Happy Father's Day

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Daniel over at Vinyl Art to write a guest post for his blog.

And when he asked me to write it about the painting all us kids got for Dad for Father's Day (a portrait of Topol from Fiddler on the Roof), I was thrilled to do so.

What follows below is that guest post...

Nearly twenty years later, I can still see him.

If I close my eyes, I can see the man, standing in the middle of my childhood living room. His arms are raised above his head, shaking them to the left and right. His head -- tilted back; and his eyes -- closed shut. And now, he dances. And as he dances...almost prancing and jumping around the room... his three children giggle with glee.

What those children didn't know that day, was twenty years later, their father would continue to put any shame or embarrassment to the side and channel his inner Tevye to do the "If I Were a Rich Man" dance upon request. And this time, his grandchildren are in the audience.

My family isn't of Jewish descent. And my father? He looks and sounds nothing like Chaim Topol's Tevye. In fact, if you told the employees at his office that he was dancing and playing with his kids, they'd probably scoff at you in disbelief. It just wasn't like him. The confident, black-and-white business man wouldn't be caught doing such a thing.

Except he did anything for his family. Anything to make them smile. Anything to make them happy.

Every five years or so, Father's Day and my birthday fall on the same Sunday; 2010 is one of those years. And the older I get, the more I reflect and realize that my dad did things the way he did to prepare me for the future. His decisions may not have been the easiest or most fun, but they had a purpose.

He didn't talk down to me, but that made it easy to converse with adults. He taught me "average" wasn't good enough, and that instilled a sense of pride for all that I do. He taught me to check my work twice, as if I was turning it into Jesus, and I still check twice before I press "send" on my emails. He didn't buy me a car when I was 15 like my friends' dads did, and that kept me grounded. He taught me my mom was his best friend, and now I have one of my own.

My wife and I don't have any children yet, but I'm certain that when we do, I'll take thousands of cues from my dad as we grow our family. And I know I'll make decisions that my kids will hate. I can only hope they'll grow-up to realize I made those decisions because I care about them and their future.

Giving my dad Daniel's beautiful painting of the singular image of Topol, gazing upwards with the coy smile, is itself, more than a unique Father's Day gift. To me, it was a gesture of understanding and gratitude for what, why and how my father did what he did.

Happy Father's Day dads...

Daily Shot of Happiness

In case you've been hiding under a rock, this video makes me and around 250,000 other people smile. Enjoy!

The Places 2 Wheels Take You

The more I ride my bike, the farther I'm able to go. And the farther I'm able to go, the more scenery I'm able to enjoy.

The Southern California desert continues to surprise me with its beauty. Just miles from Los Angeles and I'm able to ride through such a void landscape with so many different colors and texture -- even in the summer months.

Yup, us Barton's are gettin' allll sorts of outdoorsy...

Bloomin'

Last year, we moved in to our new home in August -- well after any new life had bloomed. And it didn't help that the previous residents didn't use the sprinklers.

But this year, it seems as if every time we walk into the backyard, we find a new bright-colored flower, or a group of new fuzzy peaches on the peach tree.

It's all so colorful and inviting. So much so, we've decided to share a bit with you...

Groovy Portraits

This post was originally published over at my business-oriented blog, edited a bit and reposted here today because I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Enjoy!

It's been a busy time at Rhyno across the last month or so. And one exciting project from the last few weeks just launched.

Written by artist, Daniel Edlen, "Groovy Portraits: Volume 1" takes Daniel's original paintings on vinyl records and presents them in a autobiographical chronological eBook.

Working on the design, I wanted it to resemble a true coffee table book. Like you're sitting down, relaxing with a drink, gazing down at an open book. And looking down, you wonder how the brush strokes resemble a life-like texture, and on the facing page, reading how that piece of music impacted the author's musical journey.

Side note: Publishers, print this book, and offer 1) a companion CD with music and videos and/or 2) a micro-site offering a more in-depth look at Daniel's work, plus a gallery of companion music and videos.

Musical journeys are something I can appreciate. Growing up, I made a point to never throw away, giveaway or hide any album I purchased. There was a reason I got it in the first place. Doesn't matter if I didn't like it anymore. It was part of my story. ...even if I skip it every time it comes on my iPod's shuffle.

Daniel and I agreed that it wasn't enough to give people a few images and some descriptive copy though. Anybody can do that. We needed to make this something different. Something unique.

So we aimed for a more interactive experience. On each page, YouTube and Amazon live elements offer opportunities to "See the music. Watch the videos. Sample the albums."

I'm really pleased with the way the piece turned out and hope Daniel is just as proud of it as I am.

Now it's your turn!

Visit Vinyl Art today and take a few minutes to sit back and enjoy some art and music. "Groovy Portraits" features around 20 original paintings, and I'm confident you'll be impressed by each one.

Plus, inside the eBook, there's an opportunity for you to save 10% on your very own Vinyl Art portrait -- so you won't want to miss that. Enjoy!

Day 17 - Los Angeles

"Home again, home again, jiggety-jig."

I woke up in bed around 5:30 Friday morning, rolled over in the dark, feeling the nightstand surface for the TV remote. Finally finding it, I turned it on, flipped to the bridge cam channel, and in the distance flickered the twilight coast of Los Angeles. Home.

Over the next hour and half, we would slowly make our way into the Port of Los Angeles. And just being berthed there that morning as we ate breakfast before disembarkation was nice.

It wasn't that we didn't love our vacation, it was just nice to be back somewhere familiar.

Around Day 12, we found ourselves thinking that it'd be nice to eat and sleep somewhere that wasn't rocking side to side. And after we left Costa Rica, we (ashamedly) found ourselves saying "well, all we have left now are the 3 Mexican ports." What a ridiculous thing to say...

Especially after coming home and realizing that our favorite ports for the entire trip were probably Cartagena (Colombia), the Panama Canal, Huatulco (Mexico), and Cabo San Lucas (Mexico again).

It wasn't that we didn't love the snorkeling in Aruba or the aerial flight through the Costa Rican rain forest. We did. But there were other ports that just felt right. Some more for me than Em, and the same thing on her end.

We both agreed that Fuerte Amador was a waste of a day. But we might have ourselves to blame for that as we never actually left the causeway for Panama City. I suppose somebody could have the same reaction to Cartagena if they didn't leave the fully-functioning port for the Old City -- which was full of culture and color.

During the trip we met a few couples that mentioned that this was their third or fourth time sailing on this itinerary. And though we were in disbelief when we heard it the first time, looking back we can both see ourselves doing the itinerary again.

With only a day in each country, it'd be a great opportunity to see a different side of each port. Instead of snorkeling in Aruba, maybe we'd opt for a more detailed examination of the Dutch influence. Instead of doing nothing in Fuerte Amador, maybe we'd take a trip on the Panama Rail back for a different view of the Canal.

One thing is concrete -- our second time through the Canal won't happen for a very, very long time. Especially since we're already planning a grand European adventure next Summer.

It's good to be home with family and friends. Even if the dogs steal space in the bed.