Greenville may not be New York or D.C. but it has plenty of charm for an afternoon. Here is my picture diary from a day out and about:
Mission 1: Purchase tickets to see Jersey Boys on Sunday evening.
My Day in Greenville
Tag Archives: greenville
Discovering: TEDx and Banff
Last Friday was a banner day for Discovery. I encountered new ideas, new people, and new perspectives. We live in a big wonderful world full of people who are eager to challenge the status quo and to challenge you to do the same. Let me tell you about TEDxGreenville and Banff Mountain Film Festival.
TEDxGreenville was phenomenal; if I could have stayed forever, I would have. By its nature, the event attracts the innovators, movers, and shakers of a city. You are surrounded by people who want to create positive change; how can you not soak some of that in?
Three of my favorite speakers were:
- Thomas Riddle, “Imagineering Education:” What we have is not working (or could work better). Let’s incorporate PLAY and make it fun!
- Knox White, “Discovering Your City’s Personality:” In essence, a talk about being yourself. Find the quality that already makes you a star, then share it with everyone. Case and point: Falls Park.
- Phil Yanov, “Bang a Drum. Build a Tribe. Start a Movement:” Precision advice for how to take your mission and make it a community mission. Do you hear my drum yet?
I know the list would be longer if I had been able to see all of the talks, I participated in TEDxGVL as a volunteer occasionally had other duties to attend. If you are asking “what is TED?” visit this website TED.com and watch a video.
On the heels of a hugely stimulating day at TED, I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour for the first time. One word: Wow!
I spent the day exploring the mind and society and the evening exploring the extremes of human adventure. The individuals in the videos will inspire you to follow your dreams (though I doubt many will take up the call for Antarctica). These modern day explorers have the gumption, stamina, and wit to push the edge of the possible. If you have the chance to see the tour, I highly recommend it.
Here’s to another weekend of Discovery!
Sister Act
Alicia, one of my best friends, my Big Sister in fact, came to visit me last weekend, and we had a marvelous time!
It took no small feat to get her here – after having to reschedule around a prior commitment, then a day-of delay at the airport causing her to have to change flights. Thankfully good fortune prevailed and we were reunited after 10 months of being apart!
Our first agenda item: Fall Crawl 2012. The afternoon was filled with friends, laughter, music, and drink, as any good bar crawl should be. I enjoyed introducing Alicia to many of my closest friends while we both pretended to be back in college. It was fun and carefree and ended with a delicious slice of pizza. How could we go wrong?
Ever ambitious, we rode the bus home to prepare for a Halloween party with my friends from graduate school. I went in my standby penguin costume while Alicia dawned a sheet to be my iceberg. (Apologies! No pictures were taken.) We enjoyed a brief time at the party, and Alicia met more of the people who shaped my time at Clemson. However, the crawl crawled up on us, and by nine, we were both ready to sleep.
The next day can be described by a single gerund: walking. After a tasty homemade breakfast, we made for campus. While others slept, we went on an extensive walking tour.
Alicia commented several times on the abundance of Tiger Paws and the Clemson name. I let her know this is the norm, we are a Clemson Family, and we take that commitment seriously. From years of Solid Orange and One Clemson, I have come to assume this is the standard on all college campuses. Having Alicia comment on it allowed me to realize that this is a special quality and not one to take trivially. As I write, I feel my Clemson Pride stir, something I will always cherish. Go Tigers!
Our next stop was Greenville. We thought we had a respectable Sunday lunch at 1 PM only to learn after that my car clock tricked us with the time change! With plenty of time, we took off on foot to explore Greenville. We saw Falls Park, open artist studies, many little shops , all the while chatting and catching up as though we did this every Sunday.
Eventually, we felt we had seen what was available, but still had some time left, so with spontaneous glee, we took off for the zoo. With childish excitement, we both shouted “Elephant!” as we approached the first exhibit. Then remembering our age, we took on an ever so slightly more restrained demeanor. Cats and primates and reptiles, oh my! My favorite exhibit was the giraffes where we could see baby Kiko, born less than a 14 days ago, on October 22.
We concluded the visit with a delicious treat at Spill the Beans and a short ride to the airport.
I miss you already Sis! Unicorns!