Howdy Traipsers,

Anyone else astonished that COVID sunk its fearsome claws into our world over a YEAR ago? I bet most of us recall our last “normal” day.

My friend Patrick visited for bike and ping pong action right before Chelsea and I slammed the portcullis and closed our castle to hosting. (Ok, fine, it's just a house.)

The year marker got me thinking about time passing and the fracturing of everyone's traditions, events, and gatherings. The virus ripped a big hunk of our lives away; how much returns after vaccinations hit herd immunity level?

Have you thought about what you’ll keep from this year vs. returning to previous practices? For me, I anticipate competition between my new creative passions and community involvement/travel. TBD how it resolves.

This week’s newsletter:

Collaborative music, time thievery, starting a business per week, and moonscape trekking in Iceland.

Onward!
Dakota

A classic song, community-style

This video version of the song Guantanamera from Playing for Change put a big grin on my face. (Thanks, George). It features 75 Cubans from around the world with their different voices and instruments, plus beautiful cinematography. Kudos to the editor/sound engineer too, whoa.

This certainly ups my excitement for bikepacking in Cuba. Can’t wait to strum a guitar on a porch with some folks. Time to start practicing my Guantanamera solo!

BTW, there are a bunch of these collaborations: All Along the Watchtower is fabulous and features artists from Zimbabwe, the Lakota Indian tribe, Argentina... Higher Ground too.

Time Thievery

I love Scott Galloway’s insightful, witty writing. His recent piece about their family dog passing away is a gem. As usual with his essays, it wraps current events, personal story, and humor into one neat package.

My favorite quote:

Zoe’s death has rocked me because it is a marker. A reminder that time is the most relentless force in the universe: that no matter what we do, its thievery marches on.
-----

The piece got me thinking about the power of special events as a way to slow down our years. I certainly want to bring back occasions like hosting fancy Valentine's Day dinners where the guys cook for the ladies. (Adam, you know I'll keep watching how much garlic you use...)

Turning art into a business...every week
 

Danielle Baskin’s creativity blows my mind. She’s a product designer, prankster, visual artist, and “situation designer” (and likely a sought-after dinner party invitee).

Her businesses range from The Decruiter (“we’ll help you quit your job) to Maskalike (masks with your photo printed on them) to pocket knives for Bitcoin wallets to… OMG, just go look at her website – there are so.freaking.many.
Many are art projects turned into businesses, some are just concepts, and others are pranks. It's hard to tell the difference!

I love her mix of creativity and taking action to build things. Look at the world, spot cool relationships between things, combine, start a business. Repeat.

Another fun one: the company Dialup for serendipitous voice chat that randomly connects people with common interests (say scifi writing) for a phone call.

And maybe I don’t need one of these custom-painted helmets from her company Inkwell, but I want one!

From the archives: moonscape trekking in Iceland

On Tuesday, fat snowflakes drifted down as I strolled around our neighborhood. Winter, spring, winter… It reminded me of our travels in Iceland, where July felt like early March in Oregon. We don’t have those otherworldly vistas though!

Here’s the blog post I wrote about trekking through the moonscape landscapes of that far-away island. Lots of pictures of the stunning landscapes.

Thanks for stopping by Traipsing About! I bid you adieu with this quote from Mary H.K. Choi on the importance of not waiting:

"It doesn’t get any less scary. All that happens is that you have less life left. It helps if you do your falling early, and it really helps if you do your reaching early."