In writing down these highlights, I realised that it's been a busy year!
- Powder and a good crew in the Cairngorm backcountry on the 2nd of January.
- Meeting the wonderful people who joined us for Wandering Workshops weekends.
- Filming for the Patagonia 'Thrawn' movie with Hannah, Rupert, Rachel, Brodie and Euan. And completing the Wandering movie with Hannah and Rachel- both coming out soon!
- Watching the 'Thrawn' movie at Kendal Film Festival Snow Night.
- Showing some of my grandad Chick's old cine movies of skiing in Scotland from the 50's-80's to the local community.
- The Brits on Cairngorm.
- Local bike packing missions with the whole family.
- Running in the hills with my favourite running buddy Taffy dog.
- Eating lots of blaeberries in the hills with my favourite Blaeberry eating buddy Taffy dog.
- Time spent at the beach, in the water and on the waves with the whole family.
- Learning about the world from Coira, age 9.
- Spending time learning with Coach Developer colleagues and completing a PGdip in coach Development at LeedsBeckett University.
- Getting stuck into my PhD looking at ethics through the lens of action sports experiences and cultures.
You've been busy, Matt! Thanks for sharing with us along the way. For me, my son getting into skateboarding (and me getting back on) and us both listening to the pod whilst we build ramps and custom boards. Some good memories.
• Proudly watching my wife reading her self-penned short story to an assembly of fellow authors.
• Completing the ‘Kaolinite’ run swim.
• Paying off the mortgage…again.
• A session at my favourite point break in North Devon last winter and one down at Gwenver in early summer.
• My daughter’s graduation day.
• Listening to Kate Mosse at Penzance book festival followed by a day of café hanging.
• Sessioning the new bowl at Mumbles after staying at my mate’s place.
• I started my 16th book of the year last night. The last book was ‘The Inheritors’ by William Golding. The most profound thing I have read in some while.
I'm glad this is reminding of all the accomplishments and good moments since I've been having a rough time due to some bad news and potential life changes. But the highlights:
- Rode my own snowboard for the first time and am slowly getting better
- Went to Dew Tour again and people remembered me
- Did a couple of performances in my hometown (after a couple years of drama that made me question whether I could be a part of the local drag and burlesque scenes)
- Joined We're All Mental, a virtual meetup group promoting mental health in the snowboarding community
- Rescued a very sick cat (I'm sad I can't keep him due to his chronic condition, but he's no longer dying)
- Published an article for Polygon!
- Tried aerial piano (as in the circus apparatus that is shaped liked a piano with a keyboard attached) and was able to do a scary move where I dangled by my feet
- Visited family in Taiwan and explored Taipei on my own for the first time
- Visited to Japan again after 14 years and reunited with friends from when I lived there, as well as one of my old students
- Re-discovered my love of Alice Nine, a band I discovered while living in Japan, after attending their concert with a friend I made through being a fan
Obviously number one: having surf with Matt though he got better waves!
Loads and loads of talks to all kinds of organisations - best one probably being asked back in to do a series of talks for SAS on the origins and history of the organisation.
Second up - doing one for the Comic Relief Team (following on from Alistair Campbell)
Still managing (despite record crowds) to get some perfect quiet surfs in Cornwall with just me and Katie in and even a couple on my own! Remember if you crouch down most waves are overhead!
Replacement hip in full working order - just over two years now and note: you have to spend at least 1 hour a day flat on your back to stretch muscles - two guesses what I listened to every day - Thanks Matt you helped not all heal!
That sounds like a mighty good year
Some definite high points! Tis good to reflect eh?
Definitely. Easy to lose sight of what’s happened and with who.
Not a bad year yourself from what I could see 😀
In writing down these highlights, I realised that it's been a busy year!
- Powder and a good crew in the Cairngorm backcountry on the 2nd of January.
- Meeting the wonderful people who joined us for Wandering Workshops weekends.
- Filming for the Patagonia 'Thrawn' movie with Hannah, Rupert, Rachel, Brodie and Euan. And completing the Wandering movie with Hannah and Rachel- both coming out soon!
- Watching the 'Thrawn' movie at Kendal Film Festival Snow Night.
- Showing some of my grandad Chick's old cine movies of skiing in Scotland from the 50's-80's to the local community.
- The Brits on Cairngorm.
- Local bike packing missions with the whole family.
- Running in the hills with my favourite running buddy Taffy dog.
- Eating lots of blaeberries in the hills with my favourite Blaeberry eating buddy Taffy dog.
- Time spent at the beach, in the water and on the waves with the whole family.
- Learning about the world from Coira, age 9.
- Spending time learning with Coach Developer colleagues and completing a PGdip in coach Development at LeedsBeckett University.
- Getting stuck into my PhD looking at ethics through the lens of action sports experiences and cultures.
A busy one! Loved Thrawn, can’t wait to see it again
You've been busy, Matt! Thanks for sharing with us along the way. For me, my son getting into skateboarding (and me getting back on) and us both listening to the pod whilst we build ramps and custom boards. Some good memories.
In no particular order
• Exploring East Anglia in our van.
• Proudly watching my wife reading her self-penned short story to an assembly of fellow authors.
• Completing the ‘Kaolinite’ run swim.
• Paying off the mortgage…again.
• A session at my favourite point break in North Devon last winter and one down at Gwenver in early summer.
• My daughter’s graduation day.
• Listening to Kate Mosse at Penzance book festival followed by a day of café hanging.
• Sessioning the new bowl at Mumbles after staying at my mate’s place.
• I started my 16th book of the year last night. The last book was ‘The Inheritors’ by William Golding. The most profound thing I have read in some while.
• Brooks Ghost trainers.
The Inheritors is really remarkable eh?
I'm glad this is reminding of all the accomplishments and good moments since I've been having a rough time due to some bad news and potential life changes. But the highlights:
- Rode my own snowboard for the first time and am slowly getting better
- Went to Dew Tour again and people remembered me
- Did a couple of performances in my hometown (after a couple years of drama that made me question whether I could be a part of the local drag and burlesque scenes)
- Joined We're All Mental, a virtual meetup group promoting mental health in the snowboarding community
- Rescued a very sick cat (I'm sad I can't keep him due to his chronic condition, but he's no longer dying)
- Published an article for Polygon!
- Tried aerial piano (as in the circus apparatus that is shaped liked a piano with a keyboard attached) and was able to do a scary move where I dangled by my feet
- Visited family in Taiwan and explored Taipei on my own for the first time
- Visited to Japan again after 14 years and reunited with friends from when I lived there, as well as one of my old students
- Re-discovered my love of Alice Nine, a band I discovered while living in Japan, after attending their concert with a friend I made through being a fan
- Had my first in-person poetry feature
- Made my own website for my writing: https://jenniferelisewang.com/
- And of course, getting some really cool people participating in my Db x Looking Sideways-funded documentary !
Obviously number one: having surf with Matt though he got better waves!
Loads and loads of talks to all kinds of organisations - best one probably being asked back in to do a series of talks for SAS on the origins and history of the organisation.
Second up - doing one for the Comic Relief Team (following on from Alistair Campbell)
Still managing (despite record crowds) to get some perfect quiet surfs in Cornwall with just me and Katie in and even a couple on my own! Remember if you crouch down most waves are overhead!
Replacement hip in full working order - just over two years now and note: you have to spend at least 1 hour a day flat on your back to stretch muscles - two guesses what I listened to every day - Thanks Matt you helped not all heal!