Archive for the ‘Portfolio’ Category
Beach art
Last week, my artistically prolific mother (click on the link and go to page 34) drew my attention to the World Beach Project. Being a fan of outdoor art — think Andy Goldsworthy — I loved it. The idea is to have people around the world create drawings out of beach stones, photograph them and display them in an online exhibit through the Victoria and Albert Museum. Read more about the project in my Been Seen article.
Stockholm’s boat hostels
What’s nice about writing is that even when you want to go somewhere but can’t, you can still spend time thinking about it and come up with a creative way to share it with others. Such is my current situation with Stockholm. If someone bought me a ticket I would go immediately, but unfortunately it’s just not in the cards. That doesn’t stop me from writing about my favorite Scandinavian capital however.
Today my article on Stockholm’s boat hostels was posted over at Been Seen. There are two main boat hostels moored right in the center of town. The more famous of the two is the af Chapman, a fully rigged ship built in Britain in 1888 and once used by the Swedish Navy.
But let’s be honest… writing about Stockholm isn’t quite the same as being there… anyone have an extra ticket they want to give me?
L’Auberge Espagnole
I wrote a synopsis of Auberge Espagnole for Been Seen last week, I am still wanting to book a ticket to Barcelona. Actually, it’s not that I want to book a ticket to Barcelona, it’s just that I want to recapture that moment of living somewhere else and experience those feelings of being confused and ecstatic all at the same time.
To be honest, it’s the movie that I watch when I feel things have become too routine; it’s a good reminder of why we travel and all the emotions we go through when we leave and when we return home again. Plus Romain Duris pulls off being a slightly awkward, confused, 20-something oh so well, and he looks good doing it.
France on $100 a day
Yes, it’s true. France on a low budget is possible. It’s all about getting out of the city and into the country. And although Parisians would love to think that they are the center of the universe, there are a lot of other great places to visit France. I have a new guide over at Matador Trips on how to work your way through rural France, scoring free room and board and the quintessential experience francaise. Check it out here.
Speak IKEA?
The language podcast that I referred to a while back is finally up. Patrick Cox, a very friendly BBC journalist, chatted with me about Swedish, the language of IKEA and various other interesting tidbits about being bilingual. If you want to learn more about the language of IKEA you can check it out here.
Matador: so much better than facebook!
You may have noticed that this blog is really just a means of self-promotion… I’m ok with that. But with this post I am not only going to promote an article authored by yours truly, but also the fabulous site Matador Trips. It’s part of the Matador Network, which you may or may not have heard of. If you are a young twenty-something traveler and you don’t know about Matador, you should give yourself a slap on the wrist. If you are from a different crowd and don’t know about Matador, don’t feel bad, but check it out immediately.
Matador is one of those great places that makes people like me feel like they fit in. A social networking site for crazy people who give up career paths for endless global wandering. But even if you aren’t in the travel mode yourself, you can still take advantage of some of the great travel writing that comes from authors who are part of the Matador community.
Enough of the promotion… just check out my latest article on Dominica and then take some time to explore Matador. It’s well worth it.
Creative inspiration for a month filled with other things
Why is it that time just seems to disappear? So many things going on all at the same time and not enough moments in the day to get them all done. Being in that mindset isn’t really conducive the creative inspiration. Taking time to breath and think is just as important as checking things off of the to do list. With that in mind, I am posting a link to my article on the Moleskine exhibit currently on in Paris.
I and a lot of other travelers, artists, writers and creative spirits have a special relationship with the small black journals that can serve as day planners, sketchbooks, scribble space or just a blank page to let thoughts wander. The Moleskine Detour exhibition currently on in Paris honors just that, and even if you– like myself — are nowhere near the city of lights, a visit to the exhibition’s website is well worth it. If nothing else, the many drawings and paintings that fill the pages of the journals on exhibition are a reminder of exactly why one should take more time to focus on the creative and less on stressing about the banal.
Read more about the exhibition here.
It’s April Fool’s!
It’s April 1st, meaning a whole lot of pranks and jokes. Over at Gadling we are enjoying ourselves by coming up with ridiculous made-up stories of international news. My own contribution to the April 1st festivities include In Response to National Bullying, Denmark Introduces Danish Fish as well as New French Bill Passed to Allow Super-models to Smoke in Public. If only the world was actually that funny.
Interview with artist Lisa Congdon
Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing San Francisco artist Lisa Congdon. Self-taught, Congdon does a variety of intriguing work, my favorite being her India ink drawings. Check out more of her work and the complete interview over at Art Culture.
Spectacular monasteries
Make your way over to Been Seen for my article on impressive monasteries, complete with pictures that make me want to buy plane tickets immediately.
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