Dear Diary...

Every once in awhile I like to share a little bit about myself, so here's a few things that have been happening in my life lately...

1. My New Scoby

I was recently inspired to start making my own kombucha. I don’t even know if I like kombucha or not, but the thought of making something weird at home is just too compelling to pass up. The first thing I needed was to get my hands on a scoby (a scoby is basically a blob of bacteria and yeast that aids in fermentation; yes, I know it sounds gross). Ideally I would have liked to have done a Mission Impossible style scoby heist, but instead I found a free scoby on Craigslist (yes, I know that sounds sketchy).

Serious question: would anyone be interested in a children’s book called Toby the Scoby? It’s about a scoby that gets sold on Craigslist, and then sits a jar of tea for two weeks as he slowly ferments and then gives birth to a twin brother, and then repeats the process over and over agin (that’s pretty much how kombucha is made).

2. Five Toed Shoes

I friend of mine recently gave me a pair of slightly used five toed running shoes. For those of you who don't remember, these were all the rage for about two weeks a few years ago. Yes, I know they look ridiculous, but I always wanted to try them, and I don’t really care how I look when I’m running anyway. I took them out for a trail run, and it's like they were made for me. I love being able to feel the shape of the ground beneath me when I run. If you ever see a guy running in the woods with five toed shoes, it's probably me; feel free to say hi.

3. My First Book

I just sent my very first book to a small stack of publishers, and I've already received my first two rejection letters. It's a pretty cool book, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it gets published. In the meantime I've already started on my second book.

4. Ireland

My wife and I recently spent a couple of weeks in Dublin without our daughter. The most common question I get is 'how was Ireland?'. The truth is I don't really know - we spent most of our time sitting in pubs drinking Guinness. It was pretty good. 

5. Masha and the Bear

My daughter used to be obsessed with a tv show called Masha and the Bear - we've watched every episode together about three hundred times. I was excited to see that there is finally a new season of Masha and the Bear on Netflix. The problem is that I can't wait to see the new episodes, but Maddy doesn't seem to care about the show anymore. I don't really want to watch them on my own, so I might have to force her watch them with me.

What a Wonderful World

I think we can all agree that there is a lot of worthless stuff on the internet. But every once in while something comes along that cuts through the madness of it all, something so inspirational that it makes you stop and wonder about your place in the universe. This week I saw not just one, but two of these things:

1. A lone lizard decides to pick up a leaf, sits back against a log, and starts playing it like a classical guitar. We may never know what sweet music was in his heart, or what secret longing drew him to pick up the leaf in the first place, but one thing is for sure - there is beautiful music living in all of us.

2. A weasel jumps onto the back of a woodpecker, and they embark on an incredible journey together; the wind blowing on their faces as they soar through the clouds, and the ground passing beneath them like a movie reel. Where did the go? What did they experience? This brief and beautiful flight will someday be long forgotten, but for one extraordinary moment, the whole world was forever changed for these two creatures.

Coming Soon to a Womb Near You...

dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots, dots...

I'm having a baby! More specifically, my wife is having a baby!

That's right, this October I will be joining the ranks of fatherhood with the arrival of a baby girl. I assume that she will come out holding a sign that says "waaaaa", or that for her first words she will simply hold up a sign that says "da da". I'll keep you all posted.

Under the Sea

The Land of Le Beef just got a little bit deeper - about two thousand leagues under the sea deeper. Once again the Land of Le Beef has worked with Woodland Pre-School in Hong Kong to create a mural at their newest location on Caine Road, this time with an underwater theme.

Yes it is better down where it's wetter, under the sea.

Another part of the school features a gritty, back alley urban theme to fit with playroom town.

City mice.

Woodland Classroom Animals

I realize that on the surface, the title of this post makes no sense whatsoever; as though I just decided to string three random words together in the hopes that no one would notice. Well I assure you that there is both a rhyme and a reason to it.

By now I'm sure you are all familiar with the collaborations between the Land of Le Beef and Woodland Pre-Schools (more info on that here and here). Each of the Woodland classrooms is named after a different animal, and in this latest Beef-Woodland collaboration I went in and illustrated  each classroom's character on a chalkboard that is mounted outside of the room. The result was unlike anything that the Land of Le Beef has produced before...