Writer, Musician, Song and Dance Man, Entrepreneur, Punk
High on my to-do list for Thailand was to get a Sak Yant tattoo. I'm sure I could be accused of cultural appropriation; I'm not Buddhist, and I mainly wanted one because Anthony Bourdain got one in his classic Chiang Mai episode of "Parts Unknown." I spent much of my trip to Chiang Mai walking …
By the time the DJ played the song "Wake Me Up" by Avicii, inspiring rapturous screams from the crowded main dance floor of Club Instant in Budapest, Avicii had been dead for months. https://youtu.be/IcrbM1l_BoI I had heard the song before — it had been the "Jam of the Summer" four years ago — but immersed …
Continue reading "I took a pill in Budapest to show Avicii I was oh wait he’s dead."
In July, it never gets fully dark in Stockholm. Geographically far enough to the north, it is still fully bright at 10pm and never surpasses dusk. In the winter the days are depressingly dark. Sweden has a bad suicide problem. Before Stockholm I had never been to a latitude extreme enough to see light on …
It seems weird to be so broken up by the death of a celebrity. I once described him in a video as one of my "spirit animals," but I don't know what Anthony Bourdain was really like, in the flesh, other than the wit, the deep voice, the toothy smile, and the public persona that …
As I mentioned before, I'm surprising myself by considering designating Iberia Airlines, out of all possible airlines, as my preferred airline for my Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN. What does this get me? Well, it gets me a statement credit for the first $200 I spend on incidentals for my preferred airline. Gift cards …
Continue reading "Why I’m considering making Iberia Airlines my AMEX Platinum preferred airline"
Okay, maybe that's being dramatic. I don't have to do anything, and I won't lose "money." But I might lose frequent flier miles. Some of you know that I've been into the frequent flier mile hobby for two years now, and I never pay full price for airfare now, whether flying do Dallas or Deutscheland. I use AwardWallet.com for …
Continue reading "I’m boxed in – I literally HAVE to travel, or I lose money."
You ask someone to tango with your eyes. Sure, you can walk up and verbally ask, but part of the fun is the challenge of making eye contact with your desired partner, engaging them, and then suggesting a dance with merely a flick of your eyes toward the dancefloor. Maybe even a slight tilt of …
I wrote earlier a little about my recent trip to Spain. My friend Chris remarked the other day that he needed to get on the Frequent Flier Miles Hobby like I am. "You're always taking these epic trips, and I guess that's how you make them happen, right?" He's right. Once you're liberated in time, …
A number of months ago, I was getting coffee at my neighborhood coffee shop, when a younger guy asked me "Hey, did you used to live at the apartments down the street?" "I still live there," I replied. "Did we used to be neighbors?" "Yeah," the young man, whose name was Cole, said. "I recognize …
I spent the better part of today in a race with the moon, trying to catch a patch of blue sky on a cloudy day in Missouri so I could witness my first, and possibly last, total eclipse of the sun. I resolved to fly into the path of totality for this one. I could …
