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.

Sneak Peak: Home

I just had an amazing weekend: Bass Lake, family time, Mariposa Art Walk, bike ride in Yosemite...

More pics on the way!

The Flashdance

It's been about 6 months since Jenn and Eric became The Reids. Hurray! It was a wedding like non other I have ever been too, by far the most fun, and the musical artistry of their DJ, The Flashdance, definitely contributed to the amazingness.

Anyway, a few weeks ago The Flashdance was mixing at Malo in Silverlake so we were able to relive some of the good times by shaking our booties and eating delicious tacos and margaritas!

This is My Town

The Dodgers played the Giants on July 19. They lost. But check out the view from the parking lot!