Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunny afternoon.

It's summer time which means flat water and that's great for my sailing.

My commitment free days off are driven by the question "should I sail, sup or bike ride"? Lately, if the conditions allow, windsurfing has been my first choice. For so many years this sport has frustrated me to the point of tears, but lately I've been having a lot of fun and realized part of it is being at a level where that exasperation doesn't show up. Which, I don't mind telling you is nothing short of a fucking miracle.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Maui provides weather that allows you to frolic outside year round, but the long summer days provide more play hours and less intense water conditions, and for me that equals more smiles.

Say "Pee" (which I'm not)!

Post sesh like a total nit-wit, I'd packed up leaving the Gopro on my paddle and still in the 'photo every two seconds' mode. One Mississippi, two Mississippi....

.....three Mississippi, four Mississippi....

.......five Mississippi, six Mississippi.

Testing one, two, check-check, testing one, two, three.....

Good evening Wembley!

I've been plucking away now for a little over a year now and am of the belief that I don't have much ego around it. The sheer joy of learning a new chord pass or mastering a strum is enough, it really is one of those simple pleasures which makes it easy to find gratification in the journey. In his infinite wisdom, my teacher, sound engineer and producer, Cyrus, had decided it was time to set up a recording session. Blimey, it's a good job I'm easy about the whole thing because hearing myself in headphones really exposed the areas that need more work. Plus there's definitely an added sense of pressure in wanting to get it right (enter stage left, the ego). At one point (having just botched my solo) my inexperienced recording fingers started trembling! That being said, I could have done it all day because the thrill of getting it right was ridiculously satisfying.



As it's sunny afternoon, I thought of this song and hope you're enjoying your summer.... peace, out.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Chilling out.

Everyone needs a place where they can contemplate undisturbed, this is my friend Jana's reading, meditation, napping and general chill out shack.

In case this dude chills out too much and forgets where he's from.

Now that's a labor of love, I don't think I've once rinsed my sail off with fresh water, let alone scrubbed it properly.

Cleaning the head....

....down the luff...

...opppps missed a bit behind the ears.

Bet'cha this sail doesn't get the same love, but they certainly looked chilled out.

As opposed to these guys, chicken ruuuuun.

Phew-after all that I'm hungry and having always wanted to make homemade pasta, the opportunity arose last week. With Ian as head chef and Cheyenne with all the tools in his kitchen (God bless the kitchen aid) the spinach and ricotta ravioli effortlessly manifested.

As this was Ian dipping his toe back into his non existent Italian roots, he did a bloody good job. I can't wait for the next refinement of the same recipe.

And finally, a few months ago a friend made me a palette of colors to match my tones, they're as dull as dirt, but luckily I'm not!

Friday, July 01, 2011

Green peace.

I love living in a green world.

Glorious stuff.

Yet, as I like my particular patch of green to be neat and tidy I mess with the eco system. The chainsaw, clippers and manual labor produce substantial piles of green waste, which I should compost, but guiltily don't. Instead I make a monthly dusty, dirty trip to the land fill and am left with truck-bed full of displaced bugs for my trouble.

A clever friend with a much more evolved recycling sprit than mine (and a green thumb) surprised me with these the other day. I like 'um and may have to give her my old Doc Martins so they can have a new lease of life.

The smart choice is clearly to be an Octopus tree and live on the side of a cliff, over looking the coral reef and out of reach from people like me.

Someone not out of my reach was poor Cleo. I rudely awoke her from what must have been a deep nap because rather than scampering away as I grabbed my sails, she remained in place as I pulled both them and her out into the sunlight.

Ohhhh did somebody mention a deep nap? 'Tis one of my favorite things on the plant to do and there's no time like the present. See you in...a....few....minzzzzzzzz.