Happiness

How Do You Feel?

Duke loves this little skateboard and had just pushed it across the pavement with one hand while crawling with the other hand. He felt quite proud of himself. We are having lots of fun and I hope you feel great, too!

Introducing Baby Duke

Duke Everest Watson
almost 6 months old
photo by Dad

Hello hello! I truly have missed you all and I wish I would have announced that I was on maternity leave from the blog...I just kept thinking I might post here and there but as it turns out I just kept taking a big break from the computer. I also feel like having this space to write is synonymous with reading so much of what you write - and I did not have that capacity any longer so it almost didn't seem fair for me to blather on knowing I would not also have the chance to read what is going on with all of you.

Anyhoo enough about me, how about that adorable little face staring at you? Gosh he will be 6 months old in just a few days. His name is Duke Everest Watson. I just love him so much I can't even tell you. I am having so much fun being a mom. We took Duke to Santa Cruz for his first time last week and dipped his little toes in the water. He felt it was a little cold for his liking.

I can't wait to slowly but surely get back in touch and tell you more about Duke and art, surfing and people, life and health, love and nature, interviews and goofing off...gosh all that good stuff.

Thank you for sticking around.

Hello Friends

Surf Fridays!

Greetings from a lovely land. Waikiki in 1932.

A family member gave me this postcard that belonged to their great grandparents. There is not one day that goes by that I don't think of the Hawaiian islands. I imagine we'll take the baby there next summer. Until then...

Have a wonderful weekend, filled with Aloha.

A Joyous New Year!

These are some wonderful musicians, Nicki and Tim Bluhm. Nicki Bluhm has a new album called Driftwood, coming out very soon and this song will be on it. It's called Stick With Me and they are singing beautiful harmonies with the Golden Gate Bridge as their backdrop. "I don't wanna hear doubts I wanna hear shouts of victory"! Also, please check out Nicki's blog about all things backcountry. It'll make you want to get out there, explore and climb a mountain.

Tim plays with The Mother Hips, a band that I've been a big fan of for many years. I wanted to share this happy tune with you because with the impending birth of the Watson baby, I've been thinking so much of joy. I realized that joy could be the very greatest gift I could give to our son. So I am seeking it out each and every day.

Speaking of which, he is due any day now! Officially towards the end of this month, but maybe he wants to come early. I will definitely post a pic and share the good news once that happens.

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your year - I bet you are, you little rascals!

p.s. Thanks Seamouse!

Surf Fridays!

Happy Surf Fridays!

I think you'll recognize Fort Point pretty easily...The surfers under the Golden Gate Bridge were fantastic today. It was raining and we couldn't get enough of watching them.

It was a special day for me, as it was my birthday! I took the day off and my husband Jay and his sister Melissa and I ate lunch at Outerlands Cafe. Oh man, that place is one of my all time favorites. We stopped by Mollusk and the General Store and Trouble Coffee (try the Dirty Chai) before coming to this magical surf spot under the bridge.

Much love and happiness for you. Heading to Santa Cruz for a rainy and fun weekend... PLuv

Seamouse in Bondi

Tamarama Beach

Keiron Lewis captured this beauty after a bodysurfing sesh - just a 5 minute walk from his home in Bondi.

Hi Keiron, I was wondering what took you to Oz from England and how long you think you and your wife will live there.

After getting married my wife and I wanted to travel and live somewhere different before settling down into the big mortgage and starting our family. The UK is really suffering at the moment so it seemed like the ideal time.

I've just been sponsored by an Australian Company so we can stay here now until August 2014. I've no idea if we'll stay that long but at the moment we couldn't be happier.

Is there anything that amazes/surprises you about Australia that you were not expecting?

We are lucky enough to see whales swim past our apartment from our window. Even though I've seen quite a few now it's still amazing every time.

I bet you get to surf a lot more often?

Yeah, loads more! I get in most mornings before the crowds hit. Back in the UK my local was very fickle with wind and tide and the crew there have to know it well to surf as much as they do. Here it's almost on tap and I found it really hard to adjust to that. I still put my wetsuit on as fast as possible as if the waves could die off at any second.

And what do you miss most from home in England, besides family and friends?

Being an ex colony Australia is still pretty english and you can get hold of Heinz beans, Twinings Earl Grey, etc with ease.

In the winter though I really missed a proper Sunday roast and I know my wife misses UK fashion. It sounds awful but I do get cravings for Marks and Spencer sandwiches!



I wonder if some of your wetsuited character drawings will change at all from living in Oz.

Yeah, I've already found myself doodling them in shorties and board shorts as well as still suited up and lost on a sun drenched beaches. The winter here is longer than you'd think though and although they'd be summer suits back in england the fullsuit is still worn by most Aussies.

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Thank you Keiron! It sure sounds like you are doing great.

Please check out Seamouse's drawings and music loves on his blog, Pinniped. He's also involved in designing T-Shirts for Rake, Almond and keep your eye out for the upcoming T's he'll have with Wellen.

Surf Fridays!

Have you seen the film Monsterboards?

It was in the short selections at this year's New York Surf Film Festival. Director Matthew McGregor-Mento filmed Eef - "a surfer in Holland who makes and rides wooden surfboards with painted monsters on them in the freezing and junky surf of his home".

The film about Eef made me smile so much, I thought it would be fun to ask him a few questions.

Eef, do you remember some of the first monsters you ever drew?

The first monsters I did were the shadow monsters when I lived in Amsterdam. I lived in a trailer for awhile and I painted them on the outside on both sides next to my door. Pretty dark stuff now that I think about it. I did some of them with spray paint in hallways and on the streets as well. So the monsters and me go way back.

When my wife and I started a little painting/art workspace we combined my monsters with her happy and colourful style which resulted in the monsters and angel shrine which is in our little girl's bedroom at the moment. She opens the doors of it when she goes to bed. I made lots of little guardian-monster paintings as well - the idea is that you can hang 'em in your house and they will keep the really scary monsters out.

As a lover of monsters, how does your family celebrate Halloween (is it celebrated in Holland)?

Halloween is not as big here as it in the U.S. - we don't really celebrate it but we have quite a lot of monsters around the house year round.

Did you get to surf today? What monster board did you choose?

I didn't get to surf today! It's more of a weekend thing for me at the moment. I work in Amsterdam which takes some time to get to and back and I come back it's time for dinner, and after that the girls are going to bed (they are 4 and 2 years old). So if it's slightly looking possible I go to the beach early on Saturday or Sunday morning so I'll be back in time to go do something with Belinda and the kids. I have mostly bodysurfed the last year or so. I try to go year round.

A new trick I have to be less afraid of sharks is to imagine them with rubber teeth. What do you think of that?

It's a fantastic idea!!! I heard that Cyrus is singing a song about it in his new film. I did see the movie but missed that completely so thanks a lot for reminding me. I got to meet Cyrus at the NYSFF, he is such a nice guy.

I don't know why I'm so afraid of sharks, it's quite embarrassing and I hope the rubber teeth thing helps.

That's exactly where I got the idea about the rubber teeth - from Cyrus' movie, Stoked and Broke. How did the making of the movie Monsterboards come about?

I got in touch with Matt McGregor-Mento via email when I found some pictures online of the paipo boards he made. I was making them too, so we emailed and kept in touch. Matt is the nicest guy you'll ever meet and is SO stoked. And he likes strange boards just like me.

One day he emailed that he wanted to make a short movie about me, my art and the little waves here in Holland and that he wanted to submit it to the NYSFF. So he sent a camera over and I shot some footage. Matt is working as a creative director so he got together a team of great guys that did the editing, the animation and all that. I was blown away by how great it looked.

Still a little weird that it was about me though, I'm not a very skilled surfer you know. Everything over 3 feet is HUGE and scary in my world.

I got to meet Matt in real life when we went over to New York for the film festival. We got to stay with him and his wife and they were so much like us! Too bad they live so far away...

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Thank you Eef! You really made my day. For more on what Eef is up to and the monsters he draws, check out Monstercult.

CocoBohemia

CocoBohemia is where I keep an online gallery of my artwork. I think it's kind of a fun place.

Surf Fridays!

Ryan Burch stoked and sliding

Cyrus Sutton and his leading lady, Anastasia Van Windergen

Jay and I are happy to finally meet Ryan Tatar!
Photo taken by Joanie Celi

When I saw that Stoked and Broke was coming to San Francisco, of course I bought tickets right away. Jay and I had so much fun watching the movie, if you haven't seen it yet, it's the kind of surf movie that makes you smile the whole time. I love what Cyrus does, creatively. - and he's a fabulous surfer, too! Just an A+ guy in all that he does. Great film shorts shown ahead of the main attraction, too - including the now famous tarp surfing film.

Cyrus was a gracious host and showered the audience with t-shirts, and we were treated to music by Anastasia and then The Blank Tapes, both of whose music appears in the film. We ran into Thomas Campbell and got to meet Ryan Tatar for the first time. Nice to have you in Northern California, Ryan!

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We also recently saw Patrick Trefz's film, Idiosyncrasies, at the Pedro Point Firehouse in Pacifica. They were serving tamales and beer there, yum! While the crowd was noshing, they showed some footage from the 40s and 50s of surfing all along the California coast. That was super cool to see. They showed scenes of people surfing Linda Mar with no wetsuits. I don't think they stayed out as long in those days.

Bill Mulcoy somewhere in Mexico
shot by Patrick Trefz

Idiosyncrasies is a cool film. I liked learning more about Andrew Kidman but my favorite part of the movie was about Harbor Bill and his son Josh Mulcoy. Josh was there as a special guest, along with Patrick to answer questions once the movie ended. If you haven't seen the film and would like a better description, Rebecca Godson does a great job reviewing it.

Cruising Lake Tahoe

This could be you

We recently returned from a long weekend in Lake Tahoe, CA. Crisp and in the 30s at night, warming up to 70 during the day. The lake was the calmest I'd ever seen. In 3 days we went sailing, kayaking, and stand up paddle boarding. I was in heaven. Oh yes, I did fall off of my paddleboard once when a tiny wake came through from a nearby speedboat. That 53 degree water was very refreshing! I think I'm generally a little off balance now that my belly is a lot bigger.

Isn't it amazing that there's something about nature that rights your mind and calms every cell in your body? I just have to remember it's always there for us.