
August 2018 List of Stuff
An ongoing list of things I’ve looked into throughout the month
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Apps
- Anchor
Events
- Akela Collective — Andrea Luper Show
- Assembly Meeting (2)
- Aurora Awards
- District 20 Candidates Forum
- Downtown Community Council
- Downtown Market and Fair
- Election Central Watch Party
- Flattop Mountain
- First Friday
- Leadership Anchorage Open House
- Live After Five (2)
- Liz Fundraiser
- Midtown Farmer’s Market
- Mountain View Post Release
- The Spenardian Release
Movies
- Captain America (re-watch)
- The Meg
- The Equalizer 2
Shows
- Jack Ryan
Thinkers
- Gary Vee
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Reflection
August started off with rain. Summer suddenly ended. There have been a couple days of pristine, sunshiny days, but for the most part they’ve been grey. We’re in that weird zone where it’s just chilly enough to need a light down jacket in the morning, but fine with short sleeves in the afternoon.
And so as the weather changes and it gets darker and darker, I am reminded of my first August here a little over a year ago. My first few weeks exploring nature, exploring my new city, and revealing in my new life trajectory. I can’t help but have nostalgia for this month. I really really love August here the grass is still green, bright green, and the air is crisp and brisk but you know that it’s all gone in a few weeks. You’re trying to squeeze those last few days out of the season because soon it’ll be ice and snow.
My habitual nature to explore has taken me to many more farmers markets this month, it has lead me on long drives in my city and to the surrounding areas. I made some time to go to Eagle River and Chugiak to which I was pleasantly surprised. I got back in the habit of watching movies at the movie theater and enjoying them. Enjoying the experience that is, and finding movies that I could sit through without wanting to fast forward.
I made started running again, which I’ve stopped for a month because I injured my knee and I’m looking forward to the winter sports season and trying to get into yoga or weight training again.
The most time consuming thing other than all the extra curricular has been the DAR. For the second month is has consumed my everyday, in a good way. I am constantly thinking about how to tell the stories of Downtown, to do it justice. The more I tell the more I’m finding that I’m not telling. I hope that I can continue to grow the DAR, that I can keep up the pace that I have set for myself this month and really start to build it into a Repository that everyone can use. I want to share it all!
This year I have been hyper aware of every month, and to be able to look back and see all the thing that I set out to do I am accomplishing is amazing.
I find myself getting more and more invested in the community. More and more invested in the people and really wanting to connect out in the city as my professional life grows and my personal live continues to evolve.
I’m finding myself taking more and more of an interest in the political scenes here too. I’ve been to a number of events this month that are about the changing of the guard in local politics and are signalizing to me a shift in who we want to run our governments. I’m seeing a ground swell of women stepping up to take charge, and it being a huge deal. I’ve been saying for the past year that the antidote to crazed political landscape right now is the elevation of women. I still wholeheartedly believe that and I’m excited to help our women leader thrive in our city.
Also, having a year long perspective has emboldened me with a sense of time that I didn’t have before. I can see what coming seasonally, events wise, the ebbs and flows of my mental state, and my making sure I get in those last goals I want to accomplish for the year.
August is a culmination of a lot of things for me. But it’s also the beginning of my second year and knowing what I know now I’m ready embrace Alaska deeper and do even more this go round.

