White Castel

Heyooo my name is Haley. I'm going to school for game art but I mostly post about my travels here. On a day to day basis I am cooped up inside working on a computer like any other college student. Check out my links in the left bubble. Feel free to strike up a conversation!

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The summer started with a last minute even which seems to have become the theme for this summer. I got a last minute invite from the lady I was interning for the summer with, to go to RuPaul’s DragCon. Being that I am not a drag queen or dedicated enough of a fan to justify going alone, I could never have imagined what DragCon had to offer me. When I got there I realized the whole thing was like a drag queen shopping mall and I relished in it! With all kinds of events on the horizon like comic con, labyrinth and burning man, I came to work. Standing in line to meet a queen was completely off the table due to timing issues and the fact I would rather organically meet and greet a queen and not be on a time limit.

Next a cancelation made mom ask me if I wanted to go to a Trixie Mattel concert in San Diego. I feel any fellow Trixie fan will appreciate my look for the night. During the concert my mom and I kind of adopted a guy (who was very very gay (that’s a special note for my boyfriend, love ya) who was having issues with his hammered friends, so we made a point of including him in our dances and sing alongs. At the end of the night we all exchanged numbers and have been meme traders since!

Lastly, after a wild night at a Drag Race finale watch party, my cousin invited me to watch Bianca Del Rio play in Phoenix the following night. So that ended up being a whole weekend of drag. I think after this summer I can no longer consider myself a casual fan of the show.

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The planning and execution of this happened very quickly. In less than a week I was sitting on the edge of a plane cabin with my legs dangling above the Earth thousands of feet below. I was the first to jump out because I wanted my boyfriend watch me go in case I died haha. The fall itself is so short but worth every second. I felt like I was on the worlds best roller coaster, one with out tracks or a speed limit. This is something everyone should do at least once in their lives. I know it wont be the last time I do it.

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Spring actually had some amount of snowfall so my boyfriend and I spent every free day during spring semester hitting the slopes. This semester also had a pretty traumatic moment happen in my relationship that I’d rather not share. Just know that we healed our selves by jumping out of an airplane. So keep an eye out for the uncut video dropping soon. I hope my misshapen face flapping in the wind brighten your day.

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It was a nice day for a grey wedding! My long time travel buddy @blooavenue got hitched! The elopement took place in the Lute’s wedding chapel which has been a staple in Yuma for most of the last century. When you go inside this beautifully preserved wedding chapel you see old black and white pictures of brides as far back as the 40′s. Watching Josephine and Brendan say their I do’s in the quaint little living room surrounded by their closest friends and family gave me an overwhelming sense of small town pride. I felt connected with all the other young and hopeful souls that had passed through the halls before us. Josephine and Brendans little celebration was beautifully simple and I wish them a million blessings.

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Painting of me in Prague 2017 // Lani Emanuel

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This winter was really flown by the seem of our pants. Mostly because mother nature dealt the biggest of all curveballs. Winter was only delivered to the south this year while the mountain tops of Colorado went unpowered. For a couple that only has the love of snowboarding keeping us together at times, this was a major issue. My family chose to stay in California for Christmas which was a first. This meant my boyfriend and I would have to make our own ways to the mountain. We just had to get our hands on whatever man made snow there was. 

Not before my mom found a free sailboat ride in the San Diego bay. If the cards tell you winter isn't here you should carry on as if summer never ended. So we put on our preppiest boat attire and went to meet Mom’s connect. She found this guy through an app where he was offering “Free Sailing Lessons”. in reality, he was a guy living on a house boat who wanted some drinking buddies to party with him on his boat. Apparently everyone on the boat was aware of this as everyone brought booze and snacks to help aid in the lesson. It was an amazing time out on the water and it didn't cost anyone a dime apart from the food and drink that was shared that day. Sometimes the internet can put out a little good and innocent fun, as there was no way any of the people on the boat would have ever hung out without this app.

The next day we headed up to Durango with my boyfriend’s family from Arizona who were able to appreciate the dismal amount of snow we saw. We all still managed to have fun live vicariously through the wonder in the eyes of the little nieces and nephew. We had them as an excuse to finally ride the Polar Express train show, which we had only ever driven by before. 

On our drive back to Arizona we took a detour stop at the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. I had only been once before but I was surprised how foggy my memories were because it couldn't have been more than five or six years ago. It was amazing to take in the dwellings with fresh eyes, especially with a child and her native American family.

The rest of the winter was spent in Flagstaff who occasionally had better snow than Durango. My boyfriend had to unfortunately return to school earlier than me so weekends at Snowbowl was all we could manage even throughout the Spring. Little did I know summer 2018 would feel just as quick simple and fun.

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Every Thanksgiving my American family comes together as best it can at our ranch in Sonoita, Arizona. This is kind of a strange place to describe location wise but I usually just say an hour outside Tucson. This place is where you will still find the unconquered old west. The area had a boom at the turn of the century when mining was a big local industry. But that time didn't last long and soon the only folks left were rancher’s and their cowboys.

Not much has changed in the area and it remains wild and free. This place is what I think of when the phrase “American Summer” comes to mind. Before we were able to afford to travel much my family would come to the ranch for the summer and let the kids run wild and free. Now it is a spiritual home for all of us in our family. It is almost a yearly obligation for family members to return for thanksgiving and its sometimes the only time we see each other all year.

Every year new people pass through invited by which ever family member. They all say the same thing, “You have made this feel like home”. This year it was finally my boyfriend’s turn to make his debut at our family Thanksgiving. It went as well as I could have ever hoped for. Our stomachs were filled and our nights occupied with watching old VHS movies or smoking by the fire outside under the stars.

One day was spent trying shrooms for the first which was an experience I could talk about all on it’s own. Feel free to inbox me questions about that if you want but my quickie rating for that was 10/10. Another day was spent catching up with my friend Brian who had recently moved from Yuma to Sierra Vista, the biggest town in the county.

Brian had told us about a cave system he had found while hiking in the local national park. The area is also known for Karchner Caverns which is one of the most beautiful cave systems in the country I’m sure. But the one Brian was talking about was unsupervised. So my boyfriend, my cousin and I joined him in exploring this little underground layer, only locals could really know about. The day was capped with exploring an abandoned church before freaking out about getting caught and running across a field of very sharp and tacky dead plants.

I’m happy all these years on the ranch never fails to entertain with its surrounding areas and wide open spaces. If you really want to feel the American south west this corner of Arizona has endless surprises if you just look a little deeper than it’s ‘middle of nowhere’ appearance. 

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                   Fall in Laguna Beach // 2017

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I first found out about Joan Cornella on tumblr and I think many people have seen his work. He is the king of shock comedy webcomics and they all happen to be painted traditionally. So I had been getting ads for one of his first exhibitions in LA and was waiting for an excuse to look at these paintings.

The trek from OC to LA isn't too physically distant but with traffic it can easily become a 2 to 3 hour ordeal. So when going to visit LA I need to make sure there are several reasons to go. That is when my friend McKenna hit me up wanting to take a friend to LA for the first time. AKA I was being tasked with playing tour guide. I was going to make sure these kids got some culture!

Our LA trip also ended up including a trip to Griffith Observatory and the Santa Monica Peer. Unfortunatly it got dark before we could see the Hollywood sign but we managed to check off most of our tourist obligations.

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                    @abrantina​ // best feed moments

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So I made a post on insta about my best feed moments and it got me looking through some old pics I never did anything with. I see an insta feed as a kind of photographic soduku. It’s like curating the moments little moments in your life to whatever aesthetic you are feeling. Here I combined some photos from last fall semester taken over a few months. They all seem to have the same recurring colors which makes the collage itself look pleasing. Its a fun little exercise and all these cute little pics aren't forgotten!

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This is the last photo I took in my home town, on my last day in Portugal. This was a particularly hard fire season, making international new when 70 people died in one horrible incident. Obviously this was quite the ominous note to end such an amazing summer on.

As I sit here, almost a year later, looking at my low key summer plans for the coming months, I cant help but identify with this photo. This is a feeling I have had brewing within me for a few months now. The sheltered warm bubble I am in is never quite removed from the chaos outside. Everything you have can be gone at any instant.

But this photo also gives me hope. This is a photo of my home, a town that has existed for a thousand years. Nothing in life is certain, but for me personally I am comforted by the fact I know I can always go to this place and call it my home. People have lived here for generations never quite in touch with whatever happens outside of the city limits. Some people may spend their whole lives trying to get out of their small town. But when you live so close to one of the centers of the world like Los Angeles, the prospect of life of the grid becomes ever more charming. Unfortunatly my career deems I step into the hustle and bustle to make a living. So here I go, But don’t worry Portugal, I will not die happy if I never get to live in your borders again, so I’ll be back.

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