In the literal sense, my car drives me. In the physical sense, my endless amounts of technology drive/facilitate me (cell phone, dslr, laptop, video camera, car, etc). But what truly drives me in the mental/inspirational sense? I think this week it was definitely art and nature… in the form of framed jellyfish (live! floating and swimming about within ornate slightly gaudy frames you’d expect to see in the louvre!)

I took my weekend mid week in the form of a spontaneous road trip. Granted i was already planning on hopping up from LA to SF, but usually that means a quick 5.5 hour drive by way of the 5 all the way up - it’s quick, efficient, fun and speedy, and mind numbingly boring visually… there are wide expanses of not much as you pop through the mountains and then into the rolling cow filled hills of central california. So this time we decided to do things a little differently, hopping through Topanga Canyon and jumping on the 101… figuring this could be a nice mix with a bit more ocean viewing. What it quickly became was a spontaneous adventure leading to everything from lunch in a danish town (solvang) - trying danish pancake balls (aebleskiver) - feeding ostriches and emus - a giant tree stump turned treehouse/pirateship on the side of the road in a tile/bricklaying yard - 1797 Mission San Miguel Arcangel - driving by Hearst Castle - seeing beaches filled with elephant seals - cruising up the coast through state parks on cliff hanging roads to big sur - stopping off to admire the view constantly - buying 99 cent chips for $1.79 (cliff view markup?) - seeing otters playing so far below they looked like tiny dots - sunset in Big Sur - martinis and dinner watching the sun fully disappear - landing in Monterey Bay late that night and deciding that grabbing a hotel and spending a day at the aquarium would be worth checking out.

So things got postponed for another half a day. But i felt so energized and buzzing with ideas popping in and out of the beautiful woody landscape with rolling green hills and cliffside ocean views… experiencing so many vastly different environments in such a short span of time, i figured, why not? And then this morning i walked down Cannery Row into the Monterey Bay Aquarium amongst what felt like millions of screaming under-10s on spring break, and found myself face to face with Jellies: Living Art. And that was it, within a moment these jellyfish art juxtapositions had me right there acting like those 10 year olds, face pressed against the glass, absolutely mesmerized by these tanks of jellies floating and bobbing along… framed in gold. You really can’t help yourself… they are just breathtaking and as they floated, truly works of art in their own right. And to top it off, these were paired with works from artists like calder, pollock, and even the renowned glass blowing master, chihuly.

Really, i’m still buzzing from this trip… and a real eye-opener/reminder that all this tech i thought i couldn’t live without… well it isn’t what drives me. Or i suppose it is, but only technically. It’s certainly not what actually keeps me going. Exploring the world, and taking the childhood curiosity on an adventure to explore the landscape, feed ostriches and emus, play with jellyfish, and fixate on art…. this week, THAT is what really drives me.