Twenty Years of Yoga

Summer 2026 marks twenty years of me doing yoga. Kinda crazy to think about!

The yoga DVD I bought in 2006.

In Summer 2006, I began my yoga journey with a DVD and mat from Target. I worked out in my freshman-year apartment living room. I liked the gracefulness of yoga and the reward of, “Wow. I couldn’t reach that far, bend that deep, hold that pose, etc. initially, but now I can.”

Over the years, I tried various styles of yoga at various venues — outdoors in Grand Rapids through Parks & Rec, hot yoga, yin yoga, convention-center-size Soul Pose and eventually BodyFlow (yoga choreographed to music, in which I later became certified).

Soul Pose Grand Rapids in September 2016.

For two years in Grand Rapids, I taught five weekly BodyFlow classes at four YMCA locations. It was fun and allowed me to be creative and make fun playlists. Then all the gyms shut down in March 2020. I evaluated things: Continuing Education was required and came with a fee. Les Mills’ official BodyFlow routines were getting stale. Teaching required a second full-time job in order to pay bills. I decided to let my certification expire and I quit the YMCA.

Since I’ve been in Tucson, I tried teaching rooftop yoga at Graduate and teaching online. I realized I’m not a businessman and neither venture worked out. Still, I do my own thing on my time.

Offering rooftop yoga at Graduate Hotel.

Rooftop yoga with a backdrop of the Catalina Mountains.

Four times a week, I do poolside yoga — no matter the temperature. I think my neighbors think I’m crazy. (And no, I don’t set up right in front of the pool. That was simply to get a pleasing composition for a photo.) I’m always on the hunt for good music and I like to improvise new sequences. To challenge my balance and strengthen my core, I recently bought a yoga wheel. I’m excited to learn some new tricks.

Poolside yoga in July 2026.

San Diego

In early June, I drove to San Diego to visit my friend Colin and my cousin Lisa. (My cousin John and his girlfriend Sarah were out of town.) I had a great time. I hadn’t been to San Diego since 2021. To make my drive easier and shorter, I spent a night in Yuma on the way there and again on the way back.

I’ve been to Yuma a few times, as a former friend lived there. For both dinners in Yuma, I returned to restaurants I’d visited years prior. On the first stop in Yuma, Pint House wasn’t as good as I remembered. The next morning, I woke up early for a haircut at a barbershop across the street from my hotel. I returned to my room, showered, packed and drove to San Diego. Once I was settled in my hotel, Colin came over for happy hour at the hotel pool.

The lush plants in San Diego.

The view from the hotel balcony.

The view from the hotel balcony.

The view from the hotel balcony.

One evening, Lisa and I went to a hot Pilates class (105°). It was too fast for me — I had to take a lot of breaks in child’s pose. At the end of class, I could’ve rung out my clothes. I needed a few minutes to cool down, so Lisa and I sat at a picnic table in the strip mall. Lisa: no sweat left behind. Me: a butt puddle. 😂

After showering, we met back up for dinner. We walked along the water from Lisa’s apartment to City Tacos. There, she introduced me to hard kombucha. City Tacos was around the corner from Tower23, a cool hotel where I stayed 10+ years ago. A coincidental full-circle moment.

Another night, Colin, Lisa and I went whale-watching. The tour was three hours. We didn’t see any whales, but we saw a lot of dolphins. Staring out at the endless ocean and thinking about the depth of the water was incredible. The waves were choppy: one guest vomited for the entire three hours. Feet away, another guest ate nachos (you could purchase food and drinks on board). I was only a little queasy during the boat ride, but felt bad the next day.

Colin, me, Lisa. I was shivering.

Colin and I went snorkeling in La Jolla Cove one afternoon. Lots of bright orange Garibaldi fish. Then a sea lion swam under us and looked up at us! Snorkeling was a little scary but exciting. I didn’t know the depth of the water or what was lurking down there.

This is where we got in the water.

Two sea lion pups.

After snorkeling, we wandered around La Jolla in damp swim trunks and sand-filled sandals. We had happy hour at Queenstown. It was a New Zealand garden-themed bar and restaurant. Excellent drinks and crystal-clear ice cubes.

A lot of pink in La Jolla:

Other sights in La Jolla:

My go-to lip balm. Lost and found in the wild.

So many birds and so much bird poop.

A sea lion snoozing in the sun.

After my first few trips to San Diego in the 2010s, I loved the city. It was warm and sunny and on the ocean. In 2021, the city was noticeably dirtier and congested. I didn’t like it as much. Now in 2026, the parts of the city that I saw were clean but everywhere felt over-crowded. So many cars, too many restaurants to try, houses and apartments on top of each other, attractive locals who were a lot cooler than me. The typical San Diego resident looked like a contestant on “Love Island” or an ALO model.

Every woman in the hot Pilates class:

* not my photography

Every man at the beach:

* not my photography

San Diego doesn’t have Waymo yet, but I saw a few test vehicles.

* not my photography

At home, my days off include poolside yoga, swimming and happy hour. I kept a similar routine in San Diego — just at the DoubleTree. A couple mornings began with breakfast from Starbucks, a two-block-walk from the hotel. One morning I explored the marina across the street.

A venti iced latte and a spinach feta wrap.

Colin’s neighborhood is in the flight path of planes landing at SAN:

Painted rocks surrounding the community garden in Banker’s Hill.

Painted rocks surrounding the community garden in Banker’s Hill.

Architecture in Balboa Park.

Before leaving town, I visited Lisa, her boyfriend Tyler and dog Nova one last time. Their Pacific Beach apartment has windows front-to-back. I got to enjoy their company with the calm cross-breeze, the scent of burning incense and ocean views — plus photos of the new cottage in Harrisville.

The weather in San Diego was good. Mornings started off grey and cloudy, but the sun always came out by lunchtime. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the mid-50s. The humidity quickly healed my dry hands. My nose — which runs like crazy in Arizona — barely dripped. But air-drying towels and swim trunks on my hotel balcony was pointless. Nothing dried. I was happy to get back to Arizona’s heat though. When I got out of my car for the return visit in Yuma, the 100-plus-degree temperature and dryness were immediately comforting.

Fire training at a vacant building in Downtown Yuma.

On the return trip/second night in Yuma, I had dinner at Da Boyz Italian. It was delicious, like I remembered. I ordered two old fashioneds, a Caesar salad and lasagna. I sat at the bar and watched the U.S. vs. Paraguay FIFA game, having a good laugh at the celebrities in the stands. Even though I was stuffed and had leftovers, I already planned on breakfast the following morning at Cafecito. Many years ago, I posted photos of the charming cafe on this blog. Buzzed and happy and reflecting on the week in San Diego, I passed Cafecito and a homeless man on my walk back to the hotel. I realized I wouldn’t eat the lasagna in the morning, so I gave him my leftovers.

I didn’t make it to Cafecito the next morning, opting to save my money with the hotel’s free breakfast instead.

The drive had me questioning the oddities of travel and geography. Driving long distances in the Midwest was boring, but you at least passed farms. Arizona has long stretches of desert. Maybe an occasional dilapidated building or a truck stop. But otherwise? Dry, dismal despair. Yuma has amenities and is livable, yet it’s in the middle of nowhere. Between Tucson and San Diego, the only other “populated” stops are Gila Bend and El Centro. They’re surrounded by vast nothingness. Also, why is the price of gasoline different in different cities? I filled up my tank in Yuma for $4.89/gallon, then in San Diego for $5.69/gallon. When I returned to Tucson, my neighborhood station was $3.85/gallon.

A Quick Trip to Phoenix

Last week, I had three consecutive days off, so I took a last-minute trip to Phoenix.

My to do list had two bullet points: ride Waymo somewhere and shop at Nordstrom. I decided to Google “plant stores” and found a very hipster-looking shop named Pueblo in the downtown arts district. While checking Pueblo’s location on the map, I noticed a barbershop across the street. It had been over a year since I paid someone to cut my hair. (I’d been saving money and trimming at home.)

The first evening, I checked into a hotel, lounged around and visited Nordstrom. I bought shorts and facial moisturizer. My plan was to go to bed early and wake up early. I didn’t sleep well but still woke up early the next day.

The day started out dreary. Right on time, the Waymo Jaguar found me in the parking lot of Homewood Suites. I Waymo’d to Kool Fades and treated myself to a professional haircut. I gave barber Jenn free rein and she ended up fading my hair down to the scalp. It looked excellent, burned easily in the sun and grew out within a week. (I know of people who get fades touched up every three days. I don’t have the money or time for that upkeep.) And the sun came out!

Above: The perfectly-messy plants in Kool Fades. Below: A mural on a Mexican restaurant wall next to Pueblo.

After the haircut, I walked over to Pueblo. It was beautiful and so cool. But the plants were kinda pricey and the employees were annoying: Gen Z, called every customer “friend,” encouraged Instagram tagging…

I bought this Ficus Altissima for my bedroom. But before I purchased the plant, I wandered around Downtown Phoenix.

I had been to Roosevelt Row once before, but never ventured anywhere else in Downtown Phoenix. It was a lot like Detroit: abandoned buildings, empty lots and despair right next to glossy high rises.

I purchased my plant and Waymo’d back to the hotel around lunchtime. After poolside yoga, reading and swimming (and burning my exposed scalp), I showered and walked to dinner at an outdoor lifestyle center across the street.

At The Macintosh, I ordered mac and cheese, a Cesar salad and two old fashioneds. Lackluster service but I dined outside under string lights. The spa across the walkway had a quirky reception area:

This trip was my first time driving my Kia Soul on the highway! She did great.

Winter and Spring Sights

I’ve felt pretty boring lately and couldn’t come up with a decent blog topic, so here’s a random photo dump of sights from February, March and April.

There’s a new medical park near my apartment with a brand new Starbucks, so I ate breakfast there one morning. The view from the parking lot:

Starbucks is changing its feel again. Locations used to aim for “warm and cozy” with browns and wood, then new builds in the late twenty-teens were modern with long white counters and sleek tiles. Now it’s back to browns and wood. But more warehouse loft than coffeehouse.

A front door in Barrio Viejo at night:

There’s a store near work called Pink Moon. Many years ago, I saw this keychain there and it made me laugh out loud. I didn’t buy it, but had regret when it sold out. This spring, the “Law & Order: SVU” keychain was back in stock. I bought it.

There’s a French bakery in walking distance of my apartment. Cafe Français. I’ve decided to go there more regularly when I have “free” cash to spend. The pastries are expensive, but I justify the price when I compare the product to Starbucks. Mass-produced-frozen-then-thawed pastries for $6 each versus handmade-fresh-daily-by-a-husband-and-wife-team pastries for $10 each.

The bakery is small and there are always customers in the way. It’s difficult to get good shots of the beautiful display cases…

… so I found better lighting at home.

Downtown Tucson architecture and typography:

Prepping for happy hour:

Isn’t Life Amazing (Sometimes)?!

I’m in need of a new candle. I contemplated reordering Mar Mar’s Saint-Martin, my favorite scent (for now). Then I thought about reordering the Saint-Martin incense instead. I bounced between a few websites, then I decided to save my money. The VERY NEXT DAY, this arrived:

I’ve never ordered from Enough To Melt. 🙃

My 2010 Ford Focus. Purchased in December 2009. About 140,000 miles later, its sensors were beginning to fail.

My 2025 Kia Soul. Purchased in December 2025. (Arizona Granny Glitter White and tinted windows.)

I used to scoff at the Kia Soul. But now that I drive one, I love it. And I’ve never seen as many as I see in Tucson. (The record number of sightings during the nine-mile commute to work: 10.)

Sunrise (above) and sunset (below) skies.

The Re-Boot of Apple Watch Selfies

My coworker loves all things tech and treated himself to the latest, greatest Apple products as soon as they were released: an iPhone 17 Pro and an Apple Watch Ultra 3. He had the Apple Watch 7. When he upgraded to the Ultra, he gave me the 7 for free. I decided on a purple grey sport band (once again, the “color of the shadows on the mountains”).

Christmas 2025 Greeting Cards

Santa is celebrating happy hour — poolside.

Santa’s work is done! He stepped out to the pool, kicked off his flip flops, cracked open a beer and got comfortable in his retro lounge chair.

I photocopied my original illustration and tried a few sizes. I settled on being able to fit two copies on one piece of 8x11” cardstock. For the papers, I found speckled beige at work, then bought “Pool” and “Peacock” from Paper Source.

The sliced corner is the edge of the pool — with sun reflections.

Experimenting with colors.

Christmas Decor

It takes me about five minutes to display my Christmas decor. I have just enough meaningful trinkets.

My apartment complex was painted this autumn. I liked the old, darker colors better. Before, then after:

Halloween in Metro Detroit

At the end of October, I visited my family in Metro Detroit. It was a wonderful visit. I hadn’t been back to Michigan in a year and a half. I had lots of happy hours with my parents and saw my sister’s new house. My mom made two of my favorite things: her lasagna and chocolate chip squares.

Every time I’ve flown in or out of TUS, I’ve been delayed. Two summers ago, a visit to Michigan came with 24 hours of delays both ways. I vowed to fly out of PHX after that. So this time, I drove to Tempe the day before my flight and stayed at the Graduate there. The bathrooms were remodeled. I’m still on the fence about the snake/carnival/roller coaster/mountain range wallpaper. Also, no flight delays!

My parents’ neighborhood had good Halloween decorations. Some weirder than others. Like this lawn covered in bloody baby dolls.

The skeleton sorority party was good. Complete with binge drinking, vomiting and late-night Taco Bell.

My dad made sure my mom and I were stocked for happy hour.

One afternoon, we attended my nephew’s soccer game. The entrance to the soccer fields had these signs. What are the odds? While at my sister’s house, I was introduced to Titan 13 and KPop Demon Hunters. I’m now a fan of both.

One more Tempe hotel after flying back from Michigan. Lots of buildings with exterior walkways and stairwells. Most hotel artwork is terrible, but I really liked this collage in the bathroom.

Fall 2025

Some sights from this autumn.

I had two yoga mats - a 5 mm “good” mat and a 1.5 mm travel mat. Both were black. I only use the 5 mm mat inside. Since the majority of my workouts are outside, I’ve gotten a lot of use out of the thinner, lighter travel mat. But it’s beat to hell now: gouges from toenails, cracks in the rubber from the hot sun and a stench I can’t wash out. So I treated myself to a new 1.5 mm mat. I had burned the soles of my feet on the black travel mat, so I opted for something with lighter colors. The mountain/sky scene shows dust and sweat, but the light palette keeps the mat cool to the touch.

QVC hosts repeatedly tell me that my home needs a signature scent but I won’t buy one from them. I enjoy burning candles and buy most online from Nordstrom. But I refrain from purchasing in the summer because I don’t want a wax candle in a box, sitting outside my door, melting in the heat while I’m at work. I’ve burned through many Apotheke candles and decided to try a diffuser in one of my favorite scents: Charcoal. I move the diffuser between living room and bathroom and the scent fills my entire apartment.

This autumn, I tried a few new-to-me bars. Crisol was the coolest. Down the block and around the corner from Nightjar (a bar I like) in Barrio Viejo, Crisol - like Nightjar - is another house with lots of rooms. Crisol is even darker and moodier than its neighboring bar. Each sitting room has vintage writing desk lamps and typewriters. I tried a drink containing creosote - the plant that “smells like rain.”

Curtains of monsoon rain and the constantly-changing sky and mountain colors.

My friend Jordan and I went to Tucson’s The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures. The tiny details were impressive.

Some dramatic lighting on a house behind my apartment complex.

Summer 2025

Here are a few shots from monsoon season. Not much rain this year - and totally fine with me. Some beautiful sunsets during happy hour.

I’ve anxiously been waiting for my hair to turn all white. Back in Michigan, I vowed, “Once my hair is all white, I’m gonna dye it some crazy color.” But now it’s thinning. So I think I’ll be bald before it’s all white. This July, my friend Jordan offered to bleach my hair and dye it a vibrant color. I accepted. My hair required two rounds of bleaching. After that, Jordan dyed it royal blue. Even though I was careful - cold water, no shampoo - I had to touch up the color a few days later.

For about a week, I avoided the sun. But my poolside yoga/reading/swimming lifestyle was missing. Plus, my scalp was begging to be scrubbed. Then I saw this guy on QVC:

So I shrugged my shoulders, accepted that careful hair maintenance wasn’t for me and returned to the pool. Sun, chlorine and shampoo bleached the color like crazy. But it turned a really pretty kinda dirty pastel blue:

I decided to do another touch up, this time diluting the blue dye with conditioner. The result was a brighter - but still light - blue:

Allowing the color to fade on its own, but using purple conditioner, led to this crystal blue:

The crystal blue began to look a little greenish in certain light:

So I buzzed it down. I like the result:

Some random Tucson sights:

At work, two rooms for kids had teepee twin beds and quirky furniture. Corporate decided to remodel the rooms, so all the furniture was removed and stored in the parking garage. I asked the general manager if I could buy one of the side tables; he gave it to me for free instead. Now it’s a plant stand next to my keyboard:

At work, the valet attendants get creative and park like cars next to each other in the garage. When I got to my Focus after my shift, I found this surprise from Diego:

When my coworker moved from the front desk to sales, she got a felt letter board for her desk. Each week, I put a song lyric on it. I was proud of this one. Mixed media.

This dog was ugly-cute and had a cute personality. He liked the coolness of the floor tiles and didn’t mind me snapping his photo.

Tucson Museum of Art

I finally visited the Tucson Museum of Art. It was small and focused on Mexican art. My favorite sections were modern art, Native American art and photography. The curatorial department chose a nice red orange for accent walls. Clay and wood 3D pieces popped against the bold backdrop. Some of my favorite pieces:

Why must every museum have the same cement walls?!

After wandering around the museum for an hour and a half, I explored the surrounding Presidio District. I’d been there before but went with a mission of snapping photographs for this blog entry.

I tried a new-to-me coffee shop: Dandelion Cafe. It was strange. A decent iced latte but bad furniture/interior design. The seating area above was fine, but the rest of the cafe was furnished with sofas and oversized chairs someone’s grandparent died in. (And the pale yellow-green color scheme was carried throughout the building.

My souvenir from the museum: a 3D-printed planter in the style of a Barrio Viejo home. I’d seen Tucson Plant Casitas online but whenever I saw one in a gift shop, the color combo wasn’t to my liking. Until I saw this one. I haven’t had any luck with cacti/succulents, so I’m not sure what small plant I’ll put in it.

Amsterdam: Part 2 of 2

More photos and details about my vacation.

As I wrote before, the canals were picturesque but dirty. I purposely didn’t snap any photos of the floating trash - or the bridge posters that warned, “Don’t buy street drugs. They may be poisoned.”

We had good weather: sunshine and blue skies. One afternoon got a little cloudy, seen here. The highs were in the 50s and the lows were in the 30s. Amsterdam was windier than I expected, so I wished I had packed gloves and a winter coat. (But they wouldn’t have fit in my carryon anyway.) I wore lots of layers instead.

Colin and I both went to art school and still have a passion for art, so we visited a few museums while in Amsterdam. Touring Rembrandt’s house was not planned, but it ended up being my favorite museum. Initially, I thought all the artwork was fake - reproductions or lesser-known artists whose work wasn’t worth much. But halfway through the tour I realized all the art was real.

I’m a sucker for old world fabric studies. The lace, the gold thread, the buttons. Gah! Artists today can’t paint like this.

The Museumplein facing the Rijksmuseum.

We purchased tickets in advance for the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. The architecture of the Rijks was impressive. It looked like a Playmobil castle. The artwork? Meh. It made me appreciate the Detroit Institute of Arts. And the Rijks’ most famous painting, Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, was closed due to restoration. My favorite painting was The Death of the Pharaoh’s Firstborn Son by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. It looked like a still from a Rihanna music video. Really nice lighting. The skin? The guy with the shaved head? Beautiful.

Similar to the DIA’s Diego Rivera mural, the Rijks had lovely murals in its main hall.

This started a miniseries of reflection self-portraits.

The Van Gogh Museum had potential but underwhelmed me. Half of the artwork wasn’t even by Van Gogh. Several galleries showcased his contemporaries. My favorite piece was Edvard Munch’s Fertility:

The Museumplein.

The Museumplein.

Amsterdam had a lot of graffiti.

You had to pay to use most restrooms - at a train station, inside McDonald’s, at one of the museum restaurants. Those restrooms were clean enough but nothing great for charging every person €1.50.

Amsterdam had a lot of trash too. In the U.S., most residents put their trash by the street - in bags or bins. In Amsterdam, residents heaped all their loose trash into a pile in the middle of the sidewalk. Then a truck drove around and scooped up the trash.

Colin and I tried to wander different streets or take a new route, but we’d somehow stumble upon the same street or neighborhood. And once you saw one charming block of row houses along a canal, they all started looking the same. Add to that an excessive amount of junk stores selling French fries, dollar store pot brownies, colorful cheese and Jeep dashboard rubber ducks. So toward the end of our week, we rode trains to Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium for a slight change of scenery.

A simple pleasure: drinking canned gin and tonic and eating a Belgian waffle while waiting for the train, then round two while sitting outside Rotterdam’s Markthal. Albert Heijn is a grocery store chain in The Netherlands and it has “to-go” mini marts in most train stations, stocked with canned cocktails and pastries. Not sure if open containers of alcohol were legal in The Netherlands, but no one seemed to care. So Colin and I had a nice buzz while exploring Rotterdam.

Rotterdam was cool and had a really nice public market, the Markthal. The city had bizarre (in a good way) architecture which I didn’t research until after I returned home. In WWII, the city was completely bombed out, so it rebuilt itself and embraced modern architecture.

Kijk-Kubus.

Ironically, I was watching “The Price is Right” while working on this blog post and a showcase prize featured a trip to Rotterdam. The TV show used a stock image of Kijk-Kubus, the yellow upside-down cube houses. 🤯

The horseshoe dome on the right is Markthal, the public market.

Colin and I wandered around Rotterdam, then boarded a train to Antwerp.

Antwerp was all right. Kinda European, kinda Middle Eastern.

Antwerp’s train station was beautiful.

Public transit was excellent on this vacation. A little confusing and frustrating at times, but lots of options to get to lots of places. Train/subway travel was super easy because all I needed to do was tap my credit card or Apple Pay to get through the turnstile. Super easy but a little concerning not knowing what the cost was for each tap. I kept telling myself, “Who cares! It’s a European vacation!”

We caught the train/subway very close to the hostel (Noord) and rode it to a southern hub (Zuid) to continue on to Rotterdam. Noord to Zuid was about €20.

While waiting on a platform to depart Amsterdam Zuid for Rotterdam, we noticed passengers with paper tickets. (We only had our cans of gin and tonic.) It wasn’t until we attempted to leave Antwerp for Amsterdam that we discovered we needed tickets. We didn’t have cellular service to purchase tickets online and the conductor didn’t sell tickets aboard the train. So we missed that train, bought paper tickets and waited an hour for the next train. We guessed that meant we somehow got from Amsterdam Zuid to Antwerp for free.

And wouldn’t you know it? The conductor on that final train didn’t check for our €53 tickets. 🙃

I felt safe most of the time. Then a train conductor announced in French, then Dutch, then English, “Keep a close eye on your belongings because there may be thieves on this train.” Just this train?

Colin and I were in Amsterdam Sunday through Saturday. Thursday was our train day to Rotterdam and Antwerp. It wasn’t until that fifth night we discovered the best food and drinks and service of the entire trip. (Yes, breakfast food at Bunk was delicious.)

Over the week, we learned that most restaurant kitchens closed at 5:00 p.m. “Bar snacks” were still available: fried cheese, chicken nuggets, French fries smothered in cheese, everything fried. Chicken nuggets and fries are great but not every day of the week in a foreign country. Tired and hungry from our day of trains and exploring, with few food options, I suggested we walk to an Albert Heijn near the hostel and look at premade sandwiches or charcuterie boards. We were unimpressed and left the grocery store empty handed. That’s when I saw a restaurant across the street.

The restaurant was small but had a decent number of people inside. I turned to Colin and said, “Let’s just look at the menu.” Two menus, one in Dutch and the other in English, were displayed low in a front window. We crouched down to look at the offerings. A woman seated at a window table turned toward us, pointed at the menus, then gave two thumbs up. We were sold.

De Kleine Kapitein (The Little Captain) was run by a guy from Egypt who appeared to be the owner, host, chef and bartender. Our waiter provided the best service of the trip. Super chill, friendly, attentive and someone Colin and I would’ve befriended if we lived near each other. It turned out he wasn’t even a server. He worked 8-5 in finance, was friends with the owner and randomly helped out at the restaurant a few nights a week. The food and drinks were so good, Colin and I returned for dinner Friday night, which happened to be ping pong night. (The thumbs-up lady dined there both nights as well!) We were there for almost four hours of eating and drinking. Pumpkin-stuffed ravioli, shrimp marinated in Grand Marnier and paprika, jenever and ginger beer, free shots, dessert. It was delicious and glorious.

Ping pong night consisted of the owner clearing one table and setting up a low net. We watched but didn’t play.

The setup for Thursday night.

The setup for Friday night ping pong.

The flights back home went by much faster than the flights there. The flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis had alcohol and I ditched my book for movies. Wicked was boring, ATL was funny and Jurassic Park is always good. At the connecting gate in Minneapolis, I scanned my boarding pass, only to stump the gate agent. “Hmmm,” she hesitated. “We don’t have you as a passenger on this flight.” Even though I went through security twice that day and scanned my passport in Minneapolis customs in order to get to this gate?! She clattered away on her keyboard and reprinted my pass. I made it back to Phoenix. I hate everything associated with flying.

Now I can say I traveled to Europe. Would I return to Amsterdam? No. Would I go elsewhere in Europe? Sure. I was mad about not being able to sleep before and during the trip. (Plus, I got a sore throat on Thursday that led to a cold. Stuffed up, lost my voice, still sick three weeks later.) Better sleep would have made me more present/more alert/less pissy/a better travel companion. Will I travel again with Colin? Absolutely. Will I stay in a hostel? No. I need more space and I didn’t enjoy listening to people snore and fart and pack up all their crap in loud, crinkly, plastic bags at six in the morning.

There were a lot of could’ve/should’ve/would’ve thoughts running through my head after I returned home and began plotting out this blog entry. I wished I had photographed the good food and the crazy intersections of bicycles, pedestrians and cars. I wish I had researched more and slept better. But oh well. I’ll do all that for the next trip.

Amsterdam: Part 1 of 2

I’m back from Amsterdam! It was beautiful and dirty and weird and exhausting.

In early April, I traveled there with my friend Colin. He had been to Amsterdam a few years ago, encouraged me to travel abroad ever since and was interested in going back. Around Christmas 2024, he convinced me to make the journey and we decided to travel in the spring. In January 2025, we booked our flights and hostel.

We flew out of PHX. To make things easier - mostly to avoid the stress of unforeseen traffic on I-10 - I drove to Phoenix the night before the flight. I think I was too excited, so I didn’t sleep that night. The hotel had a basketball court. Weird and random.

The basketball court at Homewood Suites in Phoenix.

Over the Atlantic Ocean at sunrise.

The flight from Arizona to France was about 10 hours. I realize people endure much longer flights, but it was the longest flight I’ve ever taken. The rows were tight, the seat was uncomfortable and I couldn’t fall asleep. (This is now two days without sleep.) The food was bad, except for the egg breakfast pastry. And no alcohol. We arrived in Paris and scrambled to make our connecting flight.

A stairwell at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

A stairwell at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

After the most ridiculous maze through the entire airport (with guidance from a guardian angel airport employee who helped us cut the security line), then a bus ride back around the entire airport to a make-shift parking lot tarmac, we flew to Amsterdam. After a couple trains to get from the airport to Centraal Station, we rode the free ferry to Amsterdam Noord and walked to the hostel.

Bunk was a pod-style hostel in a converted church - St. Rita’s. Imagine “Hollywood Squares” sleeping quarters with colorful lighting and dramatic curtains. Colin stayed at Bunk on his previous trip and I read enough reviews on Trip Advisor to realize it would be fine.

Pod 34 was my home for the week.

My biggest complaint with the pod area in Bunk: there wasn’t much space to put anything. A storage locker under the bed fit one carryon piece of luggage. Three pegs inside each pod held shirts and pants. A net catch-all stored my phone, wallet and eyeglasses while I slept. There were two bathroom areas: one with toilet closets and sinks, the other with shower closets and sinks. Very little counter space for toiletries and poor lighting when you’re trying to pluck your ear hairs and unibrow. The doors of the toilet and shower closets had very cool but strange wallpaper murals: a Rococo-meets-flapper-meets-pinup woman - underwater? The toilets were clean enough and the showers had excellent water pressure.

The public areas were just as dark and moody but cool. A T-Rex greeted you at the entrance. There was a library that I’m convinced no one used. The cafe was usually crowded for breakfast and dinner. But I snapped these photos on my first morning there. I didn’t sleep well the entire trip. I think I got three to four hours of sleep a night. The bed and pillow were comfortable but I simply couldn’t sleep. So I’d get out of bed, take advantage of the empty spaces and solitude, and read a book until the cafe opened (at 7:30 a.m.). It was “vacation,” so I indulged in two lattes each morning: oat milk (almond milk wasn’t readily available) with raw sugar. Each mug and saucer came with an almond cookie. I read and sipped and waited for Colin before ordering food. The food was excellent but the service was terrible. So many people said, “Tipping isn’t a thing in Europe!” Oh, it was.

Morning reading.

Each morning I ordered eggs Benedict, either with salmon or avocado. (I was pretty adventurous - for me - with seafood on this trip: I ate cod, salmon and shrimp.) One morning, I waited an hour between getting my latte and placing a food order because the servers seemed to ignore everyone. I purposely made eye contact and smiled, but they rushed by to do something else. I finally waved at one who seemed shocked and confused as to why I needed her attention. Servers - at Bunk and at other restaurants - never checked back in to make sure the order was correct or to ask if anything else was needed. And they never brought the bill. We had to walk up to the server stand with a credit card and say, “I’d like to pay now.” or else we’d sit forever. And before tapping the card or inserting the chip? Always a tip screen. It made me appreciate the overly-involved servers in bars and restaurants in America.

Bunk in relation to the city center.

Amsterdam had a lot of beautiful architecture. It reminded me of Philadelphia. Really old mixed with new. Tight spaces with front doors and living room windows so close to the sidewalk. Narrows streets and charming arches. But Amsterdam was dirty. Garbage and cigarette butts strewn across the pavement. Trash floated in the otherwise picturesque canals. Too much bad graffiti. More on all that later.

Behind-the-scenes photo by Colin.

There were a lot of bicycles. And traffic was nuts. I didn’t see any traffic lights, only crosswalk-type lights. There were two crosswalk symbols that illuminated: a bike or a pedestrian. Cyclists appeared to have the right-of-way, then pedestrians, then vehicles. Taxis were either Mercedes or Tesla. Everyone on a bike looked the same: no smile, furrowed brow, trench coat and over-ear headphones. Instead of texting while driving a car, the Dutch texted while cycling.

The sexiest bike I saw: VanMoof. 🤩

Never chained up because it had an anti-theft feature.

How would you find your bike?!

Sketches

For Christmas, a friend gave me a sketchbook - and the encouragement to draw and make art more often. Here are a few pages.

Poolside Reading (Another Book Review)

It’s been awhile since I read a good book. This month I read The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley. It was excellent!

Each chapter detailed a different slice of life in present-day Tokyo - and a stray, calico cat wandered from scene to scene. The most charming aspect was the “aha” moment when I realized how the human character in one chapter was connected to the human character in a previous chapter. Coworkers, strangers seated at separate tables in the same cafe, fellow riders on public transit, a convenience store cashier who gives expiring food to a homeless man, different passengers in the same man’s taxi, a detective working on various cases.

My favorite chapter was about a thirty-something recluse who temporarily fostered the stray cat. The recluse and cat were befriended by a young boy. Most of the chapter was a comic book illustrated by the young boy for his school assignment. It was funny and innocent and well-drawn.

As for my favorite character, that was an American translator working for the 2020 Olympics. Her mentor taught her how to simplify Chinese characters when learning the language.

The only aspect I didn’t like in the book was the reference (twice, I think) to the cat’s mystical powers. In Japanese folklore, a special cat can shapeshift into a woman. (I learned this from the book! I didn’t know it previously.) While I understood the cultural connection, the references to a cat woman added unrealistic fantasy to an otherwise hyper-realistic story.

Now back to the library for another book…

Winter

Sights from January and February.

Both pools at my apartment were closed on my birthday, so I did yoga at a park down the street. The prickly pear cacti were very vibrant there:

Catching the late afternoon sun and shadows in my kitchen nook:

The view from the grocery store parking lot:

After getting a drink at the Safeway Starbucks, I visited B&B Cactus Nursery:

Luckily, only a few grey days this winter:

Hallway styling:

Sunset happy hour. A blurry hummingbird and a half moon:

Last week, I drove up Mt. Lemmon. It had been almost two years since I had been up there. Always impressive views:

The End of December

A few random sights and notes from the end of the year.

I realized I enjoy an Oaxaca Old Fashioned, especially from Good Oak Bar on Congress:

Spotify Wrapped made me smile with its made-up genres for my spring and summer listening:

I found this online and decided it was a good list for 2025:

This was my second year viewing the Winterhaven Christmas lights. My favorite displays:

Christmas 2024 Greeting Cards

The theme: Arizona Fair Isle.

Some random sweater anecdotes:

Many years ago, I copped out of illustrating Christmas cards and instead bought a “Make Your Own Ugly Sweater Greeting Card” kit from Paper Source. It contained photo postcards of sweaters with sheets of stickers to adorn each sweater.

In December 2005, during my freshman year of college, my friends and I went to RiverTown Crossings Mall. At Gap, I bought the coolest grandpa/Mr. Rogers cardigan - 100% wool, grey, large buttons, perfect fit. Nineteen years later, I still wear that sweater. But it’s pilling a lot…

This autumn, I attempted to replace that Gap cardigan. No luck, but I browsed through a lot of sweaters online, including Fair Isle styles. The online browsing inspired this year’s Christmas card.

Read about the history of the Fair Isle sweater here.

For a southwest/Arizona twist, I thought about replacing the wintery Fair Isle symbols of pine trees, snowflakes and deer with cacti, flowers and javelinas. But during an initial sketch, I remembered how ugly and shapeless (and unidentifiable) javelinas were and scrapped that idea. So instead: cacti, cacti flowers and lots of stars.

Fall Colors

A few weeks ago, I decided to take an afternoon drive and explore southern Arizona. I chose Patagonia, about an hour and fifteen minutes from my apartment. The drive — mountains all around — was prettier than the destination, but there weren’t many places to stop or even pull off along Route 82/83. The fall colors were lovely and unexpected.

Patagonia was tiny and touristy, so I drove up a few random neighborhood streets to see the view.

Back down on the main road…

And my Ford Focus is still kicking. It has new sound effects every few weeks.