Portlife

Colds, cereal.

2009-11-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

It's November, I must be sick.

Unfortunately, cute outfits alone are not enough to distract from the exhausted, glazed look in my eyes (trust me, I've tried). Getting to the gym yesterday was what I expect trying to get a whiny toddler into a snowsuit must be like. However, the highlight of the week was probably when I put too much whiskey in my hot toddy and dozed off while watching "The Last Starfighter." I'm weak, but I know there's work to be done, and that's why I'm returning to something I haven't done in a long time: BREAKFAST CEREAL REVIEWS.

Here we have Nature's Path Optimum Blueberry Cinnamon:

I'm usually pretty conservative with my cereal purchases. Without prior research, it's basically impossible to get the real story from the box, as every "natural" cereal seems to make the same claim:

"In 1929, Ol' Burl Huggins started his own farm, with the dream of making a better breakfast cereal for his children. 80 years later, the Huggins family continutes in Burl's tradition, growing wheat on their 2-acre organic farm and using Burl's original plow, drawn by Sunshine the Mule. Huggins Crunch: 100% natural, from our family to yours. Now with GMO-Free Organic Di-Plastinoids!"

In any case, a cereal could be owned by Exxon and contain industrial plastic by-products, and they'd still put a smiling mule on the box and stick it in the natural section. Add to that the weakness of USDA's organic labeling standards, and it's so much easier for me just to stick with what I know. However, that day there was a "2 for $4" sign which instantly dissolved any misgivings I might have had -- into my basket, Exxon Flakes! Upon arriving home, a quick Google search revealed that Nature's Path has not done anything reprehensible, and they seem like very nice people.

SCORE: 8/10. This is the first cereal I've ever had that manages to have "twig" shaped bites without tasting like actual foliage. This is undoubtedly due to the cinnamon coating, which is awesome -- sweet, but not overpowering or fake-tasting. There seemed to be about 6 blueberries in the entire box, but it actually made no difference to me. Do I need a freeze-dried blueberry in each bite? (No.)

Next. Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Raisin Bran!

Score: 7/10: The ability to make a decent organic raisin bran is, for me, the ultimate test of any cereal manufacturer; until now, none have received over a 4/10. UNTIL NOW. Nature's Path, you've managed to make a bran flake that avoids the dreaded "Organic Cardboard Syndrome" that has plagued so many of your contemporaries. Totally delicious! Unfortunately, I take issue with the name you've chosen. Perhaps "Raisin Jerky Bran" might be a better fit, though to be fair your raisins were by far the best I've had in any organic raising bran. What is that smiling Kellogg's sun's secret? (Is it chemicals? I think it's chemicals.)

Thinking Outside Ye Olde Box(e)

2009-11-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

In the middle of nothing happening, something happened: I no longer have a job. It's not exactly an ideal situation (since the last time I checked, being alive costs money) but in spite of the annoyances and unpleasantries, I'm excited. Don't get me wrong, most of the time the excitement is masked by a lurking terror, but I also realize that this misfortune is actually a golden opportunity to be resourceful and creative. I needed a push to switch gears, and here it is! I would have preferred the "push" not to arrive the day after I bought the $90 bus pass I use(d) to get to work, but what can you do? The push also demanded I walk down the side of a busy street, carrying the contents of my desk in a damp, disintegrating box (a goodbye gift from my former employer), but, again -- whatever.

So, there's that. It's been awhile since I looked for a job, so I turned to the internet to provide me with helpful suggestions. To craft a winning resume and find a job that suits me, the internet suggests I write a list of my strongest skills. Unfortunately, most of my strongest skills are things that place me in the role of "ridiculous sidekick" rather than "conscientious employee" (for example, my dedication to scouring the internet for photos of swooping birds of prey).

Found using the search term "skreee." (via: http://travelblog.portfoliocollection.com/)

The internet also suggests that I keep an open mind to careers that I normally wouldn't have considered. Looking at my skills, several careers jump out at once: writer, editor, and lackey. How pedestrian! Are there skills and talents I'm ignoring? Careers that I'm passing up, simply because they don't exist? After taking a closer look at my talents, here is a list of careers I might also want to consider:

1) Advocate, Dead Russian Author: Want to spend a miserable few hours (days, decades)? Ask me what I think about Vladimir Nabokov. If the man were alive, I would have shown up at his house by now, throwing flowers at his window and yelling paragraphs from "Ada." Instead, I have his portrait hung in the kitchen, next to an embroidered Boston Fern I found at Goodwill. (I live in a house of horrors.) On November 17th, Nabokov's final, unfinished work will be published for the first time, and I'll be at the bookstore when it opens, shaking and jumping up and down.

2) Gossip Columnist, Authors/Composers/Local Poets: You may remember this idea from several years ago, when I wanted to follow Richard Powers around and write a rag called "National Book Award Winners: They're Just Like Us!" (mostly featuring photos of R. P. getting out of cars and locking his bike). Since then, I've switched my attentions to a local poet who seems to live in my neighborhood; I'm still working out the kinks on this one, but I'm picturing a grainy camera-phone shot with the headline, "Featured New Yorker poet also enjoys coffee". Coffee, can you believe it? Local poets are just like us!

3) Motivational Speaker, Contemporary Poetry: Even people who "like poetry" don't like contemporary poetry. People still have framed wall-hangings of Robert Frost poems, but anything much past that has become a type of artistic pariah, pretentious and unimportant, to be read in a breathy, annoying voice. I don't blame anyone for thinking this, because I've heard Maya Angelou reading in a Very Serious Important Poetry Voice, and I'm not sure why anyone could be expected to care Why the Caged Bird Sings. I think poetry is one of those instinctual things, like music, that goes along with your biological beat; somewhere along the way, it ceased to be an instinct, and started feeling artificial. Most people are uncomfortable with modern poetry because (just a theory) it is no longer intuitive for us to let language be musical instead of strictly functional; we are taught and allowed to appreciate music when we're small, but contemporary poetry has been relegated to the land of the dry and academic. Hey, no way! The best modern poets, just like modern musicians, build off traditions and twist them into new and exciting things. I have many, many theories about modern literature, and maybe I'll call you up sometime after I've had too much to drink and tell you all about them. But for now, please put to rest that idea that contemporary poetry is a stagnant, dying thing. Nope! It's alive.

Poetry, coming to get you!

Folding the World Over, or, A Ride in My Pocket!

2009-10-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Still kickin'.

So, I went to this wedding. Maybe I saw you there? Two wonderful people got married, and I was lucky enough to be invited to share in the occasion. As a bonus, some of the people I love most in life also happened to be in attendance! As a bonus bonus, the wedding happened to be in Illinois, which is where a bunch of people I'm related to live! Bonus bonus bonus, I managed to land in an airport in the same city where the esteemed Alex B. resides. And so I spent a long weekend hopping from city to city, seeing vows exchanged, eating brunch with friends, and sitting in my mom's kitchen. Per usual, there was not nearly enough time, and I missed some people I was hoping to see. A lot of people, actually. But this is why I have a bed waiting for you in Portland, Oregon! I will even remove all the library books from under the covers if you come to stay. (This is a big deal.)

Anyway, it was like this:

I have a dumb thing to say, but I think about it a lot: isn't it weird that everyone you know doesn't know everyone you know? Or, to put it even dumber: sometimes I forget that I'm not carrying around all of my loved ones in my pocket and showing them everything I see. Some of the people I know in Portland have never even been to the Midwest! How can this be, when it's one of the two centers of the earth for me? And how can it be that the people who give me love and advice in one city don't know the people who give me love and advice in another city? Sometimes I want to defy the laws of physics and fold the world over so that Portland and Illinois can overlap. Oh friends, there are lots of people I know who would love you if you only had a chance to meet them.

But mainly, I just want to fold the world over so we can finally get some decent pizza over here:

Wearing white while talking about Labor Day.

2009-09-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

As usual, I actually did something of interest, then forgot to update you about it until weeks later. Since it's now September 20th, a Labor Day update seems appropriate, yes? Sometimes this blog is like a time machine!

Anyway, I went up to Washington to Lake Chelan with the Price brothers and 30 of their closest friends. The thing about Lake Chelan is that, in addition to being over 50 miles long, it's also the 24th deepest lake in the world (and 3rd in the country). 24th deepest! When it comes to superlatives, I get excited. After cannonballing in the lake with one of the guys on the trip, I said something akin to, "Say, did you know that Chelan is the 24th deepest lake ON EARTH?!" and he nonchalantly said, "Oh yes, I researched before I came." Needless to say, nearly everyone on this trip got an A+ from me.

We stayed in 3 very nice lake houses, which unfortunately I have no photos of. But here's the 24th deepest lake on Earth:

The only 30 seconds when it wasn't raining.

I want pancakes! Also, because I'm concerned about my internet reputation, I need to make it clear that I'm wiping my hands on my shorts, not grabbing my own butt.

Tally ho, bacon nightmare! This grease-log was lovingly handcrafted from sausage, hamburger, and cheese, then snuggled into a bacon-latticed blanket. The arm is there for size reference. (Size XL)

Goodbye, summer, you treated us well! Ready and waiting for hot cider and cardigans.

Doing things the easy way.

2009-09-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for my good intentions. It's for everyone's benefit that I haven't updated, as they would be filled with whining about various things that don't matter, some that do, and lots of desperate laments for more sleep and hugs. Luckily for all of us, the 3 worst weeks of the year have ended, and now I'm ready to paint my kitchen tabletop with chalkboard paint and show you a few photos from my birthday.

28. I skipped up to the forests of Washington with some of the people I like best, to a little campground called "Collins" (hmm!) on the Duckabush River. Remember when I showed you that lovely photo? Turns out I had no idea what I was getting into:

It is so good to let yourself be celebrated once in awhile. 28 felt the same as 27, and 27 felt the same as 26, but 28 feels different than 26, so I know something's happening inside. It's hard to say what my favorite part of the weekend was, but between you and me, I think it was the banana pancakes. (Not pictured: meteor shower, cupcakes, tofu tacos, nerdy card games, early morning swims, streamers wrapped around old-growth trees)

Blogarhythm

2009-08-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have tons of exciting news to share. Would you like to hear the most boring piece of news first? Then check this out:

Behold, or else. (Photo: www.shoeguide.co.uk)

These are an early birthday gift from my loving mother, and... man, oh man. Man! I made the big switch from New Balance to Nike, and ended up with running shoes from the future. They're actually even brighter than in the photo, because in the future, they use only space-age materials (from space). One other thing: they weigh less than 6 ounces apiece. That's less than a sandal! A light sandal, even! Ok, one more other thing: I love them so much that I went running twice today. I also set a new personal record mile time the first time I ran with them. Hooray, a new fanatical devotion!

News 2: I have selected a camping spot for my birthday trip! It's a super-awesome site on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, which will remain nameless until I return, since I don't want someone Googling "super-awesome site on Washington's Olympic Peninsula" and showing up with 30 friends while I'm trying to secure a campsite. But here's a photo of the mystery spot:

Hopefully it's this pretty in real life, and not just a parking lot that's been photoshopped with rocks and water. I'm very, very excited to share my birthday with special people, surrounded by nature. I also might wear a tiara while we're hiking. It's my birthday, darn it!

News 3, the only piece of real news: I got my own apartment!! It's a pretty cute little place with hardwood floors (#1 wish for my living space), and it's only a few blocks from both the library and one of my favorite parks. Can you believe that I've never lived alone before? With my level of crankiness, it's nearly impossible to comprehend. I'm going to miss my housemates, but as I've gotten older I've gotten less and less interested in communal living, and more and more interested in PURE SILENCE ALL THE TIME. No talking. Shhhh. It will be so nice to come home after hanging out with friends to my own quiet place! But you're still invited over, of course. I have tea!

HELL(o)

2009-07-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

SE 20th and Lincoln. Artist unknown.

Look, I'm not kidding around here. It was nearing 90 at 8 am. Yesterday was 105, today's the same. In desperation, I went to look for a portable air conditioner, only to find that fans and a/c's are sold out in the entire Portland metro area. Instead, I jumped fully clothed into our backyard kiddie pool, then walked across town soaking wet to meet some friends at an air conditioned bar (for a nice glass of ice water). From now on, I plan to do most daily activities while dripping wet.

I'd also like to talk about my room for a second. I came home last night to find that my candles had all completely melted. What does that put my room at... 120? 125? Needless to say, I've evacuated all living things from the upstairs, including my computer, which refused to turn on for a good hour after leaving my room. I also unwisely chose this week to start transplanting some plant cuttings, and I'm worried for their tiny lives. Hang on, little dudes!

Today's my day off, and I'm dreaming of my freezing-cold office. (I am not dreaming of yesterday's deathly hot bus ride home from my freezing-cold office, where the overheated bus stalled on the side of the interstate, and some dude felt the need to turn to me and say, "Hot enough for ya?") Needless to say, I will be spending the day touring the city's most powerfully air conditioned establishments. I believe I have enough activities planned to keep me away from the house until 11 pm, whereupon I will retire to bed under a wet towel. It should be down to at least 98 by then, so, you know... no big deal.

Help?

Hot Hot Heat

2009-07-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

(Taken in Eugene at the University of Oregon, where I accompanied Colin to a lecture last week)

Time is moving fast. It seems like only 8 days ago, I was promising you that I'd update at least every 7 days. And wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was laughing at the indignity (oh, the wonderful, delicious indignity) of wearing a sweater in July? Well, those innocent times are over -- it's 100 degrees, with no A/C in sight. Tomorrow, 102. Wednesday, 102. By the weekend, 93. At last, something to look forward to!

All jokes aside, these are not happy times for me, and I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment. As my companion was remarking yesterday, people are moving almost as slowly as they did when we got a foot of snow in December -- I no longer understand how to deal with harsh weather, and neither does anybody else here. Current PDX hot weather fashion consists of only two extremes: 1) "How little clothing can I wear without being arrested?" and 2) "I'm going to walk around in tight jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and pretend this isn't happening." My personal strategy so far has included 2 cold showers a day, outfit changes every 8 hours, and cold bottles of Limonata on the porch. Also, whining! So much whining.

LOOK AT MY FACE!! I DON'T LIKE THIS ONE BIT!

On the other hand, the hot weather has produced some lovely sunsets.

And, well, I guess it's pretty nice to jump in the river when it's really hot outside, especially when you're with a friend. (Note: the person in the photo is not my friend. Also, this is the Sandy River, at Oxbow Park.) I suppose things aren't so bad. Still, Portland: HOW ABOUT TURNING ON THE A/C?! Oh, that's right, you don't do that.

Well, I suppose I'd better get back to lying motionless on my bed.

Exploregon

2009-07-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

It's been so long that Blogger forgot who I was and demanded a password when I tried to update my own blog. It's been so long that I couldn't remember the password, and spent almost an hour trying to figure out what obscure, secret word I possibly could've chosen. (Sometimes I'm so dumb that I outsmart myself.) But look -- here I am! I won't tell you my password, but can I tell you what I've been doing? It's been so long, but I've still been thinking about you a lot.

June passed, July's here. Since we last spoke, I've been camping three times:

Backpacking at Eagle Creek:

Bike camping on the Nestucca:

Central Oregon, Metolius River & Suttle Lake:

(don't be fooled, I'm dying of heatstroke.)

Then, I celebrated America's birthday...

...by keeping hydrated in the 90 degree heat...

... participating in a water balloon toss...

... and mostly, by jumping in a giant inflatable bouncy castle.

Then there were fireworks on the waterfront!

Oh! And here and there and in-between, I was...

... using glowsticks as mustaches...

... learning to skip stones...

...building hula-hoops...

... and finding new reading spots.

There was a bike scavenger hunt...

... and then I nearly broke my ankle trying to cheat during a 3-legged race.

I rode the bus to friends' houses, birthday parties, dinners, movies. It was late, it was early, it was hot, it rained, I ran after it, I missed it, I made it. I had a carton of raspberries, I wanted thai food, I was going downtown for lunch, I was tired after work, I was spilling ice cream on myself.

There were flowers...

... and flowers...

... and flowers.

And in-between I was walking and thinking, holding hands and holding coffee. To the library and back, to his house, to their houses, to air-conditioned cafes (it's hot!) but mostly to nowhere in particular, which is what I like best.

So there! But how are you? Are you well? I'd like to know. I've resolved to update at least once a week (mainly because it takes too much time to upload a month's worth of photos into one entry). Coming up are two special birthdays (one is mine! 28?!), a bike-building project, and a trip to climb Mt. St. Helens. Summer. Summer!

May, Might, Must

2009-05-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

Sheesh, May! This is what I was doing last weekend:

At a house in Welches, Oregon, for Kathleen's birthday.

And the weekend before, my mom visited!:

This is the only shot of us together. The rest were of food! (I miss you, mom.)

And now, I have to go to sleep, because I'm leaving on a 4 day backpacking trip tomorrow. If April was perfect and May was better, what will June be like?!

Pretty dresses and margaritas

2009-05-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, my friends and I went to the annual "Pretty Dress Bike Ride," which is a little spin around town where everyone wears a dress (including dudes, natch). Unfortunately, a combination of no sleep (we'd all stayed out till 4), a greasy breakfast, and a chilly wind made us cut out early, and we ended up pedaling over to a Mexican restaurant for margaritas and tacos instead of finishing the ride. Pretty Dress Margarita Happy Hour -- let's start a new annual tradition!

(Photos by Karla.)

Sleepy McTireds forgot her helmet. Safety last!

Goal!

Rain, bikes, comics

2009-05-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

I got completely soaked while walking to the library today! It was already starting to sprinkle as I left the house, and my roommate's boyfriend yelled, "You'll never make it!" when I strolled off without an umbrella. I knew he was right, but I did it anyway.

Part of the reason I got soaked is because I do things like stop and take photos of puddles.

But anyway, I might as well tell you about my trip last weekend. A few of my friends and I drove out to go camping and biking in The Dalles, which is about an hour and half from Portland.

Some pictures from the car. I was talking about boys and was consequently unable to put much effort into making sure the camera was focused, but you get the idea:

After driving around aimlessly and not finding any land without a "NO TRESPASSING" sign, we finally gave up and camped in a state park, which was less than ideal but still ridiculously beautiful. It also happened to be the windiest, coldest day in the world, so we spent most of the day in the tent, playing cards and eating chips.

Freezing in the campground bathroom. That's what I slept in.

But it was worth it, because the campgrounds looked like this:

Sitting around the campfire that night, one of my friends said, "Look up!" and we all gasped in unison as we saw how bright the stars were. A second later, we saw a shooting star!

The next day, we got up at 6:00 and went for a 30-mile cherry blossom ride.

Do you recognize that butt? It's mine. I'm wearing padded shorts.

Bike gang. Ratty t-shirts, rickety bikes, and tutus! Everyone else had trillion dollar bikes.

Mt. Hood at the 15 mile marker

I'm happy because this rest stop had Nutter Butters.

I also worked at Stumptown Comics Fest a few weekends ago. I didn't bring a camera, but it was sort of like this:

Man, it was great. I met so many awesome people and learned so much! I even found a little comic book about a girl's trip to visit family in Decatur. Yes!

April

2009-04-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's been the best month of the year so far.

News of no consequence:

Spring is upon us, and I have some new (huge, awful) sunglasses, a ruffly dress, and a fish necklace which I will inevitably never wear. I also bought a skirt with boats on it. Other things:

1) Asparagus, radishes. "News of No Consequence" -- who am I kidding? After a winter full of root vegetables and canned tomatoes, that first bundle of asparagus nearly made my heart explode. And I couldn't even wait to get home before chewing on the radishes (dirt and all). So far I have perfect attendance at the Farmer's Market. This week I came home with a flat of Hood strawberry plants (to be planted out back tomorrow!) and a bouquet of daffodils. My lavender and rosemary plants have made a stunning recovery after being lost under a 5 ft. tall snow drift. The chard is already up, and the tomatoes go in shortly. I also have space for a window box this summer -- what should I plant? Suggestions, please.

Woman playing Bach near the Farmer's Market

2) I've been reunited with my bike. I won a tune-up in a silent auction (that I was running, but I swear it was a clean victory) and my rickety Schwinn is now road-worthy after some minor tweaking. Yesterday we went to 3 parks, the library, and two coffee shops together, and swerved recklessly through traffic as I talked to Geoff on the phone. In a few weeks I have a bike/camping trip planned, as well as a few other local rides for various events. I'm so excited to be back on my bike and among bikey friends, I'd forgotten how much fun biking in Portland can be.

3) So, it was 70 for a few days. I wore my strappiest sandals and sat in the sun, gossipping with my friend while we were supposed to be "reading" and "embroidering." I now have a farmer's tan as a memento. I also went hiking on Mt. Tabor, which is Portland's resident dormant volcano.

That's our drinking water reservoir. Doesn't it look like a castle?

View of houses, standing next to reservoir

View from the top. It's better in person. Will you come?

4) I foolishly tried to give up sugar. It worked for approximately 36 seconds. What was I thinking? I would rather never be able to button my pants again (a real and imminent danger) than give up my tea and cookie breaks. Also working against me was a package from the Midwest, filled with sugar cookies and Cadbury eggs (my favorite candy of all time) and the fact that one out of every three Portlanders seems to have been celebrating a birthday this month, including two of my roommates. Personally, I'm of the mindset that when someone sets a slice of homemade red velvet birthday cake in front of you, YOU EAT IT:

Mt. Cake!

Also, if you're walking to the park, and it's 70 degrees, and you come upon a roadside stand with someone selling homemade ice cream, YOU EAT IT:

Vanilla rose and chocolate. The nice man also gave me samples of ASPARAGUS ice cream (odd, but nice) and coconut curry ice cream (foul).

As if to cement my return the Kingdom of Sugar, today I made (vegan) Puppy Chow for a party we're having tonight. My roommate is making Chex Mix as a savory counterpart, so I assume I'll spend most of the evening alternating bites from each bowl. I already feel sick from eating too much, which is the only way I know how to do things.

Glop City, Sundae of Death: Puppy Chow sauce in the making.

5) Here's what April looks like:

Crack in a stone wall.

Cherry blossoms! When will they invent scratch 'n sniff internet?

Yes, I'm still here. My hairs are getting long.

It's warm enough to sleep with the windows open now.

The inside of a tree.

Action shot of a neighbor cat climbing onto my shoulder! We walked down the block like that.

Bunnies, bees

2009-03-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt a bit like updating! Not even one bit.

But I wanted to give you something. So here, have some photos of a rabbit I met on the sidewalk the other day. He comes through our neighborhood occasionally to say hi. He's fairly tame, but not overly enthusiastic about being petted (I did it anyway).

Also, it looks like my dream of keeping bees in the backyard may actually come to fruition, pending one more roommate's approval. So far, popular opinion has not been on my side. It may seem crazy now, but I assure you it will seem less crazy when I have GALLONS OF DELICIOUS HONEY. Yeah, you'll see!

Hi, hello.

2009-03-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm behind at everything, but I haven't forgotten you.

I wrote this on a cafe window for you the other day while I was drinking coffee and waiting on a friend. It was pouring, I had just finished taking a class about beekeeping, and I sat there with my raincoat on, trying to get warm. Life is so languorously hurried right now! Or maybe hurriedly languourous. Does that make sense? I feel like I never have any spare time, ever, but it's mostly in the vein of, "Oh gosh, I only have 10 minutes to eat a grilled cheese and finish this chapter of my book before I have to start walking to meet my friend at the movies!" So, of course, I am not really allowed to do any complaining.

Also: BABY CHICKS. I saw these at the nursery where I was taking the bee class, they begged me to take a video!

In Which a Bird Laughs at My Expense

2009-03-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't say it's been the greatest week. The closest I can come to explaining it is like this:

Hey look, a rainbow! Yeah, look at that. So what's the problem? Well, what you don't know is that, just as I was taking this photo, A BIRD POOPED ON MY FACE. LIKE, BIGTIME. I'm not even kidding, I'm surprised the poop isn't in the photo. What you also don't know is that I was already soaked from walking in a downpour (my 2nd of the day) and I had to walk another 40 minutes to get home. In wet jeans. With bird poop on my face.

But it really wasn't a bad walk. Some good songs came on shuffle. I laughed a lot. How could I not? And so this week has gone, with setbacks and annoyances and friends in trouble, all mixed with wonderful times and unexpected rainbows and flowers. You know how it is, don't you?

Luckily, I'm getting out of the city this weekend with 9 other lovely girls, including these two:

We're driving a few hours south to a town called Bend for some hiking and gossiping and eating and relaxing. I'm not sure if the backscratcher will be there, but it doesn't matter because we have a hot tub suite on the Deschutes River. Yessss!! Oh, yes.

I have so many other things to tell you, and some photos to show you, too. March is looking good, so far there's at least one very exciting thing scheduled for each week. Next week I'm seeing a lecture, going to a concert that I've looking forward to for months, eating raw oysters, and taking a class on urban beekeeping.

But before that can happen, I need to pack a bag of snacks for my trip!

Walking PDX

2009-02-26T22:27:00.001-08:00

If I told you that last week was one of the greatest weeks of my life, would you believe me? (The best part is, I didn't even see it coming.) There were small things, and there were big things, and in between I walked around and took pictures for you:

Art! Or... something. Please make it stop!

This sign makes me laugh every time.
"Oh! Ah!! Yum!!!"

Lazy Saturday lunch: Earl grey tea and a cardamom-sea salt-pistachio brownie.

Somebody nice left these flowers at my door on February 14th, which is apparently some sort of holiday.

Hugs and kisses. (P.S. the other side says "Dream.")

Not pictured: Tapioca pudding, the moon, tofu with peanut sauce, books, phone calls, mix cds, and staying up late talking in the middle of a muddy rose garden.

February

2009-02-22T22:32:00.000-08:00

I don't care what the calendar says.

IT'S SPRING!:

Isn't it?

The Home Office

2009-02-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

This is where I live and sleep and write my blog:

Hi!

Cubi-blog

2009-02-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

There's basically no one at work today. Join me as I stealth blog!

You should've seen me this week. Actually, you would've pointed and laughed, so it's probably best that we're apart. Between falling in the street, spilling my coffee multiple times, wearing my shirt backwards, and chasing my morning bus for a full mile, I've been keeping quite busy. I also might have accidentally knocked over a DJ. Hey, accidents happen.

But then again, things seem to be falling into place. Falling off a curb into a mud puddle into place, but... falling into place nonetheless. I had an EPIC run under the full moon the other night; as I came down the home stretch (that is, past the house with penguin statues, over the hill on Grant, a quick panoramic view of the lit up city, then around the corner for a sprint down 24th) I got a high-five from a passing runner, then was cheered on by a dude on a tall bike. Yes! I've had such a great sense of things coming together ever since the new year. As far as people go, I am jumping in headfirst. I've met so many good people this year: people who will let me in, who hug without warning, who call me up and tell me to be somewhere in 10 minutes for spontaneous fun. I have so much to learn and so many people to teach me.

Unfortunately, I do have some disappointing news. There is a large spider living in the bathroom. What makes things worse is its insane proclivity for hanging out above the showerhead while the shower is running; as you can imagine, there have been some tough times. I know, it seems like only yesterday the season was coming to a close as I plotted to kill the spider outside my window with an pellet gun, but it appears that the jerks are back. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle this, as killing something that's hanging from the ceiling presents a whole host of logistical problems (#1 problem: the spider is icky), but I'm sure I'll think of something totally insane and impractical.

Or maybe, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I'll just leave the stupid thing alone. Do you know something? I actually really love Valentine's Day. I know it's manufactured by Hallmark as a way to part you with your monies, but -- so? It's kind of a perfect mix of love and bitter sarcasm, both of which I am quite fond of. I don't really get the whole boycotting of the holiday thing, since as far as I'm concerned "doing something" is usually more fun than "not doing something," and that "something" doesn't have to include spending big dollars. For example, this year, I will be getting a blood test done at 8 am (it's just a routine physical, don't freak out), which is only $10. What a small price to pay for the peace of mind that comes with knowing your cholesterol level is within normal range! It's also the perfect excuse to have some treats (once again, better than "not having treats") which may include flowers, cookies, whiskey, friends, and Battlestar Galactica.

My heart is about to jump through my ribcage. Too much coffee, not enough sleep. I like it!

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

2009-02-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

There are good things ahead. I saw some crocuses sprouting!

I just wanted to say hi, I suppose. How are you?

Goodbye.

2009-02-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

Sigh.

Let me get one thing out of the way: I am not cool with this whole "death" thing. No, no, no, not cool at all. My Aunt Susan died very suddenly this week, and needless to say, we were all shocked and heartbroken. All I want to do is type "BUT WHY" one hundred thousand times. I tend to think that this family deserves a free pass from death for awhile, but I know that's not the way things work. But how do they work?

Sigh.

I remember, right after my dad died, how I would sit and listen to my own breathing. Sometimes I'd do it for hours. In and out. It was a form of meditation, I guess. I remember how good that air felt in my lungs, and how lucky I felt, hearing my own heart beat. What I found was that, when you get down to the basic things -- your breathing, your heartbeat -- when you get down to the basic things and start viewing them as little miracles, everything else starts to seem like a miracle, too. I don't know where I'm going with this, really, and I don't know what to say. Maybe there isn't anything to say. But I've been thinking about my breathing more and more over the past few days, and I've been thinking about how lucky I was to know my Aunt Susan. We were and are very lucky.

Inhale, exhale. Keep going.

Whew.

Life is what happens when you're busy waiting for a burrito

2009-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Auuugghh!

Uffphhhrrrgg. Mulleted co-worker who gave me this illness, you will pay! Today was the sunniest, most beautiful January day, and I spent it napping and coughing. Blast! I was just sick. After the sun set, I finally peeled myself from bed and took a walk, which brought me back to life a little. At the moment, I'm back in bed, watching Battlestar Galactica under 10,000 blankets. It's sort of nice, actually. If I had someone to bring me soup and carry me around in a giant backpack, I'd be set.

My sick den badly needed fresh flowers, so I brought home these green roses. I love them. Right now I have them cradled in the crook of my arm like a little pet. They smell like good roses should, which is rare these days.

Natural fever reducer.

Mmmm. Tomorrow I will get up and run 4 miles (my favorite way to deal with illness is total denial). After that: cookies! And coffee, and cafes, and the paper. And a special drawing project. Mexican for lunch, and Indian for dinner? Yes, please! Get to work, immune system, I am very busy.

I found this while I was waiting for a burrito the other day. It's a flyer for an art show that's already over, but I like the picture and the sentiment is interesting:

The miracle. There's only one miracle, and I have to wait? Portland smelled so amazing tonight, because there was a mist over everything. It smelled green, and felt good in my nose (really! it's cool and wet, there's a texture to it). I have good-smelling roses in my bed in the middle of winter. There's two miracles, right there! And if I manage to get up and run 4 miles without coughing up a lung, there's three. The delicious cookie(s? will it be a two cookie day??) I devour will be miracles 4-75, and the coffee will be miracles 76-100. And if the coffee comes in a good mug, there's another one.

Oh, but the best miracle is something I forgot to tell you! I had a gift certificate to Zappos left over from my birthday (thank you, mom) so I spent a long time picking out some shoes the other day. It wasn't until the shoes arrived that I remembered... I forgot to use the gift certificate when I bought them. What?! Well, I guess I'll buy more shoes, then. But these will do just fine for now:

Still Life #1 With Frye Boot, Blackberry Vodka, and a Plastic Eagle Named Skronky

Miracles 102-1000.

DEAR HUMANITY,

2009-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

A Perfectly Wonderful Evening

2009-01-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

There's nothing much better than walking around Portland at night while eating a giant cookie.

The Hawthorne Bridge. Camera in one hand, cookie in the other.

January 20th, 2009

2009-01-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

Wait, what's all this I hear about a new president?

As you can see, I was able to celebrate Inauguration Day with a homemade pizza cooked on a genuine PRESTO PIZZAZ PIZZA OVEN. Truly, I am blessed. After work I went over to Anna and Brian's apartment, where we ate our pizzazed pizza and watched the Tivo-d inaugural coverage. I'd listened to it live on NPR at work, but it was good to see the visual coverage. Can you imagine being in that crowd? I think I would've been cranky.

It was also a pre-birthday celebration for Anna, who refuses to do anything on her actual birthday. Take that!:

Good people, good times:

I believe Obama is strongly pro-jello shot.

The view from Anna's apartment is officially insane.

After pizza and snark, I raced home to meet my roommate and his bandmates, and we took off for a giant dance party at Holocene. Oh! Unfortunately, only one photo survives from the night, since I forgot to take my camera inside. Luckily, it was a really good one:

Whoops. Anyway, if I said we had the best time in history, would you believe me? Oh, so much dancing, so much joy! Unfortunately, my "dancin' shoes" are also my most uncomfortable shoes (death to all wedge heels), but the next morning I felt exhausted and sore in a happy and content sort of way. It also didn't hurt that we had the most beautiful sunrise on Wednesday morning. "Luckily", my bus was 45 minutes late, so I had time to take some photos for you:

This is where I wait for the bus every morning -- Downtown, 1st & Columbia, looking towards the waterfront.

And there's Mount Hood. Oh, my darling!

Invincible Summer

2009-01-16T20:36:00.007-08:00

Stay warm, Midwest. It's not very cold here, but I'm still sitting on top of my space heater with my laptop on my lap, typing away. You know, if I gave you 10 degrees Fahrenheit, I'd still be above freezing and you'd still be below zero! And you'd still be miserable, so I'm going to keep those 10 degrees.

But seriously, will you please be careful? That's just insanely cold.

I have been a busy little blackbird since I returned to Portland, visiting friends and getting things done and taking long walks around town. (On the way back from work, I sunk ankle-deep into a mud pit wearing heeled boots, and totally destroyed my favorite teal tights while taking an exploratory climb around a swampy rose garden. After such adventure, I have decided to stay in tonight.) There have also been a few good author appearances at Powell's (!!), including one by Mark Bittman! (!!!) In case you spend your days being a productive member of society instead of secretly reading food blogs, Mark Bittman writes a wonderful food column for the New York Times, has written a bunch of books, and writes one of my favorite blogs. He's also kind of a snarky jerk. What's not to love?! Anyway, the recipes on his blog are always interesting, but are more in the, say, "special occasion" category (because as much as I love the idea of bringing lobster and risotto to the lunchroom at work, even I have to draw the line somewhere). But do you know what qualifies as a special occasion? Mark Bittman coming to town!

And so, behold:

Savory Pear Soup.

This was risky. Because, do you know what the savory part is? Mushrooms. And do you know what the swirly stuff on top is? Gorgonzola. When I last mixed fruit + savory (watermelon and feta), hearts were broken and trash cans were filled. But you guys, it was so good, and super easy! I've had pear and gorgonzola together before, but the mushrooms somehow made it a total taste sensation. Plus, I got to sneak away to take well-deserved gorgonzola breaks at work (which my stomach later said was not the best idea, but whatever).

I also made his version of pasta puttanesca yesterday, but sadly did not take a photo. You know what pasta looks like. It is a wonderland of anchovies, garlic, and capers, so you shouldn't get too close to anyone after you eat it, but I sort of forgot other people existed while I was stuffing it into my mouth, so it wasn't really a problem. I will definitely be making it again.

In other news, I have a new camera. Pay no attention to the dirty mirror.

Hey look, I'm still annoying. But I'm in focus!

I'm hard at work on a "2008 Wrap-Up Spectacular" entry. It consists almost entirely of Top 5 lists, including my 2008 Top 5 favorite ways to annoy my coworker. This year I strive to annoy him even more. It's important to have goals.

I need to make tea and wind down with a book, but I'll leave you with a quote that I've been thinking about a lot lately:

"In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer."
--Albert Camus

Isn't it good? (My mom has the most invincible summer that I know of, by the way.) So please keep warm, inside and out, and I will be back soon to regale you with lists of lists.

Christmas in the Midwest

2008-12-27T16:54:00.006-08:00

What we've been doing:

Wii boxing, Pt. I

Wii Boxing, Pt. II: The Revenge

When Nose Flutes Attack!!

Snowpocalypse '08

2008-12-22T09:42:00.002-08:00

Portland snowfall breaking 40 year record

11.5 inches as of this morning, still snowing heavily! Flight in 45 hours. Airport in chaos as most flights canceled. How does a visit in June sound to you?

Portland, OR: CLOSED.

2008-12-21T21:03:00.003-08:00

9 inches of snow, and still going.

Oh golly, oh gosh!

2008-12-15T13:05:00.011-08:00

There's so much I haven't told you, my friends. Please sit down, let's talk!

1) Thanksgiving. I went over to a friend's house for Thanksgiving, and we all ate and drank and carried on. Unfortunately, the one photo I took of the food table was accidentally deleted, so I'll just throw out a word and you can create your own mental image. First? Delicious. Second? Excessive. Yeah, I think that about does it. Afterwards, I walked around town for hours (with a piece of pie in my hand) and felt very thankful indeed.

2) I've had the good fortune to see two of my friends play shows recently, and they've both been excellent! To be in your 20's is to know many, many people in crappy bands, so I'm always pleasantly surprised when one of my friends manages to step up to the plate and make music that... is good? Imagine that! I suppose that this is part of a larger trend. I've been thinking lately about what an exciting time it is to be this age, to see each other begin to excel and make things happen. I see you, friends! I see you studying and working hard, staying up late to work on things that make your hearts beat, I see you meeting people that make you happy, and I see you starting families. I see you traveling and learning and cultivating hobbies and habits that bring out the best in you. I see all of you, don't think I haven't noticed! And I am so very proud of the people I know, because I know there are great things coming. I have been quietly inspired by so many of you, just doing the things you do -- so thank you, and let's keep it up.

3) My other main inspiration these days is pumpkin butter. I slather it on everything.

4) The high today is a stupid 28. I know, I know, that's nothing, but I don't have a heating vent in my room! I spend a lot of time huddled pathetically by my space heater, dramatically chattering my teeth. Oh, how I suffer!

5) Oh right, and this weird white stuff fell on the ground yesterday:

That's my house. Look, Mom, you can see the snowman decal in the front window! The row of windows on top is my room.

Looking north on my street.

I woke up yesterday morning and nearly had a heart attack. I'd heard there was snow in the forecast, but I expected the same scraggly flurries that we got last year, not this 2-inch blizzard mega-storm! Oregon doesn't really know what to do with itself when it snows (besides close every road and business immediately) but they make up for it with sheer enthusiasm. I went for a snowy walk, and everyone was in the greatest mood! It was fantastically pleasant.

6) We had a party at my house on Friday night! I suppose I still have some youth left in me, since I managed to stay up until 6 am. I then went out for breakfast and went back to sleep until 5 pm, when my roommate woke me up by banging on my door and yelling, "I made breakfast, come downstairs!" I ate a second breakfast (nearly identical to my first), briefly sat on the couch, then went back to sleep again. On a normal Saturday, I have usually already run, showered, eaten, and gone to the farmer's market and back by noon, so this weekend was quite the hilarious contrast. Can we do it again?

7) I am testing breakfast cereals so you don't have to. Here are my important findings:

Ezekiel 4:9 is my new favorite cereal. It is basically Grape Nuts with Bible verses on the box -- apparently, God wholeheartedly endorses organic sprouted grains. Now available in delicious cinnamon raisin flavor!

Kashi Heart to Heart hot cereal : like twigs and old pancake batter. DO NOT EAT.

Alpen, what are you? You show me a charming array of cartoon nuts and berries, but eating you is sort of akin to pouring a bowl full of flour. You were a gluey mess with three shriveled raisins. This is not the muesli I know and love! I have been lied to.

Oh yeah! Finally, someone has combined honey and sunshine into one cereal! You are sweet and delicious and I like you very much.

You may know this as the oatmeal I was stirring when my famed "Spider Revenge Plot" went horribly awry. Bad connotations aside, I have crowned it king of all quick-cooking oatmeals. Lately, I've been enjoying it at work with chickory honey!

8) 9 days until I get to Illinois! I think we're going to have some fun.

9) I think that's all I had to say. How've you been?

I am alive, but...

2008-12-06T12:18:00.001-08:00

... I am using all my strength to fight a cold. On the plus side, I have an excuse to drink hot toddies. Be back soon.

Portland, Las Vegas, Chicago, Champaign, Dallas, Portland

2008-11-19T19:39:00.002-08:00

Two breaking news stories from my office:

1) I had my annual review and my company seems to be under the impression that I'm doing a good job. I'm not sure where this information came from, but who am I to argue? (I suppose that when I go clawing through my drawers for a snack, it might appear as though I'm looking for an important paper.) I also got a generous raise -- look out world, I'm now making $0.24 more per hour! That almost covers the cost of the coffee I now have to make at home every morning since the company switched to the dreaded "Costco Roast."

2) In these hard times, my office has also suspended tea service. Since I need at least 3 hot drinks per day to keep focused, I usually keep my desk fairly well-stocked with several kinds of tea. At this point, it bears mentioning that though my desk would appear to an outsider as a barely-controlled tornado of papers, office supplies, and various foodstuffs -- well, I know exactly where everything is. For example, my publisher notes are right next to the leaking bottle of honey. My post-its are next to my mugs, and the tea is... not there. The tea is not there? Yes, that's right, THE TEA IS NOT THERE BECAUSE SOMEONE STOLE IT FROM MY DESK. Along with my fork.

Once again, I am the hapless victim of Office Crime. As I mentioned briefly before, there was an unfortunate incident of lunch theft, after which I left a sarcastic note on the communal refrigerator, hoping to shame the thief into reforming his/her ways (no lunches have been stolen since). Since passive-agressive notes seem to be the way to go in my office, I saw no reason to change my tactics this time. I drew a skull and crossbones on a post-it, with "DON'T STEAL MY TEA!!" printed underneath in bone-chilling ALL CAPS. It now hangs underneath my new supply of tea, warning any would-be thieves to stay back or pay the price. I have also taken to monitoring people's reactions to the note, to see if they betray any incriminating emotions when they read it. So far, I have it narrowed down to everyone in the entire company, including the CEO (who lives in England).

So, that's what's been going on with me. There's also this:

Wed, Dec 24th, 2008
Depart: 07:10 AM Portland, OR
Arrive: 09:18 AM Las Vegas, NV
Depart: 11:30 AM Las Vegas, NV
Arrive: 05:15 PM Chicago, IL
Depart: 07:25 PM Chicago, IL
Arrive: 08:15 PM Champaign, IL

Total Travel Time: 11 hrs 5 mins

Sun, Jan 4th, 2009
Depart: 06:45 AM Champaign, IL
Arrive: 09:05 AM Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

Depart: 11:55 AM Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
Arrive: 02:10 PM Portland, OR

Total Travel Time: 9 hrs 25 mins

See you then????????????

In which I wax philosophical and come to the same conclusion as fortune cookies everywhere

2008-11-18T20:58:00.007-08:00

You know, it's odd. Sometimes very basic things about life suddenly surprise me, and I mean that in a Successories poster type of way. I learn these life lessons (did you know, for example, that life is what you make of it?), wonder why nobody ever told me before, then realize that, actually, everybody told me, and that I had to learn it for myself. <--- That is also a life lesson. So the next time you see a cliche printed next to a photo of a soaring eagle, you might try taking it to heart. It's ok, I swear. And why would an eagle lie?

Anyway, this kinda lame thing happened. Since I am young, I am still under the impression that "that won't happen to me!", "that" of course signifying "anything bad, ever." I have to remain pretty esoteric here, but I will say that a big chunk of my history recently dissolved into thin air. As that one dude (ok, Shakespeare) once said: "These violent delights have violent ends." Yeah, no joke. But as that other dude (ok, Rilke) once said, "Oh disobedient world, full of refusal. And yet it breathes the space in which the stars revolve." Or, if you prefer: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Hey, they may be onto something here! Because the same world that gives us loss also gives us contellations, the ability to make cheese, new leather boots (oh, yeah!) and, like, one gazillion wonderful people that I haven't even met yet. Cheese, boots, friends, stars. And lemonade. Bring it on, let's go.

On my windowsill, one of the previous occupants of this room wrote, "Yes, you can." I find this oddly touching and inspirational. It's just a dumb phrase, scrawled in pencil, but I look at it often, because it's good to be reminded. So when I clumsily post the equivalent of, "Life good! Life good! Life good!" it is a reminder to me and to you. Because if I need to hear it, then surely you do too, sometimes. So, internet: LIFE GOOD. And, also: yes, you can. So there! Now no one can say they were never told.

And now, for your enjoyment, here are some photos.

We pitied the person who had to answer the phone at this insurance agency.

Why, this is a portable hood! I call it "Porta-hood." I wish to be buried in it.

I keep my positive outlook by eating chocolate tarts and cider for lunch.

How I spent my Halloween!

High fives all around

2008-11-11T22:43:00.002-08:00

After 2 weeks of absence, I bring you this important update:

THESE ARE THE CUTEST MITTENS IN THE WORLD!!!!!

Zoopity doo dah

2008-10-28T21:24:00.014-07:00

Zoooooooooooooop!

And by zoop, I mean soup, of course. Oh, it's crisp and blustery outside and we all enjoy a nice bowl of soup this time of year and blah blah, but the real reason I like eating soup is my insane ritual of what I term "Zoop Zongs." Zoop Zongs (that is, soup songs) basically consist of any tune with either most or all of the lyrics replaced by the word "zoop," sung quietly or silently during the entire soup getting/making process. For instance, a week or two ago I made this turnip soup:

It was really good, but that's beside the point. While chopping the vegetables, I started off with the tune of the dreidl song you're supposed to sing at Hanukkah: "Zoopy zoopy zoopy, I made you out of zoop! Zoopy zoopy zoopy, zoopy zoopy ZOOP!!" Other favorites include "Row, row, row your boat" ("Zoop, zoop, zoop your zoop" -- especially popular while walking to the store to buy soup ingredients) "Super Trooper" by Abba (almost too easy) and, well, "Bananaphone" by Raffi ("Zoop-zooper Phone"). Uhhh, yeah. See, don't you want some soup now?! Zoop Zongs really work!

Ok, here is some news:

1) I made chili tonight! (Chili counts as soup, so there was singing.) I would rate it a solid B+, but the real news is that it was accompanied by the best cornbread I've ever had, which I picked up on a whim from the bakery at New Seasons. I love that the world's best cornbread has been hiding all this time in an unassuming supermaket bakery. Nom nom!

2) I have some new glasses.

I like 'em. The guy that works at the eye place (6 blocks from home, hooray) totally picked them out for me first thing, then waited patiently as I tried on thousands of other pairs before finally admitting he was right. By the way, he was from Peoria! Also, if you look very closely at the background, you'll see that my bed is holding a black mask, a package of tinsel, and two chocolate bars. I believe the phrase is, "That is how I roll."

3) Here is a typical weekday for me: Drudge drudge drudge, coworkers complaining, more news of downsizing, nearly being run over walking to the bus stop, getting crushed against the window on the packed bus back to Portland while everyone yells into their cell phones. Dejected, I am dumped off the bus into downtown Portland. And then I walk over the Hawthorne Bridge, and instantly forget I've ever had a problem:

Walking over the bridge is absolutely one of my favorite things, ever. There are always boats out, and the sun shines off the water, and you can see Mt. St. Helens. It's the country's busiest bike commuter bridge, so there are always tons of people whizzing by on their bikes, cheerful to be getting off work. Last week a car broke down in the middle of the bridge, and 2 bikers immediately hopped off their bikes and ran to help push the car, then cheered and waved goodbye when it picked up momentum and got going again. People here are kind.

From there it's about a 40 minute walk home (or, when it's raining, a 10 min bus ride). It's my favorite part of the day. It mostly looks like this:

I walk through a neighborhood called Ladd's Addition, which ends about 4 blocks from my house. I love it. It's like a giant maze, much bigger and more confusing than the map conveys (my house is just off of Division and 24th, which you can also see on this map):

But from the street, it looks more like this:

It's filled with alleys, and big houses, and kitties. Each roundabout has a (huge!) rose garden, with twisty paths and benches that you can sit on.

This sorry photo gives absolutely no sense of what it's actually like. The center roundabout is especially large; it's filled with big trees and you can't even see to the other side. One one of the streets there's a tiny cafe, which I occasionally stumble across but can never seem to find when I actually want a cup of coffee. If you don't know exactly where you're going, you'll never get there.

And then: this is my street! Hello, hello.

Unfortunately, it looks like I've run out of time, which is a shame, because we still have some things to talk about. In particular, I'm sure you'll all enjoy hearing the sad tale of how a bee defied the laws of physics and flew up my pant leg. (Spoiler: not a happy ending) Something to look forward to, I suppose!

Cusp

2008-10-21T20:18:00.002-07:00

I feel like something good is about to happen! I dunno, I've been having this premonition all day long. (I'm wearing purple tights. Maybe that's why?) Don't let me down, future!

Help me live my life

2008-10-18T18:14:00.003-07:00

Here are two scenarios for how I will spend the next few hours. Please help me choose the correct one:

1) Go to bakery, buy bread, go for a run, shower.
2) Go for a run, shower, go to bakery, buy bread.

I am paralyzed by the weighty life decisions I'm always having to make.

EDIT, 2.5 HOURS LATER: I chose option one, which ended up working out pretty well, though I can't help but wonder how my life would have turned out differently had I chosen option two. Ah, two roads diverged... !

Mud, butter.

2008-10-14T21:11:00.004-07:00

Here's a video preview of the race that Ben is coming up to Portland for on November 9th (he will be here Nov 1-10). It's the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship, otherwise known as "Best Most Totally Fun-Time Awesome Spectacle." The video was filmed at last year's race, and occasionally you can see us leaning into the frame, doing dumb stuff (you really won't be able to spot us unless you know exactly where to look, so don't spend too much time doing that). Anyway, I'm really looking forward to heckling those fools from the sidelines and pouring beers on them as they struggle to run uphill with their bikes in the mud. I hear Ben has an orange bike with hot pink tires and matching 80's helmet! Oh, and the winner gets a tattoo and a golden speedo. I would lose on purpose.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: I just found out today that there are TWOOOO waffle stands within 10 blocks of my house!! This is big news. The thing I missed the most from my old neighborhood was the waffle stand down the block, which I visited so often they knew my name and order. It was like "Cheers," with butter and powdered sugar. Don't worry, I will update with detailed info as soon as I visit both carts. These things are important.

UPDATE: I've had several people ask me if the giant spider ever appeared again at my workplace. Luckily, it has not.

Turnips!

2008-10-05T17:13:00.009-07:00

PERFECT FALL DAY ALERT!!

Actually, my plans for the weekend kind of failed. On Saturday, I walked over to the Laurelhurst to see the Don Hertzfeldt screening, only to find a crowd of mid-30's pudgy animation nerds (my people) staring dejectedly at a "DON HERTZFELDT IS SOLD OUT" sign in the window. Ugh! Despite my best efforts, I couldn't seem to work up a hunger or thirst, so I just wandered around the area for awhile, eventually finding myself in a cemetary. I don't know how autumn manages to be so sneaky, but it seems like there's always one day where I totally get my mind blown by the realization that the leaves have started turning, and I guess yesterday was it. So I stomped around in my boots and my skirt, admiring the wet leaves and the crisp air and imagining an exciting future filled with caramel apples. Also, I now have a large jug of apple cider, so I feel that anything is possible.

My other unrealized goal for the weekend was to watch the Portland Marathon, especially since I plan on running it next year. Instead I... slept. For 14 hours. I woke up at around noon, sorta confused and weirded out, since on normal days I've usually been up for at least 6 hours at that point. I feel illness looming, so I suppose it was warranted. In true "I'm almost sick" fashion, I have accomplished nothing today, save dragging myself to New Seasons for vitamin C smoothies and the Sunday NY Times. Luckily, I made a big batch of this the other day, which I plan to consume with gusto in about an hour:

Hello, I am poorly-photographed lentil & spinach soup!

Ok, but can we be serious for a second? I need to talk to you about vegetables. All summer I've been going to the Groundwork Organics booth at the farmer's market, and all summer I've been having my, uh, existence rocked by the quality of their produce. I know this is a boring subject, but this week's cauliflower made me want to weep. It's such a treat to buy from people who are knowledgeable and passionate about the food they grow. I consistently buy stuff there, get it home, and think, "I had no idea that ____ could taste this good." These are vegetables with character. After suffering through years of tasteless produce that's been shipped across the country and had the life bred out of it, I'm falling back in love with food.

This week was especially exciting for me, because they had turnips, and I love turnips! Two varieties of turnips, which... I didn't actually know there were other varieties of turnips. How many more times can I say turnips in this paragraph? Turnips, turnips, turnipsturnips. Turnips? Anyway, the mystery turnips are red! Red turnips! They look like citrus fruits:

The color's off, sorta. But man, these turnips -- do you mind if I call them "rad"? So spicy, so complex, so at home in my belly. Also pictured are some carrots, some Romaine lettuce, the aforementioned cauliflower, and a green striped Roma tomato, which I had no idea even existed. And yes, all are now at home in my belly.

Sigur Ros tomorrow. Also, my wrist is now able to bend! (Slowly.) Yes, yes, yes, concerts and wrist-bending, here I come.

!!!

2008-10-02T16:31:00.003-07:00

La la la! Here are some things I'm very excited about:

1) Sigur Ros on Monday!
2) Cut/Copy show on Tuesday!
3) Pine nuts. Oh, yum.
4) Hot cider and Tuaca. Get thee to an orchard, then get thee to a liquor store.
5) Watching the Portland Marathon on Sunday.
6) Training for the Portland Marathon next year!
7) Seeing Don Hertzfeldt (of "Rejected" fame) speak on Saturday.
8) Seeing Art Spiegelman (writer of "Maus") speak next Thursday!
9) Doing another vegan experimentation month during October. I swear, it's fun!
10) I have a new stovetop espresso maker! Sometimes I get excited to go to sleep so I can wake up and use it. I have a tiny cup, too! You can drink from it if you come over.

I'll tell you more later. What are you excited about?

On my knees in front of the event

2008-09-29T21:33:00.005-07:00

Chicago was wonderful. Old friends, too much food, too many jokes, not enough time. Lots of tomfoolery and breakfasts and getting lost, none of which translate too well into a dryly-written internet life story. Summary: we had fun! In the end, I both did and did not want to leave, which I suppose is an integral part of this whole "growing up and moving away" business. I'd better get used to it, since it doesn't look like we'll all be moving into a giant castle overlooking the sea anytime soon.

As you may or may not know, I flew to Chicago to see My Bloody Valentine. I've been waiting for this show for about 4 years now (when Pitchfork first posted that they were reuniting). Since less than .01% of the people reading this blog care about 90's shoegazer bands, I will keep this short: if you fly 2,000 miles to see a concert, it probably means that you love this band, that they really mean something to you, and that, yes, while standing in line you will repeatedly almost burst into tears of sheer joy and nerves and anticipation. These things are true. And if you fly 2,000 miles to see a band, people will probably want to know if it lived up to your expectations. Unfortunately, this is not a question that can really be answered, at least not with language. You might spend the entire plane ride home trying to make sense of what exactly happened. You will probably fail. What I mean to say is that it was almost nothing like I expected, and we didn't high-five and yell "awesome!" when it was over, and the noise and vibrations were so intense that we physically suffered, but the fact that I have not stopped thinking about it for even an hour since it happened means... something. I have no context for such an experience and sometimes I am terrified by the extent that I am unable to describe what it was like (trying to find even one word makes me lapse into a sort of half-trance as my mind spins its wheels in the mud), and well, it was really just a group of people playing some loud guitars and surely bodies and minds have to be expected to react to such things in new and sometimes alarming ways, but... by golly, I still maintain that it meant something!

I don't know why I ramble on, when all I need is one Harold Brodkey quote:

"I distrust summaries, any kind of gliding through time, any too great a claim that one is in control of what one recounts; I think someone who claims to understand but who is obviously calm, someone who claims to write with emotion recollected in tranquility, is a fool and a liar. To understand is to tremble. To recollect is to reenter and be riven. An acrobat after spinning through the air in a mockery of flight stands erect on his perch and mockingly takes his bow as if what he is being applauded for was easy for him and cost him nothing, although meanwhile he is covered with sweat and his smile is edged with a relief chilling to think about; he is indulging in a show-business style; he is pretending to be superhuman. I am bored with that and with where it has brought us. I admire the authority of being on one's knees in front of the event."

Revenge: Not as sweet as promised

2008-09-24T16:21:00.002-07:00

This morning I was at work, stirring my oatmeal, when I spied some movement out of the corner of my eye. Well what do you know! It happened to be the biggest spider I've ever seen in the "wild", taking a little stroll down the aisle by my desk. It was about the size of my palm, with a huge body and fat legs and horrific markings. No, really -- completely appalling. It could've eaten a small mammal. NO, REALLY. COMPLETELY APPALLING.

It was moving pretty slowly, and I was about to try to find help when it took a sudden and unexpected turn into - well, hello! - the cubicle of a woman who is really, really not nice to me. As in, she sabotages my work and spreads lies. Hey, no big deal! Anyway, I watched with a certain amount of sick glee as the spider walked in to her empty cube, turned a corner, and disappeared. I continued stirring my oatmeal. She was coming down the aisle already as the spider entered her cubicle, so I figured the whole thing would be over in about 10 seconds; she'd see it (the thing cast a shadow, how could it hide?), become hysterical, and I'd continue stoically pouring honey into my oatmeal, laughing on the inside. THIS PLAN COULD NOT FAIL, OBVIOUSLY.

Except, it totally did! She came back to her desk, sat down, and started working. She did not see the spider. I continued stirring the oatmeal. She continued working. It had to be there, right? I found an old paper, ran to the recycling bin, and casually peered into her cubicle on the way back to my desk. Oh my God! Oh my God. Ohhhhhhh my God, the spider was no longer there. But if not there... where? My cubicle??! My hair? Did it jump into my hair?? It's in my hair!!! When I realized that the spider had departed for parts unknown, I almost fainted. You think I'm joking, but I'm telling you -- I had to go sit in the bathroom with my head between my legs for about 20 minutes. Because, I don't know if I mentioned this, but... the spider was as big as my palm. Ohhhh ho ho ho h ooooo no, it was not good.

So, how do you think I spent the rest of my day? Why, living in a hellish state of paranoia, of course! The spider never reappeared, and I wasted most of the day looking around suspiciously and swatting at phantom spiders that were crawling on my feet. As for the woman I was trying to get revenge on, she passed the day in peace and never had any idea of what had happened. I see that I should be absorbing a life lesson here, but I refuse! As I write this, there's another spider spinning a big web right outside my window and right over the place on the roof where I like to sit. How am I going to get rid of this thing? It's hanging in midair. I actually considered a pellet gun for a second, before realizing how insane that sounded. Ok, but wait, would that work? Or could I spray poison on it? Does anyone have a flame thrower I could borrow? We've all seen those Wile E. Coyote cartoons, so I think we know how this is going to end: walking off the roof while holding an "Acme Spider Killer," looking down, saying "Yipe!" and falling. It's been fun.

But anyway, I'm going to Chicago tomorrow! I would love to tell you more, but I've used up all my energy raging against spiders. I return on Sunday, we'll talk then!

"breaking" news, part 2

2008-09-16T20:46:00.004-07:00

The good news: my wrist isn't broken!

The bad news: apparently, the type of extreme sprain that i have is more painful than a break. also, i have to wear a giant splint for 6 weeks. oh, bother.

Thus begins my one-handed life. You will probably notice that it contains fewer capital letters, for which i apologize. For my first one-handed meal i made a curry, which took forever because i had to be careful not to sully my splint with any of the ingredients, lest i sentence myself to smelling like an indian restaurant for 6 weeks. also, try mincing garlic with one hand. haha, only a crazy person would do that, right?? well, technically, yes.

for inspiration, i leave you with a photo of the one-armed drummer from def leppard:

army of one!!

My Wrist Hurts, and other tales of woe

2008-09-15T22:04:00.002-07:00

Breaking news! I tripped and fell tonight while running (there was a stick, we exchanged words) and... ow. I no longer have any skin on my left leg, knee, hand, wrist, elbow, or shoulder. I also appear to have sprained my wrist, badly. Can you imagine what would happen if I tried something like hang-gliding? Or mountain climbing? I'm barely even getting through a normal day without dying!

Oh, and hey! I figured out what my tattoo should be: "Stop buying new books, jerk" in bold font, on my hand. I seem to have a real problem. Actually, the appearance of the word "books" would probably serve as a sort of trigger, backfire, and cause me to run to Powell's, so maybe that's out. I use the other side of my bed (I knew I bought a queen size for a reason) as a sort of "on deck" section where I pile the new books; then I can easily make a decision about which ones I want to read that day. Unfortunately, it's getting to the point where there's no longer room for my entire body in the bed, which so far hasn't deterred me from buying even MORE BOOKS (just yesterday, even!). I'm like an eccentric cat lady, without the cats. There are 18 sitting there right now. If I get to 20, I'll have to sleep in the yard. Please stop me before I get to 20. (I'm definitely getting to 20.)

Pattern recognition

2008-09-08T15:09:00.004-07:00

Dude!

I have a friend that starts nearly every "paragraph" of his speech with Dude! I guess I'd only passively noticed this until the other day, when it started to strike me as funny, since the Dude! is nearly always followed by something akin to, "I was reading this article about economic systems in Africa the other day...". (Which is usually followed by a glazed expression on my part, since I only want to talk about kittens and candy.) He is also a frequent user of sweet, kick ass!, and word. Come to think of it, this pattern of speech could describe any number of people I know. A large portion of my friends talk sort of like hyper-literate versions of Jeff Spicoli. I don't know how this came to be, though there really is something that feels right about reducing something heady and complex to, "like, totally lame."

And I do it too, of course. I'm sure you've noticed the iron-clad pattern that this blog follows. It goes something like this:

Irreverent greeting!

Something I noticed the other day that has no real bearing on my life or yours. Details of my "deep" observation. Wrap-up of story, followed by weak joke to end the paragraph. Zing!

Abrupt change of subject. Story of how I fell/said something dumb/made a fool of myself. Another "zinger."

Weak attempt at segue, followed by a loosely related list of things I want to talk about. Meditation about how great Portland is. Promise to revisit subject that I was not able to adequately cover (always broken). Realization that I have run out of things to say, followed by literary equivalent of, "Uh."

Attempt at hilarious sign-off, followed by exclamation points!!!

How did I even get on this subject? What I actually came to talk about today, though, is the surprising realization that I'm beginning to think that tattoos look, like... kinda good. Like... really kinda good, actually. Oh boy, this is how it starts. I welcome your attempts to change my mind. But wouldn't I look great with a giant, soaring eagle covering my back? (I'm kidding, Mom.) I guess I'm a real Portlander now.

Paradise City

2008-09-07T13:12:00.003-07:00

Hello from my new house!

I apologize in advance if I fall asleep in the middle of this entry. Between seeing shows every day (Music Fest NW) and moving all of my earthly belongings across town, there hasn't been much opportunity for rest. Luckily, today is a lazy Sunday -- I slept in my new room for the first time last night, and this morning I sat on the porch and read the paper and made half-hearted attempts to continue unpacking.

Can I tell you about my new neighborhood? I'm now down in SE Portland, in an area that I have tentatively nicknamed "Cute Boy Paradise." It is really right in the middle of everything (SE Portland is sort of the standard place where everybody lives and does stuff), whereas my old neighborhood was a bit more isolated and less developed (but still wonderful). I can basically walk or ride my bike to everything, including the best grocery store ever, which is 4 blocks away. THIS IS GOOD NEWS. Also, my rent is cheaper than it was in Urbana! Also also, my window opens up to the roof, so I can sit on top of the house and look out over the neighborhood. Yes! It's always been a huge hassle to get from North Portland to activities in SE, so I'm looking forward to living down here and getting to know a whole different part of the city.

My new address is easy to remember:

2424 SE 24th Ave.
Portland, OR
97214

I'm just... really super excited. Pictures will come after I finish unpacking.

So anyway, there was also Music Fest NW. As I predicted in a previous entry, it was in fact both "totally awesome" and "totally exhausting." On Friday I saw live music from 5:30 pm until 2:00 am! I want to lie down just thinking about it. The high point was most definitely seeing Built to Spill play "Perfect From Now On" in its entirety; I actually sort of started to tear up during the first song, just because that album has been on heavy rotation during so many points in my life. Oh man! Yeah, the whole festival was pretty great.

For no real reason, here is a photo of what I had for dinner a few weeks ago. Maybe this is why I can't button my pants anymore? (note: not an exaggeration)

Dude. That is chocolate almond cake, caramel mousse, and salted almonds, all covered in chocolate. Accompanying it is a Rogue chocolate stout with mocha ice cream. I felt very ill afterwards. Luckily, I went from living near the N. Portland location of Pix Patisserie to living near the SE location, so I can continue being gluttonous without any extra effort. I'm also living near the SE locations of a few other of my most beloved N. Portland hangouts (Fresh Pot, Albina Press, Por Que No, even Powell's has a SE location near me) so I can basically live the same life I've been living all along. But with more cute boys!

Great Moments in Amanda-dom

2008-08-26T21:56:00.002-07:00

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!)

2727272727272727272727

2008-08-17T17:40:00.006-07:00

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

2008-08-14T21:56:00.002-07:00

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

2008-08-12T20:15:00.005-07:00

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

2008-08-11T19:23:00.004-07:00

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)

2008-08-09T19:03:00.005-07:00

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:

Berry Punny

2008-07-31T20:45:00.004-07:00

I AM IN BERRY HEAVEN.

The one great part about my job (aside from the fact that they pay me to go there) is the unexpected appearance of a giant row of blackberry bushes near the road by my office. What looked like a giant patch of tangly weeds suddently began producing delicious berries! While our coworkers sit motionless in their cubicles, my friend Travis and I have been using our breaks to harvest berries in the sun. Today I came home with 2 big tupperware containers full, an amount that probably would have cost... over $10 at the farmer's market? Ha ha! I keep meaning to make a cobbler or something, but I stuff them down my gullet so fast that so far it's been impossible. Right now I'm enjoying them with some sparkling wine!

In other news, the other day I got jalepeno oil on my eye. I was making some Vietnamese food, and I'd picked up some jalepenos at the farmer's market (no salmonella for me!) that were labeled "mild," so I wanted to see exactly how spicy they were before I put them in the food. Uh, they were really freakin' spicy. Like a fool I picked up a tiny piece with my fingers and ate it, setting my entire mouth on fire. After trying in vain to cool the fire within, I washed my hands thoroughly... or so I thought. At some point I must have rubbed my eye, because I began noticing a sharp pain on my eyelid, which quickly escalated into a 4-alarm fire that could not be stopped. Boy, I wish you could have been there. With a swollen up eyelid, I did a frantic one-eyed internet search to see what I could use to stop the burning; I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but milk products are basically the only thing that can cool jalepeno fires. Unfortunately for me, I've been eating vegan (for a fun experiment, not forever... more later on this?), so there were no milk products to be found in my home. "The Internet" recommended oil or vinegar as solutions if no milk products were on hand, so I desperately smeared both on my burning eyelid, only to have the terrible fire intensify. At this point, I would also like to mention that the original fire in my mouth had never really gone away, and my lips were swollen to Angelina Jolie proportions. After the fire had cooled, I actually admired my mouth in the mirror and wished I had somewhere to go.

Luckily for me, I remembered that Corinn had left a yogurt parfait in the back of the refrigerator (we had a brunch at our house last weekend). I say "luckily" because this meant that the burning in my eye could be stopped, though it also meant smearing a slightly spoiled, crusty handful of yogurt and granola all over my eyelid. Again, I wish you could have been there. To make a long story short (too late!), the yogurt worked, and I'm fine now. Also, the food I was making turned out to be, uh, out of this world, so I guess it was worth it.

Stories for later:
How I Got Shot With a Supersoaker by a Car Full of Teenagers (On My Way to a Date)
How Someone at Work Stole My Lunch & I Put a Childish Note on the Refrig. to Shame Them

Happiness, sappiness

2008-07-24T19:29:00.005-07:00

Dear Internet,

I know it's been awhile. The thing is, I'm really happy, and it takes up all my time! And now it's been so long that I don't know where to start. So, you know:

Biking around, going to 2 farmer's markets a week, walking around town and eating a pint of blueberries, beer fests, mountains, 75 degree days, tapas, brunch, the waffle stand, cooking elaborate dinners for myself, running 5 miles a day, growing my own herbs, reading 4 books at once, listening to the Besnard Lakes album until I get sick of it (not yet), new bands, new people, finding furniture on the curb and dragging it home, eating tacos with Anna, street fairs, margarita tents, biking to get the Sunday Times, getting up early, finding a blackberry bush, picnics, parks, happy hours, kiddie pools, bbqs, fun sunshine rainbows unicorns happiness!!!

I'm having a blast, not really because anything special's happening, but just because. I guess you could say that Portland agrees with me. The fact that I walk around with a smile on my face all day, even when my job is getting boring and I miss my old friends -- well, that's a wonderful thing. And the fact that things will only get better and happier -- well, golly! The only thing I don't like right now is my haircut, but you know, that'll grow out.

Summertime, and the livin' is... 45 degrees-y

2008-06-10T21:52:00.002-07:00

It's June 10th, and we have the heat on. Today I wore gloves, a down vest, and a scarf! I actually don't really mind it, especially since I know what the alternative is, but still... it's June 10th. I guess it all works out, since the 10 hours a week I used to spend complaining about the heat in Urbana has now been changed into the 10 hours a week I use to commute to and from work. (You know, like that one law of the universe that says matter can neither be created nor destroyed.) Anyway, it's supposed to start being sunny and 75 on Thursday, so I may finally get to put away my scarf and realize my summer dreams, which, at this point all sort of resemble things that happened in Country Time Lemonade commercials. See you at the old fishin' hole!

Since I left you

2008-06-07T15:02:00.006-07:00

Things I missed about Oregon when I was in Illinois:

Things I miss about Illinois, now that I'm back:

not pictured: Alex Bass.

Oh Portland, I've missed you.

2008-06-05T19:02:00.001-07:00

Pygmy goat boards a TriMet bus

At approximately 9:45 p.m. last night, an unattended pygmy goat walked on a Line 14- Hawthorne bus. The bus was on layover at SE 94th and Foster and the operator was standing outside her bus with the doors open. The operator was concerned because of the freeway nearby and busy street traffic, and closed the bus doors. She immediately called dispatch and TriMet’s dispatch called 911. A Portland Police Officer responded and transported the goat. The 35-pound goat was wearing a nylon collar.

Broken ankles -- so hot right now!

2008-04-19T21:26:00.003-07:00

Never a dull moment. I injured my ankle running last week; I thought it would get better, but it continued to swell and bruise until I finally gave in and spent a magical Friday evening in the urgent care ward at the hospital. My self-diagnosis going in was, "Uh, this might be a stress fracture, but I'm not sure"; after 2 hours in the hospital, I finally received the official diagnosis of, "Uh, this might be a stress fracture, but I'm not sure." In any case, I got to have an x-ray and see a picture of my own fibula, which was kind of exciting for me. (Isn't it kind of weird that there are bones inside of you?) Anyway, there's no obvious break in my ankle, but stress fractures can't really be seen without an (expensive) MRI, so we'll probably never know. For the next few weeks I have to wear this boot-like ankle brace, which will hopefully mend my ankle well enough that I'll be able to avoid the dreaded full-leg cast. Unfortunately, the brace makes me limp even more noticeably than before. I was even mocked by a group of junior high kids as I walked home from the hospital, which was so ludicrous that I actually laughed out loud when it happened. Why don't you just tie tin cans to my ankles and throw rocks at me already?

bus woe.

2008-04-01T06:03:00.002-07:00

Man, I missed the bus again. Why must a 5:42 am bus run 5 minutes early? And why must it speed away as I run after it, yelling? And why did I even run after it, after all we've talked about? So this is what it's come to -- blogging at 6 am.

How are you this morning?

postcards from the edge

2008-03-26T21:28:00.003-07:00

Dear Everyone,

Hello. How are you? I am fine. I will update soon. I am in the first stages of carpal tunnel, so I've had to stay off the computer. I have some wrist braces now, they are very elegant. Sometime this week I will post photos from my trip to Los Angeles. You will get to hear all about my sunburnt neck. We will have fun!

your friend,
Amanda

New shoes and nyquil

2008-03-01T11:03:00.010-08:00

Happy birthday to my chronic state of malaise, which turns 34 days old today! It seems like only yesterday I was coming down with the flu, which then morphed into a hacking cough and laryngitis, which has now settled into bad cold territory (but not before bringing a second round of laryngitis, much to the delight of my "friends," who thought it was really hilarious to ask me to recite lines from "Ghost" in my smokey early 90's Demi Moore voice). YEAH, OKAY. So, needless to say, I've been rather absent from life and the internet because I have little time for anything other than eating citrus fruits, taking nyquil, and moaning in my sick bed. It actually makes no sense to my why I've been so sick, since my lifestyle is probably the healthiest it ever has been or will be: I'm happy, I exercise regularly, I always get enough sleep, and my diet is based around fruits and vegetables. I eat like, 5 oranges a day. I even replaced my morning coffee with green tea and fruit juices! I think my body just misses eating candy all day at Rentertainment and having 4:00 beers with Geoff.

But anyway, I do have a few pieces of news:

1) I had my 1st review at work, and it went extraordinarily well! My marks were very good, and my boss complimented me on my "calm and in-control" attitude on the job, which I guess means she hasn't heard me crunching loudly on the ubiquitous bag of pistachios that I keep in my desk drawer. I get to buy now, which is sorta fun. And one day I even got to work on poetry books! I have more work to do now, so I rearranged my work schedule to earlier, longer days for most of the week, which means that I usually get to leave pretty early on Thursday and Friday. Leaving work at 3:30 on a sunny, 60 degree day is basically like being handed a sack of gold. And a box of powdered sugar donuts. At the same time!

2) Geoff and Jill visited! We had fun. I won't post photos because they're all terrible, but we spent most of the time eating, drinking, and making fun of people, so you can conjure up your own mental picture of what we looked like. They should move here, don't you think?

3) I almost got a bike ticket!! I met a friend over at Pix Patisserie and was in such a rush to get there that I forgot to put my bike lights on (it was light out at the time). Literally 15 seconds after I left Pix and started to pedal home, I passed a cop car. I saw the cop staring at me, so I immediately pulled over to the sidewalk, got off the bike, and called Ben, trying to make it look like I was just hanging out. The cop car responded by doing a u-turn in the middle of the intersection, parking in the middle of the street with its headlights shining directly on me (nervously leaning against a building and talking on the phone) and sitting there for two full minutes. It then revved its engine, screeched its tires, and zoomed off. Okay, you made your point, Mr. Policeman... I'm a bad girl. Man, it was close.

4) I cut my own hair (at 6:00 in the morning, without contacts in) and ended up looking like the mom from "The Family Circus." This is not the look that I was going for.

It's also the day that I decided to wear my new shoes to work without breaking them in first. I knew it was a mistake after about 10 seconds, but I was running to catch the bus and didn't have time to change; I have to walk a few miles every morning to get from bus stop to bus stop, and by the time I got to work, my feet were bascially giant lumps of ground hamburger. My solution to this was to fashion half-socks from a pair of fingerless gloves I keep at my desk, which also involved stapling the thumb opening to the rest of the "sock" after it freed itself and flapped open in the breeze, making me look like a total idiot. Did I mention that this was also the day the CEO of the company was visiting? I'm sure no one even noticed (I was wearing pants that covered up my terrible secret), but it's surprisingly hard to feel professional when you're wearing gloves on your feet and dragging them behind you like Quasimodo. The punchline to the entire day came when one of my coworkers complimented me on my shoes, then asked if they were comfortable. I said that they were.

5) I'm going to visit Ben in LA in a few weeks! It's the first Spring Break trip I've ever taken. Then, the weekend after I get back, I think I'm going up to Mt. Hood and staying in a cabin with some friends! They're going skiing, but I don't have any ski clothes here, so I'll probably just hang out and wander in the woods while they do that. I'm excited!

#1 Most Adorablest Crime

2008-02-19T21:46:00.002-08:00

Awhile back, I posted about about the ghost bikes that are set up to memorialize bikers killed in Portland. Well, apparently someone stole one of them last week! BUT HOLD ON! In a twist ending that could only happen in Portland (or the Care Bears cloud castle), the thief was seized with such guilt over the theft that he returned the bike to its rightful place, along with a handwritten note of apology.

You can find the (highly recommended) story here.

This makes me miss home.

2008-02-16T21:53:00.002-08:00

Yes, even Lincoln Square Mall! (home of Tim Johnson)

(EDIT: This was filmed in Champaign-Urbana, for you out-of-towners. And the band is Headlights!)

I swam and walked and read and ate sparingly.

2008-02-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

I'm back!

Apologies for not updating, but it's been a busy (and lovely!) 2008 so far -- Shadie moved in, so we've been busy running around the city, finding the best happy hours, and hosting visitors galore. Our internet has also been quite spotty, and for the past week I've had a terrible case of the flu (unfortunately I still had to work, which made for some pathetically hilarious situations). But here I am, look!

Jacob, Me, Mitch, Shadie

Here's a poem I discovered the other day. You might like it:

The Origin of Myth

That summer I was drinking
apple cider vinegar because I read
in an obscure book it was good

for my health. A tablespoon or two
in a glass of spring water, with a bit
of honey or raw sugar. Controls weight,
the book said, flushes harmful toxins
from joints, tissues and organs.
"Doctor George Blodgett drank it
every day, and remained vigorous
until his death at age 94."

One reads
and perhaps believes almost anything
when one has lived alone for a while.
I felt good, doing it, though perhaps
that was because I walked on the beach
every day, swam, then walked again,
collected beach glass smoothed by the waves.
Pale blue and green, like solidified air,
dark green like emeralds, very rarely
sapphire blue and once a tiny piece
of red round as the pupil of an eye.
No one was on the beach because it was
September, and I had a white cabin
to myself. I swam and walked and read
and ate sparingly. I had come there
to be alone, and to think things through.
Every morning I drank my vinegar.
I read that the soldier who gave Jesus
vinegar on a sponge did so not in mockery
but in pity, to offer a restorative.
After a week I set the "red eye" on my desk
so we could watch one another. At dusk
the mist far out over the water looked like
distant hills, and I understood how
an earlier inhabitant might have though
these were mountains that rose at nightfall
and disappeared with the dawn.

-Ed Ochester

I'm feeling good about where this year is headed, how about you? Here's hoping that 2008 is filled with simple happiness for all of us!

A Christmas Story

2007-12-25T14:06:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from pretty Portland!

I didn't take this photo (the giveaway should be that it's actually in focus). Interestingly enough, I walked across this bridge a few days ago, after Ben and I were going back downtown after seeing Superbad (which was stupid! Sorry, America) and there was no "Merry Christmas" sign to be seen. There was, however, a deserted construction site, which I guess didn't make the cut for this particular photo.

Christmas actually started for me on Friday morning, when I saw my #1 Portland enemy (a high school kid who likes to yell obscenities in a Cartman voice on the 7:25 am bus) run face first into a telephone pole and knock himself out. Ho ho ho! I also saw a construction worker give cookies to a homeless man, which is probably a more acceptable thing to be excited about. At work we had our bagel brunch, which was fun, and then Ben flew in at about midnight. We've just been slothing around, cooking some food, and walking about. Yesterday Ben made a rosemary pork roast, which went so excellently with the rosemary cheese that Geoff and Jill sent (if you send a box of cheese, you too can be mentioned by name in this blog!). We then spent awhile watching "Yule Log 2002" on Oregon Public Broadcasting, which is a 3-hour shot of a fireplace. Every so often, a hand would come in to poke at the fire with a stick, or throw another log on, which was very exciting for us.

Fire: now in HD!

This morning, we got up, made some coffee, and watched FOUR judge shows in a row (Judge David, People's Court, Judge Mathis, and Judge Hatchette). Luckily, during Judge Hatchette it started to snow, so we had an excuse to leave the house and go for a walk.

Ben was excited.

The view from my balcony

A pile of old Coke bottles we saw

An alley near my house

Man, we turned off the judge shows for this?

Brr.

Portland's hottest ride

This is probably my favorite present of the year -- a "Tabby" pocket puzzle that Ben found at his parents' house. It's like when you spend $100 on an Erector set for your kid, and then he takes the box and plays with it all afternoon instead.

And finally, this is what happens when you try to take a self-portrait above a steaming pot. It's probably for the best that you can't really see our faces.

Good Grief

2007-12-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

Today I worked on German books for a long, long, long time. Normally, I like this, but unfortunately today's batch consisted mainly of professional law books, which... well, let's just say that for some reason we didn't cover international water-use law vocabulary in any of my German classes, so by the end of the day I felt like my head was imploding in on itself. My only coherent thought as I left the building was "Gwarrgh, pizza! Me want!" (you'll be happy to know that my wish was later fulfilled). I then managed to miss the bus TWICE downtown; after the first miss, I walked down the street to get more transit tickets, then hurried back to see it pulling away without me again. Both times I ran down the street yelling something like, "NoooooOOOOooo HEYYYY!!!!!" and flailing my arms. Since I do this roughly three or four times a week, I probably no longer have any chance of impressing any of the really unattractive people that habitually ride my bus, which is too bad. I'm not sure why I keep running after the bus, since it's never once stopped for me, but this never seems to occur to me at the time. It's sort of like Charlie Brown and the football, I guess.

More Breaking News: Birthday Edition

2007-12-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

Today's my mom's birthday! I hear it's cold and snowy back in Illinois, so send good thoughts of sun and happiness! Meanwhile, I'm in Portland, eating cake and thinking about her:

Happy Birthday, Mommy! I love you.

Today I unearthed a pile of old mix cd's, including one that Anna made me right before I left. Somehow she managed to segue from a Decemberists song directly into that Canned Heat song that used to be on a Pepsi commercial. Brilliant! My friends are better than everybody else's friends.

Last night I went to a nickel arcade with my pal Walt. I'm not sure if it was quite as good as Skateland (no skate-up concession stand, for one) but there WERE skeeball machines and a Star Trek: Voyager shooting game that I failed miserably at. We ended up winning a pile of tickets, so I got a skull keychain (complete with faux-jewel eyes, just like real skulls!) and he got some plastic army men. Also, my arm is nearly dead today because I injured it playing air hockey. How pathetic am I? (Answer: infinity.)

This week promises to be exciting. We've been getting treat boxes from publishers every day recently, so all I do at work is wander over to the table and claw through all the piles of candy. On Friday we have our department holiday party, which is some sort of "bagel brunch." Apparently I've been fully assimilated into office culture, because I'm actually really excited about this. FREE BAGELS!! THIS IS GREAT. And then Ben on Friday night! Aaheeeeha! I went Christmas shopping on Mississippi the other day, where all the stores were so festive and happy that it made the task a treat instead of a burden. One shop was giving out free champagne, another had hot cider, and a third had some pet zebra finches that were chirping happily over by a rack of dresses. Downtown is all lit up, and I love walking through it every evening on my way home. And then New Year's Eve!!! Sorry, I appear to be really excited about everything ever lately. Next up: Why I Love Circles, and The Story of How I Ate a Really Good Orange.

Night Janitor at HarperCollins

2007-12-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

On my commute home today, a woman walked by me to get off the bus, and a fortune from a fortune cookie fell out of her purse and landed on the seat next to me. (I know. But really, this actually did happen.) It said, "You have an ambitious nature and will make a name for yourself." This was at the very second that I was listening to a song called "Publisher" by Blonde Redhead. Who knew a cosmic symbol would come to me on public transit? Also, my lucky numbers were 4 and 7 (4 + 7 = December 11th!! Or December 47th?) and 23, which is the name of the album I was listening to. That, and 14, 35, and 48, which I'm ignoring since they don't fit neatly into the story. Although, I was 14 once... NO MERE COINCIDENCE.

Ben visits in 10 days, Anna gets here in a month, Shadie comes in 6 or 8 weeks, Geoff visits in February, and Alex maybe comes sometime after that. My thoughts basically consist of a never-ending slideshow of these five faces, maybe with an Abba song playing in the background. Those 5 faces, and one of those cartoon meat drumsticks. Yes, that's about all there is to me.

More breaking news

2007-12-09T21:41:00.000-08:00

Aiiiieeeaaahh, I just killed a giant spider that was hanging out in the corner of my room. Why, spider, why? Why right before bed? Luckily I managed to grab a shoe that I don't really like, since I'll probably leave it there (covering the mangled corpse) until I move out. It's December, isn't everything on earth supposed to be dead by now? Next time I'll use Paul's shoe.

In a further quest to make sure every second of my life is documented on the internet, you can now track what I listen to on my ipod every day here. Hey, how'd that Ginuwine track get on there? Clearly there must be some mistake.

Here is how I would rate every tea in the Stash Herbal Tea Sampler:

Apple Cinnamon: B
Blueberry: F
Chamomile: D-
Lemon Ginger: B+
Licorice Spice: F-
Mango Passionfruit: C
Orange Starfruit: C
Peppermint: A+
Wild Raspberry: F

Poking at things with sticks

2007-12-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was reflecting back on the week and thinking about how great it had been, when it occurred to me that I couldn't actually explain, in normal terms, why it'd been so great. I have nothing to report. I've lived the same day 5 days in a row. But how to explain? After seeing basically every person I love in the world during Thanksgiving, coming back to Oregon was sort of like staring at a blank sheet of paper. Yet, I wasn't, and am not, unhappy. What I find impossible to include in this blog are the small things that take up most of my time and give me most of my happiness. I love waking up and drinking coffee out of my Edward Gorey mug so much that I start to get excited about it every night before I go to bed. This morning, Ben patiently listened to me drone on about how I got a credit card with a picture of an eagle on it, and how I thought I lost my keys the other day (they were in my back pocket the whole time). The other day I came close to telling you about how I almost fell down on the bus, until I realized that that was all there was to the story. But, I don't know, it was so funny at the time!

And on that note, today was wonderful. It was sunny and cold and I walked around my neighborhood for hours, listening to music. I drank coffee out of my mug. I learned that Will Oldham took the cover photo for Slint's "Spiderland" album, which, I know, I know, I know nobody cares about, but I had to tell you because it gave me such a thrill. I missed seeing Bill Moyers on OPB, but it's okay because he'll be on again tomorrow! After 20 minutes of staring at my bookshelf, I've decided that I'll start reading Kundera's "Immortality" again soon. There's a lot to look forward to, including writing my initials on the bus window and seeing if I can guess the exact minute that I clock in at work.

I also bought some soap that smells really good!

What I meant to say was that things are going pretty well.

2007-11-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Some photos from my trip:

Uncaptionable

Trapped inside a garbage compactor, or just sitting in the back of the Worst Car Ever?

The Worst Car Ever has a patch of rust instead of a sunroof

I wish we had gone to this!

The Worst Car Ever: external shot

Bread and Pen mustache

Mario and Wario

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Is she standing up or sitting down? Haw haw!

Spockolate

2007-11-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

Today I tried to ride the bus to work, which would have been a great success if the bus had actually shown up. After a pathetic chain of events involving a ticket machine that only spoke Spanish and a depressing sojourn at a bus stop located under an overpass, I finally walked home and begged Paul to drive me. From there, the day progressed into something that I would liken to a young adult novel where someone endures their first mortifying day at a new junior high school. I immediately made sure to sit on a giant chunk of chocolate, since the only thing that looks better than a wet, tired employee is a wet, tired employee with melted chocolate all over their ass. I was just getting over this when I noticed that my lunch had leaked all over my purse, which now smells like tuna and capers (though, as a bonus I may now enjoy new popularity with the neighborhood cats). The rest is just your typical laundry list of stupid embarrassments: food in teeth, zit on cheek, stuttering, tripping. I skinned my knee? I don't even know how that happened.

Fortunately, I found the chocolate incident to be so hilarious that I was in an A+ mood all day, which turned to A++ after I got home and unearthed this little gem:

Yeah, haw haw, go ahead and make your "some things never change!!!" joke. The point is, I vividly remember this trip because I sat in chocolate and got in all over that jacket! I feel a kinship with my younger self. The fact that I am posing with cardboard Star Trek characters makes it even more perfect.

Home in 2 1/2 days :)

In Which Various Forms of Chicken Save the Day

2007-11-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Bugh. Ben left for Los Angeles today. The only good that can come from this is the fact that I now enjoy full custody of the chicken-shaped casserole dish that we found by the side of the road a few weeks ago. Luckily, Paul was able to provide hours of entertainment for me today by remaining in a death-like sleep in front of a half-eaten bucket of Popeye's chicken. It's the simple things, I tell you.

Portland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Portland

2007-11-15T22:16:00.001-08:00

Big news! But first, here's a photo of a weasel:

I don't think I'd ever really seen a weasel until the other day, when one happened to be on TV. I always thought they were badger-like, but... no! Weasels!

Anyway, the big news is that I'm coming home for Thanksgiving!

Portland to Cincinnati 11/21/07 11:55 pm - 7:07 am
Cincinnati to Chicago 11/22/07 9:15 am - 9:35 am
Chicago to Indianapolis 11/22/07 10:25 am - 12:25 pm

Indianapolis to Atlanta 11/25/07 2:25 pm - 3:59 pm
Atlanta to Portland 11/25/07 6:49 pm - 9:19 pm

Lalalalala!!!!!

Hallowhine

2007-11-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot, I have Halloween photos! You can probably already guess what I dressed up as, since I've had the same costume for the past 5 years. I think this also marks five years in a row that I've vowed to dress as Wario (my mentor), without actually making any moves towards building the costume. Maybe next year? I know I'd look great with a foot wide cardboard mustache. Alex, you're obviously Mario.

We went to greatest Halloween party ever, which I've deemed "greatest" solely because it's the only costume party I've ever been to where nobody was dressed as a sexy nurse. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING AGAIN. Ben had no costume, so he borrowed a wolf mask from Kathleen and claimed to be Teen Wolf.

Haw haw!

Corinn, Paul, and Kathleen as Mexican wrestlers

The winners of the "least amount of effort" award pose for a photo

Bjork and "Crazy Eyez Killa" Olsen, having a grand time on the stairs

WHAT ARE YOU DRESSED AS, PINK LADY??

Ricardo en Fuego fears Teen Wolf while Gum studies her scarf.

Boy, did we have a great time.

Unfortunately, Paul's intense look of concentration got him nowhere. He was, as they say, "hosed." Teen Wolf wins again!

A case of the mondays

2007-11-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

This update has been a little late in coming, since after sitting at a computer all day, I really don't feel like sitting at a computer again and typing about how I sit at a computer all day. But anyway, about this job: uh, I have no idea. It's sort of impossible to tell what it's going to be like on a day-to-day basis, and I don't want to make any generalizations because they'll probably turn out to be wrong. However:

1) I'm not sure I actually know what I do for a living.
2) Office comedies are based in truth.
3) 5 cups of coffee a day is too much.
4) They're paying me to go there, and I already have benefits, so by default I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

The first few days I really had almost nothing to do, so I spent a lot of time getting hot drinks, shuffling papers around, and trying to figure out what my department actually does. Those were not good times. They've been keeping me pretty busy for the last few days, though, so things are looking up; once I understand what it is I'm actually supposed to be doing, I think the work itself will be kind of nice. I really, really really like learning about the book industry, and I'm one of those boring people who relishes solitary, detail-oriented tasks, so the job will probably be a good fit (and the management style is extremely hands-off, which is perfect). The people there are friendly but reserved, so I haven't been able to meet too many people, but I'm hoping it will get easier (unfortunately, some of my neighbors seem to be a bit stony-faced, even choosing to skip out on the Halloween party we had during work -- which was on the clock and had a ton of food -- to sit hunched in their cubicles). The people I have talked to have been very kind and willing to help, though.

Anyway, who cares. Last weekend Ben and I went to Forest Park, which is a 5,000 acre forest reserve inside Portland. You drive through downtown, then all of the sudden you're in the middle of an old-growth forest! Look:

Forest Park, by Dolce y Gabbana

PREFONTAINE LIVES!!!

This is the Willamette River, sort of. In the distance you can see all the fall colors of the city and on the horizon is the Cascade mountain range.

I didn't take this photo, but this is Mount Hood over downtown Portland. It's one of my favorite parts of living in Oregon. I see it every day (and it really is this visible, and even prettier in real life) and I still can't get over how beautiful it is. We can see Mount St. Helens from here, too. Sometimes it spews ash! Mountains are neat.

If loving a constant temperature range of 40-70 degrees is wrong, I don't want to be right

2007-10-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

I don't think there's really been a day yet in Portland where I haven't at some point said, "What a nice day!" Fall in Oregon is what I would term "ok by me;" even the rain is strangely fine, since it gives the air that special "wet leaf" smell. And the sunny days! Monday was maybe the nicest day the entire planet has ever seen: sunny and 70, light breeze, leaves covering the entire city. In the afternoon, Ben and I trotted over to a few neighborhood parks to try and feed some crows a loaf of old bread. Unfortunately, the crows proved to be much smarter than both of us, watching us from the trees until we left, then swooping in to collect their bounty. Rascals!

Some photos of Autumnal Heaven:

The old rapscallion himself!

These would be a lot more interesting if I weren't the worst photographer in the world.

It's been a week of many small delights. I've taken a few good walks. Ben finally saw "Perfect Strangers" and now (maybe) gets the joke when I do a Balki impression. The alternative weekly papers make me laugh, in a good way. Yesterday Ben and I split a bottle of Chimay Cinq Cents and a wedge of the Chimay cheese, which by itself is enough to make any day good. Today Paul made BLT's and mimosas and we sat around watching The Sopranos, which is how we're filling the void now that we've finished Star Trek: Voyager (they made it back to Earth, by the way. I mean, in case you were wondering.). It's a good show, though automatically a step down since it's not set in space. I'm sorry, but mafia stories can't beat black hole stories... that's just how it is.

Tomorrow I get to spend the day with Anna, and maybe show Portland my Bjork costume. And on Monday I start earning money! Oh happy day(s).

AHHHHH TOO CUTE TO HANDLE!!!

2007-10-24T22:21:00.001-07:00

R.I.P.

2007-10-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Another biker was killed this week, only 2 weeks after Portland's last fatal bike accident. He was in a bike lane, and wearing a helmet... and it happened pretty close to where I live. You can read the story here, and see a little memorial to him here. He worked at the Bike Gallery (which is where I saw Colin Meloy) and helped me pick out my bike lights when I was in there. Both bikers were crushed by trucks making a turn, and both were way, way, way too young to die (she was 19, he was 31). Ugh :(

Ghost bike memorial for Tracey Sparling

Ghost bike for Brett Jarolimek (both photos are from www.bikeportland.org)

Guy Bites Animals

2007-10-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Anna! Is! Here! Let the Roman-style excess of food and drink begin! She landed yesterday evening, then we went over to Corinn and Kathleen's house. Corinn is "dogsitting" for what appears to be an alien, a muppet, or a deep-sea fish:

+

=

Meet Mosie!!!

He is either the most or least photogenic animal in history:

Everyone loves Mosie!

Today we slept for a good chunk of the day, then went to eat breakfast at 3:00. This is my last week of not-working (ever??), so I have to spend as much time in idleness as possible. Anna's getting ready to go to some haunted house, but I can't go because I get too afraid in fake haunted situations... I can't stand the suspense of knowing that someone's going to jump out at me. I can't take it. Oh, also, I watched an episode of Nova today about epigenetics, and they were talking about how environmental factors (diet, chemical exposure, etc.) that you encounter now may have an influence on the health of the next 2-3 generations in your lineage. This is bad news for my offspring, since I've eaten about a pound of candy corn today. My great-grandchildren will probably be born with diabetes.

Excuse me for the Jerry Seinfeld moment I'm about to have, but... what is the deal with all these vegan chain-smokers?? It seems to be a widespread Portland phenomenon. Way to negate all the health benefits of your diet while simultaneously supporting an industry every bit as evil as the ones you're boycotting!

And on that note, here is a comic (click to enlarge):

Hello, goodbye.

2007-10-15T23:35:00.000-07:00

I tell you, when it rains, it pours. Ben got a call today from ol' Northrup Grumman today, inviting him to come work for them. He will officially be making... a lot. (See also: roughly 3 times what I will be making.) Wheee! Oh yeah, and the job is in Los Angeles. I live in Portland. Sigh.

Anyway, on to more exciting news: I have a new mid-weight wool coat! It is basically the coat of my dreams, meaning that it is miraculously long enough in the arms. It's navy with white buttons, since I am exiting my black and red phase and entering my blue and brown phase. I might either look like a fisherman or the Little Prince, but as I mentioned before, it's long enough in the arms, so I don't actually care what it looks like. New Coat!

I went to another cyclocross race this weekend, which was held at a giant farm/forest about 20 minutes outside of Portland. (I love that you can find yourself in rural areas almost immediately after exiting the city, by the way.) We shared a 40 and had a grand old time. Here I am, probably about to tell Ben to hurry up:

The starting line

Not pictured: the Porta-Potty that overflowed.

For Alex, mostly

2007-10-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

Finally!

2007-10-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm employed!

I got the call today that I'm hired! Starting October 29th, I will be an editor. Hooray, money! Hooray, benefits! Hooray, discounts on books! I'm happy :) I don't start until the day Anna leaves, so I'll get to spend a bunch of time with her while she's visiting -- perfect! Ben also got a call today that Northrup Grumman is putting together an offer for him, so it looks like he's soon to be employed as well. Today is a good day!

Yesterday I went for a long walk in search of neighborhood cats to play with, since I was still in a foul mood from the whole phone bill debacle. Luckily, life was good again after about 2 minutes of walking, since I saw a crow dropping walnuts onto the street from a phone wire to crack them open, then going down to the street to retrieve the delicious interior. I walked up to Alberta, did some people watching, then came down to Irving Park to relax under a tree and listen to the new Radiohead album. NE Portland is so idyllic right now; the trees are changing, it's in the 50's all the time (and it hasn't rained for a few days!) and everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. Heaven! When Anna gets here, I'll probably just die of happiness.

As for the new Radiohead? I deem it to be "good." I'm not really interested in writing a lengthy review or reading long missives about blah blah blah chord progressions blah blah conventional unchallenging blah blah earlier works, etc. For me, it lived up to the hype, and I've been enjoying it. The end!

Here is an article about Portland being an indie mecca. My city is nice!

85 cents does not a "sweet deal" make

2007-09-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

If this is all there is to being a monk, count me in:

Kitties! Hoops! More can be found here.

In other news, fall has officially hit Portland. It's been getting progressively chillier, until today when it rained sideways all day and only hit 50. Hooray, we won't see the sun for months! I hear that Portland winters are "unpleasant," but whether they're worse than Urbana's (in an entirely different way) remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Ben's in L.A. interviewing for some hotshot job, and called to tell me that he was sitting by the ocean in the sunshine.

Apparently, this movie was filmed in Portland, in one of my favorite cafes (Fresh Pot, only a few blocks from where I live). Here is a still:

Unfortunately, Greg Kinnear does not work here in real life. I actually have no idea what this movie is about, though it looks like Morgan Freeman is, as usual, dispensing wise advice.

I guess the biggest news I have is that Ben bought a mustache trimmer yesterday! Ben does not have a mustache. Unfortunately, he bought it from a one-legged woman in a wheelchair on the street for 85 cents, so it doesn't exactly... work. At all. The charming part, though, was that the woman put it in a plastic bag for him so that he could easily carry his new purchase with him. A real professional! I told him that he should have asked her to write out a receipt for tax purposes, so maybe he'll remember to do that they next time he buys personal hygiene items on a street corner.

A Day for the History Books

2007-09-24T15:10:00.001-07:00

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA, we had an earthquake last night! It went sort of like this:

(tiny rumble)
Amanda: "Hey, did you hear that??"
Ben: "Huh?"

Baby's first earthquake!

At Age 26: Amanda watched her roommate play video games.

2007-09-21T16:34:00.001-07:00

The other day I found this website where you can see what other people accomplished when they were your age. I can't decide if it's inspirational or depressing. For example:

At age 26:

Albert Einstein published five major research papers in a German physics journal, fundamentally changing man's view of the universe and leading to such inventions as television and the atomic bomb.

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Chereshkova became the first woman to travel in space.

College dropout Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer.

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, revolutionizing the economies of the United States and Britain.

Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy.

British ethologist Jane Goodall set up camp in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika and began studying the lives of chimpanzees.

Ken Kesey published his first novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Thomas Pynchon published V., for which he won the William Faulkner First Novel Award.

Luckily, I'm only a month into age 26, so I have 11 months to pull an Einstein and fundamentally change man's view of the universe, or perhaps conquer 2 countries instead of Napoleon's paltry UNO (N. Bonaparte and I have the same birthday, by the way. I also used to have a stuffed penguin called Napoleon.) Serendipitously, I bought a copy of "V" last year at a used book sale, and was just thinking the other day that I'd like to read it in the next few months... I'll start it next, I think. A fellow 26-ie!

For the past few weeks, I've been reading "The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov," which contains all (?) of the short stories he wrote, in chronological order. It sort of brings a whole new angle to my amateur Nabokov studies, since it allows one to see just how old boy's style develops and comes to be (600+ pages of stories, so you can get a pretty good handle on it). The early stories are shockingly... not bad, but... not quite there, either. At first I was disappointed with how little they engaged me; at times it's even frustrating, because you can see what he's trying for, and it never quite succeeds. (I think he was maybe writing a lot of poetry at the time, so some of the stories are kind of like extended prose-poems where there is no real plot.) The further I read, though, the more fun I have following his development. It's kind of a blast! I'm about halfway through the whole thing, which puts me up to the early 30's (1930's and his 30's); the ones I'm reading now are awesome. Something happens around... eh, 1927-ish where everything seems to click and come together, and the stories get better and better and better. It's been pretty inspirational to me, since most of the poorer stories were written when V.N. was around my age. Even the best writer ever had to churn out some clunkers. There may still be hope for us all!

I almost forgot that I had some actual real news to report: I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW. (!!) It's for a job I actually want, too! The interview is on Tuesday, so please hold your breath all day for me.

Couture, big skulls, ribs.

2007-09-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

Ben and I were talking about his accidental modeling career the other day, so I dug this out -- I don't think many people have seen it:

(Louis Vuitton runway show, Paris, France, 2006) (Hahahahaha) (Hahahahahaha)

Over a year later, I am still unable to get over the hilarity of this situation, because:

a) Have you ever met Ben?

and

b) Have you ever met me?

For example, today Ben was wearing jeans with a giant hole in the crotch, paired with a shirt that Fred found in a dumpster. I was wearing the same hoodie that I've been wearing and sleeping in for the past four days. Yesterday we had an extended argument about the physics of a bicycle wheel, and today we debated over whether Star Trek:Voyager or the first part of a 20-hour WWII documentary should go first in the Netflix queue. The fact that we are also "couture model" and "couture model's girlfriend" once again proves that truth is stranger than fiction.

Forgetting for a moment the constant sound of money withdrawing itself from my account, I'm having a pretty good week. On Saturday I went to a BBQ at the house where Paul was staying before we got our place. Oh my god, it was fantastic! At one point, I was so happy that I thought I was going to start crying. Having a good time and meeting new people took a giant load off my back. Not only was I greeted at the door with a hug, they also had a badminton net set up! I also met some guy that turned out to be someone I vaguely knew from college. Obviously, it was an awesome party. Or, to put it even more profoundly: nice people are nice!

I was also finally able to see "Paris, Je t'aime," after, oh, almost 2 years of waiting. Even better, it was playing at the Laurelhurst, which serves beer and only charges $3 for a movie. The setup is sort of less than ideal in there, but I chose the seat that seemed least likely to have an obstructed view; the seat in front of me was empty and in the middle of an otherwise-filled row... who would sit there? ANSWER: a man with a head so large that it changed the gravitational force in the theater. He came in about 20 seconds after the lights went down, bringing with him the entire solar system that was orbiting around his skull. Unfortunately, Super Dome blocked out about 60% of the bottom of the screen, which meant that over half of the subtitles were obscured. Did I mention that I'd been waiting to see this movie for about 2 years? Needless to say, I spent most of the movie playing bob-and-weave, trying to get some semblance of what the hell was being said; this, no doubt, made the person behind me do the same (and so on and so on), making the entire length of the theater wish death upon the person in front of them. The movie was excellent, though! I really forgot my fury after only a few minutes because I was enjoying the movie so much... all-in-all, a great time.

Urbana was 30 degrees warmer than Portland today. Also, I ate at a new restaurant today: Da Rib Shack. It is, in fact, located in an actual shack. I would rate the food a solid B-, though it gets an A for ambiance: a tin shack, 3 crock pots, and 6 booths (located on the lawn). And it's only a block from my house!

Where I'm Calling From

2007-09-14T13:40:00.001-07:00

Hello from a giant box!

Paul's tv came yesterday, so I took the opportunity to play kitty-kat and sit inside for awhile. I think I may just ship myself back at Christmas instead of springing for a plane ticket.

Hey, I finally took some photos of my house.
Behold, 3511 N. Michigan! Aside from the fact that those trees are filled with giant spiders, it's a nice place to live. We have the top floor, so I like to sit in the balcony and spy on passersby. The front window is Paul's room, and the window up-top is the loft.

Here's my room, home of the really expensive bed that hurts my back and neck. My window overlooks the backyard and alley, which look like this:

As usual, the second I moved in, they began construction on the lot across the alley. My old friend the backhoe usually pulls in at about 8 a.m.

Here's the other side of my room, which leads into the bathroom.

Kitchen!

More Kitchen!

Living room and Ben. He's easy on the eyes, isn't he? Actually, I might be thinking of someone else.

Bathroom, washer & dryer, looking into my room.

From the bathroom, you go up a tiny ladder to get to the loft!

The loft, which could be your bedroom if you decided to come live here.

Come on, you'd even get your own urinal!

Balcony.

View from the balcony, otherwise known as "The Jewel of Michigan Avenue." You can't really tell from the photo, but the front fence is painted to look like a train. There also appears to be a cutout of a gingerbread man amongst all the scrap plywood. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the pitbull that's usually chasing its own tail, nor did I get the rusted-out pickup that sits idling in the driveway for hours at a time. See how the stairs elegantly and ingeniously lead directly to the pile of loose boards? This is no mere junkyard, but a masterpiece of urban planning!

Strictly Catatonic

2007-09-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I've hit rock-bottom. That's right: I've now experienced the humiliation that can only come from being dissed by strangers on Craigslist. Portland is big into Craigslist; I use it daily to apply for jobs, and I also like to browse other sections to make fun of the insane ramblings that people love to post. I usually browse "Strictly Platonic" in hopes that a future best friend will post something applicable to me ("Nabokov lover seeks girl pal for string theory discussions and celebrity gossip"), though it's usually the same old ads, over and over again ("Yo I am laid back 5'9 180 I like chillin w/freindz so if you want to hit me up thats cool"). However, I finally saw a few gems, so I e-mailed my wittiest repartee in hopes that SOMEONE, ANYONE, would meet me for a damn beer and get me out of the house. That was a week and a half ago. No responses. Even strangers on the internet are now rejecting me! THANKS, PORTLAND.

In other news, I have finally discovered yoga. Like most other things in life (save Francois Ozon film release dates), I got the news about 10 years after the rest of the world. In short, yoga is amazing. I guess those 25 million people were right!

Hollywood Squares

2007-09-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Some OMG's for you:

1) I saw Colin Meloy! I went over to the bike shop to pick up some lights, and he was there with his (adorable) girlfriend and baby. I was kind of starstruck, actually, though I tried to be smooth and pretend I hadn't listened to his records 8 zillion times. Colin Meloy! We also almost scratched his car in the parking lot. I'm pretty sure he would have just laughed it off and asked us to get some hot ciders with him, though.

2) I saw Stereo Total! They're so much fun live, which is just what we needed after a week of being stepped on. They even played my favorite song, which anyone who's ever been to Rentertainment has no doubt heard ad nauseum:

Stereo Total - L'amour a 3

More importantly, though, they sat behind us at a restaurant before the show! We heard some accents behind us, so I half-turned to look while saying, "Aww, a French ladyyyyyheyyyyywhoooooaaaaa that's Stereo Total!" We spent most of our meal going "Tee-hee!" and nudging each other. The most hilarious part was that no one else seemed to realize who they were, though we were in a restaurant connected to the venue which was populated almost entirely by irritating hipsters who were coming to see the concert. Most entertaining were the people with Stereo Total t-shirts who were too busy being cool to realize that the band was sitting two tables over.

More from the archives

2007-09-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Fred playing soccer at Shadie's picnic:

Stefanie and Jon hating me as I force them to play a part in my school project:

"It's... 123, uh, Cherry Street!"

The best one is of the Meatloaf sing-along at my last birthday party, but I have to compress that one because it's so long. Just you wait!

live your way into the answer

2007-09-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

It turns out that moving is humbling. People ask me what I do all day, and the real answer is this: I get rejected, from everything, over and over and over again. The job situation can basically be summed up by the fact that I heard a worker at Ikea talking about how he has a Master's degree. He was helping people choose mattresses.

Hey, remember how I used to work in a video store for six years? One funny thing (minus the funny part) is that I even got rejected for part-time work at a video store! I took my resume there because they had a "Help Wanted" sign, and I thought it would be sort of a fun back-up job. I didn't even get an interview! I guess I better start working on my Doctorate so I can maybe get a few hours at a gas station.

Luckily, there is Rilke for such times:
"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

Luckily, there is also this video for such times:

Mai Tai Mai Tai

2007-09-02T14:26:00.001-07:00

I finally had a real weekend of going out in Portland, and luckily it began with a trip to a tiki bar. "Thatch" ended up being a fantastic little place with a real working stream inside and an awesome playlist of 50's surf music. Not surprisingly, lots of middle-aged men in bowling shirts hang out there. Pictured is a $28 drink called a Volcano Bowl which, as you can see, is on fire. Ben later got something called a "Donkey Punch," which consisted of 151, cherry brandy, and a splash of soda water. He claimed that it was tasty, but I think it was the Volcano Bowl talking.

Last night, we went to Amnesia with Paul, and I was finally able to meet a few nice new people. This hotshot hairdresser from L.A. was harping on one of the girls for getting cheap haircuts; he gestured to me and said, "Now see, her haircut looks great, it's perfect for her face!" I think I ruined his life when I revealed that my "perfect" haircut was actually a $12 job from Great Clips. Punk'd!

Apocalypse Now

2007-08-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END!

I have joined Netflix. Moreover, I think I might ask it to be my boyfriend. For a mere $17 per month, I can have as many movies as I want, with up to 3 out at once. As soon as I send one back, they automatically send me the next one on my list. Is this the greatest thing ever, or have I been brainwashed by an evil corporation? But guys, they have everything. I'm even able to save movies that aren't out on dvd yet, and they'll send them to me as soon as they are. And the movie recommendation engine is so accurate that it's creeping me out. I feel really guilty, but I think I might be in love.

Okay, but before you drag me to the lynching tree, I also want to let everyone know that I've already bought a block of movies at my local video store (Video Verite, which is wonderful), and I plan to rent there often. They've got a great selection and very fair prices, though it's weird to be on the other side of the counter. I also have a hard time finding movies, because I'm so used to the classification system at Rentertainment, and, of course, none of their movies are only $1... no 3 for $6, no daily specials, and no 100 for $100 (which, unfortunately, makes renting a tv show disc-by-disc prohibitively expensive). They also don't have everything I want, though it's probably unfair to expect that. So, I'm sort of supplementing the movies I get from Video Verite with my Netflix queue; hopefully it'll keep me happy and buried in movies. I guess I've been spoiled by Rentertainment! I miss Kells, the Uribes, and that guy who used to talk about Michael Haneke with me.

I'm having a good time, but I'm also pretty lonely and homesick. I miss my boring life in my old one-horse town! The coffee here sure is good, though.

Home

2007-08-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have an address! Send presents to:

3511 N. Michigan Ave.
Portland, OR
97227

Silent "S"

2007-08-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Oregon, please learn how to pronounce "Illinois."

Also on wishlist:
1) job
2) apartment
3) friends

Old Growth

2007-08-15T21:35:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday! Ahhhhhh! (26!)

Here's where I am right now:

I'm in Redwood National Park, right at the top of northern California. You may also know it as the Ewok Village from "Return of the Jedi" (really!) I also can't stop humming the theme from "Jurassic Park."

These trees are 1500 years old. That blue in the distance? The freakin' Pacific.

We're 300 feet tall! Yaaaay!

For scale: that stump is 10 feet tall. My head hits at the very bottom of the ferns.

Ben inside a giant burned-out redwood

I wish I had a better picture of this... these are giant, cloud-covered bluffs. Those tiny things at the bottom are fairly large tents. This is where we cooked and ate dinner a few night ago... it's spectacular.

Oh yeah, and...

... this is where I was a few days ago: the Sonoma Valley. Wine country! We spent a day going from winery to winery, doing tastings and nibbling on cheese. We camped out that night in the hilly country around Sonoma lake. I thought I knew what stars looked like, but when it got dark, I realized I was wrong; people, I saw the Milky Way! It was just right there, for anyone to see! I'm sorry, but I don't think Illinois stars will ever cut it again. As if it couldn't get any more ridiculous, there was also a meteor shower that night. I don't even know what to say, it was one of those things I'll probably be muttering about when I'm old.

To reiterate:

THIS IS WHERE I AM. Right now. This is just across the street. But, but, but... oh, if only I could teleport back to Urbana, just for a day! Just for an hour at Murphy's! I'm missing everyone so much right now... not even the Pacific makes up for it.

California <3

2007-08-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

California.

On Thursday I had my 20 hour train voyage (we were delayed for 2 hours). It was excellent, actually... I was mad when I had to get off the train. I had my own tiny room, so I just read and looked out the window and listened to music, and nobody bothered me. The scenery was beyond insane (the most spectacular waterfalls I've ever seen, rain forests, cliffs, mountain vistas, tunnels through mountains) and I had some really good "what does it all mean?" moments. These moments were encouraged by the aforementioned 4 giant beers that I had in my carry-on bag, which go very well with tear-inducing scenery.

Here's my "cabin." Hal-9000 included in each private room!

Sleeping on a train is nearly impossible... it's like being strapped to a missile, actually. Instead, I started taking self-portraits:

This is a photo of me on the retractable top bunk of my cabin. Seconds later, I tried to take a photo while hanging upside down, with nearly fatal results. An attempted photo while standing on my head had similarly tragic results.

Ben's friend Mike lives in Oakland, so we've been staying there since Thursday and visiting the city during the day. San Francisco is basically another planet. Here's a tiki bar that we went to one night in Oakland. It had a gyrating hula girl statue and a giant volcano that spewed dry ice:

Here's Robert Hass's office door in Berkeley. Yeah, I actually took a photo of this. Robert Hass, please never google yourself and find this page.

Last night we ate at this French restaurant named Gregoire... it's mainly a take-out place, but there are a few tables. I loved it because it's lovely, fancy French food, served by... well, just a couple of dudes. We ate in paper take-away boxes with plastic silverware out on the sidewalk. We brought this Sicilian wine that Lucio had given us when he visited, and it was outstanding:

Last but not least, this is dedicated to every Rentertainment employee. It's Gaylord's! Bluuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm off to camp in wine country!

2007-08-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm le tired. Today I decided I wanted to go to OMSI to see BodyWorlds, because everyone who's ever gone to see it before has said it was incredible. No joke, this is pretty much the greatest thing I've ever seen, and I'm pretty sure that every other person at the exhibit was thinking the same thing. Basically, this guy developed a new way of preserving bodies (they take out all the fluids and replace them with some sort of plastic), and you get to see every part of the body, up close, and learn how it works and interacts with other parts around it. It was so interesting! Have you ever seen your spleen before? Or an entire nervous system, or all of the arteries in your foot? I kind of think that everybody should be forced to see this, because then no one would ever do anything to harm their bodies again (especially after seeing a real full-body cross-section of a man who died of obesity-related complications). It was a pretty far walk from my hostel, so the entire way back, I just kept thinking about what leg muscles look like and picturing a knee joint extending over and over again... oh my god, I'm made of meat and bones!

I'd been walking around for about 6 hours, so after BodyWorlds I needed to sit down. I found a theater that was showing "Broken English," then bought a bratwurst from a German food stand and smuggled it inside. What is up with these theaters, and why are they so great? This one was a place called "The Living Room," which had a full-service lounge attached to it. You could order wine or little nibbles from the lounge, and they'd bring it into the theater for you. All the seats in the theater were basically little mini-recliners. Also, the movie was only $4.50. I'm in heaven!!!!

Afterwards, I went walking again, trying to find this stationary store where Al Gore apparently goes to get personalized stationary. I love Al Gore, and I love stationary, but mainly I just love spending money on stupid things when I have no job. (Un)fortunately, I never found it, but I did come across a Whole Foods store, my first ever! I know that everyone else on earth has already been there zillions of times, so pardon my naive enthusiasm when I ask, "Have you seen the produce section in this place?!?" No wilted strawberries in these aisles, no my brother! Ahahaha!! I ended up buying a few things for my train journey tomorrow, just in case the food is inedible. By "a few things" I mainly just mean 4 giant beers.

I walked around for 8 hours today, so I'm ready for 18 hours of sitting tomorrow. See you in California!