(Aspen?) Summit

Bob here: I have returned, patient readers, from the jungle of Costa Rica. I'm sorry that I didn't keep up with yr idle chatter whilst I was away, but the internet speeds available in the cobwebbed corners of the globe are probably in the neighborhood of 28kbs (making hotmail downloads extremely tedious) and I hadn't the time to dally with - what is crystal clear to a man on an expedition of this nature - a triviality the likes of email.

However, you all should have been aware of my absence, as I had posted that fact on TheClock. You remember TheClock, right? I had intended to use that blog as our conduit of communication on this Aspen Summit matter, as it's persistence allows a common reference and saves us all from the many iterations of "original message" on our replies thru email. I referenced TheClock in my earlier emails to lead you horses to the water that is Joe's blog, but obviously I couldn't make you drink of his genius. I returned from my absence to a dozen petty emails, each longer than the previous, trashing Scott's admittedly horrific and affected musical "taste". However apt that is - and certainly, it is - it would have been much better on TheClock. And I'd like a permanent record of our correspondence for later reference, or ridicule, without having to stink up my email folders. Examples:

Kevin: What's really frigtening is the syntax of that sentece I just constructed.
[The previous sentence is frightening, Kevin?]

Scott: But Stevie Nicks' drumming on "Rumours" takes it over the top for me. 'nuff said. The story of my life can be read on the back of abottle of Balvenie and in the crow's feet of Jonathon Richman's face. 'nuff said, already. bfn
[I really want to assume Scott was very, very drunk when he wrote this... for several reasons. I'll mention only the obvious: Mick Fleetwood was the drummer for Fleetwood Mac, not Stevie Nicks. BTW, what is "bfn"?]

Kevin, again: I could make it any of the three weekends 11-12, 19-19 or 25-26.
[We must use different brands of calendars. As Scott would say, 'nuff said]

Greg: ...Bright Eyes is the so called band name in one of those Jethro Tulllike member obfuscations...
[Talk about yr obfuscations!]

On to the matter at hand: Aspen Summit. I am saddened that you all seem content to visit for a weekend (how 'bout the 19-19?), apparently fit in between luncheons and strategy meetings back at the home office. Are two days all you can stand of each other?

You are four of my favorite people in the world, and I want us to spend some time together but it occurred to me recently that when I've been with more than one of you at a time we have dinner, maybe a few drinks, and then the visit devolves into nostalgia (Remember the time that we... ) and then the visit is over. My intent, and interest, in this Summit is, or was, to get us together to share some new experience. No, nothing gay, Kevin. Just something new or challenging. Write a song, catch marlin, travel a trail, make a movie, raft a river... whatever. It's just a McGuffin - any device to transport us out of our usual ruts and away from our day-to-day worries. We are quietly desperate men, and need to be re-born with fresh awareness thru new experience. I suggested my neighborhood as a site because this place truly is special. You don't realize it, but here in the mountains lies a gift patiently waiting for you. Kerouac knew it. HST knew it.

I just now found this on the website of The Aspen Institute. Perhaps you'll find it inspiring. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/index.asp?bid=457 "Chicago businessman Walter Paepcke (1896-1960), chairman of the Container Corporation of America, first visited Aspen, Colorado in 1945. Inspired by its great natural beauty, he envisioned it as an ideal gathering place for thinkers, leaders, artists, and musicians from all over the world to step away from their daily routines and reflect on the underlying values of society and culture. He dreamed of transforming the town into a center for dialogue, a place for "lifting us out of our usual selves," as one visitor to Paepcke's Aspen would put it."

Perhaps my dream was naive, and my suggestions for activities a bit too Hemingway-esque for some, but my intent was to give you all a special experience, and real R&R from your citified lives. And no, it wouldn't have been (very) physically punishing (as Joe put it). I really wish you would trust me on this one. But two days is really not enough time to do anything around here, it wouldn't be fair to you. If you can commit to four days, and it has to be in Sept, I suggest flying in Fri Sept 9 or very early Sat Sept 10, leaving on Tues Sep 13. If you can't spend four days out of the office I suggest we get together somewhere else, and do something else. I'm completely open to ideas.

Why did I choose that weekend? The previous weekend is my town's big music festival http://www.jazzaspen.com/Template.cfm?PageLinkID=1009 and the following weekend I'd like to either attend the Telluride Blues and Brews festival (very fun) http://www.tellurideblues.com/2004/2004performers.html
or run a half marathon thru the hills from Snowmass to Aspen (Kevin, the mountains call to you!) http://www.utemountaineer.com/goldenleaf.htm
The decision is dependent upon how my running program pans out. But you're all invited to that, too.

So, the ball is back in your court.