Welcome to my second year-end review since my inaugural summary in 2014. Like that recall, my focus here is to highlight some of my productive activities and accomplishments, along with other matters of note. Once again, this yearly review derives from my daily practice, more than 10 years now, of writing down three good things that I made happen each day, 365 in all.
My year-end review helps me reinforce what I value most, reminds me of my achievements, and inspires me to do more the next year, and I share it here with the hope that it may inspire others.
Writing
The most important step I took in 2022 was to establish a new central purpose: write a book about Leonardo da Vinci.
While planning to write an extensive essay on the Renaissance man, I decided I had much more to say about him. So, on da Vinci’s birthday in April, I announced I would write and publish a book within three years. Although, after working out a master plan, I realized this was more likely a five-year project and extended it accordingly.
This all grew from my rediscovery of da Vinci after reading Walter Isaacson’s 2017 biography on the Italian polymath and when I wrote an essay about my trip to Itay in 2019.
As part of my book research, I took an online master class given by Martin Kemp, widely considered the top living da Vinci scholar, in September. I’ve subsequently transcribed most of the six recorded classes. A highlight of the course came when, during a live Q&A with Kemp, I got to ask him a question about the central idea for my book.
My other writing activities in 2022 involved returning to my journalistic roots when in March I completed a six-month stint freelancing for the news organization Long Island Patch. I wrote mainly feature and business stories, including a series on the state of malls in America and Roosevelt Field on Long Island.
I also blogged on my website a couple of holiday-related pieces: “What is Freedom,” which I wrote on the morning of July 4, and “What I’m Grateful for on Thanksgiving,” which I typed up early on the fourth Thursday in November.
Photography
My top photography news came in April, when I made my biggest sale of a single photo ever. Unfortunately, because I signed a non-disclosure agreement with the entity that paid me, I can’t reveal any details about this transaction until 2027. I apologize for the mystery, but I’ll let the world know all about it as soon as I can.
This past summer, I purchased a new camera, the mirrorless Sony a74, after my first digital camera, the Nikon D90, finally went kaputz after providing me with nearly a decade of great use. (I also purchased a new 16-inch MacBook Pro from the Apple Store.) I bought the camera just in time for my trip to Europe (which I write about below).
Prior to that trip, I finished editing my photos from my travels in Italy, posting them to two separate pages on my website: a general page and another one devoted exclusively to art. From these images, I also created two of my all-time favorite photo blogs based on the most iconic Renaissance works of art: Seeing Leonardo’s Last Supper in the Flesh: A Promise Fulfilled (definitely my most labor-intensive photo blog ever) and Michelangelo’s David: From Mountain to Masterpiece.
It was also great to once again take a long walk around Central Park this November and snap photos of the autumn-colored scenes, something I did ritualistically each fall before the pandemic.
Books
The best book I read this year was Alex Epstein’s controversial Fossil Future, and I also particularly enjoyed John McWhorter’s Woke Racism.
But being that I’m in the research phase to write a book on da Vinci, the bulk of the books I read this year were centered around this project. They included:
Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman by Carmen Bambach.
Living with Leonardo by Martin Kemp.
The Science of Leonardo by Fritjof Capra.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man by Kenneth Keele.
How To Start Writing Your Book Today by Morgan McDonald.
Other books on da Vinci that I started reading later this year, and expect to complete early in 2023, are The Writings and Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci by Robert Zwijnenberg and Leonardo: The First Scientist by Michael White.
The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich, a classic tome of art history, and Windows on Humanity by Sandra Shaw, published in 2022, are two other books I read related to my book project. Another art-related book that I’ll be reading into 2023 is Stories in Paint by Luc Travers.
In January 2022, I also joined a weekly book study group in which we generally read one or two sections from each chapter of Leonard Peikoff’s Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. In part, I joined the group to help me understand philosophy more generally and thereby build a stronger foundation to write my book. But also, I want to continue to understand more deeply a philosophy that continues to change my life for the better. I’ve also been pursuing this goal by reading A Companion to Ayn Rand, another book I expect to finish in 2023.
Travel
In September, I traveled to Portugal, accompanying my sister, Maureen, who wanted to visit and learn more about the European nation as a potential place to retire in coming years.
We stayed in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Tomar, and Albufeira, and made stops in Sintra, Nazaré, Aveiro, Pinhão, Portimão and Silves. Among the highlights of the trip were a catamaran tour of the rock formations and caves along the Atlantic coast in the southern Algarve region, a train and boat ride through the vineyard and wine country of the Douro River Valley, and taking a nighttime photography tour of Lisbon, walking through the city’s various neighborhoods and learning more functions of my new Sony camera.
In April, I also visited my friends, Joel and Jamie, at their new home in Ormond, Florida, and also traveled to Saint Augustine and Daytona.
Family & NYC
In July, my nephew Brian and his girlfriend Dare flew up from Virginia to visit me for a few days. We took an elevator up 102 stories to the observatory and restaurant at One World Trade Center, my first time inside the skyscraper, to enjoy the outstanding views and food there.
On another day, we went to The Vessel at Hudson Yards and walked along the neighboring High Line. We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and strolled through Central Park. We drove downtown to shop in Soho and Greenwich Village. And on our way home, we stopped at Gantry Park in Long Island City to view the midtown skyline at night.
This day was noteworthy because it was the first time I’d driven that much around New York City after the start of the pandemic and only my second time in Manhattan since then.
Fitness
In January 2022, I joined and started working out at a new gym closer to my home, after exercising at another gym for about 15 years. This kicked off my 43rd consecutive year of lifting weights as my primary form of exercise. I still love to do it and don’t foresee myself stopping anytime soon.
KellardMedia
During Q1 2022, I officially incorporated my business, KellardMedia. While I’ll continue to center my business around creating written copy and photographic content for my clients, I started last summer to narrow my focus on producing feature stories-advertorial for professionals in various walks of life, particularly business.
In closing, 2022 was actually not as eventful and achievement-filled a year as I would have liked it to have been. That said, I expect 2023 to be a more eventful and successful year.
Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!