boosting my creativity with The Element

The subtitle of Ken Robinson's book inspired my purchase - How finding your passion changes everything. It was an impulsive airport buy, but within two weeks, I had watched both of Ken Robinson's TED talks - one in 2006 and the other in 2010. This man has an academic and a consulting background and he moved from England to live in Los Angeles around 8 years ago! I think knowing something of the author helped me to better appreciate this book. It does also span self help and popular academic publishing. Ken proposes early on, that current education systems are similar to fast food in that they produce undifferentiated education that does not necessarily inspire passion or develop creativity. He supports this argument with a range of interviews of highly successful people like Paul McCartney, Richard Branson and many others - education failed them! So he then proposes a series of steps to promote individual creativity through similarities he has identified in the creative success stories he documents. It makes sense to think differently to identify a core passion. He describes needing to find your tribe, asking for help and getting started - it is never too late. It was an enjoyable read, and I hope has started me thinking about my passion for writing in a different way...

Reflected in You - Sylvia Day

an enjoyable, exciting and engaging read... I picked it up at the airport without realising that it was in fact the second in a series! I am not sure I will go back and read the first book - Bared to You, but I will read the third, when it is realeased early next year - Entwined with You. It is an erotic romance, about obsession and power - but both believable and escapist.

art on a wet day in Monterey

I had planned to visit Monterey because of its artistic connections, as rain was forecast for the whole weekend. My plans were confirmed on two levels - in a chat with a great jeweller in her lapidary studio at Cannery Row, Tempest told me that Monterey had been a hippie hangout, then the wealthy at Carmel had spread out and there was now a mostly healthy synergy between them both - sounds a bit like Byron Bay to me...It seriously is a naturally beautiful place, so it makes sense that both the artistic and the rich want to enjoy it!

Anyway I decided to visit the Monterey Museum of Art - initially in the downtown gallery, where I enjoyed seeing hundreds of miniatures, in a variety of styles and media. The urban life photography was impressive - black and white photos really emphasise facial expressions in a way that colour cannot.

But the biggest surprise for me was the exhibition of Chuck Close's Works on Paper, that was displayed in the La Mirada house and gallery complex. This man has a learning disability including prosopognosia and he draws amazing portraits by superimposing a grid on a face and drawing within each segment -

up close, each work looks like a grid of interesting colour and design, but at a distance the portraits are totally amazing...He also uses a whole array of printing processes, which are equally impressive. Here is a very popular American artist that I did not know, and it was an impressive discovery regarding his art and his life as a whole... I am open to learning lots more about him...

Tomorrow, when the war began - reading 'Australian'

Julie and Donovan gave me this book for Christmas. They commented on the different sort of english used by the australian teenagers. I barely believed it until I started reading - there is a glossary, but that is hardly enough - there is a unique langauge represented here, that is definitely based on english. This is the first of a seven-book long series and it has been made into a film, and I am very captivated already! Seven teenagers are caught out in a world that has been turned upside down and they are faced with the challenge of trying to save their parents! It sensitively and honestly explores themes of courage, maturity and emotional intelligence, amidst the australian bush. John Marsden writes to engage, but in a colloquial way. It reminds me of growing up in Australia!

winter walking in Yosemite

I drove in to Yosemite over snowy and icy roads - and began with enjoying my classic panorama from Tunnel View - it really highlights El Capitan on the left, Half Dome in the middle and the bridal veil falls on the right, with a massive valley and so much more in between! Today was cloudy, there was a weather warning for an afternoon storm, which likely would indicate a significant snowfall.

So I decided to check out the walking paths on the way up to the base of Bridal Veil falls - it is amazing how there is falling water amidst ice falls. Every few minutes you could hear a chunk of ice falling - just like the glaciers in the Khumbu region of Everest! Feeling confident about the state of the roads and walking paths, I set out to walk up to Mirror lake - at the end of the valley. It was a luxury to be able to drive so freely in the valley - the roads were heavily gritted, but not icy, given it was now a few degrees above zero (or at least 33' according to my car's temperature gauge).

It was an easy walk up by Tenaya creek to the manmade Mirror lake - and it was such an impressive reward. The giant vertical face of Half Dome loomed omniscent on my right - and the classicly shaped North Dome on the left. It was fun to explore this lake, and wonder why parts were totally frozen and others still liquid - guess the flowing stream is a reason for some liquidity!

So my final walk for the day, was the first half mile of the Mist Trail - heading up towards the Vernall Falls. The rain was holding out, so I could keep walking. This is a major trail, that heads straight up, with views of frozen mountains and snowy gullies at every turn. I crossed the first bridge, but could not get up to the Vernall Falls, as the path was closed for winter! So I had to enjoy the snowy rocks in the creek and head back to my car. There was time before sunset, the storm and the onset of freezing roads to enjoy a coffee before the drive back to my motel room...

an up there skiing experience at Heavenly

I feared the name would be over-rated, but with great weather and powder snow it really wasn't! I wanted to ski at Lake Tahoe and I chose Heavenly for its name and the southerly location - only 8.5 hours drive from Los Angeles. Facetiously I did not believe in such a great experience. I booked everything on line - I got a super deal to stay at the spacious wooden Lakeside Inn and Casino, just over the border in Nevada. But the ski shuttle came to the front door and made the morning commute hassle free.

It was also super easy to book lift tickets and ski rentals online - all the resort staff were consistently helpful and enthusiastic, whether helping me take my ski boots off, taking my skis and placing them in the gondola for me or giving helpful advice on lifts and ski trails when I looked and felt a bit lost! I was even able to leave my skis and boots overnight in the shop by the gondola so I did not have to haul then back to the hotel room!

But the most impressive were the skiing and the views. It is a massive resort spanning the state border - apparently in California, you can always see the amazingly blue Lake Tahoe, while in Nevada, you are looking out to a massive u shaped glacial valley. It would be difficult to ski the whole resort in one day, but very possible in two days - I also had time to repeat some of my favourite runs. I particularly loved the Big Dipper, starting at the top of the Dipper Express.

The Little Dipper was a slight pun as it was a black mogul field directly under the Comet Express. It was also great to get up to 10,040 feet at the top of the Sky Express and choose a combination of black and blue runs on pistes and in between the trees! I even felt the effects of altitude and hope that I have been able to grow more red blood cells to feel fitter for the next 10 days! I so loved the powder snow underfoot and it felt soft and gentle on my knee - proving that I can ski without my anterior cruciate ligament. And the trees were so white and fat with snow everywhere...

an American history lesson - Lincoln

There is something about America that I don't understand - how did they turn on their own during the civil war, all for the freedom to employ other humans as slaves? and there seems to be some resonance with the recent massacre of school children in Newtown around the ultimate freedom to have as many high powered guns as they like because it is a right, embodied in the second amendment! There seems to be something about freedom to act, as shaped by the ruling class, without consequences, or consideration for anyone else in the population - there seems to be an arrogance that those in political (and economic) power know best, and are best able to determine their own freedoms...

it was a snowy afternoon and I could not get up to the ski slopes easily, so I opted for an educational movie. Directed by Steven Speilberg, and with Daniel Day Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln in a very believable way, I expected to learn something about American history. Well sort of, but I was not convinced that the civil war was about slavery - and if so, why was it so brutal? It seems it was not that simple! Anyway the film was an extended courtroom drama and although it seemed to be a historical story, I remain completely unconvinced. It was more about politics, money and male egos of fat men with very limited world views. I initially believed that Lincoln wanted to free the slaves because of a commitment to racial equality - then I realised that he would only get this amendment through his own republican party who did not embrace racial equality (although many dependend on slaves and some had intimate relationships with them!) by promising an end to the civil war - so he manipulated to extend the war and underhandedly paid for the votes of disenfranchised Democrats. Then it transpired that they did not vote for racial equality and I really was suspicious about Lincoln's moral backbone... perhaps he was just another skilful politician in a nation that is eminently capable of holding opposing views at the same time. And on the other hand, I guess Steven is after a few Oscar nominations as well!