the quantum t-shirts have landed

it's an exciting week for us here at blue13creative preparing to celebrate the launch of our very own quantum t-shirts! during the past several months we've been busy working on this clothing line and we're thankful that it's finally coming to life. and our debut show, scheduled for friday, may 6th at the lost dog lounge in durango, colorado, is just a few short days away.

we've been going back and forth on where and when to have this launch party. and while blue13 is undoubtedly super excited to have an official event here in denver in the very near future (first friday in june, likely), we decided to take the show on the road for a few reasons.

first and foremost, we LOVE durango. i graduated from fort lewis college in '99 (has it been that long?) and simply refused to leave after receiving my degree. i had an amazing group of friends and was working in the wine industry during the day and as an editor for the durango herald at night. life was (and is) good.

and, as many of you know, ski-town living in colorado is incomparable. the sense of community in our state's mountain towns is unlike anything i've experienced before or since.

back then, i was heavily involved in several community media outlets and organizations. these days, two really good friends of mine are 1) the station manager at KDUR, durango's community radio station and, 2) the arts & entertainment editor at the herald. good friends to have when you're in need of some local press, indeed. along with the handful of pals i have in the wholesale/retail/service beverage industries, it just made sense to make our shirt debut in the four corners.

this week has been consumed with show preparations by a guy (yours truly) who knows very little about assembling a successful art show. i always assumed there wasn't much beyond hanging art and offering free booze. ha! and while those concepts will be the pillars of our event friday night, i'm learning on the fly that there's more to pulling off a knockout event.

i've been able to recruit a couple friends to volunteer at the show to help with sales and stuff. other friends of mine are helping with the set up at the gallery and making sure everyone stays well greased (i.e. glasses stay full).

the quantum t-shirt project has been about a year in the making. the results to our event this weekend are relatively important for the success of blue13 moving forward. we hope the designs are received as well as their concept has been since we've been talking about them last summer.

considering many of the shirts have an eastern philosophical theme, i'm genuinely trying to put into practice some of the ideals that inspired the project to begin with. i've blogged about some cool contemporary takes on taoism in the past, but for the upcoming weekend i'm focusing on the taoist principal of detachment. it is important, according to taoist teachings, to detach ourselves from expectations of any kind.


taoist detachment, also expressed as non-attachment, is a state in which a person overcomes his attachment to desire for results and thus attains a heightened perspective. it is a vehicle to help release an individual from desire and ultimately from self-created suffering.

lao tzu, the ancient philosopher widely recognized as the founder of taoism, expressed the concept of detachment in the world-renowned tao te ching text as such:

"self or wealth: which is more precious? gain or loss: which is more painful? he who is attached to things will suffer much. he who saves will suffer heavy loss. a contented man is rarely disappointed."

so... in the end, the quantum t-shirt project is really just a bunch of shirts. would i like for the designs to be a grand success? sure. but if the trip ends up being nothing more than an opportunity to catch up with old friends and show them what i've been up to for the past year, that sounds pretty good, too.

besides, i hear they have a damn fine brewery in that little town i love so much.

here's to abundant prosperity for all of us. thanks for reading.

-mc