GLOW

One of my half crazy coworkers mentioned this thing called "Glow" that was happening by the pier and, as with most things this person says, I didn't give it a second thought until a more credible source was also talking about it. Hmmmm...

I checked out the official Glow website which described the event as; "an all-night cultural experience featuring original commissions by artists that re-imagine Santa Monica Beach as a playground for thoughtful and participatory temporary artworks." How intriguing is that??

There were 20 different installations set up on and around the beach, including the drum circle, foaming life guard tower, images projected on a screen, and glowing apparatus at Muscle Beach that you can see below. One more reason to love LA.

Island Life

Here's a bit more of Hawaii, in no particular order. On Labor Day each year there's a huge outrigger paddling race, the Queen Liliou', Amanda was able to participate in the 18 mile race this year. After the races they had a parade to honor all the participants, so we joined with hundreds of people and walked the main street with lit torches in hand. It was a pretty spectacular experience. The rest of the photos should speak for themselves!

The Big Island

It was a long summer, a really long summer, and work consumed my life to an extent I've never experienced before. Fortunately, a dear friend of mine invited me to join her on a trip to visit her family in Hawaii as the summer came to a close. We had an amazing week of snorkeling, hiking, cliff jumping, volcano hikes, delicious eats, and magnificent sunsets, all of which helped refresh my soul, melt the stress, and make me feel like myself again. :)

*More on the way

Wanderlust

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"When I travel, the destination is not really the point. I am fascinated by the transient places of travel -- the banks of TV screens that hang from airport terminal ceilings announcing departures to far-flung locales around the globe, the ever-changing view from a speeding train, ordering a meal from an undecipherable menu, exploring the subway beneath an unfamiliar city, waking in another characterless hotel room that could be anywhere, the tourist souvenir vendors touting their wares.

Traveling faster and faster through this increasingly interconnected world, many of these everyday experiences that fill a journey get lost in the rush of getting from "You Are Here" to wherever you are going. But by opening yourself up to the rhythm and rhyme of the seemingly mundane details of travel, the familiar becomes unique, the ordinary extraordinary and the over-looked well worth the second glance.

That is what inspires me to travel, it's not about getting there, it's about all the fun you can have along the way." -Troy Litten **

*Photo taken at a gas station outside of Mytilini, Greece.

**Quote taken from the book "Wanderlust" by Troy Litten.

Paddle Boarding: Malibu

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Last weekend a few friends and I took a stab at paddle boarding up in Malibu. We signed up for a two hour "tour" with the Malibu Surf Shack, so with the help of their amazing staff we were able to make it out past the (terrifying) 5-7 foot swell that was breaking on the beach and out into the peaceful open sea. The weather was perfect, and once I figured out how to keep my balance...it was almost even relaxing.

We couldn't have picked a better day to go because as we were paddling out towards what appeared to be some possible sea life in the distance, we suddenly were in the middle of a huge school of dolphins! There had to have been 30 or more dolphins in the water, and a flurry of sea gulls and pelicans overhead, with one lone seal trailing behind the group. It was amazing and completely surreal.

*I didn't bring my camera out while were were paddling, so the pic above is from when I was at Eresos Beach on the isle of Lesbos. It's the very beach where the poet Sappho was born, so, as you can imagine, there were many women there.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Wednesday. August 18. Rodrigo y Gabriela. The Greek.

There's not much more to say, except possibly to apologize to my date for promptly forgetting about him as soon as the music started.... sorry! Seriously, I was completely entranced for the entire two (plus) hours of their show. And not only did we get to listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela, but they also had a few pretty amazing guests perform with them for a few songs as well; Shenkar (Violinist of Shakti), Robert Trujillo (of Metallica), and Al Di Meola!

Check out the youtube videos below to get an idea of the amazingness of the evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3etMZK8iNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivbpZsx6pn8&feature=watch_response

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_dyHWyScOc

Aviero, Portugal

One of the best things about working in Spain was how little time I actually had to spend working! On top of only being contracted to work 12 hours a week at my school, just about every other weekend was a "puente" (a long weekend) so I had a lot of free time. I miss those days...

For one of the many long weekends, a few fellow language teachers and myself took a little road trip to Portugal since we were only about an hour from the border. We visited Oporto where, much to our chagrin, it started incessantly raining one afternoon (after we saw the men gambling in the park.), so to seek shelter from the elements, and to remedy our spirits, we spent the rest of the day wine tasting. Yum.

We saw the fishermen above as we were driving from Oporto to Aviero.