February 2012 will go down in history as the month that I started to enjoy skiing, which is to say, I stopped falling every 37 seconds. Thank you very much Squaw Valley ski instructor Lawrence for finally teaching me the basics.
February 19, 2012
After a marathon 18 hours on a plane (DRW-SYD-SFO), I’m back from Australia, and seeings how I can’t sleep (stupid GMT +09:30), I thought I’d post some photos and maps from Oz. The trip spanned ten days, from 2/5/2012 to 2/15/2012, with the first 6 days spent in Sydney working out of our Sydney office, and 4 days in Darwin on vacation ahead of the 70th anniversary of the “Australian Pearl Harbor” (2/19/2012). Overall, an outstanding visit, I really enjoyed Sydney and Australia, and can seeing myself going there again (for next time: snorkling, national park’ing, outback’ing, Melbourne’ing, etc).
Assorted photos from Sydney and Darwin
Slideshow:
Album link: here!
2/9/2012 — A walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach
View Coogee to Bondi walk in a larger map
2/11/2012 — A Kayaking adventure in Sydney Harbor, where we got caught in the middle of significant thunderstorm and just barely survived 
View Kayaking Sydney Harbour in a larger map
2/14/2012 — A tour of World War II-related sites around Darwin, scene of the February 19, 1942 surprise air attack by the Japanese.
View A WWII Tour of Darwin in a larger map
February 15, 2012
I’ve been getting an unusual amount of Valentine’s Day poems this year (i.e. 3) from friends and family (thanks!), here was my favorite of those:
Valentine treasures are people who have often crossed your mind, family, friends and others, too, who in your life have shined the warmth of love or a spark of light that makes you remember them; no matter how long since you’ve actually met, each one is a luminous gem, who gleams and glows in your memory, bringing special pleasures, and that’s why this Valentine comes to you: You’re one of those sparkling treasures!
By Joanna Fuchs
February 14, 2012