Cool Pic




diving into Hiatt Lake, Emigrant Wilderness, California

 Without a doubt, this is the coolest picture anyone has ever made for me. Bo did it. In her spare time, on a break from being a OB/GYN in California and mother of 7 and wife, and all around Superstar.

Back from Beyond

I'm baaaack..... 7 days in the Emigrant Wilderness with 10 great friends. Carried 54 lbs on day 1, and ~ 45 lb on day 7. Body is tired, feet are shredded, and my smile is large as all outdoors.

details to follow....

Dude. Litres are litres.

I wheeled into Trinidad, California tonight.
At the gas stations in Cali, you need to prepay for gas, but you have to punch in your zip code, which obviously I do not have, so I always go in.
Gas Jockey:  how much gas do you need?
Me: I dunno. I'm gonna fill it.
GJ:  I have to put down a max amount.
Me:  I'm not sure. I think in litres, not gallons. I'll need about 50 litres. How many gallons is that?
GJ:  Well, are your Canadian litres Imperial or Standard?
Me: Dude. Litres are litres.
GJ:  Oh yah, I was thinking about pints... 16 ounces or 20 ounces.
Me:  Umm, 40 bucks? Thanks.
[I pump my gas and come back inside.]
Me:  the sign on the highway says there's lodging in Trinidad?
GJ  [really animated]:  Oh yah! I've got a flyer for a place in my van!
Me [raised eyebrows]:  ummm, wow, that sounds kinda sketchy
GJ:  well, I wasn't gonna go get the flyer out of my van
[I start laughing]
GJ:  oh no, it's awesome. The food is great and there are cabins and free wifi. And there will be a reggae band playing. It'll be the hotspot in Trinidad tonight.
Me:  hmmm
GJ:  oh oops. Reggae is tomorrow. Monday.

So that's right. I'm at that place. It's a dive. But the room was cheap, the wifi free, the shower hot, the fish tacos are tasty, the margarita strong, and I ate some really spicy grilled melon. Yummy.

Road Trip!!

Today is Day 1 of my latest road trip. My underlying purpose to run a half marathon along the Avenue of the Giants. That's along this road, and through these trees:

How great is that? Can't wait.

Here are more trees. I took this shot last year.

Oh boy! Can't wait! I'll be running on Sunday morning. Think energetic thoughts for me over your morning coffee.

Writing with SARK

Last weekend I went to Big Sur, California to attend a Writer's Workshop with SARK. Do you know her? She's published about 15 books, and lots of art. Titles like Inspiration Sandwich and Succulent Wild Woman. Her style is enigmatic, and immediately recognisable...I think.

And you might be thinking, "Hey, Tara loves California! And Big Sur is on the Pacific Coast Highway, which Tara also loves. And she likes to write. This must have been an irrestistable MAGNET for her!!!"  You got it, Pontiac.  And another reason? It is one of my goals for 2010 to get paid for my writing, so this was an attempt to find that motivation, that spark, that courage, to go for it!

The weekend started on the exact right foot! Can you believe my rental car turned out to be a red beetle??? Perhaps this might be the MOST appropriate car to drive in San Francisco, and down the Coastal Highway. So cool, so fun, SO CUTE!




The first thing SARK had done, even before we arrived, was to meditate on us, our names I guess, to get a sense of who we were. She then had a nickname for each of us that she put on a nametag.

Mine was Fearless Tara! An obvious choice for me, doncha think???
Funny, but pretty much everyone in our group of 20 had a similar response to their nametag. And this was our introduction to Planet SARK.




Friday night had us at  a cocktail party. (all the costs for the weekend were paid up front, so no need to bring out a wallet! And it all cost less than $700. Incredible!)

One of the next things SARK did was to pair us all with a writing mentor, so we would have a support in place for after the weekend. I was paired with 'Vibrant Suzanne'. Her dream is to write a book based on her challenges (and very funny experiences) with her husband and his bipolar disease.  How big a fluke is it that Suzanne's book sounds so similar to the book I am writing* ?  And happily she has done huge amounts of work for the American Cancer Association, so she can find me more wonderful souls to put in my book! Wow, that SARK is strangely intuitive.

*(about the Good Things You get When You Get Cancer, if you didn't know....)

Of course, I met some really, really great people at this workshop! People like Michelle, with the great toque with a giant flower on it, a woman who is already mostly done her novel. (WOW! In awe that she's gone so far already!)

and Victoria, who has been a reporter for years, so has published TONNES, but now she's freelance and doing other projects.

 

and Nikki from Australia. She writes and facebooks and is on Ning and has a blog and is writing a novel and does art, and works in the workshop/self-improvement industry. She is literally a colourful character! Incidentally, she has a brain condition (can't remember what it's called) where she has to get getting shunts put inside her skull to drain her excess cerebral fluid. WOW. And you could ever think for one second that amazing things do not come from adversity??? She's travelling all over the world while she has time off work! She is spending her birthday weekend in VEGAS right now!!!

and Magnus, who is the curator of the Henry Miller library just down the road. Incidentally, when he first came from Sweden, he intended to work in Alaska, but was chatting to someone in Hope BC who told him not to bother going to Alaska. There's no work there!! Aaaah, he could have made thousands that summer, but instead worked in a gas station in Hope...  As they say, "Live in Hope, die in despair..."   Happily he now lives in Big Sur, running a tiny little library full of literary gems. He writes and reads and sings and entertains. It's his own piece of heaven, I'm quite sure  :)

I mean, look at this spot mere km's from where we were. It is a piece of heaven!

Oh, and we stayed in Pfeiffer Big Sur Park, which is AMONG THE REDWOODS. omg, aaaAAAHHHHHH!!!!! what could be better?

 Seriously.

But I digress...

Another exercise SARK got us to do was to design our own Writer's Manifesto. I was kinda nervous, I have to admit, as she suggested using lots of coloured pens, and paint and water colours and collage, and ART. I don't really do that stuff, but when in Rome....

actually, I'm quite proud of it.

Another exercise we did was to write a question or concern for our mentor, and have them write back to us, with profound wisdom and encouragement. Again, Suzy and I had similar concerns..... "What if I write stuff that other people don't approve of?"

My answer to her (and of course her answer to me!) :

WRITE YOUR TRUTH!

If there was a downside to the weekend, it was that we wrote less than I had expected. I had imagined we would have an overnight assignment, plus a couple quick exercises during each day. I mean, part of what gets you writing is to write. Put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and write! Do it every day! Do it more often! Form a writing habit!! Some will be garbage, but the more you write, the more good stuff you'll write. Or so the theory goes.

But oh well. Talking about writing is good too. We did a fun exercise where we interviewed our mentor about what it will be like for them when they are wildly successful. I will deifnitely TIVO Suzy on both Oprah and Ellen!!! And she cannot wait to see that my book has made people lose much of their fear of cancer, and be just a little bit jealous that they don't have it themselves. Can you imagine? "Oh jeez, she's so lucky. She got cancer. I'm a teensy bit bummed."  HAHAHAHAH! Tara's New World Order  :)

That's me n SARK!!! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

and we are Succulent Wild Women!

My Life in Pics 2009

More Trapeze Pics

Here are some better pics from the trapeze class. Many thanks to Katrina and Bo for the pics. And to Bo, Sammy, Deany and Kat for making me go.

I spelled my name TERROR....

absolutely LMAO!!

the sound track here was a Tarzan Yell

right after this I got my hands back on the bar, then did a back flip dismount. No kidding.



do you SEE how close I was to making the catch??????
And how HIGH up I was?!?

as terrifying as this was, it was SUPER fun!

In case you want to try trapeze for yourself, go to this site. Their tag line is: "Forget fear. Worry about the addiction." Too true.

New Reality TV show

Last night was the first installment of Bo's new fantasy/reality TV show: Let's Trade Lives

I had 3 kids: Sammy, age 15; Kat, age 13; and Deany, age 8. Cute kids, huh?
I dressed as a Yummy Mummy
I drove a mini-van with license plate [love] MNYKIDS (As this was the first episode, I only had the 3 little kids, not the entire brood of 7!)

I received much abuse and ridicule from my teenage daughters over my Mom Purse, which I had previously thought was cool and hip.
I took my kids out for burgers and fries at UCLA.


Meanwhile, Bo lived my life: she stayed home alone, played on the computer and drank wine.

Doesn't she look fabulous?!?!

Leap of Faith

Today I went to trapeze school.
Seriously, as in, flying through the air with the greatest of ease.
It was at the Santa Monica pier. It was bloody terrifying hanging onto that bar and leaning way out into space. I need to re-emphasise that - OMG, I HAD TO STAND ON A PLATFORM WAY UP THERE, AND LEAN OUT INTO SPACE AND GRAB THE BAR. AND LET GO.....
But it was AMAZING swinging by my knees and doing back flips onto the net.

I did a lot of screaming and laughing and my legs nearly shook right off. I could barely stand when I got back on safe ground.
Oh, and by the way, I have HUGE issues with height. Climbing up to the platform was really really hard. Jumping off was ..........WOW.

this is pretty much exactly how I saw Dean....squiggly

Sammy making it look easy

Katrina getting ready

This is a vid of my first catch attempt. So close....and yet so far.

Rave Run....Marin County

I went for an amazing run in Marin County, California. It was all the better as I've been pretty sick for weeks, so haven't done much of anything. so....as usual started with a "gentle" 5 miles over hill and dale. Check out the views! How awesome!

gorgeous light :)

sun setting over the Pacific

my excellent trail guide, and guide to excellent trails, Eric

Black Friday

As mentioned, I was in California for my first Black Friday ever...... This is a day of True Shopping Madness!!!!!! And the day after Thanksgiving.

Sorry to disappoint, but I skipped the 4AM sales, and instead opted for a very relaxed of local boutique browsing in Mill Valley, Marin County, CA. I spent less than $100, and I don't know if that makes me a Patriot or not? (Perhaps an American can clarify if I've qualified?)

I did, however, have a California Moment. these happen from time to time when I come down here. It's a sudden realisation that I am doing something that, to me, is the Essence of California Dreamin'.
This time it was having a wonderful lunch out with the ladies. It wasn't only that we had a lovely lunch, but that we enjoyed lunch with a glass of Prosecco. That's what Ladies Who Lunch do!!

Ladies Lunching (L to R): Julia from Russia, Jane, me, Judy, Jill (my wonderful hostess)

And thanks especially to Judy for picking up the tab :)

American Thanksgiving

I spent my first American Thanksgiving in Mill Valley, which is just outside San Francisco, California. Have I mentioned recently that I love California???? I really do.





My hosts were Woody and Jill, and they had 17 guests. Holy cow. And the most beautiful table I have ever seen.

It's interesting, as we have the same holiday in Canada, with a few similarities:

• end of harvest family holiday
• lots of food
• fun

and a few differences:

• earlier eating (we sat at 4 PM, rather than 6ish up north)
• started the day with Macy's Christmas Parade
• lots of football on tv
• falls on Thursday, while we celebrate on Sunday or Monday
• November holiday, and Cdn Thanksgiving is in October
• Black Friday shopping is the following day (rather like our Boxing day sales the day after Christmas)

Anyway, it was a great day, and I am thanksful to Jill and Eric for their wonderful hospitality.

Party in USA

On July 2, we celebrated both Canada Day and the 4th of July* by attending a White Trash Party in Santa Barbara, California. So I summoned my Inner Albertan, and dug out a short denim dress, trucker hat, and A LOT of blue eyeshadow.

You've got enough bronzer if your face looks a bit dirty

It was pretty fun. The host served American beer, cheap tequila and corn dogs. YUM-O! The serious downside though, was that everyone looked so awful, there appeared to be no one we would ever want to have a conversation with.

Posing with road kill

Some of the costumes were, ummm, amazing. The guys wore a lot of camo, mullet wigs, and trucker hats. And several of the gals were pregnant with black eyes, short skirts and bad attitudes. The best costume, by far, was the gal who came as Tonya Harding - complete with figure skates, skating dress, gold medal and a baseball bat!

Sasha reckons she's found her baby daddy - the eyes match!

* (did you know they do NOT refer to it as Independence Day? Don't make the same mistake I did. You cannot be cool White Trash if you call it that....helllloooooooo, loser.)

MJ's shrine

As you might have heard, an impromtu shrine has popped up at Michael Jackson's star on the walk of fame.

This is pretty impressive, but if they really miss you, they'll memorialise your caricature on a cookie.

LA

Andie, my old roomie from Vancouver, spent a day exploring Hollywood!


Andie checking out Yohighness's CD (that is pronounced Yo High Ness)

Elmo in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre

Walk of Stars

I was always a big CHiPs fan!!

And then we dropped $80 o0n a swanky lunch in BHills :)

What the Heck are Tara's Plans? Summer 09

As is common for me, I just received an email: "Hey Tara, where are you? What are you doing?"
Following is my response.....

well, strangely enough, I'm at home in Kamloops, BC, Canada TODAY
but tomorrow, I'm leaving for the following trip:

• Vancouver till Thurs
  run a marathon in Seattle on Sat, June 27
  fly to LA for a week, then back to Seattle July 5
  drive down Oregon Coast to North Cali
  join group and start backpacking into Yosemite July 12-21
  drive toward Wyoming, with undefined plans to hike/explore Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier Natl park
  go to Calgary, and fly to UK July 31
  UK - visiting various people Aug 1-12
  fly back to Calgary
  drive to Kamloops for friends' wedding Aug 15
  start driving north to Whitehorse, Yukon Aug 17
  Aug 19-31: undefined plans to day hike, explore, etc in Yukon and Alaska
  hike Chilkoot Trail Sept 3-7
  run Klondike Road Relay Sept 11-12
  head back south about Sept 15, possibly hiking near Mt Robson Provincial Park about Sept 18-22 or so
  return Kamloops, BC late Sept

You should probably already know this, but anything that I have not registered nor purchased an air ticket for, that could change.
And if you want to join me for anything, that would be awesome! Email me or try my cell 250 318 9894

New Car?

Well, I have to admit, it's about time for me to get a new car. The Lesbaru has been a great car, but she's got over 230 ooo km's on her, and she's jinxed anyway. http://cartwheelingtara.blogspot.com/2008/09/topsy-turvy-day.html


Andie in LA helpfully sent me the following email:

Tara, got this car for you so you can have wheels AND spending money! It's ready right now. I'll pick you up at the airport on Sunday! Xxxme

And she sent a closeup too "...just so you can see that it's an angry chicken!"

Wow, and I could have instant employment too! Awesome.

A Week in Provence

Just spent a week en Provence, relearning French. Heaven! Oh, except for when I had a tantrum because too many tenses were swirling around in my head and I couldn't remember which verb form I should use...a total perfectionist moment. Luckily, we had planned a field trip to Arles, which was absolutely FANTASTIC. Oh, and when I wanted to sit down late in the day and have a glass of wine, who should sit truly RIGHT BESIDE me, but Keanu Reeves!!!! It was so weird, I caught a glance and thought, "Man, he looks just like Keanu Reeves, he must hear that all the time." And then folks started asking him for photos. So weird, he has the exact same mannerisms and voice as in all his movies - apparently he just plays Keanu on a fast bus, and Keanu in a weird future scene, and Keanu in some ridiculous love story. He's quite skinny now, ate ice cream, and has a hideous beard. (Ever heard of a stylist, Keanu??) The highlight was that he brushed against me on his way to the bathroom. Yup, that's right, first he sat beside me, then he touched me. I would imagine he was disappointed that he didn't get a chance to propose a torrid affair with me in Southern France, but I am too dedicated a student of the language, so didn't have time for all that swanning about with movie stars.

Next update: tomorrow is my aunt's funeral. Then much family shite for the rest of the week.

Then I'm not sure what I'm doing, but will probably go back to France for more French training, and maybe more movie stars?? Not totally sure. Apparently George Clooney is buying a house/villa/chateau in the village where I stayed, so might enjoy a brioche with Georges?? And Angelina/Brad have a villa not too far away. Guess I better bring gifts for their new twins....would hate to be caught out. Totally embarrassing. :)

Bowled Over by the Coolness

Last night I went to the local comedy club. Jay Leno was headlining. Totally funny.
Strangely, the absolute highlight for me though was.....Jerry Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt was in a framed box on the wall.
How cool is that?

Not Politically Correct

I was biking on the beach path on Saturday, when I spotted a midget with no shirt, riding a skateboard. I thought, "Holy crap! That is a midget on a skateboard. That is a really funny sight. California is hilarious!"
I guess because I was totally staring at him, with a nice smile on my face (he likely didn't realise it was a smile at the Comedy I Find in Southern California Beach Goers), he smiled back. A really, really cheezy smile.

Shirtless, tanned, cheezy, skateboarding midget.

Little Person. Whatever.