See Do Think and Feel

I've always been fascinated with minimalism. I strive, but don't always achieve it.  I love to ride my scooter or skateboard which fits in the trunk of my Miata. I play a sopranino recorder, ukulele and Martin backpacker guitar. When leaving the house and going "light", I'll only carry my belt pouch, watch, keys, phone (and now a face mask). I have been, and still am, a professional photographer. I've been paid countless times, earning thousands of dollars, to take pictures. I own 2 photography businesses in San Diego and have shot: weddings, family portraits, headshots, architecture, real estate, museum galleries, theater productions, cars, events, etc. I have taught photography workshops, developed an online photography course, produced a photography podcast and ran a photography website.  When I first started shooting professionally, I used big heavy DSLR gear, it's what was expected. At one point, I sold all of my DSLR gear and switched to a lightweigh...

One of the things I really like about my "smaller", polyurethane wheeled scooters is how they fold up allowing you to easily carry them. With a quick press of a button or lever, the scooter collapses down to a nice package that is easily carried with one hand, kinda like a suitcase. Stepping into a convenience or grocery store is a quick and nimble experience.  One annoying disadvantage of the Boardy scooter is the inability to fold up and be carried this way. The handlebar does fold down, but it doesn't lock in place. See the image above. This makes carrying it into a store less than ideal. The handlebar unit flops all around, the front wheel pivots at will, making for a comical but frustrating experience. Although you can roll it on its back wheel in this configuration, it's still cumbersome and awkward. An elegant solution came to me from a guy named Ken in Wales (Kudos!), via a scooter group on social media (yes, there are such things). He came up with an ingen...

I rode my kick scooter over 32 miles circumnavigating Mission Bay ( LINK ). My route traced practically every shoreline as I explored areas on my new scooter, areas that I couldn't really ride on my other scooter. This is the beauty that arrived on my birthday! It's a push - kick scooter made by Boardy. Not electric, human powered.  Here's a link . At the time, it had not yet been ridden. So, brand new scooter and I thought "OK, what is an unreasonable way to put this thing through its paces? I know, what about a Long Distance Scooter ride around Mission Bay?" VERY important to me: That it fits in the trunk of my Mazda Miata. No bike rack needed! If it fits in my Miata, it's sure to fit in most any other trunk! I started near the Belmont Park rollercoaster Alright, let's see how the Boardy rates. I have some concerns about the pneumatic tires. Will it be sluggish and slower than my other scooter (with hard polyurethane wheels)? Will it take more energy to ...

 I've experimented with a few different mobile Bluetooth speakers. I first started riding my scooter using a small, round, red, Bluetooth speaker. See my previous post here . I hung it around my neck on a lanyard and it technically ... worked . I liked the fact that I could still hear sounds of people and traffic around me, but even at the highest level, the music wasn't as rich or fulfilling as I would've liked.  I decided to take another look on Amazon and contemplated these "Horseshoe" shaped neck speakers that I had seen. Many were beyond a price that I was willing to pay for an experiment , but I did find one that was about $20, so I gave it a try.  I ended up with an inexpensive pair by Bluedio. About $20. Here are a few photos of what it looks like wearing it. The whole thing sits on your neck, which places the 4 little speakers under your ears. I wouldn't recommend it for running, it might work it's way off your neck, but for scootering and biking ...