good kitty

Katie says that I misrepresent Luna with my art and the photos I post of her. So here are some pictures of Luna looking small and fluffy and sweet (as opposed to fat and angry):




Finish Time Traveller's Wife today. The last 50 pages were just reading the inevitable. While sad, it was not that interesting. Defiantly has a better first half than second. Can't wait to dive into my new book!

Watched TV, slept in. Did not have any real adventures. Bought some chocolate milk. Gabe is working on moving out. He'll also be gone all of October on a job in California.

Katie's friend Amanda was over. I read from my book about foreign words. I'm excited for Sunday afternoon. That's when Katie and I are going to see Inglorious Basterds! I need to work Thirst into my schedule as well. One week left of summer.

I filled my tire up with air to avoid damaging the tire (as per dad's suggestion).

I'm a sucker for anything Tomer

Today I took a walk.

I'm avoiding fixing my bike tire. Really need to get it sorted out as school will be starting soon and like hell am I walking.

Not a long walk. And not an irregular walk. Just to Powell's and no farther North. I couldn't find a copy of Dead Until Dark that didn't have a hideous TV cover. I picked up a book about words from other cultures and their specific meanings. Such as the Czech word litost which is defined as the state of torment created by the sudden realization of one's own misery. It was half off. In the new books section I spied a cover that I suspected was illustrated by Tomer Hanuka, who is one of my favorite contemporary illustrators. And it was done by him. The book had a cool description so I decided to take a change on a first novel (the book is Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst by the way, it's about a cop and some ghosts and such).

Books stuffed in bag, I went to Starbucks and got a venti iced tea lemonade. I sat under a window and read Time Traveller's Wife for an hour and a half. I am determined to finish that book so that I can see the movie, good or not. I don't have far to go now. It's been a good read thus far though sometimes the characters are rather painfully cultured. I moved from Starbucks to the Park Blocks and read some more.

An obese lady in a motorized cart scooted by me and stopped and asked for a dollar. I said no. She asked again saying that a dollar was not much and I said no again. As a rule I only give money to the Street Roots people. Specifically the guy outside Safeway on 13th and Lovejoy. His dog, Balthazar, is really sweet and he (the man, not the dog) always points out an article of interest. Anyway, the lady went on her way. A dog belonging to the third person she asked for money barked and scratched her. The young woman who owned the dog yelled and hit it and tied it tighter behind her. She gave the woman some tissues for her leg, which was bleeding. The woman didn't give a cry of pain so I don't think it was too serious. The young woman continued to whack her dog on the head. The lady on the bench next to me tried to tell her that abuse will get her nowhere, but she wasn't paying attention.

At 5, I went to Fox Tower. I felt like a movie. Went to see The Goods. As I went in I saw a line. The dude behind the counter said it was for Thirst. I wish I knew they were playing that as a special preview because I sure as shoot would have seen that instead. Park Chan Wook Vampire movie vs Jeremy Piven unknown comedy? Yeah. Anyway, The Goods had a few laughs but was overall lame. It also had a random absurdest quality. It wanted to be bigger but it just wasn't.

Finished True Blood when I got back. I like reading.

Also, today is the two year anniversary of Trillobite! 730 days and still going strong.

evil fabio: drabio!

Had a low key morning. I was planning to waste another day and say my farewells to Karen later on when Katie walked in and invited me to come with her and Liz to Sauvie's Island. Swimming! It was said to get to 100 today. Perfect weather for a dip.

Sauvie's Island has a lot of U-Pic-It farms. And farms in general. Really beautiful drive in Liz's Jeep. There are two beach options on Sauvie's Island: clothing required and clothing optional. We went to the latter. It wasn't crowded and there were no kids. I kept a swimsuit on, but it was a comfortable beach to be on. No worries about keeping up appearances and all that. It was nice, aside from a few creepers.

Well, it was just one creeper: Drabio. A tall, muscled man. Very tan with dark wavy shoulder length hair and a bright white necklace that really stood out. He just wandered up and down the beach. He never got in deeper than his knees and just splashed the water on himself to keep cool. We call him Drabio because he was this dark, evil version of Fabio. Drab is not Fab. Every time he was near we quickly turned the other way and just waited till we felt it was safe to look around. Eye contact could have brought a horrid encounter.

Everyone else had good humor. Lots of jolly happy folk. And a few hippies.

Later in the day we heard the telltale chime of the ice cream truck. Katie said it was just a ringtone. But the sound got closer and to my utter joy it was an ice cream boat! These people were just putting along and stopping every so often and selling ice cream out of a few coolers. When they came near, I dashed through the water and towards land to get a few dollars. I gobbled up a drumstick and bought Katie a little treat as well. Just perfect! Ice cream vendors must have it made.

We went in and then went out and sat in the sun. Then went in and came back out. We continued this cycle for four hours. We splashed, we swam, we threw seaweed at each other. Katie and I swam out very far and some dude in a boat told us to go back in because the current got strong. I wanted to be snarky because I felt like he was treating me like a city girl. But I held the snark at bay.

It was a really nice day. Full of new experience. I had never ridden in a Jeep before!

Back I went. Karen called to see if I wanted to hang out. I said sure. She said she wanted to meet for pizza. Then she called again and said she would meet later. Then she called and said she couldn't get the pizza. Then she texted and asked if I wanted to help her move her stuff to her car. So that's when I saw her. Got a few more posters. Took her stuff down. Said our goodbyes and woosh, off she went into the dusk.

Speaking of dusk, oh man do I like True Blood! Almost caught up. I find myself liking the secondary and tertiary characters as much, or even more, than the primary ones.

good ol

Almost went to bed without writing. Oops. Don’t have much to say today though. Mostly watched HBO shows.

Breakfast was a hash brown cheese vegetable mix. Tasty. Dinner was pizza. Also tasty.

Picked up my keys. They changed the locks so I had to exchange for fresh ones.

At 9:40, I went to Diana’s. She, Karen, and I were going to get together and go see District 9. Karen arrived just in time.

It was a fine walk to Pioneer Place. We passed through a pack of drippy looking teens.

District 9 is really good. Paced wonderfully, well acted, good effects that are also not trying too hard. The metaphor of the whole movie is really obvious but of course, still executed brilliantly. Highly recommended, even though quite a few people get violently splattered.

It was a lovely night walk. I only hung out for a little bit. Traded Dar! And Otto Zeplin for Scott Pilgrim. Good ol’ Diana with the good comic stuff.

goodie goodie goodies

Woke up to my phone’s alarm. My dream was reaching an exciting point, so I was disappointed that I couldn’t see it finish. I came with one suitcase and I am returning with three. One of them is packed inside the other in a Russian Nesting Luggage way of being. The other is Grandpa’s old suitcase. It has books in it.

Dad stayed behind. Basil was nowhere to be seen. I have a sliver on the back of my hand. I have not received a sliver in ages.

The drive to Tacoma was relatively uneventful. The traffic got tight around some construction but we made it perfectly on time. Checked my two suitcases and sat with mom. I rifled through my New Yorker clippings.

They say it is a fully book train. I seated myself with three other strangers. We have a table but I prefer having my laptop in my lap. It’s a nice day.

I’m thinking up names for my Jade Plant. It seems to be doing really well with its new soil. Sookie the Succulent? Jade Pinkett Smith?

Katie and Gabe were waiting at the train station. Waiting for meeee! It was so delightful. Gabe brought the hand trolley, even though it wasn't entirely needed. Luggage took a while but it eventually came out. The Max was only one train segment and it filled up fast. Then it got stuffed. It looked like Leverage was filming downtown as well. It was a shove to get off the max but we did it. The apartment is pretty much how I left it. That is to say it is still messy. Next four hours were a relaxation period. Mmmn. Dinner was rare cooked steak with goat cheese mashed potatoes and nice garden grown green beans. Mmmm. And it was arranged in a tower.

At 8pm it was time to head to Diana and Robin's for that is where Karen will be during her stay. She wasn't there so Diana and I chatted while Red Dwarf played in the background. Eventually Karen rolled in. We hugged and I was all happy about the short return of Karen. Yaay! And she brought posters. She brought a nice poster for each of us and a pile of cast offs to pick through? Guess what person my poster was promoting?

Ahhh it's such an amazing poster! It is above my bed. I want to put it in a better spot. The night was just Diana, Phil, Tabitha, and Tabitha's boyfriend Tim. We chatted and gossiped and caught up. Shared some stories. Shared some swag. I have some posters to give to other people, those who could not be at the sweet party.

Now it is late and I must sleep.

so long grandpa john

"Don't take me to a hospital, just take me to a mortuary!"



Saturday:

The memorial.

Brynne, Dan, Ben, Averie, Mom, Dad, Nate, Rubie, and myself all got off to a slow but steady start. Coffee was foraged. Showers were taken. As I was in the middle of mine, the power cut out. I finished it in the dark. The power came on within thirty minutes but still, it was a bit of an inconvenience. Food was laid out. Chairs were gathered. Brush was cleared for parking spots.

Averie and I took parking duties with Kirie. Greeted people and told them where to park. Rolfe, Alison, and Justin came. Doris, Mary, Eric, Steve, Sandy, Cathy... a long list of family and friends. Some people I've met a handful of times. Some not so much. But it was a good turnout. The weather held and it was a wonderful day.

Ben and Nate helped escort people to the house. Jeanette and Liam also came. I'd say around 30-40 people were there in total. So many drinks. So much food. Rubie's lumpia was a hit.

At a little after 2pm, we gathered and the memorial began. Brynne started with a beautiful eulogy. I held hands with mom and cried a little bit. Kirie, Bill, Doris, Ben, Celia, Averie, Mark, Milo, and others spoke. I rambled about the endless artistic support the family has. Grandpa was a member of the Order of the Silver Marmot. It was love at first site when he met my grandmother. They were together for 60 years. He was a lover of the wilderness and of art. It was a wonderful memorial.

People left but many people stayed. The numbers dwindled ever so slowly. Desert was cake and cheesecake and cookies and just piles of sweets. We gorged and conversation went on.

Chatted with Liam, who got progressively hyper as the sugar set in. He never quite got that he should leave Honey Bear alone (Averie's dog who isn't good with anyone under 10) and had to be consoled when she finally snipped at him.

At the end we (that is Celia, Dave Olson, Brynne, Rolfe, Alison, Justin, Nathan, Rubie, Mom, Dad, Kirie, and myself) went to the beach and ignited a bonfire. Dave went for a night swim to see the phosphorescence. Old songs about murder were sung. More and more people called it a night (amazingly it was Dan, Ben, and Averie who were the first to call it a night). At the end it was just Dave and myself. We talked about comics and art. He slept in the tent.

Sunday:

The morning after! Light breakfast. Mom divided up huge portions of left overs for people.

Cleaning was a long process. When the Garman/Edwards left, it was time for a beach break. The sun was out and I traded jeans and long sleeves for my very much underused this summer bikini. I lounged. Mom kayaked. Dad snorkled. Celia swam. I flipped over and lounged some more. We feasted on left overs and cool soda. Dad and I tossed shells and tried to land them on a rock. After I put some rocks back on the seawall to replenish what I tossed.

Then back to packing. Food, clothes, buckets, chairs, cooler chests. It was a lot. Mom drove the motorhome, dad drove the truck, and I took the Prius. I haven't driven in a while but I did just fine. Listened to Louis Armstrong and some NPR stories about pinball championships and the photographer Mike Disfarmer.

When I got home, I noted and felt how pink my belly was. I'm a little bit sunburned but not that bad. Just my front bits.

Ate a burger. Looked at slideshows.

I return to Portland tomorrow. 12:05.