In Between

I love this paragraph Inkling's latest blog post. Resonates with me on a personal level, considering the way I grew up, the projects I'm drawn to, and my fascination with relationships and Co/Lab, the collaboration project.

Informal learning, by contrast, happens in the mental space between lectures. It’s what you learn outside a formal setting by observing the world and trying things out. (You didn’t learn the consequences of sticking a fork in the toaster from a book; you simply tried it.) It’s what you learn when you follow the trail of questions raised by every answer—once you read this, it makes you want to learn more about that, which in turn sparks your curiosity about something else. The next thing you know, hours have gone by and you’re the world’s newest expert on something you, perhaps, hadn’t expected. Odds are, just like in the first example you thought of above, you may have even called on your friends, colleagues, and the Internet to help in this process. Type I learning means developing networks (with people) and connections (between disparate concepts) that help you better understand ideas, both new and old. 

Read the full thing here: http://www.inkling.com/blog/


It also reminds me of a quote from Tony Hsieh's Delivering Happiness:

"...happiness doesn't come primarily from within but, rather, from between."

As if I need another blog, I've started a new one on relationships.

A little personal, a little found, all centered around the topic of Relationships. The name came to me whilst lying in bed one night, thinking about what to write in Jason's 30th birthday card, and the blog concept followed soon after.

I think I'll find this blog easier to upkeep because relationships are always on my mind. If not about my own, then about others, and if not about others, then about my relationship with myself. I've already queued up over 10 posts before this announcement, so keep checking back. And if it looks completely different from when you last visited, don't be scared. I'm just messing with the design. Although I do like the simplicity of it and Tumblr right now...

Quickly, let jot down an update. I am thinking about getting a puppy and am holding off as long as I physically can. I started a new job soon after returning from Belize -- I can honestly say I love my job. I started working out again. This has been the coldest summer in the Bay Area and I hate it. I want to have another bocce ball party with my friends but I have zero free weekends until October! My childhood friend is getting married and I'm going to be a bridesmaid for the first time. Should be an amazing union.

Hope you all are well!

Our trip to Belize was short and sweet. Ambergris Caye, the island on which we stayed, is an colorful to the eye and satiating to the tongue. We fell in love with their banana pineapple smoothies (with a dash of coconut cream) and the water was so warm. The people were so friendly and open, sometimes a little too much. My favorite day was the day we did absolutely nothing. I had a chance to slow down and quiet my mind, something I haven't been able to do in I can't remember how long.

Below are some photos of our arriving by water taxi to the yoga retreat, shots during our bike ride along the coast, our view from the hammocks we took over, and from underwater, swimming with nurse sharks and sting rays! Hope you enjoy this glimpse of paradise, and may it encourage you to find a slice of your own :)

From our apartment we can see lights for a carnival that wasn't there before. A few weekends ago we finally got a chance to go and relive the nostalgia of cotton candy and prizes. I really just wanted to take my camera out and I'm so glad I did. But can I just say that the small ferris wheel (last photo) is the scariest ride I've ever been on?Jeebus holy moly christ.

A woman was on a vacation to become happier and while she was away, the love of her life died, and she was so stricken with grief that she arranged to have a new body made for her to live in, and when it was ready she would transfer her memories to the body, like a hard drive. But she could only transfer chunks at a time because there was only so much bandwidth, but in the process the company ended losing the rest of her memories, including the ones of the love of her life. The dream was about her struggle to find these lost memories, as painful as they may be, while in this new, shiny body of her new life.

If this is not a movie yet, then I call Hollywood dibs on the plot. If it is, well, then, please tell me what movie it is so I can add it to my Netflix queue!

Can I just say that I am completely excited about life, to the point where I'm excited for everyone else? I'm feeling a sense of adventure and hopefulness, with no reservation. I suppose this all could be influenced by the fact that just came back from a vacation in Belize (will post photos once my instant cameras develop), or the fact that I'm also starting a new job soon! Seems to be a pattern, no? I'm okay with patterns.

PS) After waking up this morning, I read an article in the NYTimes about a woman who rebuilt a home and new life for herself in a way I admire to the core. See photos here.

"I had the raddest of rad dreams," is how I thought I'd start sharing, finding the words while drifting from sleep to wake this morning. Now I'm not sure how rad I understand it was to be, but let me tell you anyway.

I was a guest at a wedding, with all different kinds of people like a high school prom, cheerleaders here, hip hop dancers there, stuffy fluffy poufs over here. I somehow assumed the role of wedding photographer, at first just capturing quiet candid moments. Soon I was organizing people into groups, giving them direction on poses, props. The atmosphere was fun and lively and people were waiting and I had to say you're next! I promise. And they'd laugh and wait anyway.

I saw it all through the viewfinder. At one point I couldn't get a group of people holding albums standing on a flight of stairs into the frame, and being below I couldn't capture the back row, no matter where I stood. On an instinct I ran to the table behind me, a wooden board on two horses, really, and jumped up on it to get the best view. The people gathered around, eating and drinking at the table were shocked for a moment, but soon caught up with the energy and cheered me on! By the time I was standing on the edge of the plank, instructing people at the other end to weigh it down like a see saw, I saw my subjects had arranged themselves on the flight of stairs so creatively... the albums they were holding were now color coordinated, and beaming up at me. I shouted out gratitude for making my job easier, and snapped away while the people below laughed and cheered at this wild photographer. More and more people flooded onto the steps to get into this mega shot and I jumped up with joy. I jumped up but didn't come down. I was floating. Up and up and up -- unafraid, high off endorphins...

I remember at one point slinging by camera down to hand it to someone before gracefully swinging to the ground from a rope. I remember losing that camera and all the happy faces I captured. I remember looking for Jason to share this moment, losing my smile at the fact that he'd missed it all.

I remember taking a walk on a bright spring day, my sisters and mom and I barely squeezing through a narrow path lined with little dwarf homes with little dwarf field flowers and little dwarf mailboxes and sunlight spilling itself over everything. I saw it all through the viewfinder. I woke with this tension, not fitting into the space of such beautiful surroundings, wanting to take it all home with me, not being able to.

I came home late last night and he points me to the hallway I'd just walked through. You want me to... leave? I look back and see something new, an addition that wasn't there before. I walk over and instantly recognize it as the last Tugboat print I was pining over in my last post, The Iceberg. He'd read my blog and my not-so-subtle hint and he actually bought it for me! He even looked through all the rest of the items in their shop to be sure that's the one I'd really like. Smitten, with him for listening, and the poster for being pure awesome.


What I love most about the poster is that it's beyond that, the idea of "what's below the tip of the iceberg". I observe the meticulous detail required to design the piece and then to register chunks of wood to precision... I love feeling that part of the art -- the making part, the part that makes it made. Good job, Tugboat!

Woodblock prints by Paul Roden + Valerie Lueth of Tugboat Printshop in Pittsburg, PA. I would kill for any of these pieces, esp the last one. *cough* jason *cough* .

Did you hear that huge sigh of relief? I just got back from lunch and sun basking in the park, hands down  my top favorite thing to do alone. The weather has bummed me out to the max, and then here comes the sun, soaking my pant threads like a sauna. So warm. So worth it. Today's people-watching treat was a couple of guys practicing back flips.



Speaking of sun, my friend is convincing me to go to Belize with her next month for a few days. Flights are less than $600 round trip. Should I do it? We could stay here; more photos here.

HMMMMMMMMM.....