Eye of the Storm - June 2023

Islands, Phish, Rats and more...

Island Style

I hope your summer is off to a great start. We started summer by enjoying one of our favorite places: the beach and the waves.

We have a motto for summer called “Island Style” in which we are just more chill and carefree about things. If something doesn’t work out or if we are late for something, it’s no big deal, right? “Island Style.”

“Island Style” reminder in my pocket notebook

We made a stick man out of stuff found on the beach too.

Hood Ornaments

Have you ever wondered why cars don’t carry more creativity and unique characteristics? Oddly enough one morning, my two boys and I were cruising around town and we came across these two cars with cool creations on them:

This “Ratruck” was my favorite

That is a lot of stickers.

A few Phish album covers

Music of the month: Phish

For the month of June I explored the whimsical meandering music of the band Phish. Their discography spans from the 80’s through present day. (I only listened to their studio albums and didn’t make it to their exhaustive live recordings)

As a senior in high school, a group of my buddies and I saw Phish in the summer of 1998 in Kansas. I don’t remember a whole lot other than they played much of the concert while jumping on trampolines. That was pretty cool.

Four Phish Fun Facts:

1. Some believe the band’s name came from their favorite snack food for practice jam sessions: Pepperidge Farm’s “Goldfish.”

2. Phish has never played the same set twice - always changing up the songs for their concerts.

3. They appeared on the Simpsons.

4. They are well known for their interesting stage antics like vacuum cleaners, slip and slides, and aforementioned trampolines

Phish on trampolines

Some Advice

I think I have landed on some sound advice for myself (and anyone else interested) for what I am trying to do: Slowdown and look around.

A quick shout out to my sister in law - she is often sending me (random) images of things that have caught her eye. Although she stays busy, she is good at slowing down and looking around - images below.

“Handicaption”

“Camouflage”

Give it a try - right now or maybe in the days ahead, try to “slow down and look around” for anything interesting or that catches your eye. Inspiration is all around us, we just need eyes to see it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and see you next time.