Seapony - Dreaming

This new band is brilliant.
Every time I play this song, the sun seems to shine brighter.
Visualizing splashes of marine blue and green colors.
Simple living under the sun with comfort/closeness.
And without care in the world!
Brings me to a dream life.

Laguna Beach Trail

Hiking to me is like reading a book.
It's to explore, learn, and understand.
This time it was me, Abby, Bvera, & Adam.
Even though the desired trail was closed due to rain we managed to find our way.
Spontaneous and liberal; we screamed, laughed, danced, practiced yoga, and whistled across the hills of laguna beach.

Abby & I find 'The Perfect Balance'

2nd visit to Thousand Oaks

Adam, Bvera, and I returned to the Thousand Oaks hiking trail.
We enjoyed that place so much we brought along four of our close friends: Abby, Jerome, Eris (also my sister), and Jean Paul.
Going on hikes with close group of friends is always meaningful and exciting.
The more the merrier!
Interesting how the environment connects with the topic of conversations.
We discussed about classrooms and exercising as we walked down the trail towards the sun.
We joked around using sarcasm as we climbed rocks and inclined our steps.
On the hilltop we came up with a 'james brown religion' concept because his soulful voice and energized words can make a person 'get on up'.
I find myself encountering basic pleasure of being able to see what lies in the far distance.

Dan's Mission Statement

Mission Statement for Safari as a Way of Life
"To explore the unknown and the familiar, distant and near and to record in detail with the eyes of a child, any beauty, (of the flesh or otherwise) horror, irony, traces of utopia or Hell. Select your team with care, but when in doubt, take on some new crew and give them a chance. But avoid at all costs fluctuations of sincerity with your best people."

- Dan Eldon

Swiss Alps

Caspar Wolf
The Lauteraar Glacier, 1776

Currently reading: The Architecture of Happiness
Alain de Botton is one of my favorite author. (Previously blogged about his other book Status Anxiety)
The title explains the purpose for the reader
Architecture has never been more simple
The philosophy of it has a connection between our identities and our locations.
I guess that's what makes this book enjoyable and somewhat life changing.

In the section of Ideals of Home #5
explains a painting by a Swiss artist Caspar Wolf.
He painted a picture of a group of climbers resting in front of the Lauteraar glacier high in Switzerland's Bernese Alps.

"The painting is a case study in how differing psychological imbalances may result in contrasting notions of beauty."

The aristocrats placed on top of the mountain imagine to be on top and over those who are not worthy to them. They are the ones called 'tourist attracted to the beauty of nature' because they are overwhelmed by their over-civilised lives at home.

The mountain guilds placed on the bottom of the mountain find beauty in the lowlands, in meadows and chalets, because being on top is a fearsome place where 'one would sanely ascend only out of necessity, to rescue an animal or to build a snow varrier to break the fury of avalanches.' The necessity of their living is simple yet adventurous.

"But at this moment, at the top of a mountain, two assessments of beauty lie side by side, their divergence explained by two different, and differently deficient, ways of life."

Thank you Alan de Botton and Caspar Wolf for making me feel comfortable about living.

icy

My nephew, Dustin makes a snow angel.

The backyard behind our cabin. Don't mind making it a permanent living.

Reminds me of a snowflake.

Still and quiet.

Nice to see real icicles (not christmas lights kind) along the edge of roofs.


Snow Life.

Cozy cabin living, waking up to a mountain view from the window, piping tea kettle noises, moscoto wine dinner, cousin bonding, foosball table entertainment, slipping & sliding on ice.

Just what I needed by the end of the year. Hopefully next time I can try to snowboard for the first time.

arcade fire

Put this song on repeat as I was on my way to the snowy mountains.

when I shower

droplets trickle down the skin
flesh boils as it seeps in liquid

close your eyes,
water can act like fire and burn
moist eyelids maneuver the speed of a penetrating glance of illusion
eyes open or closed
we customize our own imagination

cleanse away the outside particles,
particles of conformity
for it contains corruptness and selfishness
we are swarmed by filth delivering weakness
natural being remains
our inner beauty is locked within us
let it illuminate greater

a deep song is produced
by the rush of drops echoing in caved emptiness
enticed by the simple rhythm
we hum

blood runs smoothly
heart pounds heavily as water pounds the backbone
intimately rubbing palms against bare skin
feels so real
we are drawn to the traces of our actions
so closely intact with the body
the colors begin to vanish
steam rises and breathing becomes heavier

mug of decembre

It is the month of December and warm tea is my favorite companion of this season.
Drinking morning, day, and night. Love it that much.
Plus I got really sick of drinking coffee.

Tea gives me:
A. Warmth
B. S2 sensation (S2 - serenity & solidity)
C. Health benefits
D. Therapeutic and revitalizing blended flavors



On this rainy day, I was so adorned to have my new mug!
Bought it with my sister from CSULB's art gallery holiday sale.
Specially sculpted by an art teacher: Chris Miller.
And it is one-of-a-kind.

First sight of attraction was the leaf like texture.
Created depth by brush strokes.
Natural colors of milky green on the outside & olive green inside.
Creates peace & calmness by blends of earthy colors.
And the handle is shaped like an ear.

Perfect mug of decembre.

A day spent in a gallery

As I patiently waited for a customer to set foot inside the glass doors of the gallery, I sat down on the receptionist table and read my book.

No internet (wasn't working)

Just me, my book, and cup of tea in a lonely minimalist art gallery.
All day.
The object was to try and sell art.

The day consisted of circling the gallery about 10 times gazing up and down each work, stepping outside for fresh air every 2 hours, took about 4 trips to the bathroom, read 7 chapters of my book, 1 mail man came inside to drop off a package, 1 trumpet player came inside and gave me his business card, took 3 pictures (above), and 0 customers.

Then, I met an artist from Spain name Lola Del Fresno.

She is a well-known and recognized artist.
Her work is displayed in the gallery & it was my job to help sell her work.

We spoke.

She shared her condition as being an artist. She strives for a life in the most passionate sense. Everyday she visits this gallery, hoping a customer will be captivated by her work and buy it. Unfortunately business is slow in this economy and many people cannot afford to buy art. Hurts to say but buying a $1,000 painting would be the last item on everyone's list.

Lola is also an art teacher. She shared pictures of her current student's work. They were only 9 & 14 years old. Astonishing. She tells all her students to always start with a large size canvas because in the beginning of your work, you want to have no limitation in to what you are capable of creating. From there, the process becomes easier. Your mind opens and becomes available for the strongest thoughts and emotions coming from within yourself.

By the end of the day I sold 0 artwork. Still had 0 customers. 0 professional skill experience I can include in my resume. 0 payment from the 6 hour shift. The goal I expected for myself & the purpose of working in the gallery was not accomplished.

Yet, I still felt accomplished and satisfied. That day turned out more useful then what I thought it would be.

My heart was uplifted.
My soul was awakened.
An epiphany dawned on me.
Ah! I felt so...inspired.

Aware that I left the gallery with no secure benefits (money or a job title) didn't generate me to feel guilt, anxiety, or ambition. But I experienced a great value in being unproductive. In result, I have come to appreciate the teachings in blissful ignorance. We are always told to be fully conscious but in all that effort leads to self-consciousness, which merely turns into destroying our own self with anxiety and depression. Slowly learning to adjust to changes of its upside downs and inside outs takes great strength.

In result, I am discovering how to live with little consciousness.

paradise falls

Thousand Oaks was the city.
Gust of wind blowing the autumn colored leaves in the air.
Warmth tint of sun rays beam through rows of trees.
Hills were a replica of nevada canyons. Rocky.
Another adventurous journey with Bvera & Adam.

Autumn is a beautiful season.

on top of mount fountain bliss

Nothing gets better then this: one's soul deeply connected with nature's presence.

Yes, our land is beautiful. Yes, it's an uplifting sensation to be on top of a mountain. And yes, the challenging journey of climbing the burly trail is worth the struggles.

The ability to strive and conquer is a treat but the most rewarding prize is the opportunity to gaze at our gracious vast land. Filled with gratefulness and joy. I am proud to say 'this is my land which I live in'.My mind eases in to clarity and lightness. My mood settles in like calm water {flowing yet still}. Time freezes when I'm in touch with my mother land. I am much happier.

The adventure is priceless.

p.s. thanks to my dear friend Adam Avillar for the snapshots from his vintage polaroid film camera. Amazing.

inspired from my blood

It was fascinating to discover my grandmother's old photos when she was a young lady. The photograph presents her graceful stance, captivating beauty, and elegant style. She sure does love stripes. I love you lola.

a. somebody

Anton Corbijn.

An artist blessed with the greatest gifts in life. I want to dissect his thoughts and emotions. The action he produces in his work is an amazing display of endurance and passion. Today, I was stuck reading his personal entries. Anton's presentation is monumental but the feeling I get from his work is personal. The self-portrait below is from the book 'a. somebody, strijen, holland' dressed as Hendrix. {56 pages - 43 plates in colour and black/white} The book contains self-portraits of him dressed like deceased musicians at various locations in the village. The location shows the environment where he grew up in and have influenced his early compositions.

'You can see the despair of me wanting to be part of that exciting world much more - the despair of me wanting to be somebody. It is both serious and fun to see me as hendrix, joplin, marley, lennon, bolan etc.'

His words attract my attention {From 'Asked and Answered' interview article from NY times T magazine}:

'I have never understood models. I find it really hard to find beauty in that or to discover beauty because the beauty was so obvious. I always found it more interesting to discover beauty.'

Thick Strokes

Jan Yoors
'Yoors life reads like a magic-realist novel.'
He was a suspicious outsider who ran away with gypsies to photograph the cultures of America to Europe. He left behind a rich body of work.

If it takes to get there then...

In today's world of fashion

I came across reading a full-interview article from Style.com with Lanvin's designer Alber Elbaz. I am all about it.

“I think the problem is that we all feel we have too many [fashion shows]. I think this is the major problem that we are all feeling and experiencing. And I always say that doing a collection is almost like writing a book or making a movie, and I don’t know any other industry that can produce six movies a year by the same director. That’s the thing. You cannot write six books a year. You cannot produce six movies. You can’t do six collections a year. And I think this is actually what is making fashion be the way it is today. I know a lot of people complain that there is not enough change and that fashion in the past was much more creative than today, and I think a big part of this phenomenon is that we don’t have the time to think, we don’t have the time to project, we don’t have the time to digest. I’m not talking about, like, “Oh, we need to travel for inspiration,” because I do in fact believe that the best traveling you do is from your couch while you eat potato chips. But I think we just need the time to think and to look at it again and to have another perspective.

When I go out sometimes to this kind of fashion event and I see other designers, I see that one of them has a pain in the back and the other one has a migraine and the third one is exhausted, because we are going through this process that is endless. AND I THINK THAT TODAY EDITORS ARE FEELING THE SAME WAY, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO TRAVEL THE WORLD SEASON AFTER SEASON AND JUST SEE AND WRITE THE REVIEWS IN A TAXI WHERE THEY DON’T HAVE THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT. Whatever you see today is maybe not what you really feel tomorrow. You just have to see and shoot. And I think buyers are going through the same thing, because there was a time when they used to be staying also in the store, not just looking at computers and numbers. When you go to the doctor, you don’t want the doctor to look only at the computer, you want the doctor to look at you. And I think the buyers used to be also on the floor, looking at the customer, seeing the merchandise and how it works on the floor or doesn’t. And today they are just traveling from one collection to another, from a pre-collection in New York to a pre-collection in Paris, and it’s endless. And I do feel there is this kind of extreme fatigue that everyone is talking about and there is a need for a change.”

Run away to a far...very far place

Running away seems to be a pretentious fantasy we all have in mind.

Dream to float

Reality seems to be dry and monotonous at times. When I want to escape from reality, I sleep and dream. In my dream, I dive into a whirlwind pool. Swim to explore a journey which helps elevate me into the dream world. Water flows in motion. It takes you to different directions. In my dreams, I float underwater in great silence.

Let it spill out...

If a forest had a galaxy rainbow with only two colors it would be orange and blue. So that men can make it their playground by sliding up and down the colorful trail. If a forest had models living there, they will wear the most beautiful flowers on their hair. If a forest had striped pants wondering around, they will be hiding in each corners. When wild imaginations spill out it conjures up an interesting world.