E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

The Mountain by Terje Sorgjerd

There is probably nothing better, and perhaps even more adequate, than getting started another week at work with something really inspiring that can get you going off to a great start, don’t you think? That’s why as I am about to get things going with what promises to be another one of those rather hectic and buzzing weeks, I thought I would create this short blog post with a link to one of those video clips that has been making the rounds already all over the place, but that one cannot stop watching over and over again. Of course, I am talking about “The Mountain” by Terje Sorgjerd. Can you spare a bit over three minutes as you get started with your own week at work? Not to worry, it will be worth it, I am sure. It is that good and so much more!

Terje is already a well known photographer, and film maker, after the stunning “The Aurora“, which I can also strongly recommend you have a look into, if you haven’t seen it just yet, but this time around with “The Mountain” he has surely raised the bar on redefining the concept of wonderfully beautiful. A couple of weeks ago he visited Tenerife, one of the neighbour islands from Gran Canaria, where I live, and certainly one of my favourite Canary Islands as well, to “capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide“. And the end-result would probably exceed the expectations from anyone out there, even the most demanding. If not, judge for yourselves… Here’s the embedded code of the video clip he put together with some fantastic music that surely fits in right along with the overall theme and be ready to be wowed big time!:

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Pretty amazing, don’t you think? I have watched it a few times already, and I am certain you would do, too!; and cannot help but remembering a whole bunch of great memories from when I was there a couple of years ago, on a short holiday break, enjoying one of the most wonderful and humbling life experiences I can remember having visited a couple of times Mount Teide and its truly inspiring National Park . Back then I went a bit crazy and took a whole bunch of photos (That I have put together in my Flickr account under the Tenerife set), so I couldn’t help it this morning, as I was sipping my cup of coffee, to go through a bunch of those pictures in the context of Terje’s video and remind myself I need to visit the island, and father Teide, once again. So this year, I am planning already on coming back very soon for plenty more and I can certainly recommend that if you haven’t been there just yet, make some time to spend a few days there, because I can guarantee you it would be totally worth while the visit … and the stay altogether.

Happy week everyone!

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Update 26/04/2011: And my good friend Ed Yourdon just tweeted across this particular article, where it is mentioned how Terje put together the final video clip having to work with up to 2.4 terabytes of data, to create one of those gems that one learns to treasure and love more and more every time you keep hitting the Play button. Mind-blowing probably falls very short on the description of Terje’s hard work. Well done and thanks much, Ed, for sharing it across! Much much appreciated!

Little Venice in the Spring

Now that I have finally managed to get my hands on a decent piece of equipment, which I had the great pleasure of taking it for a spin not long ago (And was really impressed with the results, I must admit!), I thought it would be a good time again to reintroduce a new series of blog posts to make justice to the beautiful island I have been living in for the last six years: Gran Canaria, Spain. It’s about time, I think.

If you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you would remember how some time ago, every so often, I used to put together a series of posts about places of interest (And worth while checking further, or exploring further, if you are that kind of adventurer…), things to do, landmarks to check out from an island that I can never get tired of, nor does it cease to amaze me time and time again. So I’m going back! I’m going to start sharing, ever so often, the odd blog post where I will try to share some further insights from what it is like living in such a paradisiacal island I discovered over a decade ago and from which I just can’t get enough!

Actually, there is also a specific reason why I would want to take up sharing these blog posts once again. It all begins with combining two other passions of mine: photography and Gran Canaria itself. It’s funny, because I never thought I would be saying this, but it was this island that one that made me appreciate the wonderful world of photography. Yes, I still consider myself a newbie with lots and lots of things to learn in order to master this fine art of taking snapshots, specially when you tend to discover plenty of tricks as you go along. But the way I see it is that I have got plenty of time as well as some of the most breathtaking landscapes, and a few other things, too!, that continue to help me improve my skills.

And, like I said, with that new piece of equipment I got my hands on a few months back, I just couldn’t help avoid the urge of coming back to this blog and start sharing that new series of blog posts detailing why I fell in love with this island over ten years ago, when I landed over here on my first holiday. I know that most people would think that Gran Canaria is a holiday island on its own and, in a way, they are rather accurate. However, that’s just a small fraction of all of the stuff you can do, watch, learn about, experience, enjoy and treasure. A small fraction, indeed!

That’s why with each and everyone of these blog posts I’m hoping to share with you some of those hidden treasures that this island has got to offer to everyone who may want to spend some time visiting and wanting to have a good time. So, from here onwards, every now and then, there is going to be a new set of articles I’ll be putting together where I am hoping to share with you some of the golden gems that this island has got to offer to anyone who may be interested.

At the same time, I am going to do things a little bit different than the initial round of blog entries, since I’m also planning to share further details on interesting places to check from a culinary perspective. Yes, that’s right! I will also be sharing some further insights on restaurants to check out throughout the island, so if you ever come and visit you would probably have a handful of good options to check out. I already got a couple of lists (Top 5, Top 10 and Top 20 restaurants I just can’t wait to share across!) that I’m sure you would be interested in … So hang in there!

Finally, there is also another motif for me to get things going with this series of posts. And that’s to show to plenty of my worldwide friends out there, those who I have met over the course of the years with all of that travelling (I knew it would pay off at some point!), the kind of place where I have been living for the last few years, so that they, too, can see that it’s not just all about sunshine and gorgeous beaches, nor fish & chips, or steak with fries! So it would be interesting as well to share with you other tidbits I may bump into out there on the Web that I would think would be worth while sharing across as well, so that you folks (You know who you are!) could have a better overview of what it is like living in Gran Canaria.

Like, for instance, did you know that we have got a small place called Little Venice? That it is one of my favourite places from the entire island, because it combines, rather perfectly, both the flavour of a local fishermen’s village with that of a rather popular tourist destination? But that it keeps it all in good harmony and it’s quite a treat walking through the various streets, the harbour, the upper side of the village, etc. feeling that would be that perfect place where you can picture yourself enjoying your retirement for so many good reasons? Welcome to Puerto de Mogán!

Well, last weekend I spent there the entire Saturday afternoon over there, and, of course, I took my camera with me. Most of the pictures I took are already in my Flickr account, but I thought I would share with you over here a couple of them to give you a taster of what is awaiting for you on the southwest of the island of Gran Canaria.

Not bad, eh? Well, I hope you do enjoy this new series of posts I’m about to re-launch over here in this blog, hoping that one of these days you may perhaps drop by my island, my home, so that I can then show you around and enjoy a drink or two, or some of the amazing food served by some of the most interesting and intriguing restaurants you can imagine. Get ready and prepare yourself! It’s going to be a fun ride!

Tags: Photography, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Islas Canarias, Tourism, Turismo, Life, Puerto de Mogan, Fishermen’s Village, Villages, Little Venice, Canals, Flickr, Food, Entertainment, Tourist Destinations, Sunshine, Beaches, Harbours

Tenerife

Goodness! Where does time go?!?! It looks like it was only yesterday when I created the last blog post over here and when checking things out it turns out that it is eventually nearly two weeks since the last one! Whoahhh! Talking about being busy, eh? Well, not really. Errr, I mean, I have been rather busy, indeed, as we are coming closer to finish off another amazing year, but I have also been busy in doing something else that happens usually at this time of the year for me and which I can’t skip just like that: my holidays!

Yay! Indeed, it looks like the yo-yo effect that you folks are seeing with my recent blog posts over here has got to do with the fact that holidays have taken their toll and have managed to keep me disconnected and away from everything online for a little while. Then when coming back to work things are rather hectic, as usual, trying to catch up and, before I know it, it is nearly two weeks that I have been away from this blog. Whoah! (Again!)

Anyway, I am now back again into the full swing of everything online and, as such, regular blogging activities will resume in this blog from here onwards. Just my usual self. In fact, next article is going to have an interesting observation I have been pondering about on what, to me, seems to be *the* real barrier towards full adoption of social software within the enterprise. And, in this cases, just before you jump into the wrong conclusions out there, it hasn’t got anything to with work, enterprise nor business. (Interesting, eh? Well, coming up shortly!).

To get things going though, and to resume my regular blogging activities, I thought I would share with you folks a few words of where I have been over the last few days (Although I have been back at work for a couple of days already!). As you may have noticed, for a good number of months, I have developed that habit of sharing a picture every time that I put together a blog post over here. Most folks have realised that those pictures are actually rather special to me.

Yes, they are all pictures I have taken myself from the island I have been enjoying tremendously for the last five and a half years: Gran Canaria. Each of them has got its own story; some of them are even related to the article I publish next to them; some of them just bring back so many good memories from when they were taken; most of them are dear to my heart making me realise how lucky I am of living where I live.

Either way, beginning of December, I decided to finally put an end to something that I almost felt embarrassed about: the fact I have been in Gran Canaria for nearly six years and I didn’t had the decency :-O to go and check out some of the other equally stunning Canary Islands. Yes, I know! Shameful! So I thought it was a good time to put an end to that and a couple of weekends ago I decided to spend a long one in the other one island that has been attracting me for a while now, right from the start almost: Tenerife.

That’s right! I decided to jump into the ferry and spend a whole weekend of disconnectedness and just pure unwinding! And wildly successful, in my opinion! Why? Well, you may want to pop over into my Flickr account to get a taste of it, but mainly because of breath-taking, mind-blowing and incredibly humbling experiences as this one:

Or this other one:

Or how about this other one?:

Not bad, eh? Well, I could tell you a whole bunch more of the stuff I went through, constantly being wowed with full unbelievable emotions and experiences, but I think I’ll just leave you with those pictures for now letting you know I will be adding a whole bunch more over the next few hours into a new set I created a couple of days back … As stunning and incredibly amazing as this one:

Like I said, regular blogging activities will resume from here onwards, as usual, but that weekend I spent in Tenerife surely made me wish I would have taken on photography when I was a lot younger, because these pictures don’t really make justice to some of the stunning sceneries and magnificent landscapes I got to witness over those four days of intense brilliance!

Thank you, Tenerife! I will be back again! One day. I know. For sure!

Tags: Holidays, Weekend Breaks, Breaks, Unwinding, Disconnectedness, Disconnected, Work, Life, Balance, Work Life Integration, WLB, Work Life Balance, Spain, Canary Islands, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Mount Teide, Teide, La Rosa, The Rose, Flickr, Pictures, Photography, Humbling Experiences, Landscapes, Brilliance