Arts Alive

 

The place I live... You grow up in Eureka, and then you leave Eureka, and you never come back... That's how it is supposed to go. But I have realized this place where I grew up is rather amazing. Arts Alive is flourishing. People fill the streets. Musicians singing their souls out on the sidewalk. Art is various forms and definitions coloring the walls of all of the impromptu gallery spaces in Old Town. It is so awesome to see a place that once so hard hit, economically and otherwise, thriving and truly alive. It is easy to leave the place where you grew up and never look back... it is rewarding though, and perhaps more challenging to return, and to want to give your all to make it even better...

The Arcata Bottoms

We chased sunsets, until we lost them to the moon.

Old Town Eureka

This summer I was hosting my friend Gema, a Spanish actress, visiting from Madrid, while she was in town for a mutual friend's wedding. It is always eye-opening to see a place you know well from the perspective of a visitor, and while I think that Old Town Eureka has a unique charm that is not often found in the United States, I enjoyed hearing that Gema shared my opinion. "Eureka," she said (in the thickest of Spanish accents) as we walked down 2nd Street by the Vance Hotel, "It is nice. It is a very sweet village, very pretty." But it sounded very authentic coming from her, I don't know how, but when she says "village," it has two j's.

Loleta Bakery

My cinematographer pal, Kenneth Thomas, Arcata native, and I were filming rainbows and storm clouds, and found ourselves in Loleta dodging the rain. Fortunately, we discovered the newly-opened Loleta Bakery. Everything is homemade and the atmosphere is so quaint with its butter cream-colored walls and zinnia bouquets, we didn't want to leave. Ken ordered the bread pudding... ooh la la, and we each had the panini & soup combo lunch. Quintessential Loleta experience, for anyone with guests coming to town, take them cheese tasting at the Loleta Cheese Factory, and then head to the Loleta Bakery. Mi piace molto!

Humboldt's Finest

For the past few months I have been traversing the county of Humboldt for a film project which is soon to be released. Along the way, I have fallen in love with the picturesque beauty and geographical grandeur of the place where I grew up. I left this county at seventeen, fled more like, to see the world, etc. etc. and in the sixteen years since, I have spent a lot of time abroad and have called many places home, like Manhattan, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Austin, Rome, and a little village in Switzerland called St. Ursanne. But throughout my travels and exploration, I have always thought that the places which are the most beautiful are often the ones which remind me of home... So I am creating this blog to showcase the beauty of Humboldt and the creativity of its people...