Telestrations

Comings&Goings

After the holidays

I could not help but laugh when, in the wake of the annual holiday food fest, someone posted on FB a funny video of a large seal flapping and writhing his way across the ice with the caption below stating, “This is what I feel like as I head back to the gym following the holidays.”  So apropos, so true. Yes, the holidays are behind us with hopes that everyone enjoyed some rest and relaxation with family and friends. I know that the Stevens family did although, even in the midst of our collective time together, our thoughts were never far from friends and strangers alike who continue to persevere through loss and difficult times.  Our collective hope is that 2019 will yield promise and hope for everyone. Happy New Year.

Hamilton

Through the kindness and generosity of a good friend, Amy and I finally attended Hamilton, and the production – not surprisingly – didn’t disappoint.  As I highlighted in the past, I have truly come to appreciate talented individuals who perform in all sorts of venues, and I can only begin to imagine all that goes on behind the scenes to reach their respective levels of artistic achievement.  As those of you who have already seen Hamilton can attest, the narrative, the music, the choreography, the acting, and the constant motion of this musical is powerful and inspiring. Through set design, scene changes, and action, one has the sensation that the world of Hamilton, in terms of character, space, and history are in constant flux.  I am already looking forward to seeing the production again, sometime, somewhere. I also caught a glimpse of the Golden Globe Awards and plan to have one resolution for the new year – see more movies!

Lake Tahoe

Amy and I had the good fortune of spending a week of skiing and family fun in Lake Tahoe over New Year’s.  Among other highlights and along with our family, we hosted Abby’s roommates and local friends to dinner and a night of games.  While admittedly I am not a big game guy following a full dinner, vino, etc., Amy is! Our family tends to default to a familiar and usually raucous game of salad bowl, but Abby introduced us to a new and really fun and amusing game called Telestrations, sort of a hybrid of “telephone” and Pictionary. While we did not have the official board version, Abby quickly put together packets of paper for each participant, and then we followed the description shown in the above video.  Lots of laughs, even a few tears….., but really fun and entertaining.

On Photography

I am a little short on photographic content for this posting, but I did use Amy’s new Iphone and captured this somewhat creepy reflection photo during one of our walks in the Truckee area.  The new phone has an amazing camera and a portrait mode that yields some extraordinarily sharp and impressive photos. I also spent a little time at Squaw Valley, after my ski legs were spent for the day, shooting some photos of rock formations and late day ski lifts with different types of lighting.  As I have stated on more than a few occasions, the novelty of doing anything outside – all day long – has become a favored pursuit these days.

If you didn’t have a chance to see 13 Stories That Captured Photography In 2018, The Year in Pictures 2018, Famous Photographs of Fabulous People, or Photos We Loved in 2018, they are all fun collections to peruse. I particularly liked the group of Fabulous People. I always find it provocative to consider how the essence of an image captures the tenor of a particular person, place, or event. And, of course, similar to all forms of art, what feelings does that specific image evoke for you personally.

According to Amy, Nick, Abby, Will

Amy passed along to me an interesting NPR interview with pro surfer Kelly Slater who is the visionary behind an artificial wave park in California, a place that will soon be hosting competitions. Meanwhile, William Finnegan, author of Barbarian Days, writes about the wave park in his New Yorker piece and highlights the implications of this fabricated wave world to the surfing aesthetic. Finnegan is an excellent writer, and I know that both Nick and Will are enjoying reading this tome.

Worth the Read, Listen, View

If you are interested in tiny houses, you may enjoy this piece about a husband and wife who built their own and then put it on wheels. And if you read only one article in this posting, I encourage you to look at The Tinkerer of Dickson’s Reach which recounts a fascinating man, Bill Coperthwaite, who took the construction of yurts to an entirely new level while espousing both self-reliance and community. Think of a resourceful Thoreau but with friends hanging around. For those of you who enjoy both dogs and Lake Street Dive, this short video is amusing.

Articles of Interest

The Maverick’s Key to Keeping Players Fresh? Blood Samples

Cuba’s Next Transformation

The Sydney Awards, Part II

Four Simple Words to Help You Live Well

Letter of Recommendation: Old English

Death, the Prosperity Gospel and Me

How Cancer Changes Hope

From Tree to Ski at the Fischer Family Factory

Four Questions for the Year Ahead

The Power of the ‘Little Comment’ in Mother-Daughter Relationships

And Finally

Amy and I have the great opportunity of time, due to my sabbatical and her upcoming three week leave of absence, to be departing on a trip to southeast Asia on Sunday. We have a lot to organize before then, but the good news is that the key pieces are in place, finally.

Our journey will take us first to Chiang Mai, Thailand, then Bagan and Inle Lake – both in Myanmar – and then to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We will be doing some reading about the history, politics, religion, culture, and arts from this region of the world as we travel, and at least one of us is excited about the food. We both will be taking plenty of photographs and look forward to sharing if we return.