In just one week, I have achieved the following:

• Made the front page of the Daily Camera.
• Made the front page of the Colorado Daily.
• Performed live at the Boulder Theater.

The cause? Ignite Boulder, a local event that blends slideshow presentations with humor, social value and geek power. I had the honor of being on the planning committee for our 5th outing and pushed myself to make it our finest effort yet. That included amazing local media coverage, a concerted social media push and enough good ideas to make it work.

In all, 741 people packed into the Boulder Theater last night to hear presentations about corn, bacon, and magic. My contribution was a soaring musical opener that set the tone for the rest of the evening: energy, creativity and luck.

I still haven't come down from the high caused by performing for 741 people. I love Boulder and every single person that made it down to the theater for Ignite. I have seldom been in such a good mood.

Now here's a pic of me dressed as an "Igknight of the Round Table," taken only hours ago from the stage:

(Photo credit: Yann Ropars)

I'm currently taking part in Startup Weekend, a three-day community event where you "get together with local developers, marketers, designers, enthusiasts and do what you do best. Start projects, start companies. No talk, all action."

In our case, that means about 40 people eating pizza, riffing on startup ideas, forming small groups and working toward a goal of having something developed by Sunday night. Maybe a plan, maybe a working demo, maybe something else entirely.

It's my first time, so I'm trying to absorb as much of the energy as possible.

The event's founder, the luminous Andrew Hyde, has stressed the importance of community from the start. Consider this quote: "This is about meeting people, this is about community. If you're not into making friends, you're not going to have a good time here."

I've met some really smart folks so far - developers and programmers, which is quite a change from the PR/mktg folks I normally hang out with. I confess to being intimidated by their ability to actually build the things we are brainstorming, but PR/social media will also play a role - so I'm eager to contribute.

But at the same time, I wish I had their app-building skillz. It's something that I've toyed with but never committed to - learning the languages necessary to build stuff. My career focus thus far has been describing and communicating - it'd be a thrill to construct something from scratch for a change. I'm hoping to pick up some great perspective this weekend.

I'm returning to the fray for Day 2 shortly...

Every Cinco de Mayo, sales of Corona spike. Sales of Tecate spike. Everyone hits the liquor store to stock up on Mexican beer and limes. Little do they know that they have been misled.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo doesn't revolve around drinking Mexican beer.

Real Latinos drink Yoo-Hoo on Cinco de Mayo.

Don't believe me? Check it:

• I'm Latino.
• It's Cinco de Mayo.
• I'm sippin' the 'Hoo.

For realzies. For as long as I can remember, Yoo-Hoo has been a central part of my culture's celebration of the Battle of Puebla. We raised our voices as we raised our glasses [of Yoo-Hoo].

Spread the word to all your socially networked contacts or whatever. We've got to set the record straight.

Cinco de Mayo = Cinco de Yoo-Hoo.

Yes we can. Honest.

I spent Easter Sunday creating a new holiday with a pack of Boulder peeps. It's called Beerster and it will change the way you look at bunnies, beer and holidays.

Or not.

Whatever. Here are some pics. Big thanks to @andrewhyde for hosting the shindig. And to @elaineellis for putting the thing together. Wooo!

Here is a pic of me snagging a Peep with my mouth. The point of the game was to do so with only one point of contact on the ground. I totally failed. Click the pic to see others from Beerster taken by @mattgist.

This is the Beerster Beer Hunt in full swing. I found two beers. I am not good at Beerster, apparently.

Some colleagues and I spoke at a social media panel at the Denver Athletic Club late last week. The DAC produced fliers to promote it. The fliers featured a picture of me and my peeps. As we were taking an elevator to the panel itself, we noticed the flier hanging inside.

It was a completely new experience for me. We are now elevator famous.

Here is my buddy Blake (also featured on the flier) posing next to the awesome artifact:

I noticed this as I was posting my last entry. I was verifying Flying Dog's URL when I noticed that their usually awesome homepage had been replaced with this (click for more detail):

It appears to be a Portuguese hacker group. Not sure. Pretty spooky.

I hope Flying Dog gets its site restored soon. They're an awesome brand, and they make very tasty beer.

The first Kegs and Kites took place last weekend and it was a super-delightful success. Kegs and Kites was an idea put together by myself, George G. Smith Jr. and Stepan Mazurov. Essentially, it's a day of kite flying and beer drinking to celebrate nice weather, wind, kites and beer.

In all, about 50 folks came out to drink beer (graciously provided by Flying Dog), fly a kite and get some sun. I also discovered that kites are pretty cheap - my Camp Rock kite was only $3 at Target. It featured a Jonas Brother on it - the non-curly one.

This is by far my favorite photo from the event. I look so happy, and I am joined by Elaine "Sweet Cornbread" Ellis:

We should be having another Kegs and Kites when the weather clears up. It's pretty snowy right now, but when all that madness is over, expect some kite magic in Boulder.

I know a lot about The Ladies. I have talked to a few of them and even read novels written from their perspective. Over time, I have learned a few things. For example, I have determined that women like men who drink orange juice.

Consider the following items and events that orange juice plays a role in:

• Breakfast in bed.
• Mimosas or screwdrivers
• Every grocery store visit.

These are components of a healthy relationship - something I will never have because I don't like orange juice. I can't stand the stuff.

For one, it makes me sick. Secondly, apple juice is tastier. Plus, you can see through apple juice, which makes it safer to drink in case there are syringes in it.

So this is an apology to all The Ladies of Colorado. I am flawed. And I will only bring ruin to you. Unless you're into apple juice. Then we've got it made.

I have been battling nerd flu for most of my life.

At times, I was able to overcome it (when I was in a band in high school, for example), but I invariably return to my nerd roots and start talking about phasers, orcs or supervillains.

And now I am a fan of Battlestar Galactica, the geekiest thing I could get into.

I watched the miniseries and loved it volcanically. It's a blend of Terminator man-vs-machine drama with the spatial range of Star Trek plus the underdog status that made me love Firefly so much. My buddy Madams let me borrow seasons 1, 2 and 2.5, so I've got plenty of stuff to watch.

Sci-fi is awesome. So are robots. I am so happy!

As I've been trying to go out a bit less to save money, I've begun reading again. I used to read loads of books, but adulthood obliterated that habit with its obligations and responsibilities. Happily, I have been able to carve out a few hours each week for books.

I am presently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It was written in 1999 and as much as I loathe using the expression, it's a coming-of-age book. I usually avoid these, as I found my early teenage years awkward enough without having to relive them in print.

However, Perks is pretty good. The narrator, Charlie, strikes me as autistic or maybe way too cerebral. At times, it's hard to identify with him because he tends to dissect meaningful events in his life, whereas when I went through similar situations I retained very little details about them.

Or it could be that I have the memory of a goldfish. I've been accused of such in the past.

I'm not done with the book yet, but I'm amused by some of the early '90s references I've found. (The book takes place between 1991 and 1992.) Kurt Cobain is mentioned. I haven't thought about him in a long time. I will be moving some Nirvana onto my iPhone shortly. Probably all of In Utero.