I’ve heard of a shop in Moscow where one could buy souvenirs from several famous destinations to give the impression to your guests and neighbors that you’d actually been there.

In the film Total Recall, customers of a virtual travel agency offered a neurological implant that could provide a wide range of false experiences.

Perhaps in the future, virtual travel will be the most reasonable way to travel. The most guilt-free, risk-free and cost-effective way to experience places in real-time. Hundreds of people would wear body cameras and have microphones streaming live video and audio from places like Paris, London, Moscow, Rio, Tokyo, and Mallorca.

Above: the piece to the left is called “Arrival: Val d’Orcia” and the one to the right is titled, “Arrival: London”. More of my resurfaced series here.

Some thoughts on Qigong which will hopefully clear up the mystical connotations associated with the practice.

Many new practitioners of Qigong have unreasonable expectations. These anticipations are often followed by disappointment. While Qigong provides many benefits, you should not expect the practice to be all-curing. It cannot be that. Qigong is not a religion. It is not your superhero.

Qigong can help you to achieve balance and harmony, inwards and outwards, through an intentional, holistic approach to life. First and foremost, practicing Qigong will provide valuable “tools” to maintain a balance, an equilibrium, between your mind and your body. The very meaning of the words Qi Gong means “energy gathering” or, “to work with energy”. Your body encapsulates a lot of energy. Qigong will not only help you release it but also spread it throughout your body and mind across time. This is achieved through movements, through stillness, and, arguably the most important of any conscious activity, breathing.

Qigong has many facets and paths to help you move forward in life. Start small and let it grow within you. By keeping your initial expectations at a reasonable level, you will certainly find that practicing Qigong is a powerful ally in your quest for health and clarity.

It’s almost to the day one year ago that I flew to Sweden from Malaga, Spain. We’d been living there for just two months when we realized that this whole pandemic thing was not to be taken lightly and that it would likely have a very negative financial impact on our livelihoods. I jumped ship first and Charlotte followed a few weeks later.

Do I miss Malaga? Absolutely. I miss the cafés, tiny tapas hideaways, and soaking in the sun from our rooftop terrace. I miss seeing people on the streets, hanging out with friends, and taking a long walk ending in a cozy lunch in the old fishing village Pedregalejo. I miss going out for drinks with friends Sam and Sirpa, feeling untethered and unworried. I miss shopping at Mercado Central de Atarazanas, the old market where so much great food was beautifully displayed and reasonably priced. I miss drinking a glass of a caña, a cold beer under a huge umbrella or palm tree on the way to or from a shopping tour.

For close to 25 years, Charlotte and I have been the architects, the designers, the conductors of our lives. And I miss that too. But I don’t feel sorry for myself. Nor does Charlotte. Instead, we feel appreciative of both what we’ve had and what is here and now. The future may not look so bright right at the moment. But eventually, someday, we will return to Malaga, drink a couple of cold cañas, and munch unabashedly from a large bowl of those huge, sumptuous green olives from one of my favorite shops at Mercado Central.

The above image was captured in Malaga, somewhere near our apartment. Which, incidentally, I don’t miss.

Who would have thought that the winter of 2021 would be so cold and snowy? With the past week’s unusually calm weather and cold temperatures, even the saltwater is freezing. Though slippery, I try to walk as close to the shoreline as possible where interesting ice formations are wating to be discovered.