The New, New Place

Yes, I'm packing up my life once again.

You can read all about my next adventure in my second blog post, just up over at the HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-parks/the-new-new-place_b_6065296.html

I feel I'm getting CLOSE to settling down now. Gosh it's about time!!

Change of Venue!

Hi folks! My first blog post about my move away from Silicon Valley is up over at the Huffington Post. Check it out if you get a chance:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-parks/escape-from-silicon-valle_b_5712491.html

From the Server Farms to the Vineyards

It's been a while since I've written. But what a while it's been : )

Still absolutely loving the lost wax casting jewelry. And as I create, I continue to learn and develop my skills. I've recently learned to set stones within the silver and gold. The possibilities are getting way exciting!

My first jewelry site is due to go live at the end of September. Really excited about posting the visible results from the creative process. And hopefully making a little money while I'm at it.

I'm also finally focusing in on my vineyard photography. I mean it's only logical, this area boasts about 250 wineries within spitting distance. And the wine here is ultra delicious, particularly my favorite reds.

As we speak, the grapes are basking in our perfect grape growing weather — 95 in the daytime, 55 at night. And while talking to the wineries about photography, well, somehow I ended up working at one! I'm really enjoying learning about the hard work and gut instinct that goes into the winemaking process. Such a trip!

So, what a year, right?! As my daughter says, who'd have thunk it?! The yin and the yang of it all is truly mind boggling.

The Space-Time Continuum

It is so odd. Time seems to be moving at a different pace here. Which is good, I desperately wanted a slower pace, but geez, I've been here for three weeks, and it seems like I've been here for years. It seriously does. Welcome to the Chronophage at work...

While I marvel at my local space-time continuum, I have two main focuses. Creating my lost wax casting jewelry (new obsession!) and finding some meaningful tech work. I've only applied to one company so far, but there are quite a few around that seem mighty interesting. The tech companies around here seem to operate on a more humanistic level. I rather like that. Now let's see if they'll actually hire a fifty-something renaissance girl. That remains to be seen. I'll give it a few months and if there is no traction, my little startup is back ON!

I seem to be taking a small breather from my food/vineyard photography, but it's June now, and the local vineyards are just getting interesting. I'll be back to it soon...

In the meantime, taking photos of the flora and fauna in my yard will have to do. Check out this manzanita tree shedding it's bark. Hey, I can relate : )

Where I'm Supposed to Be

And breathe...

The beauty of this place is unimaginable. I have now moved into a house that sits on the top of a hill surrounded by waving fields of wild oats. There are bluebirds. There are blue bellies. There are deer, coyotes, turkeys, quail you name it. I am officially in the wild.

Two changes that are really standing out:

1) the noise. In the bay area, I had been living near the intersection of two major freeways. Up here I cannot even hear a freeway. It is so quiet, except for the birds, the horses across the street, the occasional woofy dog and the wind. Exceptionally peaceful.

2) the darkness. Ok, I too invested some time in checking out the Camelopardalids meteor shower last week. There is zero light pollution up here. Zero. To the point where if you turn off the lights before the moon rise, you cannot see your hand in front of your face. So I thought... Perfect! I'll turn out all the lights, dash outside and check out the sky. It was a little disconcerting being outside unprotected in the true darkness, and super amazing when I finally saw a huge meteor scream across the sky. But not so amazing when two minutes later a bat flew right by my head. And thus ended the meteor portion of the evening!

Can a place, can physically changing your location, fundamentally alter the way you think? I tell you, my ideas for new art are already surging up here. And my energy to get back to doing some tech is really revving as well. Between the two, I think I'm finding my balance. Feels damn good.

My Soul Mate!

Lol! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09/moving-to-countryside_n_5283658.html

The Home Stretch

Houston, we are at T minus 8 days and counting!

The house is about half packed up now, thanks to the extra help from my dear daughter and her beau. We've made good progress, and if we can continue on with 3-4 boxes each day it will all be packed up when the movers come.

I confess that I am experiencing 24-hour-a-day-technicolor-daydreams about my new life now. The new house, the nearby vineyards just waiting to be photographed, the new jewelry classes, the new people I'll meet. The ocean!! So excited! I'm absolutely ready to jump into those new shoes.

The last time I moved out of the bay area, the year was 1987. Yes seriously! Early on I was married and divorced to a very kind man. Just not the right kind man. After an agreeable divorce I moved to Santa Barbara to decompress and jump start my life.

Oh, I was SO happy there! But, as they say, San Luis Obispo is the new Santa Barbara!

This time around I'm leaving behind a much more seriously toxic divorce-from-hell as it lurches madly towards the finish line. Turns out he wasn't a very nice man, after all. But I have to compartmentalize all that negative stuff. Squash it into a little tiny file and close that virtual drawer. Time to get on with my life.

Soon I'll be hundreds of miles away, with my heart full of hope and new promise. Soon I'll be running around in the field, frolicking amongst the deer, the quail and the almond trees. Just the thought of that makes me smile : )

Two Good Turns

Oh bliss and happiness! Things are finally falling into place. Found a gorgeous house to rent on the top of a hill in Atascadero, near San Luis Obispo. I'll move in a couple of weeks, so the packing can now begin in earnest. I'm SO looking forward to living with a little space in my life. And living in a place with a bit of a slower pace, so that I might balance out my analog and digital interests.

And speaking of that analog portion of my life... I'm in the middle of my second workshop at Silvera Jewelry School up in Berkeley. OMG, it's such a blast. Working with your hands totally rocks!!! I've learned to set stones, perform basic metal work and create wax models for lost wax casting. I've learned so much in such a short time. The setup in Berkeley is fantastic, they have everything you need to really create right off the bat. And Joe and Anat, the owners at Silvera, are incredibly talented, helpful and inspiring.

Uh oh, I may have another side job in the works!!

A Simpler Life

As you might imagine, I've been having a lot of conversations lately about moving away. Here's the thing. I am a local living here in Silicon Valley. We are a rare breed these days. Born at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, I  grew up in San Carlos and Palo Alto for the most part. Although there was that brief overseas adventure at the American Community School of Beirut during my Junior High years. But that's a whole 'nother story...

The conversations I've been having tend to center on the changes in the fabric of community due to the influx of silicon valley peeps. On one hand, there is a richer tapestry of culture and diversity that enriches life here and really makes the burbs more vibrant and global. But on the other hand, there is this leftover longing for a simpler, smaller community - a place where it doesn't take 70 minutes to drive 12 miles to and from work during morning and evening rush hour. A place where cool little stores don't have to keep dealing with exorbitant rent hikes. And a place where everyday people don't have to deal with off-the-chart rents and housing prices.

Call it nostalgia, but a lot of us locals seem to be feeling it these days.

This longing for a simpler life is really feeding into my escape plans. After conferring with a few folks, I'm going to take a year off and move to the central coast. I'll take the time to decompress from that toxic work environment, develop my photography and my little start up in a comfortable, reasonable atmosphere. As I mentioned earlier, I've narrowed it down to Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. After this year, I'll revisit the larger move. Onward!

You Can Take the Girl out of Silicon Valley...

...but you SO cannot take the Silicon Valley out of the girl.

A great realization has occurred. And I haven't even left yet.

Realization #1:

I thought I might be able to make this leap and strictly be around - how do you say - analog people. To re-inspire and fill up the well of my creative spring.

Well, I can't. I'll just get that out there. I adore that world, I'd love to dive in head first and immerse myself in those magical Maxfield Parrish green analog waters, but I've worked in tech for so long that I absolutely need a little bit of geekiness in my life.

Ok. Duly noted. Moving on...

Back to it!

Oh, happiness. Things are looking up health-wise! Let's just say the doctor is cautiously optimistic, and that's good enough for now : )

So I'm back to enjoying the bliss of being able to focus on photography. And it truly is absolute bliss. But at the same time, I'm excited about slowly putting the framework for my little startup in place. It will be my second startup... makes me all tingly!

Gosh, it's so amazing to be able to make this kind of jump. Sure, it's a scary jump, but it's a good one, nonetheless.

I'll head down to San Luis for a peek around at rentals in a week or so, then maybe a drive out to New York next month, house hunting along the way.

I'm buying boxes tomorrow.

Left Turn

Ok, so this is what I didn't say in my last post. I didn't say that when the flight back to SFO was descending, I got one of those crippling sinus decompression headaches that pretty much feels like a part of your face is being ripped out.

I didn't say that when I still felt awful a week later, I finally went to the doctor and asked him to please find out what the hell was going on (been super sick off and on for the last six months). I didn't say that he ordered a CT scan and found a large mass in my left sinus. The doctor says it looks benign, but I'll find out more on Wednesday.

In any case, it will involve surgery. Which means no flying for some time. Which means, with my (grown) kids on the west coast, I feel I pretty much can't move back east right now. Even though I finally did find the perfect house. And so... I'm recalculating some more.

Moving is still on the agenda. I'm really kind of over the silicon valley thing. I think what I may do after the surgery and treatment, is move to one of my fave places on the central coast (SLO or Santa Barbara) and just rent and chill and do art for a while, till NY or Santa Fe or Portland calls to me and says "come hither!"

I've come to realize my life is FULL of left turns. This does seem to be just one of a series. But that's ok, really. Keeps it interesting...

Perhaps NY?

Just back from a whirlwind exploration of upstate NY. Emphasis on the whirl.

Over the last six months I have evaluated nearly every interesting area that I would consider moving to; Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Portland, Sedona, Santa Fe, Charleston, and the Hudson Valley area of NY.

When all was said and done, I decided that Saugerties, NY was just about the perfect area for me. Highly creative. Tons of hiking and yoga. Nice people. Low crime. Cheap houses. Lots of art and culture. Tubing and water stuffs! Near enough to my friends and family in NYC, but far enough away that I wouldn't feel driven to commute to NYC for work. Because honestly, at the core of everything that is me, I really need to ditch the tech world and focus on my creative work right now. I SO need to breathe for a while.

So my very nice realtor took me around to see a half-dozen houses in the area. She also drove me around the entire area to get me more acclimated. What I learned was this... It's definitely a cool area, but some of the beautiful old Martha Stewart-y farm houses and barns are really old and run down inside!! I mean, I know I have it in me to flip houses, but I'm good at doing new bathrooms, not reinforcing barns or beams or stabilizing foundations.

Some properties are better than others, and there are those with quite a lot of potential. But it's got me re-evaluating now. Damn! My mind was made up. But I find myself drifting over to realtor.com to check out my second runner-up location, Santa Fe. Mulling, mulling...

Last Day at Company X. First Entry on Blog.

Wow. Now THIS was a weird day. I've worked at the company for nearly six years now, but today was my very last day there. Maybe I should have given notice that was longer than two weeks. In the end, my end date just came too damn fast.

The day was fine, some really nice goodbyes. Leaving some amazingly great people there. But it was hecka odd too. I realized I was leaving a place, an industry really, that has been a part of my life, my make up, for over twenty years.

My exit interview was scheduled for 4pm, but I ran into my interviewer in the hall about 15 minutes earlier. We just decided to do it early and get it over with.

I smiled and quickly signed all the paperwork. I didn't tell her about the incredibly screwed up department management. The horribly bureaucratic tendencies that are growing uncontrollably in the group and feeding on each other. The toxic environment of favoritism and exclusion. The nasty back stabbing. Nope, I just signed and smiled and packed up. Although I do admit to getting all misty at the very end. When the reality hit. Bittersweet.

So, I've come to realize I have an opportunity to fulfill a dream. This doesn't happen very often in life. It turns out I inherited a bit of money that will allow me to run wild, run free and run the heck away from Silicon Valley. It's time. It is SO time.

I've been asked by a few people to chronicle this time in my life. So consider this the first installment.

Welcome.