We had such an awesome weekend! It started with a little road trip down to Monterey. At about 8:00am, we showed up at Mcabees Beach to go on our first ocean dives in order to get scuba certified. It was foggy and cold, a typical Monterey morning. On top of that, we were all very tired because we stayed up late the night before trying to get our scuba tests done in time, such procrastinators. The first dive was a little snorkel dive. After getting all suited up, we walked down to the beach and snorkeled out into the cold, cloudy water. Our instructor asked us to dive down and touch the bottom. I looked down, then back up and replied, but I don't see the bottom. He kind of made fun of me. I sucked it up and dove down. It wasn't so bad. We swam in, got our tanks and went back in. we dropped down onto a soft little patch of sand and practiced clearing our masks. in the pool it is a piece of cake. But when that cold water rushes onto your face, your nose does not want to work. I tried really hard to blow, but my instinct fought me the whole way. I got it done though. It really wasn't hard. We cruised around and saw some cool stuff, nudebranks, different kinds of crabs, some pretty big fish, sea stars, sun stars, and lots of different little snails. It was beautiful. But the visibility wasn't that clear. We went on one more dive that day. By that time I was feeling good. Saturday night we went out to dinner, and then talked a bunch of the people in our group to go roller skating at the roller rink. This was pretty funny, seeing our instructors out there doing the hokey pokey on skates. We got a little motel room in Marina, stayed the night and suited up for our Sunday dives. We went to the break water this time. The visibility was better. On top of that there was a little momma sea otter swimming around with her baby on her belly. This was a good spot. We worked on some navigation. Then we had one final dive where we went out by ourselves. It was really cool, having Morgan, Emilia ( Morgan's sister), and Christel, (Morgan's brother's girlfriend) out there all diving together. It was cool because we made up a little dive plan. We started on the break wall, made our way across the sand, and then hung out in the kelp Forrest for a little while, which was totally beautiful. After diving, we got our little temporary certificates, loaded up the car, and headed up to Oakland so that Christel and I could tryout for roller derby. That tryout kicked my butt, especially after diving earlier that day. But it was so fun. We know if we made the team tomorrow. And that was that.

Lucy the Master Weaver

This is a painting of my great grandma Lucy. She was one of the first women to become a "Master Weaver" so I used a sort of tapestry inspired background. My family also calls her a "hippie before her time" because she would make salads out of weeds from the garden and spin dog hair and make sweaters. So its sort of a psychedelic version of art deco because she was a young woman during the 1920's.

art

art

today

Things are going good here. I finally found a job, teaching swim lessons. It was so hard to find a job this time, which is something that I have never struggled with. But it showed me first hand that the economy really is messed up. I love teaching the lessons. The students range from ages three to adult. The little kids are great because they already know what to do. So they squirm and move like little fish through the water. They mostly just need to learn how to rest and breath every now and then. The older people are more of a challenge because they have learned to fear the water. Even though they know exactly what to do instinctively, they panic. They feel like they are falling and are deathly afraid of the deep end. But it is fun to help them get past that. I love swimming. To me,water feels more natural than land. I feel free when I am in it. I know I have said this before. But I feel like when I am in water I am floating in God's perfect love, just suspended there, being held by something so big,something that you can feel and know but never hold onto, something that moves without restraint covering and bringing life, also something to be feared and respected. Anyway, it is good. Unfortunately, because I spend about five and a half hours a day in the pool I have developed a rash. The other teachers say it is because they keep the pool at such a high temperature. Its like when you stay in a hot tub for too long or something. I don't know. Yesterday, one of the instructors bought me some diaper rash medicine and told me to spread it all over my chest before I got in, and wear a rash guard. It worked. So I am having fun. Morgan, our friend Pragya and I are taking a swim class at Laney College. Its pretty much just like being on the swim team. The teacher writes a set on a white board and you go through it. If there is time at the end she will give you a little more to do. I love it. I feel like I am in sixth grade on the Five Cities Swim club all over again. Its making me strong, and giving me a great and guilt free appetite. Anyway, I think I am going to post my art on this blog. I don't want to make a website for all of it yet. So here it is. I have also set up an etsy account where I can sell the bags that I am making. If you are interested, check them out at pearlcentennial.etsy.com. That's all.

Graduated

I have finally graduated from California State University of Monterey Bay. Its been a long time for me. After nine years of wondering what I was going to do and if College was actually worth it, spending a year in Central America, and getting married, it is done. And yes, it was worth it. Now that I am here I feel restless. I keep saying to myself, You mean I can read whatever I want? I can paint whenever I want? No homework? Its a strange feeling.

Now I am looking for work and investigating possible grad schools. Its hard to decide what to choose when it comes to a graduate program. My interests are so broad. I realized that the most important question to ask would be, what could I study for years and years and never get bored with? We shall see.

The wind blows against my cheek
As I feel something new take me gentle and quick
My fingertips graze surfaces as a I walk
An endless journey, only stopping to talk

I clear my throat and dry my eyes
the Lord picks me up and asks not for a compromise
I walk, I feel, I know, I live
In this journey my life is filtered through a seive

Final Research Paper

Here is the link to my most updated research paper:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg48z7r4_69gfpxmjf2