anglesandlines

032: Halloween

2007-11-13T16:54:23Z

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Field off Highway One

A few weeks ago Jess came to visit me and we drove north on highway one. There is a cute little pumpkin patch out there with a corn maze so we took some photos, we also stopped at the rafter house.

a pile of pumpkins

I'm actually a big fan of the color orange

jess in a pumpkin

jess in the corn maze

gourds

row of corn.

So Halloween was two weeks ago. It was a dramatic night, Erik, Travis, Jagoda and I went downtown. Jagoda and I didn't really want to go because it was freezing and there were too many grabby drunk men, but the boys were all for it so we went anyway. I'll put it this way - i was designated driver for the night so it basically sucked. I was cleopatra, and lazily recycled my princess leia costume. Jagoda was a sexy nurse, Erik was a mummy, and Travis impaled a flamingo.

Jagoda and I on pacific ave

Travis, Jagoda and Erik

Jagoda

Me and Jagoda in "the submarine"

me on pacific

Erik and I

Classes are going well. I went to Newport this past weekend and had an amazing time, it was mine and erik's one year anniversary. I can't believe it's going to be 2008 in a month and a half...

031: Greece (Amorgos, Folegandros and Serifos)

2007-10-22T02:34:28Z

Greetings from Santa Cruz. Erik and I are back and taking classes again. I'm in all psychology courses with about 300 pages of reading every weekend, and europe seems like it was years ago, but I never finished updating you all on the rest of our trip.

We had a "rich" traveling experience..and a lot of shit went very wrong.
1. While we were in belgium I got a bladder infection. For those of you girls who have ever had one you know how painful they are. I sat in a Belgian hospital for 4 hours waiting to be prescriped cipro (which is what i had asked for in the first two minutes of being there, since i've had one of these before and knew what i needed). I finally got it and then had to walk a half a mile to a pharmacy and get the meds.
2. Erik and I were flying from Amsterdam to Athens and stopping in the middle to change flights in Milan (Italy). Our first flight on Alitalia (who just went out of buisness a few days ago) was delayed and so we missed the second and had to spend 7 hours in the airport.
3. When we finally got to athens at about 2 in the morning, our luggage never arrived. We didn't get it back until almost two days later.
4. Erik's lap top was stolen.
5. Erik got really sick (bedridden for 3 days) when we were in Folegandros.

On the bright side we took a lot of photos :)

an extremely beautiful monastery that was built in the 9th century.

Prayer candles inside the monastery

a closer view

Erik and I in the front.

A panel at the bottom of the steps on the way to the church

A Greek orthodox monk who lectured us in Greek

a view from the hike i started on the way to the monastery but didn't end up finishing

another view from the same trail

Erik and I on the Ferry

The port next to where we were staying

fishing lines and a windmill

me being creepy and taking a photo of a couple sleeping on the beach who i didn't know. they just looked so cute.

the hillside

parts of the village in katapola

another view of the chora

erik after we took a walk to a church on the coast

the church

and in color

another part of the chora

erik and my parents out to breakfast

erik...

erik, me and my dad on the boat to a beach.

The next island we went to was folegandros which barely had any people on it, and also had the coolest church i've ever seen up on a hillside with a ridiculously zig zaggy staircase.

erik staring down over one of the sides of the island.

Here are some basic pictures from around the town we stayed in:

a really cute donkey and the crazy zig zag staired church

there were tons of boarded up abandoned houses that I couldn't get into.

So, one morning we got up as the sun was rising and hiked up to the church.

this is a view from the trail

some chickens

the entrance

the side of the building

the colors were amazing and so was the architecture

a bunch of shots of the really funny goats up there and some other random shots around the church:

The last island we went to was serifos which was really cool, and had a really awesome village at the top of the island.

one of my favorite photos taken in greece.

there were tons of boxes full of wood like this all over the island.

an abandoned house with a cat jumping onto the window frame

an adorable kitten i accidently woke up from it's nap

the most colorful building on the island

my dad..eating

resting doves

erik being too cool for school

a church

my dad

windmill

through a hole

my mom

the extremely white town

kitty

another kitty

a view of the port town

and finally me and erik in athens

hope you enjoyed.

030: Paris and Brussels

2007-09-03T06:42:42Z

I'm back in Amsterdam for one night before we meet my parents in Athens and then travel around the Greek islands. Paris made me feel so strange, it was like I was going back to a place I'd lived for a long time, when really i'd only lived there during the summer. Belgium was also a great experience, it was much cooler than i would have guessed.

paris.

1.

2.

Luxembourg Gardens, next to where I used to stay

3.

Erik in the park

4.

The west side of the park

5.

the area i lived in that summer

6.

Green goodness

7.
(there was supposed to be a picture here....)

Then that night we walked along the Seine by St. Michel
8.

Erik standing in one of the tunnels

9.

Heads

10.

endlessly beautiful

11.

Another view along the Seine.

12.

Notre Dame in the background

13.

More head bridges

14.

Boats lit up at night

15.

The area where Paris Plage (The beach by the Seine) is during the summer. We were too late for it :(

Then we continued walking and ended up by the Louvre
16.

17.

18.

some random statue

19.

a really pretty wedding dress in the window by St. Michel

20.

Part of the wall at the Notre Dame Du Champ metro stop on line 12

21.

People going about their day

22.

Green Chairs

23.

Ads for Hairspray in French and some curling wires

24.

aren't these things really creepy?

25.

Outside the metro, watching people about to exit

26.

At a chinese food place I used to go to all the time. Memory shot.

27.

A cafe by my dad's best friend's house where we stayed.

28.

Dinner with their Family

29.

Erik and I in the elevator. I think I may have edited some weird stuff on his face in this pic.

30.

Erik in Montmartre

31.

Montmartre

32.

I turned the corner in a little market and this adorable bunny was just sitting there staring at me. I even got to pet it!

33.

Montmartre

34.

I also saw my old friends from middle school who are living in Paris, Stephanie and Jack.

Paris was fantastic, but I was really impressed by Brussels.

brussels.

35.

Hello Lord of the Rings tower, taken at the "Grand Place" in Brussels city center.

36.

Some paint cans next to a movie theatre.

37.

an old woman entering her apartment.

38.

one of the house numbers on a texture i liked a lot

39.

a really cool mall ceiling

40.

An awesome construction site where the entire middle of a really old building was gutted out but its four walls were still standing, i wish I could have gotten inside but I didn't feel like being thrown in a Belgian jail. Just a giant vat of Belgian chocolate, that would have been nice.

41.

Another part of that really cool building, you can see on the right some of the wall with lines of empty windows.

42.

Some children climbing a statue in one of the main squares

43.

I took a lot of photos of the buildings because I loved the way they looked

44.

I think this would make such an awesome graphic design

45.

goldman

46.

a color changing building

47.

A random Che Guevara flag

48.

Blue bridge

49.

A Parade for the beer festival that weekend

50.

A stand at the beer festival

51.

a cool sign

52.

more graphic design posibilities.

I am having a wonderful time on this trip and I can't wait to get to Greece. More updates soon hopefully :)

029: Amsterdam

2007-08-26T16:46:50Z

I'm sitting in the Lucky Lake hostel in the countryside outside Amsterdam. I spent the day biking around little villages and swimming in a huge, cold and very refreshing lake, we arrived here this morning after a few days in the actual city. It's breathtaking, this was so worth all the hours of working at the boardwalk, sooo worth it. Next on the list is Paris, then Belgium, and then Greece.

1.

Taken in a tunnel going under the freeway, it is Erik as we were on a bike ride to a neighboring village.

2.

The houses in the city of amsterdam are all very tall and many are made of brick. There are canals everywhere.

3.

This is a church in one of the main squares with a weird advertisement on it. I see the "held" advertisement everywhere here but i'm not sure what it is for or what it means.

4.

One of the coolest things I notice in the city are the intricate gates and doors. This one has a lion on it.

5.

There is also a lot of amazing graffitti, which you'll see a lot of in this entry.

6.

This is the flower market by Dam Square in the city, there are just rows and rows of greenhouses with tulips and other flowers and seeds.

7.

One of the really cool statues taken from inside a shopping center.

8.

Erik on the train on the way into Amsterdam

9.

One of the canals, I think Princegracht, on the way to Anne Frank's house.

10.

some more graffitti

21.

Cows on the ceiling!

22.

some nearly empty warehouse with a few random, funny statues inside.

23.

Erik and a man dressed as you know who in the Dam square.

24.

More graffitti

25.

something broken on the ground by the flower market.

26.

Erik in a bar

27.

Probably my favorite graffitti set

28.

a view down a corridor.

29.

"ask", we saw this tag a lot, everywhere

30.

One of my favorite canals

31.

A church in abcoude

32.

Me in our hostel at the Fying Pig in uptown Amsterdam

33.

Even mailboxes in Amsterdam look cool

34.

Advertisement for the Van Gough Museum

35.

Not sure what this is but I like the way it looks

36.

A vine growing on a wall in the city

37.

Funny spray painted saying written by Dam square

38.

More vincent

39.

More of my favorite graffitti

Then we went to another hostel in the outskirts of the city by a town called Abcoude and a huge lake.

40.

Yes, that is what you think it is.

41.

A river we saw on our bike ride

42.

Ladybug

43.

a photo erik took of me on the way to dinner by the lake

44.

Taken by erik of me in the same tunnel as before

45.

Erik is cute in
Our other hostel

46.

Lilipads

47.

Ducks by a canal

48.

Me halfway through our bikeride.

Well that is it so far, I will hopefully be able to update again soon. I hope you all are doing very well.

029: Lava House

2007-08-09T23:27:03Z

There is a house in Tiburon that runs along the ocean, it was never completed but the foundation stands and there are thousands of imported lava rocks from hawai that are hand placed to create caves and formation. The man who was having it built killed himself before it was finished, and since he died, no one has bought the property, probably because it would be ridiculously expensive. The image above is of one of the lava formations.

1.

Becca and Jess "stirring" the well in the lower end of the property

2.

Jess laying by the well.

3.
\
tree shadows

4.

Becca and Jess. The house is right next to the ocean as well and has a view of the golden gate bridge and the bay.

5.

becca and jess again

6.

she is such a gorgeous girl

7.

by the well again

8.

porcelin

9.

gorgeous becca

10.

lines fading in the distance

11.

becca by the foundation of the house

12.

Jess and her mask

13.

becca by the cliff and the sea

14.

Jess, being pensive

15.

"lurk"

16.

the window room

17.

getting smaller

18.

pretty girl smiling

19.

ocean view

20.

21.

becca and I, photo by Jess

22.

me by the ocean, photo by Jess

23.

me with a mask, photo by Jess

24.

tag, photo by Jess

25.

me peeking around, photo by Jess

26.

the boiler room

27.

long exposure collaberation between me and jess of circuits

28.

one standing behind the other

29.

me looking out at the bay, photo by erik

30.

long exposure collaberation between me and erk

31.

jess in the boiler room

32.

fog rolling in

33.

light fun

34.

sarah and jess

35.

becca and her cat

36.

axel and becca

37.

becca, sarah, jess and axel at dark park

38.

me, sarah, becca and jess at becca's house

39.

Jess

40.

me, the cat and sarah

I will be leaving for europe in eleven days, and I can't wait. Let me know if you want me to write you a postcard :)

028: July

2007-07-22T16:24:37Z

It's been a while. So far, summer has been more intense than the the entire school year combined. I go to psych stats 3 times a week at 8am for 3 hours each time, and I also work a 36 hour week as a ticket lead at the boardwalk. Last night was one of the first small get togethers I've been to all summer and it was fun and nice and comfortable. I tried extasy for the first time, last night. It felt sort of like coke but lasted 6 hours. I probably won't do it again, but it was enjoyable.

the night began when we got to lindsay and cristina's house, they are erik's old housemates from when he lived on campus. They have a really textured, interesting house. The shadow on the left is another one of erik's old housemates Ariel.

This is another picture of ariel in the doorway.

this is jesse and erik, I dyed erik's hair dark brown for the movie he is making this summer. I love it, with his blue eyes.

this is everyone hanging out, even the lit up goose in their living room

Me, cristina and lindsay dancing to good dance music. One thing I remember about last night is how much I wanted to dance.

the goose wanted to dance too

this is erik kissing the goose, or more so smoking out of it (not really but that's what it sort of looks like eh?)

erik being erik

me feeling a bit sick

me feeling better

I had to throw a few decent photos in here

erik on the awesome couch

my breast looks very round in this one. i wanted to share.

it's nice being around people

Me and lindsay, it was so nice hanging out with girls again

Me and linds again

luz

for some reason i changed into pj's...

i tried a tiny bit of the tequila after these girls took shots and i almost threw up

cristina, sexy lady

lawn chairs in living rooms

i ate a lot of limes, just on their own

me and the girls

me and the goose

all of us!

more lime

:) more goose

pray you never have to see me dance

cristina and I.

Those took a shitload of time to edit, but it felt really great taking photos again. I've been shopping a lot too and I've gotten some dresses, After europe i'll probably make a big post of new purchases.

That's it for right now. Hopefully i'll have more pictures to add and the time to update more.

027: I don't do this very often but..

2007-06-01T18:25:10Z

you all should really watch this, it's pretty amazing.

026: Oh my darling, you are gone and lost forever

2007-05-20T17:57:44Z

dimeo lane has been cleaned out and boarded up.

They are turning it into a farm, at least that is what it looks like. I dug up my negatives and contact sheets from France, Costa Rica, and the summer after senior year. I tried to scan them in. The contact sheets scanned great, the actual negatives not so much, as you'll soon see.

Arenal, Costa Rica
The way I take photos has changed a lot since then. And it was only 2 years ago.

this is only one grouping of nine sheets. when I get into a darkroom i'm going to make real contact sheets again.

This post is going to be image heavy, since i've been going out and taking photos again. Erik and I went on campus a week ago to do long exposure light photos. All the ones i'm in I took using a self timer, tripod, and squeeze light.

some of these are pretty ridiculous but I had a lot of fun attempting to draw something I couldn't see

i wanted to draw something coming out of the box but I didn't have time

erik, and my wishful headphones

i'm really not sure what this is. maybe i'll just leave it up to whatever the audience sees.

this is me talking to the shadow of my camera. I know you do it too. I'm also wearing my mother's old maternity shirt, but i'm not pregnant (i hope...)

this is me "light cuffed" to the fence at the music center, overlooking the ocean and city of monterey

i took about five of these with different shapes but none turned out very well. the building is one of the music auditoriums and is one of my favorite architecturally on campus.

waiting by the bus the day after. erik took this one.

Then I went to the hidden beach and the rafter house with erik. It was on our way there that I found out the sad news about dimeo lane. They took out all the artwork that the guy put in it, you can tell because you can see into the windows of the house from afar and the wall paper is ripped off and the main door is covered in wood.

Erik took some pictures of me in a white dress by the rafter house, and then we went to the hidden beach on highway 1.

a very cute caterpillar

this is the view on the walk/small hike down to the beach. It is very beautiful there, and if you go at the right time you'll be the only one there and you can't see anything man made so it feels like you're the only person on earth.

typical sunset photo. sorry.

erik and the ocean

1. me sitting on the rafter house remains.

2. i dont know if it looks it but i was soooooo cold

3. I also got a lot of splinters but besides the cold and wood it was a really fun time. This place doesn't have any signs about trespassing so i never feel worried.

4. I like this one better

5. in a little bubble

6. heh

7. suprisingly i haven't gotten that white dress dirty yet.

8. i was still freezing

9. hair in the face

10. hair not in the face. i like the previous one better.

11. this reminds me of some odd fairytale. and my boobs are not that big. its just because of the way i'm leaning.

12. I can't decide whether i like this one or think my face looks weird

13. then i got to go play with the rope swing outside. it was very windy

14. photographically these are some of my favorite.

15. maybe my elbows are sort of double jointed

16. dorky, yes

17. i like this one because of the way my body looks next to the piles of rocks.

18. the backside of the house

19. similar shot.

20. i have these stupid poses I do but i can't stop.

so..which one should I use as my new default picture? help?

anyway.. this post took me way too long to do. if you comment then I thank you greatly.

024: Valley Fair

2007-05-09T05:47:22Z

hello ladies (and very few boys)

This week is already moving fast. Yesterday Jagoda and I went to San Jose together and stopped by the valley fair mall, which has a forever 21- and a large amount of other stores.

shirt: f21
pants: f21
necklace: urban outfitters

jagoda looking hot with her new haircut. you can see how long her hair was in one of the polaroids to the right of her head!

polish people are so sexy!

I apologize for how demented i look in these but i reallly love this dress i bought, it reminds me of something greek. i had to buy the belt too. do you guys know of any belts that would look good with this? i don't really have that many waist ones because it's hard to find any that fit.

I also bought this shirt in this color and in magenta because urban outfitters was having a huge sale and they were each $7

also this bracelet which i got for $2

and this ring:

but in white!

then I saw my cousin earlier in the week and we took silly, overly myspace (ugh im sorry :( ) photos of us
but i really like the shirt i'm wearing, and the one she's wearing.

anyway..that's about it for now. there are some other shirts I bought... but i don't have any pictures of me in them yet. midterms are over... i got an A on my precalc midterm and i haven't heard about the other two yet. here's to hoping *crosses fingers*

and right now i'm listening to the now and then soundtrack :D

and I pose a question that i doubt anyone will do but... post a picture of your favorite outfit as a comment. i want to see!!!

022: I make the same mistake as last year

2007-04-23T21:56:15Z

As some of you know, UCSC goes fairly crazy on 420. Thounds of people gather in the porter meadow under a giant cloud of smoke and the cops stand off to the side accepting that there is nothing they can really do to control the crowd.

I would love to show you pictures of it that I took. But I can't. Why? Because I didnt take any, because (once again) I ate a pot cookie and slept through 4:20 for the second year in a row. You would think I would have learned my lesson but no...

So instead I will post a very short video someone shot of the porter meadow:

that is to give you an idea of what it looked like.

I did take pictures earlier in the day before the cookie kicked in.

people gathered in the quad, this was around 2:15, before too many people had gathered in the meadow.

I don't remember when/why I took these but they are really all i have of the day.

I will close with an interesting picture jesse took of me in dimeo lane:

I would love to meet the guy who put up all the artwork/wall paper in that house.

I'm really tired, I want to make my life more vibrant, help?

021: Places and what they mean

2007-04-18T04:30:57Z

Walking down the streets of San Francisco, I paused and looked through the blinds of a building I normally would not notice. Inside of it were rows of switches and buttons, only 6 inches away but separated by an inch of glass that meant I was not welcome inside. It looked nice though.

I crave Paris, it's streets and markets and well dressed women. I miss being far away from here and days going slow enough to catch up. I can't beleive it is already past mid april. It seems like my whole life is shooting towards this trip to europe in four months. I need a house, I need to get A's, I need to pass Psych 2 this summer, I need to save money, I need to relax.

She is only 14 and one of the most gorgeous girls I know.

020: Lists

2007-04-09T21:54:40Z

Classes have begun, and this is what i'm taking:
1. Intro to Cultural Anthropology: (for the second time to replace the D I got freshman year,
this time with a cooler teacher.
2. Pre Calculus: I took Calculus senior year of high school and did not take the ap test
because, well honestly, I don't think I would have passed. Now two years later I have
regressed after receiving a 30 on the math placement exam. (A 31 would have placed me
into Calculus. So it's pretty easy, and required for the psych major.
3. Asian Art: Power and Presence: taking this for my HAVC minor.
So, no psych classes this quarter which is really depressing. I am officially a pre-psych Major which means that once I take Psych 2,3 and 10 I will be declared psych. Then I will have to go to grad school.

It is good to be back in santa cruz, using the downstairs shower makes everything so much better, also the fact that I am moving out of the moldy house in two months brightens my day a great deal :) In june I will be moving into a 2 bedroom apartment with Jagoda, probably this place on Walnut st, and I can't wait. It is going to be so clean and we will have a dishwasher (SUCCESS!) and garbage disposal. I don't know if I mentioned but i've been without either all this year and it has been baddddd. Other than that I have enjoyed living with the ladies of the chestnut house and in general had a fun time. I just wish our house was more structurally sound, and less moldy/smelly/dirty/old.

I am sitting in the hungry slug right now during my break between havc and pre calc and they are playing some great music in another language.

OH YES! my job. MY job...
Bad things:
-extremely fast paced
-many customers are rude/annoying/drunk
-we have to enter credit card prices into a calculator and i always fuck up and have to start over
-i get really tired
-my throat is dead by the end of my shift

Good things:
-I get paid! (yeah duh, it's a job but still...)
-Free rides (that i haven't taken advantage of, because working there kind of kills the idea of fun)
-the booth is air conditioned
-I get to sit down the whole time
-my coworkers are very nice to me
-REALLY cute little kids that stand on their tip toes and peak up at me

I also really love this dress from american apparel:

I have bought it in crimson, bright blue, the color in the photo, grey and black. I wear it with jeans, tights, leggings or nothing at all. I totally recommend buying it, everyone i've ever seen it in looks really good.

Well this was a long update. I really need to catch up on my lj reading. I must do this soon instead of writing so many entries.

Love,
Valeri

019: I am now 20 years old

2007-04-03T18:49:39Z

I'm back in Santa Cruz!

Break was really fun, although there were some people I really wanted to see but didn't get to =(
It was my birthday on saturday, for dinner I went into the city with my parents and erik and ate at my favorite restaurant on Belden Place called "Cafe Tiramisu". I love it because the little SF alleyway reminds me so much of the places I ate at in Paris.

here is a photo erik took of me in the alleyway

a more up close one

erik and I by china town which is a block away

his eyes are actually open in this one

my dad, me and my mom. how dorky is my smile?

Also I went back to the greenhouse with Nicole and took photos of her in different outfits. I'm only going to put a few of them in this entry, the ones that are my favorite.

I really loved her blue dresses. I definitely want one!

Anyway, It is nice to be back in santa cruz. I really want to go on more photo adventures to new places. I'm looking forward to europe this summer but that's a long time to wait, you know? Anyway, I hope things are going well for all of you :)

018: Nicole is an amazing model

2007-03-29T05:10:27Z

Hi guys :D

It is spring break, classes are over, I'm working at the boardwalk on weekends except for this one since it's my birthday! I got A's in all my classes this quarter, so the parents are very happy.

I got home monday with Jagoda's adorable rat Cecilia, I think my mom likes her even more than I do because she's come into my room every day to play with her in the office. My dad is terrified. I think it's very cute.

Monday night I relaxed at home, also my mom took me birthday shopping, I got a few shirts and a jacket from anthropologie. Tuesday I got sushi with nicole and her boyfriend ben, and then hung out with seth afterwards which was super awesome because I hadn't seen him in yearsss and we had a great conversation. We also ran into Shawn Walters who had an awesome jacket with books on the inside of it. Today I got to hang out with Katharine and Chelsea on 4th street in San Rafael and saw a bunch more people I knew, then Nicole and I went to the abandoned greenhouses and I took photos of her there.

Whew that was a LOT of photos. Thank you for taking the time to look, it took me quite a while to do this post..

017: Dimeo Lane part II

2007-03-15T06:52:44Z

I went back to Dimeo Lane today with Erik and Jesse. I wanted to do some portraits. Erik wandered around the whole property taking photos while Jesse and I went to the house and took photos of each other. I also explored some of the buildings I hadn’t really been in before.

I first went inside an old greenhouse, a lot smaller than the ones in larkspur but still pretty cool.

there were pots everywhere.

There was also this rake hanging from a string

there were tons of golden poppies. Erik picked one for me.. that is illegal.

I love the way all the wires look in the houses there.

I took a lot of texture shots

a light switch outside one of the houses

looking up towards the ceiling of that same house

a texture on the door

light patterns on the wall of the building

a jug with flowers that wasn’t there the last time we were

by the entrance to the main house

an old window latch

the three lines looked interesting in real life but not as good in photo form

jugs

And then I took a bunch of photos of jesse.

laying on the floor of the slanted room

lit up by the light outside

more playing with light and shadows

so yeah I took a lot of these

leaning against one of the found art pieces

him leaning against another found art piece.

He also took a bunch of me and here are some of my favorites:

After taking all these we went over to the rafter house. The boys were the main ones taking photos there but I got this funny shot of jesse which seems like he should be some explorer:

Also there are two more in which I modeled for jesse at the rafters place:

Anyway, it was a really awesome day, school gets out soon and I’m very excited for break!

016: Rafter House

2007-03-14T18:02:41Z

I drove down highway one past Dimeo Lane and parked on the ocean-side of the highway. There is a rafter house (at least that's what i call it, it is the skeleton of an old house) by the side of a large field and I wanted to photograph it. I was by myself, and a little scared because I saw some cars parked up ahead of me, one in which there was a man. I decided to brave it and walk past. I cautiously approached by taking photos of the crop field and ocean in the distance. When I walked by his car I glanced over. He looked about 65, with grey hair and a thin moustache. He smiled and urged me to go to the house, "you're allowed to go there you know". I smiled and said thank you and kept going. There was no fence to jump, just some plants to climb over. It was a peaceful place.

I walked inside. There were two buildings, separated by a cement staircase with a rail (it didn't go anywhere), which made me wonder what the house had been used for in the past. The second room was covered. This is a view looking out the second room at the large space.

there is an empty lot next to the house with what was once the cement base of a structure. It is looking out towards a cliff over the ocean.

a snail shell on the ground that looked more like a sea shell

a broader view of the house so you can get an idea of what it looked like.

It was very dream like. This is the view through a glassless window looking towards the ocean.

The structure implanted into the field, full of weeds and common flowers.

spokes and graffitti on the wall towards the ceiling of the second room. There was a small attic up above which was exposed.

the pealing wall

a better view of the attic

the ceiling supports and broken concrete

a view through the hole in the wall

looking down from on top of the cement stairs

the first room, exposed to everything

an odd object. i loved the meadow. it was calming.

another strange object, perhaps something to do with electricity, hanging from the beams

the same thing

looking into the second room

looking into the first room

the whole structure

I want to take this picture over and have a girl in a white dress sitting on that wall.

It was lovely, there weren't as many cool things to take photos of as there were in dimeo lane but I loved the feeling of the place.

Today I'm going back to Dimeo Lane with Erik and his friend Jesse. I'm very excited.

015: Berkeley

2007-03-12T23:56:48Z

Last weekend I went to berkeley to visit Nicole and my parents, I had a good time, and I loved Nicole's apartment.

the gorgeous nicole on her white rug

nicole and I being silly

once again

nicole, jason and erik
we were planning on going to a glam rock party

erik ..

nicole being her hot self

one of the first portraits i've done in a long time that i actually like

i loved those curtains

then we went out to some of jason's friends house

and that is pretty much it. good weekend overall.

014: Happppy birthday Melissa!!!

2007-03-10T17:44:30Z

HAPPPPPY 20th BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!

I lovvve you darling, you are the best!

013: The Boardwalk

2007-03-09T01:51:49Z

So, I'm offically hired as a ticket cashier at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk!!

I start probably next weekend, and I'm very excited :)

012: Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Greece

2007-03-06T18:44:57Z

The tickets have been bought, reservations at hostels been made, we just have to buy the eurail pass and then it's done.

Totals:
1 ticket from SFO to Amsterdam: $1,127 per person
1 fixing of the mess up of our names entered in on airfare.com (DONT USE THIS SITE EVER THEY WILL SCREW YOU OVER): $150 per name (so $300 in all)
1 Eurail Pass between Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam: $205 per person
9 nights in Amsterdam, 2 Nights in Belgium in youth hostels: $340 per person
3 nights in Paris with dad's friends: Free! YAY!
129387192837 hours of transportation around cities: probably a LOT. 1 dollar = .76 something euros... Europe>Us
Stay in Greece with Parents and Erik: Free!!

So, this will all occurr starting august 20th. Which means i'm going to be working a lot of hours this summer. I'm so excited though. Erik and I have been talking about doing a trip to Europe since last year, and it is finally coming together. It will be nice to see Paris again, I've missed it a lot. I don't remember much about my last visit to Greece since I was seven at the time but I do remember it being very beautiful.

We will be flying to Amsterdam, staying in the heart of the city until the weekend when we'll go to a lake on the outskirts from friday and saturday night and then come back to the middle of the city for sunday and monday night. Tuesday we'll take the eurail down to Paris and stay with my dad's friend's family, who live in an apartment in the middle of the city, a few metro stops away from Montparnasse. We will stay there three nights, then take the eurail to Brussels, Belgium, stay there for two nights, then take the eurail back to Amsterdam, stay there one night and the next morning we will fly to Athens and meet up with my parents. We will go "Island-hopping" for two weeks and then fly back to Amsterdam, spend another night, and leave the next morning to go back to the states. I can already see myself having panic attacks trying to make it to these places, flights and hostels on time. Paris should be somewhat relaxing though since I sort of know my way around. I can't say the same about anywhere else though. What I DO know, as i'm sure you can imagine, is that I"ll be taking A LOTTTT of pictures! i'm not going to bring my laptop but i'm going to bring an external hard drive that I can put all my photos on. Or something like that.

Does anybody have any tips about traveling around these places? Or have any advice on how to get from the airport in amsterdam to the city? Is it true that there is a train station under the airport?

011: Moss Landing, Refineries, Railroads and Cemetaries

2007-03-04T08:30:51Z

Tonight Erik and I wanted to go on a photo adventure since we hadn't been on one in a while. All in all it was an interesting night, especially once we got to Moss Landing.

The night began with a walk following the railroad tracks on my street to where it goes into the mountain under the freeway. It will probably be cooler in the day time but we got some interesting shots.

there was a house with a fence directly to the right of it making the shadows you see here. In the distance you can see the entrance of the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel we heard a lot of dripping, so we didn't go too far in for fear of our cameras becoming wet. It was also just sort of creepy.

what the entrance to the tunnel looked like up close, shutterspeed was 30 seconds.

a close-up of the side of the tunnel, which looked like and possible were narrow steps.

some signs inside the tunnel

the side of the wall.

erik and I kissing. and there is a shooting star behind us!

After we got home from our short time at the railroad tunnel, we decicded that we were going to drive south on highway 1 towards monterey, specifically stopping in moss landing to see if the refinery, or whatever big structure there, was lit up. Travis and Jagoda were sitting out on our porch and decided to come as well, since there is nothing better to do on a saturday night in santa cruz.

We started to drive and pulled off to the right side of the road across from the refinery and started shooting.

I didn't get up too close to it but Erik did and i'm sure his pictures are better than mine.

this is another, very similar shot, except I wanted to get the light of the cars on highway 1 in the shot.

We continued driving and about a minute later Jagoda says "hey! a cemetary!" Erik says that he thinks it's just construction fill, those white circular posts in the ground, but i pull over anyway and get on the side road where it is. What Jagoda saw was indeed construction fill, HOWEVER, behind it, there WAS a cemetary! (which wasn't viewable from the highway.. creeeepy). Anyway, we get out and take some photos.

Travis laying down on the ground by some of the tombs. It was a very nice evening and the cemetary was very peaceful, not scary or anything.

two of the markers with flowers and lights, facing the direction of the refinery.

looking toward the ocean.

same shot but without travis.

We drove home afterwards, and Jagoda was the only one who was creeped out. Tomorrow we're going back to Moss Landing to go to the beach there if it is sunny enough.

010: March and the impending summer sun

2007-03-04T03:22:09Z

I went to the beach today with Jagoda, Travis and Erik. It was a beautiful day, one of the first without rain in a while. Jagoda and I walked along the shore and collected lots of little sea shells. It was one of the first times I'd done that since I was younger, and I dont know many people my age who spend their time doing stuff like that, but I'd really like to. We just got back from Thai food which was delicious. It made me want to go back to Thailand, it was so delicious.

There is a lunar eclipse tonight at 11 also, I want to see it!

009: Nothing is pure anymore, but Solitude

2007-03-01T02:39:39Z

I'm not happy anymore.
Can you ever really promise someone you won't leave them?
Standing outside my house at 2 am it occurred to me that
I'm probably never going to be happy
because I expect to be loved for every aspect of myself
not just the good ones
but this is unrealistic, as i've found out the hard way.

008: Movies

2007-02-27T05:26:46Z

In about a month I will be twenty years old. I know you've probably heard it before, but it's such a weird feeling!

I've been seeing a lot of movies lately:

the number 23: pretty terrible, I give it a D

babel: I liked this quite a bit, A-

pan's labyrinth: A overall amazing

the painted veil: pretty good, B or B-

factory girl: it was ok, although i'm sure not very accurate and kind of silly at times, C

children of men: Mmmm mr owens... B+ for the movie and A+ for leading male

science of sleep: A++++ michel gondry and gael garcia bernal = great great film

marie antoinette: F for keeping me interested and A for eye candy

hannibal rising: hmmmmm I say C, because some parts were very good and others were very ridiculous (i.e. M FOR MISCHA).

those are all the ones I can think of right now. I'm sorry I don't have a more interesting update.

007: The Boardwalk and Valentine's Day

2007-02-20T02:58:06Z

A week ago I went to the boardwalk which is about a ten minute walk from my house in Santa Cruz. I saw some weird things there and took pictures of all of them:

This flower was just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. I love flowers. they are "exquisite" or however you spell that word.

this isn't really all that strange but I liked the shadow of the palm trees

ok this is kind of funny eh? eh?

i love their faces

it was really scary for me to be on this bridge, i was afraid a train was going to come and I wouldn't have anywhere to go

erik, exploring

this bus with tuns of beer/other alcohol bottles lining all the windows. A bunch of british people came out of it, even a girl with a short dress and white go-go boots

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I thought this looked kind of funny

Now, on valentine's day I got erik a watch, some chocolate, and made him this:

the lyrics are from a minus the bear song. I also made him breakfast in bed.

That night I got home from section and Erik had moved the kitchen table into my room and made me an amazing dinner with a delicious salad and crab. He had put candles on the table and left me little bags with presents in them.

here are some of the things that were in the bags

he also got me the candle that's on the table and this gorgeous black dress:

i love it soooo much!! it's hard to see the detail in the photos but there is really pretty lace lining the bottom and top.

also here's a cute picture of erik sitting at the table before we ate.

It was a really amazing night. One of the best ever.