Speaking of missing my life...

I have recently admitted to missing fog. This is just crazy to me, because that is probably what I liked least about living in San Francisco. I prefer the hot desert sun to the summers of damp haze I grew used to in SF....

One thing Bay Areans love are time lapses of their fine metropolis. SFist clued me in to The Unseen Sea by Simon Christen on Vimeo, that gives a new perspective on fog - that it mirrors the sea. Watch and be mesmerized.


The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

Watching this led me to wonder if there are any time lapses of the sort for New Mexico, because the skies here are absolutely breathtaking. Saturday morning I spotted my first balloon of the season (and then saw there were actually about six). This can only mean that the Balloon Fiesta is right around the corner! So in that spirit, I bring you a time lapse of last years Fiesta. The balloons bob up and down madly, and if you get about halfway through, you get taken on a wild, sped up balloon ride. Hold on to your butts (and please note, the music is about ten times more annoying, and jarring if you've just watched the fog time lapse. Therefore, you might want to add your own).

Basically, I miss my life

When my facebook status last week listed a few of the things I am missing about the Bay Area, my friend Hank responded with, “So basically, you miss your life.” Yes, that’s exactly right.

I took this picture of the Bay Bridge on my way to eating dinner with the girls at my friend Kelly's house. She lives near Coit Tower in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.

Of course I have somewhat of a life in Albuquerque. But I spent three years getting to know the huge metropolitan area that is the Bay, the culture, the food, the people. The months before I left I fell into a routine, or life, that made me happy. Without trying, my weeks were full with dinners, hiking, parties, dance classes, long city walks, sports events, etc. I still feel as though any day now I am going to return to that life; like I’m on some sort of extended vacation in New Mexico. I suppose it’s that sort of thinking that can hinder me from building a life here. It’s thinking about what I would be doing right this instant if I still lived in San Francisco that makes my days longer and lonelier.

A quick weekend get away landed us on the beach in Santa Cruz, having a picnic with wine and acoustic guitar.

The truth is, I have been meeting new people and keeping myself fairly busy. I have been gradually building a new life. But with growth come the growing pains. And with growing pains there is inevitable self doubt. I could still have my life, I sometimes think.And there’s a constant internal struggle of how much I let go and how much I hang on to. It bores people to be talking constantly about another place, people they've never met, and soon, another time.

The curveballs life threw at me during my time in California have left me with a much stronger appreciation for life. It’s because of my heartaches that I was able to build a life that made me so happy and that I now miss so terribly. So as I sat here pondering my old life, I realized that the best thing I can do is learn from it. I had much longer, harder, lonelier days when I was living in the Bay Area. And those days were what gave me the motivation to move forward, chin up, heart open. It’s time for me to find again what makes me happy each day and do it. It’s time to learn who I should spend time with in order to make me feel good about myself. It’s time to appreciate what my old life gave me, maintain those lifelong friendships, and build a new life I would be missing if I left tomorrow. 

47 beef and bean burritos in 10 minutes

image via gawker.com

Looks like San Jose, Calif.'s hometown hero, aka Joey Chestnut, hot dog eating machine, took to the New Mexico State Fair to dominate at burrito eating. Is there nothing this man can't eat at record speed?

TEDxABQ

Heard of TED yet? When I got to town last month, my dad introduced me to one of the dedicated volunteers putting on TEDxABQ next Saturday at the Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque. I hopped on to the TED website and started watching videos, and they are all different, interesting and inspiring in their own way. However, for my ADHD mind, I go a little bonkers when on the internet and have hard time committing to 18 minute videos. That is until the Alibi hipped me to this talk by David McCandless. 

Now you say, data visualization? REALLY? Out of everything TED, that's the one that hooked you? Well, yes. Trust me, 17 minutes in I finally looked down at the time and was saddened to realize there was only a minute left. Seeing data in a pretty chart puts a lot into perspective - like our wars in the Middle East and the financial crisis.

When you're done watching that one, check out Ken Robinson on how schools limit creativity. He presents a depressing subject (the sad state that is our educational system) in a way that will make you laugh. And think. Then, check out whatever strikes your fancy. And welcome to the latest time suck. But at least it's a time suck that (hypothetically) makes you smarter.

If you're in ABQ, come check it out live and in person next Saturday! And say HI to me... I'll be working the registration table.

Trolley's, Lightning, and Injury Lawyers

It's been a few weeks, and I am loving the new perspective I am finding on my hometown... below are just a few of the things I have taken time to take pictures of. 

Driving around town (especially the touristy areas - this is taken at University and Central) I noticed a little piece of San Francisco - Albuquerque Trolley's. A quick look at ABQTrolley.com will fill you in on how this is a uniquely "Albuquerquean" trolley - open air, stucco, wrought iron bars. The trolley hits downtown, old town, Nob Hill, the UNM area, and more... I guess there's even a "Trolleywood" tour that takes sightseers to the parts of town used in movies and the hit TV show "Breaking Bad." So it's not used for mass transit, but looks like a fun thing to do with out of town visitors! And I would probably even learn something.

Last week I experienced what I had been waiting for - a massive thunderstorm (and at sunset, too!). From my parents house, you can the storms moving across the city.. and the lighting was like a fireworks show. I worked pretty hard to get this one shot of a bolt of lighting.

Is it me, or is there an uptick in injury lawyers in Albuquerque? Here's Bert. When I was a kid, Ron Bell dominated the market (who, interestingly enough, was recently arrested for driving under the influence... his slogan is "I sue drunk drivers!") Now you can't drive more than 10 miles without spotting a billboard for some injury lawyer. Which begs the chicken before the egg argument... are there more people getting hurt now, or just more people realizing they can sue for getting hurt? Probably a bit of both. If anyone out there has some sort of research as to the sizable increase of these dudes, fill me in.