Great Moments in Amanda-dom

After getting out of the shower tonight, I spent almost 10 minutes looking for my glasses, only to finally realize that they were (and you've already guessed this, of course) ON MY FACE. Also, remember the part when I said, "after getting out of the shower"? That means that I'd been wearing the glasses in the shower without even realizing it. People, I wash my face when I take a shower! DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Before Bed Public Service Announcement: Do not mix watermelon and cheese, ever. I'm trying to think of some clever metaphor to convey how bad this tasted, but I'm pretty tired, so can we just leave it at this? It looks nice in the refrigerator, at least. (And it'll look even nicer in the trash. Fare thee well!)

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I made it to 27! It feels kinda like 26.

My birthday was pretty nice. Work was bad for several reasons (one of which? The stupid birthday committee completely forgot my birthday, and I did NOT receive the expected card filled with generic well-wishes!) but I was in good spirits and didn't really mind. That evening I went to dinner at Lovely Hula Hands, which was... well, lovely. I took some photos for you! As usual, they are of D- quality, but I did the best I could:

This is the appetizer, "House-made mozzerella with a grilled peach, green bean and hazelnut salad." (Not pictured: "Rosemary focaccia with arbequina olive oil.") You'll notice that I've taken one bite, after which I decided it needed to be photographed so I could look at it every day and taste it in my mind. OH, MAN. I think I want to start making my own cheese.

This here is the main course, "Grilled Oregon albacore tuna with yukon gold potatoes, aioli and a green bean, saffron onion and tomato ragout." Like the appetizer, it was also quite edible.

I can't even look at this photo without wanting to cry. This, of course, is "Chocolate pave cake with espresso cream and salted almonds," and its good buddy, "Pistachio ice cream with strawberries and an ossi dei morti cookie." We spent a lot of time scraping our plates clean. For cocktails, I had a cold milk punch (milk, irish whiskey, sugar, nutmeg) and a kir (cava and Chambord). Um. Yum!

Afterwards, we went up to the Bye and Bye (my most favorite of all bars) where a table of my friends rowdily lead the bar in singing "Happy Birthday" to me (uh, twice). Hey, it was nice! I'd been feeling sickly all week, so I was pretty low-key -- in bed by midnight, I think -- but luckily others stepped up to the plate and celebrated for me:

What a pal!

On Saturday, I took myself on a full-day birthday date. I got up early and went to the farmer's market. Afterwards, I wandered over to Powell's, where I bought some dumb magazines and a book of Robert Hass's poetry criticism, which I've been meaning to pick up for awhile and which was on mega-sale! As if that weren't enough, the cashier turned out to be a huge Robert Hass fan and started gushing about "Praise," which was basically a dream come true for me.

Then I took myself out to breakfast at Kenny & Zuke's, where I loitered over gossip magazines, french toast, and a mimosa. While I was sitting there, a naked bike parade rolled by, which created a hilarious Woody Allen-esque commotion with the Jewish tourists sitting next to me ("Why aren't they wearing pants?! They don't have pants!" "Ma, you're yelling! Just don't look." "Well, I still don't see why they don't wear pants."). Afterwards, I went shopping and spent a foolish amount of money on dresses. Ah, to be young and stupid!

Then I walked around and did some other stuff, came home and did more stuff, sat on the balcony and read my book, drank ginger ale and ate a small melon. Leftover pizza, crude drawings with the colored pencils my mom sent me. Went to bed with a smile on my face. Over and out!

Maundering

Today something on the bus shorted out, causing the horn to blare whenever the driver hit the gas pedal! I can't even think about it without laughing. <--- (I just laughed for like a minute straight.) You should have seen the faces of all the other people on the road. And the cyclists! Whenever someone new got on the bus, they'd be confused and afraid until someone explained the situation to them. All the while, the horn would continue to blare until we stopped at a light, then the driver would hit the gas and it was BEEEEeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeEEEEEE[......]ppppp all the way until the next one. At one point we rounded a corner, horn blaring, and some homeless dude jumped back from the curb and screamed, "NO BRAKES!!!!!!" It took me like 20 minutes to write this paragraph because I had to stop and laugh after every sentence! Oh, man. I suppose I'd better switch topics.

Three loosely related points of interest: I just got back from eating here! It's outstanding. I got a slice of sausage pizza that had more meat on it than I've eaten, total, in the past 4 months. I also got one with "cheese" made out of cashews! (It doesn't actually taste anything like cheese, but it was really good. And it was topped with sweet corn, yum!) Also, it is the eve of my 27th birthday, and it was 105 degrees today. When I said "loosely related," I really meant it.

Fourth point of interest: I am ill, which is probably why I've been blogging so much. This does not bode well for a memorable birthday celebration, and probably means that you'll be treated to a maudlin, "I am 27, what does it all mean??" post in the next few days.

5th point of interest: I'm always shocked when "classic" novels turn out to be good, even though they really always do (that's why they're called classics, you fool). But seriously! I'm reading "Brideshead Revisited" right now and it's so good, so funny. I guess that's why they made it into a movie (twice). I also just finished reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," which is not a "classic" but was fantastically enjoyable (I guess that's why her books sell millions of copies). On the other hand, I just read that Murakami book about running; this is my second Murakami, and... I don't get it. There was a lukewarm review of the book in the NYT last week by some dude who was about as familiar with Murakami as I am, and we both seemed to come away with the same impression: "Wait, does he mean to write like that?" The book was fine, and Murakami's likeable, but doesn't he kind of write like a fourth grader? A little? Anyone? I guess my opinion doesn't count, though, because I always thought Hemingway was a crappy writer, too. Everyone always thinks I'm joking when I say that, but someday I'll find someone who agrees with me and we'll form a secret club and have the best times ever not liking Hemingway together. In our clubhouse.

100% boring for 99% of my readers

This fall is going to be insane. Tomorrow I'm buying a wristband for MusicFest NW, which will serve as a kickoff to a 2 month spread of live music that's going to blow my mind! (and eardrums, probably)

My schedule for MFNW:

Wed, Sep 3: Mogwai (yes!!! yes yes yssyeeyss)
Thur, Sep 4: Deerhunter (or M. Ward)
Fri, Sep 5: BUILT TO SPILL!!!!! (performing "Perfect From Now On" in its entirety!!!!!! what????!!!) then I'll run over to see Vampire Weekend for the later show (unless I have died from happiness after Built to Spill)
Sat, Sep 6: Fleet Foxes, Menomena, Helio Sequence
Sun, Sep 7: sleep all day, post boring blog entry about how awesome everything was.

The week after that, Spiritualized plays (Sep. 15)!

The week after that, I jet back to Chicago to see My Bloody Valentine (Sep. 27)!

The week after that, Sigur Ros plays (Oct 6)!

The week after that, Stereolab plays (Oct 18)!

The week after that, I sit down. For a very long time.

Honk if you love editors

It's my birthday week! That means I get to do whatever I want all week (as opposed to other weeks, when I am the epitome of self-restraint), which so far means reading new poetry books and guzzling wine on the balcony (again, in great contrast to other weeks). And today, it means that I get to blog about grammatical errors!

My mom was telling me awhile ago that one of her friends had recently published a children's book, and she said, "See, anybody can get published." Unfortunately, this is true. I keep this file at work with all of the literary blunders I come across (because I'm strange, okay?), and it's kind of unreal. Sometimes I want to write hate mail to the publishers. Today I saw "illicit" used in place of "elicit" in the first paragraph of a book on how to create professional presentations. These words are not interchangeable. Are you sure you're qualified to help me create a presentation? Still, thanks for the laugh. I've also learned that my favorite cliche opening is actually quite popular among people who write introductions for books; that is, "Since ____, humankind has ______." "Since the dawn of time, humankind has searched for meaning." You don't say?! I never thought about it that way before. Or, my favorite, straight from a biology textbook: "Since the beginning of civilization, man has been entranced by the sea." Oh, really? Do you have a source for that bold statement? Sheesh, people.

I think I might have posted this before, but this calls for my favorite Dinosaur Comic ever:


Oh also! It was this guy's birthday yesterday, so if you see him reading poetry and guzzling wine, it's okay because it's his birthday week, too (actually, if you see him doing that, you should probably be concerned).

Yeah, I know.

Bildungsroman (or: Look at the Useless Vocabulary Word I Learned in College)

So, it occurs to me that I've been here for just over a year now.

Last week I was downtown during the day for a doctor's appointment (an eye infection, I'm fine) and I had a bit of time to kill beforehand, so I stopped at Stumptown and had some coffee and a scone before heading off. It'd been so long since I'd been anywhere except work at that time of day, and I was struck by a weird feeling of deja vu, remembering the day I'd arrived back in Portland after being in Seattle -- wandering, walking around the city, thinking about the possibilities, being pleased with things. I knew I'd blogged about that day at some point, so when I got home that evening I searched for the entry, which just so happened to be... exactly a year ago to the day. It was a strange coincidence that really had no meaning, but at the same time sent me on one of those sentimental trips down memory lane that I'm so fond of indulging in.

So, as I mentioned, it occurs to me that I've been here for just over a year now. Right now, I can't decide whether to type "it feels like I just got here," or "it feels like I've always been here," so I'll write both and try not to think about it too hard. What I do know is that this has been one of the most exciting and fulfilling years of my life. I know this blog is already an exercise in self-congratulatory excess, but can I just pat myself on the back for a few more seconds? This year has been hard, in almost every kind of way. I lost things. Things got taken away. And the years before that weren't so smooth, either. (Remember 2006? Yeah, me too.) I remember feeling so good when I got here, and that feeling hasn't gone away. How can it not have gone away?! I blog about spilling things on myself, or going to nickel arcades, or missing the bus, but between these entries are things (some small, some big) that have been quietly shaping me. Most of these things will never be written about. All I can say is that I'm proud of myself, and I'm happy with the way things are going. It's not like I've accomplished anything huge, but at the same time I've accomplished more than I ever knew I was capable of. Arghhh! I wish I were more eloquent... how to explain? I guess: things aren't perfect, but they don't need to be. Yeah, that's about right.

So, please bear with me, because I can't seem to shut up about Portland, or running, or local food, or new recipes, or new friends or new music or just feeling good and fine and happy. Happy anniversary, Amanda and Portland! I wouldn't trade this year for anything. But I think Robert Ryan puts it best: