My dad just returned from Hawaii and he beamed proudly at the incredible sights he had seen and photographed. They were indeed incredible - I had seen them for myself 10 years ago.

I can very clearly remember standing in complete silence out in the middle of the worlds largest salt flats while in Bolivia 2 years ago. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Totally barren, and the only moment of my entirely life devoid of sound.

Why does seeing photos of other people traveling there seem to cheapen my own memories? Because I want to believe that moment was something special - something that only I experienced.

Looking the other way at the learning tower of Pisa (http://lolsnaps.com/news/3229/0/)I just spent an hour flipping through every printed photo I've ever taken, and was struck by how many of them were totally meaningless. Some beautiful sunset. A meandering river. Distant hazy mountains. I didn't have a clue where most of them were taken. Standing there at that moment I was certain I would not remember the beautiful vista - nor be able to adequately describe it a week later to the people I cared about who weren't there to experience it with me. I'd leave the people out of the shot to preserve the pristine wilderness.

Years later, I find myself throwing most of them away. Instead of just capturing what my eyes see, I've resolved to take photographs that will trigger the feeling of the moment - even years after it has passed. A photo means nothing if you can't remember why you were there, who you were with, or what it felt like.

What will we all end up becoming?

I sit down in seat 3B - a black flickering screen stares me in the face. I understand why it is here, but I cannot fathom why no one else turns theirs off. Have screens become such a commodity, so expected, that they must be left on - even when we cannot use them?

The women on either side do not talk to me - though we will be sitting inches from each other for the next three hours. One will later apologize for gently grazing my arm while shifting in her seat. Sure, it's a polite gesture, but it feels over the top. Aren't we part of the same society?

I try to read - my thoughts frequently pondering what I will do next. I'm thinking clearly - better write it down before the moment is gone. But I know that if I pull out my laptop, I will get sucked into a world of infinite distraction. And lose my place.

Thankfully I have a pen and paper.

Then I realize that I'm still reading the magazine - absorbing nothing. Lost in my own thoughts of how I might become a better person. How I might avoid distraction. How distractions and entertainment are no longer something we choose - they are something we must fight hard to resist. I've already chosen a half a dozen times *not* to put in my earbuds. But finally I give in - trying to drown out the man talking behind me.

He is talking about football, and I feel compelled to listen - not because I hope to connect with this man - but because I literally cannot shut off this insatiable thirst for information. Information I know has no application to anything that will ever be truly important.

I open up the White Noise app, and choose the airplane setting. He is gone.

The women to my left shifts, and her leg rests lightly against mine. I do not recoil. Instead I wonder if she has done this intentionally and how sad it is that even the slightest physical contact with a stranger is so rare as to be noteworthy.

I look to my right - all four people are reading a book - holding it inches below their flickering TV screens. One is listening to an iPod too.

A familiar tone sounds, and I wonder if the plane will descend soon. I have no idea how long we have been aloft because, well - it has been so long since I've written anything that I barely recognize my own handwriting.

My brain has run out of thoughts now which tells me it is time to do something else. In this world of ubiquitous multitasking - the thought of sitting quietly for a few minutes with nothing to do is borderline terrifying.

But I won't pick up the magazine again because I'm nearing the end and fear that once I've finished - I'll have nothing left to spark these brief moments of honesty and reflection that are so often lost in the haze of digital distraction.

On the other hand, it's a reminder of how amazing I feel 99.8% of the time. Hard to imagine a life inside, stuck in bed, feeling like crap, would be worth living.

Today will quickly fade, and tomorrow I will feel great again. Let this be a reminder that even when I'm not sure what I want - 99.8% of the time, I can do anything.

Pretty sweet huh? For instructions: How to put travel maps in your blog

• Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) have only scored 11 more points than their opponents.
• Indianapolis Colts (5-0) won by 2 and 4 points in week one and two respectively against mediocre teams, then won comfortable against three teams with a combined 4 wins.
• Denver Broncos (5-0) have admittedly won big games against three good opponents, all have come on scores in the final seconds. Could easily be 2-3.
• New York Giants (5-0) won three of their games against miserable opponents (with one total win amongst them) and escaped with < 1 score victories in their only games against decent opponents.
• Minnesota Vikings (5-0) won a game they shouldn't have (incredible 40 yard pass with no time left) and didn't pull ahead of Detroit till the last play of the third quarter.
• New Orleans Saints (4-0) are a pretty good team.

The "Bad"

• Buffalo Bills (1-4) lost two games by a combined 4 points. Could easily be 3-2 (which still wouldn't necessarily indicate that they are that good).
• Cleveland Browns (1-4) lost each of their last two games by 3 points.
• Tennessee Titans (0-5) lost each of their first 3 games by a score or less.
• Kansas City Chiefs (0-5) lost two games by a score or less.
• Detroit Lions (1-4) hung well with both Pittsburgh and Minnesota, two very good teams. Lost to Washington by only 5.
• Carolina Panthers (1-3) has played decent opponents all year.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5) isn't necessarily any good but have had a strong schedule (Cowboys, Giants, Washington, Philly).
• Seattle Seahawks (0-5) same as above (Washington, Green Bay, San Fran, Minnesota).

So not only are most of these teams not as good or as bad as they seem, most of them are in the opposite position they were as few as 2 years ago.

No my friends, NFL parity is not dead.

Highline Park isn't rocket science. It's just a strip of concrete and plants that repurpose a disused and unsightly vestige of a forgotten rail shipping economy of the early 20th century. But what it stands for, and how it makes you feel, is nothing short of a miracle.

Highline Park from Ryan Wanger on Vimeo.

The city noise fades away, replaced with the sun sparkling equally off the river and the windows of the buildings you weave between. Water fountains drain directly into the ground, nourishing both the drinker and the surrounding grasses and shrubs. People chat quietly in front of a windowed amphitheater looking directly down 10th Avenue, as the infinite skyline of Manhattan transforms from everyday life into a mere painting of it.

Highline Park Ampitheater from Ryan Wanger on Vimeo.

Urban parks are supposed to be an escape from the concrete and steel jungle of our modern metropolises, not a celebration of them. You can admire the sculpted landscape of Central Park, but it's always with a certain hesitation. There, airplanes and car horns shatter the illusion of solitude and nature. In Highline Park, they go unnoticed.

The relationship with nature for those living in big cities is a very all or nothing experience. You're either amongst the bustle, exhaust, and concrete of the real world, or in a thinly walled sanctuary that's meant to provide a temporary respite.

Rather than hiding you from it, Highline travels through the built environment in a way that, paradoxically, feels more natural and allows for a greater appreciation of both aspects of the world as it has come to be.

We don't need more once a week escapes in life - we need more daily balance. We need more parks like Highline.

Pros

It was extremely well organized. Everyone who helped out did a great job. I sent over the slides the day before (including a custom font which had to be installed) and was sent back a PDF proof, just to make sure everything looked right. Then another set of proofs, showing all the slides for the entire evening back to back to back. It left me 100% sure that there wouldn't be any problems.

The 40 minute break. I was surprised when Andrew announced that Mountain Standard Time would be playing for 40 minutes. At the time it seemed like an eternity - I just wanted to see the rest of the presentations! However, it fit in perfectly with a complaint I've had in past years: I never seem to have enough time to socialize with everyone. The 40 minutes whizzed by and I wasn't even ready to go back to the presentations! I'd be curious to hear what newbies (who may have had less people around to talk with) thought?

The deck designs. This was the most well designed set of slides at an Ignite yet. The presenters clearly spent a lot of time making them look nice, and there were less total words than in any previous Ignite. This lets you focus on the speaker, not dividing your attention between listening and reading.

Less F-bombs. Ignite 5 got a little carried away, but it was intentionally reigned back in this time.

Cons

Stuck behind the podium. I definitely prefer to be able to wander onstage while presenting, but it wasn't possible with the setup. For me, it's harder to project energy when I can't move around. Another thing I'd love to see in the future, is to have another monitor facing the presenters, so they don't have to turn around to look for slide changes.

Drunk Driving not taken seriously. Vanessa Schneider's talk The Things They Don't Tell You about a DUI teetered nicely on the edge of being a full blown condemnation of drunk driving. It was a whole deck about everything she's had to endure since being arrested. She had to have friends come over to take out her trash while under house arrest. She'll still be blowing into a breathalizer while driving into the year 2011.

There were a few elements of humor (done appropriately), but in the end, she concluded with something along the lines of: it was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me - I started my own business because of it. I was really hoping for a strong conclusion along the lines of: I learned something. I would never EVER do it again, and after hearing my story, you'd have to be insane to even consider it. Drinking and driving were later referenced by two or three other people at the mic and sadly the audience seemed more amused than sobered. Poor form (again, not picking on you Vanessa).

The line outside. This was probably only a minor problem, but I'd guess that people who arrived at 6:05 probably spent 25 minutes in line waiting to get in - getting only half of the socializing time they had expected.

Ignite needs a better elevator pitch. Ignite is very hard to explain to people who haven't been before. How can you get your newbie friends excited if you can't even describe it?

Summary

In closing, Ignite Boulder 6 was another great, great night. Everyone was so supportive and grateful to the organizers and presenters. I truly appreciated the opportunity to present (again), and want to thank everyone who voted for my topic in addition to all the hardworking organizers. Even having presented 3 times myself, I'm still not sure what Ignite Boulder is supposed to be - other than an amazingly entertaining night in the Boulder community.

I've thought a lot about "the ideal" presentation in the last few months and how the speeches I've seen (and given) could have been better. Most often, it boils down to one of the following issues:

• It's a comedy routine with little value beyond entertainment
• Too much information
• Too many words on a slide
• Presenter is basically "reading" the presentation, rather than speaking naturally
• 19 slides are spent setting up the problem, with only one slide is left for the solution

So, I tried something a little bit different this time. Instead of going for the information overload method (as I did in A Whirlwind Tour Through 8 Decades of Food Advice) or doing a geeky stand up comedy routine (as I did in My Mom's On Facebook, Now What? and Money Saving Advice from a Cheapskate), I wanted Our Princess is in Another Castle to be a story.

After the intro slide, the next 13 told the story of my life as it unfolded through video games. What few lessons there were to be learned, I tried to show rather than tell. The last 6 slides were straightforward "what did I learn?" The entire deck used only 16 words: 8 on the first slide, and 5 on the last. The rest were all full screen images (almost exclusively 1 per slide).

I did get lost on the only part that needed to be said word for word, my quote from Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame Induction speech. What I planned to say was: "Michael Jordan recently told us

Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion

a lesson I learned watching many of the people I worked with at Namco get the jobs that seemed unattainable to me at the time."

The only other place I would have liked to have done better was in my physical presentation style. I really enjoy being able to walk around onstage with the mic - it's the best way for me to feel comfortable and have natural body movements and hand gestures. It wasn't possible last night, and instead I felt a little trapped behind the podium.

For the first time though, I'm not daydreaming about topics for my next Ignite performance. I gave what I believe was a presentation that didn't fall victim to any of the pitfalls I've complained about in the past. In a certain way, I felt like I owed that to Ignite.

In the end, a great presentation can be summed up in two words: be entertaining.

Just don't overthink it.

(Video of my presentation: Our Princess is in Another Castle)

Extra: The Daily Camera article (subtitled: Geekfest shows off PowerPoint potential to sold-out crowd) features my pic front and center!

It seems crazy, I know - but I realized something. The beach is where you go to escape. When you've been overworked and stressed out. When it's been cold and raining for months. When you want quality time with friends or loved ones.

I went to the Bahamas for no other reason than because it was free - I've got a month of unlimited flights on JetBlue afterall. There isn't much to do when you're at the beach alone and it's raining.

Vacation just isn't the same when you love where you live and what you do for a living. Especially when you don't bring along the people you care about.

Mark me down for buying into the fantasies of travel brochures. In the end, I really only love the idea of the beach.

Extra: Stories, photos, and videos from my time in The Bahamas - on Everlater.