found some light while browsing during my
daily dose of almostlosinghopeinhumanity (aka the news)

a taekwondo school in a syrian refugee camp in jordan:

mops, it's yo birthday.
hope you enjoyed the meat

my beautiful pizza
i wish i could make a pizza
for every kid who wants a pizza.

sitting under a fiddleleaf fig tree

i made my mom a berry happy birthday cake~ 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 生日快乐~

fern groto caves, swimming holes,
redwoods, + hazy sunsets. 

it was so nice to be back in santa cruz~*

until next time!

maryna and i went up to san francisco to visit

theresa in the city! we ate alot of pastries,

strolled a botanical garden and

played with jelly (her chihuahua mix)!

then we got some plants and baklava.

got to catch up with my anthro tutoring buddy jeff.

we got strawberry sorbet, sat in the red room

and talked about genocide & cactus festivals.

thanks for the little dried opium poppy flower;

i shall stick it in my aloe vera plant's pot.

watched 4 youtube documentaries on:

~slavery and voodoo in haiti, didgeridoos

alaskan grizzly bears,
& nefertiti: history and hair

while painting this:

oh snowman,

they have extra skins like you.

                      

f r e e

g a z a

~ ~ ~
"You who are so liberal, so humane,
who take the love of culture to the point of
affectation, you pretend to forget that you have
colonies where massacres are committed in your name."
Jean-Paul Sartre

a warm day hiking the canyons with maggie.

unfortunately, it ended when i got heat stroke.

thank you for taking me to get rehydrated after

i threw up all over black-eyed susans. (sorry flowers).

after attending a culinary workshop demystifying

"exotic" cuisines of the world and using

old world peruvian techniques to

grow and cook food sustainably,

 i felt inclined to..make pasta from scratch:

maggie, mops, cassidy and i went on an

avocado adventure today.

she read animal tracks in the dust and

i picked avocados from a un-surveillanced grove.

went exploring with mops today.

some type of giant black bird

(maybe a turkey vulture) soared in the sky.

and the world watches on
yet another apartheid.

for the sake of basic human rights and compassion;
world, come on.

hollyhocks are germinating!
(violas, dahlias and eggplants too!)

museum of anthropology at

university of british columbia.

had a super great exhibit about the diverse ways

indigenous youth navigate urban spaces and identity in

Canada, the US, New Zealand and Norway.

they also had hallways of drawers filled with
STUFF somehow acquired from all over.
thousands of mini egyptian figurines,
puppets from korea and masks from everywhere you can
imagine, all piled together without organization.

"museums are just institutionalized hoarders"
-my sister

vancouver, at low tide.
i sloshed around in the 
 sludge and tried to dig up clams.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

nibbled some ahi tuna poke,

waded in the pacific ocean,

and cruised down PCH in the

golden misty afternoon glow.

found a notebook of obscure drawings:

a very cool map of

aboriginal Australian languages

(250/700 of which are still used today)

dipped my toe in pool water

for the first time in months;

i became inexplicably happy

at the feeling of chlorinated water.

 ~ ~ ~

"What county in the world
best fits your personality?"

i got new zealand; good thing i studied abroad there!

"You are an adventurous individual who enjoys being

outdoors and spending time being active. You are a risk taker and

have no problem striking up a conversation with a total stranger.

When you travel you love to get to know the locals,

and their customs, and are always up for a challenge.

You thrive in a culture where others share your deep appreciation

for land, and believe life is best lived outdoors..

You thrive in a society with diversity and appreciate

a simpler way of living. You are keen on learning about cultures

and customs that are different than your own, and enjoy a deep conversation,

whether it be philosophical or spiritual."

is here!!!
(after one cray cray year of nonstop
writing, planning, drafting, collaborating,
analyzing, experimenting, trial + error,
community events and panel talks,
sleeping at 3am, lunch break chats, 12 hour days,
the entertainment of kindergartners' humor,
and a few great moments of teaching glory)

ok, back to weeding and pruning roses~