I just got back from a very relaxing (and exhausting) long weekend in ASPEN, COLORADO. I don't normally test myself. Sometimes I'm lazy. If I pick up something immediately, I stick with it. If not, not so much. Trying to change that (given I do curiosity for a living) so I can challenge myself in all sorts of ways. So, three years after a horrendous heart surgery, I went to see what this rebuilt thing could do. From Thursday to Sunday I hiked 40 miles at a high altitude. Including SMUGGLER MOUNTAIN for the first time. The baby of Aspen but still a big deal for me. I'm proud of myself, which is a rarity. Only snag? The minute my friend KARYN GERSCHEL LAMB and I reached the top, a massive rain and hail storm with ridiculous winds pounded us. We hid under the viewing platform, literally under it, on the cliff for about 30 minutes. Replete with hypothermia. I took it in stride, just another story. That's saying something given I'm usually CHIEF COMPLAINING OFFICER. Karyn, not so much. Yapped every minute of the 30. If this was a bank robbery and they took hostages, the hostages would have killed Karyn. I loved every minute of it... Thinking about how many important stories journalists, good journalists, need to tell every day. As the industry shrinks. I wonder if there is a more efficient way for organizations to work together so that the important coverage doesn't taper off. As a curator, I read thousands of stories a month. The duplication is astounding and often doesn't add anything. In fact, the duplication is usually without new reporting or any at all. We have news agencies such as REUTERS and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. I imagine that helps. But was thinking about this and would love your thoughts. We've confused punditry with journalism and we need the best fact-based journalism more than ever right now... JONATHAN GOLD opened people's minds, hearts, and stomachs to the forgotten, the unknown and the underappreciated, from taco trucks to haute cuisine. He tended to prefer the taco trucks. And he changed the way Angelenos thought about food, their city and each other. We remember him with this tasting menu of his best writing. My friend, JAMIE PATRICOF (aka CHINESE FOOD KID, aka a very good foodie newsletter), gives us an overview in MediaSET: "Our Menus, Ourselves: The Best of Jonathan Gold"... My baby niece AMELIE (aka AMELICIOUS) goes to sleep away camp today. I'm proud of her, but a little choked up. And I'm just the uncle. I get no board seat. Just an observer seat. And I have to submit all complaints in writing. Thank god she isn't going to CAMP MOHAWK... COURTNEY BARNETT's "Nameless, Faceless" started life as three different songs. Drake's "In My Feelings" was born of many samples and many female friends. THE B-52S' "Rock Lobster" began as a slide on the wall at a run-down Atlanta disco. Those songs and more, traced back to the source. MusicREDEF's MATTY KARAS explores in "Behind the Song, Vol. 8." The link was broken last week, but subscribe to his newsletter. It's the best music interest remix in the world... Happy Birthday to LARRY AIDEM, CHRISTINA NORMAN, DANNY TURKEWITZ, ADAM STOTSKY, LEAH CONTE, and NICOLE HEATHER SLAVEN. Belated to RICHARD GREENFIELD, GREG BRODY, RUZWANA BASHIR, BILLY PARKS, CHRISTOPHER M. SCHROEDER, LILY NEUMEYER, DAVE SMITH, AMANDA MARKSSAM TOLES, CHARLIE O'DONNELL, URSA PHILBIN, MATT HARRITON, ALEX HUNTER, KEN LI, ROB HAYES, RACHEL STEIN DICKINSON, CHRISTOS MICHAEL COTSAKOS, MICHAEL ABBATTISTA, BILL STRATTON, and MICHAEL FINN.