Cheva

Ski Spectacular!

2007-12-04T18:38:00Z

Hi all,

Well, it seems that Disaboom and adaptive skiing are in the same sentence a lot these days. After finishing up 36 hours of Keystone this weekend, I'm still catching up on my sleep. It was a great time and I think the most important thing was having Ricci on our team and showing how amazing and cool adaptive skiing is.

So, onto the next skiing event: Ski Spectacular 2007! Going on right now and all this week is Ski Spectacular, an event partially sponsored by Disaboom in which people get to learn adaptive skiing, see what it is, and watch the US Disabled Ski Team race! Muffy Davis will be up there to take people skiing and demonstrate her skills as well. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Disabled Sports USA. DSUSA is a national nonprofit organization originally established for Vietnam disabled veterans. It has developed into a rehabilitation program for people with disabilities who want to get into adaptive sports.

I will be heading up there tomorrow night to hang out with Muffy and the adaptive skiiers and wounded warriors. I hope to get lots of interviews and pictures. I will also try to blog while I'm up there to keep you all updated!

36 Hours!

2007-11-28T21:52:00Z

It's coming! 36 hours of Keystone, which means 36 hours of beautiful, wonderful, delicious skiing! Or, in my case, snowboarding. This event sounds a bit more hardcore than it actually is. The rules stipulate that one member of your team must ski one run per hour. Therefore, some sleep will be possible, if only in 3 hour increments. It sounds like a good time though, doesn't it?

And the best part? Besides the hot tub, Bacardi tent, 36 hours of guitar hero, and skiing? Well, that would be the cause of this whole silly event. 36 hours of Keystone is an event to raise money and awareness for adaptive skiing. In fact, we even have an adaptive skiier on each of Disaboom's two teams: Ricci Kilgore and Marc Romero--it will be very cool to see what they can do.

So, make sure you all stay tuned to the blog postings and stay updated to how the Disaboom teams are doing! Click here!

My time at the Blind Bean

2007-11-14T14:18:00Z

Yesterday was a great day. I drove over to Boulder to interview Gerry, a blind coffee roaster. Being a huge fan of coffee, the thought of being surrounded by thousands of coffee beans was too good to pass up, not to mention the intrigue of seeing how a blind man roasts coffee just by sound, smell, and touch. I was greeted at the door by two big dogs, one of which I recognized as MidKnight from his cameos on the coffee signs and labels.

Gerry has been blind his whole life. He was a car mechanic for 40 years before he decided to try his hand at coffee roasting, a new passion. I heard his shouts from somewhere in the building. We played this marco-polo-esque game until we finally found each other. He stuck his hand out, trusting I would see it and shake his hand. After sitting down with Gerry and asking my usual string of questions, he showed me around his palace.

In the warehouse was an infinite number of coffee beans. Some in big sacks, threatening to burst, others separated into plastic barrels. He started feeling around the barrells, eager for me to smell and look. The braille labels on the side allow him to know where the Panama, Zambia, Columbia, or countless other varieties of beans reside. However, it seems as though the labels are just for back up, he appears to have memorized the maze of bean barrells. I smelled the raw, unroasted green beans. They had an earthy, unripe smell to them--not the delicious coffee bean smell I love.

He showed me his first roaster, a quarter pounder machine that could only produce a pound of coffee beans an hour, at best. This is where he got his start, roasting tiny amounts of coffee in his shed in his back yard, until finally he could afford a large roaster, one which could produce several pounds at a time.

Finally, the finished product. The barrels of freshly roasted barrels were heaven. I was tempted to crawl inside and ask to be left alone for a while, but that probably would've been inappropriate. Needless to say, I left with a pound of beans that made my car smell wonderful. I quickly made a pot of coffee and enjoyed my remarkable cup of coffee. A smooth, medium blend, and just roasted in the past day. It spoiled me, and I doubt I will ever be okay with mediocre coffee again.

If you want to try this amazing man's coffee, you can order it online at www.theunseenbean.com

Trust me, this is not a solicitation, I'm just a fan.

First blog

2007-11-08T13:36:00Z

So, here I am. At Tim's request, or prodding, I'm here to blog and allow people a chance to get to know another person working at Disaboom, while I get to know you all a bit more.

I started at Disaboom in July--it feels like 4 years ago rather than 4 months. What do I do? I get asked that question a lot. Most of the time I answer Assistant Editor and let their imaginations roam with thoughts of me holding a giant red marker and bestowing rath upon the bad grammar of the world. Spelling error?! Hell no!

Really, grammar isn't my thing--I'd love to have the ability to spot split infinitives from 500 yards away, but I'm just not there. Okay, this is not a post about grammar. What I do can't be explained in one sentence. This company is expanding and changing everyday, so in reality, we all wear about 50 different hats on any given week.

My favorite hat is my writing one. I've written about 10 articles for Disaboom so far. It's usually a quick process of: "Cherl, you have to interview this amazing person and write about their amazingness!" And I call these amazing people up: the mothers, sky-divers, extreme skiers, actors, athletes, etc., and every time, I am completely blown away by their stories. It's astounding what people overcome and achieve despite tragedy.

Thanks for reading. I'll try and make this a regular thing!