TT Writing Award

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one I picked up from the good folks over at Written Road. Travelers’ Tales (whose books I adore) are launching a travel writing contest for the literary-inclined vagabond. They have started what they call the Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year. This will be an annual competition to discover the very best writing being done about the world today. If you win, you can walk away with $1000 smackers. Or, you can win a copy of The Best Travel Writing 2006 and The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2006.

As WW points, out, Solas is an Irish word for “light,” which means, um, make sure you write with your lamp on.

The Paddling Glass Artist

by Erik Olsen on

What do paddling, glass and breasts have in common? Why, they are all the passion of the artist Steven Wrubleski. known as one of the best glass artists in the Northwest today. Glass art is such a Northwest thing. I don’t know why that is, but it seems to be the case. When I lived in Seattle, there were several stained glass shops there that taught the Middle Ages, um, age art of stained glass making. And of course, Seattle is home to the world famous, and famously irascible Dale Chihuly.

Well, Mr. Wrubleski (rhymes with Trubleski) is as I say an avid paddler, and manages, in addition to lovely breasts, to work water and paddling iconography into his work. He is also a big-time avid paddler, hence the reason why he made it in to the pages of Canoe and Kayak Magazine.

The story here talks about Wrubleski’s life, how he ended up in the San Juan islands, the boats he likes to paddle, his disdain for the fast-paced lifestyle and why he has selected glass as his artistic medium: “its similarity to water”. Good answer. It’s a nicely done profile about a guy you’ve probably never heard of but will be made slightly better for, well, having heard of.

Richard Wiese

by Erik Olsen on

A few years ago I produced a television piece about the Explorer’s Club and got to know its president, Richard Wiese. Richard is a very cool guy, some would say too cool, and his uber-handsome looks and surfer-dude demeanor rankled a lot of folks at the Explorer’s Club.

I got to go to the famed Explorer’s Club dinner and chatted with various folks there, big-time adventurer types and bona-fide scientists, who spoke disdainfully of Wiese. I more or less figured the venom was due to the fogeyness factor, that these hard-core old types just loved to grumble about anything that had the whiff of being hip…and of hair spray. I found Wiese engaging and a solid dude, and I think he was doing a fine job turning the Explorer’s Club into a place that welcomed younger adventure types, even if all these folks weren’t studying microbes at the top of Everest, the club was still the kind of place you could go and rub elbows with really smart, accomplished people. IT was, in a word, inspiring.

I’d heard that Wiese was no longer at the Explorer’s Club helm and wondered what happened to him. He is an avid self-promoter and has a face for TV, so I was pretty sure that’s the direction he went. I was right. I learned that and a whole lot more over at Outside Magazine, which ran a feature on Wiese last month. It’s a fine article and discusses many of the controversy I mention here about Weise’s reputation at the club. But it’s also a fairly sympathetic piece that lays out his contributions to the club during his tenure. I for one, hope he does well as he heads off on new projects, and I hope as well that the Explorer’s Club stays the course and remains welcoming to a broader audience.

Jazz in Nawlins for the Katrina Anniversary

by Adrienne Wilson on

Jazz Times Magazine has an article on some of the Katrina anniversary events taking place today and tomorrow. Should tickets still be available for the event tomorrow evening it looks as though trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will be performing live. Having joined forces with Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Marsalis, a United Nations Messenger of Peace organized the three day event and concert aims to build and promote a stronger and more beautiful New Orleans. You can show your support by either purchasing a ticket to the show or donating separately. I’d go for the music, but I like all that jazz and New Orleans too.

Taking a Year Off

by Neil Woodburn on

Warning! Do not read this if you are a responsible, working stiff who wants to climb the corporate ladder and be successful in life.

Good, now that we have the attention of you slackers, take a moment to consider quitting your job. Not for good, mind you, but rather taking a year off and traveling the world or living abroad.

“Gap Years” are become increasingly popular in Europe these days. Professionals of all walks are ducking out of the corporate world and into the real one where they can recharge, find some purpose in life, and perhaps even return to the 9-5 with renewed energy and vigor.

The Telegraph is here to help with such a journey.

A Comprehensive A-Z of Gap Year Options from Arizona to Africa is, as the title suggests, a great starting point for fulltime slacking. To motivate you, here’s a tip from Gadling: pick a letter. Any letter. Find that letter on the A-Z list, pick one of the options that begins with your letter, tell your boss you’re outta here, and take off.

(My letter was “T” which leaves me with The Leap – an organization where “volunteers live alongside indigenous tribes on conservation and community projects.”)