Blog No. 22 of 2025

Blog No. 22???? How on Earth did THAT happen! Your guess is as good as mine. To think that I’ve been writing this blog for so many years and to also realize that we’re almost halfway through the year are both mind boggling!

I will say this has been an outstanding week so far and there’s still some fun left ahead this weekend.

Dancers at “Revelations in Rhythm” take a final bow with the amazing musicians that backed them up during the show. The combination of dance with live musicians was truly magical.

Saturday night, tt was so nice to introduce Monica to the delectable Chinese food at North Miami Beach’s Dumpling King, a favorite of ours in the Gulliksen house for many years now. Even better was the fact that it was on the way to Florida Memorial University where we watched in awe as dancers and musicians graced the stage in unison for “Revelations in Rhythm” presented by the Marshall L. Davis, Jr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. I was truly moved by the emotion and passion exhibited by everyone on stage. Glad to see them taking responsibility for keeping the art of tap dance alive. Click here to read a preview on Artburst Miami for some context on the show’s theme.

Pool at Casa Wutzler

Sunday, the day before Memorial Day is an annual tradition with us, pool time at Casa Wutzler. It was awesome as always hanging out with them, along with Ita and her son Micky. It was a day of great burgers, cocktails and conversation. And applause to Kevin and Michelle for their green thumb, they’ve got an amazing edible garden growing in their back yard.

On Memorial Day, Nick, Vance and I enjoyed some time at Greynolds Park, throwing the frisbee and football around and walking under the enormous trees. We ran into Nick’s friend Michaela who walked with us a bit. She lives across the street from the park so we walked her home. It was hot as blazes but still fun.

Ralph at work, demonstrating his talent for the students at St. Michael’s.

And there’s Harley Quinn.

My sister Susy & I at St. Michael’s after career day.

Wednesday was another sweltering, humid, sticky day and also when I participated in Career Day at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School where my sister Susy works. It’s an annual thing for me, I go talk to the kids about what I do, the last few years stressing the importance of not using or abusing ChatGPT when doing school work. Although that’s cool, even better was sitting next to illustrator Ralph Cabrera, a high school friend of mine who always has loads of kids standing around watching him create his magic. This year I decided to watch him at work and it was seriously impressive. Check out the photos above, they give a play by play of how Ralph made Harley Quinn come to life in a matter of minutes. He’s so talented.

At the center of the show at Locust Projects is this Buckminster Fuller-inspired rainbow-colored dome. Visitors are encouraged to sit inside the dome where they can play one of several vinyl records on an old-school turntable and sit and create work if they’re so inclined.

On my way home from career day, I stopped at Locust Projects in Little River to walk through their current exhibition featuring the work of artist Thomas Vu. Locust Executive Director Lorie Mertes was nice enough to walk me through and give me a personal tour of Vu’s very personal work. The show is visually stunning and you should read writer Douglas Markowitz’s Artburst Miami article to learn all about that. Doug is a phenomenal writer and truly captures the essence of the show. Click here to read it. After that, I was hungry so I grabbed a to go lunch at my go-to spot, The Plantisserie.

This morning I drove to Miami Beach to attend a Creative Mornings session at Moonlighter Fab Lab a really cool maker space where we listened to Rosie Araujo, owner of Mint Body Studio speak about how yoga transformed her life.

Coming up… tonight, Vance and I are headed to the Frost Science Museum for the Members Preview of “AI: More Than Human” the exhibition. And tomorrow night we have tentative dinner plans at Moshi Moshi with the Wutzlers and Sharfsteins.

Tomato plant coming in!

Chase, Elizabeth and Belle, cute cousins, all smiles!

And parting shots… it seems like I, like the Wutzlers, may also have a green thumb seeing that I finally have a tomato plant growing and my nephew Chris, his wife Ericka and their kids Belle and Chase met up with Elizabeth at UCF where Belle was touring the campus. What a sweet photo of the cousins at this cute sandwich shop!

Explore Miami…

Grab something yummy to eat from one of many eateries inside The Citadel Food Hall or have a cocktail at their rooftop bar.

Take a stroll through the enchanting and historic Ancient Spanish Monastery, entry is just $10 and you’ll be helping them keep the doors open. There’s a fascinating story behind how the structure came to be at its current location.

Meander around the Miami Design District’s upscale shops and restaurants and always revolving public art. It’s always buzzing and you might spot a celebrity or two. The area is also home to the contemporary art gallery ICA Miami.

Book Recommendation: “Orphan Train,” by Christine Baker Kline.

That’s all for this week, see you again next Friday!