AJ and Garrett's Wedding

This weekend I went to the wedding of my (step) cousin Garrett and his (new) wife AJ. It was a beautiful affair at the Big Canyon Country Club in Newport. The ceremony took place outside and was a perfect mix of formal traditions and personal character. Though the day was overcast, the California fall weather was still very beautiful. The reception inside was also well done. The live band was adept at all types of music and their repertoire extensive. The crowd liked dancing and the whole atmosphere was very festive yet regal. Congratulations to Garrett and AJ on both a wonderful wedding and a successful future together!

Glow Santa Monica

Last Night there was the Biannual Glow Festival on the Santa Monica Beach. What it was exactly was unclear and, despite reading up on it on their website before going with my friends Jenn and Nickerson, I really had no clue what to expect. It took at least an hour of being at the festival before I felt like I had a grasp on what it was. In the end, I guess the best way to describe the event as a whole was a 19-piece nighttime art installation. The event went from 7pm-3am and it seemed as though everyone in Santa Monica and the greater LA area showed up. The clientele was quirky, diverse, and of all ages. In fact I am still flabbergasted that so many people were there...because while it was cool...it wasn't THAT cool.

Anyways, the first installation we saw was a checker-board like projection on the wall of the Holiday Inn where numbers and letters scrolled randomly in certain boxes. A DJ was playing electro music near by which may have been related. The second installation we saw was three drummers drumming on the Santa Monica Carousel. They just spun round and round, and we watched. At this point I was almost ready to give up. Seriously what was this and why is it art. But the hoards of people walking around convinced me there MUST be something more to see. And the snide comments of some other people near me, reassured me that we weren't the only ones at the butt of a cruel joke. The joke in fact got better. As we walked along a remote control rock veered toward us out of nowhere. This was getting weird and I started cracking up as the rock danced at my feet. I was sure that the guy standing with the remote control was just another Santa Monica Resident bringing his pet remote control rock out for a spin along with the rest of the city, until I realized that he was standing under one of the official Glow signs that read 'Controlled Boulder.' At this point I was nearly crying from laughter. Jenn, Nickerson, and I were utterly perplexed...what is going on? The whole event redeemed itself on the next installation. It was called 'Sandbox' and at first I was pretty sure it was just a powerful light illuminating a huge square on the sand (really clever huh). We walked into the illuminated sand-square and noticed images flitting across the sand. On the side of the square was a small sand box on a table. People could lay their hands or small objects on top of this sand and it would be projected enormously on the sand. Since there was sand in the mini sandbox the hands that picked up the sand and let it fall looked so real in the real sandbox. It was really cool. And the (I'm sure intended) effect of blurring the line between audience and artist was very successful.

The beach stretched on in front of us with many more installations. Another impressive one was the Santa Monica Muscle Beach.
The rings and monkey bars and acrobatic equipment were tapped up with neon tape and the whole place was illuminated by black light. People in white with neon paint on themselves climbed, swung, balanced, and performed on different apparatus. Some were very impressive and some were not so much. I'm pretty sure some people were just random visitors to the festival that were performing...again blurring the line between audience and performer. Another installation was neon string bridge that
you walked beneath. Another was called Bella Luna and had an old-style circus feel to it. This one had a huge white balloon that was floating above the sand and people could enter a patchwork-tent and sit in front of a camera. Their face would be projected on the large white balloon, like the man in the moon. We didn't wait in-line to get our face on the moon but it was pretty cool. There were a few other duds mixed in like this strange movie of pitbulls projected on the wall of Hot Dog on a Stick, the lifeguard tower that was overflowing with foam, or the wooden steps with fake fog sliding down and (as the description put) 'sensual and disturbing' music played.

After 2+hours Nickerson, Jenn, and I were glowed out. But when we left at 10:30 the crowds were still growing!

Good Bye Austin, and the Long Road Home

Here are a few parting shots of Austin.
Graffiti down on South Congress

Our last twilight stroll along town lake







The 1800 mile drive home was split into three days. The first day we drove from Austin Tx, to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The drive through West Texas and New Mexico were rather nice. Very few cars on the road and relatively nice scenery--vibrantly colored desert mountains, some vegetation, beautiful clouds in the sky. It was a 9-hour drive and we basically split it down the middle, Nikki taking first shift, I took second. We drove her cream convertible VW bug that we had stuffed to the gils with all of our stuff. On that first day toward the end when we were delirious with exhaustion and being cooped up, worrying about Deep Vein Thrombosis from the lack of circulation we drove through a massive thunderstorm in El Paso. It was scary because the sky got so dark, the freeway so swamped I could hardly see a thing. But we got through it safely. We had a delicious dinner at some inexpensive italian restaurant. Nikki and I scarfed down an appetizer, dinner, and desert and in 45 minutes we were in and out of the restaurant.

The second day was the worst. We were heading from Las Cruces all the way to Newport Beach, California...an 11 hour drive. We left at 7:30 and I took the first shift. It was a fine drive until Arizona. Within 10 minutes of crossing the boarder we had seen 4 cop cars. Two had pulled people over giving them tickets and the other two were hiding in the bushes in the median ready to catch their next victim. It was an annoying tango game between switching between the slow lane filled with trucks put putting along at 65mph and the fast lane filled with speed demons going 95mph. We were lucky and did not hit any substantial traffic in the LA area and made it to Newport by about 6pm. The heat through AZ and CA deserts was impressive. It got up to 121. I took a picture of the temperature here at 4pm, 120 degrees. Nikki stayed with Ian and I stayed with my grandparents in Huntington. We took one day of break and enjoyed the beach and fresh air before we headed all the way back to the bay area. It is nice to be home (but way too cold!)

Town Lake

According the US News, Austin ranks in the top 10 fittest cities in America. Despite Texas' renown obesity, Austinians are generally pretty fit. The city has a large number of parks and a low rate of chronic diseases. What makes Austin such a healthy place? Town Lake, no doubt. Activity abounds around the lake all day despite the heat or rain.



Dog Walking--Austin is the PLACE for dogs. And dog walking abounds around the lake. On the Southside about half a mile from our place is the 'dog park' where people let their dogs off leash, and throw tennis balls in the water for them to swim to. The dogs are all very well behaved and enjoy playing with each other--big and small, old and young.



Jogging--occurs at all times of the day. I won't go jogging unless I am up and ready by 7:30am. Its just waay to hot for me. But locals seem unfazed by 100 degree high humidit.

Kayaking--We went kayaking again along the lake. Being on the water really brings the temperature down. We had some more great nature sightings including a rare heron! People also kayak/canoe with their dogs (with life jackets). A new popular sport that looks like fun is the gondola-surfboard looking thing. You stand on a large surf board and paddle like a gondolier.

Swimming--Barton springs is the place to go swimming. The water is freezing but so refreshing from the scorching heat. You never dry off because as soon as the lake water evaporates it is replaced by your own sweat...which means its time to go in again!

Oh and Kan came to visit this past weekend!!!! It was so exciting to see her and have her experience a little slice of Tejas

Birthdays and Visitors

This past week was Nikki's 22nd Birthday so both her parents, Cynthia and Gary, and her boyfriend Ian came out to visit us here in Texas! We did SO much stuff this weekend with our guests.

Wednesday: We went to the famous Blues on the Green over at Zilker Park. Every other Wednesday in Summer Zilker Park hosts a free music concert on the grass. We walked over to the park (a mile away) and spread our makeshift blanket (an old sheet) out to enjoy the music. Hundreds of people were there with picnic dinners, their dogs, and their kids. It was such a great friendly ambiance




Friday: We went boating on Lake Travis! Cynthia and Gary had rented a beautiful house for the weekend. The house even came with a menagerie of animals. Zeus and Hera, the two shepard dogs, a handful of cats, goats, horses, peacocks, and chickens. Boating was tons of fun. It started out a little cloudy (and even began to rain at one point) but as soon as the sun poked its head back out it was blazing hot. We swam and had a delicious lunch (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, baguette, and fruit). In the afternoon we got a little braver and went tubing and wakeboarding. Tubing is exhilarating-- there is a fine line between fun and frightening. I wasn't able to stand up wakeboarding but Ian was amazing and even pulled off a few jumps and tricks. That evening we were joined by Nikki's Aunt and Uncle (Dana and Rodney) who live in Austin, some random friend Linda that was with them (though we don't know why exactly), and Gary's college roommate Sandy and his girlfriend Becky (who live on Lake Travis as well) for a birthday dinner celebration. Again the food was delicious. Thank you Cynthia!





Saturday: We took the gang down to South Congress which is the street full of second hand clothes/antique/boutique/coolest things to look at. We browsed the Texan items and Nikki even bought herself a pair of second-hand cowboy boots. We went into Allens Boot shop to look at the boots there. They are serious works of art and range from 200-a couple thousand bucks. But if you try them on they are unbelievably comfortable. The smell of cow/alligator/cobra hide was a quite overpowering. That night we let our real Texan selves out and went to the Broken Spoke, a famous honky tonk dance hall. We got there at 8pm to take advantage of the dance lessons. After an hour Nikki, Ian, and I were doing the Texas Two Step like pros. We also learned the Cotton Eyed Joe. I particularly liked this one because you would dance it in groups of three and four so I wasn't dancing with some random Texan.



Sunday: We went kayaking on Town Lake. It was so much fun. We saw tons of turtles and even a water snake (Ian freaked out, but Nikki and I were fascinated). The weather was great but quickly turned that evening into the heaviest rainstorm ever. Of course we had to play in the rain a little. That
evening we went to the Alamo Drafthouse to watch Inception. The Alamo Drafthouse is a famous cinema in Austin where you can order food and drinks while you are watching the movie. We got some beer and popcorn and had our minds blown away by the movie.

Austin, Texas

Temperature 97º. Humidity 58%.
and the place I am calling home for the summer.

My apartment: Located in Downtown Austin a few meters from Town Lake, across the street from the largest Whole Foods you can imagine, and walking distance to just about everything, except maybe my work. Its the largest apartment I have ever lived in and having my own bathroom and bedroom (with a full bed) is unreal. Granite countertops and a stove that has more than one heat setting
Austin, Texas. is also a miracle. But just to make sure I feel back at home in my LA apartment the dishwasher doesn't work so well. And the girls we are subletting from were not much of decorators so everything is rather sparse.

But the complex as a shallow pool and a mini gym (which as boring as it is put to use since its sweltering outside). We live right next to some railroad tracks and trains come barreling cacophonously at every hour of the day.



Town Lake: Not to be mistaken as a 'River' this portion of the Colorado River is the liveliest place in town. People jog, walk their dogs, bike, and socialize all day. I wake up to run here at 7:30am and already it is too hot for me. I don't understand how people can run midday. On the lake itself kayaking, canoeing, and fishing are popular. Barton Springs is a natural swimming hole and a great place to swim. The water is freezing but after the initial shock its a great





The City: Austin is a vivacious city. People are out and about walking, jogging, socializing all day and night. There are no accents nor cowboy hats but Nikki and I plan on checking out a Honky Tonk soon. I explored Zilker Botanical Gardens this afternoon. My bus driver (I ride free with my UT id!) told me that it was in the morning news that 4 Coy fish were stolen from Zilker Botanical Gardens. I thought it was crazy but I was obsessed with the fish too. They were HUGE!!!! Last week I visited the capital and went to the Texas History Museum. Its fascinating to see
their take on events as well as their reverence for the countries of their heritage (Mexico, France, USA, Confederate States etc).





Work: I am working in the Environment and Water Resources Engineering Department at UT Austin. There are two projects I am working on. I am helping Erin, a grad student, conduct her experiments American Clay, a natural clay plaster that seems to
reduce ozone and air pollution levels indoors. We started running tests in the 'Test House' this week. I am also doing an independent project on the effect the Gulf Coast Oil Spill has on indoor air quality. People around the coast have been complaining of gas smell in their houses. The EPA is looking for answers so I am researching air purifiers and how effective they will be at doing the job.




Nightlife: There is always something going on at night. Whether its bats or live music Austin has a LOT to do. 1.5 million bats
live under Congress Bridge and they fly out every night to go feast at dusk. Unfortuantely this year has been very rainy and there are lots of bugs so the bats don't fly out until after 9:30 and by that time it is too dark to see them. Last year, due to drought the bats would swarm out at around 6pm and travel up to 50 miles to get their fill. Another highlight of Austin nightlife is a bar that we found that has the worlds largest Jenga set cut from 2x4s. We played an epic game and had a crowd of bystanders watching after the tower surpassed us in height.



Soccer: And of course we watched the world cup. We decorated tshirts to show our support for Spain. We got to the sports bar over an hour early but inside was already packed so we had to watch in the patio. We stood in the sun for nearly four hours. I drank about 120 ounces of water (thats about 15 glasses) and peed only once. We were so exhausted after the game we slept until Monday morning.

Accidental New York

So my final world travels concluded with a week-long cruise in Greece and Turkey with my extended family. I had to cut the trip short because I had to return to LA for three intense summer classes and 'boot camp' for Spirit Squad.

Greece lived up to every dream I wanted it to be. I have wanted to go there forever. Santorini was so picturesque with the white buildings clinging to the steep cliffs towering over the turquoise sea. Athens was also great, and I was overflowing with Art History facts. Turkey was simply awesome. I really had no expectations for what Turkey would be like, but I loved it. The vibe, the people, the history...I can't wait to go back.

Unfortunately I dropped my camera within the first hour of being in Greece (and that hour was spent on a bus getting to town from the airport) and the screen has turned completely blank. The camera can still take photos, just blindly...so I let my mom do the photography and have no photos to post.

My flight back was pretty awful. It was supposed to be a 10.5 hour flight from Athens to NYC. Usually I just sleep on planes but I couldn't fall asleep. There were no even remotely interesting movies playing and I didn't like my book. So I just sat there listening to the cacophony of crying infants who put to sound how miserable I felt. About an hour away from New York, we get word from Air Traffic Control that we need to wait our turn and begin circling over the ocean for AN HOUR. Awful. Not only does circling make you feel ill, I was not emotionally prepared to sit a minute longer in my chair. The map with the airplane looked like a child had scribbled in circles on it over the atlantic ocean. Anyway, after 12 hours we finally land. But it takes another 45 minutes to get off the plane because we have to get taxied by a people mover and they won't let people off the plane...

I had about 45 minutes to make my connection to CA so I begin sprinting through the airport, and had my first experience with rude and inconsiderate New Yorkers. I got yelled at for running by some man because he didn't want me to cut him in line. By the time I get through passport control (JFK airport is probably the least efficient airport ever) I had about 20 minutes till my flight left. Delta wouldn't let me through security because they said it was too late, I would miss my flight.

I had to rebook, and the only flight they could put me on was one for the NEXT DAY, through Atlanta. Oh and NO, they wouldn't compensate for the hotel for the night because it 'wasn't their fault.' Between exhaustion, frustration, and loneliness, I just started crying. Then my cell phone didn't even work since we were underground so I couldn't call my father. Finally I get through to him and gave me the strength to pull myself together and find a hotel. I stayed at the Ramada by the airport which was expensive but crappy. I was starving and could not stand staying a moment longer in the hotel room with peeling paint and chipped wood dressers. So with a little help from my NYC saavy friends, I hopped on the Metro into Manhattan.


I'm glad I did because it totally changed my opinion of NY (which up to this point could be described in three words that were repeating in my head 'I hate NY, I hate NY'). I got off at 5th avenue to the hustle and bustle of the city-- The gorgeous skyscrapers in the evening light.And the energy and excitement of city life. It was classy and clean, and I recognized so many things from movies and tv shows. I explored a small corner of Central Park before the sun set. Then I walked down to Times Square and gaped at the deep city lights, and the flashing show signs. I loved it. The temperature was perfect and everyone was enjoying their Saturday night out. I ate a DELICOUS sandwich at a cute NY Deli and was going to top it off with a Hunkin slice of cheese cake (but ended up with a brownie since the cheese cake was just too big).

I can't wait to go back!

Here is my blind photography from NY. I didn't crop any of the shots, this was the way I blindly took them.