Sushi Den – An Extraordinary Experience

March 31, 2012 by

Wild Akami Tuna from the Coast of Andalucia

I must interrupt my series on Why I Travel to bring you a gastronomic interlude worthy of kings and dinosaurs.

(**NOTE** – I finally figured out how to put sharing buttons on my posts so now you can easily link to your social outlets and please do..cheers)

Last night in celebration of Juliet accepting an extension to keep us here in Denver through the summer we dined at the highly touted Sushi Den. Long regarded as one of the most excellent examples of great fish service in the USA we have anticipated this experience for nearly 9 months before finally taking the plunge. [Read more...]

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IMO Thursday – The Soul-Charging Music of Tyagaraja

March 29, 2012 by

Tyagaraja and his wife Gunjen (photo by the amazing Mark Austin)

Music may be the single most important component to cooking at home with Juliet. We are both more at ease and more productive with great music playing. Since our first month together we have seen shows all over the country and in Europe. I can say with great certainty that Tyagaraja (Tea ah garage ah) is our favorite vocalist we have had the privilege to see (numerous times).

Tyagaraja hails from the tiny town of Hutto, TX near Austin and now calls Houston home. He found a connection with India some years ago while with his first band, Million Year Dance. Tyagaraja’s spirituality is undeniable and the eastern influence in his life has led him to the joyous discoveries of yoga, meditation, and his very talented wife, Gunjen. It is clear when you listen to his music that Tyagaraja has a voice imbued by the heavens yet it is his unmistakable presence and natural kindness that I gravitate towards. [Read more...]

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Camaraderie -Postscript

March 28, 2012 by

I am A-OK

Wow! The response I received from yesterday’s post was amazing. I put out a bit of an open-door piece on personal feelings as a writer and I received such a supportive and candid set of responses I feel it necessary to keep the energy moving.

Before I dive into my thoughts for today, thank you all for being part of this. I enjoyed reading how many of you have experienced similar shifts in friends and social/work life over the years. It was fascinating to hear how some of you managed these shifts and how some of you continue to struggle. [Read more...]

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Camaraderie

March 27, 2012 by

My life is often more observation than interaction (photo credit - The Blissful Adventurer)

I dreamed this morning about a friend that was very dear to me. In my dream he had taken the form of two people and all three of us were wearing ROCKMOUNT shirts.

My friend told me that half of the fun of getting a Rockmount was the cool box in which it arrived. I explained that I got my Rockmount at the original store in Denver and there was no cool shipping box.

This little fact seemed to dampen my friend’s spirit and in just a moment I was awake.  [Read more...]

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Italy Itinerary – May 2012

March 26, 2012 by

There is a good chance we will see a few of these

The Blissful Adventurer returns to Italy on May 7, 2012 for a 24 day run of blissful, wine-soaked, photo-laden, pursuits of new experiences to share with all of you.

Our trip this year is partly vacation and also important research for upcoming writing and photo projects.  [Read more...]

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3:45 AM – Called in and Exhausted

March 24, 2012 by

The Night Began so Well

Juliet was on call last night and at 3:30am the pager went berserk! Of course when my lovely wife is called in the middle of the night to report to the hospital I always get up and drive her there. I figure if she has to suffer why should I continue to sleep.

Now she is home and we are both exhausted and have a hike today with our new blog friend Terrified Tastebud at 14:00. This means I need some sleep and NOW!

I will leave you all this Saturday with some images that have been looking for a home. I hope you enjoy and Happy Saturday! [Read more...]

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Free Write Friday – and the Cow Says…

March 23, 2012 by

Belle the Baldy

I have recently fallen hard for a wonderful blog called Magic in the Backyard by a very talented Southern writer, Kellie Elmore. The blog is also the title of her first book due to be released in 10 days. I came to WordPress with the intention to write a book and I am inspired by the number of people who are out here and succeeding at this unconventional method.

Kellie has a wonderful component of her blog called Free Write Friday where Kellie posts something on the subject of the day and we as fellow writers blog on that subject without stopping, without correcting punctuation or grammar to see where the free-flow of ideas will take us. I am going to participate in this today and I will follow the rules. All of my grammarian readers out there I always appreciate your edits and if you wouldn’t mind refraining today whilst I complete this exercise. [Read more...]

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TBA Wins The Versatile Blogger Award!

March 20, 2012 by

I gladly accept

As some of you who have been reading a bit know, I am not much for the blog awards; or at least that is what I espoused. I am now changing my tune. I was too new to understand what this meant and way too self-focused to notice that I was ignoring the most important aspect of life as a blogger: community.

It is the community of creative and curious friends that has kept my streak of posts, laughs, comments, and vision for the future alive. It is this community of true kindred spirits that has influenced me to believe in my work and that I am not nearly as alone on the planet as I had believed. In fact, I may even go so far as to say I like people more than I did 3 months ago because of all of you. [Read more...]

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Why I Travel – Or how I almost became a Mexican DJ Part 3

March 19, 2012 by

Travel has been in my blood for nearly 25 years and this is the account of how I became infected.

Here are links to the first 2 parts, written in 2011

Part 1

Part 2

That night my father said we were going to dine at Pizza Rolandi. I had been hearing about this great pizza joint, in Mexico of all places, for years. I was starving all day after my flailing snorkeling experience and Pizza sounded perfect.

Bear in mind at this age I had never been anywhere, so when we entered the dimly candlelit outdoor patio with high walls it felt like we were in a cave of European royalty; some hidden part of a castle with classical music and nice linens. I was a bit nervous as I thought this was only going to be pizza. It was much more to me at the time, it was another in a series of great escapes on this amazing journey. [Read more...]

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Juliet’s 2:30 AM Call – Table Mountain Hike Images

March 16, 2012 by

Photo Taken by a Woman Hiking Who Had Forgotten Her Contacts

I will start by apologizing for being terribly behind in my blog reading and commenting. Juliet is a cardiac nurse in a very specialized procedural area. Because of the nature of her job she must sometimes carry a pager in case of a cardiac emergency at the hospital. [Read more...]

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