A lot of driving, a tone of fun, and Svara

Over conference weekend the tripod+1(Nikkos) (no worries

rooming was kosher, same-sex roomies in both rooms) decided to

road trip it down to Cali to show our support of an amazingly

talented cousin. My cuz Jeff is studying the blessed art of photography

down at the Brooks Institute where this last winter a group of

students traveled to South India to document some really powerful

stories through documentary film and photography. We went for the

big multimedia opening of the whole project, and goodness is was

impressive.We drove down on a thursday night mostly in some

pretty sketchy conditions but we still made it in pretty decent time

to Vegas to spend the night. We raced off the next morning to Cali.

We stopped off and enjoyed some In and Out for lunch and then made

a spontaneous decision to visit magic mountain for some coaster ridin'.

It took awhile to get the tickets and navigate out of getting lost so we

got there a little late, two hours before close to be exact. But we were

determined to make it worthwhile so we mapped out a game plan and

then road 8 intense roller coasters in two hours. We literally sprinted

from one to the other and luckily we never had to wait in any lines

because it was so late in the day. But by the sixth ride we were feelin'

a little nauseous but forced ourselves to ride the last two rides on

our list, but by that last ride all excitement was gone and we were

doing all that we could to not loose lunch or pass out. After we had

some time to re-cooperate we went out for pizza (the most group

friendly choice of food) and then we took a twilight stroll on the

beach to take in the fresh air and rid ourselves of any leftover dizziness.

I loved how the stars come out so early.

{It was probably an awkward surprise for kitch's boyfriend

to hang out with crazy picture takers, as right in the middle

of their "romantic moment" I yell from the side for them to

move closer to the camera so the pictures I was unashamedly

taking of them would have a better composition....suckers}

The next day we woke up bright and early to listen to the morning

session of conference and then, during the break, ventured out to

enjoy a classy lunch with family in an open aired cafe in down town

Ventura, ooooo and then some gelato for dessert all the while

hearing the stories of my very adventurous aunt and uncle and my

other very accomplished little cousin and all their travels.

We even got in a little photographing barefoot on the beach before

the grand opening. It was so refreshing to feel the warm sun after

all the dreary snow days we have been experiencing in UT.

Then in the evening, off to Brooks. The students had turned the

whole campus into a complete Indian experience. With a grand

showing of their main documentary to start off the night but then

various screens and projections around the campus displaying

slideshows of photographs and playing bits of film. The event

was catered with flavors of india, incense was burning, lanterns

in the trees, and free real henna tattoos. {definitely more authentic

than my latest India party} I was truly impressed with the quality

of all the work, what an amazing event to display the culmination of

so much hard work and vision. Congratulations Jeff and friends.

Click here, here, and here to view some sampling of Jeff's

images in the projects {there is also tons more on that site}....

The event was held at the Brooks Ventura campus where

a lot more film is studied, so they had this awesome film

set with great worn facades. Fun for photos too.

On the way home we listened to sunday conference brought

to our cars speakers via the amazing i-phone and its radio apps.

We stopped off at the most brilliantly random 50's cafe Peggy Sue's.

Made up of a labyrinth of rooms all decorated in different collections

and themes of vintage accessories. And I have no words for the

dinosaur-duck-pond-fountains-king-kong-pirate garden in the back.

hmmmm.

Then one last stop in vegas to see the Billagio's seasonal

conservatory production. Massive amounts of spring bulb

blossoms and garden styles, complete with a butterfly house.

A very inspiring weekend.