I'm at the beach! ( blog #17)

I  woke up feeling just great for one simple reason, yesterday we arrived at the beach and our plans are to stay for a week in a house with our close friends. we are right on the water and ten minutes away from the beach. The house has enough room for everybody and I have already settled into a nice routine. In the morning I take a short run with my friend Amaya, then head back to settle into a morning breakfast and a short walk to the hammock overlooking the water to relax and plan for the things I plan to do. We usually spend the majority of the day at the beach, boogie boarding. There are a lot of ice cream shops and bookstores we like to pop into and I have gotten my friends hooked onto project runway, my favorite reality tv show.  I'm really excited for this trip and I will share anything interesting right here on the blog, such as the fact that we have been able to start painting rocks and shells with some of my paint or that I got sunburned right under by eye. blog later,
theperpetualpeach

Why am I having so much trouble at wheel throwing? ( blog #16)

 Hi! It's me, theperpetualpeach and I am trying to get in a quick post before I forget about it because I'm really quite busy this week. Next week I will be at the beach but I just got back from my more lengthy trip around the general United States. But  that is not what this post is about! Currently, I have been taking two art classes at my community art center and they have been such great fun. I really do encourage everybody to try and discover an art center near you because it is such a good place to learn something new.
       This week I am taking a painting class in the morning and a class on wheel throwing in the afternoon. So far both of the classes have been really fun. I'm an amateur artist so my work isn't very good and I can't post it to the blog because it's at the studio overnight so I will try my best to describe the classes using only words. The Painting class is definitely my favorite of the two classes.We started on a still life of vases, jugs, containers, tree green apples, and an orange. I really enjoyed the still life but particularly the detail painting. When I  sketched out the work It was all out of proportion so luckily I was able to fix that before any damaged had been done. We've moved on to landscapes and people, both of which I'm excited to try my hand at.
      In the afternoon I travel to a wheel throwing class which is proving harder than expected. IN wheel throwing there are four main steps in creating a bowl or cup; centering, drilling, pulling up, shaping. Centering is THE most important step and so far the one I'm having the most trouble with. I can drill, I can pull up, I can shape but centering is just so darn hard. I have used 4-5 balls of clay this afternoon. Two turned into plates. The others Were ruined by my hand because of, you guessed it , centering. Not to say that others had more success.  I am the only one still having a major problem with centering but other people are having trouble with pulling up and shaping. Honestly, wheel throwing is real hard but I'm getting better and better at it every day I practice.
     I'm having so much fun with my art classes and I will post back Friday to how you my finished paintings and talk about my trip to the beach.

the disgusting Hardees commercial

I am super sorry for the inactivity I have been really busy at camp this week and with my friends because we tend to stick like glue.I have decided to me more efficient about this blog and get some stuff done, specifically, write two posts a week. today's post: Hardees, specifically the Hardees commercial.


 MY VERY LARGE PROBLEM WITH THE HARDEES COMMERCIAL

I try not to bring politics or discussion of ethics onto this blog because I want to respect everybody opinions but this is just too much.  I don't deny that I am a ( little bit) feminist but I don't think that matters with the material in question. Hardee's new commercial for their bacon thick burger shows three women in string bikinis sexily biting into bacon and features shots of the hips and "gluteus maximises" ( buts)  swaying and their breasts. It is utterly disgusting. women earned the right to vote in 1920 , almost one hundred years ago and had to fight to be able to work in the same jobs as men did, to be able to wear pants, and are still fighting for equal pay today. Women, whether they be Black, White, gay, straight, minority, majority, Christian, Jewish, atheist, republican, democrat, pro-choice or pro-life, have brains and thoughts. All women are living people capable of emotion, thoughts, feelings , and actions. This Hardee's commercial treats women like they are sex objects. This should not be happening in an America that gave women the vote almost a hundred years ago!! has this society not accepted women in those a hundred years enough to be fine with an  obviously disgusting, sexist, piece of trash? I am so upset that this would even be allowed on television. this is a historical moment of shame for American culture. This Is a legal truth, a promise, a swear , right here, right now: I will not eat Hardees as long I live unless,  they  fully apologize for this trash, stop showing it online and, furthermore, fire their CEO for letting the ad be broadcast.



Thank you for your time.

Country camp...

It is I, with my throwback Thursday, throwing it back so far I will literally hit you into 2010. But this thowbacking has a theme: Country camp! Country camp is a camp located on a farm that contains sheep, horses, ponies,dogs, and chickens galore. The regular schedule is this; you get dropped off in your car ( they used to bus you from downtown but they stopped cerca 2012) and drive up to the machine shed where you start your day off with a craft and a story acted out by the counselors. The machine shed is country camp hq (the hq used o t be the house but the barn had more space). Then, there is some type of game such as v-tag, animals in the zoo, mafia, capture the flag, or telephone until it is lunch. After, there is free time where mainly people play with the chickens or lambs, play soccer or wait for imagination time because there is always  a storyline that all the campers follow and counselors act out. Basically it is just creative fabulousness!!!!!! I am going to just list like some of the thing I remember about the camp for example:
Favorite session: the session where we lived in England until there was a Scottish revelution and the kings and queens became fish monsters
Favorite movie: fishing for diamonds (about a failing town and an old couple who are bitter because they have never married)
Favorite movie I wasn't in: lollipop ( about a detective who ate lollipop)
The songs we sing: the country camp song, the mermaid song, darling clementine, v-tag parody, country roads
The names of pets: there are three dogs: Audrey, Hershel, and gatsby. A pony named darling( we used to be able to ride her) and a horse named emerald. The chicken names keep changing
The story of Ned: Ned the chicken died on visitors day, the cursed visitors day. There was and attempt at a burial but there wasn't enough time so they tried to drown him in the lake. That didn't work either so people saw the chicken floating in the pond
Well known hand games: SIGGI, Tarzan, concentration, snickers, macaroni, and quack-deli-osa.
My favorite craft: rock people
My favorite free time activity: sand box, chickens.
My favorite imagination time game: sword fighting


That is all








(Inside joke^^^)

Pie face!!

Let me just fill everybody in, I am in Iowa City, Iowa and I am going to a super fun camp, Country camp which I will post more about on Thursday so check back on this website in two days when I will be sharing all the details and funny stories of country camp. (  I have been doing this camp for...seven year now.) But, today My blog post is not about camp but instead about the game.... pie  face! which, for me, is a pretty accurate and explanatory name of what the game details. You may have seen the game advertised on television and at first, I thought that the game was a total rip off and probably not for me since they advertise three and four years playing the game. But, after having fun with the game I have a list of pros/cons of the game. 

The setting of the scene: My friends here have all been going to camp with me and when Laura mentioned that her pie  face game had just arrived. I was driving home with her, my sis, and my other two friends, Grace, and Becca whose names you will hear crop up a lot. we made an executive design to drive to Laura's house and play the game.

The way the game works: The way the game works is like this. The players go around in a circle, spinning a spinner that contains the numbers 1-5 and cranking up the board device so that the hand holding the  whipped cream slowly rises. Eventually, one person will get hit in the face with whipped cream. 

Pros: 

- getting hit with whipped cream in your face is very fun

- If you wish, the whipped cream can be eaten off your face

- It is fun to play with friends, because of the suspense and laughter.

Cons:

- playing by yourself does not seem much fun

- whipped cream does not come with the box so every time you wish to play you must have whipped cream stored in your fridge.

- the whipped cream can cause a mess

Overall I really enjoyed playing this game. What about you? Have you played Pie In the 

ace or do you want tO? comment below your opinion

* the picture is an old version of the game *

*all names of people have been changed to protect the identity of those people*

* this photo was taken and uploaded by Tengrain on flicker as part of the creative commons. They do not support, endorse, or know me in any way. the license

love and friendship

a quick note:
For those who don't know the " Love and friendship," I'm referring to is actually a movie that just came out. You may not have heard of it because it was a small production, not widely advertised.  It is a movie based on one of the first stories Jane Austen ( the queen!!! ) ever wrote, Lady Susan. It follows the aforementioned lady Susan ( Kate Beckinsale) in her quest to find her daughter and herself rich, wealthy, husbands. Though the cinematography is great the story line was only mediocre, and the humorous tidbits of a semi-humorous film were so slight and confusing that I rather felt that it was a 3-star movie. However, my opinion might be flawed because of the fact that I  am one of the hugest pride and prejudice fans on earth and , though I hate to criticize Jane Austen, none of the characters in the movie had a  storyline or likenesses I could relate to. Though It was not my favorite movie I highly recommend you to see  it and judge for yourself.

ps.
 I just discovered the store Desigual and I love it! ( does anyone else?)

Iowa city

How do I describe Iowa city? It is such a small town but to tell you everything I know about it would take to long and I would still forget some places. Iowa city is like my second home and I would like to say I know it like the back of my hand but honestly, I probably Know it better then that. Where do I start? I guess it starts at the Northside which is a part of the city with cobblestone streets that bumble and rumble and old, wooden houses. There is a school three blocks away from the house I am staying at and a playground next to that but, if you are a playground elitist you could try hickory hill park which is only six block away. I have no sense of direction but I know if you travel one way you will hit the university campus and near that all the many, varied downtown shops, local and chains. The bookstore prairie lights, noodle and company, the library, three different consignment/vintage stores, a record shop, a theater, etc. There is a parking lot which plays host on Saturdays to the farmers market, which is across from the co op. This is getting complicated. Let's see. Somewhere there is a wellness center, an old, old dairy quenn and a bike ramp near a highway. Somewhere else there is a pool where you are sure to see at least one of your friends, which is also near other university buildings. I know there is a capitol mall downtown, a small mall/movie theater out near the bakery Deluxe and a large mall ( it has a Target!!!) and a super fancy pants pool out in Coralville. Most children are predetermined to dislike Coralville because all moms, ever, hate driving out there but it has a fabulous carousel I always sneak onto although I am most certainly to old for it. I think I went over the basics over the city that I really wanted to share with you. Iowa city is such a fabulous town and some of my friends can't see this, blinded by the prospect of a small town that nobody has heard of. Tell me in the comments if I you think I did a good job describing the town.

YBCA

The YBCA stands for the Yerba Buena Center for the arts and right now it has a very thought provoking show called " take this hammer" about social activism art made in the bay area. The artists presented in the show comment on a wide range of subjects. Air BnB, drone strikes, racism fueled police encounters, deportation, the 1% percent, etc. I absolutely loved the show. It was my favorite exhibition at the  center.
I visited the museum on Thursday with my family after eating Mexican food and I was awed by the sheer architecture of the museum. There was a small show that was my second favorite that was an exhibition of consisting of latex molds of old industrial warehouses hung by the ceiling that was huge. Latex is a stretchy material and you really felt like were inside a chimney at some points. My mum also pointed out that the entire art piece was breathable, flexible and that  it was a good piece for a museum because it could easily be hung up, taken down and shipped back to the artist.
but let's get back to the " take this hammer" exhibition. If anyone in California has not seen it I highly recommend you too, whether you agree with the statements made or not. There was this wall of semi-new? semi-old ( 2011) posters on the one percent, deportation, feminism and non-GMO rights. The posters also focused on rights and issues that many minority race  groups had to go through in America where even though we elected a black president there are now extreme numbers of racists , fascists , and misogynists. The posters were beautiful works of artwork and very well made.
There was a section of posters and videos on the black lives matter movement, too. There was a wall that had coloring sheets and artists had drawn, showing pictures of the African-American men and women that had been killed in police confrontations in the last few years, rainbow printed and put up in a slight pattern. Only by looking at the artwork at a different angle could you understand it's true beauty.
I also saw the Yerba Buena Martin Luther King Jr. waterfall memorial. It was very pretty and beautiful except for the fact that I saw Starbucks cups and flyers lying on the ground, even though  there was clearly places to dump compost, recyclables, and landfill trash which made me feel bad about human civilization and what humans were doing to the earth that I put together a short movie on it for fun because I love making and editing short clips. I could not get it on to this site so unfortunately you will not be able to see it

San Fransisco ( aka the best city on earth)

Since Friday at noon I have been in the beautiful city of san Fransisco. We passed over the golden gate bridge yesterday and it is one of the prettiest places on earth the fog rolls in over the town but you can see glimpses of all the wooden houses and the pacific ocean. The color of the bridge blends perfectly with the landscape and the mood of san Francisco. It has this amazing, artsy vibe everywhere, a cross between new york and Richmond. The culture here is extremely diverse. There are many different ethnic neighborhoods that are golden shadows into different worlds. I already love it.  I went some notable places yesterday starting with;
Union square, 7:30
I went to union square really early while there was still not too many people around and saw all the big fashion stores. I'm a bit of a fashion geek so I window shopped all the fancy-schmancy stores and wrote down all the trends I found.  I don't want to bore you too much but let's just say the patterns are across the board in, especially the flowery ones.  I grabbed a croissant from Starbucks and got a glance of the HUGE apple store( though my aunt tells me it's not that good). I didn't stock up on provisions though because I had plans at the best dim sum place in town...
Dragon Beaux 10:30
I love love love dim sum. But seriously, can anything beat it? We got to Dragon Beaux thirty minutes after it opened ant already there was a line.  The food was scrumptious and we ordered just the right amount. The price was very good and the interior design was very good. I had OK service but overall, four stars. My favorite dish was the BBQ pork bao which was surprisingly sweet and gooey. after we walked out of the restaurant, feeling very full we grabbed huge meringues at a Russian bakery and the BART to.....
SFMOMA
Let's get a few things 'plained out here. 1. SFMOMA stands for San Fransico Museum of Modern Art ( in case you didn't already know) and also modern art is not the same a contemporary art. I goofed and thought that it was so when I got there I was just... a little confused. They have a lot of exhibitions on photography, a living wall, an outdoor sculpture garden, and an exhibition on Alexander Calder. All the art was super interesting. I went with my aunt but we had to stop looking at all the art eventually because she took us to this super hipster place for food down in mission bay...
Super hipster place in mission bay
Mission bay is this awesome new neighborhood with lots of condos and a small chic food park. They have Vietnamese, Persian, Mexican and make your own smores for free stores and it is such a pretty place. I can't remember the address but If you are in the mission bay area you should definitely check it out.

At Glass Beach!

Quick Update: I have just come back to headquarters after visiting one of the most interesting places I have ever been: glass beach in Fort Bragg. What is glass beach you might ask? Well, let me tell you the story. In the early 1900's, up until around 1970/ 1980, glass beach was known as "the dump." Locals left cars, pottery, old clothes and all manner of odd things on the beach, which eventually were eroded and washed away by the ocean. Now, the beach is filled with old sea glass, which is, for those who don't know, glass and pottery particles that have been eroded by the ocean. The pieces are really small now but they are so pretty to look at and to find specific shards that are so, so pretty. The area does not allow visitors to take the sea glass home with them but I was able to take some beautiful pictures of the glass. I highly recommend the site to tourists.

I'm in CALIFORNIA

Let me tell you; I have been doing a heck of a lot of traveling. It all started on Sunday. We left the Thousand Islands were I had such a fun time with my favorite cousins who are around my age. It took us forever to pack everything up but by 10-ish we were ready to drive up to Syracuse to spend a night at my aunt and uncles. We stopped for lunch at this fabulous Neapolitan restaurant  called Peppinos Neapolitan that was so good. I ordered the margarita pizza and fried risotto and it was such good service. Then, yesterday, we drove from Syracuse to Cleveland, Ohio which took 7 1/2 hours in the car. I mainly slept, drew, and slept some more. By the time we got to Cleveland we had forty minutes to get through security and onto the plane that flew to San Francisco. Did I mention that it was 7:15 so we were super hungry? we made through security right as boarding started and just had time to grab a bagel from Starbucks. When I woke up todayIn a crappy motel we paid way too much for  I had terrible jet lag but, It was worth because we were in san fransicso. But, we weren't done in a car traveling because we were heading for the mountains near the ocean, Mendicino to be exact so we can visit some old family friends. We spent this afternoon at the beach ( the water was FREEZING!) and I was able to collect some pretty rocks that are very smooth and flat and I am planning to paint them later. We are staying in our friend's cabin which looks like something out of an HGTV magazine (in a good way). I am so excited to have fun under the sun in California. Check out my pictures of the cabin and the rocks I found. The picture of Bernie Sanders was the result of a drawing challenge on Instagram I really wanted to show you.

The plans!(and other splendiferous things)

First, let me just say... Happy fourth of July! For those in America, I apologize for being so late to wish you a very merry fourth, For those in other countries, let me apologize on wish happy fourth to you at all.Staying on Wellesley island has been super relaxing. I'm a very energetic gal but just forgetting about the clock, the dates, the appointments have really set the tone for what I want the rest of my summer to be like. I'll wake up early and eat my cap'n crunch, bike down to the rocks for some early morning sunshine and the rest of my day will consist of combinations at the cove, The ice cream store, the park, the library, and the river. I could go day by day but in all reality that would be a very boring thing for anyone to read.

               One thing I will fill you in on is (don't tell my sister)... the plans! I have a really great friend that lives half-way across the country and we will finally get to see each other again this summer. I'm very excited, and for more than one reason, but the prominent one is the promise of our  club tradition. You see, every year we have the tradition of starting a new club together. One year it was the girls animal appreciation society ( GAAS) then the interior design and clothing design fashion club ( IDACD-FC), and, most recently, the meditation and yoga club ( MAY-C). This year we have KITSS ( Kingdom in the sky society), dedicated to coming up with our own magical kingdoms, filling them with castles, landmarks, and tradition, and memorizing a fantasy language. This club definitely seems like one we  will keep. In fact, I'm already coming up with concepts for my kingdom which will be called AnDalia. I have a video made on Adobe premiere and a definite idea of what the flag and interior of the castle will look like. My friend and I  are planning to build intensive plans on both of our kingdoms. I am so happy that up with a way to act like little kids again. I am even hoping to work on some sweet forts in my friend's basement. Take a look at my concept video and tell me what you think.

The arrival.

Readers, we are here in upstate New York, or to be more specific, Thousand Island Park. We arrived yesterday after 4 hours of driving through Pennsylvania in a hot, stuffy car, which somewhat dampened my spirits. The first thing we did was jump into the Saint Laurence River which was cold but felt good on my skin after a long day of traveling. My sister was too chicken to jump in but she says she will jump in today.

     The river is amazing. There is a wooden dock to jump off and it's one of the main reasons I love coming here. On Saturday's and Sunday's when it's sunny there are so many kids jumping off, including me. My sister almost never jumps off the dock because she likes to test out the water and then slowly slide into the cold, watery abyss.
     We also got ice cream from the guzzle which is the best candy store ever!!! They sell Swedish fish, Ice cream, airheads, etc. My favorite thing to buy there are the mystery bags which are brown paper bags filler with mystery candy. Right now the guzzle takes the form of a little green truck but that's because a few years ago the actual store front burned down.

     I'm so excited for today. I've already ridden my bike all around the pretty houses nearby and spent some quality time at the rocks, a collection of, you guessed it, rocks , near the house we are staying. They are right next to the river so I was able to get my feet wet and the view is so pretty I just had to take some pictures. I like going down there way way way early in the morning to go and meditate and do "yoga" though I'm pretty pathetic at both. I stopped by the library, (it wasn't open) the park, ( lots of people) and all over (gravely roads) but the best is yet to come. After lunch I'm planning to go down to the dock for a swim, and drag my sister with me.
-theperpetualpeach

Kehinde Wiley, tolkien elvish, and a baseball game.

My week has been super busy. I meant to post on Tuesday but due to technical errors I experienced this is going to be your only blog post this week which means it is going to be long to showcase  all the cool things I was able to accomplish my second week of vacation.

Saturday 6/25
I didn't do a lot on Saturday besides cleaning and going on Pinterest for art ideas only to be sidetracked by the sheer fabulous-ness of the Harry Potter fandom. Two thing I did do however was check out some amazing books from my public library. ( Being Jazz, my life as a transgender teen by Jazz Jennings was my favorite Book I read) I love reading and I was able to get some summer reading checked of my to do list. I also decided to learn how to write Tolkien elvish from this awesome website. Even though I haven't read any Tolkien the cool characters of the elvish language intrigues me and I liked learning a "secret code" of sorts. The link to the website where I learned elvish language is at the bottom of the post .
Sunday 6/26
On Sunday I was able to see a show on Kehinde Wiley who is an amazing artist. He paints mainly African-American and minority figures in powerful stances not because of financial power but because of physical power. I loved his paintings of strong African-American women and I loved all the dresses they were wearing.  He has a very unique way of shading all the people and he has  so much detail in his work. I like that he use the element of flowers in almost all his paintings to tie them together. Overall the show was amazing and im really glad I saw it. It was really nice out so rode our bikes to the museum because we are only a few blocks away.
Monday/ Tuesday 6/27 and 6/28
I was at film camp all this week, filming and editing our movie which is about 5 friends that accidentally blow up the world. I met some really really nice people at camp and I really hope we can spend some time together later in the summer. On Monday and Tuesday we were primarily filming the movie.
Wednesday 6/29
I went to the first baseball game I had been to since coming to my adopted hometown. Our team one by two but I was mainly there for the icecream.
Thursday/ Friday 6/30 and 7/1 
Thursday and Friday I spent my days editing the movie at film camp. Editing is my favorite part of the moviemaking process. Today, Friday, everyone showed their movies and some of them were really good. My favorite was a mystery comedy about two dumb blonds who solve a mystery, save the town, and snapchat about it. I usually don't like the "dumb blond stereotype" but this movie was really funny. All the movies were 6-8 minutes long and the bloopers were the funniest parts.

On that note I leave you, at least for a little while. Tomorrow I leave for the thousand islands. I will be sure to type up a post about packing and traveling but write now I am at 1% so adios amigos.
-theperpetualpeach

The picture below of a photo of a portrait by kahinde Wiley was taken from wikimediascreative commons. The photo was taken by زرشک and the portait is on display at the Blanton museum. None of these groups or people endorse or have any affiliation at all with me or my blog.

http://www.hockel.com/therese/elvish/combinations.htm

My fabulous first week of camp

Readers, as the title suggests, I have had a fabulous first week of camp. I have been at film camp for the past week, learning about sound, cameras, production design, and how to write a script. My group I am  making and editing a movie with is composed of four girls and one boy. We have decided to make a movie in which one of the characters sets of an explosion that destroys the outer core of the earth, leaving everyone dead exept those that were with him. All the kids have to come together to survive against a beast that is hunting them in an earth that is devoid of food and shelter. We have finished writing and storyboarding, made a list of all the costumes, props, and makeup we will need, and are generally ready to start filming Monday.
Chao for now
I will keep you updated on my movie making experience
-theperpetualpeach

The adventure begins

Readers, my days of hometown camp are numbered. Soon I will be leaving on my usual trip to Iowa, only this year I will be at Wellesley island in upstate New York. The island is small but a very fun place to be. There is ice cream, I will be able to jump off the dock into the Saint Laurence river and there is an amazing old English style library. I'll also be going to California visiting relatives and distant friends. With my summer planned out I'm totally ready for vacation, which is right around the corner.
   
     While I don't start traveling for a week or so I am already thinking of everything I will be able to do on vacation. Right now I am going to a film camp which is a day camp for two weeks. It's super fun and I'm able to learn about who's who on a film crew, the history of file and how to make a film which we show at a theater on the last day.

   After film camp comes my vacation to all the fabulous places I wanted to go then back home for art camps. This year I am taking classes on fashion, painting, and wheel throwing. My suer is shaping up to be great and it has barely started. Through it all I ( theperpetualpeach ) will blog here all my experiences good and bad. Prepare yourself for a summer that lasts the whole 84 days.