Let's go fly a Kite!!















Natural Bridge State Beach, Santa Cruz.

I like Holidays. who doesn't? When I was in Senegal it seemed there were holidays every other week because they would celebrate ALL the holidays: muslim AND christian holidays, plus other national holidays... not a bad idea. In California, we get a special day to celebrate the life of Cesar Chavez, legendary Mexican American farm worker in California who fought for the health and civil liberties of farmers in California, leading a strike with a huge march of grape-pickers from Delano to the capital (around 245 miles!, I just learned) that lasted for 5 years and encouraged people to boycott table grapes. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of Cesar Chavez growing up in Utah. I learned about him a few years ago when I worked for a Cesar Chavez grant one of my professors got to teach kids about him and about environmental conservation, organic farming/gardening, and community building in Willow Creek and the Hupa reservation (about 45 miles East of Arcata). What an amazing man. Thank you Cesar Chavez!

So to celebrate Mr. Chavez and our day off, Glenn and I took off to find a sunny beach- hello Santa Cruz! We were going to go to Stintson beach, which is supposed to be
the closest relatively non-crowded, un-polluted , and super beautiful beach...but after finding out that the next closest beaches (in Santa Cruz) were 70 degrees and sunny rather than 60 and foggy, Santa Cruz won! What can I say, I'm a dessert girl, I thrive on sunshine!


One thing I can say is that Glenn and I are good at playing: we spent the day running on rocks, Ukulele playing, tide pooling, playing tag, and kite flying!- we finally got my kite (purchased last summer and earth-bound even atop Utah's tallest mountain) to soar! It wasn't easy, our little kerby kamakazi kite kept spinning and diving all over the place, but we did it for a few couple minute long sessions with success, and Glenn's persistance:) Kite flying reminds me of camping at Moab in Southern Utah - we used to go every year with my family, cousins, and aunts and uncles over Easter and camp by the green river, have Easter Egg hunts in the sand, hike in nearby Arches National Park, play April Fool's jokes, and play capture the flag at night..I hear some of my cousins are keeping up the tradition and going down this year- way to keep the tradition alive! Unfortunately I won't be going :(, but Glenn and I might go to Big Sur, which is almost as nice:)

Big Bend Campsite, Moab, Utah

So back to Santa Cruz, the day was topped off with the appearance of a blue alpaca who came to enjoy a wade in the ocean! Yes blue, like dyed blue alpaca on a leash at the beach! How unusual?! maybe it's a frequent occurance there, but it was my first time seeing one. I feel privelaged.
I've always loved alpacas- their soft wool spun into velvety socks, hats and gloves and scarves, their gentle demeanor, their ability to mow your lawn by eating only the tops of the grass instead of the whole plant, plus they come in different colors apparently:P
I'd like to have a pet alpaca some day:)

Aren't they cute?

So I never thought anything could be softer than alpaca wool yarn until last night when we spent some time with our friend April, who just returned from a year in New Zealand, and brought home with her hundreds of pairs of posssom socks. That's right, possom fur is spun and mixed with wool and a little nylon to make the warmest, softest, most durable socks imaginable..or so April says. She convinced me...After trying them on and hearing the story of the possoms, I bought a pair and haven't taken them off sicne...I know you're thinking, how cruel, why would anyone want or even need a pair of socks made at the cost of the life of a small cute little bushtail possom(way cuter than the possoms here in US)?

Well I would've thought the same thing before I learned that possoms are the BIGGEST environmental problem in New Zealand! They were brought over from Australia (home to plenty of predators that will control the population such as dingos, tirantulas, alligators, ect) to New Zealand where the only mammal is a bat, hardly a predator for the feisty little possom. So the populations have mulitplied to uncontrollable numbers- 70 million! And they eat up to 140 TONS of the sweet lucious vegetation thriving in New Zealand's beautiful landscape...The government's way to deal with it is poison, which is just making another environmental problem contaminating ecosystems and killing other animals too. The alternative is to hunt them, and currently numerous hunters make money for killing as many as they can- they get 10 kiwi dollars ( about $7) for each possom they kill, then their fur is used to make soft, warm, durable socks. Apparently there are lots of hunters that make a good living doing this.

So now I've got super socks and I'm doing my little tiny part to help preserve New Zealand's pristine environment. I'll let you know how they stand a month of hiking on the PCT this summer...April has already used them for 6 months of hiking in New Zealand and they do not look worn at all. Yay for possom socks:) If any of you are interested in getting yourself some, contact my friend April Armstrong: aprilalison@hotmail.com

A NEW JOB! and Stretching the Social Circle

So this past week has been pretty exciting:

• I got a new job! yay:) I now am an administrative assistant for a program called ALICE, Arts and Literacy in Children's Education. It's a great non-profit organization that works with resident artists to teach elementary school kids dance, theatre, and visual arts! How cool! So I just help out with any and all aspects of coordinating the program, and even get to help out with a production they are putting on next week called "My heart comes from my ancestors" which is an original performance piece about kids stories from their grandparents. Read some of the stories here.

It feels good to be part of something worthwhile and meaningful that is working with art!
This is my new boss.
Her name is Helen.
I like her a lot because she is professional, creative, super organized, an open and honest communicator and she tries really hard to make our work environment positive and wholesome- she has an herb garden in her front yard (the office is out of her home), lots of natural lighting, has a sunny back patio that we will be able to work from sometimes, has herbal tea in the cupboard for making, and a compost container on the counter-my kind of atmosphere:) So what I'm trying to say is that I feel right at home there, and I think this will be a really positive experience. I think I will learn a lot from her, and will hopefully learn a little more about grant writing (essential in the non-profit world.) Plus the job is only till the end of June (which is what I wanted so I can go play for a couple months this summer- PCT hiking and farming with Glenn)

I met a lot of the artists the other day too, one of them is a Congolese dancer/drummer that has done workshops up in Arcata with my former african dance teacher up there- What a small world. He teaches at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts! in downtown Oakland also, where I've been meaning to go to take some African dance classes- I took a class a couple semester ago at Humboldt and miss it. So hopefully I will be able to go to his class soon:)

So besides a new job this week, I had a really fun weekend:

• I met a Senegalese woman (Klarice) and a man from Burkina Faso (Malam), and we all cooked Yassa Poulet (a senegalese oniony dish) at my friend Joe's house (who works at the West African Immigrant center in San Francisco). It was Joe that introduced us all and thought up the whole idea. what a cool guy. Anyways, the man from Burkina Faso, Malam, is a tailor, and he's going to make me a padded bike messenger bag out with African patchwork prints:) We're hoping to all get together again and go salsa dancing and/or go dancing at the Little Baobab in San Francisco. It was nice to hear people speaking Wolof and eating Yassa poulet!

yum.

• The grand finale of this weekend was to go to an all day workshop and concert hosted by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir! Not only did Glenn and I get to take a singing class from the director, Terrance Kelly and ear training, drumming, and gospel/jazz piano with other choir members, we also got to learn some gospel songs and sing in the concert in a big mass choir! Can you say Hallelujah?
• The community concert was free hosted by the 1st congregational church of Oakland about a 10 minute drive from where we live: the concert lasted about 2 and half hours (every choir had to show off their stuff) and there were choirs from an assortment from black baptists to white church folks from Petaluma. One women reminded me of the woman version of James brown, I swear it was like right out of a movie(if anyone has seen blues brothers, it was kind of like the church jake and elwood went to)- singin at the top of her lungs at the piano while the whole choir sang at the top of their lungs shoutin and jumpin and clappin and dancin! What energy! It was fun, and shocking, and chaotic and crazy!
• I feel like I've now had an authentic taste of the REAL gospel sound. It was great.
• The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and the St Paul's church were my favorite- both the directors are full of energy! Terrance is a great guy, I'm glad we got to sing with him- he also has an amazing voice and is a passionate director!
  

• I started a new community group: East Bay Nomads...check it out at http://groups.google.com/group/east-bay-nomads

Another Day at the Musuem

I took some international students down to the Oakland Museum for their FREE day yesterday:) They have a really nice history of california exhibit, California artists, with a couple of famous pieces by Rothkho and Deibenkorn....but my favorite exhibition was by "100 Families Oakland" project using art for social change.
Basically a partnership between Oakland's Center for Art and Public life and the College of California Arts came together to offer a series of art workshops for families from four diverse neighborhoods in Oakland to participate in together.
The project is about celebrating family as the foundation of community by bringing famlies together, building self-worth and bonds by creating art, and bringing together neighbors to strenthen the broader community...This makes me happy.
I'm glad there are projects like this and I would like to be a part of more like them.

Yay for Art!

There are some great exhibits at the MOMA in San Fransisco right now!
I went there on Tuesday for free tuesdays- the first Tuesday of each month.
My favorite exhibits were:

Henry Wessel's Photography,







"San Francisco" 1977

Some of Paul Klee's small sketches




"Why does he run" 1932

Amy Franceschini's victory gardens project. She is one of the five contemporary artists in the Bay Area to win the biennial SECA award (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art)," an art interest group tha recognizes local artists of exceptional promise." The exhibit included a pogo stick shovel as well as a wheel barrow bike, and free seed packets to take home.
I like this idea.

Check out the website to read more about it and see the video.

My favorite was the featured exhibit right now: Picasso and American Art!

"Bull Fight" 1934? Picasso

(there was a similar, cooler version at the exhibit)

"Bathers with Beach ball" 1928
Picasso

This is an excellent show with a lot of Picasso's diverse art pieces intermingled with American Artists who were influenced by him, my favorite one being Max Weber. Too bad I can't find a copy of the "Conversation" 1919 online anywhere. That was my favorite one of his and it's more interesting than some of his other work...

David Smith "Interior" 1937

Max Weber "Bather" 1913

So after failing at finding all the images of my favoirte prints from the show online, I am realizing that that is the point of having museums and galleries..If all the pieces were all online, there wouldn't be as much excitement to go and see them in person at the museum right?

To be honest, I always thought it a nice thing to go to museums, but often lack the initiative to go because there can be this air of exclusiveness and "holier than thou" attitudes attached with the experience, which isn't that nice.

Yet, after being so inspired by much of the art I saw on Tuesday, and actually every time I actually take the time to go, I get motivated to do art! Hooray! So yesterday I sanded and gessoed some salvaged wood, and I'm going to start some new paintings today:)

So I am accepting the fact that there are a lot of good reasons that museums and galleries exist, and I think that the good things that come from their existance outweigh the "exclusiveness, holier than thou" stuff one can feel sometimes.
Here are my top 5 reasons that art museums are cool:
Reason #1: you can go look at art up close that you can't see other places. Even if there are prints or photos of the work, there's something totally different about seeing the textures, colors, and materials used up close and personal.
Reason #2 They create a gathering place for communities to get together and appreciate culture, inspire thinking,and sparks conversations.
Reason #3 They inspire artists to create more art!
Reason #4 They offer a space to appreciate contemporary artists and support local artists in the area.
Reason #5 They instigate personal and social change by offering a space where it is encouraged to open your mind and look beyond yourself to learn new things or see things from a different perspective.

I now have a renewed appreciation and thankfullness for art museums and galleries. Even though "the art world" is tainted with egotism and uppety rich folks, I think everyone has something to gain from having more art in their lives.
So go out into the world, reach out to people, make art however you feel inspired to, talk to people, go to museums, and support local artists where you live! I would especially reccomend finding out when the free days and gallery openings are each month and go to those!
Yay for art.

Shaking, Salsa, and Skydiving
So this week I survived a 4.3 earthquake, my first salsa lessons,
and jumping out of a plane from 13,000 feet!

• The quake happened when we were at choir practice on Thursday evening....The ground shook, for maybe 5 or 10 sec...singing stopped... looked up to see the beams were still in place over our heads...then kept singing...

The ironic thing about the whole thing was that we were singing in a temporary room at the church where services are held while the church is being renovated for earthquake-proofness(isn't that a great non-word?)
What was really funny was that right when it happened we were singing
"there is nothing that can shake me..." How funny..and exciting...
I'm a REAL californian now:)...

• Glenn and I went to take salsa lessons on Saturday at a club/cafe called Club Monteros and learned the basics of the expressive dance of salsa! I think that for me, as the woman, it's all about the flare- in the arms, hands, and hips...I am still finding my flare, but now that we've got the basics, we'll be salsa masters in no time:)

• So to top off the week, Glenn and I took a group of international students skydiving in Acampo, CA at the Parachute Center about an hour and a half drive from Oakland East to the Central Valley. It was a last minute thing, the guy that was scheduled to do the tour cancelled, so I volunteered to lead the tour intstead!

To be honest, I was totally freaked out...I guess I have a tad fear of heights.
But with a free jump and an hourly wage, how could I resist?
I couldn't help getting Tom Petty's song in my head to get all pumped up
"And I'm free................free fallin..."

Here's the crew that went: Buckard (from Germany), Glenn, me, Jorge(from Guatemala), Lisa(France), Sebastien (Belgium), and Julia(France).

So when we finally landed it was in the grass on our bums.
We had 1 minute of free fall , then sailed through the air with our parachute above the central valley farm fields admiring the Sierra range to the East, spinning in circles, and feeling a tiny taste of what it's like to be a bird!....

This was our plane- pretty tiny! It took us up 13,000 ft, then we all filed out, squatted at the door, and jumped! I'm glad I was hooked to someone else (Rick was my buddy) cuz I don't know if I would've been able to jump out myself...we just crossed our arms and let our human appendages do the work on our backs...Luckily the guy I went with was pretty nice, there were a lot of macho guys that thought they were too cool for school....

My tandem buddy Rick and I after the jump...I was his 4091st jump or something crazy like that
( I didn't get a picture of myself with my stylish harness, nor did I pay the extra $35-$75 for a camera person to jump with me and film my crazy facial expressions during the jump down
...I screamed until my throat was dry, and smiled until my gums plastered shut in the wind...
I think my favorite part about the whole thing was gliding in the peaceful silence of the calm air and not having words to describe the freedom that I felt...Ahhhhh.

Then I remembered there was someone strapped to my back steering the whole thing and we had a nice conversation about the Sierras on the way down-
looks like this will be a better year for PCT hiking, not as much snow as last year !
woohoo!