Moab Spring 2011

Negro Bill Canyon. A great hike.

Negro Bill Canyon

Flat Pass- awesome technical ride

Scary man- "strapped" and burping baby in Arlington, Or. These are the people who voted for GW Bush.

The rig. Headed out of town.

I've neglected the blog for the past few months as my life was mainly consumed by National Boards and figured no one wanted to hear about or see photos of me sitting in front of a computer debating whether to use the word focus or engaged. While I managed to maintain a fairly sane life during this process, I had significantly less free time and when I had free time didn't want to spend it in front of the computer being creative as my creativity was all used up after watching myself on video 15+ times and then trying to figure out how to describe myself as a bad ass teacher who knows what she's doing.

Conveniently we mailed off our National Board's entries the Tuesday before Spring Break. This meant that by the time Friday rolled around Jarred and I were all about a week on our bikes in the sun.

We spent Spring Break in Moab last year and loved the sun and great riding, so rallied some friends together for a trip down this year. Our friend Rob had a camper and offered it up so Jarred, Steve, Marie and I piled into Rob's Suburban (which should be called gas hog as it ate up the gas).

We intended to go to Fruita, Colorado and Moab but the weather in Fruita was less than desirable so we stayed in Moab the entire time which allowed for us to get in more rides and do some more exploring.

Highlights of the trip:

1. Porcupine Rim. We rode it twice. The first time Steve and I had five flats between the two of us. Lesson learned, I ditched the tubes and Steve changed his tires, the second time we rode the 20 miles in under two hours. FUN.

2. Watching large man taco his tire on Porcupine Rim. Kudos to those who have guts to jump but this guy didn't have enough guts. After watching Jarred, Steve and Rob hit a decent sized jump, he decided to try it for himself but with a little less gumption, hence the wheel that became a taco. I also enjoyed watching Rob and Steve stand on the guys wheel so he could ride the remaining 12 miles out to the road.

3. Flat Pass. Loved the challenging rock and the beauty.

4. Riding with Marie. Marie is a crazy climber but we're pretty evenly paced. I don't ride with too many girls and it's nice to find a girl who likes hard rides.

5. The sun. We've had nothing but rain here and nothing beats sticky rock and sun.

Now it's back to work and the real world. Only two more months until summer though and then the fun begins again! Lots more photos on facebook.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

It's winter and Jarred and I seem to be hooked on movies because it is dark all of the time and we seek a mental break from our school program. Over Christmas break we watched Exit Through the Gift Shop and were so confounded and impressed by the thought evoked in the movie, we recommended it to our friends who then watched it and made further comments on the movie which evoked further discussion, hence the blog.

Exit Through the Gift Shop was directed by Banksy. Banksy is one of the more popular street artists who has been able to keep his anonymity (and out of jail) for quite awhile despite having global popularity. Google him. I'm impressed with the thought he puts into his art. It seems that many street artists come up with one or two images and those images become their "face" but their work never goes beyond the basic images. I also like Banksy's street name. Seems that most street artists have pseudo-names to protect their identity- unless your parents named you Shephard Fairey- then you're covered- but some of the street names seem to transition into the rap world which, to me, is a world of superficial identities. Take Mr. Brainwash or Pursue or 123Krew or TATS CRU...really these guys are generally small white guys toting spray paint cans.

Back to Exit Through the Gift Shop....the documentary idea got rolling because Thierry Guetta decided he wanted to document street artists and his ultimate subject was Banksy. The weird thing about Thierry (who is also Mr. Brainwash...more later) is that he wasn't a documentary film maker nor did he ever intend to be. He calls himself an artist, once owned a clothing shop and likes to videotape any and everything, hence the documentation of street artists. After spending months following these artists around (no small feat in-itself), Guetta finally meets Banksy. Banksy trusts Guetta as Banksy had never allowed anyone to videotape him working and Banksy liked the idea of a documentary on street art. What Banksy soon learns is that Guetta never intends to make a documentary, he didn't care what happened to the thousands of hours of tape he made. But Banksy did, so Banksy gets ahold of Guetta's footage, tells Guetta to go off to LA and make some art, and begins creating the documentary. A few months later Guetta calls Banksy with news that he's making art and will soon have an art show. Banksy decides to flip the focus and begins to document Guetta's street work and other art as well as his shows. The results are surprising.

Street art intrigues me. I feel most good artists- not just amateur taggers- add beauty to the starkness of a wall or sidewalk. I wish more street artists would hit up the side of Wal-Mart or Target. I appreciate walking through an industrial area while being bombarded with colorful images but wouldn't Wal-Mart be much more enticing with a color ridden wall?

The idea of "what is art?" also intrigues me. When Banksy tells Mr. Braniwash to go off and make some art, the maniac does. But, to me, Mr. Brainwash doesn't make art, he uses images and ideas around him, combines them, re-colors them, and wha-la- art. No. Not in my book. Taking images of others has already been done (Andy Warhol), using animals to evoke message...been done (Banksy) using utilitarian objects in sculpture, done (Jim Dine). I'm no art critic nor do I know squat about art history, but Mr. Brainwash wasn't making art. I guess I'd call him a graphic designer, not an artist.

The funny thing about Mr. Brainwash? His shit sells. When Banksy documented Mr. Brainwash's first show, it was a hit. Nearly all his work sold, and there was a lot of work to be sold. Now Mr. Brainwash has his own (really well done) website: www.mrbrainswash.com and more shows where he sells more art.

Which brings me to my next point. Do Americans think? All these people came to Mr. Brainwash's show, they ranted and raved about his "art." When they ranted and raved, the rant caught on. Prior to this, no one had heard of Mr. Brainwash, but he had the thought and foresight and some bad-ass marketing gurus to make him instantly big. It was like American Idol for artists. At no point did anyone, besides Shephard Fairey or Banksy, question this guy's validity, the reason he did what he did or his originality...which of course leads to other questions.....

Who decides what art is worth?

Does being an artist mean one has to be original?

How do products become popular? Take Shephard Fairey's Hope image of Obama. Instant popularity. Good art or good marketing?

I love a good move that provokes thought and discussion.

A Doggone Christmas

Gretta

Bailey- the obsessive retriever

Shuksan

Bruno- Rosie the Border Collie in the background

Jarred's sister, Jenese and I are suckers for dogs. I'll take a dog over a baby any day and Jenese is the first to admit that she will too, even though she has her own pink bundle of joy. Jenese has two BIG dogs- Bruno, a German Shephard and Bailey, a Newfoundland mix. Gretta spent some time with Bruno when Jenese and David first got him, as his social skills were less than desirable and Gretta will play with just about anyone. Jenese and I like to get the dogs toys at Christmas. This Christmas I found a big box of sturdy rope toys at Costco and Jenese brought an equally large bag of flavored bones. The bones were a hit but caused a bit of a ruckus as no one wanted to share their bone and most wanted to bury their bone for safe keeping. They rope toys were more of a hit and everyone except Bruno and Rosie spent some quality time attempting to destroy the toys. I think the 10 people and three kids were a bit much for Bruno and Rosie spent her day circling the living room making sure that we were all herded into the right location.

Christmas 2010

Randy Sieg (Jarred's brother-in-law) having fun, really.

Jenny Sieg (Jarred's sister), working her way to a sore butt.

Whenever we see sledders on some sort if mini-hill with barely enough snow to cover the ground, Jarred and I scoff. We say to each other, "Don't these people have anything better to do?" or "That looks fun, I've always wanted to sled on grass." So when Jarred's sister told us to bring snow clothes to her house for Christmas because we were going sledding, we were skeptical but complied anyway.

True to sledding tradition, there was just enough snow on the ground to sled. We headed out to the Sand Dunes by Moses Lake which serve as an established ATV area in the summers. The dunes are by no means tall, but they do provide some good sledding hills and much to our dismay we had a great time. I think watching adults sled is more fun than watching kids sled. Kids seem to know what to expect when on a sled as they are perpetually propelling themselves down hills on various plastic vehicles. Adults have forgotten this feeling and sledding is a good reminder of how fun being a kid can be. As we got further into the spirit of sledding, our adolescence kicked in and we tried standing on the sleds, piling onto the sleds, bashing into each other while on the sleds. Needless to say, we were all a little sore the next day, a little reminder that none of us are seven anymore.

Christmas Cookies

My sister typically works over Christmas so she came down the week before the big day to hang out and do what Americans do best, eat. We made cookies laid around and read (well she read, I graded essays) and walked dogs in the rain. I also made chocolate mousse, which was probably the best dessert I've ever made despite the fact that it contained 6 eggs and two cups of heavy cream.

THIS PLACE IS MAGICAL

I was just reading a post from Sarah and noticed that she commented on how much she loves where we live. I think this is worthy of note as she and I seem to be constantly on the move, literally. We haven't lived in one house for more than 2 years since we've been together (10 years!) and we have just now lived in SW Washington for just over 4 years, definitely a record for us. So I think it's worth mentioning that this area is amazing. I don't mean Vancouver and all it's big box store crustiness. I mean the Columbia River Gorge and all that surrounds it. I've been kayaking on some new rivers in OR lately and have been amazed by the beauty of the canyons! Each time I drive home through the Gorge after being elsewhere I'm reminded of how unique this area is and how magical it seems to me. I don't buy into nymphs and all that hoopla, but if there's a spirit out there somewhere enlivening the Earth and the living beings on it, that spirit most assuredly spends part of the year in the area surrounding the Columbia River Gorge. People have tried their best to ruin the Gorge with large cities around Portland, dams every 50 or so miles, power lines stretching as far as the eye can see, freeways and roads lining the lowlands, and yet it's still one of the most amazingly beautiful places I've ever seen.

If you need some time away from home come down for a visit. It's the rainy season but the mysticism is still alive, even more so in some regards as it's the rain that brings the beauty!

Take Care, hopefully you love where you live! If not, move!

Negative Nancy

Right now I am grappling with a couple of things. #1. I have a cold and have made good friends with Kleenex today. #2. I am wondering how my social networking is affecting my lifestyle and what I've actually gained from it. I feel that blogging is a worthy cause. It encourages writing, which is creative and blogs teach me something about my friends or someone else. I find I use my blog-stalking as a diversion to work sometimes, but consider it a healthy diversion. Facebook is a different story. I feel it is totally superficial and often contrived. As I talked with some work friends today, one of us mentioned that he might "quit" Facebook. Myself and another friend, scoffed...why "quit" such a good thing? But is Facebook really a healthy and positive asset to my life? I'm not so sure, yet I am constantly compelled to check for updates, click "like" or join a group and I just don't know why. I kind of feel like I smoke and know I should quit, but can't. I just tried to post a question about my pondering but I was only able to use 420 characters and I didn't feel like I had enough room to really make my statement. I admit the ease of conversation is great and the quick posting makes keeping in touch easier, but I'm not sure how much quality exists in the networking program. #3. I have a lot to be thankful for right now, conveniently it is Thanksgiving....

1. I love where we now live. I think a lot of my previous disgruntlement was location and while I'd still like property and a nice kitchen, a bathroom without a pink tub, a landscaped yard...you get the idea. Now that we've moved, I don't feel like I need to change that aspect of my life.
2. While my job is tough and unrewarding at times, I really like it. I like the school, my colleagues, my classes. The kids are kids but they're never the root of why I don't like teaching. The system is broken and the kids can't change that aspect.
3. Dogs are great, especially mine. Unlike people they are always happy.
4. I have a great group of friends here, finally. It took awhile but I now have a great group of friends that I love hanging out with. Actually I have two groups. My biking friends and my horse friends. My biking friends actually consist of girls now in addition to a fabulous group of very good looking guys. We all got together this week to see a biking movie and I marveled at how different we all are (in both age and outside biking interests) yet how when we bike, we just mesh...we know what order in which to head down a trail, we know who likes which trails, we know who has what bike parts, we even know what each of us likes to eat on the trail. We all have an oddly organic relationship, but it works and we've all come to appreciate what has come to be. While my horse friends are not as close, they're still an awesome support group and another family away from home. Horse shows are not really competitions (they're more like good natured competitions), they're more like family get-together's and while I just chastised networking, networking has allowed me to keep in touch with them in the "off" season.
5. I don't have a lot of negatives in my life. I hear people complaining all the time and while I do my fair share, it's not serious and it's not affecting my life in any serious way. I hear of negativity frequently at work and I wonder why? Sure, the system is broken and needs fixing, but why ALWAYS focus on the negative. Plus, I have too much to do at work to focus on the negative or anything un-work related.
6. I have a best friend. Jarred and I have been together 10 years this Thanksgiving. He's still my best friend and he's still the one. I have a few single friends right now and they comment on our relationship which is a good reminder that it really is great, all the time. Even when Jarred says, as we walk in the door, "Our house stinks. I'll light the candles, if you make dinner."