Things That Matter To People Who Matter
Jason Mraz | Swimming | Cambodian Children's Fund | Biking with pretty girls
Jason Mraz
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I am a huge fan of Jason Mraz. While most people know him for "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)," his best work can definitely be found in his lesser-known songs like "Common Pleasure" or "Unfold" (my personal favorite). The best way I've ever heard his music described is as a combination of country and roots rock with the poeticism of coffeehouse folk, elements of jazz and the rhythmic charge of hip-hop. He plays alongside a really chill band that features Toca Rivera on djembe, among others. I would suggest one of his live CDs, like Recorded Live at Java Joe's, where you can get the best sampling of his incredible scat and vocal range.
Swimming
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For the past three years I have been swimming regularly. As well as being great exercise, it offers a kind of escape from the everyday world. Underwater, you are almost weightless, sound is blocked; swimming laps becomes meditative. At the same time, in my work (where sewing is also a repetitive, meditative activity), I have been interested in weight versus buoyancy; bodies whirling or turning in space while taking photographs, using a long exposure, slows movement like the weight of water.
Cambodian Children's Fund
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I recently spent a weekend at a yoga workshop in Rhinebeck, N.Y., led by Seane Corn. The workshop was fantastic, but what I left with were sobering accounts of Seane's work with teenage sex workers in Mumbai, India, organized by YouthAids and her recent visit to a Cambodian orphanage. The Cambodian Children's Fund orphanage (www.cambodianchildrensfund.org) was established by Scott Neeson, former president of 20th Century Fox International. He exited the film industry in 2004 to work full time on the charity. He is now executive director and lives year-round in Phnom Penh. Neeson founded the CCF to aid impoverished Cambodian children. Their plight is thought to be the worst in the world.
Biking with pretty girls
I have unapologetically taken to going on bike rides in the evening with pretty girls. I've had an epiphany where once I never understood all those she's-got-the-wind-in-her-hair kind of songs. I'm in. I'm totally sold. The Sway-to-the-z has had it all along; she is, in fact, like the wind. It is so simple and awesome; it's hard to believe that cars and jobs even exist. Every day in heaven will be just that: riding bikes with beautiful women along long, alternating stretches of rolling hills and asphalt (like the bit of Sixth Street that stretches from Girard to Spring Garden) stopping only once in a while to have a smoothie. Oh, and Bob Dylan is playing all the time. God is really into Dylan.
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