King of Pop

I really didnt realize his incredible and creative genius, until now. I havent been able to stop watching this tribute from the VMA's.

RIP MJ, you are simply timeless.

MTV Shows

Almost There

1 hour until I arrive in NY and then another 4 hour bus ride back to DC...

Last week in DC...

Finalizing my housing plans for next year...

Thinking of new names for my blog post-summer...

8 days til coming back to Cali...

2 weeks til I head back to Irvine...

... and finally get a chance to see this again:

It actually startled Delia from her sleep.

Onward, ho!

She can hardly contain her excitement.

Currently on boltbus with Delia and we're heading back up to NY again! since ending our internship 2 weeks ago, we've been trying to fill up our time with a whole lot of traveling, hence my trip to Toronto last week and now NY & Boston this week. It's really nice being able to just get out and travel, especially since it's really easy to just be stuck in the Irvine/OC bubble when you don't have a car down in SoCal.

There's something really great about NY. I'm not too sure what about it draws me to it, but I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out. The richness in city cuture is overwhelming, but very necessary and refreshing for someone who spent 16 years growing up in SF (one of the greatest places everrrrr).

Hitch

Just for kicks

PS, Thunderstorms in Toronto are pretty awesome

Miss youuuuuuu

Catch Me If You Can

Aug 9th - 14th: Toronto, Cananda
Aug 17th - 19th: NY
Aug 19th - 21st: Boston
Aug 24th - 26th: NY AGAIN
Aug 29th: Back to SF (layover in VEGAS, so possible pitstop at spvegas?!)

Let's make it a date

I REALLY Like Polar Bears

Safe Space

It's 80 degrees outside and it's pouring rain. w00t!

So for those of you who may not know, I intern at a charter school/youth art gallery this summer. The program focuses on helping children express themselves through various forms artistic expression and it's pretty cool to see their progress throughout this summer. Some of the classes they've had a chance to take are poetry, dance, jewelry making, painting, etc. Art therapy is something I have never really been exposed to prior to this year and it's cool to see an art program do so much for the youth and its community. A lot of the students also come from pretty hard backgrounds or have special needs, so the program helps to not only be an outlet for alot of these students but also a safe place for them to express themselves in the arts.

I've had my ups and downs with being here, but overall, the mission of the summer program and the accomplishments of the students is pretty cool. I sat in on one of the empowerment classes yesterday. The students break off into their same sex groups and the teachers help facilitate discussions on different topics about what's going on in the world or media and how that relates back to their own lives. Yesterday's topic was on the Chris Brown/Rihanna issue. Regardless of what you've heard, in the end, domestic violence did occur. So the topic of discussion was how all the guys in the room felt about domestic violence. Man, some of the stories I heard and what was shared was really intense. I'm not sharing anything for the sake of confidentiality, but I remember just feeling a pretty overwhelmed.

It brought me back to that statement in Cross the Line:

"Please cross the line if you grew up in a household where domestic violence was present"

It's crazy because they were so open and honest about their pains and how they felt. I in awe about what they accomplish in school and and in life, given what some of them have to go back home to. It made me think back on my childhood and some of what I saw back in my home. My parents would get into some pretty intense fights and even at a young age, I would remember having to yell and scream, just so I could diverge their hostile attitudes away from each other. I just remember using my parents current and past situations as one of my biggest motivations to GET OUT of the house. To the park. To swim practice. To UCI. To DC. ANYWHERE. Yesterday was the first time when I realized how important and powerful my internship site was in terms of just providing a safe place in the DC community and offering effective and productive outlets. These kids are so amazing in what they accomplish and I'm really taken back when I see how much self efficacy they have.

Given how terrible the economy is and how many school programs are getting cut, it's great to see this school flourish with their arts-focused curriculum. I really hope it continues to grow for the next few years and that other students can find a safe haven within the walls of WVSA Articulate Gallery.