Bravery or madness?

This is the Verzasca Dam in Ticino, Switzerland. In this shot, it has its spillways open.

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The Verzasca Dam is 220 meters tall (that's 720 feet) and here it is with its spillways closed.

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This is my great friend Doug bunjee jumping off the Verzasca Dam on Monday afternoon.




Not bad for a man of 52. Better him than me though, I can barely stand watching the video. I used to be fearless when it came to this sort of thing, but those days are long past. Thanks for the thrill Doug, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back here.

Let's hear it for Melody!

Melody McFarland is a very regular commenter on this blog. She's also written a few guests posts and thanks to the power of the internet, she's also a good friend. Last April, I profiled her new venture (and adventure), Melody's Pet Photography.

I've always thought that he had one of the best photographer's eyes I've ever seen and I'm thrilled to hear that her business is taking off and she's getting the recognition she deserves. Watch this:




 

You can check out more of her work on her website here. And in the meantime Melody, congratulations!

Salvation comes from an electrical outlet

In my internet meanderings yesterday I came across this.

Yes, that's an electrical outlet with two, count 'em, two USB ports. FastMac is bringing you the world on a platter and they start at just $22.95 apiece directly from them.

Imagine never being more than an outlet away from topping off your smartphone or Bluetooth earpiece.

Look complicated? It's not. If you can change an electrical outlet you can convert an electrical outlet to one of these babies. Here are the instructions.

It's the simple things that make life so grand, don't you think?

Meet Jill Vendituoli and her amazing tapestries

A year ago, I profiled my friend Todd Vendituoli's brilliant renovation of a house in Eluthera, The Bahamas. Todd's a builder who divides his time between Vermont and Eleuthera and you can read about his project here.

Well Todd's back in the US for the time being and last night he sent me a video that profiled his sister Jill's art and I was really blown away by it. Clearly, the talent pool runs pretty deep in the Vendituoli clan.

Jill creates tapestries using a needle, fabric and a palette of 450 colors, but her video speaks for itself. Check this out.





From Jill's website:

One of the things that attracted me to this medium of tapestry making was its traditional origin. The idea of a late 20th century woman working at a craft that had been one of the few creative outlets for women prior to this century appealed to me.

During the last two decades, it's been a joyful challenge to unite my creations with those of my stitching forebears. But, unlike these women, I have operated under the liberated assumption that if I can see it in my head, then I can stitch it with my hands: contemporary vision meets historical technique. By blending 450 colors of thread I can create a palette as extensive as a painter's. However, because of the slow and labor-intensive character of tapestry making, my art defies the high-speed confines of our postmodern world and connects us all to a past that endures. I hope that you enjoy viewing the fruits of my labor of love.

I love seeing someone take an ancient art form and breathe new life into while keeping true to its roots, hence my love of mosaics. In a lot of ways, Jill's work reminds me of a mosaic, only her medium is thread. Amazing stuff.

Jill's art is on display in her West Newfield, ME studio but you can find her on her website and on her new Facebook page. Show her some love!

Relaxing and recharging: a Blog Off post

Every two weeks, the blogosphere comes alive with something called a Blog Off. A Blog Off is an event where bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic on the same day. The topic for this round of the Blog Off is "How do you relax and recharge?"

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I work a lot and I haven't had a real vacation in longer than I want to admit. While it's true I've been a traveling fool for the last couple of years, none of that travel's been leisure travel. Yes, I've been to some amazing places but going to press conferences and product seminars when you have jet lag doesn't count as R&R in my book. Even so, it's a good problem to have.

So to bide my time until my next vacation, I've picked up the habit of what I call taking mini vacations. They can take less than an hour and they're a short walk down the street.

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I live four blocks away from the waterfront park system we have in St. Pete. 101 years ago, the City of St. Petersburg decided it wanted to preserve its downtown waterfront for the enjoyment of all and so they established a grand program to buy up waterfront property and turn everything they bought into a park.

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It took a number of years, but eventually the park system would span for the many miles of downtown waterfront and 101 years later, St. Petersburg has an asset every other waterfront city in the world would kill for. Along those many miles of park you can find everything from beaches to tennis courts, dog runs to botanical gardens, marinas to the largest city pool I've ever seen. That park system typifies St. Pete's commitment to the quality of life of its residents and it's one of the things that holds me here.

Few things can soothe and recharge me the way looking at water and watching wildlife can and the parks provide both of those things in spades. An early morning walk (or in my younger days, a jog) can recharge me and get me ready to go back and keep plugging away at what ever I'm doing.

That I can walk a couple of blocks east and see pelicans and wild dolphins and herons and ibises and egrets and smell jasmine and dodge falling coconuts convinces me further that I'm the most fortunate man alive. When I was a kid in rural Pennsylvania I dreamed about seeing the things I see every day.

If I get down there early enough to watch the sun rising, I have most of the parks to myself. There is no other more amazing thing than to sit on the sea wall at the bottom of my street, to warm myself in the rays of a rising sun and to have wild dolphins chasing mullet a few short feet below me.

So my mini vacations in the park tide me over for now. As much as I enjoy my time spent down there. I really need a vacation.

As the day goes on, the rest of the participants in today's Blog Off will appear miraculously at the end of this post. Keep checking back and check out everybody's postss. You can follow along in Twitter as well, just look for the hashtag #LetsBlogOff. If you'd like more information about about the Blog Off or if you'd like to see the results of previous Blog Offs, you can find the main website here.