Unidentified Blobs and Sea Gull Guano

My trip to Morro Bay, California

First of all, isn't this photo collage too cool for words? Go here and play.

Self portrait of me with "The Rock" from the top of Black Hill (eek, a volcanic peak rising 664') 664' of hiking, sweat, drugs and rock and roll, without the drugs and roll. There were a lot of rocks!

I took 374 photos, a record for me. You'd be bored looking at 374 photos, right? Okay, so I won't post them all here. Just highlights : .)

View from the top of Black Hill.

Morro Rock from the Embarcadero (Bay side).

View from my hotel room. Not exactly...okay not at all the view advertised on the hotel's website, but I didn't spend much time in my room anyway, so there!!!

I know what you're thinking, "Just how many photos can you take of a rock?" Well, a lot. It changes, seriously. Sometimes it even sneaks up on you and looms over your shoulder. It changes moods. It changes colors. Its amazing!!!

Fah-resh oysters on the half shell, home made clam chowder, boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!
I had crab legs with drawn butter too, but didn't take a picture of that. Oh, and I had a fantastic glass of 2005 Talbotts Kali Hart Chard. Oh yum!

These guys were actually fighting. The sea lions (Zalophus californianus californianus, I had to look that one up. Note the external ear flaps? Seals don't have these, that's how you tell the difference.) were very territorial and if another tried to usurp its spot...WATCH OUT! Lots of barkin' and bitin' goin' on!

No commentary necessary. Taken at the beach on the ocean side of the rock.

Swell shark case. (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum. The embryo lives here until its ready to hatch.) Foot for size comparison.

One of six (?) local sea otters (Enhydris lutris), so cute! They spend a lot of time grooming their 1000 hairs per square inch, I believe the most of any mammal. They need to use air as insulation since they don't have much body fat. They also eat a lot and roll over and over in the water to wrap themselves with kelp so they don't drift off. They hang in groups, hence the term "otter rafts."

Long-Billed Curlew (Numenius americanus). Long beak makes it easier to dig up sand crabs (Emerita).

Sweet escape!

Unidentified blob. (Some kind of jellyfish)

Other highlights...Hanging with the docents at the Natural History Museum. Bob gave me a rattle he made out of Pismo clam shells with BBs inside. Friendly people and dogs. Lots of shopping (tourista style). Feeding rescued harbor seals and sea lions at the aquarium. Chatting it up with the locals...Susan at the bead shop, Mary at the state campground, Randylee and her husband who work at a local gallery. Just enjoying the sun, ocean breezes, salty sea air scents, sea lion barking and various sea birds communicating about their day.

I was sad when the trip was over, but planning another in the near future to see the migrating Monarch butterflies : .)

Sugar Coma

I found these baby packages of Pez at Cost Plus World Market.

I.can't.stop.eating.them.

There are 6 Pez per package, 35 calories for 2 packages. This is 1 Weight Watchers point. If you eat them in small increments, you know, 6 Pez tablets at a time, they total close to zero calories, right?

They haunt me all day at work. They speak to me when I go to bed. They constantly call my name, Linnnnnnduhhhhhhhhh.

I think orange is my favorite, no graple. No lemon, uh maybe strawberry.

Who am I trying to kid?

I Love Pez. All of 'em!

Retail and Art Therapy

Solitude breeds art...




Happiness can be bot (well, it felt that way for a mo)...

(I got this bag, but with different graphics, and in black & white.)

And exercise is gud...



I am constantly reminded of the lessons I am supposed to be learning. Specifically, that I can't eat away my problems (I ended up feeling worse than when I started, what am I talking about, I'm not finished yet!); the universe (GOD) doesn't give me more than I can handle; that nonattachment is important to staying in the moment; and that my reliance and expectation of the status quo is not the best way to move thru life.

I get to choose how to feel, how to react, how to handle diverse and complicated situations, and to validate myself.

I just wish it was easier.

I gotta Mann

Not one to pass up an opportunity for conspicuous consumption, I went to the American Craft Council show in SF today. Its a juried art show with the most fantabulous art you could ever imagine: mixed media, jewelry, wood works, metal works, clothing, knit products, home decor.

I love what people make, hearing the passion in their voices when they talk about their art, the attention to detail, trying to figure out what motivates them to create what they do create.

I just had to see one of my fav artist first, so I rocketed to her booth. Sharon is one of those artists filled with passion for her art, which is organic and textured and filled with deep meaning. If you recall, Mad and I went to her house/studio awhile back and played and created.

I had already decided to splurge and zipped right over to my fav jewelry artist's booth. Thomas Mann. He calls his art techno romantic and uses a lot of metal and found objects. Its heavy, chunky, industrial jewelry. I had originally picked a flaming heart milagro necklace from his website, but decided on the one above instead.

Over ate at a BBQ on Saturday after chatting with friends and playing with their kids. Oh, and also blew major ducats at the Scrapbook Expo that I went to with Mad, but I really didn't do as much damage as I thot.

So happy to be home last nite. Dr. Steve gave me the next progression in exercises to prep me for running and I did those, made a thank you card (thanks Ragged for the inspiration...it was an Elvis card), and watched some tv.

Looking forward to next weekend (already you say?), off to the cabin with the Retz's, the anticipation will get me thru the work week.

Happy Monday!!! : .)

Ripples

Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah, blah blah blah-blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Habla blah, blah.

I finally did the ripple challenge! (I used the color wheel too!!!) The first part of the quote is from the Joan of Arcadia where God tells Joan to ask the high school bully to homecoming. The rest I wrote.


Does this guy look familiar? Maker Faire flyer for the scary/cute dolls. I pierced Punk's ear, tee hee hee! But in this day and age, the cool piercing would be somewhere unobvious, ewwww!

Monster!!!

Aside from these two pieces, this weekend I ran around with Mad in search of those silver balls they used to sell for decorating cakes. We ended up with colored sugar, confetti, and tiny white sprinkles for cupcakes. A trip to the local scrapbook store was not fruitful. Bummer. Tonite I made jerked-turkey (jerkey turkey) burgers with papaya/mango salsa and low-fat, low-cal red velvet cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting. A mucho tasty meal! I should cook more often, but its such a huge production and can you believe it, I have to clean up after myself!

Soooo, yeah...Life is life and so it goes. Running? Nope. However, I did my first spin class last Tuesday and didn't suffer strong aftereffects. My core must be getting stronger. I'm still Aquajoggerdeathgirlsuperpowerwaternymph and not RG, also doing step, but I am nowhere near the cardiovascular capacity I was at when I had to quit running. H-h-h-h-h-h!!!

The local community college has started registration, so I'm thinking of taking a collage class. But, what could they possibly teach me???!!! Hee, hee! Upcoming is the Scrapbook Expo (lots of spending), bbq, huge juried Art show in SF. Have planned a mini break to Morro Bay soon and also off the the cabin with the Retzez. Wheee!!! Stalking your blogs, but not commenting. Not feeling very clever these days.

Hope y'all are well.

Happy day!!!