Hey everybody!
As the world moves from IRL to URL, is anyone else savoring vitamin D and requesting air hugs? Using cookies for brainpower? Buying joggers or patio chairs like crazy? Putting avocado seeds in jars of water and hoping they become plush boyees that feed your household for life? Same.
I’ve come to peace with quarantine. The world is burning. And I am lacing up my hiking shoes again. To sip thinner air. The last time I felt this free, I was sharing a mandarin orange with a new friend on top of a mountain in Argentina. The sun was descending. I’d run to the summit. Cheap red wine was on the menu for dinner.
After a rough patch, I’m thankful to be feeling strong and happy again. This June version of myself would hardly recognize Nov-March stress-fractured quarantined Claire.
I LOVE my new home in Denver, and I realize that I am lucky to have the mountains in my backyard. I hope that wherever you are at that you are finding moments of joy and learning to love this sticky life labyrinth we are in. If you are not, that’s okay too. We are all in this as a team and need to pace ourselves to the finish line and offer our hands to friends.
From Eclipse-chasing photography to a virtual sidewalk art celebration, here are some distractions I thought were worth sharing:
For Watching:
Eclipse: This 32-minute Banff Film festival feature follows the footsteps of the young photographer Reuben Krabbe as he attempts to capture the 2015 eclipse in Svalbard, Norway. It is mesmerizing to watch him in his peak flow state as he maps out his (crazy-in-a-good-way) plan for the ultimate eclipse shot. Give it a watch.
Up to Speed: Speed climbing is set to debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This feel-good-feature explores the dynamics of the “new” sport and challenges the belief that speed climbing is not “real” climbing. My favorite thing to watch are the climber’s goofy, yet poetically determined warmups. Watch Up to Speed here.
Bilby: If you’re starving for some good DreamWorks content, this new 8-minute release will warm your heart. My roommate has a new pup and this film reminds me what it takes to protect something/someone you love! Check it ouuuut here.
Thabang: Thabang Madiba is a trail running legend in South Africa. This film showcases how his raw passion and hard work ethic has gotten him to the trails of Chamonix and beyond. Watch it here and learn how Thabang has embraced trail running as his book of life.
Semi-Rad posted this video about a remote field camp in West Antarctica, and it’s quite joyful!
A Bedtime Story About COVID: Mountain athlete Jeremy Jensen shared this 4-min film in his weekly newsletter. Told in a bedtime story manner, It’s disturbing and beautiful. “We swapped the grass for tarmacs” is my favorite line of poetry included. My second favorite line is “while the car keys gathered dust, they would look forward to their runs.” The video is poetry. Watch here.
For light-hearted feel-good movies and films, I found the Lovebirds on Netflix to be easy entertainment. I love Kumail Nanjiani and his inappropriately timed rant on diner milkshake containers. I also adored Mindy Kaling’s new show Never Have I Ever about a first-generation American-Indian girl navigating the trials of high school. I’ve also received numerous recommendations for Jonah Hill’s movie mid-90s about a 13-year old boy who begins hanging out with some older skateboarders.
A new mountain biking pattern inspired by the thirsty trails out here in Boulder. Coming soon to my Spoonflower shop.
For Listening:
For the creative inclined: Joy Cho is the founder of Oh Joy Studios and has designed prints and patterns for companies including Anthropologie, Target, Papersource, Urban Outfitters and more. On the pod, she shares how she got her start and drops wisdom bombs. My favorite piece of advice she offers is to reach out to companies before they post a job opening. Listen here and check out the Second Life Podcast for other warm and witty talks with badass female entrepreneurs.
For the adventurer:
The Firn Line: On Persistence with Steve Swensen. This podcast highlights the alpine career of legendary alpinist Steve Swensen. The conversation is humble, awe-inspiring, and all of the summit talk elevates my spirit. Steve discusses his expedition to the Pakistani Karakorum and how he built relationships with climbing partners to grow within the sport. 100% worth a listen.
Adventurepreneur: Samuel Crossley on Climbing Photography and Creating Your Own Luck. On this podcast, adventure photographer and filmmaker Samuel Crossley breaks down the process and quirks of taking his dreamy alpine shots and drops some serious knowledge about the level of detail, timing and coordination with athletes required to get the perfect shot. I feel like I’ve become a better photographer just by listening! Listen here and go check out Samuel’s work.
Running some new trails :) pleased as punch to be ripping some new trails and listening to The Polish Ambassador on repeat.
For Thought:
For Recent Grads:
68 Pieces of Unsolicited Life Advice. My sister graduated from high school this week (remotely and with out much hype) so I scourged the depths of the interweb for pieces of advice to share with her. In the process, I stumbled upon this list created by Wired’s Executive Editor Kevin Kelley. The list is pure gold. And you should read it.
Also for recent grads: Austin Kleon says that college is a special because “the classroom is a wonderful, if artificial, place: Your professor gets paid to pay attention to your ideas, and your classmates are paying to pay attention to your ideas. Never again in your life will you have such a captive audience.” I thought that word-nugget was beautiful!
For Runners:
I’m really bummed that most of the running races (both road and trail) have been cancelled for the year. I completely understand. But it’s still sad. In response to the Boston Marathon being officially cancelled, Des Linden wrote: “the process of becoming is better than being. Set big goals and learn to love the work that gets you to them. Even if you fall short, you'll still be winning." Adventure athlete, Sophie Radcliff wrote: “when nothing is certain, anything is possible” and endurance athlete Ricky Gates tweeted: “my genuine hope is that we will all learn to be more flexible with what running means to us during these times.” I continue to be grateful to the community of athletes who reframe our spirits and redefine our goals. And I will continue to reference this article The Marathon Doesn’t Owe You Anything.
Ultrarunner Amelia Boone wrote an incredible article about her journey with disordered eating, stress fractures, the pandemic, and her recovery. I found it enlightening, relatable, and raw. Trail Runner Magazine also put out a really great article about nutrition and fueling properly, something I haven’t always been so good at.
Random Inspo:
This week I learned about Astronaut.io, a website that compiles Youtube videos that typically have less than 100 views. What you see is a random selection from the depths of the interweb and the videos are often from other countries. When I tuned in, I watched a father-son duo fishing in Vietnam and some mediocre (yet entertaining) old lady dance moves. Give it a peep and let the Youtube gawds delight you.
I’m an idiot and just learned that you can order stamps online. THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS. I ended up ordering some beautiful frog stamps, but there are SO MANY OPTIONS. I’ve been sending way more snail mail these days, so I needed them.
Check out this cheat sheet for creative thinking! It’s a good way to check in with your creative process and serves a valuable purpose (whether you are baking a pineapple upside-down cake or writing a blog.)
Boulder’s Sidewalk Chalk Art Celebration is going Virtual. Tune in June 5-7 here to see the masters at work.
Writer Ariel Dumas, tweeted this week that “at some point in quarantine everybody has a favorite spoon.” And this very much hit home, because, yes, I do have a favorite quarantine spoon and it dips into the cookie dough frequently.
Steve Weber, Professor at UC Berkeley shared his research on possible COVID-19 Scenarios and it’s the best analysis I’ve seen yet.
An essay on peeled fruit. Is it weird to compare a piece of peeled fruit to navigating COVID times? Nawww, nothing is weird anymore. The overarching message of this article on peeled fruit is: “life is filled with bitter and hard things. When you extract pits, piths, and peels, fruit becomes a reliable source of pure sweetness, only softness.” A metaphor for current times?
Why 80s Biker Shorts are the new fashion. Seriously, everyone is wearing them.
I recommend that you read this Vanity Fair piece about why poems are sprouting up on social feeds like daffodils.
And lastly, I’ll leave you with this thought: giving is the secret sauce:
Executive Editor of Wired, Kevin Kelley, wrote: “perhaps the most counter-intuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.” Be sure to surround yourself with love and GIVE right now.
Thanks for tuning in again! I hope you enjoyed it. I’m currently working on my website so please excuse the construction. Thank you to everyone who has reached out about collaboration projects these past couple of weeks. I SO SO SO appreciate it and the chance to connect. I’m also excited to announce that I launched some new products on my site and now have greeting cards for sale. Check ‘em out here. And if you liked the post please spread the good word and share with a friend. Stay strong, and go slay the obstacles that stand in your way.