Less than 40 days left, oh my.

I will be back home in less the 40 days, approximately a month, barely a complete lunar cycle. One or two more posts and this blog will retire. I will continue to write, on my other blog, things thoughts and other things. This post has no direction, or purpose, just a little mental (now digital) post-it note, to mark the current moment in my adventure.

Let's see, I moved out of my apartment and am currently crashing at my cousin's place in Lyon dans le 8ieme (she's technically my second cousin, but who cares?, and she's pretty much just a friend now. I don't need to use the cousin link). She's gone for a few weeks, off on a vacation with her boyfriend and his family. So I got the place to myself, which is sweet. There's this great little court/back yard on the ground floor, perfect for some hoop sessions. Ah! She bought hoop makings, I got her hooked. Proud of myself, and stoked I finally have a hoop buddy in France.

What else? I will be seeing one more country before I head back. Norway! I have these two linguistics friends from UCSC who are in Europe this month. They spent about five days with me and we had a great time. Talked linguistic theory, dad-jokes, watched movies, toured Lyon (it is nice being the tour guide and not the tourist. More pride), ate great food, all in better company. They even helped me move out, what else are friends are for, right? It was really great seeing them; I'll be joining them for one more adventure in Oslo.

Anything else? I am going to miss my cool neighbor (not the crazy one. I will most definitely not miss that fucker). The neighbor who lived across the way, what a more than super nice guy. Tout les apéros ensemble, les repas, les cafés, la fête à Laval à Lyon, les plusieurs fois qu'il m'avait amèné à l'aéroport et récupéré ...

And of course, I am going to miss my family too. It has been great getting to know them, now the names and faces aren't just vague or from photographs, but from actual memories. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to leave that terrible au-pair job in Grenoble; without them, I wouldn't have found that office job, that apartment, that confidence, all of it.

Merci beaucoup la famille, les amis, et la France!

List of things to do when I move back to California

1. In n Out
(the rest in no particular order)
2. Giants game
3. Exploratorium
4. Pacific Ocean
5. Monterey Bay Aquarium
6. Mexican food
7. Hula hoop with Valerie
8. Treasure Island Music Festival
9. Thanksgiving
10. go to a store on a Sunday and/or during the middle of the night
11. It's It
12. Sharks game
13. Smoke pot
14. Have an Anchor Steam

Barcelona: short and sweet

I was only in Barcelona for a few days, a shame really. A quick visit is never enough, but much better than never seeing it. Such a beautiful city, amazing really. Reminds me so very much of California: the Spanish, the colors, the beach, the skaters, the skate parks, the bicycles, the sun, the people, the music. All of it felt like home. My time in Barcelona was short and sweet (like this post), but it was worth every second, every grain of sand between my toes, every note of music played in the streets, every step I took in that city. Barcelona, I promise I will return.

My favorite sets were:

Future Islands (I hadn't heard of them until I saw them on the line up, and started listening to them before the fest, and fell in love. And then when I saw them live, they blew me away. They translate their studio work amazingly on stage, even better. Plus they played my favorite song, A dream of you and me.)


Kaiser Chiefs (I have been a fan of them since high school, one of the first bands that I got into without my mom's influence. haha. So glad to have seen them live. The lead singer, Ricky, is a maniac on stage. I got to touch him!!!!!! He ran into the crowd, climbed the sound booth, a non-stop hurricane.)


Little Dragon (they are amazing on stage. played a song from their latest album I really enjoyed, Killing Me. And the last song they played (I forgot the name), they remixed it for this super tribal vibe, everyone dancing to the beat, like a post-modern tribe, beautiful, and the singer has an enchanting stage presence), 


and Girls in Hawaii (they ended with my favorite song, Flavor, and brilliantly played a great live version of it, I thought my ears were going to explode. The kind of band that you'd show someone who thinks music died after the 70s. )

Post Dour Fest Facts

This is how it all went down at the Dour Music Festival: 4 days of alternative music and love, Made in Belgium with Love.

Thursday's artists I saw: Son Lux, Leaf House, Future Islands, Chet Faker, Darkside, Gramatik.

3 pikachus.

4 kings: King Camping B, a lion king, a shower king, and a shirtless tired king.

Friday's: Apaches, Bombay Show Pig, Intergalactic Lovers, Fakear, Raekwon, Band of Skulls, Klingande, Little Dragon.

And there is nothing like peeing in a festival port-a-potty to remind you of humanity and the current place you hold in it.

A unicorn and dragon dancing together.

2 days of sunburns, 2 days of mud wrestlers.

A viking, another dragon, and a banana.

Saturday's: 65daysofstatic, Shigeto, Cypress Hill, Girls in Hawaii.

Seas of Quechua tents and so many fedoras in so many colors.

2 deaths (Please, be smart and hydrate; be caution of cocktail drugs).

Sunday's: Moaning Cities, Lisa LeBlanc, Deap Vally, Dub Inc, Casseurs Flowters, Kaiser Chiefs, Pheonix (Tyler the Creator missed his flight).

All in all, sounds like your typical festival. It is a dirty, muddy, peace-loving, smelly, sweaty, love-loving, thirsty, ugly, pretty, international, crazy culture and I'm proud I'm part of it.

DOOOOUURREEEEEEEE!

just because it has been a while....

just because it has been while since i have last spoken, i thought i should,
i thought i should at least give an update, une mise à jour,
i dont even recall when was my last post, i guess im a less than average host,
but this update i promise,
pretty sure these are les nouvelles depuis mon derrier post,
i bought a hula hoop, its a beautiful 35" 100psi collapsible hoop with purple and yellow grip tape and silver tape between the criss-cross. it was my birthday gift to myself. fun fact, it was made in lawrence, kansas, the same lawrence that is the hometown to the winchesters.
the fandoms i joined within the year, in what i think is proper order: dollhouse, supernatural, dark angel, attack on titan...
i turned 24. close to that quarter life crisis ive been thinking about.
what else...
im almost done with my work contract, a week left. then the sweet glory of an unemployed summer lay ahead. a summer programmed for a music festival and who knows what else.
i have begun to prepare for my departure from here, for my return home. and i have learned, you can accumulate more than you think in less than a year. i really must figure out what to do with these chairs, that couch, this stove, those dishes, and more dishes, oh and the coffee maker too...
and that music festival i mentioned, i am seriously looking forward to it. music is my religion if you havent guessed, and a festival, well, thats my pilgrimage, and it is long overdue. beautiful barely touches the surface, and there are still 23 days until im there.

there you have it internet, you are all caught up with this little californian's update on her life abroad.

This blog...

... was going to be about traveling, wasn't it?

... wasn't going to be so heavy and negative, was it?

... was going to be "fuck yea, life" wasn't it?

My apologies if things got deep and sad. Those seem to be the moments when I put pen to paper most often.

But, I vow this: To see more and write the moments that will not leave me. And to leap at any chance to see that more I mentioned.