Favorite things

As I begin a 4-part series of paintings, called 'first-favorites', I spent a few minutes today considering some of my favorite things...Here they are in an alpha list!

Actor I guess the metric here is, 'Which actor's new film would I definitely NOT miss?'

Streep and Clooney are certainly in my category of, 'can't go wrong'...Maybe this category should be, "favorite acting performances"....I'll work on that.

Architecture Massive 'category'. I see architecture as I see sculpture...Only buildings demanding my attention...or a pilgrimage qualify here... Best I can do here is to narrow this answer to two works which really touch me.

First time I noticed the Chrysler Building was in the TV intro to the series, All in the Family when I was about 10. I remember thinking, "OK that's the coolest building I'll EVER see". Here also...The Roman Pantheon, photographed from the position where Christine asked me to wait for her while she got a coffee...before, y'know taking the last steps in an excited rush to get to human antiquity's most well preserved building!

Athlete Massive again. The winner here has to be 'great' within and 'without' their game.

Without the 'crotch-grab' shown here, maybe Marshawn Lynch doesn't win mention in this category...but as I said...off-field antics count BIG here. Muhammad Ali obviously stands alone as an athlete, patriot and responsible sport-idol. Billie Jean King may be THE 'King' among all civic-minded athlete-activists. There was never a time since I knew of her that I didn't LOVE her. The 'Cap', Kareen Abdul-Jabbar has attracted my attention more as a retired voice of social responsibility than as one of the NBAs greatest superstars. LOVE the 'Sky-Hook'!

Author

Maybe this needs an answer in multiple parts: One classic, one non-fiction AND one contemporary...

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I never really discovered Ernest Hemmingway until my early 40s! We were living in Hong Kong when that happened...and a guy I rode the bus with each morning, on my way to work finally demanded, "Dude...what's with all the Hemingway?" David McCullough writes the most beautiful, amazingly researched histories I know of. I have read his books on Washington, Adams, 1776 and The Great Bridge... Johnathan Lethem is the most dynamic writer of 'science fiction'...Though it was his NON-SF novel, Motherless Brooklyn that originally reeled me in. His novel, Girl in Landscape was shockingly original to me. Try one of his short-subject anthologies...simply magnificent!

Beach There is NO question about this one...

Maya Bay Beach in the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand is just about the most beautiful, natural place I have ever seen in this life. Maybe you know of it from Danny Boyle's 2000 film, titled, The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Christine, Ava, Jackson and I spent several hours here on a summer day in 2001...before the notoriety from the film caused such interest (and crowds) that the Thai state closed the island to tourist visits, fearing environmental damages. We were among a total of about 15 people on the island the day we were there...Stunning.

Beatle Paul. Pretty easy.

Book Lets do the same as done with 'Author'. One classic, one non-fiction and one contemporary...

It was my first reading of, The Sun Also Rises that drove the Hemmingway marathon my Hong Kong friend wondered about above...I re-read 'Sun' this year and loved it again...as much as ever. The Great Bridge is a book I knew of and intended to 'get to' for a long time before acting...It was a trip to NYC, wherein I actually walked the Brooklyn Bridge, that sent me to a Manhattan bookstore...and I had it mostly devoured by the time I reached home. (I should also say that I love that Hemingway, who cheated-on, then divorced his wonderful first wife, 'Hadley', just as 'Sun' was being published...committed ownership rights and movie rights to her as a part of the divorce agreement. She made MILLIONS and lived for the rest of her life on the book's proceeds of 'Papa's' second most lucrative book! I think he always regretted this.) I have read a few titles of Colleen McCullough's Ancient Rome series, but this about Caesar one was first and best. When I read a history or historic novel, I always have an iPad close by for 'checking the author's history'...Ms. McCullough's one of the good ones!

Car Two parts again: Favorite car I have owned and favorite I WISH I owned...

I owned a 1999 VW 'New' Beetle. Fabulous car. Black on black, fast, quick, Comfy, beautiful design in and out. It's gonna be hard for some other car to take the beetle's fav-status and none has come close in the 24 years since I bought this baby. It's totally a coincidence that my 'wish car' is a VW too....but I would really LOVE to own a classic VW 23-window, micro-bus before my driving days end!

City Paris and Rome. Can't get enough of either. (Let's go right now...)

Cuisine Italian and Cantonese...in a virtual tie.

I don't think many Americans know of the magnificence of Cantonese food. Everybody knows something about Italian, French, Mexican, Thai cuisines, etc....But REAL Cantonese cuisine is SO dramatically removed from what passes under that name in American restaurants ('Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs'....'Chop-Suey'???) that the real beauty is missed! To me...it's the finest cuisine in the world. (I will say that Dim-Sum, as shown here actually IS very authentic in several Seattle spots I know.)

Designer James Dyson

Dyson is an unbelievable designer and developer of the most entirely original and functional product innovations I know of. I have heard him speak about his work and his inspirations for his concepts...many times. Dyson also stands alone in my mind as the only designer I know, who has actually affected new, superior scientific principles of his own advent to benefit his products...before introducing those principles in amazing aesthetic structure which is just as novel and original. Maybe the greatest designer/developer of our time. The other guy shown above is....me. Check out my "designer/developer" chops at this page: www.tomlukens.com .

Drink Soy Chai-Tea Latte before 5PM and an expertly poured Guiness, after.

Flower This one, photographed a couple of weeks ago in Amsterdam!

Christine and I planned an outing on our last day in Amsterdam to the 'Keukenhof' tulip fields...about an hour from Amsterdam. This was one thing Christine was really looking forward to...and maybe ME, not so much. Then, on the day of the scheduled tour...it rained like hell and we actually considered NOT going for a minute or two. I am SO happy we didn't miss this great activity though! The rain actually enhanced the visit...as the early-May tulips, which were in full, glorious bloom, were opened and enjoying the day as much as we were! Don't miss this activity during your next Amsterdam visit!!

Game Two parts: 'Watching' and 'playing'...

It's almost embarrassing to say at this late stage that a dopey game like American Football is STILL my favorite game. Months before the next game in the new season will be played, I'll still check in for any new news on my favorite team at least once today. My other favorite 'game' isn't really supposed to be a GAME at all...but that's how I LOVE to view 'Peleton'. I also incorrectly refer to the 'classes' offered on the Peloton platform daily as, 'Races'. The instructors (Alex Toussant, shown above is my favorite) are always railing against "leaderboard watchers" competing for higher 'output' by exceeding their instructed levels...but to me it's all about the competition and I LOVE having a new 'sport' and literally thousands of fresh asses to kick every day!

Historic person Julius Caesar

I have read just about everything available about or written by this 'historic person' over the last 20 years. I think Gaius Julius Caesar HAS to be at or near the top of anyone's list of history's 'greatest lives lived'. The bust at far left is the only image of Caesar which was actually created during his lifetime...and is therefore the one in my mind when the subject of the last leader of the Roman Republic is being discussed.

House (home)

Loft on 1st Ave S, Seattle

This is a 'Google-Earth' image of a building you may recognize, very near the Safeco Field Baseball Park. Look at the nine top floor windows...The 5 on the right are the space where I lived from 1989 to 1991. It's a fantastic loft space with a giant service elevator...about 3k square feet under 15-foot ceilings. We had an in-living-room basketball court....The parties were EPIC. I'd move back in there now if I could.

Job From 1995 until 2003, I worked as head of design for a Swedish-owned, OEM design firm called 'Winds Enterprises'....Although there were a bunch of 'worsts' involved in this job too, I view it now as my favorite...owing to a manner through which I was able to sort-of hide from the crappy elements and concentrate upon enhancing my own experience there. The principal at Winds was a character that NOBODY liked...and more people HATED than any other human I have ever encountered. (...with good reason. He was a horrible person, a liar, a cheat and a constant drunk...) After about 1.5 years of working with this man in the Winds, Seattle office...I was finished with him. I began freelancing and looking for a new position, when it suddenly occurred to me that it should be ME opening and running the company's new Hong Kong development office. This move happened and quickly removed the daily contact I found intolerable AND gave me an entre' to a massive learning curve which ended up redefining my design career. Ask me about this chapter of my life when you see me again...I love talking about the experience and everything it meant to me and my family!

Movie I love film as an artform. Here below are a few which spring to mind...My family makes fun of my propensity to 'rewatch' films I like...and The Martian is certainly the one I have RW'd more than any other. Note that I have also included a couple of Woody Allen films among my favorites...I know that Woody's a bit of a creep in his personal life...maybe MORE than a bit...but I LOVE his art in just about each of his films I know. Midnight in Paris in particular, is just such a terrific story, filled with great, original interpretations of so many historical characters and events that it's become a favorite of mine to rewatch. I have also been inspired by 'Midnight' to enact my own 'Midnights in Paris' whenever I have been there over the last decade. In this mode, I research certain addresses in advance of travel...Hemingway, Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Pound, Dali, etc...then set out under those lovely lavender-colored Parisian streetlights to find them! Totally dorky, totally fun!

Music I realize that I do not appreciate music in the way most people do...I have no 'songs' on my phone...I have no, annoying little white headphones that need to be removed if someone should ask me a question...I prefer quiet, while in the car...I don't know who 'The Weekend' is... BUT music DOES touch and inspire me! Here are a couple of artists who have been among my favorites over the years...

...If I'm sitting down to paint, Miles Davis is my 'go-to' right now...and speaking of 'painting'...

Painters This changes pretty rapidly for me, dependent upon what I have been reading or where I have traveled, etc... Some classic favorites: Diego Rivera, Edgar Degas, Jaques-Louis David, Pablo Picasso, Edward Hopper, Wayne Thiebaud, David Hockney, Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne...

Paintings Here are a few paintings that stand out in my mind as favorites...Each are pieces I have seen up close in a museum.

Paintings of my own...

The portraits on the two ends here are BOTH of our son Jackson...completed 20 years apart!

Pet Phoebe. Enough said.

President Barack. Enough said.

School Its a tie. Einstein Middle School was known as a "Junior High" when I was a student there in the 70s...and now it's been rebuilt entirely too...But when I was there it was an exciting, brand new and world-class institution of (junior) learning. I had yet to develop a sort of social anxiety that made High School a kind of hell for me...my dad was still 'with us'...It was a happy time for me. Seattle Central College is where I 'went back to school' after University studies, to attend a magnificent, renown program there called, "Ad Art"....smartest thing I ever did!

BTW: I ran a 400 meter race on this 'Einstein' track in 57.7 seconds in a 9th grade PE class, when the teacher promised an 'A' to anyone running under 60 seconds! I also intercepted a pass in a game on this field against Kellogg Jr. High...ran briefly in the wrong direction with it, before 'righting' myself, then being tackled along a sideline, RIGHT in front of my mom! Sculpture I guess my taste in great sculpture tends toward the classical...Each of these pieces has been my main, 'must-see' objective in the galleries where they live at one time or another...

TV programs For me, TV is mostly for News and Sports...(and sports news). 'Batman' was certainly the TV program I was MOST excited for each week...when I was six years old. MNF can still get me excited...so long as the @#$% Patriots aren't featured.

Workout These days my workout schedule is regimented. One day Peloton (some days 2x), the next day, gym-lifting and a shorter-duration Peloton, later in the eve. Now...within this summer, I will also add 2 or 3 YOGA classes to a week's schedule. I find that designing 'workout challenges' of a 1 or 1.5 month length...committing the precise intent to a wall chart and checking off completed workouts, day by day really helps me to stick to a healthy program. I have successfully completed several consecutive months of this now...and I am very excited about that. (AND I am in pretty great 'shape' now too...) I also hope to add road running back to my regular thing before the end of summer...I'll let you know how that goes. (Maybe the injuries that scare me away from running will be less likely now, due to my lower, current weight...) For right now though...Lifting is my favorite workout!

There're more favs...but you're not really listening, (I wouldn't be...) so we'll leave it there for now.... Thanks/cheers,

t.