The Passion Play

It is the start of the new decade. Which means the beautiful town of Oberammergau in Bavaria, Germany will be hosting its 42nd once-a-decade Passion Play this summer. It is also the 15th anniversary of both my blogs, Deal Architect and New Florence, New Renaissance. They have been prolific logging over 12,000 posts on a wide range of science and technology topics.

To celebrate all these milestones, I decided to re-start the Tech and my Passion guest series. The response of contributors has been overwhelming, and since late January I have run the following columns. Many more coming. The timing has also been right for readers - a nice distraction from angry politics and scary virus stories.

Some interesting patterns. Lots more ladies are sharing their passions. You appear to have an unfair advantage if you have the name "Bill". Lots more STEM is showing up in columns - wearables, mobile apps, smart homes, material science. Lots more exotic travel locations, charities, musical interests and foods are being featured.

I like to say this is the best time ever to be alive. This is what Florence must have felt like during the European Renaissance. That same joy comes through from each of the contributors below. Spend some time with each of them. They will brighten up your day.

Bonnie Tinder  Her Lab, Grommet                  

Bill Wohl  Volunteer Firefighting           

Row Henson  Animal Rescue                        

Bill Hewitt  Co-Everything                                    

Karin Tillotson  Hiking                                     

Jim Caldwell  Camerawork                          

Lexy Martin  Quilting                                  

Craig Cmehil  Ring Making                        

Erica Gunn  Baking                                     

Henry Bruce  Salt Water Fishing                 

Melissa Carpenter  Carpentry                               

Ton Dobbe High Wave Surfing                 

Margaret Newman  Day Tripping                           

Ton Brennan Bluefin Tuna Fishing              

Sukumar Rajagopal Digital Storytelling                

Bill Kutik Expedition Travel 

Bill Kirwin Humor 

Catherine Marenghi Poetry in Mexico 

Denis Pombriant Painting

Mary Keith Birding

Laura Lederman Organic agriculture/medicine

Tammy Powlas Crochet

Priya Kumar  Flute

Erik Keller  Horticultural Therapy

Roy Altman Continuous Improvement

Jeff Nolan Urban Farming and Food Security

Jason Busch Health Protocols

Norm Katz Data Driven Athlete    

Sandy Lo Piano

Susanne Beck Stained Glass

Michelle Turman Reinventing Nonprofits

Bonnie Tinder Figure Skating

Vinnie Mirchandani Stories 

Jim Shepherd Boat Building

John Appleby Smart Old Homes

Nitesh Mirchandani 'Tele-cooking"

Chris Selland Body hacking and tracking

Katie Nittler Landscape Gardening

Nancy Murrah Raptor Rescue

Sophie Bean Stupid Pet Tricks

Minal Neuman Elegant Dinner Settings

Nancy and Jim Richardson Austistic Adults

Bill McNee  Birding, Photography and Nature

Eric Dirst Quarantine Cocktail Nights

Charlie Bess Woodworking 

Nick Hortovanyi Self-driving Cars

Tamas Hevezi Effective Digital Communication

Vittorio Viarengo Producing Music

Michelle Cuilla Vintage Jewelry Craft

Sam Noto Sculpting

Barbara Boardman Beekeeping

Susanne Beck Jigsaw Puzzles

Sandy Silverberg Broadway Productions

Alan Alper Pandemic positives

Rob Kugel Diving and Reef Check

Look for more columns over the next few weeks! Lord, we need more of these positive, passionate messages in these rough times.