In late high school I went on an Oceanography class trip out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (can’t remember where exactly). I googled the teacher that took us there and it turns out Harold Dorr is now the President of the San Diego Oceans Foundation. This isn’t entirely a surprise since he was a crazy ocean guy when we knew him in high school.

Thinking about this trip brings back vivid and positive memories for me. Ignoring the bout of seasickness and the fear of having to pee in the water this was an amazing trip for me; it was the first time I had on the full wetsuit, mask, gear, etc. for snorkeling in the deep ocean.

Looking down into deep water through goggles is almost, in a way, like flying. You’re floating above in this carefree way over millions of moving objects below you, only everything is silent, controlled by an ever present pulse.

Three friends and I, buoyed by salt, were specks in the water. Only us three stayed out in the ocean a little longer than everyone else. The loneliness of the open water is satisfying and terrible. This huge blue mass chops and moves and is lifeless without what it carries. When in the water I really did want to sink in and become a part of it. In a way I am still searching for that feeling.

Made for two close friends that are getting ready for an adventure in early June.

Today was my day off so I did a little thrift store hopping for materials for the show (= mostly recycled:)). Some cool things in there include: 2 yards of dark blue velvet, 2 sea green drinking glasses, a few scraps of wood, some more fabric, a blue bowl, and the top of a light aqua table. Equals aquatic awesomeness.

And I’ve been thinking about doing some more physical pieces for the show, taken from childhood crafts, dioramas, and motors.

This diorama’s from National Geographic.

by Jennifer Maestre

If  Magellan were alive today, he would see that only exploring on top of the ocean is pretty lame.  Why pay a King Tut’s worth of money to make a boat and pay all kinds of guys to swab stuff (what else is there to swab besides poop decks anyway) when you could simply get your browse on via Google earth and explore anything that might potentially peek your interest? Today’s modern world is nothing like what he knew.  Back then it was easy for just about anyone to stumble across some crummy island,  steal birds from it, name it after yourself , and drink piña coladas all over it.  I want to know where Magellan would explore if I somehow found a time machine in our basement and he was sitting in there eating the last one of my peanut butter granola bars…

The Techno Rave Disco Years Room in the secret tunnel that runs under downtown.

I think this is where Magellan would tread if he wanted to explore somewhere a little less lame than on top of the ocean.  He would trade in his telescope and hourglass for a cheap can of spray paint, a lunchable, and afterwards a long shower, because the water in there smells like a turd.  We got to work on our own exploring and didn’t even get beat up in the process. 

Now you may be asking yourself a question about all that loot Magellan got from exploring (leather pouches full of gold coins, parrots, skulls, etc.)   “Was there any booty down there in the Techno Rave Disco Years Room?” 

The answer my friends, was yes.  The treasure came like that from the brim of Davey Jones’ locker.   The most notable piece of treasure was a 1984 Van Halen Cassette tape.  Second place was a size 13 boot full of spider webs, and coming in a close third was a soaking wet Coleman sleeping bag.  The tape alone is worth enough to pay back King Tut for the boat Magellan still owes on.

Lucky for us Magellan wasn’t actually there, so we get to keep the booty.

The ocean is big and scary and full of weird stuff that no one has ever seen and is potentially really dangerous. I used to swim way out into the kelp beds knowing that I could be sucked out to sea, eaten by something, or pick up some awful infection from all the sewage that was floating around me.

But the one thing that has continually haunted my dreams, and scares me worse than any of that other stuff, was that feeling of isolation that you get when you are way out in the water by yourself, or standing in the middle of the desert with no one around. Today I went to a job-site on a military base, and found myself standing on an air strip; a vast swath of concrete, that was bleak, windy, a little dangerous and really really beautiful.

Since this is my first weekly post I thought I’d share something I did today. Total book score! I like to collect these to use for reference and have been amassing more than enough lately. Here are some pics of the coolest pages.

So we were given an 8 track player from the Jones’ basement the other day and most of the time the 8 tracks look more like toys as opposed to something music comes out of  (or the one time gem; “Bigfoot & UFOs: the unique connection” r.i.p.). Here’s a little test run of what else they’re good for…

it was a dark hour when news broke of the unravelled gem.

I’m really into science and math and, as you could say “figuring things out.” I like to collect old textbooks and kids books to get ideas and do weird experiments. For the most part, I’m a sane person. Other times, not so much.