A Little Something For Everyone

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2009-08-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

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---------->Do it from scratch<----------

Falling into place.

2009-08-06T10:08:00.001-07:00

Humph. It's been a while. Maybe I should just give up on trying to regularly update.

I think the biggest reason I haven't been updating is that I've been really freaking busy the last few weeks, and before that I was in Boston for a week for cousin's wedding/ family reunion. And before that I was preparing for Boston, and blah blah blah.

Why the busyness? I'm kind of hella employed, but almost completely by accident. It's not like I went out an submitted applications and begged corporations for a job, I just kept saying yes to small jobs that quite rapidly added up to something significant. I've been tutoring for ages now, but it's slowed down for the summer due to summer camps, conflicting schedules, vacations, kids needing a break from math for serious. Now that the beginning of school is in sight, I've picked up a couple more clients and suddenly my goal of having 3-4 hours/clients of tutoring a week isn't that unreachable any more.

Then about a month ago I put up an ad on Craigslist advertising myself as an artist/artistan assistant, hoping I could re-live the glory days of my job senior year of high school. I got a couple of not-so-serious responses (some guy asked me if I was single, ew, then said "if not, I have some piece work you could do". No.) and a response from a professional and established fine-artist who relocated to Portland a few years ago and was looking for a studio assistant. And so there I was. I've been working for him for a few weeks now and it's working out great. So that's another 10 hours/week, give or take.

Then there's our friend from church. The Hillsboro church, which we only attended for a few months and then decided it wasn't for us. We kept running into eachother coming to or from Fred Meyer, since she lives right around the corner from us. One of those times she asked if I'd be interested in helping her organize her photos (50 years of photos!!), and that she'd absolutely pay me because it's going to be a big job. I said yes, and suddenly that's under 5-7 hours a week. And this 50 years of photos to be artfully put into albums so... it's kind of a continuing thing.

Just a couple of weeks ago I felt unemployed and extremely scared of my rapidly diminishing savings (Summer tutoring has brought it barely more than $200/month, which is definitely not enough to cover rent, utilities and student loan bills). But suddenly it's not so bad. And even if any of these opportunities fall through (if the artist can't continue to pay me, if we finish the photo project early, if one of my tutoring clients stops calling) I've seen just how easy it is (finally) to make ends meet through several small jobs. I'm only working about 20 hours a week, and I'm not going to say how much any of these particular jobs are paying, but let me say that it's absolutely enough.

But not only am I just employed now, we're also moving! We're escaping the suburbs, sprawl, strip malls and Starbucks, finally. We found an apartment in close-in southeast Portland, in the vicinity of Hawthorn and Belmont. The rent is double what we're paying now (but keep in mind we're not paying much right now), but we'll be close to EVERYTHING. Within a mile and a half of our apartment there is a farmer's market, downtown, Hawthorne, Belmont, a co-op, a New Seasons, a library, a park, excellent restaurants and food carts, and more pubs and coffee shops than you can shake a hipster at.

We drew a rectangle on the east side of Portland, representing where we would like to live. The western edge was at 12th and the eastern edge at 40th. The northern edge was Burnside and the southern edge was Division. This rectangle (the magic rectangle, as our future landlord calls it) is teeming with life and people our age. It's not up and coming like Albina or whatever, and it's not new and trendy and expensive like the Pearl or NW 23rd. And it's definitely not far away from everything like Sellwood or St Johns. It's just... there. Right in the middle of everything. Our apartment is situated firmly in the middle of that rectangle.

The rent is definitely reasonable for it's location, the apartment is cute and not too small. For the rent, it's actually pretty big. It's only one bedroom, but it has a walk-in closet in the hallway that can be Rob's music room, and lots of room in the living room for me to have my art-crap. Basically, it's way too perfect. The oven's got to be shitty, or the management will be overbearing or something. Whatever the un-perfect-ness is, I hope it's not too bad. We get the place a week from tomorrow and have until the end of August to move in, thanks to overlapping leases.

EVERYTHING IS FALLING INTO PLACE AND I ALMOST DIDN'T SEE IT COMING!

Experiments part 2.

2009-06-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Experiments update:
I'm not sure if anyone could have guessed, but I sort of gave up on jogging. My hip kept giving me grief, and then I got out of the habit for a couple days and then... well, that was a month ago. We'll see what happens in the future, but for now... yeah. Lazy butt.

Sourdough also didn't go anywhere, but I finally managed to bake bread this last Tuesday (Tassajara basic bread recipe with half wheat/half white flour) and it turned out as good as it did in my bread-baking heyday when I was making bread every 10 or so days.

Still doing OCM, not quite daily, (more like every fourth daily?) and my skin seems to be enjoying it.

Business

2009-06-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.7printciples.com

Same stuff, new and easier to remember address!

Vegan Tom Kha Mushroom Soup

2009-06-05T00:30:00.001-07:00

6 cups veggie stock (I use the Veggie Better Than Bouillon goop. It comes in a little jar in the soup aisle at Freddie's)
2 cans coconut milk
2 whole stalks of lemon grass, cut into 1/2 inch pieces with bottom, top and outer layer removed
1 medium galangal root (cut into about 12 slices)
6 kaffir lime leaves, hand torn
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 medium onion, cut into long, thin pieces
4 spicy Thai chilies (also have seen them called Birdseye chilies?), cut into easy to find chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into big chunks
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp brown sugar
6 or so stalks of cilantro, hand torn
Whole lot of crimini mushrooms, quartered (maybe 4 cups all cut up?)
~1 tsp chili paste

Boil veggie stock, then add lemon grass and galangal root. Let boil while you prepare other ingredients, then add lime leaves, chilies and garlic. Add mushrooms and onions, then after about 5 more minutes add the coconut milk, lime juice, brown sugar, chili paste. Let simmer until all the flavors are nicely mingling, like pretty ladies at a cocktail party. About 10 minutes before serving add the tomatoes and cilantro and let cook a little bit longer. Serve hot, and don't eat the lemon grass or galangal root - think of them as bay leaves!

Pretty much one of the tastiest things to ever come out of my kitchen. Totally vegan, and tastes as good or better than restaurant variety Tom Kha.

Some days I feel like this.

2009-06-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

nataliedee.com

Experiments.

2009-05-31T23:38:00.000-07:00

I am undergoing several experiments at the moment.

1) Exercise.

Anyone who's known me for a while knows that I am notoriously un-athletic, but, as most do, I have a desire to be in shape. I'm just lazy and have hip problems and don't have proper shoes and don't have time and don't have blah blah blah any number of excuses. I've decided that June is going to be the month when I make an effort to jog or walk every day. I'm starting off slow - just a mile a day for the first week until I get used to it. I got lost on my loop yesterday and ended up going almost 3 miles. I am extremely sore today.

2) Oil cleansing method - OCM.

I have never had problem skin, and I'm not a big fan of talking about beauty procedures in public forums (besides hair dying... that's different!), but I read something online recently about the Oil Cleansing Method for face washing and I was intrigued.
Here are the steps:
Make a mixture of castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, and maybe some other oils/essential oils. My mixture is 50% castor oil, 25% extra virgin olive oil, and 25% grapeseed oil, with some tea tree oil added.
Rub this mixture on your face.
Get a washcloth wet with hot water and lay it on your face, let it cool to room temperature.
Rub in the oil again.
Washcloth steam again. (repeat these last two steps as many times as you want)
Get washcloth wet one last time and gently wipe away all excess oil.
Rinse face with cold water to close pores.

You're supposed to do this anywhere from twice a day to a few times a week. I'm going to try it every evening and see what happens. Supposedly it's lifechanging or something? Also, it's cheaper than facewash, more gentle, and way greener.

3) Sourdough.

I still haven't made my old bread recipe since my sad experience a few months ago. Heidi, my sister-in-la-la (I challenge you to tell me a better term for your sweetie's sibling's sweetie), gave me some sourdough starter last week at Folklife and I tried it out today. I used the Tassajara recipe and it was ok, but it came out really, really dense and I was expecting something a little... fluffier.

Today is day 2 of both OCM and excercise. I'm feeling good. My skin feels excellent and my legs are hella sore.

I've decided I want to post more recipes I use or make up here. Let's see how that goes.

Also, I can't stop watching West Wing. I can't believe I never watched it before now.

2009-05-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

toothpastefordinner.com

tee hee.

Folklife was fun. Now I am exceedingly tired and not desirous of living a real life.

Live music!

2009-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

John Vanderslice show tonight! I got to preview his new album (which came out on Tuesday) and it's fantastic. I only really know two of his other albums, but all the reviews I've read say it's his best yet and I wouldn't doubt it. Also, there are supposedly going to be copies of Moon Colony Bloodbath (the EP he recorded with the Mountain Goats earlier this year) available and I'm hella excited for that too.

And Folklife is this weekend! We went the year before last, when Rob was still living in Port Townsend and I was in Portland, working at Lewis and Clark for the summer. The festival is in downtown Seattle and runs Friday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend. I got up to Dev's house Friday night, and Rob had work and was supposed to join us Saturday. He even requested work off. And then they didn't honor his request because they were lame, and he didn't think he could drive to Seattle after working a full shift... so I took the ferry to Port Townsend, picked up Rob at 11pm, and took the ferry/drove back to Dev's. We didn't get to go last year because I got really sick at the last minute and was just miserable. So this year we're going for reals and I'm excited and I haven't been to Seattle in forever.

I made the best lentil chard soup EVER the other night. Absolutely delicious. I followed this recipe and added some cumin and pepper (and obviously used veggie stock instead of chicken stock).

Catch-all.

2009-05-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've been sick since last Thursday. That was five days ago. What is up with this cold? Just let me gooo! I guess five days is actually a pretty standard length for a cold, I'm just ready for it to be over.

I've been exceedingly lazy and out of my element since con. I've had a hard time finding the energy to do my usual activities and have had the need to push myself back into them. Make an awesome dinner, even though I'd rather go out. Garden, even though I don't feel like it. Clean, even though I'd rather just sit on my butt. I'd been getting back into it slowly, and then I got sick, which threw a total monkey wrench into the machinery. Who wants to cook when they're coughing and sniffling all up in there? And we've gone back to buying Dave's Killer Bread. I messed up the baking time the last time I made bread and it turned out awful and underdone. I haven't made bread since then. I really just need to push myself back into it, and I thought this would be the week I would do it. We'll see. It might have to be next week.

Part of the problem is that I've lost my good bread baking window. I've been helping out at an urban farm in Sellwood that has work parties Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-1pm, and I've had a regular tutoring gig Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30pm. And I have class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm (but because of the bus schedule, it's more like 12-4:30pm). Baking bread takes a really big window - something like 5-7 hours, but I've never timed it. The time I made the awful bread, I told myself I could do it on a Wednesday between garden and tutoring. I was wrong :(. And I'm rarely in the mood to do it Mondays or Fridays. Luckily now that the big work is done at the farm, we're only going to have work parties on Fridays from now on. There's 3 of us regulars, plus the guy who's spearheading, and just not enough to do to meet twice a week. So perhaps Wednesday will be bread day from here on out.

And then, of course, everything will change as soon as school lets out.

It's been really eerie seeing all the "woo I'm graduated!" posts on Facebook from my friends a year younger than me at LC. Did I really graduate a year ago? Well, no, I didn't. I walked a year ago. I finished my classes at the end of June last year, and my diploma date is August 31st, 2008. But that whirlwind of graduation activity and parties and goodbyes to friends and moving in with Rob and Peej - that was a year ago. Wow.

On another, craftier note, I've been working on a lace crochet hat for the last month and a half. I wanted a light cotton hat I could wear when I wasn't ready to shower, but my hair was greasy enough for me to be self conscious*. At first I worked on the hat feverishly. Then sporadically. Then sluggishly. Luckily, getting sick (and discovering the HBO series 'Big Love') kicked me back into overdrive and I finally had the will to finish the project through to the end. And here is the final product! I'm particularly pleased with how the top turned out.

(sidenote: holy crap my hair is long! No one ever notices because I almost always wear it in a ponytail - but really, when was the last time I was able to wear my hair in a ponytail??)

In other news, Cubby has been sleeping in a tiny box. It's extremely cute.

And finally - Beaverton Farmer's Market has started again! My life is complete!

*I've been showering every 4-5 days. Partially to conserve water, partially because the less you clean yourself, the less you need to be cleaned. As I pointed out the last time I did this, it's like the chapstick cycle. The more you use, the more you need.

The ground is so proud just to hold us up.

2009-04-30T17:58:00.001-07:00

Wow, where have I been the last several weeks?

Well, there was preparation for con, and then there was con. And then there was recovery from con.

I didn't talk so much about con because I wasn't extremely involved in the planning. I was the site coordinator, which really just involved securing the reservation and talking to Yaney, the Corvallis church's secretary. Yes, we had a con at the Corvallis church, which is why I am site coordinator. I was also t-shirt bitch, as per usual (or bandana bitch, as the case may be) and the chaplain. The two weeks before con were mostly filled with bandana-ing: Cutting the bandanas to size, ironing, sewing the edges, designing the logo, learning the art of photo-emulsion, making the screen (three times), learning how to screen print, doing the actual screen printing, and finally heat treating the finished product. And now I know how to screen print, from beginning to end! The other thing I really got into the week before con was starting to plan a con-planning bible that thoroughly explains the process from beginning to end, contains con resources, and has stats on the last several cons. The youth have something like it, the YAs don't.

At con was interesting. It made me pleased as punch that everyone loved my home church so much, that's one thing I can say. I met some really wonderful people, saw some really amazing things happening, and felt the love of a wonderful community. But it turns out that being the site coordinator ended up entailing a lot more than I thought it would, and I wasn't able to chaplain as well or as much as I would have liked. I also didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked.

All in all, the weekend was a very positive experience. The biggest thing to come out of the conference was the decision to split from the district as an organization. During the planning we were advised by Tandi, the district program consultant, to not go through the district this con, and it was actually a pretty painless process. Considering the district hoops we didn't have to jump through this time, and the stress we didn't put on the district during the planning, I'd say it was a positive experience for everyone involved. During the con we had a business meeting that started with a video conference with Tandi so that she could answer questions. We took a vote on an official split from the district and it was unanimously approved by everyone at the meeting. Then we voted on interim position for the new organization (PNW UU Young Adults). PJ was voted treasurer (duh) and I was voted Con Coordinator (so basically I'm doing what I was already doing, I just have a title now). Sweetawesome! Once we had positions we got staff figured out for the next con. We already have the ENTIRE STAFF figured out SIX MONTHS OUT. Wow. Effing sweet.

Then we came home and then some con people joined us and then they left and then more con people came and now I think home is back to normal for now.

And then I caught up on sleep and I'm now finally resuming my normal life. I cleaned today, am going to see a capella later tonight. And then there's all this con coordinator hoo-ha to figure out.

Sigh, life is good.

Conconconconcon

2009-04-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Holy crap con is today!

I haven't been posting much. I promise I will try harder.

Cheese, Gromit!

2009-04-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I found the first 3 Wallace & Gromit movies at Goodwill. For a dollar.

Life. Is. Awesome.

New obsession.

2009-04-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

opbmusic.org

"At opbmusic.org, we play a lot of great music -- popular, indie, alternative, artists from Portland and the Northwest and more -- much of which you won't hear anywhere else."

It's just what I always wanted! I just can't believe I've been hearing about it since I've been listening to public radio, and I just TODAY checked it out. Another reason why I'm dumb..

Today was productive.
1. Took sick Rob to school so he didn't have to stand in the cold to wait for the bus just to take a test.
2. Gardened for 3 or so hours.
3. Baked bread (two too-squishy loaves that I fear are underdone...)
4. Discovery of obpmusic
5. Tutored for an hour

And now I'm going to make Pad Thai! And listen to a radio station with no commercials, made up of solely music I like... weird.

It was you who taught me how to write these kind of equations

2009-04-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

One more amazing album:
All Hail West Texas - the Mountain Goats

So. Amazing. I don't know how I haven't given it a chance before, as an entire album. Jeezie. Easily my favorite 'Goats album now.

I have come to the realization that I can no longer be unemployed by choice. I owe too much on my student loans, and I'm not getting enough tutoring hours. I would have to tutor at least 10 or 11 hours/week to really be enough. And right now I'm working 2-3. Sigh. I need to be more aggressive with my advertising, make some business cards... sigh. Anyways, I've joined the ranks looking for a "real" job. I applied at the JoAnn's in Cedar Hills, but I didn't have enough experience for the position (it was a management job). I also applied to a couple area McMenamins, pub staff and line cook positions. We'll see what happens. Because I'm actively seeking work, I'm going to try applying for unemployment again.

Also,

I altered a Cosby sweater I got at Goodwill. It didn't used to have a zipper. I like it way better now, and want to make a few more and try to sell them on Etsy.

And my craft table is an absolute mess right now. I am going to clean it up as soon as I'm done writing this.

Old songs from nowhere

2009-04-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me absolutely, stupidly happy. (JD+JV=<3)

John Darnielle and John Vanderslice are on tour together right now (not coming anywhere close to Oregon, grumble grumble) and I just heard news today that they're putting out an album together, under the name of the Comedians. The album is called Moon Colony Bloodbath and I'm going to pee myself if I don't get a copy.

And JV has a new album, Romanian Names, coming out in May, around the time he's coming to Portland.

In other music news, I'm really enjoying these two albums:
How It Ends - DeVotchKa
We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. - Jason Mraz
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
the Funeral - Arcade Fire

(the last two are more rediscovery than anything else)

Other life news:

I'm taking a class at PCC! It's in printmaking! It's about a printmaking medium I've never done before! Copper plate printing. The tools I had to buy for the class could do some serious damage in the wrong hands. The class meets twice a week for 3 hours, and the instructor seems pretty swell.
I'm helping a guy in Sellwood start a permaculture urban farm on his property and it's really quite exciting! We've met once, and there's another work party tomorrow at 9am.
I put up ads on CL advertising tutoring and garden help, only got one response to the tutoring ad, and no responses to the offer of garden help.
Con is drawing near and I'm starting to panic just a little bit. I need to get my butt in gear as far as con clothing goes. We're just offering bandanas this time, but Elo and I want to make them by hand. Con is April 24th-26th. WHOA!
I'm crocheting a sweet hat, using lace crochet. It's gonna be bitchin.
Rob and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on March 31st! We went to Montage, got delicious foods and a bottle of wine, and shared the gooey butter cake for dessert (I tried to describe it to Rob before we ordered it - "It's like someone took cake batter and made it into a cake... but didn't bake it" - and we decided as we were eating it that that's pretty much a spot-on description). And then yesterday I made 2 year celebration pie: Peach/blackberry with a lattice crust. I've made better, but it's pretty delicious.
Our old roommate, Tess, has moved out, and our lovely friend LeAnn has moved in with us! The four of us have all been friends for a long time, so I think it will work out really well. She has a cat, Mango, who has been getting along ok with Cubby so far.

Ok, time to get ready for class.

CO like whoa!

2009-03-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

We just spent the last week in Colorado visiting family. First and foremost, visiting my sister and her partner (who I've never met) and their 7 month old son, my nephew Joaquin (who I've also never met). They all live just outside of Denver. In preparation for the trip I made some presents for Joaquin - a sheep made out of socks, and a crocheted blanket that I started intending to be a present for her baby shower last July. I finished it while we were staying there this last week... oops.

Other reasons for visiting were to see my friend Bruce, who was one of my best friends in Budapest, and to see Rob's Aunt Margaret and Uncle Brad who live just outside of Boulder. We got in Wednesday afternoon, hung out with Bruce in Denver on Saturday, and went to Boulder on Sunday.

First, allow me to introduce Joaquin. He likes bananas and when people say his name.

My sister and Joaquin

Saturday morning love

A close up of the sheep and the blanket

Me and Bruce! Holy crap it had been over a year!
Manuel, Alissa and Joaquin all dressed up for church on Sunday

Me, Joaquin and Rob right before Rob and I left for Boulder

While we were in Boulder we went to the Celestial Seasonings factory. We got there too late to go on a tour, but we did get to wander around the gift shop, taste some samples, and get our picture taken with the Sleepytime Bear.

Margaret took us to the airport Tuesday morning and we were back at home by 1:15pm Tuesday afternoon.

Now we're back home for a couple days, then it's up to Port Townsend for the weekend to visit Rob's family. Classes start next Monday for Rob, and I'm taking a printmaking class that starts Tuesday.

Pi Day!

2009-03-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

It's pi day!
Speaking of math humor, I don't know when this ran, but it's hilarious:

And speaking of hilarity, I give you this:

But now it's 1:56... pi time is just 3 minutes away! (3/14 1:59 omg what a dork)

New Friends

2009-03-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

My back porch garden is growing!

And many thanks to mom, dad and Bethany Nursery for helping it grow!

I'm going to make a lot of pies in the near future. Here are some reasons:

Pushing Daisies. If that show doesn't make you want to eat pie like it's going out of style, I don't know what will.
Parents/Fruit. Mom came up on Tuesday to go to Art Media and brought me a cooler full of frozen blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples and pears courtesy of her and my dad.
Pi(e) day! It's the day after tomorrow!

Bread is getting easier every time I make it. I tried using brown sugar instead of honey last time, but it came out extra yeasty/borderline alcoholic. I'm switching back to honey from now on.

I am ultra/extra/super thankful that the sun in shining again, but it's still cold like whoa. Sorry, but today's high of 54 just won't cut it. I won't be entirely happy until the day's low is 60.

Daylight Savings, etc

2009-03-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so Daylight Savings Time totally snuck up on me. We had an alarm set for 9:15 this morning for church and after it went off a few times I wondered why I was still feeling so tired and hellish. And then Rob looked at the clock radio, which I never bother to do because I'm blind without my glasses, and it was 8:30. Daylight Savings Time, you bring nothing but sadness and pain to everyone you touch (the first day. After that, you're pretty sweet.) Whatever, I guess we're skipping church today.

Last night Rob and I were watching videos of cute cats on YouTube and we found one of cats talking to eachother. Cubby got really confused and agitated and kept sniffing the computer and trying to talk back to the cats in the video. It was really heartbreaking. He's probably lonely... but it's ok, he's getting a friend! Our roommate Tess is moving out in less than a month and LeAnn is moving in with her cat! There were worries at first because Cubby is a very dominant alpha male who had issues in his last home because there were two other cats. But LeAnn's cat is a very quiet, submissive female, and I think because of that, and because Cubby is the first cat and very obviously already the master of this apartment, they'll get along just fine.

We took a field trip to Uwajimaya on Friday and I have been cooking like whoa every since. Friday night I made sushi with edamame, bean buns and mochi. Last night I made Pad Thai from scratch, and other than the chewiness of the noodles and the lack of bean sprouts (Freddies ran out of bean sprouts. Who does that?) it tasted just like restaurant style Pad Thai. Yumm another way to save money...

All-One-Or-None!

2009-03-04T14:07:00.001-08:00

I'm sort of obsessed with Dr. Bronner today.

Recovering.

2009-02-26T12:37:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting back into my regular schedule and it feels SO GOOD.

Here are a couple of things that I am ridiculously proud of at the moment:

I made a southern FEAST for Mardi Gras. Vegetarian crockpot gumbo and King Cake, baby included (recipes are linked). I have to admit that I've never actually consumed either dish, so my judgement of them might be a bit skewed. I thought the gumbo was pretty tasty but a little bland, and the cake was less cakey than I expected when I knew it just by name. Whatever, it was all delicious and made from scratch.

I'm slowly making a garden on our back deck! The deck is north facing, thus hard to grow things on, but I think it's all going to turn out ok. One corner gets direct sunlight for at least 3-4 hours every morning, so right now I have three planters on the railing of that corner. I have pansies in one (with enough room for lettuce when Bethany Nursery gets seedlings), one for spinach, and one for sugar peas (complete with awesome bamboo trellis made by yours truly!). Below you can see the spinach and peas:
This is all part of the back to basics trend in my life aka the 'from scratch' revolution - my own attempt as going as back to basics as possible while still sort of functioning in normal society. I'm doing things a little at a time: right now it's homemade bread and granola bars and trying to grow stuff on my porch. I know a girl in Vancouver, BC who hasn't used shampoo in 7 months and once my shampoo is gone I might try to follow in her footsteps, or start using baking soda. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I bought new plastic planters, but I needed something that would stay on the railing. I'll be able to reuse them (even though they'll look a little goofy if my next place doesn't have railings), so that's a plus. For the most part, though, I'm trying to get everything I need at Goodwill instead of buying it new.

Goddamn it, I'm becoming my parents, one hippy resolution at a time.

On a separate but related note, I'm giving up meat for Lent. I'm hoping that it will be the kickstart I need to be a vegetarian again. At least, a mostly vegetarian. I've decided that I will make exception for small farm, local, organic meat, once Lent is over, since I cannot deny that meat is delicious.

And maybe next year I'll give up high-fructose corn syrup? Or is that too monumental a task for even the most idealistic of Americans?

Goodbye, February!

2009-02-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

Oscars were last night! We didn't actually watch them, but I watched clips this morning. Two very important ones I wanted to share:

Firstly, the musical is back! I have been a fan of musicals for as long as I can remember, and while I didn't see High School Musical, Mama Mia, or Cadillac Records (the three big, recent musicals that have been in theaters) that doesn't mean I won't. (Well... I'm not making any promises about the first). Baz Luhrmann helped make this number possible, bringing in elements of both old and recent musicals. And it's total genius and I love it.

Second, Dustin Lance Black won best screenplay for Milk. His acceptance speech was so beautiful and heartfelt, and I'm so glad the audience responded the way they did. Also, Tina Fey and Steve Martin introduced the award and I fell a little more in love with both of them.

Now that that's out of my system...

Wow. The month of February has been good to me, but it's left me here as a bruised, exhausted lump with a messy apartment. And it's not even over yet! Oh god! Let's do a quick rundown, shall we?

First weekend in February was spent in San Fransisco, on this most bizarre debacle of a vacation I've ever been on. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but I would have preferred less injury and sickness to all of the friends and relatives we were going to visit, and to my car.

Second weekend was Chaplain Training in Vancouver, BC. I had fun, I made some new friends, I sure as hell didn't get enough sleep. And now I am one of the only YA in the PNWD who regularly attends cons, who's had chaplain training, so that's bitchin, too.

This last weekend was AGM - the Annual General Meeting of the Pacific Northwest District. Rob and I were there selling my cards and prints and the experience was so positive! A lot of people (even ones I didn't know!) bought my cards! I made a ton of new connections and a few friends, and saw people I really wasn't expecting to see. And we got to hang out with Amber all weekend, and that's always a good time.

And now I'm back. Pretty much for good, this time... (at least for now). I have so much unpacking, cleaning and organizing to do in the next little while.

Alcohol Poisoning, Ahoy!

2009-02-19T10:16:00.001-08:00

TITANIC DRINKING GAME

Drink every time:

There is obvious reference to class difference
There is a proclamation that the ship is 'unsinkable'
A painful sacrifice is made

Finish your drink when you see boobs.

Movie must be watched on original 2-tape VHS set.

Disclaimer: We haven't done this yet. Mom, if you want to prevent this from happening, hide the 2-tape VHS set I'm planning on grabbing next time I come home.

Pain and Suffering, California Style.

2009-02-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Rob and I took a vacation to San Francisco this past weekend. The a big focus of the trip was supposed to be me meeting more of Rob's extended family, since I've only met his dad's side. We used to have fantastic luck with car trips, but obviously something changed, judging by our journey to Port Townsend for Christmas and trip.

The trip was supposed to go like this: Rob and I head out early Friday morning, make it in to San Francisco by dinner time for sushi with Devon, and then crash at her place for the night. The next day, Saturday, we meet up with Rob's parents who would be arriving by plane, and go see the Chinese New Year parade with them and Rob's aunt and cousins (mom's side). The next day, Sunday, we would meet and stay with Rob's grandpa (also mom's side), and the day after that, Monday, we would drive down to Palo Alto to stay with Rob's grandparents on his dad's side, Dody and Avram. On Tuesday Rob's parents would fly home and we would drive back to Beaverton.

Here is what happened: We got a call Thursday night from Rob's parents that Dody was in the hospital. A stroke was the suspected cause, but not a whole lot was known about the severity. She was in a lot of pain and didn't want visitors, so we wouldn't be going to Palo Alto. Friday morning we headed out without incident. We stopped at my old place of work so that I could pick up my last paycheck and tips and I could drop off my apron. We made good time, even though we were both very, very tired. We stopped in Eugene to get Allan Bros. Coffee, and noticed that the car was starting to overheat. But it didn't seem normal at all - the temperature gauge would rise quickly, stay at H, then drop back down to midrange. We decided to keep an eye on it and keep driving, since the car wasn't making any bad smells or handling differently.

At Cottage Grove the car started smelling, so we looked up a mechanic on the GPS and drove there. They very quickly diagnosed it with a cracked radiator, gave us a price quote of around $300, and said they could have the part by 2, the car would be ready sometime after that. We didn't really have much other option, so we set about exploring Cottage Grove while our trusty steed went through rehabilitation. What I had previously thought to be a fairly, excuse the term, hick community, was actually a lovely town. We spent most of our time in a large indoor common space that connected a bookstore, bar, and coffee shop, where they told us we could stay as long as we liked. We got a call at just about 3 that our car was ready to be picked up. We left shortly after, and made good time after that, stopping only for dinner, gas and bathroom breaks. We got a call sometime into the evening from Rob's mom, to tell us that she quite possibly had pneumonia, and that if that were the case, she and Rob's dad wouldn't be coming. At this point, if we hadn't been over halfway there, we probably would have turned back.

We got to San Francisco about 2 am, and Devon and her roommates were all fantastically drunk (although Devon denied it). We were given a bed to crash on, and so we did. The next morning we got coffee, then the sushi that was supposed to have been our dinner the night before. That evening Rob and I continued with our regularly scheduled programming by attending the Chinese New Year Parade. Wow. Long. So many marching bands. So many corporate sponsorships. Entertaining, nonetheless. We were supposed to meet up with Rob's aunt and cousin there, but we arrived just as the parade was starting, and they came a half an hour after that. We tried to use cell phones to rendez vous, but the crowds made us decide to meet up after the parade was over. We got a call just after the parade finished from Rob's aunt. His cousin wasn't feeling well, so they were going home. We'd see them when they came up to Portland in a few months. Welp, one more loved one down, one more cancelled plan. We found dinner at a burger place near Devon's, and got back to her place shortly after that.

The next morning Devon and her roommates took off around 11 for a brewery sponsored bike ride through the city, and Rob and I headed for his hometown, Pacifica. We messed around there for a while, then went to Haight-Ashbury for touristy-ness. I got a text from Devon around 2 while we were trying to find a bathroom. She fell off her bike and was at the ER with a suspected broken arm (full story - her bike tire got stuck in the MUNI tracks, she flew over the handlebars, cracked her helmet and broke her elbow. If she hadn't been wearing a helmet she would have been in way worse shape). One more loved one down. Shit.

We wandered around Haight-Ashbury a little more, got some lunch, then drove over to the Castro to do more touristing and find coffee. The Castro was lovely - I think my appreciation of the Castro was intensified by my viewing of 'the Life and Times of Harvey Milk' and 'Milk' over Christmas. The building Castro Camera was once in has a huge mural of Harvey on the wall, and from across the street there is a window painted between the two painted windows, with Harvey leaning out. Beautiful and touching. One of the things I'd decided to get while I was in SF was a keychain, since I lost my keys a couple months ago and hadn't gotten around to replacing my keychain yet. I got a keychain at the HRC store, which is pretty much as San Francisco as you can get. After the Castro we went to Rainbow Grocery, the co-op where Rob's parents met when they were both working there. We got tons of bulk stuff, just because we knew we needed it at home, and pasta for dinner. We came back to Devon's and made dinner for all three of us and watched the Grammies.

The next morning we got out early, made fine time, stopped several places along the way, and made it into Beaverton about 2 am again. No more casualties this time.

THE END! of Rob and Jessie's magnificent trip to San Francisco, complete with pain and suffering of everyone but us, it seems!

This weekend it's off to Vancouver, BC for me, to chaplaincy training. I'm excited! We'll actually have a YA chaplain who regularly comes to con! It's about time!

Happy almost birthday to meeee

2009-02-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

15 people- friends from several parts of my life, and new acquaintances, gathered at Rogue Distillery and Public house to get a jump start on my birthday last night. Two words to describe the night: Fantastic, Beer-ful.

BIRTHDAY BEER. Yes, it really is the size of my head.

Now that I'm officially unemployed, things have been lining up nicely for me. I've officially sold something through my etsy site (a set of cards to Rob's mom) and I've gotten a new tutoring job. And I've applied for unemployment, which was the biggest bureaucratic bitch I've dealt with in a long time.

Next weekend we're going to San Francisco to visit Rob's family, and see Devon along the way - I'm excited!

Last Day of Muffinating

2009-01-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

Take this job and shove it, adios I'm a ghost
I am leaving for the coast and I'll never work for anyone again
--Kimya Dawson

fo-ty fo inch brims.

2009-01-23T23:38:00.000-08:00

toothpastefordinner.com

lolz.

Bread was a rousing success. I now have two lovely loaves of wheat bread. It came out a little heavy, but hopefully it will be a little warmer the next time I bake bread, so it will rise better. And I think I'll change the balance of white and whole wheat flour.

I love public radio so much I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant!

2009-01-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows how much I love NPR. (above figure of speech credited to Tracy Jordan). I got up early this morning to bake bread and the first two shows both centered on issues very near and dear to my heart.

Think Out Loud focused on Oregon unemployment, an issue that has become closer to me in the last week or so. I didn't get to listen as carefully as I would have liked to, since I had to go to Freddie's to buy yeast in the middle of the show. World Have Your Say, a show I rarely listen to because its frantic pace stresses me out, centered on Obama's use of the phrase "non-believers" in his inauguration address, and on the separation of church and state in United States politics. I felt so strongly on the issue that I posted to their blog -- and they read my comment on the air and discussed it! (ps: I'm a nerd)

But for now, my dough is rising in our coat closet (possibly the warmest place in the apartment, since it houses the hot water heater), I'm listening to Talk of the Nation, the kitchen is about to be cleaned (again), and tomorrow is my last day of work. Also, I'm going wine tasting tonight - the theme is 12 wines under $8. Whoa. Life might be a little good.

Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood.

2009-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have never been sadder that I don't live on the east coast.

I have two more shifts at work, and luckily the bad bosses in question will be GONE for both of them! So I get two more shifts of my favorite parts of that job, and then I won't work there any more. This time next week I will be unemployed. And so I have some goals for unemployment!

First, short term goals:

-Figure out how filing for unemployment works. See if it's worth it, or if I even qualify for it.
-Get details sorted out for being a vendor at the Annual General Meeting of the PNWD. Do I have to pay registration on top of my booth rental? When should I come to set up? What do I need to bring?
-Email the facilitator of Uni-Uniques and find out the steps to selling my wares through their site and contacts.
-Build my print inventory, find exciting ways to display said prints on a table.
-Advertise my tutoring services through PCC and maybe Craig's List again.

Goals for life:

-Get up by 10 am every day, and be dressed by noon. (This means wearing underwear and NO PJ PANTS).
-Shower at least every other day.
-Keep living space clean and organized. When I have a job I use it as an excuse to be fairly messy. I don't do my dishes in a timely manner, I never wash the plastic bags, and I keep my room way too messy. And especially keep work space clean and organized. Right now it's a mess and it's driving me crazy.
-Listen to NPR like a mad fiend again.
-Keep track of personal and professional finances with an eagle eye (perhaps with the help of Excel?). Pay loan bills on time.
-Get out of the house at least once a day, preferably for longer than it takes to check the mail.
-Employ use of bicycle. (This goal might take a couple of months to meet, since it's cold as heck out right now).
-COOK MORE. Plan meals, use the crock pot like whoa. Turns out crock pot recipes are really not necessary. Just throw a one-pot recipe's ingredients into the crock pot and turn it on. We made turkey chili on Monday and it's absolutely delicious.
-Don't drown in coffee.
-Don't lose track of what day it is. For serious.

I think I can meet these goals. I'm practicing right now. I got up at 10, I have Talk of the Nation in my ears, and it's 11:36 and I'm about to get dressed. Wish me luck!

It's begun.

2009-01-20T10:01:00.001-08:00

It's now 9:53 AM Pacific. We got up early to watch the inauguration. Obama is our 44th president.

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. [...] But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

--President Barack Obama

On the edge of something

2009-01-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

I know I don't talk about my job very much, but this is important. Last Thursday I went in to work at my scheduled time. I took off my coat, put on my apron and name tag, clocked in, and said good morning to my bosses. They told me they need to have a staff meeting with all of us, but instead of having us all come in at 5 Friday afternoon, they're just going to talk to each of us individually as we come in, to save time. They let me know we've all been too slow completing orders, we haven't been giving good enough customer service, blah blah usual "you're not meeting our expectations" talk. They called me out on yelling "OH SHIT" in front of a crowd of customers the Saturday before when I dropped a pan of bagels on the floor. And then, out of seemingly no where, they tell me that, not because of the 'oh shit' or the customer service or anything, they're going to have to lay me off. They're having to go into savings to pay payroll and they just have to let one person go. They didn't want it to come to this. My last day is Saturday January 24th.

Ok whatever, so I'm laid off from the job I didn't like in the first place, (Ok to be fair, I loved the job, I just couldn't stand my employers). But here's what's messed up: I'm not the most recent hire. I've been there for at least 3 months longer than the most recent hire. I've been working there for 5 months now - as long as I've been living in Beaverton. But then again, I'm not really surprised that I'm the first to go. I've felt since my second week that they didn't like me, that they were looking for a reason to fire me. My job performance has been absolutely fine, I make bank tips, I'm great with customers, I'm fast enough to make customers happy. I haven't had any customer complaints since my first month (and that one was a customer complaining that I wouldn't give him a discount when we ran out of the blend of coffee he wanted. He was full of it.) I get along great with my co-workers, I'm friendly to the bosses who treat me like ass and only motivate with negativity.

So there it is. They can't afford to give one of us hours and I'm easily the least favorite. And there goes my employment. I've decided not to seek a new job at the moment. I'm going to try to get 7printciples off the ground, and get more tutoring jobs. Hopefully that can sustain me for a while.

We got up at 5:30 this morning to be part of the live studio audience of today's special broadcast of Think Out Loud in honor of MLK and Obama's inauguration tomorrow. We were informed space would be limited, so we got there at 7 for doors at 8. We were easily the first people there.

When we got into the studio there were pieces of paper and pens on each seat. The papers were to facilitate the conversation. I filled mine out, but didn't turn it in.
Name: Jessie
Where are you from? Beaverton (originally Corvallis)
Describe yourself briefly (Engineer from Portland, student from Hillsboro) Recent college graduate, recent minimum wage lay-off, disgruntled 20-something from Beaverton.
Question/Comment: I am at a turning point in history and in my life. In less than two weeks everything is going to change. I'll be 23 years old, unemployed (laid off from a minimum wage job I hated, but couldn't afford to quit), and we'll be under a brand new administration. I am so unsureabout what will happen in the next few months, not to mention the next four years. Really, all I can do is hope for the best.

PETA is weird.

2009-01-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sea Kittens? Really?

Proposition 8 - The Musical

2009-01-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

When prop 8 passed in November I was disappointed in our country. Not because there exist, within our country, people who think that homosexuality is wrong, and that marriage between two people of the same sex should be prohibited - because those people will always exist. It's awful that they voted to pass this proposition in California. Everyone else is ANGRY that it passed - Americans from all 50 states, celebrities, even Canadians - and they're angry for good reason. No rights should be restricted based on sexual orientation. But my question, and the basis for my disappointment in the US is this: Where were all these angry people when Constitutional Amendment 36 passed in Oregon in 2004? Where were the celebrities? The only people who seemed to care in 2004 were the liberal Oregonians. Is it because all the celebrities live in California anyways? Is it because it passed by a fairly narrow margin in California and a landslide in Oregon?

But I give up. I'm glad people are mad and speaking out now, and I'm sorry I'm not madder. Whatever. I found this video today regarding prop 8 that made me giggle. It's a month or so old.

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

How I left the ministry

2009-01-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

The last thing I saw before going unconscious
Was your right hand tracing a heart on my thigh
And I thought, "my god, what an infantile gesture,"
And I thought, "my god, what an indescribable high."
--The Extra Glenns

I don't know why the above lyrics always get all stuck up in my head. No one else seems to like that song like I do, even those who really love and appreciate John Darnielle's lyricism.

I'm in somewhat of a funk tonight and I don't know why. I keep navigating to facebook, only to discover that nothing's really changed since the last time I refreshed 5 minutes ago.

I did a lot of 7printciples work Sunday and Monday. I got new designs uploaded on my etsy site, made lots of prints, cut extra cards, made business cards. My next project is to make packets to send to UU congregations I'm somehow attached to, to ask if they would just pass my information and samples along. But that's scary. That's really putting myself out there. We'll see.

Holidays and the year in review

2009-01-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Highlights of Christmas/New Years:

Gifts and cards sent to many friends far away
An epic journey to Port Townsend
A mellow Christmas with Rob's family
Winning the Milk soundtrack on Christmas day because I knew that James Franco was in Pineapple Express, just prior to seeing Milk.
An odd, late Christmas with my family
A couple of days at home in Beaverton with Rob, PJ and Cubby
Another, less epic drive to Port Townsend on December 30th
A windstorm and power outage viewed from what felt like the top of Port Townsend
New friends
New Years Eve bonfire and explosives
Not much sleep New Years night
A very tired morning and ride back to Portland today

2008 feels like it passed really quickly, but I don't think it actually did. I took my last couple terms of college, I graduated. Rob and I rebuilt our relationship from the ridiculousness that was Budapest, we moved in together and moved again. I had a couple jobs, I didn't get fired from any jobs. I made some new friends, I lost touch with some old friends. I made a lot of art, and I had a lot of new experiences. I planned a con.

I think 2009 is going to be good. It's looking good so far. I'm excited.

An adventure to embelish for the grandkids.

2008-12-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 7:45 yesterday morning. I took my first shower in 4 or 5 days, put on my work clothes, poured coffee, sat at the table... and my phone rang. It was my boss, asking if maybe I would like to enjoy the snow from my bedroom window instead of coming in. What? I'm already having my coffee. Fine, I won't come work, but I'll be by soon to pick up my tips. I walk through the snow and ice to work, pick up my tips, and bs with my boss for a little bit (actually my boss's son). When I tell him we're planning on driving to Port Townsend the next day, he tells me about the huge storm coming through - everyone's being advised to get in their houses at noon and stay there. He says that if it were him, he would just leave as soon as possible.

I go to Fred's for some breakfast stuff and call Rob on the way to tell him what Todd said. Freddy's is packed and it's only 9:30 on a Saturday morning. When I get home, we talk seriously about the feasibility of leaving in just a couple of hours. After seeking advice from both of our mamas, we decide it's the smartest thing to do if we don't want to be stuck in Portland. I've got chains for my car, Rob's driven on ice before, and we'll have Micheal and Sam in the backseat for extra weight. We're packed and ready at 11, have the chains on by 11:30 and are out of the parking lot just after that. It's snowing like a bitch, and obviously not letting up any time soon.

It takes us 45 minutes to drive to Micheal and Sam's. There's at least an inch on the roads, and four or so in their parking lot. Once we get on the freeway there's less accumulation, and we can hear and feel the complaints from the chains. Around the north end of Vancouver on 205 one of our chains broke. We stopped by the side of the road and took them off the car, deciding to get chains when we stop for lunch soon. We go to Burgerville in Woodland, and find chains at a Tire Factory. They're the light duty kind (strings of beads on cables instead of actual chains), but the last ones in our size. I pay for those and tensioners, then go back and we try to get them on my car. The first set was a pain to put on in the parking lot of our apartment, before the storm started in earnest. Now it's snowing buckets, the wind has picked up, and there's at least three inches on the ground. We just can't do it. We're too inexperienced, we're too cold, it's too hard to see. Some good Samaritans help us get the chains on, but advise us to keep under 30, and drive only on snow, but that no matter what, we're going to have trouble getting to our destination.

Once those chains were on the car is when the trip began for real for me. Driving 25-30 mph the whole way, it took us 13 hours from when we left our parking lot in Beaverton to when we rolled up at Rob's parent's. This included time for lunch and dinner, one gas stop, and several breaks to chip ice off the windshield wipers. The second set of chains broke in three places, but by the time we realized the severity of the chain situation, it was too late to fix it. So we drove through it. We had lots of trouble with the passenger side wiper collecting ice and not wiping properly. The 5th or 6th time we stopped to chip ice off, the entire wiping mechanism fell off the arm. After a couple unsuccessful tries to get it reattached, we just stuck it on the floor next to the first broken set of chains, and left the arm popped away from the windshield to wave with every swipe.

We saw a worse storm than any of us had ever seen, saw people driving like idiots, saw cars abandoned in ditches along the way. But Rob drove the whole way, probably the safest driver on the road, and got us there all in one piece. My car, maybe not so much..

We felt pretty stupid in the end, but at least we got here, at least we're stuck on this side instead of the other.

Obligatory "it's almost Christmas!" post

2008-12-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

We've been getting ready for Christmas! On December 1st we went on a pilgrimage to every store we could think of to get a chocolate advent calendar and there were NONE TO BE FOUND. So we made our own! Out of 156 sheets of origami paper! And it's reusable!! It only took us a week to finish, so whatever. Each box has two Dove chocolates in it, but could definitely hold more.

This last Saturday night we went on a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. We didn't want something big, and we didn't really want something cut that would require a water bowl Cubby might mistake for his own. We found potted trees at Trader Joe's and Freddie's (and incidentally found 50 cent chocolate advent calendar's at Trader Joe's, as well) but the trees at TJ's were about $5 cheaper. So we bought a bunch of tiny ornaments on clearance at Freddie's (including a very tiny glass angel for the top) and used those, with a strand of lights from my old dorm room and a couple mardi gras beads Rob got in Mississippi last year, to decorate our very own 'little tree'.
See? We even took a Christmas card picture! Too bad Cubby kind of looks like basement cat...

And then it got really cold Saturday night, snowed a bunch, then froze. So here we are Monday afternoon with my work cancelled and Rob's flights cancelled, frozen into our apartment that's too expensive to keep heated all the time.

Sunday afternoon

Sunday evening

Monday afternoon

We decided that since our apartment is expensive to heat, maybe just being fat, happy and drunk is, if not smarter, at least more fun.

I like to call this picture "Still Life With Gluttony" feat. 3 Buck Chuck, Hot Buttered Sailor Jerry's, and snickerdoodles I made last night. Yum.

Your name just got a whole lot cooler.

2008-12-12T19:55:00.001-08:00

I found this picture on the internet and I can't stop looking at it.
There are two recipes I've found in the last 2 days on the internet that have turned out very successfully.

1) Mexican Marinade: I marinated some chicken for chicken enchiladas. The whole situation was delicious.

2) Eggnog: I will trust anything that Alton Brown says. If he told me his favorite flavor combination was kiwi-strawberry-cappuccino, I would try it. That's how much I trust him. But instead of using bourbon like he suggested, I used Sailor Jerry's like Jeffrey Morgenthaler suggests. It turned out deliciously. I am pleased.

Thanks to the eggnog and some wine I poured while I was making the eggnog, I am now drunk. I'm not sure whether or not you can tell.

Art, Pain and Television.

2008-12-09T21:22:00.001-08:00

I have now officially listed something for sale on my 7printciples site. Several somethings, in fact. Please go check them out?

My back/hip pain has flared up with a vengeance. After telling Amber about it, she told me she has the same thing, that it's probably my sciatic nerve being pinched. Ow. She recommended a couple of stretches, so hopefully they will help.

Rob and I discovered 30 Rock this week. It is, to be honest, one of the most hilarious, intelligent shows I've ever seen. I would put it up there with Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks. AND it wasn't canceled prematurely, as the aforementioned were. Really what it comes down to is that I have a giant girl-crush on Tina Fey (doesn't everyone?).

Also, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've been following Paris Hilton's My New BFF. We finally watched the finale (a week late). I'm glad Brittany won, fer sher.

Dear Babs. You are hot. Love, Stephen Colbert.

2008-12-05T08:46:00.001-08:00

Whoa, it's Friday already?

We watched Stephen Colbert interview Barbara Walters on a rerun of Wednesday's Colbert report. Then we watched Barbara Walter's 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008. I have to say, I'm a little in love with Barbara Walters. She is absolutely poised, absolutely unflappable, hilariously funny, and not afraid to ask difficult questions or call her interviewees out on their shit.

She got in a full on argument with Rush Limbaugh, and asked Miley Cyrus if she's afraid it'll all be over by the time she's 20. She asked Tina Fey the secret to impersonating Sarah Palin, and had her finish her interview as Sarah Palin.

I know she's been around for several hundred years and I don't know how I didn't really ever see her before, but I just feel like I need to let the world know:

I <3 Barbara Walters.

Good ideas and terrible puns.

2008-12-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

So I know I've been pretty mute about my craftings for several months now, but let it be known that I haven't been just... not crafting.

I have gotten myself into this arty/crafty subculture known as 'linocutting' or 'linoblock printing'. Pictures are drawn on a block of linoleum (or Staedler plastic, which is softer and easier to carve, but less forgiving when you make mistakes). The negative space is carved out with sharp tools, and then the stamp is used with ink to make copies on paper or other substances. Right now just paper. This craft has led me to two sideprojects:

The Good Idea
Myself, with Rob, Micheal and Sam, have been carving cute wintry things and making winter season cards. These are for sale over the internet here, at our etsy site. Please at least go look! I'm very proud of this!

7printciples (get it? get it?)
I am better at designing chalices than pretty much... anything else. I counted up the years my designs have been on PNWD youth and young adult shirts, etc, and realized it was something like five years. FIVE YEARS. That's some experience, right there. Anyways, when I started practicing lino-cutting, I started with designs of my own - chalice designs. And then last week I started experimenting with printing techniques (mostly because the tray and roller are at Micheal and Sam's)

This is the most recent of my chalice designs, done in honor of my dad and Judy's 61st birthdays. The carving medium was Staedler plastic, and the ink was Mr. Sketch smelly markers because that's what I had.

This was my second chalice design, carved on a linoleum block and printed with black ink.

This is the first carving I did. It was carved into Staedler plastic. I printed this the same night as the hand chalice, with the same method.

I just set up the etsy site for this project last night. Rob came up with the name, which I absolutely adore. Hopefully I will have some prints for sale there by the end of the week. Hopefully.

I am going to put links to both etsy sites on the sidebar, so you can track their progress there.

This made me giggle this morning.

2008-12-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

superpoop.com

Electricity will scribble out your family name.

2008-11-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

I am going home today! Rob and I are going to celebrate my Thanksgiving and his Christmas. I'm excited. Very excited.

Last night I listened to the following albums:
XO - Elliott Smith
Emerald City - John Vanderslice
When I Pretend to Fall - The Long Winters
Blame it on Gravity - Old 97s

PJ and I made pepper jelly salmon and jasmine rice. I made tea for myself and Rob and ate cookies and did butt-loads of dishes. Rob waltzed with me to Waltz #2 (XO). I folded laundry, cleaned up after myself, and did my weekly chores. I found out that John Vanderslice played at LC while I went there (maybe Freshman or Sophomore year) and I didn't go see him because I had no idea who he was until this last August. I imbibed and made prints of a special carving. I finally called myself an artist. We bundled up at 10 pm and went to Fred Meyers to buy a frame and came back with Q-tips instead. I did more chores, broke the wall, made more prints, and finally went to bed at 1 am.

It was a good night, indeed.

Hell yes!

2008-11-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

O.

BA.

MA.

Victory for the Democrats - Democratic president, democratic congress! Nothing can stop us now!

(...except the national deficit, the federal budget, the economic crisis, global climate change, and a legacy of bad decisions from the last administration)

Whatever... baby-steps, right?

Hail Satan! (I haven't had a Mountain Goats post in ages!)

2008-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know what started the Mountain Goat's fixation with satanism, (first their album, Heretic Pride, then their new EP, The Satanic Messiah), but it's hilarious and they need to keep it up. If it's not a joke, then more power to them. I am a proud heretic, myself!

So this week totally snuck up on me. This is an events week. On Monday Rob and I went to see Ralph Nader speak at the Baghdad on Hawthorn. I have to say, I wasn't really that impressed. I totally dig his politics, but his attitude leaves a lot to be desired. He could take a cue or two from Dennis Kucinich, who shares a majority of his ideals, but knows how to play the game. Nader is running on this platform of "both candidates will do terrible, terrible things for our country and only I and the green party know what we really need. And yes, I actually have a chance of winning, although my policies are miles to the left of the democratic candidate". Don't you understand? If Obama endorsed gay marraige, or actively said "no more war in the middle east. PERIOD." He would have no chance of winning? Kucinich recognizes that his politics are more liberal than most of the country and uses the Democratic primaries to get his face, his message, and his platform out there. He is an amazing man with amazing ideals and I admire him.

Nader has popularity in Portland, I can't deny that. Nader has done a lot of amazing things for our country, and there's no way I can deny that either. But he is bitter and jaded and wants to fix a flawed system without participating in the system at all. I agree that our political system is fucked up. Obama's policies HAVE become more conservative has the race has gone on, and I'm disappointed in him for that. But when he and McCain are the only two plausible choices we've got, what do you really want me to do, Nader?

Whatever. I'm not a political analyst and that whole tirade just came out of my butt. Nader will continue doing what he's done for the past 20 years and who am I to take away an honest man's hope?

Moving on. Last night (Tuesday) was what really snuck up on me. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS. What? How did it become late October already? I don't even know. I blame the muffins. This was an all-ages show at the Wonder, and since the show in Eugene last year was so awful, I was a little wary about another all-ages show. Not to say that I wasn't excited, because I'm excited for any chance to see the Goats, just wary.

Their tour-mate(?) and opener was the singer-guitar-virtuoso Kaki King. Tiny. Amazing. Adorable. Those are three good adjectives to describe her. Her set was really good, a little more instrumental than I usually like. I was annoyed at the audience, especially those in the bar, who were loud and talky, even during her quiet songs. I would like to hear more Kaki, I think.

Next up came the Mountain Goats portion. A-Fucking-Mazing. Someone on the Mountain Goats forums put it this way: "After all we've been through, you're this happy to have me back? Fuck it! Here's every barn burner you want and we're turning it up to 11." Just about every hit that gets yelled out at their concerts was played. Some just on the setlist, some in response to yelled out requests. Some I'd expect to hear: Palmcorder Yajna, Dance Music, This Year; some I was surprised that he played: No Children, Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, Going to Georgia. The set was nicely broken up by a solo set in the middle (including some not-to-be-named songs I didn't know JD was capable of singing when not slobbering drunk), and a few songs by JD and Kaki, including a Morrissey cover. Five song encore to end the night.

JD was happy, engaging, hilarious, Peter Hughes was spot-on, dapper, a handsome devil, and Wurster was energetic and happy, as always. Such a perfect show.

And that's not even the end of it. As we left the venue, right by the tour bus, was JD himself, giving hugs and signing autographs. We got hugs! From JD! And he signed Rob's copy of the Satanic Messiah (the second to last copy EVAR).

This week isn't even over yet. Saturday we're going to see Conor Oberst (Lead singer/etc of Bright Eyes) at the Crystal Ballroom. Wheee!

Today I'm taking a sick day, partially because we didn't get home until 1:30 am, when I thought we'd be home before midnight, partially because I'm feeling a little under the weather and Rob's feeling way under the weather and needs taking care of. So here we are at 1:30 pm, watching Four Wedding and a Funeral on On Demand. I'm going to make soup a little later and enjoy this lazy day. Mmm.

edit: I think I really need to mention how the Mountain Goats took the stage after Kaki King, as it was priceless. After's Kaki's set was over and the stage had been re-set, the lights went down, the disco ball started glimmering, and "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" could be heard softly from the speakers. As the music crescendoed, from behind the curtains came first Peter Hughes, strutting his well-dressed, pin-stripe-suited self. Next was John Wurster, also be-suited, carrying a beer and smiling jauntily. Last was John Darnielle, smiling his usual Portland smile, wearing a suit jacket plastered with death metal band patches.

The Mama Skill

2008-10-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

I don't understand the way life slips out from under me so easily. I'll get all on top of my shit. I mean, ALL on top of it. I'll clean the room, clean the kitchen, play with the cat, cook a huge meal, AND have a date with my sweetie, and those are the days I feel the best about life, the most fulfilled. And then a couple of days will go by and the clothes will pile up in the hamper, Rob's and my dishes will pile up on the kitchen counter, and turds will pile up in Cubby's litter box. And then I'll have a day off and fix it all again. Don't even ask how long it's been since I really, truly crafted.

I have learned so many important skills in the past year: I can now cook several very delicious dishes that contain sauces, spices, fresh vegetables, and nothing from a can (I don't think it matters that they're mostly one pot meals, do you?), I can sew curtains, I can make a home with people I love, I can be a responsible pet owner. But on the days that I work 8 hours in a khaki, polyester encasing, all I want to do when I get home is strip and attach myself to the laptop or TV. I usually have the energy to come up with a good dinner, usually not consisting of leftovers, but not much else. On the days that I have lunch at 10 or 10:30, I barely have energy even for that. We'll get to 7 o'clock, I'll realize that I haven't eaten anything of substance besides mini muffins and Triscuits in over 8 hours, and my brain will shut off. Those are the nights we have spaghetti, or just go to McMenamins. After dinner we usually watch TV until I can't stay awake any more (usually about 45 minutes to an hour - I can't easily stay up past 10 or 10:30 these days).

I need to learn a new skill. A mama skill, though I am not really a mama (besides to my cat and roommates). The skill to get off work, and still find energy to make myself feel fulfilled and make my house livable. I need more planning ahead. To decide in the morning what will be for dinner so I can stop at Freddies when I get off work, and not take a second trip later in the evening. To find a nutritious snack to eat when I get off work so my blood sugar doesn't whither up and die right around the time I should be cooking dinner. To do dishes before I'm too tired to keep my eyes open, and to reward myself with TV once everything I wanted to accomplish is done.

Last night Rob opened a bottle of Drop Top and found this prost under the cap: "A prost to doing nothing on your day off." He showed it to me and scowled, a mock annoyance at all of my days off he's had to sit through where I feel like I have to catch up on everything. If I can master this skill, maybe I really can do that with my days off. Nothing.

And you blew it.

2008-10-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

Wow dudes, I'm so sorry I've been such a wang about keeping you informed.

Life is good and grown up and stuff. We have framed artwork in our bathroom, which means we are officially grown up and that this is officially a home, not just an apartment where our stuff lives. Really. There's framed stuff all over the walls (and not just in the bathroom!), house plants, a planter box on the patio full of pansies Rob's brought me back from the farmer's market I have to work through every week, curtains (!!!), and a new member of the family, Cubby.

My job at the muffin shop is sort of balls. I enjoy the work, enjoy making stuff for people and having them smile and tell me about their day... My bosses just aren't that nice. I think brusque might be the best adjective to describe them. I'm sort of half-heartedly looking for other work, but I'm starting to get used to this job so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get hired somewhere else.

Also, I'm sort of humoring the idea of going to grad school for teaching again. I've been tutoring and it's made me realize how absolutely awesome high school math is and... I really need health insurance. So, who knows, really. Don't bug me about it, the registration deadline for PSU's teaching program isn't until December 1st (which I'm well aware is less than 2 months away).

Tonight Rob and I are going to go to Norm's Garden (inappropriate nickname censored), and then to LC to see SLiD. And be jealous that I'm not singing a capella any more... I should arrange. Then I could still be involved.

Hm.

2008-09-16T07:38:00.001-07:00

Working at a muffin shop may prove detrimental to my girlish figure.

Bumbershoot Reflections

2008-09-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

Bumbershoot was this weekend. My first ever music festival, in fact (I don't count the Z100 Last Chance Summer Dance featuring Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson and Savage Garden in 2000. No.) It was exhausting, but so, so amazing and rewarding and wonderful. I came away with new bands to get into, and new respect for bands I already loved. I will now try to break it down into small, delicious bite sized pieces for your perusing pleasure.

Saturday
The first morning of the festival was Saturday. We (Rob, PJ and I) had gotten up to Seattle the night before and had crashed at Mark and Nicole's. Thanks to an alarm that didn't get set correctly (my bad) we woke up at 10:30am. When we'd wanted to be out the door before then. Our tickets were waiting at will call and the first band we wanted to see was at noon. We also didn't have our ticket confirmations printed and couldn't make the printer do so. So there was a fair amount of running around and breakfast eating and sandwich making for the day and the first band, New Faces, definitely did not get seen. They're a Port Townsend band, so I have a feeling we'll see them sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Grynch
The first act we ended up seeing. Very solid, energetic hip-hop out of Seattle. I'm not known to be the biggest hip-hop fan, so I was pleasantly surprised. I can really get behind rhymes about the value of going to college without sounding like a PSA.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
I feel bad because I was kind of zoning out for this act. The music was good and energetic and Thao was adorable, but I was tired and had a nice spot on the grass and a sandwich to eat.

Sherman Alexie and the Stranger present Words and Music
Ok I don't even know what the hell this show was on. We thought it was going to be Sherman Alexie doing some readings, maybe talking about how music and stories intersect. Instead it was a weird band that dissected each of their songs before they played it, explaining every phrase, down to the last "ooh," so their songs were more like in-jokes than artistic expressions. And then there was this half hour tribute to Hall and Oates that I just couldn't get behind (although the love story told exclusively through Hall and Oates song titles was effing hilarious). We ended up having to leave a little early from this act to get into Band of Horses (although we probably would have left early anyways. It really was bizarre and not in the good way). I guess Sherman Alexie did some readings after we left. Whatever.
Band of Horses
I'm don't really know much of Band of Horses, but they put on a good rock show and their songs are tight. And the lead singer was wearing a costume bear head as a hat. Most of the audience (including me) only knew their singles, and since they've only been in the spotlight for a year or two, that's only a couple songs. It didn't matter, a good time was had by all.

Beck
I have this theory that it's never uncool to like Beck. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't really know anything from him besides his singles, but I really enjoyed the show. I danced my butt off and so did the rest of the audience. The highlight of the show for me was when Beck and his bandmates got up at the front of the stage, all wearing headsets and holding old techno devices to play a couple of songs.

Sunday
We wanted to see Francesca Lia Block speaking on a panel, but missed it because we got another late-ish start and had to bus in from Dev's in Shoreline.

Saul Williams with Canary Sing
PJ saw Saul Williams' music act the night before and loved it, so she talked Rob, Kate and I into coming to this. Canary Sing was absolutely amazing. Three Seattle girls rapping about their lives and generally being awesome. A little weird to see on the literary stage, but whatever. Rob bought their EP and I'm so glad. Saul Williams was really inspiring and wonderful. I was a little put off by the note he ended things on (just randomly started talking about how we shouldn't celebrate Thanksgiving?) But besides that, very awesome.

The Blakes
Well loved Seattle indie band. I wasn't sure how I felt about them. They were in a bad venue and all their songs sounded alike. I guess they were solid? We only stayed for about half of their show, before we retreated in search of lunch.

Ravens and Chimes
This band got really good reviews. Rob was drawn to their description on the Bumbershoot page, "... [an] array of sounds and instruments, including the glockenspiel and harmonium, creating ear-grabbing pop melodies that are sure to please." Whatever. Their guitar was way, way too loud and we were right in front of the amp so all we could hear was guitar. The band didn't have very good chemistry, and kind of made me feel like I was at a high school talent show. They probably would have won the talent show, but I'm not sure they were up to the standards of almost everything else I saw this weekend. Also, I kept accidentally calling them "Ravens and Windchimes."

The Weakerthans
Okay now holy crap, here was a show worth seeing. An ex boyfriend gave me a couple of their songs on a mix cd several hundred years ago, and inspired by that I bought their album, Left and Leaving. Knowing only that album, and Rob knowing less than that, we had a rockin time. These men know how to put on a good show. They're a little older than I would have expected, but I kind of saw it as giving hope to every 40 year old dude in a jam band. High energy and still obviously caring about their lyrics and messages, even after all these years.

Monday

School of Rock: Northwest Allstars
Remember that movie School of Rock? With Jack Black? This was just like that, except without Jack Black and with more talented youth musicians. These kids are going places. The best part of the show was when they brought in the bassist from Death Cab to play Different Names for the Same Thing and Long Division as a special surprise. He looked so thrilled the entire time, to be playing his band's songs with such talented young people.

John Vanderslice (KEXP secret show)
On our way to Bumbershoot on the bus on Sunday (on on on) we ran into some guys who told us about these secret shows for radio broadcast that were going on during the festival. You had to show up to the KEXP booth about 15 minutes before the unadvertised show was set to start, and if they had extra tickets you could pick one up for free. So we went to the KEXP booth and discovered that both John Vanderslice and Old 97's were playing secret shows on Monday. And somehow we scored tickets to both. Holy crap. John Vanderslice is loosely affiliated with the Mountain Goats (he produced one or two of their albums) so I thought I'd check him out. I didn't really know what to expect, but the show was amazing. It was in a tiny venue, with Rob and I in the front row, watching John Vanderslice sing pretty songs with his guitar and lots of harmonies from his violinist. Beautiful.

Old 97s (KEXP secret show)
I was really looking forward to seeing Old 97s anyway, and when I scored tickets to see them in an itty bitty venue, I nearly crapped myself. Possibly the most high energy performance I saw the entire weekend. Really. Rhett Miller was visibly sweaty by the second song. And it was obvious that he had studied videos of Elvis as a child, the way he moved with his guitar. They're promoting their new album, which happens to be the only album of theirs I own, so I knew almost every song they played at this performance. We left the show completely awe-struck.
Also, check out the KEXP blog for this show (Find me! I'm in the last photograph on the bottom of the page!)

John Vanderslice
Vanderslice was great the second time. Two more members of the band, one on drums and one on keyboard, and the pace was a little picked up. John was really, really excited that we were so close to the Space Needle. I liked being around so many of his fans who knew his lyrics. It made me want to get to know more of his music.

Old 97s
We only saw about half of Old 97s main set. I want to see them again and again, because as much as I love them recorded, they're even more amazing live.

Superchunk
Hooray for another band loosely affiliated with the Mountain Goats! Superchunk and Mountain Goats share a drummer, John Wurster. And he's good. Very, very good. As is the rest of Superchunk. Hella, hella high energy and so tight. I was mad that they basically opened for Death Cab, since the audience didn't really care who opened as long as they got to see Death Cab. Also, Superchunk was so damn high energy that it hyped the audience up TOO much, to the point where they were crowd surfing to inappropriate songs during Death Cab's set.

Death Cab for Cutie
Oh my god I have never been to a concert this crowded and I never want to do it again. Death Cab got so popular, so fast. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but Ben Gibbard's gotten way too big for his britches and it's becoming obvious. Yes, you are a musical prodigy. Yes, we all know it. Yes, your songs are catchy as hell and insightful and awesome. No, you should never play stadiums and let Superchunk open for you. We were packed so tightly against the mainstage and we were fairly close up. After about 4 songs of not being able to see and being squished against preppy high school girls I gave Rob the signal that meant "we need to move right now" and we did. And then there was fresh air and room to move and stretch, which I needed to do every two minutes because I'd been standing all weekend. I wish I hadn't seen Death Cab just a few months ago in a small venue on the second stop of their tour. Comparatively, this show at Bumbershoot might as well have been me packed tightly in a group of people I didn't know and blaring Death Cab over the loud speakers. But then, Rob enjoyed himself, so maybe I just was grumpy because I'd been standing all weekend, grumpy because I had to work at 6:30 the next morning, or just really not in the mood for Death Cab at that point. The world may never knoooow....

And that was my weekend at my first Bumbershoot. It was amazing and I'm so glad it happened. I was not so glad about getting home at 2:30 in the morning, falling asleep at 3:30, and waking up at 5:15, then working a six hour shift, virtually dead on my feet.

Hot damn!

2008-08-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

We moved on Saturday. We shuttled three people's worth of crap from Vancouver to Beaverton, with the help of 5 others and a U-Haul. Now Rob, Rachelle and I are official residents of a brand new apartment complex, along with our new roommate, Teresa. HOORAY!

So we moved Saturday, Sunday morning I went out in search of coffee and found a help wanted sign, this morning I inquired about said help wanted sign, filled out an application, was granted an immediate interview, and was hired on the spot. I start Thursday at My Favorite Muffin. More details on the job as they come. HOORAY!

Now Rob and I are at McMenamins for the third day in a row, using their internet and eating a happy hour hummus plate. Life is very, very good.

Where'd my towel go?

2008-08-22T07:20:00.001-07:00

Willamette Weekly reports that Portland sci-fi nerds are petitioning to rename 42nd Ave on the east side of the river, Douglas Adams Blvd. I am in full support.

Also, xkcd today is eerily appropriate, seeing that it's moving weekend for us:

Announcements.

2008-08-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

I have a nephew! My first! Joaquin Flores, born tonight, August 21st, at 6:30pm.

I quit my job! My last day is tomorrow. I am pleased. Now I need to find another one in Beaverton.

Life is exciting. We're gearing up for moving on Saturday. We haven't packed much. You know how it goes.

I'm not very good at blogging lately, I don't think. Maybe once I'm not working all day, I'll have energy to craft and blog and bake and... everything else I don't do right now.

Whatever, here are some pictures of my nieces and my sweetie, taken last weekend in Nevada. (There for Dave's birthday)

Also, we saw THE OBAMA-MOBILE. Effing sweet!

Also, HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY PJ.

Look at my sexy facial hair, oh man hot damn it's everywhere!

2008-08-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, I would like to make the observation that many others have: John McCain is dumb. Did you really think you could get away with using Paris Hilton's face in your commercial (insinuating that Obama is a celebrity the likes of Britney Spears and the aforementioned Hilton) without getting some flack? Like... perhaps from her parents? Who donated money to your campaign? (insert golf claps here). Luckily, Paris Hilton is a clever lady and responded with an ad of her own.

McCain's ad:

Hilton's response (hope you don't mind the new image for the White House)

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

I have been a little camera shy lately. That is, I've been a little shy about using my camera. Not sure why, just haven't been taking many pictures. But Sunday after Farmer's Market I really had to bring it out to document my gratitude for the summer bounty of Pacific Northwest farms.

I spent 15 minutes at Farmer's Market (due to arriving at 2:45 and the market closing at 3:00). I came with a $20 bill in my pocket. I left with change in my pocket and all the above in my bag. That's 3 zucchinis, 1 red bell pepper, 2 heads of broccoli, 1 yellow squash, 2 carrots, 1 cucumber, 1 head of lettuce, 4 heirloom tomatoes, 3 ears of corn, a bunch of basil, and a container of marionberries. Wow. I love the world.

That would cost upwards of $40 at Whole Foods, and half of it would be organic, but imported from New Zealand. And honestly, what's the point of farming organic if you're going to transport it half way around the world? Seriously. Babysteps, people, that's my philosophy. Start by eating local, and do what you can from there. I use the lovely Elona's rule of trying to eat food from no further than 1 state away. It's working pretty well, but I'm not giving up coffee any time soon, and there's some packaged food we're still getting, too. But really, we eat so little packaged food compared to the amount of fresh we eat that I feel ok for now about it.

The new hippie-rific goal is to try not to eat food that has corn in it that obviously shouldn't. What is corn doing in my soda? Or my ice cream? Gross, people. I feel like it shouldn't have corn in it unless it's corn flavored. And I really don't want corn soda. But if you do, I won't judge you, I promise.

I haven't really been listening to music lately, since I listen to NPR basically solidly from 8 to 5. My iPod sits for days at a time, battery dead, music tired and listened to too many times. Sometimes I turn on the radio to another station (but only if there's a repeat broadcast on NPR), but basically it's just news. This trend is partially because listening to constantly changing and updating news all day is way more interesting than music most of the time, and also because I'm bored of my music. So I got more! Rob and I went to Everyday Music last week and together got 4 CDs. New music of mine:

Old 97's Blame It On Gravity (Choice track: No Baby I) (Thank you, Terri Gross, for introducing me to the lead singer, Rhett Miller, on Fresh Air)
The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed (Choice track: Pushover)
The Builders and the Butchers (Choice track: Black Dresses)
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (Choice track: Me + Yr Daughter)

And now for your moment of zen:

(courtesy of Rob, who left that picture on my camera)

Bonus moment of zen: Rob also just pointed out that Obama went to school from 1975 to 1979. Try to imagine our hopeful future president with an afro, bellbottoms, doing the hustle. DO IT.

She claims she was the inspiration for the song, 'My Sharona'.

2008-07-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

I sat down with something to say and now can't remember what it was. That seems to be happening a lot lately.

So instead I will say this:

The Old 97's make me quite happy.
We move in just under a month.
I left for Budapest almost a year ago (August 15th will mark that anniversary).
My hair is responding well to my hippydome and I can now go 3-4 days without washing my hair.
Uncon was lovely
I am very unsuccessfully trying to find some sort of cart or storage system for my arts and crafts supplies that is clean and uncluttered. No one seems to have what I want for a reasonable price.
The Mountain Goats are coming back to Portland in October! October 21st, to be exact.

I need to be better about keeping this updated. I've been a little technophobic as of late.

Oops

2008-07-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in the last week or two I grew up. I got a job. I'm pretty sure my official title is Temp, but I'm cataloging files in a warehouse. The work is pretty mindless now that I've gotten the hang of it, and they don't mind what we where or if I listen to NPR on my phone headset ALL DAMN DAY (8-5). I think Rob is probably getting sick of all of my conversations starting with either, "Ok so at work..." and, "There was this thing on NPR..." Whatever. I have a grown up job. And I'm getting paid more than I was last week, which was $0.

I've also progressively been becoming more and more of a hippie. First it was hangdrying clothes... then saving and reusing plastic bags... then trying to get my body off shampoo? I mean, you know how you get addicted to chapstick? You put it on and it relieves you until it wears off, and your "...lips hurt real bad" (N. Dynamite). And you need chapstick again. So hair has that same cyclic relationship with shampoo. So I'm trying to break the cycle by first switching to natural shampoo, then switching to baking soda and vinegar. It's still washing my hair, but it's without all the chemicals and hopefully my hair will be healthier thanks to it.

This weekend is the second annual uncon, which I'm very excited about, but don't have time to explain, since it's 7:24 and I need to leave for work.

We're gonna sail through the night sky like a pair of bottle rockets!

2008-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

So maybe we had another big old weekend love-in at our apartment for 4th of July. Whatever, these things happen.

This 4th was my first experience with home projectile fireworks. They're pretty cool, turns out. I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about when Rob was buying a small fortune's worth. Now I do. They're big and shiny and go BOOM. That's a good enough reason. On top of home projectile fireworks, we also live in the town that hosts the biggest 4th of July fireworks display west of the Mississippi, and that's pretty cool, too.

Me, Anny and Kate on the bus to the fireworks.

Bored, waiting for the fireworks to start, Anny and Kate decided to play airplane.

WE MADE THAT HAPPEN. ZOMG.

Sweet people Saturday morning.

I did a few haircuts on Saturday. This is Rob's (with a Lizzy).

Zoe's pink Mohawk I made.

Stephen is actually Harry Potter. No joke.

Pretty sparkly things.

Tonight we're going to see Hapa at the zoo, tomorrow we're going down to Corvallis, and then up to Seattle on Saturday to see Eddie Izzard!

Friends

2008-06-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

The last several weeks I have been spending an inordinate amount of time with con friends, etc. And it's only going to continue throughout the rest of July, and I'm sure the rest of the summer. I choose to illustrate this through photojournalism!

First of all, Laura graducated on June 13th - Yaaay Laura!

Saturday morning after Laura's graduation we drove up to Seattle to play in Dev's ballpit, picking up Steve and Zoe in Portland. Most people had been there Friday night, so by the time we got there Saturday afternoon, everyone had left to do their own thing. Things picked up pretty quickly, though.

Hee hee. Poopa.

Kate and Dev, proud ballbit owners.

Okay so maybe we sorted the balls.

Miriam and James

Nooooo!
Lazy Sunday.

The next weekend we drove up to Port Townsend to hang out at Rob's parents' house. Kate and Dev and PJ decided to join, just because Port Townsend is that special.

Family portrait?

Kate was seriously ready for breakfast.

Swinging!

Silly, sweet happy people rolling down the hill at the park

Kate found a friend on the beach.

Spider Monkey?

Rob and Kate at the Fort (we were there for a benefit for The Boiler Room, a volunteer led coffee shop in PT that does something amazing for the youth and young adult community - gives them a space to hang out, make art and get work experience. I wish Corvallis had something like that!)

On our way back to Vancouver we stopped on the reservation to pick up fireworks.

Eat your heart out, Oregon! These bitches aren't illegal in Washington!

On Wednesday night of this last week, Rob and I and Steve and Zoe went to McMennamin's for dinner, and then Oaks Park, a crappy amusement park in Portland with about 15 rides (but fairly cheap ride bracelets and no lines on a Wednesday night... so who's complaining?)

On the Scrambler

Suuuper creepy

The slide I refused to go down, because I didn't want to recreate the alpine slide incident... Notice Zoe's posture, and the name of the slide itself. "Big Pink - the ham flavored gum that pinkens your teeth while you chew!" - Futurama.

Zoe and Steve on the tiny train

And now it's the weekend and almost July! And Summer's finally starting! And I got my bike fixed up yesterday! I put road tires on my mountain bike, which was way less of a hassle than selling my mountain bike and buying a used road bike. For serious.

Bumbershoot

2008-06-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

Holy crapola, Francesca Lia Block (favorite author in high school) AND Sherman Alexie (favorite author introduced to me in college) are speaking at Bumbershoot. Now I'm basically required to go.

Also summer classes are ending tomorrow and I dyed my hair normal-ish. Maybe now I'll start getting call-backs after interviews. Sigh.

Adventures of the Pedo-grill

2008-06-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our sketchy next door neighbors moved out in a big hurry. Two days later the sheriff's department came by in the morning and asked if we knew the whereabouts of the sketchy husband. Turns out he was wanted in the state of Oregon for his penchant for 12-14 year old girls. Gross. We'd all been friendly with them. The husband fixed Rob's speakers, and we gave him and his wife a table we didn't want. We always said hi when we ran into them. Now it turns out they're seriously sketchy.

In their haste to move out, they left a small shelf beside their door that they'd kept an ashtray on. On one of the lower shelves was a small (maybe 1.5' by 1.5') cheap propane grill. I decided that because of the emotional distress they'd placed on us, I was going to take the grill for myself. Whatever, they were long gone to Colorado by that point.

The grill was nasty. Like, used once a week for a couple years and never cleaned nasty. Used to cook lots of fatty meat nasty. I stuck it on our back porch and promised I'd clean it soon, and once I did we'd have grilled asparagus. But then it sat back there for a couple weeks. Last Sunday I decided it was finally time to clean it. It took me over 2 hours, 2 Scotchbrite pads, and about 8-10 paper towels. I had the sick feeling while I was cleaning it that maybe after all this disgusting travail, it wasn't even going to work.

We'd been planning on having salad and spaghetti for dinner, but after all that we were going to use the goddamn grill. After a quick trip to Freddie's for hot dogs, buns and propane, we were ready.

And oh happy day, the grill worked!

The fruits of my labor:

This weekend it's off to Seattle to play in Dev's ballpit and hang out with UUs... hooray! <3

Brought to you by Morning Edition

2008-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

I was truly inspired by the story of Amber Alibhai on Morning Edition today. Check her out, she's doing some pretty amazing things.

Life is good. We're going to the Rose Festival this weekend! And to Corvallis/Seattle the weekend after that! And Port Townsend the weekend after that! And it's worth mentioning that I only have 3 and a half weeks of class left. I'm a little sad, since I'm really loving my classes, but with a gallon of gas at $4.059 in the cheapest gas station in Hazel Dell (along with your standard environmentalist wish to drive less), I'm going to be really pleased to not be commuting a total of almost 38 miles daily.

Good News! (Election Coverage, etc)

2008-06-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Dick Cheney is really dumb
Goats on a TriMet!
McCain's speech in Kenner, Louisiana (currently being viewed) is a whole lot of negative, anti-Obama, 'vote for me, I'm not Bush' bs and it makes me sad.
We're having potatoes, chicken and asparagus for dinner.
Obama made the democratic nomination!

Life is pretty exciting, huh?

Confessions of a futon-revolutionist.

2008-05-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

...somewhere love and justice shine.
Cynicism falls asleep.
Tyranny talks to itself.
Sappy slogans all come true.
We forget to feed our fear.
--The Weakerthans

There is a new link on the left, titled "I make stuff". Go there. It is a gallery that will be routinely updated with stuff I make. Hair timeline has also been updated to show new color.

There was a really amazing storm prequel last Sunday night and I took bajillions of pictures. These two are the best, I think. The second one looks tiny, but really you should click on it. That's my apartment complex, as viewed from our balcony. I put the pictures all together in Canon PhotoStitch

I was sick last weekend (still am, actually) so instead of doing anything cool for the holiday weekend, we stayed home, watched movies, made jell-o, played cards and got bored. It was fun.

Devon is moving back to San Fransisco so we had our very last Sushi Takahashi date for the time being. I will miss you, schmev.

Tonight we're having a grad party for me and Rachelle. I also have to write a 4 to 6 page paper about Citizen Kane, and do some Abstract Algebra. All before Tuesday. Oh, I can totally do that.

Addicted.

2008-05-22T08:36:00.001-07:00

I am hopelessly addicted to NPR. I don't even see the point of music radio right now.

I added a link to listen to OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting, affiliated with National Public Radio) news live. DO IT. It's changing my life as we speak!

Summer classes are a little lame, since I'm really just ready to be done... at least they're interesting. Abstract Algebra is coming relatively easy for now, since I've already taken it once before. I even understood the section we're on right now! But soon we'll head into uncharted territory and it will get harder. Film is also cool... hanging out in a windowless room with several other students trying to pick up extra credits with a minimal amount of work for 3 hours a day, 3 days a week is pretty awesome. At least Orson Welles was a bad-ass. Pushing buttons, drinking too much, living larger than life... I had no idea! I'm a week in, so only 5 more to go.

Living in Vancouver is fantastic... it kind of just feels like a long slumber party at the moment.

I still need to post pictures of all of the fantastic things I've been making... another post containing pictures will be forthcoming.

Now it's time to play with rings! The mathematical kind...

The Beanery isn't that great when it's not full of people you know.

2008-05-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

When did Corvallis start sucking so hard?

Oh yeah. When the last of my friends left for college and moved away and now when I go to the Beanery on a given Saturday night, I'm surrounded by old people. Woo! I keep thinking to myself "Oh but what about Nicole, she's usually arou... oh wait, she lives in Seattle. How about Tristan he's usually oh wait he lives in Eug. Eva? Probably still at school. The list just keeps going. I guess I usually keep myself entertained by hanging out with Micaela when I'm here, but she doesn't get back from NY until tomorrow. Sigh. Lame boredom. If it weren't for Laura, I'd probably just shrivel up from lack of social stimulation.

Haha, I sound like a whiney teenager. No really, it's not that bad here, and it's not like the city itself isn't still wonderful, I'm just used to having a Rob or a PJ or a Lizzie/y or whatever around. I've basically just been hanging out with family and playing with my new brother. Brother brand sewing machine, that is. I've been altering bunches of t-shirts, and made a tutu yesterday out of some tulle I found on sale at JoAnn's. Whee sewing machine!

Also, in case you weren't aware I kind of graduated a week ago tomorrow.

Sad in the math department during finals.

College graduate-ish with parentals.

Giggles with the nieceling. The yellow sash is a Möbius strip, made by me for 5 of us math majors. The other ribbons are for the Hungarian flag.

The whole family outside Old Spaghetti Factory! This includes parents, step parents, siblings from both sides (including those of the step and in law variety), a couple nieces and a boyfriend.

Lizzie and I toasting our achievements by the flagpole with a warm bottle of cheap champagne.

In other news, I am an adult. I have an apartment, roommates, responsibilities and job interviews. Suck on that! Now I'm going to go home and put on my tutu.

Less than a week now.

2008-05-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

Things are finally blooming!

The final a capella concert was a rollicking success - there will be YouTube links up someday, I promise. I miss SLiD already. Tonight and Sunday night both felt long and like something was missing.

I have one final tomorrow (I guess today, it's after midnight), and two on Thursday... and then graduation on Sunday. Today was my last shift at IT and I didn't even realize it until I was almost out the door. Sad news.

I've been re-reading Still Life With Woodpecker and I have two observations: (1) Tom Robbins is a genius and (2) Tom Robbins is totally on crack.

I need to start listening to music again.

The finish line is in sight now.

2008-04-30T17:13:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of classes. Today was my last voting theory and my last complex.

Jon, Amy and I met when we had calc 2 together the second semester of our freshman year, and saw it all come full circle today, in the last complex class of the semester, one of the last days of our senior years. On the last day of calc 2, Bob Owens showed us the example of Gabriel's horn, a graph with finite area and infinite surface area. Today in complex, Liz Stanhope showed us that Gabriel's horn was unbounded as she explained some basic Topology so that we could better understand the theorem she had conjectured and was working on proving. It really did all come full circle today.

Last night was the last LCUU meeting Liz and I, the freshman/sophomore year roommates, will ever lead. We took our $60 budget the school gave us that we hadn't touched all year and went on a spree at Maggie's, then took the haul back to my room.

Tomorrow night is the official final concert for Section Line Drive. (there will be a couple of other, informal shows before the semester's completely over).

I wish I didn't have to stay this summer - I feel like I've reached the end of this. I wish I was graduating with my peers a week from Sunday, instead of just walking with them. I know I only have a month and a half after that until I'm completely done... I'm just ready to be done now, with everyone else I started with.

All that's left now is the cs labs I have to finish tonight, the extra credit for German, and then finals. And then I'm done. I've started applying for jobs, started thinking about moving up to Vancouver, in with Rob, Rachelle and Taylor. It's all almost over. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm ready.

We better have some epic May flowers.

2008-04-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's April 23rd. The weather is making me miserable.

Today's high: 49
Thursday: 54
Friday: 55
Saturday: 67
Sunday: 68
Monday: 58
Tuesday: 52
Wednesday: 54
Thursday: 60
Friday: 60

There are 6 days of classes left after today. Last complex midterm turned in today, paper due Monday, a couple CS labs, my voting theory project... and then all that's left is finals. Oh, and finding a job.

I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time

2008-04-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a little epic the last couple of days...

Thursday night Lizzy, Rob, Me, Rachelle, Chelsea and Ben all went to see Margaret Cho at the Schnitz. Wonderful. Hilarious. Oddly affirming. Her opener, Ian Harvie, was also absolutely incredible.

Margaret Cho. Making one of her amazing faces.

Friday afternoon while I struggled to finish my Complex homework I got a call from Rob to tell me that the Death Cab for Cutie show in Eugene Saturday night that had previously been sold out... had released more tickets!

On Friday night I noodled around in the evening, cleaning my room, until around 9:30 when I picked up and went to Powell's. Rob, Rachelle, Ben and Elona were at the Crystal Ballroom seeing Ani DiFranco, and I knew if I timed it right, I could drive them from the Crystal back to Elona's, and then continue up to Vancouver. And I did it perfectly! I bought a coffee mug and some stickers at Powell's (Wait, it's a bookstore? Are you sure?) and just as I was being kicked out for closing, Rob called. I picked them up at the Crystal, we went over to Elona's for a bit, and then Rob, Ben and I braved the treachery of I-5 to get back to Rob's (actually it was pretty deserted).

Steve and Zoe met us up in Vancouver so Rob, Ben, Rachelle, Steve, Zoe and I could have a sleepover. We watched the intros to old TV shows from our childhood on YouTube (Captain Planet! Eureeka's Castle! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Inspector Gadget!) and went to bed late.

We woke up first around 9 as Ben was leaving town, and then around 11:40 when Ben called asking for Corvallis directions. Going out into the living room we found Steve and Zoe already up, watching Secondhand Lions and craving donuts and eggs. The four of us got in Rob's car and to Krispy Kreme we went! Still in our pajamas! We came back an hour later with two dozen donuts and a dozen eggs, scrambled the eggs, and had a donut tasting party on the floor of the living room.

Steve and Zoe (check out Zoe's sweet hoodie!)

PJ and Rob.

Mmmm.

After a lovely living room picnic I drove back to LC to shower and get dressed, while Rob went to the train station to pick up some of his Port Townsend friends who were on their way to the Death Cab show when their train broke down in Portland. They met up with me at LC, and the 5 of us drove down to Eugene to meet up with another one of Rob's PT friends and go to the show.

Death Cab. Was. Epic. They are rock stars. I saw them 4 years ago when they were touring with Ben Kweller, when they had just released their album Transatlanticism and were still known as being pretty damn emo. And I didn't really like their music back then, so we'd left about halfway through. Whoops. When I was in Budapest I discovered the album they put out in 2005, Plans. Very different sound, much more my style. Sadly, that's when everyone else really discovered them, too, so the audience was a little lame. When I saw them before all the kids were wearing hoodies and had shaggy black hair and thick-rimmed glasses. This time it was all pretty, preppy, whatever. And they only got super energized as a whole when the band was playing something off Plans. Whatever. I only really know Plans, too, but I was hoping I'd be in a minority. It didn't matter, though. The band was amazing and energized the whole time, since it was only the second stop on their first tour in several years. They rocked. The poop. Out.

Rockstars.

After the concert we dropped the Port Townsend kids at the motel where they were staying, then drove over to Amber's where we proceeded to stay up until 3:30 talking because we hadn't seen eachother in almost a year.

Then this afternoon I got free Thai food at the Thai Peacock because of my gig with the MCMC, so that was pretty sweet, too. And then I got a season of Six Feet Under from the library, came back, watched some of that, took a nap, went to a cappella AND did a problem on my Complex take home that's due Wednesday.

I told you before... epic weekend-ish-thing.

Next epic tasks: find a job for this summer, send out grad announcements.

But before that? BED! NOW!

CON.

2008-04-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

It came. It happened. It's all over.

Friday afternoon - two masterminds work out the final details of Operation CONgaLine. Note: clear eyes, washed hair, general peppiness.

Honestly, this con could have been a gigantic disaster. One of our staff members couldn't make it due to a family emergency, we had several cancellations the day before and day of con, and then several walk-ons the day of con. But something bigger than us was behind this, it seems, and everything ran smoothly the entire weekend.

Touchgroups were frequent, focused and fantastic for most.

The food Gabe and Avalon made us was delicious, filling and vegan/veg/earth friendly.

Workshops were the best and most productive I've seen in a very long time, if ever. There were discussion groups, massages, drum circles and dance classes, all led by YAs at the con.

Worships were touching, expanding, freeing. Sharing, drumming, dancing -- beautiful.

The t-shirts were great, and well liked.

Honestly, I don't see how it could have been any better. There are other people I would have loved to see there, there are other things I think could have been done differently or better, and I wish I had gotten more time connecting with the community instead of flitting around making sure everything was running smoothly. The criticisms I've heard have all been minor: there could have been more vegan food, there could have been an angel wash, there wasn't enough of one thing, there was too much of another.

But really. It really couldn't have been any better.

Sunday morning: dirty, sleepy, pleased as crap.

After closing worship in the church parking lot, over half the group invaded the local Denny's, procrastinating the final goodbye.

From what I've heard, this was one of the best cons in quite a while. It seems like everyone left feeling replenished and reconnected. I left feeling drained, but so proud of my first attempt at real leadership, that I wouldn't have it any other way. (also I am being hella narcissistic).

Now back to the real world. Less than a month left of school as I know it. And I move to Vancouver in less than a month, too!

I wish the real world would just stop hasseling me

2008-04-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures that illustrate life right now:

These are the math girls - Me, Lauren, Jacque and Kelsey. We spend a lot of time together... doing math. Lauren, Jacque and I are in voting together, Kelsey and I are in complex, and Lauren, Jacque and Kelsey are in combinatorics. Whee math!

Jacque got a wiener dog puppy that's about the size of the burrito I ate last night.

This picture illustrates everything that is new and exciting about my life at this very minute: dyed hair, stretching earlobes, and CONga Line t-shirt.

CONga Line. TOMORROW. Wtf how is it already the middle of April? There have been a few bumps in this last week of planning, but it looks like things are finally going smoothly again. Phew.

Also, I "graduate" a month from tomorrow. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN I THOUGHT LAST WEEK I WAS A FRESHMAN. Next up: 2 summer classes... then real world.

Are you fo'reals?

2008-04-04T00:59:00.000-07:00

I can't really comprehend the fact that con is a week from tomorrow. Today, I guess, since it's 1 in the morning. Wow.

Also going to meet future step brothers on Saturday for the first time. Should be good?

Plans for this weekend, besides that:

Get a damn haircut (I swear to god it's been like 3 months)
Dye my hair (cherry bomb!)
Go to Saturday market
Make my ears happy (I'm in the process of stretching them to a size 14 - not much bigger than they were before, but still a step up. They're unhappy at the moment).
Homeworkin'!
Con plannin'!
Finish grad announcements, get them Mommy approved.

Oh jeezy, it's 1:15 am. How did it get this late?

Spring Breakin'

2008-04-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Life is crazy.
Spring break was wonderful and needed.
Con planning is going relatively smoothly. It's less than two weeks away now. Wow.
School is six weeks from being over. Then just two more classes this summer and I'm done for good.

Waves crashing at Devil's Churn (halfway between Newport and Florence along 101)

*snicker*

Blending in with the local wildlife

What, me? Just go with it...

The herd of elk - our homies.

Sweeties in the Redwoods

Wonder-full

Hugs from the Golden Gate

Schmancy guest room in Dody's retirement community

Rob and his hometown, Pacifica, CA.

Sea lions at Pier 39

Me and Emily at Pier 39!!

Rob + Me + Fog City Diner (it's only featured in the best movie of all time)

Apparently I can only go that way.

I'm thinking about putting this picture on my graduation announcement. Bad idea?

He can jump higher than I thought he could...

I've been crafting a lot - maybe I'll be an artisan when I graduate?

Bork bork bork

2008-03-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

I wrote this Icelandic(ish) Saga for my German Lit in Translation class.
... Enjoy?

I'm almost done until Spring break! Yesterday was the first day of Spring and I forgot to celebrate! (It rained all day)

I woke up 5 minutes after CS started this morning, so there's no way I'm getting there. I'm going to get dressed, instead, and go to the health center and find out whether or not I should be worried that my glands have been swollen and angry for 2 weeks now. If they tell me I should be worried, I'll go to immediate care in Corvallis.

Corvallis! I'M GOING HOME TOMORROW! Hooray! And Mommy's birthday is on Sunday! And Easter! Yay! Exclamation point!

I will give a real update on my life soon, I promise.

Let's get pumped up!

2008-03-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Appreciators of our football team here at Lewis and Clark are in a distinct minority. The majority of the school couldn't be bothered with going to a game (even a home game!), following the scores, or even getting to know a football player. The team itself is a joke. I think my friend Marcus from BSM put it (he plays football for Occidental) "wait, you go to Lewis and Clark? I think we play you guys at the beginning of the season just to beat you. You guys are awful!" It's often pondered whether we'd be better off just losing the football team, since other athletics at Lewis and Clark (for example, our Ultimate Frisbee team) flourish, and the money that goes to football could be funding another department in athletics... or maybe even... academics? The problem is the alumni. Many alums would stop giving to the college altogether if we lost our football team.

The point of this story is that back in the fall a couple of my friends (Nick and Brian) decided it would be hilariously ironic if they got REALLY PUMPED UP for the homecoming game. They dressed themselves in the school colors, taped giant L C's to their chests, and got really drunk. You know, the way you get pumped up for football if you go to a state school.

Evidently a staff or faculty member took a picture of them ALL PUMPED UP at the game, and since they are so starved for proof that your average student really, really likes football...

Well, they ended up in the Alumni Magazine:

Yay! My friends are dorks!

A capella retreat this weekend at Rockaway beach was absolutely wonderful. This week is frightening. Way too much work, not enough time.

Let me sleep on it, I'll give you an answer in the morning.

2008-03-05T00:17:00.001-08:00

This weekend, while I was procrastinating doing homework, I designed the logo for con.... yay!! I drew the line drawings, Lizzy L. did the writing.

The front:

The back:

I haven't really decided on colors yet, but Dev and I were talking and really liked the idea of something really bright and beautiful and awesome.

I'm listening to 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' and it makes me think of Budapest and Voula and late nights spent in Morrison's.

I put up a link on the left hand side to my YouTube channel, which is currently full of Kimya Dawson, Mountain Goats and Section Line Drive. Hooray!

I found out today that I was supposed to apply to graduate. No one told me... I was gone last semester... I feel so out of the loop. Looks like I can still apply (late) to graduate.. sigh. Screw you, bureaucracy, I'm sick of filling out forms.

It's that time of year again

2008-03-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

HOLY SHIT IT'S A NINJA GET IN THE CAR

International Fair was this weekend, and it was really good, besides my freak out just before hand, partially due to having not had coffee, a shower or food and not knowing when I was going to get to consume/take either. (The freak out was around 12:15. I had coffee around 12:45, a shower around 12:50 and then call was at 1:00, so I didn't have food until around 4:30... damn). We sang Chicago and 29 Ways. Rob has videos of both and is hopefully uploading them today. We chose solos for Chicago on Sunday of last week, deciding that Kyle and Sarah would sing it at International Fair. And then Kyle couldn't make practice on Tuesday or Thursday and Sarah got a cold, so it ended up being Sander and myself in front of a wall of international students and a ba-jillion parents. Serendipity, I guess? 29 Ways was absolutely fantastic (though we took it a little fast) and John made his solo debut on it. And rocked it HARD.

This time of year, between February and April, always seems to be really challenging, but life-changing.

Steve and I started dating in April of 2000. We broke up in May of 2003.
Justin and I got together in March of 2004 and broke up in March of 2005.
Dylan and I got together in April of 2005 and broke up in February of 2007.
Rob and I kissed at RockOn (Spring Con 2007) on the last weekend of March last year.

(Why are those all just get-togethers and break-ups? There was a lot more stuff happening in the Spring of all of those years, the relationship stories are just the milestones, I guess) This year is especially eerie because a lot of the things that happened last year are happening again under different circumstances. And I don't mean in a Twilight Zone kind of way, I mean that I went on choir retreat last year (in February, we're going again next weekend), I participated in the International Fair last year, I saw the Mountain Goats last year. The weird thing about it is that I'm living in the same apartment and I was gone in the Fall, so it almost feels like the months of June through December just... didn't happen, and it's still last Spring. I worked Sunday afternoons in the Math Skills Center last year and sometimes I still accidentally plan my weekends around being in there from 12 to 3. Last Spring was really hard, especially from around Valentine's day to Spring Break. I was really lonely, I was chasing someone who was very obviously not into me and couldn't seem to take a hint, I was drinking too much... Actually, Spring of my Senior year (2004) was very similar, previous to Justin and I getting together. But minus the drinking.

But it's not last Spring and everything is completely different, there just happen to be some similarities in my activities and living situation. Weird.

Rob had a cold this weekend and I'm coming down with it. Suck.

I will put a link to my YouTube account on the left hand bar, so you can just check out my videos there. I'll be uploading Mountain Goats and a capella in the very near future, so I'll update here when I put them there.

Two and a half months ahead of schedule the leaves on the trees were turning brown...

2008-02-28T10:54:00.001-08:00

Mountain Goats show #2 was not nearly as epic.

Things that are probably to blame:

1. They played two super high energy shows in a row the two nights before in Portland (at least, I assume the second show was high energy; that's what it sounds like from what I've heard).

2. The fucking audience. Dear. Lord. I wanted to poop on them.

Part of me feels like they were low energy because they planned it that way -- they probably knew the two shows at the Doug Fir were going to be really high energy, so they planned out this show with lots of slower songs, and more obscure songs. Monday's show was mostly songs off the new album and their more recent albums. This show included a bunch of songs off their earlier albums and it would have been lovely, if it hadn't been for the crowd. I was standing right up front with Val, Rob, Steve and some of Steve's friends, about one person from the stage, right in front of John. The girls who were standing directly in front of us were obviously still in high school and had quite obviously come to hear two specific songs. How do I know? They made giant cardboard signs and held them up in John's face between every fucking song. And they were dancing all crazy and accidentally smacked Steve in the junk.

Because they were right up front, right in front of John, it seemed like he was trying hard to ignore them, and ended up just cutting himself off from the audience entirely. There was no banter, nothing -- just song after song. Part of it could also have been that the audience was all ages instead of 21 and over, so I feel like something kind of went funny in the age dynamic.

I don't want to make it sound like I didn't enjoy the concert, because I did. The setlist was fantastic - the other two times I've seen The Mountain Goats it's been mostly new music, so it was really cool to hear older songs.

After the show the 5 of us (Myself, Rob, Dylan S., Peggy and Val) went to Denny's, then drove back up to Portland. After dropping off Val and Dylan, the rest of us finally made it back to campus by a little after 2. Needless to say, I kind of need a nap right now.

Other news: it's the end of February and I'm already done with my taxes... hooray! Also, I'm basically caught up on all my other shit, besides German. Every day I ask myself again, "why am I not in Sound and Sense?" (Sound and Sense is a music class notorious for being an easy A elective at LC).

Con planning is going really smoothly at the moment. The early bird deadline is next Monday, so applications are rolling in. There are 37 people RSVP'd 'yes' on Facebook at the moment, so that's really assuring. We're now about a month and a half away and I'm getting pretty excited...

I really want to see this movie. Hella hella.

Goodbye Portland, you tried to kill me. I don't blame you, I can't blame you.

2008-02-26T14:52:00.001-08:00

Mountain Goats show #1 was epic.

They opened with Michael Myers Resplendent, played about an hour long set, came back for an encore, came back for a second encore, and finally ended with Palmcorder Yajna, which I think they have to play every time they're in Portland... I mean, it's the quintessential song off We Shall All Be Healed, which is all about Portland.

I should mention that the title here has nothing to do with my feelings towards Portland, it was a song that got debuted about Portland...

They were super pumped and high energy. And they told us they loved us. Several times. To quote John, "I want to make sweet love to every one of you. Even the straight ones."

Concert tomorrow night should be just as epic, if not more, since the adventure there and back will be part of the package.

'Cause I built you a hole in my heart

2008-02-25T01:52:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get the feeling you were way cooler in high school?

Mountain Goats tomorrow night at the Doug Fir. I would be more excited if I weren't so tired. This was a weird, kind of lost weekend. Friday night Lizzy and I got lost in and outside of No-Po while trying to find St. John's community center, where Nanda was doing a performance. We finally got there, half an hour late, and the opening act had just started. They were this terrible synthesized mariachi band and I was freaking grumpy from getting lost and not having had dinner yet... so we (Rob, Rachelle, Lizzy and I) went to Burgerville and nommed a little.

Nanda was wonderful and entertaining, as to be expected..

I gave Lizzy a ride back to downtown, then went back up to Vantucky for the night. Let's just say that Friday night kind of sucked after a certain point. Saturday was lost, all we really did was make cookies. Alphabet cookies. That spelled things like "Boobs" and "Your Mom". God, we're mature..

Saturday night was Once Upon A Weekend. Section Line Drive performed, along with Momo and the Coop, and I have to say it was a pretty successful performance. I'll put up videos later.

Anyways. I'm really am excited for this week of Mountain Goats that's approaching. Unlike last year, I won't be going to the Doug Fir show by myself, since Steve and Sara will be there, too. And the Eugene show will be awesome, because I'll have Rob there, along with an LC friend and that girl from UUFC I reconnected with thanks to Facebook.

It's 2:03 AM. I'm going to bed.

Just because I'm 22 doesn't mean I have to act it.

2008-02-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY JESSIE TAKING A BREAK DURING HER COMPLEX TAKE HOME MIDTERM.

Rob is the best adventure buddy/playmate a girl could ever ask for. After such a stressful week of too much homework, not enough sleep and PMS, this last weekend was absolutely amazing. Friday night Rob and I built a fort in his room with dining room chairs, closet poles and quilts.

On Saturday morning we made breakfast (yogurt banana splits) then went downtown for Saturday market. Turns out Saturday market is closed for a couple of the winter months, so we went to Chipotle for lunch instead.

After Chipotle we drove over to Music Millennium for KIMYA. She was wonderful and sweet and gave me a hug at the end of the performance, and also sang a song called "Alpha-butt" that starts "A is for apple, B is for butt".

Kimya singing "Underground"

After Kimya we went home for a while, made dinner, watched some Arrested Development, then Rachelle picked us up and we went back down to Portland for THE WANDERLUST CIRCUS, which was amazing, wonderful and lots of fun. We ran into fellow PNWDer, Lyle, which was also cool.

Kazum

Dave Clay

Vanessa Vortex

The Crow

Brittany Walsh, doing the most intense thing I saw all night

Nanda, a performance group from Port Townsend (so Rob knows them all)

After the Circus Rob and I came back to Vancouver, got in our fort and watched the South Park movie.

This week has been good, just busy. I made banana bread last night, and then fed on it all day today. School-wise, complex is the most rewarding class I've taken in ages, Voting Theory is up there with Graph Theory for being a course that could be cool and interesting, but is taught in such a way that it's just confusing and boring, and German Lit is a downright awful class and I'm kind of miserable in it. Oh, and CS 1 is fun, easy and entertaining.

Mountain Goats concert is on MONDAY!!! (and WEDNESDAY TOO!). Section Line Drive is performing at Once Upon A Weekend this Saturday night, so that should be sweet too.

Now... BACK TO MY MIDTERM. I have 3 problems completely written up, 1 basically figured out, 1 about half done, and 2 that I... have yet to look at. It's due tomorrow at 5, so I'm pretty sure I'm in good shape. I hope.

Loose lips may sink ships, but loose kisses take trips!

2008-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

My apartment mates and I have a two-week long tradition of keeping the current Willamette Week in the bathroom. It's not as cool as the issues of Vice Chloe used to keep in there last year, but it'll do. Anyways. I was just in there, you know, doin' my poopin' thing, when I noticed an ad at the bottom of the page that was advertising that Kimya Dawson is giving a free show at Music Millennium on Saturday.

OMFG (that's "Oh-My-Fucking-God", dear parents) this week just keeps getting better.

We were already planning on making Saturday a downtown day, since we haven't just hung out downtown during the day since summer and I need more soap from that stall I love so much at Saturday Market. And while we're downtown, we might as well skip on over to Music Millennium to see Kimya Dawson play a live, free performance. Holy poop.

Free Kimya show + 2 Mountain Goats shows the week after next = this February is the best music month of my life, to date.

Rob and I went to Saburo's Sushi in Sellwood tonight for Valentine's Day. We both ate approximately Rob's weight in sushi, and somehow still both left with boxes containing at least 2 meals worth of sushi. And payed less than $40 for the whole she-bang. It was absolutely RIDICULOUS.

THAT'S A WHOLE LOT OF SUSHI.

I feel like Lovecraft in Brooklyn

2008-02-14T18:35:00.001-08:00

I dyed my hair last Friday. It doesn't look quite that bright in person... a little more purpley, maybe? I need a haircut.

HELL. YES. Who's excited? Jessie's excited.

Kind of had a breakdown yesterday. Rob, Krispy Kreme and sleep helped that one. Rob also gave me my birthday present - He drove me to the music store, bought me new guitar strings and then once we'd gotten home he showed me how to put them on my guitar. :)

And I feel so proud to be alive

2008-02-12T12:46:00.000-08:00

Current favorite things ever in the entire world: Dill spears and Heretic Pride

Life is good, but I can tell I'm getting a little burned out. But in a way, it's kind of good. I don't spend a lot of time just lazing around, not doing anything. And the times I do do that (last night, for example), I relish it.

Yesterday was the day from hell-o. I was up late on Sunday night finishing my grading (after a weekend of not getting much sleep, due to somewhat copious amounts of alcohol, et al, and study groups that met at 10:30 am both Saturday and Sunday morning). I woke up Monday in a sort of a haze. I went to CS, completely unable to focus - I was tired and the professor has a tendency to shout loudly about his opinions while at the same time asking us to program something. In the gap between CS and Voting Theory I talked to Liz because I couldn't see any hope of getting my Complex hw done by 5. Voting Theory made me want to punch a kitten in the face. Complex was the bright spot in my afternoon. I worked furiously on Complex homework between Complex and German and realized that I could definitely get it done by 5, as long as I left German exactly at 4:30 and hightailed it back to the math dept.

German was fine, besides the fact that we had projects due that the prof wanted us to present... so she left 10 minutes at the end of class for presentations. Needless to say I had to leave before everyone had finished, and I just left feeling really annoyed at the prof.

The night was better. I went over to Rob's, we made double-decker tacos, watched some arrested development, made poopcorn, watched Best In Show, and then went to bed early. AND DID ABSOLUTELY NO HOMEWORK. It was beautiful.

Too bad the rest of this week is going to be busy.

I leave you with videos of Section Line Drive singing Saturday night at Manzanita Music Night in the Co-op.

Fast Car

Wannabe

My Heart's an Autoclave.

2008-02-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

Current personal issue: Being too addicted to caffeine -- I'm at a two cup a day habit and the less sleep I get, the worse it gets...

SO. SDC this weekend was very good, albeit weird at times. The conference was designed for youth and adults, but this time it was opened up to young adults, which is how I ended up there. There were other people there who more strongly identified with the young adult community than the youth community, but they were all still 20. There were also young adults who were sponsors (over 25) who more strongly identified with the adult community than the young adults. I was in neither of these groups; I am firmly situated between these two communities. I turned 22 on Sunday, which made the age gap feel even more stark. Most of the people there were under the age of 16 or over the age of 35. The worst thing about being in that gap is that I spent most of the weekend worrying how I should act. I wasn't in a position of leadership so I didn't technically need to be setting a good example... but I was definitely a good 5 years older than all of the youth there, so I really couldn't have full camaraderie with them.

Whatever. The conference itself was fantastic. I didn't find it as intense as I feel a lot of the youth did, but I got a lot of great tools for leading worships, to the extent that I feel like I could be a worship coordinator at some con in the future and rock at it.

My birthday on Sunday was really positive, but kind of lame/boring. Saturday night they surprised me with cake and glowsticks and everyone gave me birthday hugs. Sunday I was just in the car all day. Listening to Dr. Demento. The entire way. Have I mentioned that I absolutely hate hate hate novelty music? I'm not going to make a blanket statement and say that I hate ALL of it, because I certainly do love me some Flight of the Conchords and Tenacious D... but for the most part, I can't stand the majority of parody/novelty music I hear. But I wasn't driving, so I really didn't have any say in the music. I got free stuff from Subway and Burgerville by telling them it was my birthday, and I spent the whole day with Dad and Rob, so I'd say it wasn't a bad day overall.

As far as getting back on top of my shit, I've done it. Everything that had to be turned in yesterday got finished: the complex problem set, the reading and two problems for voting theory, the two assignments for grading, and the CS lab (writing a program that could solve a quadratic equation). My reading for German is almost done, only 12 more pages left to go. Now that I'm caught up again, I still have more homework due Friday, but it's nothing I'm crapping my pants about. A couple of problems for complex and some reading for voting theory? Pff.

Last night Rob, Devon and I went to Sushi Takahashi for a birthday dinner. Rob got stuck in traffic, so when me and Devon got there we walked down to Jackpot records to buy a ticket to the Portland Monday night Mountain Goats show. They closed at 7 and we got there at 7:10... sad face... At sushi we told them it was my birthday (shh it was Sunday that's close enough) and they gave me free mochi! Then we went to Spartacus and bought hairdye. I'm going to dye my hair atomic pink once I get a free couple hours, (maybe while I'm grading tonight? Or more likely, tomorrow afternoon).

Speaking of Mountain Goats, an undisclosed source found me a leaked copy of the Mountain Goats new album Heretic Pride (it's not set to come out until the 19th... oops) and it's absolutely fantastic! It's funny, because they've finally officially added a drummer to their line up (for the last several albums it's just been guitar or piano, and bass). The drum really adds to the fullness, but also very drastically changes that "goatey" sound. And not in a bad way, either. I think it's a change for the better.

Con planning is going well... not a whole lot has been going on. We should have online reg up by the end of the weekend. We don't have a workshop coordinator, but I'm not sure we need one...? Facebook says that 28 people are planning on coming, and 68 more are considering coming. Wow. We're probably going to have to cut off registration at a certain point. I mean, it doesn't really matter right now, we don't have more than 5 people officially registered. Once online reg goes up, that's going to change very quickly, I have a feeling.

Campus UU group is going well, as... well... Me and Liz have split up the duties so she's doing programming and I'm sending out the emails and bringing tea. We had our first meeting on Tuesday night 4 other people besides me and Liz showed up. That's not so bad, right? It was at an awkward time, but hopefully next week when it's a half hour earlier we'll have better attendance.

Okay. I have about half an hour left of my shift so I'm going to drink some water, read the rest of my assigned reading in Saga of the Volsungs, and then go to class.

Also: I'M 22. HOLY EFFING CRAP. That kind of makes me an adult. Sort of.

Can she do it?

2008-02-06T01:05:00.001-08:00

Current goal: Be entirely caught up on my shit by tomorrow at 6:00 pm.

SDC was good. I will elaborate later in the week.

Stressy McGee.

2008-02-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

Music Stuck In My Head: Amity Gardens - Fountains of Wayne
Mood: Stressed

WHAT? I turn 22 in 3 days?

Are you crazy? I don't have time for a birthday!

Life is too insane. The Spirituality Development Conference is tomorrow and I feel completely unprepared. I haven't even packed. And it's after 1 am the night before and I'm getting up at 8... so... in less than 7 hours. But just the thought of not going to ALL my classes tomorrow, and not having any homework that's due tomorrow that I'm actually going to do, (oops), makes me so relieved. I can feel the muscles in my shoulders, the knots that have taken of residence, easing slightly.

And then I think about all the homework I have due for Monday and there they go again, tensing and growing and making my shoulders hunch forward.

More grading for YP, even though I just finished a batch of papers tonight that were turned in today.
Complex homework
Voting Theory reading and 2 problems that I'm supposed to have turned in by tomorrow (but I'm not going to class because of SDC, so I'm taking that as an excuse not to do them for tomorrow).
German Lit in Translation crap. Reading the rest of the Prose Edda AND finding 3 non-internet sources for a short paper on the Vikings in Europe? Are you out of your mind, Katja? "Oh don't worry!" she said in her slightly German accented English, "you'll have all weekend do this!"

On top of that, there's the homework that will be due Wednesday. Probably another Complex problem set, more grading, more voting theory, and my first graded assignment for Computer Science. Then more German for Thursday, and more matematik for Friday.

RINSE.

REPEAT.

I was so proud of myself this week because I was so on top of my shit. Ah, if only it could have lasted...

Life hurts my brain.

Calendar

2008-01-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

There's a link to my calendar on the left hand side of the page now. Click it any time to check out what I'm up to!

I should start going back to church.

2008-01-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

Firstly, THIS IS AMAZING. It's the video for the first single off the new Mountain Goats album set to come out in February. I am a video snob and I think it's amazing. The song? Also fantastic. Their last album was really slow-paced and sad, so I'm excited that this next album looks like it's going to be a lot more upbeat.

I took this picture last week while I was out grocery shopping and I thought it was kind of amusing. HEART BREAKER! (those are candy hearts, hard-of-seeing parents)

Portland has been very, very cold and all of the fountains froze over. This is at the beginning of last week, before everyone chipped the ice out and took it to other parts of campus, leaving ice cubes everywhere.

On Saturday night Rob, Devon, Lizzy L., and I all went to cheap sushi at Sushi Takahashi. This is kind of a not-every-but-several Saturday tradition because most of the sushi is only $1.25/plate.

We all got steamed bean buns. Rob got kind of attached to his.

Devon is but a stalk of bamboo.

Devon and Lizzy, bein' silly.

The next morning Rob, Rachelle, Chelsea and I drove up to Olympia for the 11:00 service at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Our main purpose of the visit was to check out the site (since that's where we're hosting con in April), but the service was so fantastic that had I known, I might have come up anyways with no ulterior motive. The Olympia church has a tradition where at every service they ask if there are any birthdays in the congregation. When they asked if there were any birthdays, Rachelle nudged me and I whispered "not til NEXT Sunday!" and she whispered back "but you're not going to BE HERE next Sunday!" The woman in front of us turned around to us and said "Wait, it's YOUR birthday?" and then announced it to the congregation. They asked me to stand up, wished me a happy birthday, then everyone sang me this song:
Each of us rising from the earth
Seeking love and wholeness from the moment of our birth
May this coming year bring to you
A gift of knowing love and a life that touches truth.

It really was amazing, and I was so glad that Rachelle had made a little fuss. The sermon itself was wonderful. It's theme was "The Committee Meeting in Your Mind", given by the Reverend Joan Montagnes, who was visiting from Bellevue.

After the sermon the four us of walked around, taking pictures to put up on the con website. Behind the church there is a forested area with paths. We did a little exploring and took this picture on the way back up... this is where we're hosting con!!!

Greetings from the CONga Line dean, co-worship coordinator, and registrar!

After exploring the church we stopped at Evergreen to visit a friend, then went for Mexican. I took this picture, mostly for my Budapest friends, as a reference to this video.

These are new shoes I got in the mail last week. Pretty!

Rachelle on the way home, bein' cute.

Chelsea = also cute.

It snowed last night! This is the view from my window.

Same view this morning. Classes were canceled until 10 am, so I didn't have to go to CS 1. Yaaaay snow!

Section Line Drive met for the first time last night and it's going to be an absolutely amazing time, I can already tell. We have so many new voices, so much new music, so much energy... I'm excited!!

Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I'll put a link in here to my calendar, in case people are curious and want to take a look at my incredibly busy life.

Now it's time to go to voting theory, then finish my German Lit in Translation homework, get decorations together for the UU booth at the activities fair, GO to German Lit in Translation, then join Liz N. at the activities fair. Egads. Busy afternoon.

Hungry Girl

2008-01-25T08:55:00.001-08:00

My eyes could quite possibly have been bigger than my stomach -- looking at my plate right now, I'm not sure my stomach, or in this case my time, could ever hold that much.
Let's take a little look, shall we?

Planning this damn con (at least it's going smoothly, now that two people causing drama on my planning committee have stepped down/been asked to step down)
Leading the UU group on campus. I can't let that slide just because I'm focusing so must UU energy into planning the con.
Section Line Drive. I've missed them so much, and I can't wait to sing with them again... but it's another 3 hours or so a week.
Working 10 hours a week at IT and another 4 or so grading Yung Pin's stat's class.
4 classes, which are all going to require quite a bit of homework, thought and effort. Liz's complex class is going to make me believe in math again, Jeff Ely's CS 1 is going to be hilarious, Roger's voting theory class is by far the most theoretical math class I have ever taken... and German Lit in Translation is going to be far harder than I was expecting... but the focus is VIKINGS. So it's ok.

Sigh. So maybe I've bitten off a little more than I can chew. We'll have to see. For now I'm handling it all quite well. I was in the math department until 4:45 this afternoon finishing my complex homework... but my to-do list is only about 2 entries long. So I'm feeling good.

Saturday night Me, Rob, Devon and Lizzy are going to Sushi Takahashi, and Sunday Me, Rob and Rachelle are driving up to Olympia to check out the location of con. Dev made us a website and it's BEAUTIFUL. I am enamored with it. We made a facebook event, too. 200 people have been invited so far and there are already over 20 "officially attending" RSVPs. This is really happening! It's exciting!

And just to see how funny fate is, I saw a familiar last name among those invited by others, and recognized it from a friend of mine whose family used to attend the UUFC and then moved away when I was in middle or high school. I messaged the person of the familiar last name and asked if she was my friends younger sister... and she was! And she remembered me and my dad! It turns out she's a Mountain Goats fan and is under 21, so me and Rob are going to give her a ride down to the all ages show in Eugene in late February... exciting!

I'm actually going to try to see the Mountain Goats twice while they're in this neck of the woods, because they're so amazing live. I saw them at the Doug Fir on March 3rd last year and this year I'm going to see them in Eug February 27th, like I mentioned, but I'm also going to try to go to one of the shows at the Doug Fir either the 25th or the 26th. I'm going to rationalize this by saying that I don't really go to concerts these days unless they're cheap or free (who am I kidding, I haven't been to a concert in a really, really long time), mostly because the bands I like either aren't touring any more (Elliott Smith, Sublime), I don't like the music they're making now (Fountains of Wayne, Weezer), or I don't want to deal with their typical fans (Bright Eyes, for the love of god, Bright Eyes). Also I've never bought a single Mountain Goats CD, so I've got to support them how I can. The only problem (?) is that Steve gave me a ton of Mountain Goats during break, and I've barely touched it. I NEED TO TOUCH IT BEFORE I SEE THEM.

Speaking of shows, Rob got tickets today for Margaret Cho's new show, Beautiful, which is playing at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall April 17th. It's my early/late anniversary present (our anniversary is March 30/31). Sweet!

I am now going to go watch an episode of Six Feet Under, then go to schleeeep. I'll post pictures soon, promise.

My hands my postcards

2008-01-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Look at my hands, look at how they are dry and cracked around the edges like something that got left out all night. Look at the blister on my thumb from all the pushpins I’ve been pushing into the wall, pinning scraps of my life so that I can always see, so everyone can see. Photographs of family and friends, mugging and smiling trapped on my wall with a sharp metal spike, tickets to concerts and clubs and metros, posters, quotes from books I read a hundred years ago, postcards I bought on a whim, postcards I made, postcards someone sent to me. I’ve been taking these scraps of me up and down and up and down for four years now and now they’re like my hands, all cracked around the edges, but they’re not because all they want is to keep still and slow down and stay in one place for a year or two. All my hands want to do is move and move and move and craft and crochet and type and text and write and write and write and touch and pet and love and never ever ever stop.

And I saw you, and I knew you saw me too.

2008-01-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

I start school on Tuesday. Schwa?

I went to Powell's and returned the crochet stitch book I'd bought; it had a funny binding that I didn't really like, and the layout was really confusing. I exchanged it for The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs, which has patterns for 500 stitches and really clear instructions and diagrams. It was a little more than the other book (and I just discovered it's $10 cheaper on Amazon) but whatever, as long as I'm supporting Powell's I don't care.

Yesterday while Rob was doing his homework and PJ was procrastinating, she decided to get me started on a new TV series I hadn't seen before, Six Feet Under. It's quite fantastic, and now I have 5 seasons to get through. Luckily there's only 14 episodes a season, and PJ only has the first 3 seasons. Whew.

Con planning is finally going smoothly. We had an official date and site (March 14-16 in Corvallis), but enough complaint was made about that being the weekend before finals for schools on the quarter system that we found a site for a weekend in April. So now Spring Con is going to be in Olympia April 11-13. The budget's almost done as far as I know, and once it's approved we can start officially advertising, sending out registrations, etc etc. I'm excited!

Today Ben is driving back through Vancouver; we're going to go bowling again because not only is it cheap night at Hazel Dell Lanes (3 games + shoe rental = $5 each), but Ben wants a rematch because Rob kicked his ass so completely. Tomorrow Rob and I are driving down to Corvallis to pack up all my school stuff and visit my parentals and Micaela and then on Sunday we're moving me back into my apartment at Lewis and Clark. Classes start on Tuesday, barring another day-after-MLK-day snow storm like last year.

Balls, Buddha, Bananas and Booze

2008-01-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

This weekend Rob's friend, Michael, came to visit. He's from Port Townsend and grew up there, but somehow the two of them didn't meet until after Rob moved away.

Friday was the waiting day. Rob and I drove to the Amtrak station to pick up Michael from his train, which was supposedly coming in around 2. We arrived around 2:05, walked around, looked for him and saw that he hadn't arrived yet, so we waited by the tracks. Around 12:30 the Coast Starlight arrived, people exited the train, the train left... no sign of Michael. We worked out possible scenarios: "He missed his train in Seattle" or "He missed the Vancouver stop and will be getting off in Portland." We decided the best thing to do would be to get his home phone number from his place of employment, then call his Mom to get the specifics of his travel plans. The problem is that when Rob called said place of employment, he was asked to "hold on a minute". Eight minutes later there was still no word from the manager, so Rob hung up. We sat there for about ten minutes, wondering what to do, when another train pulled up, the Cascades train. "Oh!" we realized, "this must be Michael's train!" And yes, it was his train, and there was Michael.

The three of us walked back to the car, and realized that Rob's keys were in the ignition (off). And mine were in my bag on the floor. And the doors were all locked. Rob and I both have roadside assistance, but both our cards were in the car. The only thing still in my pocket that was of any use was my cell phone, so I used that to call Papa, who gave me the AAA numbers. We called AAA, arranged for a locksmith, then waited another 45 minutes for the locksmith to come save us.

Rob drove us out of the Amtrak parking lot, then we were immediately met by a 100+ car freight train bearing grain.

This was written on the sides of most of the cars. *snicker*

We got back to Rob's. Michael showed us this video, which then inspired them to play with bouncy balls for a good hour or two. This led to juggling after a while.

That evening we went to Winco for food supplies, came home and made GardenBurgers, drank Drop Top, then Rachelle came back with Chelsea and we decided to start drinking in earnest. Rob, Michael, Myself, Chelsea, Rachelle and Taylor (Rob's other roommate) consumed some beverages of the alcoholic variety, then laid our eyes upon this old can of air freshener that no one liked the smell of. Rachelle the Easily Amused decided it would be fun to make an amateur pyrotechnics display on Rob's balcony. But when we sprayed the air freshener on the candle, all it did was make the flame go out :(

We came back inside for more boozing, etc.

Taylor and I practice our best little kid smiles:

Giving koala a kiss:

The Cutest Photo Evar, featuring Rachelle, Chelsea and koala.

Me and Rachelle, showing what we will look like when Nicole and Mark get married someday (hope hope hope)

We played Big Face/Little Face. Guess which face this is?

Little Face!

Me and Rob's Big Face

Our Little Face

These are the people I'm staying with

Chelsea and I skankin'

Rachelle and Chelsea dancin'

We slept in, then went to Hawthorne for breakfast. Our initial destination was Jam, one of Rachelle's favorite spots, but the line was out the door. Next was Cup and Saucer, a place Chelsea knew and liked. Also a line out the door. We ended up at Noah's bagels across the street. Rob bought a banana with the intention of giving it to a random person on the street, but no one would take it on our walk back to the car, so we gave it to Buddha instead.

We saw a GINORMOUS rainbow on our way to breakfast.

We came home and Rob and Michael played with bouncy balls more while I sat and crocheted. At 5 the three of us drove downtown for cheap sushi, stuffed ourselves, ran into two of my old roommates, then walked over to Powell's. Ben was driving through, en route to Port Townsend, so he met up with us at Powell's. I bought a book of crochet stitches with my Christmas giftcard from Laura, Rob bought a "Reading is Sexy" shirt, Michael got a book of found shopping lists and a t-shirt that says "Herbivore" with a picture of a bunny on it, and Ben got two sets of magnetic poetry: Romance Novel and Pick-up Lines. The group of us, now 4, walked from Powell's to Voodoo Donuts.

Michael got the night special: the maple "joint" with complimentary lighter

Rob and I split a gigantic peach fritter with cream cheese frosting.

We came back to Rob's, hung out, I took a shower, we all changed into white and neon clothes, then Myself, Rob, Michael, Chelsea, Ben and Rachelle drove to Hazel Dell Lanes for COSMIC BOWLING!

Chelsea glowing!

Rob was hard to look at because he was so bright.

The boys playing foosball while we waited for a lane to open up

The lanes glowing.

We came home from bowling at 12:30, me, Rob and Michael had GardenBurgers, started watching Blades of Glory, but then discovered that Ben had Transformers in his car, so we had him get it so we could watch it. Rob and I fell asleep before it was over and decided to go to bed, and still ended up going to bed after 3.

We slept in til noon, I dealt with some con drama first thing, then did nothing else for most of the day besides eat and watch Blades of Glory.

In the evening we decided we really wanted to make double decker tacos, so we went to Freddies for taco shells, tortillas, beans, sour cream, salsa, corn and lettuce. We took this pictures on our way out:

Rob and I are going to join the circus

Michael playing guitar

Rob's "reading is sexy" shirt

Me and Rob, acrobalancing it up! Preparing for the circus, you know.

After a delicious dinner I dealt with more con planning drama, then sat, crocheting, while Michael and Rob played guitar. Around 10 we decided we wanted to get Krispy Kreme, so we all loaded up in Rachelle's car and went to Krispy Kreme for a dozen donuts. And what goes better with donuts than milk? And the communal milk back at the apartment was almost out, so we stopped at Winco for milk on the way home. Michael babied the milk on the way home:

When we got home Taylor was just arriving, with a newly purchased copy of Little Nemo's Adventure in Slumberland. We drank some milk, ate another donut, and sat down to watch. Sadly I was interrupted about halfway through with more drama (all this drama is really just about disagreement over the date) that I had to deal with.

This morning I got up as Rob was leaving for school, Michael and I gave him a ride since he'd missed the bus (since it usually hits his house about 9:30 and today it came at 9:25) and then came back to chill. I drove Michael to the Amtrak station at noon for his 12:30 train, then came back to a Rob and Annie's Macaroni for lunch.

Tonight we're going over to Devon's to make dinner with her and Carrie. I haven't seen either of them since before I left for Hungary... I'm excited!

The loop, let me show you it.

2008-01-11T00:10:00.001-08:00

Mom's been bitching since I got home from Hungary (full story here) that she feels all out of the loop now that she doesn't have a blog to keep up with. And I have this craft blog I barely ever update, an album of all my hair colors, a creative writing blog I haven't written in since I was across the Atlantic, and a Livejournal that used to be about my day-to-days, but I now rarely update. So here you go, a brand new blog for an almost 22 year old adult, partly for the parentals, since they knew more about my life when I was thousands of miles away in Budapest than they do when I'm 90 miles away in Portland at Lewis and Clark, and party for me. Here it is, your combination crafts/hairdye/day-to-day bitchings/creative writing/con planning/school is hard blog, straight from my fingertips, direct to your computer screen.

Now some entertainment:

This is my hair right now. It is kind of pink-ish/red-ish/purple-ish. I don't know, but I like it.

Saturday Rob and PJ (Rachelle) took me to a Vancouver staple, Ice Cream Renaissance, a sit-down ice cream parlor. They have so many options that they even have an "I'm feeling indecisive" option, available in slightly hesitant, wavering and seriously uncertain (2, 3 or 4 scoops). I ordered slightly hesitant and this is what I got
Rob and PJ in ICR, splitting a brownie sundae. NOM.
Sunday Rob and I had a "date day". We got Burgerville for lunch, went to the mall, went bowling, then came home and watched "Knocked Up" and made dinner. This is Rob showing off his superior bowling technique at Hazel Dell Lanes.

My not-so-masterful bowling technique. Rob beat me every game, but only by 10 or so points each time.
I came down to Corvallis Wednesday and Thursday, just to see parentals and chill. I went out to the Bean with Mic and she ordered the peanut butter fudge pie. The lady behind the counter was lazy, so she gave M 2 pieces instead of 1 because it meant she didn't have to cut it. Micaela was excited.
I've been crocheting so many hats I'm getting a blister on my left hand where the yarn rubs against it. I made one for Alan and my dad for promised Christmas presents, then made one for Rob, then decided to make one for myself too. This is the one I made for Rob. I call them stoner hats because when I wear it I just look like a typical Lewis and Clark Student.