Where ever you go… There you are.

New Zealand again! I could have sworn I’ve been here before, and yes its true, I have, but last time it was different. I had randomly come here without plan or friends or an idea of a clue of what this place was about, all I knew was that it wasn’t America, and I was game. Coming off the plane and heading straight to waiheke, meeting up with new and old friends and generally being enamored in the lushness and beauty of this beautiful country. I was hooked immediatley extending my visa for six months with little more than enough cash for two. I made it work, woofing at the pottery in Coromandel and later Namois at the rings road herbal dispensary, I made it my home, got settled in and stayed put mainly because of cost and because there was a wood fire kiln I was was meters from.
Little did I know, I was a enigma. A hard working woofer?! Surely kiwis like to work gardening jobs too? No deary, its left for the foreigner who want it and I made it my job to be the bitch of any close by neighbors, whom loved my knowledge of native plants and my ability to kick ass at any task. I guess most foreigner cant tell the difference from a kawa kawa to a wild ginger.. Bring it then, and they did.. in my months in the Coromandel I was busy working when I wasn’t fishing or throwing pots and goodness me I had the most wonderful time and the most wistful memories of that magical place, but I digress…
Fast forward four years later.. really three and some change but who’s counting. I had with all good intentions been planning an adventure to indonesia, but after a night at munks, and a bottle of vodka been coerced into heading to kiwiburn, and doing a little visit before I headed to the much desired archipelago
I remembered how my mates had helped me through a particularly hard time, having travelled across the world to be with a boy who turned out not to be the one… oh well, it hurt at the time as these things do, and being in a similar state, abiet a not similar situation, I agreed it would be a choice idea to let my friends help me through, and its a huge step for me to stop being so damn secretive of my heartbreak and brokeness. So I did it, I came back to New Zealand to heal a broken everything, get back on my feet and find the squirrel that everyone knows and loves. the squirrel who I dont even know if I remember, the one before the boy who turned everything upside down and made me turn away from myself, the boy who was so far broken I only focused on getting him better, trying to find the girl whom I have felt very far from being in the past year especially.
good news is I’m on the way, I’d rather not get depressed about the reason I ended up here again, or the inability for me to heal myself from my own fucked up relationships in the states, but i’ll face it, my mates make it all better and the ability I have now to be free and persue my most loved aspirations make my life really blessed and special to me now. I honestly can say I haven’t felt that way in a long time so goodness me I think its a hallauhha!
thank goodness I made the final break and saw through the bullshit and gained the strength to make it happen. thank goodness I’m here.
more upbeat adventure to come,
i promise
love jessielynn
“squirrel”

 Family.

we are all born with one no matter the circumstances. No matter the geological differences or states of mind,  our family surrounds us on our journey throughout our lives

they teach us lessons, give advice, and also provide a safe place for ultimate expression of our true selves, unhindered by the crushing sence of disapprovable by our peers.

also giving a space where our gifts will always bear a smile and a warm exchange will fill the air.

effortless love, for the greater whole.

Finally the answer.

As it lies in the brothers and sisters,

we meet along the way.

confirming the miracle

in everyday existance.

luv. miss jess

  The absence of my blogging is the indication of having a very fulfilling fantastic time, the racket of internet being 6 dollars an hour in coromandel NZ is an issue too, truth of the fact is I have been enjoying my self to no end..

So to start off, yep I should have been on a plane two weeks ago, back in LA looking for work.  Well we all know Jess and she changes her mind with the seasons, I knew 3 months in NZ wouldnt be enough, so I extended my visa until the 30th of June.  Promise.  coming home then.

I am up here in Coromandel, have been for the last two months.   I got the urge to come back here after a friend of mine came for a whilwind tour of the penisula when I first got to NZ.  the lush green pensuila is thick with potters and artists, the coast is 30minutes away no matter where you are and for the first time in my freaking life I am content where I am.

Currently I am woofing at an herbal dispensary,  learning about herbal medicens and native plants and their uses…  Also I am lurking about potteries firing kilns and learning heaps,

I got lots to say but so little time to say it,

will be back in the states for Burning Man.  DPW.

R Ahhh, miss you all but not too much 😉

love hugs and kisses

squirrel

Oh dearie me.

Fresh off the paddock I be, got a ride from a lovely fella Rich whom I met in a euroburners camp this year at the Green Man to Wellington where I’ll be catching the 8 am ferry across the cook straight to the south island to help with set up of yet another festival, and a rendevous.. but woah-hey, get back here, can’t forget the freaking magic that occured to me in a seeming disquised paddock in central Northern New Zealand this past week.

Oh yeah some people would call it Kiwiburn.

So the site is in a real rualy place in the central north island, Mangakino. lots of paddocks (fields) with sheep and cows just chomping round us..

Ahhh yes just the blank canvas a Burn deserves, not to mention a lovely lake to go swimming in when the flies and heat get to be too much..

Yes it all happened innocently enough, with the MPW kicking ass day in and day out, We built the city and settled down for a dirty little romp in the paddock.

Thank you JaFAb for the Dirty freaking dubstep and loads of warm ranfurly, and moonshine
Thank you trailer trash for being so damn ghetto, but doing it with such style and cancer-producing vigor
Thank you Green Fairy for the UV chill zone, and yummy homemade absenthe
Thank you Sheep end for chilling with the sheep and rocking tunes only 107 hours of trade me could have provided
Thank you drop out Zone for the Tequila concoction that got the wedding party so damn messy that we Could indeed fit 37 people on Kiwis car
Thank you camp pedro for mandanins and corn fritters and my new desire to join your comunity or at least visit… (ps get better hippie!!)
Thank you Pink Moa, for giving the top of the hill a sparkly and very pink existance, also non-stop tunage..

but hey, gots to thank my own camp, Camp Scrump whom with our ever growing numbers didnt miss a beat and always had some Scrumpy on hand for the masses, (we rock)

So you ask miss squirrel, what is a Taniwha?

I found out about it earlier in the week at kiwiburn, its kind of like a New zealand version of the Loch ness monster, but this one is a guardian of maori tribes, mythical creature that lives in the lakes and rivers of NZ. loving called daves mum, but not so sure dave appreciates that one;)

Now getting on with the magic..

I went on a recovery mission early in the day to bring some peeps out to the lake to help shake the effects of the wedding out of the brain and revitalize the body. After a long, relaxing swim in the calm waters, we sat on the bank overlooking lake, my eyes looked over to see a big swell on the other side.. Hmmmm I quickly scanned the water for any sneaky boats lurking round causing wake but could see none in the glass flat water and directed my attention back to the swell that had now grown to three swells and a bit of white break on the front.

I got the attention of Dak..

Holy Shit its a Taniwha! Do you see that?

Yep.

Its a Taniwha!

after that the swells dissappered in the slick water and a massive bubble surfaced.

TANIWHA!!!

I saw a Taniwha, and let me tell you people it doesnt happen much.. And yes thanks for the dobuts, I wasn’t on acid. Ha!

The really strange thing is I later ran into a lady who had done a cleansing ritual in the lake for the spirit of the Taniwha, due to a request of someone who wanted a certian piece of jewlery (taniwha bone, carved by a murderer or something?) cleansed only an hour before we were there..

Yes trippy, and after that I was buzzing with the happiness of seeing the taniwha, too happy I think so I set down at Bruce’s creation the Merkabah, which was the central art piece of the temple, a “good energy” generator with a swinging chair in the middle and buddhist chanting playing on the CD player.

For moments I swayed and listened to the chanting, my mind floated with the sea creatures and the good energy that was no dobut swirilng round me, immeadiatley I found great calm and would have stayed but wanted others to have a go at the experience.

I hopped down and was completey buzzing, radiating light, and smiling a big shit eating grin. Moving on I thought about the mind and our possibilities of manifistation of our deepest wishes and desires, well I thought really the only thing that would top today, a burn day (really its hard to top a burn day mid-day but I did it. HA!) is a little hangy-hangy swingy-swingy, thinking I’d try to climb the tree next to the saftey shed, I headed over and found Andrea and Jez some lovely Welly folks had hung up the silk arieals and were giving lessons, UM, yea, this is getting a bit weird.

After my very first lesson, I also got to do a trapeeze lesson, Oh dear I am hooked and I bet my scrumpettes in London town would be oh so proud of little squirrely, I really loved it. Something I had always wanted to try but never got the chance, shit I maybe one step closer to joining the circus 🙂

Oh I bet the hippiness of the vibe is getting to you now, so only one more tidbit of the Burn Night

We blew him up, and tried to blow up Dougal too, but he only got a bit wounded.

Next time we should all stand a little farther back.

**Onward carriers of Light to the South Island**

love Squirrel

Hey peeps.

hot diggity, so everyone I spoke to before I came here was saying how much I would love it, how beautiful new zealand is, well peeps its true. all the reports are true.. the only thing I have to add is that I have seemed to have also found myself in the Nexus of Cute. the Cuteness factor is high off the meter.

the scenery is primordial, breathtaking, and awe inspiring, around every corner is a Oh mY GOD type of scene.

YAh. SO heading off waiheke today, heading down to the kiwburn site it a convoy of pirates, hippies, and creatures.

YIPEEEE!

Will be first on site with MPW.

On the forcast for the next few weeks is another festival on the south island and rendevous with ol travellin pals..

stay tuned

did I mention its summer here 🙂

xx jess

Kia Ora folks!

So, yes I know, been awhile since I’ve been down on the blog front. No excuses here but didn’t really want to bore the masses to death with the gory details of my brief under-cover super secret squirrel corporate ramblins.. Yes its true.

I went undercover in a corporate office, ahhh the things we do for travel..

So lets skip ahead to today.

Back at Nowhere last July I got the fever to attend yet another burn in a far-away lovely land, this compounded with the fact that I had arrived back to the states with more than an intense need to keep travelling on. I bought a ticket to New Zealand and got to working as soon as I could to make it happen,

So here I am.

New Zealand

With nothing more than a name of a nearby island and the promise of paradise, I hit the ferry as soon as I arrived in Auckland to the lovely Waiheke Island.. Not having a plan. (I do adore the no-plan plan) I got a ride to Onetangi beach where supposedly there were friends of friends residing.

Having found the backpackers booked, I set off to the beach, practiced my accordian a bit and meditated on the fact that magic was soon to happen.

As the sun began its decent, I headed up a hill half checking out places to set up the tent for the night, but still with this underlying notion that magic was going to manifest itself.

I remembered I had gotten in touch through the kiwiburn website with a fellow I had briefly met at the SF decom and had written down his number.. hmmm might as well give it a shot.. so at the little gas station gave a shout.

-HiDIve! hey its squirrel

Hey you where are you?

-In paradise.

Really?! Where in paradise?

-Onetangi

What! Me too! where you at?

– at the little gas station on top of the hill.

Holy pete! we’re right arond the corner!

Yep. folks magic happens, ended up here at the domes in a lovely little communal situation..being welcomed with open arms and beers and

HOLY SHIT. the MAN in the backyard.

So between trips to the beach, been helping out with pimping the man and also been able to mock up my decorating of a section of the temple.

got pics coming soon. and am heading to coromandel tomorrow for some tramping and exploring before heading to the burn next monday for set up.

YIPEEEE!! love ya’ll wll keep ya posted

So nestle down my lovelies i am bout to tell you a story about my last weekend in the UK..

Okay time would have enabled me to tell this one long before, but she is such a lovely one I;d thought I’d hold on to her for a while…and I guess the PTD got me down for ahwhile but I am back RAHHHH! (to the folks) we’ll I have been meaning to let you in on all this but never got round to it 🙂

My last hurrahs in Europe started offically with Nowhere, the Euroburn in spain… not much to say about that because it is difficult to explain to one who hasn’t been, I like the description I got fromn tribe, it refers to Burningman but to Nowhere as well… It is kinda like extreme campimg with music, art and fire, the rest you will have to see for yourself.

Nowhere was well different for me this year than last, maybe you remember? last year I rocked up knowing no one and was adopted by the london Collective. This year I knew practically everyone, worked on gladys the fire spitting fireengine the entire spring, and attened meetings and pre Nowhere parties because I was in London, I also was alble to recruit a crew of people I knew from travelling in Morocco last year before I met any of the London crew to coming out Nowhere this year, they were my icing in the cake (sophie, kathy, stephano, I am so glad you came and you are part of my life) Oh so blessed was I to meet the people I did the year before too, as they opened up a whole community of friends and aquainteses I couldn’t have known otherwise… but I digress.

After Nowhere I flew up to London and met Ninja Adam the same day to see Mogwai in the city center… ( we have a habitual problem with this band, not one time goes past that we didn’t see them together)… as a matter of fact I have seen them over 8 times and it gets better and freaking better ever time 🙂

That itself would have been a fine send off, but no!

Not enough for the squirrel… I demanded nothing less than a free party in brighton with all my friends there.. I had grown quite close to Brighton the last few months since my return from india.. The free parties in the fields of southern england were such a highlight for me that I wanted to recreate one for my last send off,

soooo, we looked for a place to hold the party and came across a group of sound people already setting up in a cove of a public forest near to the city… Perfect we thought! we’ll just set up with you, combine parties and have a rip-roaring good time…

Or so we thought…

So off to get supplies,
CIder- Check
fish and chips in the belly -check
freinds arriving from all over london and converging at my friends house- check
speaker stacks-check
more cider-check

Oh goodness its all falling into place, we all get into my friends van and head to the site..

OH NO! the police are there and they have reports of a “rave” happening tonight in the woods, they ask to search the car and proceed to search the people as well.

I am feeling a sly bit cocky, when I am talking to nice officer woman, she asks me if I have any drugs on me… Nope I say beaming! search me my dear, and as she does she discovers a little a-korn filled with K- oops, a “present from someone I had met earlier that day on the level ( a park in brighton proper) Oh shit poop…. Oh shit..

“we are going to have to take you in for this”

“what?! ” it was a gift I have no Idea what it even is inside, please officer lady it is my LAST WEEKEND IN BRIGHTON..

NOOOOOO!!!

I am cool, calm and collected, glad that none of the others in the van have anything that would get them into trouble.. Taking one for the team, I surrender and head down to the station with Brightons finest.

Once inside the station I realize this is not America,the cops inside are jovail and nice, I tell them the story about the “gift” I was caught with and they believe me whole heartily, I tell them what’s inside and they take my word for it, No testing which would have kept me in there all night…

I go through all the booking process and pretty much reslove my self to being in there through the morning, but instead of locking me in a cell awaiting a call from the uppers, they chat me up in the main room, about the weather in california, how this guy went to America once with his girlfriend and had the most amazing time, and then they started…. “Please Say the Rights in American”

“OkAy”, I say a bit annoyed but well willing to play along,

In a deepended voice..

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

I click my back heals together and salute, laughter roars thoughtout the precinct.

“Again, “Again!”

“Okay, ” I say reluctantly, but loving it cause these guys are having a good time.

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

Laughter roars again and I am taken to a side room with offers of tea,

‘looks like you’ll be out of here in a hour” says a deputy with a big bushy moustashe, and kind eyes..

Hmmmm, I wonder why?

“Oh we believe this was given to you as you said, and all your friends are here, can’t miss your going away party right?”

“Nope” that would be really sad..

“We do have to give you a caution though, if you get caught with a substance again here in the UK you WIll stay all night and have charges pressed.”

“No Worries!, Officer you won’t be seeing me again…”

My friend Sam the driver of the van had also been taken in for “theft by finding” of a breathlizer test they found in his van, we both got released together at about three in the morning and made a suprise attack on the party going on in my hounour on top of the highest hill in all of Brighton..

The lights of the city twinkled below, the gray sea was looming far down the hill, and just an hour before the jailbirds arrived.

Arockalypse did.

So sorry if you haven’t met Arokalypse before, the most rockingest theme camp of all of Nowhere, with their Never-ending Libations and grooves, and tunes, they kept us rocking through out the whole event. ( and I must say they had the least set-up/ most fun ratio I have ever seen)

They had hours’ before made the crossing over to England, driving through France, rescuing lost ladies, and not to metion being the last rockstars on site,

Monkey Jon,Austraulian Jess, Dangerous Dave, Ya’ll made Nowhere then miraculously showed up, provided the Bar (stacked to the brim with donations from the other camps), brought the sound system, brought the capret, and brought the “money” (monkey jon knows what I am talking bout) then proceeded to rock it all night long, or at least what was left of the night.

Nooners came out of the wood work, Helen over there, Sara over here, Dougaul magically appears, I am massive smiles in between dancing Twinks and Rich’s, Ninjas and Hares. rolling around, on the carpeted meadow, we revel in the night that rapidly escapes..

Impromptu joy and goodness was what I was after and it was delivered thanks to the rockingest crew this side of the pond….

Morning comes in with a grumble, the skies start to shift and move at record speed before our eyes, below we see the clouds shift into stormy ones, abover the storm we are safe right?

we all a watch in wonder as the sun rises meekly in the east and is gobbled up by the ominous clouds racing across the sea, it becomes apparent we are screwed and next for the rain attack..

As the rain moves in we grab tarps and huddle underneath, maybe 15 people holding tight togeher for warmth to stay out of the rain, the closeness of us all make us giggle and laugh about Nowhere which happened only days before.

More rain comes, we sit and then cover with the make-shift tent/tarp.. Thank goodness dougal warms a stick on the fire and sets it in the center of us to hold up the tarp and also to hold on to as it give us warmth.

“Love LIve the warm stick” we cry,

Huddled we grasp the warm sitck until it gows tepid, and someone probably dougal) puts another one out there in its place…

“long live the warm stick!”

we all shout, huddled together, against the rain, with renewed warmth from our new stick we are content and suggled against the elements..

But the rain finally has its way with us, and we are forced to take refuge in Dougal’s Pikey van, safe and sound and warm.

I couldn’t have written a script for a better going away party, My friends and our experiences are stranger than fiction anyway..

YAY for the London Collective, Brighton, and Especially

Monkey Jon, Adam, Brother Hare, Australian Jess, Michael,Dangerous Dave Helen, Dougal, Kathy, Sam the VAn and all the others I can’t seem to say right now

I love you guys and miss you dearly.. Thanks for making my adios so freaking great.

‘less the getting arrested part’ but hey

who’s complaining.

certainly not Squirrel.

I am miss slacker pants…

But… I wear these pants with pride , they have my stories written in them, along with the dust and grime of the road. No matter how much they are cleaned the stories never fade, even though time passes, the stories stay forever waiting for the right moment to be passed on, suppose that moment would be now, as I am here and ready to spin some yarns bout the last few months.. I had all intentsions to be doing this well sooner, but I have to admit coming back to the states got me well into the grip of PTD, post travel depression… kind of a cross between revesrse culture shock and denial, Big loads of denial that I am an American, back in MY country, having to be aware of MY fucked up government, MY fucked up reality, and being homeless in your home country for some reason isn’t quite as glamorous as doing it in others,

So after being in Ohio approxomatley three days, I went and spent a third of the rest of my savings on a one-way ticket to New zealand. Responsible? NO. am I excited? OH hell yes of course I am 🙂 Do I have money to support my self while I travel there??? ummmmm I am working on it… that would be the irresponsible part/ before I had it all planed, I had the money saved, back up, insurance, blah, blah. everything.. Now it seems I could care less, I just want out, I am not ready to be here for good again. not yet anyway.

Seems like I have taken to the Nomad lifestyle like a little kitten to some nip… Don’t take it away, or I will show my teeth and bite and scratch.. Okay perhaps another anology wouuld have matched me better.
but I feel like a kitten, all fresh and full of energy.. I have been orgainzing closests for eccentric peeps in Santa Monica, I take everything out, reasses, and then put her all back in, in a easy to follow and practial way.

Not so bad!? ALso have been catering, doing focus groups and yard work, also a bit of construction (light stuff) and plumbing.. ! cody would be pround. I thank most of this to craigslist, and the city of LA for being such a melting pot of possibilities.

I love the homeless in LA too, petey was just saying how riding the bus is like paying for a $100 circus ticket, dude is soooo right sometimes 🙂 I end up getting into the most intense converstaions with the homeless here. I suppose because I look them all in the eye, and catch their attention.. a routine jounrey to the bus stop turns into a few hour long personal councelling session, and a bite to eat and a few hundreed cigarettes rolled. Its hard to belive I was one of them about 10 years ago, circumstances left me homeless on the promenade in Santa Monica, Its hard to get back up once you fall, and that is mostly our conversations… bout how I got back up… sheesh always trying to be an inspriation 🙂

But I can see, and I enjoy all and everyone;s opinion about LA and AMerica, the people in cities, especially in the big ones differ drastically from the little towns, these people are educated on the facts that couldn’t trivkle thtough in a normal little town, conspircy theroy, cctv, the twin towers, Iraq, Iran, BUSHHHHH, Condi, more bush… In ohio they only speak of football, baseball, TV,nascar and (my favoriate which should be on the top for everyone) canning veggies and making it to the county fair with the posssibilioties of the most ribbions, now that is life

or what you would think you’d ( or a closet hippie like me) would want it. I want the middle grounfd, honestly I start the nod after being in a political coversation too long, and I can’t seem to be in Ohio long enough to see the WHole canning prosess throught the season, guess I will have to get a recepire book and an open mind bit more time and a willing ness to stay put (my goodness wish me luck**** So much to learn! AS much as I would like to be an advocate for free speech, and bringing down the conspiritors. I am afraid I don’t have the drive or attention span for it… Oh poo must focus on something else… Oh yes! looks like I have finally found a place to teach me welding, in exchange for some of my amazing organizational skills… WHat?! no that is good
… fantastaic reason for me to be hopping up and down…the world needs more lady welders, I am sure of it.

miss squirrel be floating on air..

xx j

ps…. keep yer eye out for back stories if I ever get round to em

muahhh!

Yep, it’s that time of year..

Pull out yer fuzzies, grab some sparklies, round up the creatures and Sew! Sew! Sew!

Goggles, baby wipes, dust masks, camel back.. check

almost time to go

Going back home, to the wild Nevada desert.

a blank canvas of infinite possibilites, dust storms, full moons and metorite showers in the forecast.

Imaginations run free, Inhabitions are released, and the creative mind runs rampant across the dusty playa..

Things I am feeling most blessed about being on the playa this year.

* Being a hostess for lovely women at the Adoration Party created by my dear friend CE.
* Camping with Friends of Jerome, a dynamic group of peeps, I was able to get connected through Indie and Laney
* Seeing and reconnecting with long lost friends I haven’t seen since 2005
* OI! OI! Rocking out with the London Collective (word on the street is they be terrorizing SF at this very moment!)
* sporting my lovely newly fabricated bustle and merkin decked out unitard (thanks indie!)
* Having a date for a pub crawl with the most kick ass fella Jocko.

and all those adventures that will find me along the way,

BRING IT!

RAHHH I be a happy squirrel.

xxoo jess

what have i done?!,
originally uploaded by jkomaromy.

Oh goodness my friends as if life doesn’t make you wonder sometimes as to the great plan in the scheme of things..

Yesterday I headed down to the good old American Embassy (lovely, lovely people those Americans I might add) filled out all the forms, had photos taken, and was ready to shell out the cash to get an emergency replacement passport. As I step up to the counter the woman gets a call from the Tesco I “lost” my wallet at.

Yep, they have it.

and everything is inside, my passport, driver’s license, all the quid safe and sound.

Needless to say I started jumping up and down causing quite a scene in the somber waiting room, If there wasn’t a glass partition I would have kissed the lady.

So the bad news is I missed the ferry, but I think of this as a major message that I wasn’t meant to be on the ferry anyway, I got a ticket to Spain for Friday so all is well.

I am Going Nowhere!!

hot damn diggity,

to celebrate I dyed my hair an obscenely bright red, something I haven’t done in ten years,

should be a pale pink before I am state side again..

Love you all, won’t be blogging again until after Spain.

miss and love you all

jess