Pink the sky I'm out of here

So I decided to go pink. With the help of my favorite hair coloring assistant, Irwin, I managed to streak it. I was originally going to go blue. But the entire city was out of the color I wanted. And being the stubborn person I am I decided to do it a completely different color rather than compromise on the shade of blue.
Anyways, I also found a ride out of SF. I'm back on the road on monday. My new travel companion will be the well traveled Peter, who's taking me all the way to New Hampshire.
I'm excited to get back out there and see the world.
Soon you will see other places popping up here again.
Keep watching and the world will appear.

The Birthday Massacre

So yesterday I finally dragged myself out of the house, despite an increasing feeling of just wanting to stay in. I'm glad I did. Marlon picked me up and we drove down to the DNA Lounge.
The Birthday Massacre didn't start playing till about eleven, but they were well worth the wait. They opened with Video Kid and her voice just washed over everything. The whole band was super dynamic and fun and their interactions and inability to keep a straight face made it obvious they were having a lot of fun. They had the whole audience psyched. Chibi was super adorable dancing around and striking pictures for the cameras and video phones she saw while not missing a beat. The entire crowd was in love with her.
Unfortunately I hadn't brought my camera with me. I was kicking myself the whole time. Next time I won't forget.

Sunset at China Beach

The sun hits the water and bounces off, doubling the amount of amber light that hits the rocks. The water is silvery on top, shimmering between silver blue and pale gold. When it rushes into its arcs it shows a brilliant bottle green before it crests and crashes white to foam up the beach and grab your ankles. This is the time of day the sunbathers go their own way and the sun worshipers come to say farewell, staring reverently at the descending orb as it blazes away down the horizon. We stand still the while, just watching. A silent community of strangers all united in a sense of wordless awe. The air gets colder but no one moves to leave till the last of the gold has faded to more subdued pinks and blues. In the falling darkness the people are shadows, not unlike the columns of cobble stones and cement. The rock stacker has been here. Building monuments to this place. Finding balance in the heavy discarded pieces of foundations and roads. I build my sand castles around the bases of these columns. Little cities. I'm still sculpting sand while the rest of the sun-setters take their leave, drifting back up the cliff into the encroaching gloom. The stars come out to take up their vigil. I stay till the marine layer pushes me home to the warmth of tea and blankets.

Breakfast in Paris

Well, okay, so I didn't have breakfast in Paris this morning. That would have been awesome though.
Actually, I did have some amazing fruit tarts baked fresh in our kitchen courtesy of my mom's boyfriend, Sascha. They were amazing. One pear with apricot jam and the other fig. And mom ingeniously paired it up with Swiss Gruyere cheese and mint tea. All this because mom asked Sascha where he wanted to have coffee and he said Paris. Paris. Don't we all.
I got a cute picture of my mom this morning too, but she won't let me put it up. Oh well.

Circling Mount Diablo

Irwin and I went for a drive around Mount Diablo. We were trying to find the way up it and ended up circling it and getting lost on a winding road in the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. It was a beautiful trip though. The clouds on Mount Diablo were incredibly dramatic and forbidding. But in the Morgan Territory the sun was out, shining on the golden California hills. The State colors. Brilliant gold of the hills and blue of the sky and a dark green of the oaks. I love these colors. And the wide open rolling hills are home to me. This is where I grew up. Biking along badly paved trails across lolling stretches and seas of waving golden grasses under the enormous blue expanse of sky you feel you can fall upwards into. Resting in the shade of the deep dark green oaks and the silvery green and pink eucalyptus. This is something I crave. The smell of wind over miles of warm grass.
As usual, while the sun was out (before the clouds came to cover us too), I was too busy twirling and climbing on tables and all to be bothered to take pictures. So you only get to see the cloud cover. But it's okay, you can imagine.

Orange Skirt

Ok, so here's something else I've made. I had to wear this one because I made it for myself, and my sister doesn't have the hips to hold it up. No offense, hon. Anyway, this is more my style. I generally stick to the longer flowing skirts I can twirl in.

Needle and Thread: a return to the workshop

So one thing I've missed terribly while I was on the road is my workshop. My room with it's bottles of inks and trays of paints and beads. My spools of thread and boxes of cloth. I missed having all of my mediums on hand. You can't bring these things on the road with you.
I started working on a new line of simple dresses. I haven't finished the prototype yet, mostly because I am still trying to decide how full I want the skirt and whether I want to put in more details or leave it plain. I'm still playing around.
Here's what I have so far. Modeled by my lovely sister, Sophia.

Long Awaited Reunion and the Best Blondies Ever

I got to spend the day with my wonderful friend Bea Kwan today! It was perfect.
We put on our flour badges so we were ready for anything, turned the volume up on my Abbey Road CD, and made the best Butterscotch Blondies EVER. She also finally got to meet my cat, who loved her immediately. Of course.
I'm sooooo happy that we finally got to hang out again. I hadn't seen her since 10th grade. We won't let that happen again.

Oh, and I'd like to say that even though the recipe was bossy and mandated a 9" square pan and division into 16 squares, we used an 8" round pan and cut it like a pie. HA. It was delicious. We also used the same bowl for the wet and dry ingredients. And it was still awesome. Two bowls for this recipe is just a waste of bowls.







"Where should I put this CD?"
"Oh, just put that on the garlic."
"....You just said that completely seriously!!"
"...Yeah... I guess I did..."
I guess you would have had to be there.

The Awesome Butterscotch Blondie Recipe:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 dash cocoa powder

note: Don't forget to pre-heat the oven! We did, and we had to wait for it! Lame. Pre-heat!!!

1. Combine melted butter and brown sugar; stirring until dissolved. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. "In another bowl" (or in the same one!!!) combine flour, baking powder, and salt. "Add to the butter mixture" (unless you already just did!). Spread the batter evenly in a well buttered "9 inch square pan" (unless you want to be a baking rebel. Then you can use an 8 inch round pan like us!). Sprinkle chips over top... Or smother the top. Your choice.
3. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set... unless you are planning on eating it with vanilla ice cream, then you'll want to take it out with the center still slightly gooey. Because it's awesome like that. If you're planning on doing it our way, you won't want to wait for it to cool before cutting, like they say to. What do they know?

They say this makes 16 squares. Squares. HA. Our pie pieces were freaking sweet. Really sweet.
Anyway, try this recipe if you like butterscotch. You'll love it.

I want to go....

I'm a Kid in a Candy Shop: the chocolate traveler

While I'm back in my city, it's hard to stay home. Too much to do and see. Too many people to run around with.
Today Irwin and I met up and went to the Wharf... I love it there. It's almost always sunny.

So I know I'm twenty-two. But I'm still a kid in a candy shop. And I don't even really eat candy... almost ever. It's a lot of sugar for me. I just love being in them. They're such happy places. And Candy is so pretty in the little wrappers in the barrels. The place I'm more likely to spend money is the fruit stand. There is a fruit stand at the Wharf that is ridiculously over-priced, but every piece of fruit in it is absolutely perfect. It's dangerous because to me perfect fruit is irresistible.
The wharf also happens to be right next to North Beach (Little Italy) and if you walk through there you get to go by all these wonderful cafes before you hit the financial district, marked by the Transamerica pyramid. Maybe some of these pictures will show you where I get my city aesthetic for my water colors... Isn't SF Beautiful?




























As I mentioned before, today I got to see David. It was really happy too. He always makes me laugh. And we all went out to dinner at Q, which has really delicious food. His wife, Allison, was unfortunately busy ad couldn't make it. I'd like to eventually get to know her better. Anyone who makes David as happy as he is has to be an awesome person.

Outgoing Mail

I've got some necklaces for little girls I met on the road. Two I have an address for. One I've lost the address for.
Gerry, I'm sorry, but would you mind emailing me your address? I can't seem to find the piece of paper you gave me, and I'd really love to send you a letter and Julia's shark's tooth necklace. I know I have your information in my bag somewhere, but I have to look closer, and I'm sending things out tomorrow. Thank you! <3

Now, about the questions I asked. Don't be daunted. You can send me answers as they come to you.

Birthday Cake Tangent

So I made a birthday cake for myself, my mom, and Jacob.
Us Septembers.
It's Thunder Cake with cream cheese frosting.
(Anyone familiar with the children's book by Patricia Palaco?)
My wonderful sister, Miss Sophia, helped me with the frosting... and licking clean the beaters. Silly Phia. I really missed her while I was traveling around.

I'll be baking another one on Wednesday with the lovely miss Bea Kwan. That'll be awesome. I wonder what kind of cake we'll make... Hmmm...

Tomorrow I'll be getting to see someone very important to me. David is a family friend who's been a mentor to me since I was 8 years old. I don't get to see him much these days because he' off on an adventure in Hong-Kong.
I'm glad my being in town coincides with his visit. If I found out I'd missed him, I'd have been very upset.

Brand New Camera

Irwin got me a brand new camera for my birthday. No Scratches or sand. And best of all, it has a functional button. No need for the safety pins. It's wonderful.
Irwin. Thank you.

The lights of San Francisco

I love the way this city looks at night. The lights reflected in the bay as you cross the bridge. It's magic.
I've made it back to San Francisco for my birthday. Many thanks to Jesse who made sure it happened.
Also, thank you to Irv and Gerry for the lovely birthday card. It was the first thing I saw when I got home. And thanks to Ennis for mailing me my flower collection which I left absentmindedly in the back of his car. My room now smells like desert sage and the wild-flowers of the the south west.

I'm probably going to be around the bay area for maybe the next three weeks before I hit the road again. Do not think, however that this is dead time for this blog. No, actually I'm going to use this time to collect some valuable input from you readers. I'm going to ask some questions, and whether you answer in comment, or email, the answers will be considered.

Firstly, I've been encouraged by nearly everyone I met on this trip to write a book. I'm curious to know what kind of book it is you people think I should be writing. As stands, there's already a collaboration between myself (Sparrow) and Faded. It's a correspondence that has actually been taking place since my trip when I was 18. We were planning on illustrating it and making it into a graphic novel... Any interest in that? I think we might actually blog the correspondence this time around if there is interest in it.

Next order of business. I'd like to know where people think it's absolutely essential to visit in this country. This could be anything from a state to a city to your favorite cafe. Let me know locations because I just might go there. Really.
I'm interested in visiting new places and new friends. The friends I made on this trip I just took are wonderful, and have all invited me back. So I'm pretty sure I'll be hitting some of the same cities. But this time it'll be more in depth. So even if I've been to the city already, let me know what I should see there!

Lastly (for now, but not for long), I'd like some music suggestions for my next trip's soundtrack. This might sound like an odd request, but good music is key to a long trip.

The Bus Ride Home

Greyhound is ridiculous. This is me. This is me after two days on freaking Greyhound.
Stuck in Kansas City, Missouri. Luckily, I was in good company. May I present Samantha and Josh. Two awesome kids from Portland, Oregon. Man do they have stories to tell.
We were together for the first two days of the journey from the twin cities down to Salt Lake City, Utah.
They've invited me up to Oregon to spy out a beach with a shipwreck you can climb on.
Can you say awesome? I'm so there.

































We did pass some really awesome windmills in the construction phase. Anyone who's driven highway five, or through the southwest (hey Ennis!), or even just seen some of my watercolor paintings, knows my preoccupation with these beauties. Apparently the turbines are 150 feet in length and the generators in the middle are the size of a greyhound bus. They look so small from far away. But up close, these things are huge...













And here I saw a train going through the salt flats of the Great Salt Lakes in Utah.

Flight of Fancy

I met Jesse's kids yesterday. Talk about wild imaginations, those two are awesome.
I introduced Elle to grapefruit, she calls it "sour" and asked if she could have more sour a lot, carrying around the last grapefruit.
Leah enlisted my help making a batman costume out of paper and proceeded to flap around the house in it the rest of the day. She also lost a tooth yesterday. She's in the process of checking now to see if the tooth fairy brought her anything.
They're really adorable. They also make me miss my sisters a lot.
I'm playing with them again today.

Sorry for the lack of updates, all. I'll try to be better about it, even through the frustration with my camera.
I'll be trying to find my way south now. Hopefully I'll be able to visit my wonderful cousins in Colorado, but so far I've gotten no luck in the ride department from here. I might end up needing to visit them after I return to SF for my birthday.
I actually have plans to spend Thanksgiving with them, so hopefully that'll be a longer sort of visit...

By the way, I'd like to acknowledge three birthdays right now. My mom's, which was yesterday, my wonderful friend Bea, who's birthday's today, and my honorary brother Jacob, who's birthday is tomorrow. I love you guys. Happy Birthday. Make a wish.

A Trip up a Mountain

Ok, so maybe not a mountain. It was awesome though. This beautiful hike up a road that had been closed off and was covered in leaves that fell like whispers from the canopy of trees that hung over the road filtering the light like cathedral glass. When we got to the top of Granddad Bluff you could see the whole valley stretched out below, through the slight haze that spread to, or perhaps from the Mississippi. The wind blew up the sheer side of the cliff, keeping us from the edge.
The vampiric state bird not withstanding, the trip here has been beautiful.
Today's the first day the sun is hiding. We're going to go up to a lake that has roads on the bottom.