New Month/Brazil

Image via WikipediaThe past few months have been good ones for this BLOG. I've had steady growth page view wise and have been on a role posting wise, particularly this past month when I had twenty seven entries. I don't think I'm going to be able to maintain that pace. In fact this past weekend I went two days in a row without a new entry for the first time in awhile. I did have a couple of updates on my Guitar making BLOG though so I wasn't completely idle.

This month I want to make more time for guitar building which is going to impact my ability to post here. I think that's a better balance though and I want to keep exploring/learning about building acoustic guitars. I have a decent shop after several years of tools acquisition and just need to continue to build on my skill set and try new things. Right now I'm in the mode of learning how to create my own spin on the acoustic guitar so I'm experimenting a bit. That should continue to be fun and a bit frustrating as I occasionally stumble.

On a different tack, today is the second anniversary of my trip to Brazil. The trip was part of an elective I took while finishing up my MBA. I have seldom been as busy or sleep deprived as I was during the next seven days. I've also never been happier. It was an amazing trip from a learning perspective and not counting a brief stay in Canada the first time I'd been out of the US since coming here as a baby from the UK.

Brazil is an amazing country with both tremendous upside and big challenges. The beaches of Rio are every bit as beautiful as they look on TV and in the movies. Some day I'd like to go back but it's hard to believe it could ever be as good. The group of students, staff and faculty I went with all helped make the trip very special.

You haven't lived until you've gone to a Brazilian soccer game. American fans of sports can be enthusiastic but nothing you're likely to experience in the US will prepare you for the intensity of Brazilian soccer fans. A word to the wise, don't route for the visiting team. Oakland Raiders fans are easy going in comparison to what you could expect to experience in Brazil.

OK, time to prepare to greet the week.