Category: Local Places & Events
Jefferson High School 4th Annual Trick, Treat & Trot 5K
| October 27, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Community Involvement, Local Places & Events, Why I like San Antonio |
We were blessed with a beautiful weekend in San Antonio. The Jefferson High School 4th Annual Trick Treat & Trot 5K was a big success. My Uncle Paul is head basketball coach and teacher at Jefferson High School. He puts this event together every year to help raise money for the basketball team to attend a tournament in Washington DC. As a graduate of Jefferson and coaching there for 20 years now, he does a lot for the school and the community. Many of his students have never had the opportunity to travel outside of San Antonio and they might never have that opportunity. Participating in a tournament in Washington DC gives them that opportunity and what greater place to go then our nation’s capital.
Former Mayor Ed Garza and Mayor Julian Castro, both Jefferson graduates, along with the Spurs Coyote and Silver Dancers all came out to support the event. It’s always great to see family, friends and neighbors come together to support our youth.
See all photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/safun/sets/72157622550148251/
Fourth of July 2009
| July 5, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Local Places & Events |
Our fourth of July weekend was a quiet one. We finally had a weekend where we had no commitments. We caught up on sleep, did some damage at the clothing stores (well, mostly me) and finally went grocery shopping! We did check out the fireworks at Woodlawn Lake. We were messing with our camera, trying to get the right exposure. We don’t have a tripod so keeping still was a task. We are still learning.
We enjoyed the firework show. The crowd at Woodlawn Lake is very mixed. You have families trying to enjoy an American holiday but then you have a good amount of thugs wandering the parks looking for trouble. The SAPD did a great job with having their crew on every corner. We got there in time to see the show and left right after.
The best firework show I have been to was in Maryland. I was in high school and we took a family vacation with our cousins. We had to get on a bus that took us up into the hill countryside. We laid in the hills watching the show. It was pretty magical.
There’s something about watching fireworks with someone you love. The world seems to sit still and you get a chance to really appreciate all the little things.
I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend with loved ones. Just in case you didn’t see fireworks, I caught video on my iPhone of the very last bit of the show.
My 1st Social Media Club Breakfast
| May 21, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Business & Technology, Local Places & Events |
I joined the San Antonio Social Media Club a few months back but hadn’t had the chance to attend an event yet. Today was my first breakfast event. It’s basically a meet and greet and then you will have a guest speaker to discuss a topic of interest. Today, Luis Sandoval (@pandaran) spoke about how to manage all your social media tools. This is key because there are so many platforms out there and it can be so overwhelming to try to keep up with everything. You don’t want to just join everything and simply have a presence but not be active, that defeats the purpose of social networking. They key is finding communities that give you the most bang for your buck. What are you trying to accomplish? Answering this question should help you find the communities you want to be a part of. Not everything is for everyone and it is imperative to recognize this or you will find yourself wasting your precious time messing with something that brings no value to you or others.
Following the speech, there is an open forum for Q&A. I noticed that people still struggle with understanding the purpose of Twitter. Companies don’t want their employees wasting time on these social media platforms. That is not a Twitter issue. That is a company culture issue. If you breed a bottom up culture, a culture where your customers are the star, a company where your employees feel like entrepreneurs – Twitter is an open door opportunity. Those companies that aren’t accepting Twitter are leaving that door closed because they are too scared to see what is on the other side. If you aren’t on Twitter, your competitors are.
And this is NIOSA
| April 30, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Local Places & Events |
You either hate or love Fiesta. As a San Antonio native and one that enjoys celebrating San Antonio, I love Fiesta. San Antonio puts together an 11 day celebration filled with over 100 events.
Fiesta really is one of America’s truly great festivals. It began as a way to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.
NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio) is one of my favorite events. It is an evening of food and drinks in La Villita (heart of San Antonio). It is open from 5:30pm to 10:30pm Tuesday through Friday. Various areas represent different cultures, serving their respective foods such as German, Italian and Asian. I go to taste different foods, have a few beers and visit with family and old friends. It is quite an adventure and not for everyone. It does get crowded in some areas. Here is a clip of an area that got really crowded.
And then of course, NIOSA brings the best out in my parents. It’s really hard to out do this couple.
Beyond the Epic Run
| March 2, 2009 | Posted by Angela under Health & Fitness, Local Places & Events |
I had the pleasure of viewing the documentary film, Beyond the Epic Run, at the Bijou Crossroads last Thursday. I received a personal email from Annie with Jennings Public Relations & Advertising, who was promoting the film. They randomly found my blog and sent me an email with the details. So glad they did! I hadn’t heard of the film yet and the description sounded so interesting.
Serge and Nicole, a married couple, left their Switzerland home in February of 2000 to run around the world alone. I mean literally run around the world. Serge was on foot while Nicole followed on motorcycle. Serge was set off to run over 25,000 miles, on six continents and through 37 countries. It took them 5 years to complete their journey.
The film is an up close and personal view into their journey. They camped outdoors wherever they stopped. Serge was literally running around a marathon every 2 days. They ran into a war zone in Africa and had to take a detour. Right when they were planning on going through Iraq, 9/11 happened. They were advised to to take a detour. They caught malaria and almost died. Half way through their journey, the organization that was supporting them could no longer afford to support their cause. They were running to help children in poverty and that were in need. They ran into Hurricane Charly when in Miami. Serge’s mother passed away when they were in the Northeast USA. Everything seemed to go against them. Somehow, they found a power within themselves to continue their journey.
They met so many people from some many different cultures. One of my favorite scenes was when they ran into a family of 4. It was a man, his young wife and their 2 young children. They were on donkeys. All they had was the clothing on their backs and 2 live chickens. They had fled their village due to violence and they were literally living one day at a time with no place to call home.
Throughout the movie, you become more and more engaged. I was so touched and humbled by all their encounters. I cannot imagine doing what they did. Actually, I know I couldn’t. However, it does inspire you to do what you believe to be the unthinkable. Serge’s favorite comment is “Impossible is a stupid word.” He didn’t want to believe that he couldn’t do it. It takes an incredible amount of self confidence, faith and passion to do what he and his wife accomplished. I think a crucial part of this journey was their love for each other. That journey was not possible if they didn’t believe in each other. That bond was so important to their success and it just got stronger as they pushed on.
The film is being shown for free all across the USA. All they want to do is share their story with others in the hopes of inspiring people. That it definitely was. I hope that their message reaches more people than they thought was possible. Below is the trailer.
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