celebrating life

had me a good ol time this weekend. thanks to everyone who made it a memorable two days of partying (though some of it has been lost in the vodka river of my mind). i was inches away from beating dandiggity, the birthday twin, in a street fighter battle. words of wisdom, never try to discover new buttons when your seconds away from being beat, and even more, don't attempt to do so while good on a handful of jello shots and anything else i could spare. so yeah, i really gotta say,i was happy to share some goofy ass, funloving moments with folks that i just dont get to see enough these days with this whole growing up deal.

rather than go on and on about two days of drunken bliss, i'd like to close off the birthday talk with day three. as the libra that i be, sunday was my balance beam. there's this program called Sunday Friends that goes down every other sunday at Lowell Elementary, a school around the corner from our house. Its an awesome community program for local and low income families to have a day full of fun and educational activities, free lunch, free donated goods (clothes, household items, etc.), free assistance, and, a place where kids get to make new buddies. i signed up as a volunteer photographer to document the program and the people they serve. after two days of alcohol induced fun, i baked away in the oddly hot october sun in the middle of the day making people smile and gaining new friends.


















i woke up sunday feeling off balance., figuratively and literally (i yacked. yup.) two nights of partying (though great moments shared) and a few weekends previous spent somewhat glutinous. but after sunday friends and a stroll around downtown on my bike, newness came back to me. at the end of the day i truly felt balanced. in some wierd way i saw my morning incident as the start of a newday, a new year, fresh of all the toxins from the 2 nights before, ready to give back, and even more, to receive.

...back to the pursuit of the natural high.

rock the boat

Last Thursday, practically all of San Jose took a field trip to Pier 35. Our beloved Tony Santa Ana who has taken more than a year off to travel the world, and now by way of the Peace Boat, docked into SF and invited everyone to party on deck with his shipmates. It was an awesome experience meeting these people who travel the first and third world in search of global understanding and well, peace.

Everyone was so interesting and unique. There was so much diversity and social/cultural exchange to keep the air warm, it was a great time to meet new people. This older Japanese woman came up to Lea and I to sign a petition to the UN to ban nuclear weapons. I tried talking to her, asking her how her experience living on board was, and i realized that peace was the only common language we understood. We stared at each other for a minute awkwardly, trying to think of words we might commonly understand, and then she reached into her goodie bag and pulled out an origami paper crane and gave one to lea and one to me. We smiled, more than the average smile to make up for the lack of words, and went on our merry way.


Here are some photos from my Powershot:








for more info fo to Peace Boat

flicker florescent soul

"you ever dance with the devil in a pale mooon light?" -A young Joker says to the future Batman.

Personally, I think that flourescent overhead lights were created in torture chambers in the 1600s. Beams of light secretly pulsating on and off from up above, casting 4 o'clock shadows on already weary eyes.

However, put in the right context, these suckers MAKE the magic in the night. This is dedicated to this weekend's full moon, and the mystifying, flourescent light of the night.










{thinks thought lingering}

Recovering

I graduated, I travelled, I got an awesome FT job, all in a very short amount of time. Likewise, I've been full of Small Moments. Those Little Things that impact my every day and keep me in the right direction. As life has been picking up its pace, I hope that the upkeep of this blog will slow my cadence. Less words, more substance.

{fragmentation, silence she say}




Deep in thought. A moment and feeling captured in time.

This sweet older woman with a cool British accent was on a hiking tour with myself, Tasha, Stephanie, and about 10 other people this summer in Vancouver. The photo was taken on the bus ride back to our hostel after a very long day. She bears the somber look of incredible experience. We had this inspiring 60-something tour guide named Erik (the hiking viking), who said he felt more fit now than he did when he was 25. He leads the tours for free, and personally upkeeps all of the trails that he frequents. He took us hiking through Capilano Canyon, and eventually made our way through the famous Suspension Bridge which rests at the peaks of the preserved Douglas Fir forest. The bridge has been described to be the length of two 747 jets.