There are piles of great things going on all over the place right now. I’m really psyched about the energy level I’m seeing around entrepreneurship throughout the country, as well as the willingness of great entrepreneurs to get out there, tell their stories, and lead by example. Here’s a handful of fun things going on, along with a few highlights from some from some of the companies I’m involved in.

Awesome video. It’s worth two minutes and thirty six seconds of your life. When I grow up, I want to work in the channel!

I’m serving up Spud’s tomorrow at Spud Bros between Noon and 2pm. 50% of all revenue goes to charity (The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County) so bring your appetite. Location: the Corner of 10th and Pearl behind Pasta Jay’s in Boulder, Colorado.

My friend Jonathan Weber – the publisher of NewWest.Net – is putting on second annual Designing the New West conference on 4/16 and 4/17 at the Gallatin Gateway Inn in Bozeman, Montana. While short notice at this point, Jonathan just told me there are still about 30 spots left. If you are interested in architecture and landscape in the Mountain West, the schedule and lineup of speakers looks awesome and the cost to attend is only $195.

Next week is the first annual entrepreneurship week at CU Boulder. There is a full schedule of great events for anyone interested in entrepreneurship. Monday 4/13: 11:30am – 2:00pm: Starting Companies at CU: Technology Entrepreneurship Luncheon @ University Memorial Center Tuesday 4/14: 10:00am – 11:30am: Panel Discussion on Social Entrepreneurship @ University Memorial Center Room 247 Tuesday 4/14: 5:30pm – 8:30pm: Silicon Flatirons Center’s Entrepreneurial Mash-Up @ Dairy Center for the Arts

I love tennis. I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like to. About half of my Qx vacations with Amy include tennis; the first day is usually frustrating as I dust the rust off my strokes. By the third day I’m getting back into it and by day five I’m fantasizing about all the tennis I’m going to play when I get back home. I then don’t play much, except a little in the summer. I repeat this cycle on another Qx vacation.

Last night, Brightkite announced that it has merged with Limbo. The resulting company, which will be called Brightkite, recently closed a $9 million financing. I’m psyched for Martin, Brady, and the Brightkite crew as this merger positions them really strongly for their next phase of growth. Brightkite was a member of the TechStars 2007 class. They’ve crafted an outstanding mobile social networking app that really started to take off after the release of their excellent iPhone app. It’s become one of my signaling devices for where I am in the world – if you want to keep track of me friend and follow me on Brightkite.

I’ve always loved computer games. My Apple II screen had burn marks in it from Olympic Decathlon, Choplifter, Castle Wolfenstein, and Ultima. Recently, I’ve become addicted to several of Zynga’s games online, especially Mafia Wars (I’m level 52 – friend me on Facebook and join my Mafia) and Scramble (I think I’m better than I actually am so it’s endlessly frustrating.) Zynga’s been cranking on their iPhone apps so most of my Scramble action is now on the iPhone. However, last night Zynga released Mafia Wars on the iPhone and it has immediately moved to third place on my “things to do on my iPhone other than email and call Amy.”

I’m having a blast working with Mark Pincus on Zynga, his latest creation. Mark embodies so many things to love about an entrepreneur, including relentless energy and an endless drive to move his business forward. So, it was with glee that I found out that Ali, Mark’s new wife (still less than a year) was working on her own startup. I figured it was good newlywed payback for Mark as he’d now have to split the “complain to spouse about pressures of creating a company” 50/50 with Ali.