My mom, who happens to be my favorite artist in the world, is having an exhibit at The Dairy Center for the Arts. The exhibit – called American Landscapes: Two Views – features Cecelia Feld and Maureen Burkhart. The opening reception is Friday, June 16th, from 5pm – 7pm at The Dairy Center for The Arts, 2590 Walnut Street in Boulder, Colorado. I’ll be there – come say hi, hang out, and look at the art (please make sure you say hi to my mom.) Yes – there will be food.

NewsGator announced today Spencer Stuart, one of the oldest Executive Search firms in the world, has deployed NewsGator’s Enterprise Server product. Todd Berkowitz has a nice explanation of how Spencer Stuart is using RSS in the enterprise, including leveraging NewsGator’s API.

My friends Larry and Pat Nelson just put up an interview with Lucy Sanders, CEO of National Center for Women & Information Technology. Not surprisingly – Lucy is the most articulate person I know concerning the issues NCWIT is addressing. If you have any interest in what NCWIT is up to, have a listen.

The quote of the week (at least in my world) was from one of the CEO’s I work with regarding Silicon Valley. After a short trip to the bay area, he told wrote me a quick email that said “I love coming out here. It’s like high school but with money instead of girls.” That reminded me of a line that a fellow bay area VC dropped on me at lunch last month “Just remember – Silicon Valley isn’t America and VC’s aren’t really people.”

I’m not a lover of military stories, but I think Tracy Kidder is one of the best writers currently living on this planet. I picked up My Detachment in one of the English language bookstores in Paris that Amy and I discovered (Village Voice Bookshop in the 6th was my favorite) and gobbled it down on the plane ride home. It was magnificent – once again Kidder delivered a beautifully written book – this time about his personal experience as a Lieutenant in the Vietnam War. When I went online this morning to look at some of the critical reviews, I found several of them negative – suggesting that Kidder didn’t really “get it” and that the book is “pointless.” I thought those reviewers were missing the “point” – maybe I think Kidder is being too subtle, but he really does get at the fundamental “pointlessness” of war without either slamming you in the face with it or getting under your skin about it. 

Ah – it’s so nice to be home. A run to town, lunch at The Rio, a massage, and maybe a movie in the late afternoon. What could be a better way to spend a Sunday?

This week was my quarterly “week off from email / telephone / work.” However, I didn’t really feel like I needed a complete break this time, so I kept up with email although I stayed off the phone. Amy and I finished up a great month in Paris with lots of reading, walking around, a trip to the Louvre, great runs on the Seine, some good meals, and more reading. But – no blogging – and it was really refreshing. I hope you missed me.

Dan Rua sent me a link to his new Florida Venture Blog, subtitled No-BS Venture Thoughts for No-BS Entrepreneurs. There’s plenty of good stuff there if you are interested in what’s going on in the Florida VC / entrepreneur scene (or if you just want to read another VC related blog.)

Amy and I had a delicious lunch with Pierre-Denis Autric at Ristorante Gallo Romano near Notre Dame. Pierre-Denis met me through my blog, dropped me an email inviting me out to lunch, and – well – there you have it. At lunch, I discovered that Capgemini just started a CTO blog which has an excellent entry on 24 that evolves into an explanation of user interfaces. It’s delightful to see 24 continuing to be used as a thematic launching point as well as make a new friend over a great lunch.