Visions from the Pacific

A good friend of mine suggested I take a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Big Sur before I left California. (And you didn't know I was even out there, eh?) The scenery was so moving, she composed a list of the form "It is so beautiful ..." and in that spirt, I'd like to do the same for my trip, so here goes.

It was so foggy ...

1. Carmel should have been named White Chocolate.
   
2. I felt like I was inside the world's biggest bong hit.
3. I couldn't see myself holding my picture of a polar bear in a snowstorm.
4. If I closed my eyes, I could almost see the ocean.
5. Foggy 'ol London-town seemed like San Jose by comparison.
6. Why are all those dogs barking and where did the come from?
7. Big Sur could have been a her.

Since I'm from the MidWest, where the weather comes from, I wasn't going to let a little fog ruin my trip. Perhaps I was in such a good mood because of the little roadster I was driving. I felt like I was in a car commercial... the faster I went around those mountainside curves, the more the car hugged the road. It was like driving sex. I felt bad for not having bought the mountain dinner beforehand.

So in my post-asphalt glow, I hiked down the side of the mountain and sat and meditated. I focused on the barks of the otters. I became the barks. I contemplated my existence and my future, and found it to be reflected in the fog surrounding me. Then, as the clouds parted and I could for the first time see the oceans and animals below, I went back to the car and took a photo (shown above).

About the photo... the one posted here doesn't do justice to the original one I created. it's 20,000 pixels by 6,000 pixels and for you to experience it as I designed it, you would need to stack 5 monitors on top of each other, and then replicate that 16 times to the right. (!) Cutting-edge technology is like Sesame Street to me... anyone want to fund my artistic endeavors and research? :)

Oh, if you're curious how I could memorize such an innane little list about my experience that has nothing to do with reality... I used a memory palace. The palace I used was London, outside my flat, and here's the image I created which helped me remember the list:

A polar bear smoking from a Roor (brand of bong) outside my flat with a dog barking at it, held by a dude in a dress eating carmel candies with his eyes closed.

Neat, huh?