Theres a chance...

I will be coming to Portland in January and be staying until mid february. That is, if everything works out and most importantly, if I find a place for my cat to stay. Heres hoping...

This weekend was really nice. I ate way too much food. And it was food I do not normally eat so I feel kind of bloated. My cat did really well on both the car trip there and back. I really think I can turn him into a gypsy kitty. Then we can travel all over together! I finally saw a White Christmas this weekend. I do not know how I have gotten through life without seeing that movie. My photo shoot on Saturday was really fun and mellow. The photographers were super nice and comfortable to work with. If anyone is curious what I have been up to: www.modelmayhem.com/inesl. This is my online portfolio. The nude pictures wont show up unless you have an account so don't be worried about seeing my naked body! Although, it is what I do most. Getting naked pays way better than keeping your clothes on.

There is an alarm going off in my house somewhere that is seriously getting on my nerves. I must find it and break it!

Sebastopol

I think that is how it is spelled. Anywho, that is where I am going tonight, for the weekend. I have a photo shoot tomorrow for a couple of hours and then Chris and I are going to go do Christmasy things. I miss doing Christmas stuff. We are going to stay at his mom's house and just relax, watch movies, go for walks, hang out with horses, etc. It should be really nice.


I went to a couple of local "festivals" this week. Both of them were at the Crepe Place which is a restaurant/venue. It is a weird venue but they seem to get really good shows and the one last night was sold out. Shaky Hand have played there twice. The first festival on Sunday was the Loves In Heat records festival featuring local bands from the label. Here are the bands that played that night. You should check them out, give 'em some love, support musicians:

James Rabbit
And Hod (amazing voice)
Misty Mountain
Hermit Convention (my friend's amazing solo project)
Room for a Ghost
Moon Cadillac
Mountain Animal Hospital (obviously I like them because Chris is in it, oh and they are good)
Motorcycle Snakebite
Sheena
Depth Charge Revolt (was their CD release)
Harry and the Hitmen (super fun special guest, not on the record label)

Last nights show was a festival to celebrate the Tannery's compilation CD of local bands and solo projects. I am too lazy to look up who played but And Hod played again and Mylo Jenkins headlined. I love them.

Speaking of the Tannery, WE GOT IN!! We finally found out that we passed everything, got through all the damn hoops and will be living in this amazing new artist space. For really cheap. It rules. We should be able to move in in mid february. I'm moving out of my house into a temporary space but am seriously considering just putting my stuff in storage and heading north until the Tannery apartment is ready. I need to be in town for the 10th of January. Also the Shaky Hands are coming on the 16th as well. But after that I should be able to run around for awhile. But what to do with Kitty.....

Land of Medicine Buddha

Goodness. I went on one of the most beautiful hikes yesterday. It was the 6 mile loop hike up at Land of Medicine Buddha which is a Dharma center for practice and education in Buddhism. It is one of the most serene places I have ever been to. They have the largest prayer wheel on the west coast and a gorgeous Gompa with beautiful golden bodhisattva statues. There are little altars everywhere, even in little stumps along the hike. Apparently you can live at the Dharma center and get your meals if you give them 25 hours of work a week. Plus you get the education and practice space. I was thinking about doing that program because it sounds extremely blissful. Please check out the website at http://www.medicinebuddha.org/.

The hike was so pretty. You first hike along a creek with gorgeous redwoods surrounding you. When you stop, you cannot hear any signs of humans; no car noise, people noise. Then you start climbing up and the redwoods give way to oaks and it gets warmer. The sun starts shining through the trees. Once you reach the top, its flat with little meadows. When you start to descend again, the trail gets narrower and you feel like you are encased in wonderful redwoods, bays, oaks and madrones. The air smells so crisp and clean. There was not a section of this hike that was not breathtaking. I would love to do it again by myself and just go slowly and enjoy it. I went with my friend Chone yesterday and that kid walks damn fast. My legs were burning when we got to the top, but man did I sleep really well. We saw some really amazing things and were both really glad we did the whole loop. We had been wanting to do it for awhile.

Every time I go places like that it makes me want to live in the forest. I think this dream would be made easier if I had a car so I could come down from the mountains when I needed to and not die from exhaustion on the way back up. I'm going to try to save up to buy a used car. There is an unincorporated area up in the mountains called Bonny Doon. Its super pretty.

Here is something that is a bummer- My camera is broken. I developed two blank rolls of film which is a HUGE disappointment. Now I have to try to find another film camera, because repairing it will probably be more than the camera is worth. Now I have nothing to take pictures with. It blows.

P.S- that photo is not from our hike. Its from the redwoods near Arcata, but I thought it would be a nice accent to the piece.

Sunshine

Its been sunny here everyday. Do I say that in every blog? Probably. I went for a lovely hike in Nisene Marks on Sunday. I then came home and Chris and I ate chocolate and ice cream and watched Serenity. God I love that movie. River is the most kick ass chick ever. She has the best martial arts skills because she is so graceful. Damn!

On Friday I was supposed to go to this red, black and white themed party at this gallery where I figure model for drawing classes. I put this cute outfit together and HAND STUFFED two cans of big olives with feta cheese. My friends made me a delicious dinner. It was seriously so good. Then we went to a couple of galleries and Chris met us at Felix Kulpa gallery. I went and changed and we went to the "party" which just happened to be OVER. There were like 5 people left, no food, no drink. But man, some of those people really enjoyed my stuffed olives. At least I now have a wonderful new appetizer to bring to parties.

On Saturday I went to a really amazing beach called panther/8 mile beach. It has this big rock that has a little cave in it. Its the perfect place to hang out. You can climb to the top of the rock but it is really sketch and scary. Then that night I babysat this little girl for the first time. She was sooo cute. She can't talk but she tries really hard and rambles off all of these crazy noises that I wanted to record. Then I went and saw a show at Cafe Pergolesi and it was really good. The guy did this sweet acoustic version of that ODB song "baby I got your money" or whatever the title is.

We had our last interview for the Tannery on Saturday morning. It was the artist interview and I found out I had to be there at like 9 the night before. Hopefully it went well and we will know if we get to live there by the end of this week.

Got some modeling gigs coming up which is nice.

Been reading The Spiral Dance by Starhawk and Earth Medicine by Kenneth Meadows. I really want to start going to this botanical aromatherapy school here, but do not really have the funds to do something like that. It would be awesome though.

My friend gave me a scanner today and that rules. He is nice.

Miss you, my portland people. There is a chance I can get up there in Febuary, but it is not definite.