A Scavenger Hunt for San Diego Street Art

Yesterday, I professed my love of San Diego, and showed some pictures of its beauty.  But San Diego is not just beautiful, it is artsy and unique.  Now, I am not the artsy type, mostly because I have no artistic talent, but I do love to look at and appreciate artwork.

The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art just opened its new exhibit entitled "Viva la Revolución: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape," and it includes artwork in the museum and pieces throughout the city that were commissioned for the exhibit.  If you go to the museum's website, you can download a map of the art, and then you can go on a little scavenger hunt to try to find it.

Two Sundays ago, Matt and I drove around seeking out the artwork.

We started in South Park, of course, because that is the neighborhood we live in (and the best neighborhood in San Diego).  South Park was lucky enough to have a mural done by Shepard Fairey, who is best known for his iconic Obama and his Obey work.

Next, we headed to Hillcrest to see the other Shepard Fairey artwork, which critiques our consumer culture yet is ironically placed on the side of an Urban Outfitters.

Next we headed downtown.  This piece by Os Gemeos (from Brazil) is on the side of Horton Plaza.

This piece is by Swoon.

This piece is by Invader (from France).

 This eye is by JR (from France).

Here is more art we saw throughout our journey, some commissioned by the museum and some not.

Seeking out art was a very fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  If you live nearby, print out a map and go on an art scavenger hunt.

San Diego Livin'

I think that San Diego is the greatest place in the world to live, and I have traveled to a lot of places.  One of my goals this summer was to be more of a tourist in my own city, and really just take in all that San Diego has to offer.  Yesterday, Matt and I went on a date enjoying different parts of our lovely city, and it was a rather inexpensive date at that thanks to happy hour deals.

First stop, a picnic in Balboa Park for lunch next to the lily pads:

 Next stop, Harbor Island for some strolling and happy hour:

We had happy hour at Island Prime, which is a restaurant on the water.  It offers reduced prices on drinks and appetizers.  We each got a drink and shared a baked brie with jalepeno sauce, and it was delicious!  Here was the view from the restaurant:

Next stop was Little Italy, where we found a restaurant that had a deal where you could get two glasses of wine and an appetizer for nine dollars.

Now if you don't mind having appetizers for dinner, there are some great deals out there at nice restaurants.  I would highly recommend a date (or hang out time) like this to anyone, because we were able to spend time in so many different great parts of the city. 

A Run Around Mission Bay

Today, another 10 mile run was on the calendar, which ended up being a 10.4 miler. This time it was decided by Matt that we would start at Mission Beach, run around Mission Bay, and end up again at Mission Beach to have a beach day.

Overall, it was a beautiful run, but next time, I would either just run at the beach, or just run around Mission Bay, because the transitions between the two were when things got confusing. To get back to the beach, we ran past the Sea World entrance and through the parking lot where we got strange glances from dads in Hawaiian shirts and moms with fanny packs. I think those looks were well deserved though, because it was kind of weird to be running through the nine million parking spaces at Sea World. But complaining about an awkward running transition between a beach and a bay is exactly why I love living in San Diego.

Here are some photos, courtesy of Matt's iphone, some taken in the midst of running:

Matt and I before our run:
Running along the boardwalk in Mission Beach, a silhouette am I:
Running around Mission Bay:
Me looking awkward since Matt is telling me to run slower so he can take a picture of me:
Evidence that I sweated a lot; a whole new sweat streak on my running hat:

Good things about this run:

-It was beautiful.

-Nice ocean breeze for part of it.

-I ran with the husband, which doesn't happen too often because he is faster than I am.

Bad things about this run:

-I almost fell on my face. It was pretty close.

-It was HOT, like dripping buckets of sweat hot.

-We got lost.

-Ipod fail. My ipod stopped working half way through the run, because I sweated too much on it so the volume button shorted out.

Today's run left me wondering how I could ever in my life actually run 26.2 miles. Hmmm... I suppose I will find out in 93 days.

A (School) Year in Review, Part 2: Some Words from the Students

To finish up this school year, I wrote my students a two page letter reflecting on the year from my perspective, and they each had to write me a letter back. To put it bluntly, I worked my ass off this year. And reading the letters from my students made every minute worth it. As a teacher, there are a lot of times throughout a given school year when you feel like a failure. I wrote here about how I felt like a complete failure for most of the beginning of this past school year. But, there are also those great moments that bring tears to your eyes, and you are reassured why you signed up to be a teacher in the first place. So I am writing this entry for myself (it's not like anyone else reads this anyway). Because I know next year will come along and it will be good, but it will also be hard. And I can look back on this post really quick and see a little reassurance from some of my former students.

Excerpts from student letters to me (written by a range of students):

"You helped me significantly on the path of finding who I am and what I want to be in the world, not only in the sense of a career but what type of person I will be and what legacy I want to leave. You are one of those teachers that will cross my mind in years to come and I will smile and remember what a great person you are because of your constant openness and guidance. I've always known I wanted to make a difference in the world and you have given me such an amazing platform to do so... You have helped me become someone I am happy and proud to be."

-Emily

"My views and beliefs of this world and of myself have changed, all just because of this one year. Brooke, you showed me a world that I was so blind to, and I have been inspired to make a difference. I've learned that I can make a difference if I set my mind to it. Looking back to the beginning of the year, I can see a huge change in myself as a person, thanks to you Brooke... In your letter you asked if we, as students, who are part of a culture and a generation that seems to value consumerism and materialism above all else, really care about what is going on in the world around us. I have an answer for you coming from a student, yes. Learning about all the injustices in the world really influenced me... Brooke, you have really had an effect on my life as a teacher and I can honestly say that you're the one who made the most change. I thank you so much for being a great teacher and I hope to make you proud by doing something with my life."

-Kelsey

"I just want to say one more thing: thank you Miss Brooke. I know I have acted like a child most of the year, but you didn't treat me like a child. You have treated me like a capable adult and brought out the very capable adult inside of me. I know I have been one of the most frustrating kids in your class, and that is a very bad return for all you have done for me this year. But please don't be fooled by my dim-witted actions, I do really appreciate all you have done for me this year."

-Josh

"This year has been... different, in a good way. I felt so enlightened about the world around me, it was refreshing, it seems like I was blind before. You seemed to have high expectations for the entire class, the entire year. At times, the amount of work was stressful and hectic, but at the end of projects or essays I was always proud of my hard work and personal achievement. I think you taught with a passion and power that I have never seen in any other teacher, and your assignments only helped get your points across, many though there were."

-Julian

"This class has changed the way I think of the world and life. Brooke you did a great job in teaching me how to see the world in a different way. I am an independent person and before coming to this class, I thought, if what I am doing is not for me, then it doesn't matter how I do it... I focused on myself a lot and what my business was, and this year was the total opposite. This year was giving, helping, and serving others... Learning about all the people that need my help changed my mentality... I learned that I was very ignorant... I don't want to waste time doing things that are not worth doing. This year I learned to value people and things, and I also learned that there is always a way I can help someone. I want to stand up for what I believe in and also stand up for those who can not."

-Fernanda

"One thing that struck me in your letter was when you asked, do tenth graders care? At the beginning of the year, we did not know what to expect but just more work. But once we got into the work... we all saw a different side of the world that never occurred to us existed. This changed our whole perspective on the world. In time, we started to really care about what was happening in our world and how we could make a difference. So, in time we started to grow a passion to want to help those innocent people around the world suffering, but I have to say thank you for bringing this subject matter into our minds to be able to see what was going on in our world... I started to care for those people. So, Mrs. Brooke, we students all really do care."

-Nima

Okay, that's a long enough blog post.

High school students are cool.

100 days from today...

100 days from today I will be hopefully running a marathon. Yikes.

Today, I woke up and drove to Coronado to run 10 miles around the island. I used to be anti-driving somewhere to run, but I have changed my mind about that for a few reasons: 1) Running somewhere allows you to experience a place in a much different way than just hanging out there. 2) I will have to run a lot in training if I am going to be able to accomplish running a marathon, so it is good to spice things up a bit. 3) If I can't go to the beach in a bathing suit in San Diego in July because the sun never comes out, I might as well go there and do something else.

On this run, Matt let me borrow his iphone, so I could try out the running app. Since it also has a camera, I decided to take some pictures along my run for fun.

Running around the island of Coronado is one of my favorite runs I have done in San Diego, because what you see is so diverse and interesting. I found myself smiling while I was running, taking in the scenery, and just being glad to be healthy and alive.

Here is my journey (keep in mind that I took most of these while running, so don't judge the photography skills).

Running along the beach:

Passing the Hotel del Coronado, which I ran by three times today:

The San Diego skyline:

The Coronado Bridge:

The golf course (I am not a big fan of golf courses, but I do like anything green):

Boats in the harbor:

Back to the beach again:

And then at the very end of my run, I ran past this beauty, so after I finished I went back to take a picture. It is a little white Honda filled with stuff. The entire car is packed and it is just sitting next to the beach.

I love being a tourist in my own city.

After my run, I was starving, so I took myself on a little picnic date at the park near my house. I bought myself a bean and cheese burrito, and paid with all quarters, because I am a classy date like that.

GOAL!!!!!

I am loving the World Cup lately, so you have to imagine the title of this post being shouted out for fifteen seconds really loud like the cool announcers do.

Speaking of goals, I am a definite nerd when it comes to setting them. I have a life goals list, which I like to think about and update. And for summer, I have a goals list as well.

Summer 2010 Goal #1:

Run

I have signed up for the AFC Half Marathon on August 15, which takes place in San Diego. This will be my second half marathon. I have also signed up for... a marathon! This may or may not actually happen, depending on how my body holds up, but the only way to find out is to try. So I signed up for the Long Beach Marathon, which is on October 17.

Part of my running goals this summer include trying new routes as a way to make running more exciting and as a different type of way to explore the beautiful city of San Diego that I live in.

Here are some pictures of me running my first and only half marathon, which was the AFC Half Marathon in San Diego, the same one I will be running again this August.

I was very smiley in the beginning of the race:
And I look like I am running weird in this picture:
There I go:
This picture is like Where's Waldo, but it is Where's Brooke:
Here I come running up next to the San Diego Harbor:
Now I am a little less smiley and a little more tired:
And here is me after I crossed the finish line. I am obviously a little excited at this point to be done running (and I am a little weird):
Me and my medal:

And the lovely people who came out to watch me at all different points throughout the race (also the people who took these pictures of me):

Dad and Mom:

The husband and me (my face gets really red when I run in the heat):

I am actually really excited to do it again!