Catégorie : Travel

Four fawns stood in the street over the creek in our subdivision as I was driving out for a beer yesterday evening. Four.  I’m told it’s unusual to see four fawns together, all skinny stilts and big ears and spots and not yet savvy about things like streets. Fawns and such have been a relief this week from the blaring dreariness of what humans have been up to.

If you have a pet, this should be a cautionary tale. Americans spent $14.2 billion on veterinary care for their pets in 2013—and that doesn’t include proprietary health diets and food supplements. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat.

AND YET AGAIN I WAS ONLY LEFT WITH NATURE

Mysteries like these could be solved by more research, but how can we get vets to pay attention to the studies that have been done? It would help if professional bodies took a strong evidence-based stand.

I’ve started to think that my gut is an asshole for another reason. If he’s so smart, and always right, why the hell is he holding out on me? What does he know that he isn’t telling my brain? Why does he know things that my brain doesn’t?

It’s easy to forget our connection to nature, when so little of what we interact with in our daily lives reminds us of the natural world it’s all built upon

The first thing that comes to mind is their genuine presence. A child’s laugh, or a dog’s tail wagging, or a cat’s purr all feel like money in the bank to me. I receive palpable pleasure when seeing their joy, and it makes me want to create more of it by playing with them or petting them.

It would help if professional bodies took a strong evidence-based stand. I receive palpable pleasure when seeing their joy, and it makes me want to create more of it by playing with them or petting them. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat.

Mysteries like these could be solved by more research, but how can we get vets to pay attention to the studies that have been done? It would help if professional bodies took a strong evidence-based stand.

A child’s laugh, or a dog’s tail wagging, or a cat’s purr all feel like money in the bank to me.

I’ve started to think that my gut is an asshole for another reason. If he’s so smart, and always right, why the hell is he holding out on me? What does he know that he isn’t telling my brain? Why does he know things that my brain doesn’t?

If you have a pet, this should be a cautionary tale. Americans spent $14.2 billion on veterinary care for their pets in 2013—and that doesn’t include proprietary health diets and food supplements. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat.

Anyone who’s spent a fair amount of time in the world’s hostel dormitories will have met the culprit. He sits there on the bottom bunk, emaciated tanned limbs protruding from a Bintang vest and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers printed with a flailing dragon, and then he starts to witter.

Go to Chinatown, alone, preferably in the late afternoon. Walk around. Go into one of the shops that sells mysterious (to me) herbs and dried things. Buy some condiments or beef jerky or sweet buns for, what, $2. Listen to the grandmas hollering at their children and grandchildren, and the vegetable sellers.

Those events that are always at, like, 11pm on a Wednesday, in the east 30s or something? Go to one. Just go. Go alone if nobody else wants to go. Maybe it will suck, maybe everyone you meet will be obnoxious, but the point is that it is happening, someone is trying something, and even though we all know New York is a terrible place for creative types, it is also a wonderful place for creative types, because sometimes people show up at 11pm on a Wednesday to watch grown adults roll around on a floor in the east 30s.

Walk around. Go into one of the shops that sells mysterious (to me) herbs and dried things. Buy some condiments or beef jerky or sweet buns for, what, $2. He sits there on the bottom bunk, emaciated tanned limbs protruding from a Bintang vest and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers printed with a flailing dragon, and then he starts to witter. Try to remember a place that used to make you feel like you loved New York. If it’s still there, go there. If it’s been turned into a condo or an artisanal mustard store or whatever, try to identify what it was about that place that made you love New York.

He sits there on the bottom bunk, emaciated tanned limbs protruding from a Bintang vest and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers printed with a flailing dragon, and then he starts to witter.

Of all the places I’ve ever done gongfu tea, my very favorite is my uncle’s living room. A true tea connoisseur, he took a personal interest in educating me and my American partner about tea during our last visit to my hometown of Fuzhou.

And then again, I am ruining the Tea Road by being a complete coffee addict. Coffee is the fuel to a hard long day followed by a harder, longer night. Coffee is the cheap addiction to jumpstart mornings, to quicken afternoons, and to prolong midnights. The character of coffee is attitude, a swagger in which priorities have been predetermined.

Moving to Glasgow, Scotland for studies, the first thing I learned from one of my Scottish flatmate who is an artistic hound of the city was that there is no way you will drink from Starbucks or Costa around here if you visited Frida’s.

VIBRANT, ZEALOUS, RELENTLESS

That summer, since I have been postponing on seeing who’s Frida and how good is her coffee, I decided to grab a bus and see with my own eyes (and taste) this mystique coffee shop she’s been telling me about. And there I am, talking with Frida, just in front of the coffee store, not even entering the place, and things are just delightful from the beginning.

SHE OPENED UP THE TEA BOX AND MY EYES MUST HAVE LIT UP. SHE SAW I LIKED HER CHINA COLLECTION, AND SHE VERY MUCH LIKED THIS FACT.

She took pride in telling me how her mother keeps sending her different types and she asked me to choose the one we wanted. The first time I went with her favorite. The woman has some taste.

Thereafter I would simply say “Surprise me.” She hated it when I said that. That made me want to say it even more. I think I was in her room all of 10 times if that. Yet it all mattered so much.

Coffee is the fuel to a hard long day followed by a harder, longer night. Coffee is the cheap addiction to jumpstart mornings, to quicken afternoons, and to prolong midnights. The character of coffee is attitude, a swagger in which priorities have been predetermined.

SURPRISE AFTER SURPRISE

Thereafter I would simply say “Surprise me.” She hated it when I said that. That made me want to say it even more. I think I was in her room all of 10 times if that. Yet it all mattered so much.

Coffee is the fuel to a hard long day followed by a harder, longer night. Coffee is the cheap addiction to jumpstart mornings, to quicken afternoons, and to prolong midnights. The character of coffee is attitude, a swagger in which priorities have been predetermined. Coffee is the cheap addiction to jumpstart mornings, to quicken afternoons, and to prolong midnights.

Nothing excites me more than the split of second when I visualise something in mind which I have never ever possibly imagine before. I am so afraid to miss that fragment of vision, I will have to sketch it down immediately in my book. And this above, is that vision I have been keeping for a good timing.

I’m a firm believer that how your day goes depends on how you choose to start it. The days I’ve gotten up late and eaten a junky breakfast, my day is usually sluggish and a bit depressing. However, when I wake up early and take the time to gently allow myself to come into the day, I know I have an awesome 24 hours ahead of me.

Certainly, if you work well in one style, but are not as confident working in another, then it makes sense to leave that less confident work out of your portfolio.

I will have to sketch it down immediately in my book. And this above, is that vision I have been keeping for a good timing. No matter how narrow your scope is, there will always be stuff in the middle for you to trim away from your thought process.

I know my scope is a big one, so maybe it’s hard to apply it to your life. Maybe you have to worry about politics or process. The idea is to understand the “why” that is up in the clouds, and then be obnoxiously proficient at the “how” that is down in the dirt. No matter how narrow your scope is, there will always be stuff in the middle for you to trim away from your thought process.

The days I’ve gotten up late and eaten a junky breakfast, my day is usually sluggish and a bit depressing. However, when I wake up early and take the time to gently allow myself to come into the day, I know I have an awesome 24 hours ahead of me. I am so afraid to miss that fragment of vision, I will have to sketch it down immediately in my book. And this above, is that vision I have been keeping for a good timing.

Four fawns stood in the street over the creek in our subdivision as I was driving out for a beer yesterday evening. Four.

I’m told it’s unusual to see four fawns together, all skinny stilts and big ears and spots and not yet savvy about things like streets. Fawns and such have been a relief this week from the blaring dreariness of what humans have been up to.

SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN I MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY AND FOUND THAT IT WAS HOST TO A LITANY OF FERAL CRITTERS

If you have a pet, this should be a cautionary tale. Americans spent $14.2 billion on veterinary care for their pets in 2013—and that doesn’t include proprietary health diets and food supplements. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat.

AND YET AGAIN I WAS ONLY LEFT WITH NATURE

Mysteries like these could be solved by more research, but how can we get vets to pay attention to the studies that have been done? It would help if professional bodies took a strong evidence-based stand.

I’ve started to think that my gut is an asshole for another reason. If he’s so smart, and always right, why the hell is he holding out on me? What does he know that he isn’t telling my brain? Why does he know things that my brain doesn’t?

It’s easy to forget our connection to nature, when so little of what we interact with in our daily lives reminds us of the natural world it’s all built upon — the products we use, the buildings we occupy, the streets we travel.

The first thing that comes to mind is their genuine presence. A child’s laugh, or a dog’s tail wagging, or a cat’s purr all feel like money in the bank to me. I receive palpable pleasure when seeing their joy, and it makes me want to create more of it by playing with them or petting them.

Sometimes the hikes would last as long as three hours. Lighting at the locations — which were not always planned out — meant the images themselves are also largely the result of nature’s whims.

The issue for me is that after this period the city falls back to sleep again. More specifically, during Christmas people seem to rack their brains just to figure out ways to make their city more attractive. In their efforts to do so they even seem to fix some issues the city faced for a long time.

I’ve never been the outgoing type, so meeting new people was always hard for me. In the past, it took me months to meet new people and build new relationships. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

Things are moving faster than you think

We’ll no longer need a physical piece of technology to connect with one another. Carrying around a device to help us function already feels vintage. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

You’ll always find good Limoncello in Soho

In example reflecting this is that there was a big street with Caffès, in the part of Athens where I live in, which did not have street lights installed. Although they were struggling for months to fix that, the issue was conviniently solved just a couple of days ago. Coincidence? I do not think so.

Traffic lights are prettier at dawn

The largest part of my route involves riding through an avenue with heavy traffic and public buses. There’s a park in the center of the avenue that includes a bike lane. Which means, by law, I should ride through the park’s bike lane and not the street… but I don’t.

Learning the art of the barter starts with having a sense of humor. You need to go in with a smile and speak of outrageous prices — even try to sell your (girl)friends in exchange for a negotiated number of handwoven rugs.

I could describe the labyrinthine soil paths winding back into the bowels of the Grand Medina. I could tell you about pungent spice stalls, glimmering jewelry, and silver light fixtures that cast their intricately patterned glow on colorful rugs woven by ancient Berber tribes.

The open-air Berber marketplace is a completely foreign and entirely authentic world.

For miles around, the dunes rolled like red-tinged waves in the sea. I had ridden a camelto the spot where I would gaze at a million stars that night, smiling at the fact I was finallysomewhere I had dreamed about under the same stars thousands of miles away.

As a teenager, Rechtshaid set up a small studio in his parents’ garage, and started recording and producing friends’ bands. One of his first public releases was by the rapper Murs, a friend from high school.

Sometimes the hikes would last as long as three hours. Lighting at the locations — which were not always planned out — meant the images themselves are also largely the result of nature’s whims.

The issue for me is that after this period the city falls back to sleep again. More specifically, during Christmas people seem to rack their brains just to figure out ways to make their city more attractive. In their efforts to do so they even seem to fix some issues the city faced for a long time.

I’ve never been the outgoing type, so meeting new people was always hard for me. In the past, it took me months to meet new people and build new relationships. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

THINGS ARE MOVING FASTER THAN YOU THINK

We’ll no longer need a physical piece of technology to connect with one another. Carrying around a device to help us function already feels vintage. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

YOU’LL ALWAYS FIND GOOD LIMONCELLO IN SOHO

In example reflecting this is that there was a big street with Caffès, in the part of Athens where I live in, which did not have street lights installed. Although they were struggling for months to fix that, the issue was conviniently solved just a couple of days ago. Coincidence? I do not think so.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE PRETTIER AT DAWN

The largest part of my route involves riding through an avenue with heavy traffic and public buses. There’s a park in the center of the avenue that includes a bike lane. Which means, by law, I should ride through the park’s bike lane and not the street… but I don’t.

Anyone who’s spent a fair amount of time in the world’s hostel dormitories will have met the culprit. He sits there on the bottom bunk, emaciated tanned limbs protruding from a Bintang vest and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers printed with a flailing dragon, and then he starts to witter.

Go to Chinatown, alone, preferably in the late afternoon. Walk around. Go into one of the shops that sells mysterious (to me) herbs and dried things. Buy some condiments or beef jerky or sweet buns for, what, $2. Listen to the grandmas hollering at their children and grandchildren, and the vegetable sellers.

Those events that are always at, like, 11pm on a Wednesday, in the east 30s or something? Go to one. Just go. Go alone if nobody else wants to go. Maybe it will suck, maybe everyone you meet will be obnoxious, but the point is that it is happening, someone is trying something, and even though we all know New York is a terrible place for creative types, it is also a wonderful place for creative types, because sometimes people show up at 11pm on a Wednesday to watch grown adults roll around on a floor in the east 30s.

He sits there on the bottom bunk, emaciated tanned limbs protruding from a Bintang vest and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers printed with a flailing dragon, and then he starts to witter. Try to remember a place that used to make you feel like you loved New York. If it’s still there, go there. If it’s been turned into a condo or an artisanal mustard store or whatever, try to identify what it was about that place that made you love New York.

Sometimes the hikes would last as long as three hours. Lighting at the locations — which were not always planned out — meant the images themselves are also largely the result of nature’s whims.

The issue for me is that after this period the city falls back to sleep again. More specifically, during Christmas people seem to rack their brains just to figure out ways to make their city more attractive. In their efforts to do so they even seem to fix some issues the city faced for a long time.

I’ve never been the outgoing type, so meeting new people was always hard for me. In the past, it took me months to meet new people and build new relationships. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

Things are moving faster than you think

We’ll no longer need a physical piece of technology to connect with one another. Carrying around a device to help us function already feels vintage. I hope we’ll reverse the ‘need’ to be digitally present so we can once again connect with the real world around us. Disconnect to connect.

You’ll always find good Limoncello in Soho

In example reflecting this is that there was a big street with Caffès, in the part of Athens where I live in, which did not have street lights installed. Although they were struggling for months to fix that, the issue was conviniently solved just a couple of days ago. Coincidence? I do not think so.

Traffic lights are prettier at dawn

The largest part of my route involves riding through an avenue with heavy traffic and public buses. There’s a park in the center of the avenue that includes a bike lane. Which means, by law, I should ride through the park’s bike lane and not the street… but I don’t.

Four fawns stood in the street over the creek in our subdivision as I was driving out for a beer yesterday evening. Four.

I’m told it’s unusual to see four fawns together, all skinny stilts and big ears and spots and not yet savvy about things like streets. Fawns and such have been a relief this week from the blaring dreariness of what humans have been up to.

SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN I MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY AND FOUND THAT IT WAS HOST TO A LITANY OF FERAL CRITTERS

If you have a pet, this should be a cautionary tale. Americans spent $14.2 billion on veterinary care for their pets in 2013—and that doesn’t include proprietary health diets and food supplements. Put another way, pet owners pay about $850 annually in veterinary expenses per dog, and about $575 per cat.

AND YET AGAIN I WAS ONLY LEFT WITH NATURE

Mysteries like these could be solved by more research, but how can we get vets to pay attention to the studies that have been done? It would help if professional bodies took a strong evidence-based stand.

I’ve started to think that my gut is an asshole for another reason. If he’s so smart, and always right, why the hell is he holding out on me? What does he know that he isn’t telling my brain? Why does he know things that my brain doesn’t?

It’s easy to forget our connection to nature, when so little of what we interact with in our daily lives reminds us of the natural world it’s all built upon — the products we use, the buildings we occupy, the streets we travel.

The first thing that comes to mind is their genuine presence. A child’s laugh, or a dog’s tail wagging, or a cat’s purr all feel like money in the bank to me. I receive palpable pleasure when seeing their joy, and it makes me want to create more of it by playing with them or petting them.

Learning the art of the barter starts with having a sense of humor. You need to go in with a smile and speak of outrageous prices — even try to sell your (girl)friends in exchange for a negotiated number of handwoven rugs.

I could describe the labyrinthine soil paths winding back into the bowels of the Grand Medina. I could tell you about pungent spice stalls, glimmering jewelry, and silver light fixtures that cast their intricately patterned glow on colorful rugs woven by ancient Berber tribes.

The open-air Berber marketplace is a completely foreign and entirely authentic world.

For miles around, the dunes rolled like red-tinged waves in the sea. I had ridden a camelto the spot where I would gaze at a million stars that night, smiling at the fact I was finallysomewhere I had dreamed about under the same stars thousands of miles away.