The Woodsmen

I took a brief hiatus last week in an attempt to get some much-needed rest and recovery while I quietly celebrated my 50th birthday (ouch). As usual, things didn't work out exactly as planned - I didn't get much rest, but it was a well-needed change of scenery. The San Juan Islands which arguably are one the most beautiful spots in the world, enabled me to at least spend more time hiking/walking/thinking and just being.

Right before sunset one afternoon, I jetted over to Lime Kiln Point, aka "the whale watch park" (where the picture above was taken). Unfortunately, I didn't see any whales this trip — but was great to get time to take it all in.

No one else was there; just me, the sky, the water, the air, the sunset.

Breathing. Absorbing. Thinking. Walking.

I've been discovering how much of a creative act walking actually is. Looking inward. Listening to yourself.

It reminded me of a scene towards the climax of the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", in which Sean O'Connell (played by Sean Penn), spent hours watching a rare white tiger and hesitates before taking a photo:

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention"

And that

“If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don’t like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it. Right there. Right here.”

In the craziness of today's world, I'd recommend doing something similar. It's helping reset a few things for me, making me feel more alive. More in touch. Be in the moment.

Highly recommended. :)

If you're interested in my daily ramblings, follow me on Twitter or my posts on this blog.

Forward Thinking

James Hoffmann won the World Barista Championship in 2007 and has one of the most entertaining and informative YouTube channels for coffee enthusiasts. While I search his site often for reviews on various equipment or techniques, I reallyenjoyed his brilliant work in "Drinking Donuts (In Coffee)"

Latest Obsession

I drink a ton of tea. Like, a LOT of tea. Recently I talked about the best tea infuser, this week I want to share my favorite loose-leaf tea: No 40 - BonBon

Described as "A delightful, caffeine-free confection in a cup, combining the creamy flavor of Northwest grown peppermint leaves with sweet cinnamon, licorice, ginger, and distinct notes of chocolate. One sip and you'll feel like a very grown-up kid in a candy store."

I steep 3 or 4 cups a day of this stuff. Totally addicted.

This weeks "Deep Links"

Here's a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• Sparked by two different conversations that I had this week on the usage of TLA's (three letter acronyms) and how bad they are, "There Is Only One Thing IMHO Can Mean" revisits the debate on if that "H" is for "honest" or "humble" - More
• One of the things I pride myself in is open and transparent conversations, and if I'm being honest - I've been under a shit-ton of stress the last 2 years. "Why Focus is a Mental Health Must" looks at the 'Focus Work Movement', something I intend to explore - More
• Based on their previous work on the animatronic Spiderman known as Stuntronics, I'm not at all surprised to read that "Disney Imagineering Project Kiwi is a free-walking robot that will make you believe in Groot" - More
• "Passenger survives being hit in the head by flying turtle" pretty much sums up 2020/2021 in a nutshell - More
• Ever wonder what happens if you never returned a video tape? Read "She never returned a VHS copy of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch,’ 20 years later, she faced a felony." to find out - More
• Microsoft posted a fantastic article "Research Proves Your Brain Needs Breaks", which furthers the point that back to back virtual meetings are stressful - More
• Incredible art work here in "Bored in the pandemic, she made art by bruising bananas. Now she has an international following." follows Anna Chojnicka and how she figured out how to draw/bruise a banana peel through oxidization - More
• For years, the Mac came with a 'death sound', that would play when the machine was unable to boot; in "Mac Chimes of Death" you can now listen to all of them - More
• Chain Reaction from Journey hit my playlist the other day during a long drive, and I started to reminisce about the 1983 video game based on the band. Read "Journey – Hardcore Gaming 101" to find out more about this classic hit - More
• "It's Not Cancel Culture — It's A Platform Failure." examines the problems with Twitter's Trending Topics and the issue of 'context collapse' - More
• "A New Threat to New York’s Clean Energy Goals: Bitcoin Mining" adds one more thing to the problems of Bitcoin: environmental disaster - More

Fin

This week I'm going to leave you with David Lynch's daily weather report. The “Twin Peaks” creator, for some reason only known to him, has been delivering the weather from LA relentlessly every day since May of 2020.

It's wild. Brilliant. And totally David Lynch.