Take a bite out of summer

That spray-painted mural above (with "the decisive moment" positioning of the artist's head) was one of the many displays at the third annual SubZERO Festival in downtown San Jose's SoFA district. On the first Friday of every month, there's an event called (surprise, surprise) First Fridays, where the art galleries in this area are open late, and people are free to check out an eclectic mixture of artwork. The SubZERO Festival adds to First Fridays by having a street festival that closes off part of San Jose's South First Street and includes vendors, artists, and musicians. It's not every day that people can sit in the middle of a downtown street so casually like this:

The small group in the left foreground was waiting with a friend and me for Corpus Callosum. What the heck is that? Well, the literal meaning is it's a thick band of fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows for communication between the two. In this case, though, it's also a musical/performance art group that plays instruments, including guitar, accordion, mandolin, flute, and glass goblets' rims. The group really knew how to make an entrance by approaching the stage through the crowd like a parade, with one of the members as a stilt walker and others manning a giant dragon puppet.

I took some grainy video on my cell phone, and the quality doesn't do this unique band (and my experience) justice. Here's a link, though, to the first of four videos that someone took of the group performing in the same spot in San Jose last September (you can skip three minutes ahead to the start of the music, if you'd like). You can also download mp3 files of the band's music here.

Prior to this event, I was invited to a little neighborhood porch party. It's not what you may imagine, though: Most of the guests were in their 40s, 50s, 60s, etc., and they live near my dormitory. However, the food was good and so were the conversations. All in all, it was a nice evening, and in a way, it reminded me of last summer.

It's still sinking in that earlier this week was the one-year anniversary of the start of my Pennsylvanian internship and my time living in Philadelphia. Last summer, after a 40-hour work week, I would spend the weekend exploring different parts of my adopted city, Philly -- and I have hundreds of pictures that document those memories. Going back to this evening, I found things to do besides sit around in an empty bedroom, and you know what? I did them and had fun!

This summer, I'm staying in another adopted city of mine, San Jose, which is where I am a graduate student when school is in session. There's no 40-hour internship to take up my time this time. While I am doing some work at my dormitory and should also work on my thesis, my time is pretty flexible. It'll be up to me to find things to do, to get out of the house, to occupy my time possibly alone (e.g. if my beloved boyfriend is busy and relatively far away from me), to find adventure, etc.

Basically, it'll be up to me to take a bite out of summer (not to mention update this blog)!

'That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet. '

I wanted to watch something from my big pile of library DVDs (I've already watched a few of them). I was in the mood for something relatively brief and decided to check out "Juno." I heard so many good things about it, such as an Oscar win for its screenplay.

The story of a teenage girl having an unplanned pregnancy isn't exactly an original concept. Juno the character and the words she and the other characters say are suppose to give this film something extra. There were times when I felt that the film overdid it with cultural references and attempts at "witty" remarks, like the title of this post, so that got a little annoying. Maybe I felt a slight letdown from high expectations.

Still, there were nice moments in the film that were funny, touching, or made you think. Not sure if this would be considered a SPOILER, but one of my favorite quotes from the film is advice that Juno's dad gives to her when she wonders if "it's possible that two people can stay happy together forever":

"Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with."

Direct and interesting word choice, but the sentiment is so true.

The music on the soundtrack was pretty cool. I recognize a Belle & Sebastian song because a special someone introduced me to that band a year ago. I also recognized Cat Power's version of "Sea of Love," which was a standout song to me when a friend wanted to check out her CD, The Cover Records, and let me borrow it from him.

OK, one DVD done, but so many more left!

'Do something pretty while you can'

Sometimes the right song plays at the right time. A housemate has her iPod hooked up to speakers in the living room and left it playing while she was out. The generally loud and upbeat music provided ambient sound while I sat on a couch, making the calm and gentle sounds of this particular song stand out even more.

While I had to look up the name of the song, my ears did recognize that the group was Belle & Sebastian, reminding me of a very special person who enjoys their music and had introduced me to their work (another reason why this particular song stood out to me).

When looking up song lyrics in general, I like reading people's comments, but I don't always take the time for personally reflecting on what the song means to me. I think this song is about making the most of every moment in life and leaving your mark on the world. This seems especially relevant to me now.

As I count down the days until I fly back to California, I've been reflecting on my East Coast summer that I have spent far from home and from many people I know. I've been thinking about what I have gained from this trip and what I want to take back with me. I'm not talking about souvenirs, though my bags will definitely be more full than when I arrived here almost three months ago. I'm talking about how I want to use my summer experiences to affect my life, and perhaps even the lives of the people back home, in a positive way. A desire to write more, create something, is definitely something that I've gained from this trip.

This almost sounds New Year's resolution-like, but when I return home, I'd also like to go outside more to explore and even exercise. Since I work 9-5 at my internship, the weekends have really been the only chance I've had to check out Philadelphia, and I've tried to spend as much time as I can to go to different parts of the city and not always be cooped up indoors in front of a computer, like what often happens back at school and at home. I've definitely seen a lot of interesting and amazing things and taken a lot of pictures (something else that I'd like to do more of when I'm back home).

For instance (and this is partially where the exercise part comes in), there is a trail that runs along the Schuykill River, and while I had visited parts of that trail before, one day I spontaneously went further on that trail than I had ever before. Besides seeing some cool sights, it was an opportunity for a good workout, and I'll probably post something about that at this blog in the future.

These are just a few points, and I'm sure other things will pop up in my mind in the coming days. All in all, I've heard various phrases about living in the moment, seizing the day, etc. "Do something pretty while you can," as mentioned in the song, seems to conjure up similar sentiments in a pretty fashion.

(As mentioned on the slides, the photos were taken at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, a collection of eye-opening mosaics created by artist Isaiah Zagar. This is where I took the self-portrait that I used for my blog's header).