28 on 16

my 28th birthday was on March 16th.
it wasn't just relaxed, it was blissfully normal.

i, was most definitely, home.

scrumptious family dinners, my mom took me shopping,
my boyfriend bought me an Anthony Bourdain book,
facebook post overload of birthday wishes from lovely friends,
homemade chocolate chip cake, funny cards that make me smile.

i felt the home -
the coinciding bond between the tangible location,
the ease of the release of the heart,
and the thick memories that somehow stabilize you, root you, and
shock you how the senses and space make time a watery play-thing.

"i'm here, again. this kitchen...i am standing here, again."

"what's that?" my mom asks.

"i just can't believe i am standing here. in the kitchen!"
stretching my 8 hours plane limbs, on a deep inhale,
eyes sealed, oily flashes of Parisian cafes, German faces of new family,
the Sierra Nevadas out of my window.

...did i really have an Amsterdam apartment...

"where the hell was i?! where am i now?!"


in Montmarte, France, there is a Dali Musee.
bronze sculpture works from Dali, oil paintings of the themes of Alice in Wonderland,
and intricate/intense 12 Stations of the Cross.
even the entire student body of a mid-western middle school paid tribute to Dali
by sporting the Dali mustache: thin and upturned, menacing and playful.
i was surprised to see them all without a U crutch in hand!

a handful of his bronze works were of the limp watches.
Dali often said: materialization of the flexibility of the Time and the invisibility of the Space.
It is a fluid. Unexpected limpness of the watch represents also the psychological aspect by which the speed of time though specifies in its scientific definition can largely vary in his human perception. The idea came to him after contemplating the remainders of his running Camembert cheese. (as stated on the Espace Dali Montmarte website)

on March 16th, i turned 28 years old, young, what have you.

my cheese has been running for quite some time now.
and i have chosen to take my time, my life, contemplating it.

i urge you to do the same.

because who doesn't LOVE cheese?


namaste, to Salvador Dali, my family, and the magic of Time and Space!

away and back

namaste, United States of America!

since my last entry in France, i have had the honor of
travelling to Germany and the Netherlands, and also nabbing
a small breath of a hello in Ireland during a layover.

i ceased my blogging due to my appetite for being
instead of recording
and so i limited my computer minutes to that of important e-mails home
with occasional facebook updates.

with my initial blog intentions to write! write! write!
and hurdle fears,
and remain inspired and reckless,
i no longer postpone my blog entries!

it's monday, march 8, 2010.
i have been home for 4 days.
3 nights of the 4 days, my dreams have taken place in Paris.
i stand in my parents kitchen - it's still the kitchen.
i take a run on the bike path near the house -
my last run took place in Vondelpark, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
the Olympics came and went -
i cheered on the Frenchies in France,
the Germans in Germany,
the Netherland-ers in The Netherlands.
i was just meditatively strolling in the Alhambra Generalife.
sitting on a bench, baguette in mouth, underneath the skirt of the Eiffel Tower.
eating at the best Chinese buffet, The Shan-gri-la, in Dortmund.
eyeballing the lovlies drenched in Red Light.
and, already deeply missing my cousin, during a layover in Dublin.

away and back!
trains and trams!
Spanish to Dutch!
change upon change!

namaste, to the spirit of movement!
let us never be content!!