Running

I wrote this poem a few years ago when I first started running and training for the SF Half Marathon in 2008. But running is still a big part of my life, and I still like the poem a lot. The rhyme scheme is inspired off of the verse to a song called Soo Tall by a local artist named Zion I. (The pictures are also from 2008)

Distance Running

Gotta get up, gotta go run
Run so hard that your toes go numb
Numb so bad cuz you run so far
Feet keep pounding on that tar

Tar extends far as eye can see
See eye can your destiny
Destiny though the course may stray
Take one fork, go the other way

Way gets rough but down can’t lay
Lay down, give up, is a no
Must keep running, run and grow
That grow turning amateurs pro
Pro kids can keep running like me
Proud of who you came to be
See your world let your soul fly free
And escape the Earth’s gravity.

Tap Dancing

So I also have started going back to my Tap Dancing class at Dance/10, and I LOVE IT. Even though I have not tapped in about four years (or more), my feet still remember nearly all the steps. Its amazing. I can't think too hard about what I'm doing, nor can I leave my mind blank. But if I pay just the slightest attention, I'm tapping like Gene Kelly.

And speaking of Gene Kelly...I wrote this nonsensical poem inspired by the song Moses Supposes from Singing in the Rain. Re-watch that great scene here: Moses Supposes from Singing in the Rain


Moses Supposes

Moses supposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
Moses he knowses his toeses aren’t roses
As Moses supposes his toeses to be!

Francis she dances for chance at romances
So Francis dances tirelessly
Francis advances her romance’s chances
In pantses she dances flawlessly

Billy is silly, buys lilies for Millie
But Billy’s lilies are not well received
Lilies aren’t frilly but give Millie willies
So lilies for Millie was really naïve.

Simon’s a lineman who spends timin’ rhymin’
So that rhymin’ Simon never gets played
His rhymin’ is diamon’ when linemen all chime in
But diamonds for rhymin’s is not what he’s paid

Bonnie likes Johnny who’s tawny and brawny
But Johnny the Brawny does not feel the same
On the lawny at dawny sits Johnny with Connie
So Bonnie to Mommy she cries in disdain

Alice feels malice in her Dallas Palace
So Alice from Dallas throws quite a fit
Alice with prowess breaks the palace chalice
With malice the chalice shatters to bits.

Funemployment

I graduated from UCLA in December and moved back home. While I look for a job and wait for responses from graduate schools, I keep myself busy doing an odd assortment of things. In the mornings I usually spend a couple of hours sending applications and cover letters into the great black hole also known as the job market. In the afternoon I spend a lot of time exercising (running, biking, lifting weights). I have tried to pick up old hobbies that have been forgotten when I lived a busy life--poetry, drawing, painting, reading, knitting, etc.

This past week I was helping my mom in the garden. Mostly I was picking weeds.


Gardening

Clouds sit thick, they silence all sound
Rich and heavy, tranquility abounds
Except the delicate droplet that falls to the ground
Like plump fruit on a tree, succulent and round

Not a leaf stirs, no car engine groan
The green vibrancy, beauty enthroned
Breathing in earth, smelling wet stone
Picking oxalis, I’m in a zone

The hush clings tightly, like a warm embrace
With a gentle tug, the clover gives up its space
I shake the dirt off the roots of white lace
And invite new players to the sun and soil race

Then the sun pokes through, and the moment has passed
A bird lets out a tune, true and chaste
But the feeling inside is not fleeting so fast
The harmony in this garden is here to last.

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