Category: Random

Saving the Wave: A New Wave Playlist On Spotify 

Carl Setzer

Inspired by C89‘s DJ Trent Von and his Save The Wave show, I crafted my own playlist in Spotify. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. What’s left out? What shouldn’t be on this one?

 

If you’re a fan of Trent, here are a few places to connect with him online:

And here are some sites to learn more about his style, background, and, well, listen to his playlists.

Green Mountain Lookout: An Article In Today’s Everett Herald

Carl Setzer

Just read “Summit stewards make the steep trek to Green Mountain Lookout“. Ah, visions of Kerouac on Desolation Peak! Well, this isn’t quite so literary, I guess.

If you don’t know Kerouac’s connection to the Pacific Northwest, below are few links for you (and if you don’t know Jack Kerouac, please fix that. I always start such things with Wikipedia).

Anyway, I enjoyed the article, probably in no small part due to my literary fascinations. This looks like a fun, if aggressive hike. And staying on top of a mountain (I doubt there’s wifi) would be a great way to decompress. For me, personally, after this season’s hikes, I realize I’m not quite in good enough shape for hikes like this one. I’m building back up, though.

Below is a video of the current occupants of the lookout (as of the article’s writing, at least) created by the good folks at the Everett Herald.

 

https://vimeo.com/358390009

If you’re inspired to make this hike, check out the WTA’s (Washington Trails Association) page for the Green Mountain trail. And if you’re interested in the Kerouac/Beat pilgrimage to Desolation Peak, the WTA has your covered, too.

Watch “VANLIFE as a SOLO FEMALE TRAVELER” on YouTube

Carl Setzer

Alex is from Leavenworth, and worked at REI, so we most likely have some common friends. I adore Penny, her VW Eurovan, and she’s got the coolest dog.

Yeah, I dig vanlife. I don’t really want to LIVE it. I’d like a small van for weekend touring, but I have no desire or plans to drop everything and live solely out of a van. Now, doing something like that in Hawaii would be cool….and maybe I’d could get a trailer for the Lexus.

Anyway, check out Alex’s blog and Instagram pages.

Focus

Carl Setzer

What is my direction?
I’m pulled so many ways?
Is that bad?
Or does that tension
Make me bigger?
I don’t which is better
For my soul 

I am challenged by “focus”. When focused, other things must be ignored. Such a painful thing, to give up on interests. Yet I see that by diluting my focus, passions get sacrificed. I’ve searched for passion, just not very well. I’m pulled this way and that. Unsure which way is true. I’ve spent so much time eliminating risk that I’ve never truly considered passion, and how that can fit into career. I still have plenty of work to do. 

Reflections On Seth Godin

Carl Setzer

Seth Godin always makes me think. His writing brings me to the proverbial 30,000 foot level, where I can see clearly. His post today “Never smooth enough–a modern addiction” came with this great line:

“Accept the lack of perfect. Better to make something important instead.”

It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the lack of perfect, the gaps, the holes in the plans, and in all the things I don’t have to “pull this off”.

Just move, just start: it’s what matters. Everything else will come together.

Thinking about 2017 and moving forward 

Carl Setzer

It’s been a mixed year for me. I started a new job, one that pushed me far outside my comfort zone. As a rather cautious soul, that’s been quite challenging at times to deal with. The frustration of too much to do with constrained tome. 

Another frustrating element for me: learning new stuff. It’s one thing to expand my knowledge, quite another to learn a new role, where a company depends upon my effectiveness. It’s a rather terrifying sensation. 

More positively, I’ve grown as a martial artist, and my family has done some great stuff. I’ve deepened friendships I valued, and grown to new ones. I’ve also spent the past few weeks studying myself, seeking to deepen my understanding of what brings me joy, what brings me success. 

There’s great emotional risk in doing such. What if those ideas I’ve invested so much energy in turn out to be bad fits? Of course, my internal counterpoint needs to be “why would I want  to invest time, emotion and energy into something that robs joy and beauty from my life?

So, exploring, growing, developing: that’s my theme right now. What about you?

Memories of a forgotten Seattle 

Carl Setzer

Many memories
Walking past the empty halls
In winter’s darkness

Ages ago I lived in Seattle’s heart. The city was beginning the transformation into the economic behemoth it is now. Still the refuge of the poor, downtrodden. Suburban business professionals drifting through, vanishing as the clock struck five. The flurry of buses and cars away from us. I found myself wandering nighttime streets, streetlights and gentle rain accompanying my steps.