer.

Fanboys may commence rejoicing.