I didn't loose them, I made them!

Finished Angel season one. It got a lot better near the end when it decided to have a story arc. I prefer Buffy but I hear the later seasons of Buffy get weird and the later seasons of Angel surpass Buffy in terms of awesome. Only time will tell.

In between Angel episodes, I went out and spent the day with Adam. We had fun.

First we went to his glass studio. There was a film crew nearby but we never found out what they were filming. Adam's studio is in the top floor of a warehouse by the Hawthorne Bridge on the other side of the river. He shares it with lots of glass workers. The staircase up is really spooky and awesome.

Adam showed me how to make marbles and mushrooms and pendants. Marbles require melting a glob of glass into a glob ball shape and then transferring it to a punty stick. Then you make it round by rounding the glob in a graphite based mold. It is a lot of dexterity and a lot of continual finger movement. A bit much for me. I managed to get a few "very good for your first try" comments though. I made a black reddish marble and then, with lots of help, made this spiral twisty one with cool colors. I didn't get burned.

After the two marbles, I learned how to make it look like a mushroom in a glob of glass. You shove a small stick of glass into a hot glob and push and push and then melt it to force the air out. Made one in blue and then made three in a new spun color. I curled over the loop to make it into a necklace. Go me! Afterwards Adam showed me the lathe thingy. I'd like to continue to make little things but I don't think I am cut out for glass work. It is a lot of hands on stuff that requires the ability to be steady.

The view from the studio is nice. A beautiful day without being too hot.

Calin (I think that was his name) was making a large marble so we went over to Tigard to check out the process. Tony and a lady (who has a name that was given to me but I can't recall it now) were hanging out there when we arrived. Calin's marble was more the size of a bocce ball. Huge chunk of solid glass. It took a while to set up and we left before we could see any real progress. The nice lady made a lady bug and some flower marbles. Adam picked some blueberries.

At around 8pm I was dropped off at the Goose and that completed my first day of glass adventures. I thought marbles would take less time to make but it was the introductory lesson. Adam says to call whenever and I can try more. Hmmn.

Tomorrow is Flicks on the Bricks. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I think I'll get there early and swing by cheese steak man for some nibbles. Can't wait!

live in personal chefs ROCK

I finally caught up on sleep. Mostly. It was an interrupted sleep but it lasted a while.

Yoga really kicked my butt. Well, I should say thigh. Yesterday they were severely paining. Now my thigh is a just a gentle ache. So I took it easy and watched stuff and read stuff and ate Gabe's cooking.

Today's menu included little cakes of artichoke and white bean with a garlic dressing. There were other things in them but I forget. Wonderful and superb. The dressing spent hours simmering. A little while later we had steak tar tare with homemade breadpoints. We watched X Files while we ate.

art! seeing lots of it!

Not much sleep again. This will do me no good.

Groggy start. Made some tea and put it in a jar with a lid and stuffed the remainder of the Raisin Bran in my bag with some supplies.

I was the only one to show up at the Illustration class. Daniela and I talked about art and composition and other things. It was nice just to bond. I like her hair. She added me to the list of artists to work with for this editorial class she is teaching. It is a practice in art direction. So the people in the class get to pick illustrators to art direct. A little free practice in a safe environment. I hope I get picked. I'm up against Dom, J, Karen, Melissa Dow, and Kim. Well not "up against" just there are more Illustrators than directors.

I picked up some books from the library during the break. Talked to Dom and Thom and Daniel (Haile, not Williams or Duford). Dom chilled for a little bit in the Illustration room. I forget what we talked about.

Daniela and I decided to spend the rest of class in the Portland Art Museum. The exhibits were PNCA at 100, an M.C. Escher dealy thing, and Sensitive Vision: The Prints of Beth Van Hoesen.

PNCA at 100: This was a collection of art from students and faculty of PNCA through its century of existence. PNCA used to be part of the Portland Art Museum. Success and fame are not the same thing. The names I recognized were the people who were still at school: Missal, Yoshi, Wyckoff. There were some pieces by names that Daniela told me were notorious but I wasn't too impressed. Still, damn some skilled people have come out of PNCA. Mostly paintings. I loved the painting by Sherrie Wolf "Peaches with Buffalo". It had a really beautiful sense of whimsy. I liked the exhibit but I felt it was missing some people. Arvie Smith for example.

Sensitive Vision: The Prints of Beth Van Hoesen: Etchings galore! And with a wide variety of subject matter that smoothly transitioned from piece to piece. The people who set up the printing wing know their stuff. Started with nude figures and moved into animals and plants and then colored flowers. Street scenes, water scenes. Even a portrait of dear sweet Imogen Cunningham. So much work. Very prolific. Her drypoint skills were very much mastered. A tiny bee had as much consideration as a complex street in Greece. I need to return to see it though I may not get around to it.

Virtual Worlds: M.C. Escher and Paradox: Escher! Who doesn't love Escher? We arrived at this last and thus I was very worn out from the walking and wasn't quite feeling up to the close investigation of all the work. And there was a lot of work! They had the whole Creation series and oodles of the classic works in original print form! Amazing to behold the real solid black of a real printed Escher. Woodblock! What skill. For all that he is loved, it isn't enough. There was a room devoted to the entire process behind Rippled Surface. The sketches, the ripple layout, the transfers and overlays, the proofs, the two blocks used to color it and the magnificent final piece. There were more Escher blocks. There was the block for Snakes, which was one block that was repeated three times. Flawless registration. I had no idea. All the blocks had holes punched in them to prevent more editions from being printed. There was the full version of Metamorphosis III. 9 pieces of paper. I forget if the plaque said 50 or 30 blocks were used. I'm leaning towards 50 because that piece is long. Reproductions don't do him quite justice anymore.

Tired, Daniela and I parted our ways. I slumped into my chair and watched Angel. Dinner was something spicy on rice with chicken and garbanzo beans. Delicious of course.

Adam and I caught the 10:30 showing of Public Enemies. Johnny Depp stars in the story of John Dillinger. Directed by Michael Mann. I liked it all except for Mann's choice of using digital to film it. Sometimes it felt like you were on set and not watching a movie. It was very real and shaky. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not so much. But as a stylistic choice for making the reality of the situations feel solid and less theatrical, I say it worked. But it didn't feel like a period piece, well not so much anyway. A little bit but the modern flare of the film choice was distracting. Acting was good all around. Costumes, cars, guns. All neat. Bloody yes. Very much so.

We hung out for a little bit after but it was late and I need to try to sleep.

death rattle of a starling

I have not been sleeping well lately. Even if I get into bed at a respectable time (for the summer anyway). Very restless and I wake up far too early for my liking. Boo!

Gabe made hash browns and scrambled eggs. I was a member of the clean plate club!

I finished season five of Buffy. Yeah, it is getting weird like everyone said. Still, I am very much enjoying it. The episodes of Angel are hit and miss right now. Oh well.

Much cooler day. Still warm but not scorching hot. Talking to J. We are going to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the Flicks on the Bricks this Friday! Exciting.

Monday means YOGA! Went to school to print out the forms to reapply for the Goose apartment. Ran into Daniel (Williams, not Duford). He was looking as bearded as ever.

Yoga was once again down at Tanner Springs. This time I was on time. Only Serenity, Ruth, and the unnamed mystery lady were there. It was a wonderful session. I'm a little out of it but not too much. I'm feeling sore now but a good sore. I loved the poses where we looked to the sky and it was all wide and blue with perfect clouds. Some kids played in a little fountain behind us.

During a standing pose a hawk came out of the sky and snatched a little bird out of a tree and slammed it into the ground. The little bird cried and cried. The yoga crew, the fountain playing family, and others just stood and stared at the hawk. The hawk stared back. Eventually it moved its meal to the pavement and eventually flew away with it. It was not 10 feet away from us. Fearless.

Picked up some razors and hair ties from Safeway and took out some cash to put on my laundry card. I did three loads when I got back! One of them became unbalanced in the machine and broke it a little bit. I've seen it happen in that machine before so I don't think I broke broke it. It just didn't drain and spin. Too bad it had to be my comforter and blanket that sat for 30 minutes absorbing water. Gabe had to help me pull it out of the soapy water. As per his suggestion I ran it through another wash cycle. They both came out fine. Hurray!

Dinner was Shepard's pie. Chicken, potatoes, hand made crust with hand made bread to go with it. Totally awesome.

I was thinking about volunteering somewhere. Maybe PICA. Get in early on that TBA action.

luchador, uhh I mean lucich

Katie and Gabe are so sweet. They invited me to a little family get together. Saying that because I couldn't be with my family for the fourth, they will just adopt me. Gabe's family specifically. One of his uncles, I think it was an uncle, lives in Hawaii. For three weeks he has traded places with someone else. So everyone got together in this wonderful house on the Willamette River. Sculpted garden, river access with a dock, covered patio, and a JETSKI!! Wa ha heeee!

Gabe's adorable grandparents were there. A couple uncles, one named Bret. Gabe's parents. His cousin Nick and his lady Lauren. And another couple I forget. A lot of names were passed around but I was unable to catch all of them. For a wee while we sat around drinking chilly beers and enjoying the sun. Then we went down to the dock and took turns on the jetski. Gabe's dad went. Nick and Lauren. Bret. Gabe and Katie.

I dived in and swam in the river for a while. Bret was the only other one to swim. I took the last ride before we stowed it. I hopped on with Brett and he gunned it. Jetskis are so fast. It doesn't seem so fast but with the wind and the water and the bump it is so much more intense. We hit boat wakes and jumped and bounced. I hollered, "Wheeee!!!!" and "Awessssommmme!!" and he went so so fast. Jetskis are a total blast. I want one! Too bad the balcony is too small to contain it. Boo.

With all the zipping around my stomach got jostled and I worked up quite an appetite. Salmon! Ribs! Macaroni salad! Brownies! Potato salad! No burgers but actual meat was served. Bret agreed that vegans shouldn't be allowed to call grilling barbecue.

Some guitar was played. Grandpa Lucich sung. Papa Lucich sang as well. Gabe Lucich did not sing. A nice moment. Reminded me of singing Christmas songs with the Pedersen clan. Katie was a bit shy. I don't think her family sings.

After a while Katie, Gabe and I went back down to the dock. They did the jetski thing. I did the dive in the water for one last chilly swim thing. It was nice to float and look at the clouds as they went by. It wasn't this crazy hot day but still warm. People kept commenting on the quality of the water but the public water parks are far more rank and nasty than any real river.

Changed into regular clothes and sipped a Dr Pepper and chatted with the folks about Pulali Point, wooden boats, and all that.

Gabe had a house warming to drop by for a second so we left a little early. I bid my goodbyes to the lovely family Lucich.

The house warming was in Gladstone. It was a little bit...different. Tons of people my age with kids. And beer pong in the back yard. Katie and I mainly loomed together and remarked about how not our scene it was. Gabe played a game of pool. The host, Gabe's friend, was cool. We saw only a little bit of him though. It was awkward and painfully obvious we were not having the greatest of times. We didn't stay long.

Gabe just made Katie a late meal. Slice of home made pizza + fried egg + brie + tomato + avocado.

I'm so tired. So much fun.

F.V.H.

I was almost out the door when Dad called. He and mom wanted to wish me a happy Fourth. It sounded like everyone was having a good time. It sucks how I rushed down to Portland because I thought a lot of things would happen when I got there. Now the things fell apart. Well, nice people are enjoying Pulali and all that.

Went to Thom's barbecue. That required going across the Hawthorne Bridge and up to 24th. Quite a bike ride for the likes of me. Very sunny. Very hot. I was sticky when I arrived.

Thom was the only person I knew at the barbecue. Also vegetarians and vegans shouldn't be allowed to use the word barbecue to describe putting their not-dogs on a grill. No one was a serious griller either. A lot of half efforts. I ate a couple no cruelty hot dogs and had a drink. No one really broke their clique to talk to me so I ended up mostly feebly conversing with Thom. Kevin and Erin were there briefly. Not the same Kevin I have mentioned. Another Kevin. I wasn't getting on well with the crowd. Way too hard to penetrate the tattooed vegan circles.

On the way back, I stopped on the west side of Hawthorne Bridge and bought a Popsicle from a bike ice cream lady. In Portland, instead of vans we have bicyclists. I used one of those lame Sacajawea coins and nibbled my rocket pop while listening to the Blues Fest.

I wimped out and took the Max back.

Then I sat about in my apartment drinking cool water and watching Angel. That show just isn't seeming to get better. Maybe when more characters are introduced? But they just dropped a character that I really liked! Lame.

Katie and Gabe and I lit off a couple fire works and watched the ones go down at PGE Park. They went out. I knocked on Robin and Diana's door and found the apartment to be full of Diana, Sharon, Melina, and Robin! Sharon...Shannon. Yeah I think it was Sharon. Diana's mum. We sat about. Robin and Diana played their ukuleles for us. I got a tarot card reading that I have half forgot in an hour but it made some sense as I was reading it. It was a nice little grouping to round off the evening.

I just want Monday to arrive so I can do yoga.

one day of walking and I get blisters on my feet

The Internet has almost managed to stay on a full 24 hours! Wow!

Slept in. Perfect warm cozy morning. All the same snug heat. Mmm.

Adam came down to show us his Goblet. It was easily a foot high made from black and white glass. It had two lady figures on the stem and a rib cage like detail covering them. Wonderful, just beautiful. Adam said that I should hang out at the shop and learn to make glass. I think I may take him up on it. Make some marbles and sell them at the symposium, or give them away as a bonus. "Free catseye with every comic!". How cool would that be?

Anyway. Adam and I are going to have a little movie outing when he gets back from Eugene. July 5th or something we shall go see Public Enemies. That movie about Dillinger and stuff. Yeah!

Eventually Adam parted. I ate lunch and watched Angel. That show has a budget smaller than my bank account. It really shows. When Red Dwarf had no budget, they stuck to scripts that could be filmed with what they had. Oh well.

Jason and I went out for some late afternoon ice cream and movie. I put on a dress and we went down to Basin Robins. I got the vanilla caramel truffle kind, not the caramel chocolate vanilla kind I got two days ago. Mmm! We sat in Pioneer Place and watched people. The movie of choice was Brothers Bloom. Yeah I had seen it before but we couldn't agree on anything else. It was almost as enjoyable the second time around. Still a delight.

Walking back there were a bunch of police busting this one guy who was yelling. We parted ways and that was my day. Now I'm going to watch one more episode of Angel and go to bed.

Going to Thom's for the Fourth of July.

grrr

At around 3pm the Internet went out again. Anytime I got within a foot of a window I could feel the heat of the sun inching towards me. I set up fans and kept a good distance away. So warm. Not muggy, just a dry ever pressing heat.

Yeah, I watched Buffy. All day. Again. Thought about comics some more.

The fan feels so nice. It is so warm though. Just, no energy. No will. No motivation.

Mom called to tell me about a radio program about zombies. The net went out before I got to listen to it.

Stupid Goose people and their routers.

Internet back up as of 12:30 PM. If I don't write again soon, it is probably because it went down again.

sun is out, along with the world wide web

The Internet is down at the Goose. I'm at school typing away.

Yesterday:

The Internet went down. So I watched a ton of Buffy! Finished season 4. Anya is awesome. Spike is cool. And all that.

Before that I went to PNCA for their summer Illustration thing. They were offering classes as sort of a partial makeup for not having the best class during the school year. I liked my school year class but I'm still taking this opportunity to learn more. The weather has maintained being wonderful.

I was the first to arrive. Robin showed up as did another girl who has a name that ALWAYS escapes me. She was in my Illustration class and still I can't recall. Anyway, the first section was spent discussing composition and color. We read from these books by Molly Bang and looked at a slideshow and analyzed compositions. I learned a lot. Now I just need to apply it.

We broke for an early and long lunch. I went to Safeway and picked up something to microwave and a box of strawberry milk. After I removed it from the microwave, I went to meet up with Robin in Jameson Square Park. She was lounging on the grass and I sat in the shade of a tree and at a scrumptious lunch. We talked about music and art and boys and religion and other light topics.

On the way back to school we ran into Michaela & Dom. Quick chat was exchanged and we parted.

The second part of class was spent with paste, scissors, and construction paper. We worked making a simple construction composition of the terror or being attacked by birds. We three did it on one page. Cut this and that apart. Pasted it. Turned out quite nice. I think we worked well together. Next we had to pick our own theme and individually create a cut and pasted composition. The others went with calm, I went with drowning. Mostly black with soft curves of waves and fabric with jagged limbs sticking out from the bottom of the frame. A little bit dark I guess. But it turned out swell. Heh. Our next project was assigned. I sketched out some ideas but I left a little early.

Returned to no Internet but lots of Buffy. And the comic adaptation of Paul Auster's City of Glass. I really enjoyed it. I dig stuff about the power of language. Can't wait to read the non pretty picture version of it.

Today:

Woke up. Terry said he would be at school at 1pm for a Buffy tradeoff. I returned City of Glass and checked out a new pile of stuff to keep me entertained. Put up a couple more Yoga posters. Ran into Dom. Terry and Nathalie were in the commons. Terry's friend Jeremy was with them. Nathalie got a job at the Gap. Good for her. Now she will get the awesome Gap discount and become like Karen and Myself (well less so me now that I don't work there anymore).

Hopefully the net will be back but if not, oh well.

Later Today (and sort of Yesterday if you are reading this tomorrow which would be considered today for you but not in the blog world):

Rode home with the sun beating down on me in full force. No Internet. It took a while to get it back. A while being 6 episodes of Buffy season 5. The way I got it to work was to follow Katie's advice to the letter. I was just following the gist of it and it didn't work. Boo on me. Oh well. I got it back. I read a little. Relaxed a lot.

We three walked to Baskin Robbins and got us some ice cream. Mmm.

I keep forgetting to mention but I got a care package from home. Not so much a care package as a "things I left behind". Sadly it did not include my Burts Bees pomegranate lip balm or my Marine Scene nail polish. DAD DO NOT USE MY LIP BALM!! Or my nail polish for that matter. I'll get it back in August.

Gabe made a communal platter of food for dinner. Rice, cabbage, garbanzo beans, and chicken all in a nice pile. Eat as much as you want, save the rest for later. Oh and he made nan. I should take pictures of his meals.

third year

Last night was a bit of a bust for me. I wasn't feeling it at all. We caught the max and arrived at the Ash Street Pub. Sinferno at Dante's cost more money and it wasn't on for a while. Just wasn't into it so I left. Caught the max. Katie and Gabe came back at around 2 or so.

I watched hella Buffy today. But I also left the house.

Rode my bike to Powell's and picked up Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy (used) and Ender's Game. Stopped by Sushi Land for a really quick lunch. Three orange plates and a root beer. Sat next to a guy who I could tell was a bicyclist (he had forgotten to unroll the tell tale right pant leg). We didn't talk. I sat next to him so that two seats were open next to each other, in case a couple came in. It was between him and this other guy who had one of those familiar faces. I wonder if I would have talked to the other guy. I had three orange plates, like I said. Quick, easy, filling. And out the door I went! Onwards! To PNCA! To Yoga!

Killed a little bit of time, then went on a search for the room Yoga was in. Found it and found they had moved to Tanner Springs Park for the session. I arrived and found them already far into the session. I came in during the last half hour. Heh. Started at 5:30, not 6:30. Oh well. Still got some bending in. There were a lot of people. Kody, Serenity, Ruth, and about three people who have names that escape me and one woman with a name I did not know. It was great, what little yoga I had. Walked my bike back with people and chatted. Then went back to the Goose.

It was a nice day to be outside. Have to try and get myself outside everyday. Tomorrow is this illustration summer art session thing. Will be an experience. Have to get up at 10 for it. Alarm is set and everything.

Oh yeah, the decision has been made. I am staying in Goose Hollow another year. Katie and I will both be upperclassmen so it isn't quite so shameful I am staying in the dorms as a Junior. Circumstances and stuff.

awkkkkwaaaardd

Today has been weird. It's been weird. I can't quite get into it. But I spent most of it watching Buffy with my door closed.

Ran into Mel on my way back from Trader Joe's yesterday. She looks awesome.

I treated Adam to a pitcher and some garlic bread for his birthday down at good old Goose Hollow Inn. We talked long time about how silly people are and how much we like Karen.

Karen called me earlier on and we talked for a long while. Miss Karen.

Adam is a cool guy. Really making his glass art work for him. Did I mention he made me glass bacon and egg? It is AWESOME.

Munched on apples and banana and other stuff throughout the day. Should eat something. May go out to that Sinferno burlesque show thing. I'll get back to you guys about that.

sweet

a smidge

Had to revive myself with good old Billy Tea. Mmm.

Terry informed me that he has all of Buffy on DVD. I was in a panic for a few hours. Met him at school at 2:15ish. He was in this graphic novel intensive but they were just doing in class stuff so I wasn't too intrusive. He will be giving me one season at a time. I'll try to pace myself. Terry and I geeked out a little bit and he said he will throw a "Once More With Feeling" party when I get to that episode. Whee!

It was a gorgeous day. Nary a cloud in the sky. The moon was out but not a cloud. Junko and I sat and chatted. She said there will be an eclipse next month. Lunar or Solar, I forget.

Dropped the DVD in the slot at school and rode off to Trader Joe's. Apples! Bananas! Body soap! Cheese puffs! Gnocchi and Gorgonzola! Other things! Cash!

Gabe was waiting to be let in when I arrived home. I retreated from the sun to watch some stuff about vampires.

Adam and Gavin, Adam's brother, stopped by for a little bit. Adam wanted to party up his birthday but I wasn't feeling up to going out. Katie and Phia came over. Them and Gabe went out to Scooter's. Just not feeling like going out. Hope they are having a good time.

Worked on writing out more of my comic idea. Putting stuff into a file to sort it out a little easier. It isn't very organized.

I'm feeling a little lost. A lot things have fallen through. Partially. Mostly. Somewhat. Totally.

swing seats and cello babes

Happy Birthday to Karen (a day late) and Happy Birthday to Robin (a day early).

Had a successful sleep in. Had a successful hash brown and egg breakfast courtesy of Gabe. Had a successful finish up of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3. And now I am in a state of, "OH MY GOD HOW AM I GOING TO GET 4-6 AS WELL AS ANGEL!!". Hulu ran out. Curses Hulu!

The day eased along in a comfortable way. Natalie, Robin and this other guy have this band that Natalie is fronting called Issimi. So I went to support them. It was chillier than I expected but biking gets you warm in no time. Went down across Hawthorne. It was nice. No traffic. Had to do a multiple light turn around to get to 18th. I had to do the legal U turn because there was no way to get to 18th (the venue is on 18th and Burnside) by turning left on a bike. Then 18th vanished for a couple blocks because of houses so I have to cut up to 20th. And again I go down to 18th only to find that Hipbone Studios is on the other side of Burnside. So again I have to cut up to 20th. I arrived and they were setting up so I checked out the little musty comic shop.

Robin hugged me. Natalie hugged me. They said they were not going on till 10 and at 8:15 the first act wasn't even set up. I sat near some guys and one of them brought up Derren Brown. So I cut in politely and said a coupled things but the guys just yammered about Derren Brown right over me. Didn't pay attention to me at all. Total diss! What gives, totally not seeing that a girl wants to talk to you about something you are interested in. Oh well. I didn't need them anyway as some of MY MUCH COOLER THAN THEN friends showed up. Michaela & Dominic arrived and we chatted about summer goings on. Kevin joined us and we all went across the street to grab a couple drinks while waiting for Issimi to come on.

Michaela directed us to the backporch smoking section which was totally rad. The chairs were swings attached to the roof structure. Very fun. The tables were wisely padded underneath. I had a single pint of the Lazy Boy Ale. Mostly because I only had $4 on me. It was tasty. Not a chore at all to drink. Kevin had the same and I didn't catch what Michaela and Dom got. Wait no, Dom got the... oh I forgot it again but we made fun of the title as being a bad one for beer. We swung and talked and caught up. It was nice. Atmosphere was lovely.

At 9:45 we departed back to the venue. Carrie and Alex were there. Devin and Brandon I saw later. There was a core of PNCA people. We had our cool little section. Much larger than the guys who totally ignored me. Their section was TINY! Ha! Anyway. Oh! The Improviser! That was Dom's beer. Finally remembered it. Anyway, Issimi was a while yet in getting set up. We chatted. Kevin put on my glasses.

Issimi was lovely, the few songs they played. The first was just the cello and the piano. Then a song with the drums and vocals. Natalie has a really beautiful voice and a good sense for composition. Robin rocked it. It was loud but clear. There was some shuffling while Natalie got set up for just some guitar and vocal pieces. Then some more shuffling after that as she tuned her guitar. Robin stalled with some cello numbers. She called upon yours truly to tell a joke. I told my one about how many performance artists does it take to screw in a lightbulb. Nathalie played another beautiful medly about breaking up and all that. Then there were two songs with the trio.

Robin was selling band posters but I had nothing to buy them with. But I think there were enough left than I can wait a couple days. I hugged the necessary people and waved good by to others. At 11:06 I rode back through night Portland. I had my blinker so all was good. Cars could see me. There was some construction I had to double back on. I smiled and dinged my bell at the night time construction dude. He smiled back. See SOME people get it. Feh.

Adam was chilling when I got back. No Gabe. Gabe is off doing something. Katie was there as well. Adam didn't just get in by himself. We three stayed up for a bit and talked about weak conceptual art. Deep stuff like that. Adam left after while and then it was time to rest.

Wonderful fun evening. The rest of this weekend is looking fun. I'll be living it up with Katie these two nights. Going to Sinferno, this burlesque show on Sunday night. Should be...an experience.

a bust

Rose up at the correct time. Got out of the door early. The red was there but I needed to take the Blue but no worry as I was on time for the Blue. Read Another Roadside Attraction while going out to 102nd.

And there it began. I heard that we were to meet at 102nd and Halsey, the Max stop that is. Rustin said it was one stop after 82nd. He may have mentioned something about Gateway but I remember hearing the 102nd stop pretty specifically. So what do you decide? Do you get off at the stop that is one after 82nd or get off at the stop you think was mentioned?

I got off on the one that was mentioned because it seemed so specific. Stops can easily be forgotten. Lloyd may be the fourth or fifth stop after you cross over the river but I couldn't say for sure.

I was there early so I waited. Then it became 15 after. I called at 20 after and left a message. I called again at 30 after and didn't leave a message. After I boarded the Blue headed west again and passed by Gateway, I called to say I was headed home. This was at about 12:50. We were to meet at noon. I did get some serious reading done.

I got off at the last stop in fareless square on the other side and went to Yamhill Liquor to get Katie a quick present for her birthday. I don't know what she would like to read so I didn't want to browse Powell's. Candy is so low class. Figured I would get her something a little nicer than PBR. I'll make her a card as well. The clerk was really nice and pointed me to a bottle of Bulleit bourbon that was marked down almost suspiciously low. It had a nice enough packaging design so I got it. And the fact that I am blogging about it only indicates that I couldn't resist and gave it to her to open it already. Katie loved it. Gave me big hugs. It is now resting in a "for special occasions" spot. We toasted to ourselves.

Jason took me out to the Leaky Pub or Leaky Roof. Yeah, Leaky Roof. It is a little Irish "gastro pub" a few blocks from Goose Hollow. It was happy hour so I got a $3 burger and a Cosmopolitan. He had this salad with sliced apple and pear and chocolate. It looked delicious and my burger was quite good. Jason got a new job downtown. He has switched from traffic something to font configuration something. After the meal we wandered around the houses in the area. Walked up some very tall steps. It was nice. Refreshing. Today wasn't all that warm though.

And I heard back about today's internship snafu. He was at the Gateway Transit Center. Waited about as long as I did. The number of his I seem to have is not the good number but he also has my number(which is my only one) so that is not both ways excuse. Darn shame about that. Looking forward to a bit of adventure. Not a good way to start things out. I guess I should be forward and tell everyone I meet that I need good, specific instructions or I will get misplaced.

it is much fun to eat like a caveman

Today was beautiful but it edged into too hot. Took a heat nap. Adam stopped by to say a quick hello.

Gabe was gone for most of the day working at an estate sale. He came back with a juicy steak for us and later made chicken wings!

So hot. I kept hydrated. Drank juice. Ate Raisin Bran. I'm going to try and get some decent sleep tonight. Big day tomorrow.

Oh yeah, watched more Buffy. I'll be done soon with that so eventually I will be productive.

the hummus was quite good

Absolutely beautiful today. Warm, sunny. Perfect for sitting back and watching Buffy and taking a little grocery walk with Katie. A wonderful day. Those little tiny clouds were in the sky and it was blue as can be.

Yesterday there was a black plume of smoke that looked to be coming from North East Portland. It was only a plume that faded, probably an explosion and not a fire. It was dark. Haven't heard anything about it. A person with a bow and arrows also tried to jump off the bridge on Sunday. They were talked down.

Learned a new word: gloaming.

Picked up munchings from Safeway after a little long nap. Walked with Katie because it was a nice day and it was time for a walk. The self packing was a hassle because I had to press "skip bagging" after every item. There needs to be a "I brought my own bag" options programmed in to those things.

I'm nearing the end of what Hulu has to offer in terms of Buffy. The episodes are lagging a little without the overall arc. I want more Spike.

Hmm, what am I forgetting to mention? Oh yeah, my interview with Rustin!

But first, I had to run some errands at school. As I was locking up my bike, Matt went Boo! and scared me. You shouldn't do that to tense people! Okay he didn't know I was stressing so I can't fault him. This time at least. My woodblock stuff that I had forgotten about was still there. Not cleaned out! Hurrah! Checked out some DVDs. Went to the computer lab and printed some stuff for my portfolio. It isn't the best looking thing but it is at least a portfolio. I left at about 11:20 from the school for the noon meeting at Black and Red Cafe (or was it Red and Black?). Good thing because the pedestrian path on the Morrison Bridge was closed and nonmotorized vehicles are forbidden. Had to ride further down and cross the Hawthorne Bridge. I was still about 10 minutes early but was far more sweaty and winded than I would have liked.

The Cafe was a vegan place. It didn't even need a sign and I could have guessed it was vegan by the clientele. I really stood out and I don't quite get why. I wasn't in leather. I just was in clean jeans and a stripey teeshirt from Gap. I get how being vegan sometimes extends to what they wear but the styles of dress between the workers and wifi users who left their dog outside for well over an hour with no water bowl, and myself were very different. Anyway, I ordered a hummus and chip plate with an italian soda and waited for Rustin.

He was on time, always a good sign. For an hour we chatted about art and the like. He talked mostly. About projects and public art and printing and experimentation and all that. Asked the "what I want to get out of this" question. I shared my chip plate and he bought one for himself and shared that. I was confused by some of his wording. Well, a lot of it. I suspect it is something I will have to get used it. Right now it looks like it is a very informal internship. Once it gets more established, I'll talk to Andy at school and see how I could get credit for it. Rustin and I are meeting at Noon on Thursday and I am going to help with some public art project. Sounds cool. For sure I will get to see more of Portland. It is a big big world out there. Oh and he likes Firefly and has read Hitchhiker's Guide and said he was afraid to ask if it was my real name. Heh. So there is that! That is working for me.

Katie and I are going to a little show on Sunday. Robin has a music thing on Friday. My schedule is filling up (for the week).

It was hot riding back but oh well. A nap was my reward. And Gabe made me a perfect dinner! Mini penne pasta with a chicken tomato sauce that had just a nice little amount of spice that enabled me to pace myself and enjoy it all with a cool glass of milk. It was really lovely. Getting back into the swing of the Portland diet.

kept women

So yeah, back to square one with housing. The lease is up at the end of July. Now I have to think about that. Damn.

Contacted Rustin to inform him that I am back in Portland. Tomorrow we will be having a little coffee or whatever and talking about the internship. Sadly it is on the other side of the river (the location). Gotta get up and get to school and sort and print some things out first. I think if I leave by 10 I should be fine. The stuff at school shouldn't take more than an hour so that is leaving another for getting over to 13th and Stark. Exciting! I hope I can get started right away. He seemed like a nice fella.

Watched Buffy. It loads pretty well (during the summer at least). Not enjoying the third as much as the second. Second season was pretty much awesome throughout.

Did I mention my grades? A in illustration. A in digital illustration. A in math. A+ in graphic novel. A- in screenprinting. Cumulative GPA: 3.87. I'm on the Dean's List.

Katie and Gabe were making a little outing to The Dig and Mike's Drive In. I was invited along. Gabe treated us to the lunch. Deluxe burgers all around! Fried egg, bacon, patty, sauce, and milkshakes! Delicious. I knocked down a huge portion of it but I still had to get a bag. We were parading around in our sweet shades.

The Dig is a place that has $1-$6 everything. Sure, it does not beat some of the sweet thrifting Karen talks about but it has a better potential for finds because it doesn't seem to have been mined over by Hawthorne Hipsters. Found a pair of navy high waisted shorts and a brown corduroy snap button shirt that fits really well. Pretty good. Shorts for when I regain my biking legs.

Jen didn't want to see Hangover a third time, so I went with Katie and Gabe. We got some snacks on the way and walked down to Pioneer Place. There were perfect seats. Not too far, not too close.

The Hangover had really beautiful cinematography. It was really well crafted and varied. It had a real style that set it apart from being a standard comedy. I had a lot of fun. The laughs have a good pace. It isn't trying to be one after another. The actors are great. I had a lot of fun. It isn't for everyone but it does its kind of comedy right.

We Maxed it back. I watched Buffy. Drank tea. Trying to relax. Take it easy in the morning. Get all cleaned up and ready to be presentable for the meeting.

escape from the rain

On the train again. Writing now so I don’t have to do it late at night again.

Stayed up late with Buffy. Got up and started my day with Buffy. An episode before I showered and another one after it. It is very exciting and riveting. Now Spike has been revealed to be able to walk. Now he is going to open a can of whoopass on Angel. It is a little bit of a buzzkill knowing that Angel survives to have his miniseries and Spike somehow joins the side of neutral. But now it will be fun to see how.

Dad made me scrambled egg with cheese and toast. Delicious. Had a cup of tea to go along with it. Packed everything away. Clothes, books, knitting. It all fit neat and tidy. And all my clothes are clean so I won’t have to deal with that for a while. Right now I don’t think I left anything behind. Got my toothbrush, my face goop, my art supplies.

As we left the clouds unleashed their bladders upon us with a wrath like they had just been holding it through the entirety of Return of the King. An inch at least. The streets were nearing almost the possibility of flooding. The clouds cracked with lightning and it came down more and more. We outran the clouds as we got to Tacoma. We pulled in next to the Lobster Shack and set up a picnic. Mom, Pop, Nate, Rubie, and myself. Fruits and cupcakes and Martinelli’s and spargle (not sparga as I think I previously wrote). We nibbled for an hour then we left all too early for the train station.

I got some guff from the guy behind the counter. This was the first time my AAA card had ever been asked for and it was found out to be expired. I am not supposed to get the discount with an expired card but he didn’t ask for the full amount and he still took my bag. He was grumpy. I had never been asked for the card before. Now I know to only check bags when it is a rush.

We sat in the warmth of the Prius, all five of us, while waiting for the train to roll in. The rain came first. Mom filled my purse with snacks. At 2:50 we went into the station. The tardy Northbound was just a couple minutes before the Southbound so we had to wait for that one to pass. Hugs were exchanged. I grabbed a window seat near to a power outlet. It is one of those foursey ones. I was too lazy to elbow my way past someone. It is a full train but I don’t have a neighbor…yet.

There is a little girl with her mother in the seats across from me. The little girls name is Katherine. We spent a few minutes exchanging looks. She gave me a very quizzical one. The sort of, “Why are you puffing your cheeks at me?” look.

*****

Home now with Katie and Gabe and Adam. Got home before the other people so I chilled. Unpacked. Katie came home and we hugged and jumped up and down. I had some rice and we caught up on gossip and things. Gabe came home and started a chicken. He had some goodies from this estate sale for us. Lovely wonderful perfect rose colored sunglasses for Trillian! And a bracelet. My big bowl from daddy has a friend. A friend it doesn't like. This African carved animal looking bowl. Carved more from one chunk with a couple legs attached. Mine is lightweight.

Adam came over. We talked glass and summer all that. Found out Phil and Andy got a house together. Uh oh. We popped open wine and we all relaxed. Got giddy and silly and chatty, exchanging "I told a humiliating story, you tell one now" tales. We stayed up very late and now I'm finishing up an episode of Buffy. It is buffering all right on this internet I just have to wait for it.

kitty got a tick this morning, but I didn't have to remove it

Last full day in Washington. I return to Portland. Hopefully it will once again be sunny and hot and all that. The last week and a half has been a rather drag. Mostly in pants and my hoodie.

Woke up early, and stayed up. Normally when I wake up at 9, I just wait till I fall back asleep for a couple hours.

These past few weeks I've been thinking about this one time travel story. About a house that is a designated safe spot for time travellers. A place where they can go back in time because they know it will be there. It is filled with people specially recruited to deal with time travellers and all that. A buoy in the current of time. Just thinking about it. Idea for a comic.

Mom and Celia went to Seattle for a little deal. Left dad and I to party in Seabeck. I watched some Buffy. Ate some toast and had some spiced cider. I so love this show. It is serious and silly in the right doses.

In the afternoon, pop and I went into town to see about using a coupon for a father's day joystick buying. Best Buy only had one but it was sold out. We wandered around the store looking at DVDs and seeing if there might be a converter for the old joystick. No luck. No DVDs were interesting enough. Well, that is not true. I am getting some ideas for Christmas (ahemSpacedCompleteSeriesahem). Afterwards we looped in Saturday traffic and made a stop at Joannes for a little something. There was a demonstration of a sort of Glocco/screen printing device. A poormans, no-need-for-serious-equipment silkscreen thing. Not so fancy, rather bulky.

We stopped at Seabeck for some ice cream and looked out across the water.

All while in town dad asked if I needed anything. To go for shopping for clothes or whatever. I said I want for nothing but I might find something if he kept asking.

Ma came home. We had potatoes and sparga and chicken. I didn't eat much. I'm still cautious about chicken after being so heinously ill over spring break.

sparga=asparagus
lamaclaga was lamaklaga and now I think it is supposed to be spelled yamaklage or llamaklage.

Then came a round of Carcassonne! It is so much fun to play without Nathan's random rules about stuff that somehow give him 54 points and us 3. I won with 94 or so, dad was 83, mom was around 60-something. A fun little game.

Afterwards, we all settled into bed and watched the Buffy episode "Phases" together. It is the one where Seth Green turns out to be a werewolf. Mom prefers werewolves to vampires. My subconscious prefers zombies. A cute little episode. Basil was so cuddly throughout. She was on her back and kneading her paws as I rubbed her sizable stomach. She eventually left but came back right when the episode finished. I miss her but there is no way she could leave Seabeck. I can, but she can't

what's next? blue flavor?

My tummy was acting up randomly today. Gurgles and burbles.

Might have been the two cups of tea. Heh. So much Jasmine Green tea. Delicious.

Ma, Nate, and Rubie went over to see the Grandparents.

I stayed home. Probably good, what with my intestines being unfun.

And yeah, lots of Buffy.

I made another batch of cupcakes for sort of Father's Day. Yellow. Though I don't think yellow is a flavor. How can a color be a flavor? It isn't like orange because orange is also a fruit.

Had more nightmares about zombies. It should have switched to vampires by now.

not quite lamaklaga

Woke up to find out that lamaklaga is not quite horseplay. Dad says it translates more to complaining, drivel and whiners.

lamaclaga: pedersen family slang for horse play

Did I mention that the helmet I have worn for two years looks like this:

Well it does. So awesome. I love it.

I am just zoom zooming through Buffy. I officially love its campy goodness.

Rubie came over today! Yay for Rubie! Ma, Nate, Rubie, and myself took a walk to the end of the driveway. On the way we picked berries. One bush had berries that all had worms in them. According to Nathan at least, he may have just told us that and stuffed his gob.

Holly lost her ball.

Nathan and I sword fought with sword ferns. He won the first few battles but then I got a chunk of fern stem and just beat him with that all the way back. Hahah!

Mom and I played Nate and Rubie in a game of Bocce Ball. It was close but we won 16-12.

After the game, Nate and I chased each other with the squirt guns. I got a few good shots in. We played till his broke. Heheh.

Exhausted after the lamaclaga, I watched more Buffy. Nate and Rubie left for Star Trek. We all settled in for a low key rest of the day sort of day.

So yeah. So You Think You Can Dance. HOW COULD THEY ELIMINATE MAX?? He was AWESOME. And cute and talented. Max or Kupono? It should have been Kupono. I can't believe it. That sucks. Booo!!

Bought my ticket. Back in Portland at 7:00pmish on Sunday.

pew pew pew! take that tv screen!

Last night I watched two episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first two of the first season. Because Karen is watching it and what Karen does, I have to do. It is cheesy and awesome.

Went over to Chris' today. Well, watched an episode of Buffy in the morning to start me off. Mom dropped me by his place at 11:30. Snacked on snacks. Drank pop. Watched Galaxy Quest. We were trying to find something to watch and landed on VH1 or MTV or something. A show with lame clips and moron commentary. So we whipped out the nerf gun and played a little game. Everytime you got a moron in the head with the nerf dart, you got a point! We played for an hour. Chris beat me by a point after 10 rounds. I want a nerf gun of my own, though it isn't as fun without a TV to shoot. I don't think it would stick to my wall.

Ma Peeler made orange chicken and rice for dinner and I gobbled up two helpings.

When 8 rolled around I just had to watch So You Think You Could Dance? To preserve Chris' manliness, we only watched the dancing and we switched to Aliens on AMC when that wasn't going on. Aliens rocks. So awesome.

So yeah, just spent the day on a different couch watching different TV. Chris says he plans a little road trip this summer so I might see him in a month.

I think I am returning to Portland this Sunday.

uhhh...

Ho hum. Didn't do much. Got up. Ate some oatmeal and cider. Dad made bacon. We watched an episode of Serenity together. The Shindig episode. Hulu rocks.

Downloaded. Watched stuff. Didn't draw ANYTHING. I am so behind. I thought I was going to be productive and be ready to print SOMETHING when I got back to Portland. No such luck.

Nathan came over and worked on Dad's computer. It wasn't broken but it needed some updates.

We three watched some Look Around You. Dad made pot stickers for us. Nathan left early for a little dance thing with Rubie.

Apple pie for dessert after a not really dinner. Lots of tea.

I will think of something to say eventually.

short post

I don't feel like writing much.

I'm going back to Portland Thursday or Friday. Not sure yet.

Ma, pa and myself went to see Angels and Demons. It was good. Lots of churches and Ewan McGregor. Kept ya guessing. Better than I expected it to be but I don't know if it would stand up to repeat viewings.

Dad made us burgers when we got back. Mmm burgers.

portishead

We didn't get the house. The guy rented it to someone else.

back to 'beck

Cold. Brrr. Misty. Brr. Again, thought I slept in but no such luck. Dad made a big racket while making oatmeal.

Grumpy start. Took a shower in the small little shower booth. No conditioner. Dad made some pancakes and bacon. I stole one of moms pancakes from right under her nose. Ha!

No one went for a kayak trip. I think mom and dad went biking for a little while. Last night we watched Flight of the Concords. Mom loved it. Celia stopped by for a little bit in the morning. We set her up with some coffee and snacks. Auntie and I walked and talked and looked at silly videos on the Internet.

She left in her truck to go home and we packed things up. Well by we I mean mom and dad. I didn't help much. I got real lazy, as I do.

Packed up, headed out. Listened to the radio, snacked. Swung by Grandparent's to return their vegetable plate. Returned their plate. Played with Grandpa's new remote control helicopter. I was able to land it a lot better than dad, though I did hit some trees. We all checked our blood pressure. Mine was 129/60 or something. A place that was good enough to still eat bacon. Yay!

And back we went. Dad and I unloaded, mom put away what we unloaded.

We installed the digital TV converter. In getting nice, clear channels we ended up with only getting Fox and a Fox weather channel. Well, we can still watch So You Think You Can Dance. That is all I care about.

Nathan came over for dinner and after dinner board games. Salmon, beans, and rice jambalaya. After dinner, we all played a round of Carcassonne. Nathan won, I came in second. Mom third, dad fourth. Mom kept drawing rode tiles. Nathan just cleaned up real good.

Mom and pop went to bed. Nathan and I watched a few Look Around You episodes. Hilarious.

I feel weirdly light headed now. I think I'll go to sleep.

Campampoline

Friday:

Got up on my own time. Ma and Pa only rushed me when it came to finishing breakfast. A day and two halfs does not require that much packing. Threw some clean stuff together plus one of shirts and underoos because accidents (by that I mean Dad rocking the boat) happen.

The new GPS was set to our destination and off we went! Well first we got gas. Mom gave me some cash and I bought a snickers and gobstoppers and a sobe. I didn't have quite enough cash as the change mom gave me had no quarters when she probably thought it had a few.

Port Hudson is more along the lines of an RV park than campground. Our location is right on the water and there are not many other RVs. Nice and quiet. No generators. Only the slush of water on rocks and the occasional gust and howl of wind. We hauled the bikes and kayak off the RV and sat down to enjoy some tuna fish sandwiches. Quite a lovely day. Cold though. I only had my hoodie.

After lunch we rode out on our bikes. Well mom had her old bike from when she was my age, dad had his, and we had the electric bike. The funny thing about electric bikes is that you need the motor to propel the bike because the motor and battery make it so heavy that it is no fun to do it without. It was also too big for me so my bum ached and my bike got a pain in it from being too stretched out.

We rode along the Port Townsend waterfront trail all the way to the papermill. Then we went to Safeway and picked up milk and margarine and ice cream and powdered gatorade and that kit to turn apples into caramel apples. Back we went. I curled up on the seat to relieve my back. Then mom and I took a two hour nap.

When we woke up it was time to eat! We went to Shanghai Restaurant; a Chinese place with a view of the water not 100 feet from our campsite. The owners are one big family and the little kids are already being put to work. The eldest girl, about 8, gave us our menus. A 10 month old named Livia toddled about. We ordered the family meal special which was a course of sizzling rice soup, wontons, and then a sweet and sour beef entree, a chicken thing, and a noodle thing. Very delicious and filling. Oh and there as rice. It was a cute little place with some dated artwork. The chicken meal had some sculptured vegetabled added to it. Looked like a bird! Awesome.

Back we staggered. We watched an episode of Derren Brown and then Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Dad went to sleep early and I don't know if mom liked the movie. She didn't say to turn it off though. Hmmm. I climbed into my bunk and read Pygmy and eventually fell asleep.

We used to have a tiny little camper that barely had any room for more than one person. It fit on our truck and we went all around in it. Mom, in the past few years, bought an RV. It has enough space for 6 people to sleep (if 2 of them are couples) and a lot of room to spread out in. It takes some of the dingy fun out of it.

No s'mores yet.

Saturday:

I thought I slept in but it was only 9 when I got up.

Mom has been trying to figure out these birds that have been hanging out with the seagulls.

Oatmeal and tea was my breakfast once mom and pop returned from kayaking. No shower for me yet. The shower is filled with sleeping bags. Oh well, I'm only being grubby with my family and they are all grubby as well.

Mom had some non-aspirin to give me for my back aches. We slowly toddled off to see the Port Townsend strip. First was the wooden boat shop so dad could get a saw and a teeshirt (well they are father's day gifts). It is a fancy bendy saw that is perfect for sawing things flush without damaging the surrounding wood. Mom eyed some 40 foot boats. I eyed the vanishing of my college tuition.

I rounded off my breakfast with a foot long hot dog. Dad ate an inch off. We almost went into a bookstore but it was only selling new books. You can get new books anywhere. A game store provided an expansion pack for a game mom has that I never heard of. A knick knack shop provided this banana packaged scrabble/crossword crossover game and lotion and this sweet treat. A used book store provided an awesome selection of not new books to look through. Mom said we could get one book each.
Mom: book about Gypsies.
Dad: book about using cement in architecture and interior design.
Trillian: The Collected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley.

And all for cheaps!

Swain's says that if they don't have it, you don't need it. Well we needed some more tape for the label machine and they didn't have the correct type. They did have sandals and stuff.

I had a regular chocolate cone at Elevated Ice Cream. Mom had a caffeine drink! And later had some of that Rockstar Energy stuff she is so very addicted too (mom! it is not good for you to drink a can a day of that!).

I took a little nap when we got back. Dad and I were about to go kayaking when grandma and grandpa Spencer showed up. We still went anyway. Against the wind and tide we tried to go out to the bouy, on which two sea lions lay. Sadly with too much water going onto us and too much current against us, we had to turn back a little short of our destination. We did a little loop in the marina and went ashore. My back was hurting so mom helped lug the kayak the rest of the way ashore.

I spoiled my appetite just a little bit with a caramel apple (we all had one yesterday). The umbrella was a struggle to keep from blowing away. Eventually we just moved into the shade of the RV. I enjoyed a helping of salmon but when the jumbalaya was rolled out I was full. I dozed in the sun. Grandma and grandpa left. I had hot apple cider. We played the Banagrams game. Dad won both rounds but I think I came in second. We moved onto Blokus and my usual strategy that works so well against Nathan fell short against mom who ruled both games. I pouted and they went on a bike ride.

9pm and still light light light. Blimey.

Mom identified the mystery bird as the Heermann's Gull.

nuffin muffin

Another day like before where I sit and sit and sit and don't get a danged thing accomplished. Lazy Seabeck.

Well I started knitting a scarf. I want to make a loooong Doctor Who esque scarf. Not the same colors, but just long and wide. A continual project for when I don't feel like doing anything else, you know? Yeah. So I started that. Got about a length equal to my hand knitted.

Finished Dead Set. It was good. Surprised at the level of gore allowed on BBC TV.

Dad made steak and green beans and pasta. I ate 2 out of 3 of them.

Mom was gone for most of the day. Pop cleaned the RV. I'll be leaving for a camping trip tomorrow afternoon. Don't know if I will right. Going to Point Hudson (Hudlow? Harlow?) in Port Townsend. Should be fun. I'll see you all Monday, or maybe tomorrow night. Dad is bringing his computer and there might be wifi.

even crash test dummies can dance

Okay so I beat the main levels of Plants vs Zombies. Beat the boss! Whoo! Got all the minigames and stuff. After you beat the 50 levels (well, it is five different settings with 10 levels each) then you can go through them again with different challenges and stuff. I was having fun and playing the game and all that. Saved it but when I returned, only the half with the plants saved! None of the extras did. Boo! Oh well. Some glitch with Vista.

Mom made french toast and we set up the picnic table on the lawn to enjoy it. A lovely day outside. Not too scorching hot. Just right.

Spent way too much of the day playing Plants vs Zombies. Like seriously, way too much.

Also spent some time catching up with Stanley Bagshaw. Stanley Bagshaw is this English children's comic series. Little self contained volumes with great dynamic panels, full color, goofy characterizations, and a slight rhyme to the text. A little gem from my childhood. Bob Wilson, the creator, really knows his stuff.

Anyway, didn't do much today. There is a Port Townsend camping trip this weekend so I'll be away from the computer and forced to interact with my family and people that are almost family.

Mum bought these fancy, handcrafted frozen dinners for when she visited her folks. She had some left and we had the salmon and mango one for dinner last night and we had the cheese ham and chicken one for dinner tonight. I made the rice. I used chicken broth instead of water to make it extra tasty.

Watched Glee. A little comedy show with singing. It's about Glee Club.

Then mom and myself settled in for our favorite summer show: So You Think You Can Dance? The dances were, by majority, amazing. The worst were just good and even then it was still nice. There was a Bollywood number done to Jai Ho that blew me away. Literally! Dad had to pick me off the wall. Okay figuratively. But yeah, it was a good show. Have to find a way to keep up with it when I go back to Portland.

Oh lordy, I have not been art productive since I got up to Washington. Zine symposium is in a month and a half!!

on a boat

When I woke up no one was around. Mom eventually showed up and scrambled some eggs and reheated some potatoes. We all nibbled it and had a great breakfast while lounging on the lawn. Afterwards we played bocce. Dad was on my team. Mom won.

I am almost to level five on Plants vs Zombies! Exciting! I unlocked the puzzles. Wheee.

Mom left for work. Dad cleaned the boat. At around 3:30 we packed up snacks and headed out for Bremerton. The sailboat was looking good. Helped put it all together. I stood in the water and held the rope while lowering the boat into the water. We were at Lions Park. Mostly uninhabited.

The current took us pretty far away from our goal. When we got our sails up we were getting some good wind but it was just enough to keep us static. No more forward than backward. With aid from the motor we putted forward towards Evergreen Park.

In the boat were a couple of those squirt guns that are just like large needles where you stick it in water, pull the plunger back and fill it with water and then push it and out the water goes. I had fun filling and ejecting them out over the Puget Sound. Dad enjoying spraying one in a long arc that went across my face. He started it! I got him back real good. Hahahahh!

There was a picnic that occupied most of the park. I skirted around it and found the toilet. So dingy. So public toilet esque. Mom showed up and we hopped on the boat and went to the Boat Shed; a restaurant with a dock you can pull up to. We tied up and got a spot on the outside with a view of our boat. Dad had a burger, mom had the salad special, and I had the fish and chips (cod). Delicious! Mine was very light and filling. We scarfed it down. Dad finished moms. The waiter was very good at keeping us over hydrated.

After the meal we dropped mom at the park and we met her at Lions Park. She helped dad set the boat up while I relaxed. An ice cream truck came by but none of the parents coughed up any dough. Went home with dad, mom followed close behind. Got back at around 9:30. Long day on the water. Mmm.

excuuuuuse me for thinking the better of strangers

Karen has been posting pictures of her adventures in KC. The place she is in is a real sweet converted warehouse. http://toperceive.blogspot.com/

Lay in bed for a long time in the morning. Then I showered and moved to the hammock and cocooned in it. Had lasagna for breakfast (which was eaten at lunchtime so that's okay). Leveling up real well in Plants vs Zombies now. I hate the pool level. Such a challenge and with so few spaces it is a real pickle decided which plants to choose to fight the zombies with. Fun! I prefer the nighttime level.

Ma, pa, and myself went to see Star Trek. Third time for me. Still love it. Good old Poulsbo theatre. I got oil from the butter all over my pants. It just seeped through.

Afterwards we went to Lowe's hardware and picked up some hose and shovel.

Got right to washing clothes when we got home. Dinner was salmon with this mango sauce, potatoes, and broccoli. Then I went upstairs and watched television and played my game.

Forgot to mention that during the picnic this dad with three daughters pulled up in this old Volkswagen something that only he and Dan knew what the model was. We admired the awesome car greatly and we chatted with the dad about it. Really great looking car. Shiny and red.

I talked to ma and pa about couchsurfing.com and they made fun of me for being trustful of people.

port townsend picnic

Got up at 9:30 so I could figure out the picnic details. Mom had skittered off to a meditation thing at the Seabeck Conference Grounds for an hour so I had to wait for her return to tell people the plan. Played Plants vs Zombies. Still trying to figure out the save function.

The plan went down as such: at 12:30 we would set out for Fort Worden. Jeanette and Liam were about fifteen minutes behind us. Celia would arrive at 3ish after a meeting. Dorothy and Dan would show when we got there (they have the benefit of living in Port Townsend). Ma, Pa, and myself would visit the grandparents after the picnic.

It was cold so I brought my sweater and coat. Then it warmed up. It warmed and cooled through the day but overall wasn't that bad. We grabbed a table by the beach and put out a cloth and some of our food. Jeanette and Liam arrived and brought chilled soba noodle salad that was delicious! Mom bought a kite and Liam frolicked with it. We chowed down and soon enough Dorothy and Dan showed. We caught up on recent travels, finals, what everyone is up to. Ma made apple pie. Dorothy offered to share her slice but Dan took his own. Good thing because they finished both their piece. It was delicious. We played a little bocce. Liam won. Kid has a good arm. He is also freakishly tall for 6.

Celia didn't arrive till after Jeanette and Liam had headed out. We hugged and hugged some more. Her new hairdo is nice, would like to see it styled. Looks a bit like the second free haircut I got (I've gotten three now). Dad napped on the beach a little and later Celia and Mom napped while Dad, Dan, Dorothy, and Drill-I mean Trill- sat at the picnic table and nibbled on the remainders of the meal.

Eventually, around 5, we packed things up and parted ways. It was a wonderful day. A nice little meal, nice little company. Many hugs.

After we went to Mats Mats and visited grandma and grandpa Spencer. I was barely in the door before they gave me $2 for my comic. Hurray! Eight bucks later and I will make back the paper costs. We all we given another Klondike bar. Mmm! Pa was starting to drift to sleep pretty quick so we cut it short a little early.

I napped on the way back and have since woken myself up by watching The Tonys and catching up on the internet.

A lovely little visit. And people really noticed how long my hair has become.

dads home!

Didn't get a good night sleep. Full moon and lots of thoughts of zombies. Oooh. Well not thoughts but dreams.

Played more Plants vs Zombies. And watched Dead Set, this BBC show about a zombie set from the point of view of characters trapped in the Big Brother house. Heh. Lots of zombies. I was expecting it to be more of a comedy but even so it is pretty gnarly. Needed a little break from Band of Brothers.

Didn't get to reading today. Dad came home around 3 and mum and I went to Silverdale to pick him up. He was waiting inside but we didn't notice so we parked. But only for like, 3 minutes. After he came over we went to Costco so he could get his Clive Cussler novel. Then, peckish, we went to Olive Garden. Not so fancy by Portland standards but Portland is Portland and Silverdale is Silverdale and lasagna is lasagna. There were lots of prom kids coming and going. Mom found out she didn't like gnocchi. Booo!! Gnocchi is awesome.

We went home and both mom and pop took naps. Both got up at 5am. I, getting up at 9am, just played on my computer. The weather isn't fun anymore. It is gray and cold and so not perfect for bocce or lawn reading. Not cool mother nature, not cool!

Almost caught up to where I was in Plants and Zombies. Watched another episode of Pushing Daisies with mum when she got up from her nap. Had some juice.

Now I'm actually tired so I'll go to sleep soon. After Conan. Picnic possibilities tomorrow!

boccelism

Ma was gone again today, but only for a few hours. Almost done with Band of Brothers. Have to finish it to find out who won the second World War, it's a real nail biter!

Dad is coming home tomorrow! Hurray! I'll see him and I'll hug him and then he will pass out from exhaustion for three days like usual.

When mum got home we watched our last 3 Movies 3 Days 3 Dollar movie: Bella. A lovely little story about family and life and whatever. It was good. The portrayal of Jose was great. Wonderful actor. The actress playing Nina was a bit of a drip and not sympathetic at the start. It was a nice little thing.

We had to go to Seabeck to return the movies. Afterwards we went to Barbie's Cafe; a restaurant located on the working part of the pier. I had the French Dip and mom had the Fishwich. An old couple sat next to us and didn't say a word to each other during their entire meal. My bread was a little heavily toasted but it was still good. Perfect size meal. Mum pouted that if Dad were here, he could finish her sandwich. Heheh.

Upon return we tossed a tennis ball a few times for Holly and then played Bocce Ball. We left the palmino (white ball, maybe it is called pamino) in the same place. Mom won 10-3.

Mom and I popped open our respective ice cream pints (Cherry Garcia for mom, Karamel Sutra for Trilly) and popped in The Goonies and relaxed. Well, I started playing Plants vs Zombies but I was watching over the top of my laptop. Heheh. Addictive game. Just gets ore and more challenging! It is well designed as well. Go plants!

visitations

Today was the first of hopefully many days of getting out of the house and seeing my dear family.

Noonish or whatever mom and I set out into the bright bright day. Swung through Silverdale with some errands. Another brilliant day. This one was just close to unbearable at times. Bleh.

The new bridge to the other side was open. It's all square and beige and new looking. We were about 10 minutes too late and the bridge was raised for this huge crane tug boat thing to go through. The boat took its sweet time getting through and the bridge stayed up for a looooong time after. Maybe it got stuck a little bit while going up and down. After 20-30 minutes we were able to cross.

Saw Grandma Pedersen up in Port Townsend. Watched Animal Planet and petted the little dog. Mum chatted mostly. It was quiet and the trees were nice.

After Grandma P we visited the Grandparents Spencer. The Luna was in a prime position in the entrance and my Christmas portrait was framed on the TV case. Trillart everywhere! I ate a Klondike bar and we caught up about the happenings. A little bitty hummingbird was going at the feeder. We joked about how all these bears have been seen in Poulsbo and how it might just be the same bear seen a lot of times. Heh. It was a little visit as mom had an appointment.

The bridge was down so we got to Silverdale on time, even a little early! Picked up some Emerald City Smoothies. Mum went to her thing and I walked to the Silverdale Beach and read my book.

Upon our return we relaxed and chilled. So hot. Hot hot. HOOOOT!!

We finished up Talk To Me. It was good. Taraji P Henson stole the movie really. Good performances. I wasn't totally gripped but the movie had some nice moments. S'okay. yeah.

Now mum and I are watching So You Think You Can Dance.

A brilliant sunset had a rainbow on the other side. A few droplets came from the sky and a wind blew. Interesting weather.

wow

Just beautiful.

in and out (not the burger)

My girl in Kansas City seems to be living it up. Karen is all over the place having adventures. Go her!

Mum was working again so I alternated between reading Pygmy and watching Band of Brothers. Now I can tell in Pygmy the parts that are Palahniuk's style. Still, it is a fun read. It wasn't scorching hot, just cozy warm. Sat on the lounge chairs on the lawn. It was nice.

Mum brought home groceries. Helped her put them away. We watched the new season of So You Think You Can Dance. Right now it is wheedling down to the top 20. So You Think You Can Dance is my favorite talent based reality TV show. Mostly because it requires a great deal of actual talent. After that we watched Talk to Me. Well we watched about half of it. Mummy got a bit tired so we'll finish it.

little sketches, saved for 70 years

Mom brought me breakfast in bed. Poached egg on an english muffin with melted cheese. Juice was on the side and the other half of the muffin toasted and buttered for consumption. She brought it in on a little tray, both her meal and mine. She sat on a chair in my room and I sat in bed and we enjoyed the little meal together. Mmm! She had work from noon till seven so off she went.

I sat out on the lawn and read and napped and read some more. Dozed for a little bit. Got some sun but nothing is burned.

I started reading Pygmy, the new book by Palahniuk. It is a little bit of a complex read because the main character doesn't speak good English and is written from his point of view. Still, very enjoyable. Lots of sort of demented stuff Palahniuk is known for. It is half to be expected and the other half is enjoying that it isn't written like most of his other work (I'm thinking of Choke and Lullaby mostly). But still, I'm only 30 pages in.

Ma came home and we went to get Seabeck Pizza. A girl I graduated with was working there, still is working there. I think she worked at Seabeck Pizza when we were in High School. Forgot her name but she remembered me. Megan? I'll look at my yearbook later. Half cheese, half veggie. All thick and delicious. Mmm.

We went for the 3 days 3 movies deal at Seabeck Store. Tonight's movie was King of California, a tale of a young daughter and her slightly mental father and their connection. The dad was set on finding this buried gold and the daughter had to look out for him. It was a little slow but the cinematography was great. Evan Rachel Wood was pretty and Michael Douglas had a wicked beard. Not suggested for everyone but I liked it.

After dinner, Mom and I poured over some of Grandpa John's photo albums from the 40's and print portfolios. Just amazing. Every now and again was a little doodle or sketch of some long forgotten probably inside joke.

I'd like some freckles please

Sunday:

We slept way way in. I think we decided to go get some breakfast at around 1pm. Heh. A little overcast but still warm. Burger Place was our breakfast/lunch destination. Llyw and I ordered it to go and went to a little picnic area in a nearby park and watched bicyclists go by.

It was a very low key day. There was hammock sitting and chilled mixed drinks to be enjoyed. I had an upset tummy at various points during the day. When the sun went down we folded laundry and watched Derren Brown. Nice little day. Nothing consequential.

Monday:

The loud loud birds woke me up early and kept me up. All too soon Llyw got up for work and I followed suit. I was out the door about fifteen minutes after he left for work and the 66 came 15 minutes late. The Bainbridge Island Ferry was just at the terminal when I arrived so I went with that (even though mom would be late picking me up because the ride to the ferry is longer than the ferry ride itself). I worked on reading The Road once again. It got too tense and scary and I had to put it away for a while till a good time came to pick it up again. And this time was now

The ride and the wait for mom went by real fast with the company of the book. So good. It was a beautiful ride home. Lovely day. Dad is still in Europe till Friday. Booo!! We went home and I saw Holly and Basil. Basil is so fat. Really really big. I'm not sure if she has gained weight or just being away has made me forget how morbidly obese she really is.

Did my laundry. Hung it up on the clothes line. Ma and I sat on the lawn chairs and read from or respective books. Caught up about stuff. We went into Silverdale and got some Origami Sushi. Mmm Origami Sushi. Good stuff. Their caterpillar roll is done up with a little face. It's cute. Deposited a check. Went to World Market and got some digestive bickies. Went to Barnes and Noble and picked up Palahniuk's Pygmy. Summer reading, here I come!

The plants are thriving and overtaking the house. Jade is everywhere. Mom is indicating all the various things she wants me to have if I get the house. I took a lengthy nap later on. Feel like I got some good sun. Mmm.

It's so quiet in Seabeck.

Pixar does it again

Saturday wasn't the scorcher Friday was. It was warm but tolerable.

So what does one do on a nice day? Why go to the movies of course! Llyw and I went and saw the new Pixar movie Up at the Neptune Theatre. It was in 3D as well, like with the polarized glasses that make things pop and not that red and blue kind. It was an early afternoon showing and so there were tons of kids. They were not really all that loud. The movie had some trouble starting but once it did the audience was pretty much quiet all the way through. Some adult audiences are never this quiet.

Up was a really wonderful movie. A wonderful little story about an old man attaching balloons to his house and travelling to South America to fulfill his late wife's desire for adventure. There were talking animals and large birds and plenty of heartfelt moments that were not overwrought in the slightest. Highly recommended!

There was lots of sitting around the apartment. We went to Trader Joe's and Safeway and picked up some fixings for dinner. Llyw cooked up a nice little beef stirfry with rice. Mmm, tasty. Then we watched Little Miss Sunshine. A relaxing little day. Maybe we will get out and about today. Who knows.

way too much sun for seattle

Woke up at 8, got up at 8:40, and was clean and dressed by 9. Good thing I got an early start because I was informed that the Illustration Juried Show pieces are in a location possibly in danger of getting the ol’ End of Year Schoolwide Dumpster Drop. Mostly it is the classrooms and 3D building that get emptied. Anyway, yeah. Got my stuff together real quick. I was just out the door when I realized I was leaving an hour ahead of time and could probably bike to school and back and not have to deal with lugging my suitcase an extra mile and a half. Good thing too because it was hot out and even being in a light shirt dress and short pants got me over heating.

The pieces were not in the Illustration room. I checked the flat file drawers twice and looked all around but they were not there. Asked other people but no one had a clue. Vanishing juried show pieces! I just had to accept that if they get trashed today, they will. And hope they are hidden enough to survive a couple weeks. Maybe Jen will grab them. The security guy said that they probably won’t get trashed as it is mostly class rooms that are getting emptied and if they are tucked away. Hmm. I just had to accept it and leave because I couldn’t wait around any more minutes.

Power biked home, grabbed my suitcase and backpack and left! The street car was just a 3 minute wait. Perfect timing! A minute more at school would have forced me to walk all the way down to Glisan. Just to street car and from there to the train had me way too sweaty. Bleh. Checked my bag, got some Gatorade, and waited with plenty of time. Better to rush and find you have too much then to rush and keep rushing till you sit down. I don’t do well with sudden compacted stress. Now I am waiting for the train to start so I can go to the dining cart and get an almost proper meal.

The order of the streets in the Alphabetic District, as best as I can remember them:
Ankeny
Burnside
Couch
Davis
Everett
Flanders
Glisan
Hoyt
Irving
Johnson
Kearney
Lovejoy
Marshall
Northrupp
Overton
Pettygrove
Quincy
Raleigh
S?
Thurman
U?
Vaughn
WXYZ?

The hotdog and chocolate milk are sitting quite well in my stomach. At first I was a little queasy, probably because I skipped breakfast and then had to do all these errands. But now, mmm delicious. Watching Forrest Gump and enjoying the ride.



Got to Seattle safe and sound! The 73 was right there when I got to the express tunnel. It didn’t get quite packed but still I made sure that I wasn’t one of those jerks who set their bags next to them to avoid human interaction.

Chris Peeler and I planned to get together for a little bit. He arrived in the U District about 10 minutes after I did. I dropped my bags off at Llyw’s and walked up 43rd and there was my old friend looking all college like in his plaid shirt. We had iced beverages at Sureshot (which advertised air conditioning in the window) then ice cream at Hagen Daz. I had the caramel cone flavor. It was delicious. Gave Chris a copy of my comic and a Lucky Luna and walked him to his bus stop.

Llyw and I went out for Pho. I had the kind with beef. Very delicious. It was a really beautiful night; still warm from the high 80’s sun but not sweaty heat. I wore my new shirt dress I got on my shopping expedition with Karen a week ago. Llyw is going to Ireland for a month and a half! It is through his job and all that. Way cool. Wish I could tag along but I have, ya know, art and stuff to do.

swears and mad stacks of comics

Final round of screenprinting!

Cherish was in the studio with visiting family members. She was doing a print for them based after pictures that the kids drew. A nice little bunch. The design was cool. A little array of kids drawings and adults work.

When I was returning the emulsion to the fridge, I dropped it! It didn't tip but there was a long drop of it that went into the screens. Could have had more that spilled. Just a half cup. It mostly sprayed on the edges and I was quick to wipe it up and wipe it off. When I dropped it, I said a bad word. I don't think the kids were old enough to catch it (and it was more of a cry then a full swear).

One of my screens got water on the emulsion before it had dried so I had to do that one later.

Used a nice blue to do the back cover. No loss of comics there. I didn't loose any with the cover. Enlarged a different panel and made a new design. The copier and computer room is open in the library, just a different set of doors is open.

While I was waiting for the second screen to dry, I used drawing fluid and created a poster for free Yoga on my other screen. A long design to go on these scraps I found. Could have been neater but it does stand out as handmade. I printed the posters while waiting for Matt to show up. Got the covers done in what seemed like record time. Printed so many of the Yoga fliers. I'll put more up when I come back to Portland.

I have 82 total comics to sell once again! Hurray! 82 comics x 8 different images needing to be printer = 656 pulls. Probably closer to 700 based on number of prints that didn't work out.

When Matt showed, I cleaned my screen. I was just giving him a little screen demo. He is borrowing mine for a little bit while I'm out of town and needed to be refreshed on wear and care. Or something. Anyway, he bought me Quizno's in exchange for the brief screen loan. Whoo!

Rode home. I inflated my tires last night so my baby is like a dream again. Packing my suitcase. I'm not bringing my whole portfolio up. Next time, when I am up in August I will bring my work. I do have some comics stowed away for people with $2.

Tomorrow I take the train up to Seattle. Supposed to be in the 80's. Nice!

6/8

Another day mostly spent in the lab (well, I say mostly but what I mean is only 7 hours).

The emulsion was filled! Brand new, pretty and pliable. Spread it all across my screens. I was feeling a bit rushed so I did rush it a little. Exposed and then washed them before they were really dry. It only caused some minor rippling on one of the screens and so one of the pages has some slight imperfections. Oh well.

Tricia was printing some cake boxes and business cards. Someone took one of her Thesis books because a sign said take one and the take one was indicating her business cards, which were all gone. Dang!

Some dudes printed some portfolio covers and posters. They were nice. I think one was named Justin.

Ali printed some patches for Last Thursday.

I just print, print, printed. The numbers are looking to be the high 80's. Pretty good. The last color turned this hideous poo color instead of this pink. I should have changed colors when it became clear that it wasn't going to look good but I kept with it. A lot of them had blowout (too much ink went through the screen). Oh well, I'm selling hand printed comics for cheap so no one can complain. Hear that!

I want to redesign the cover for the second printing, but that just means getting access to the copier. If it can be done, I'll do it.

Worked for so long with just some smart puffs, chocolate milk, cookies, and root beer to keep me going.

Gabe made a lovely little pasta dinner. Mmm!

Finishing up printing tomorrow. Then packing!

still only $2! (or should I raise it to $3?)

Gabe hand made some pita bread and for breakfast I had a chicken, tomato, lettuce, mayo, pita bread sandwich. Mmm it was quite good! Well it was more like a late lunch. I didn't eat it till I got to school and was waiting for my screens to dry.

I left my main keys at home because Katie was gone and Gabe needed to get in and out. He was going to be around the apartment all day so no big thing. Dominic offered to help me print, so that was awesome. Yay.

The emulsion was down to a half inch worth of viscous dregs. I barely got enough out of the tub to fill the width of the trough spreader. Most of my screens I had to apply the emulsion with a piece of card. See, to put the emulsion on the screen you first pour it into a little handheld trough and then it evens out and with one swipe you can get it nice and covered. But it needs to move and not have chunks to do it easily. I managed to get just enough to cover my three screens. Took some work but I did it.

Used my old transfers and it all went on okay. Dominic stopped by to help when I was in the middle of my first page. He printed the second page and when I used up my pile of paper I printed on the ones he printed and when he finished printing his pile he did the ones I did. We met in the middle and we got about 90 comics done in about an hour and a half. Well 2 pages done. Hurray!

Michaela, Dom's gal, stopped by. I offered her a Luna but she said she already had one that someone have left behind! Well so sad for that person who left it but great that it is found art! Ali was also in. We all talked zines and selling and buying and plans for the symposium.

I did the third by myself and that was very much slow going but not so bad. 3/8 pages done! The second printing looks to probably be about the same number as the first (70). Lost a couple here and there. This one has more green and blue in its colors and I might change the cover. Include a little subheading that says second printing. Boast how well it sold. Heh.

Plan to do another three tomorrow. The emulsion is out, sure, but I think there was a little canister of the green variety. Well I saw it, I just didn't know if it belonged to anyone. No name. I'll give it a shot, I won't use that much as I tend to scrape as much back into the tub as possible. Some people are very wasteful and just wash out the trough with it still mostly full. Bah!

There was a second reception for the MFA Thesis Show so I grabbed some snacks. Talked to Matt and wished Andy a happy birthday. Then I went home. Gabe lowered my keys down on a fishing line from our balcony. Tom was visiting. After printing I was pretty wiped out so I just ate and kicked back. More printing tomorrow! Want to get another 3 pages done. Then 2 the next day. That way I can return and sell plenty back to my dear family!

come June 1st, I'll be rocking Puget Sound.

My first sleep in past noon!

Today was a lovely day but I wanted to get a start on printing so I tried to round up someone to assist me. Jason was foolish enough to agree to learn how to print. Hahaha. Anyway, he came in from Beaverton and walked down to school.

And it was one of the two days of the year that campus is actually closed! Memorial day! Argh! What a scam. It is also Towel Day for all the hoopy froods out there.

So we went and got ice cream and watched all the kids play in the fountain. I had a root beer float and he had the hazel nut type. We walked down to the waterfront and walked down waterfront park. The Rose City Festival is going on but the rides didn't look fun and we didn't feel like paying to get in. So we just walked past the festival. A late lunch was enjoyed at Rock Bottom Brewery. I tried the Morrison St. Stout. It was creamy and delicious. With it I had the Sonoma Chicken wrap. Tasty also. Good fries. We sat in the outdoor area and shared a time people watching.

Nice little day, even if I didn't get to print.

And I heard back about the internship, sorta. Rustin still wants to meet and see how the internship would work, but he is in Queens for the next few weeks. Just as well because Trillian is coming home to Washington! I'll be up in Seattle for a couple days then on Monday I shall hop the ferry over and return to beloved Seabeck.

almost like a cliche afternoon

I had a cup of tea very late last night and couldn't get a good wink of sleep. Argh! Oh well. Just read from my Encyclopedia of Death and watched bits of the sunset. It was pretty.

Oatmeal and tea for breakfast. Mmm.

Jen and I got together to watch The Brothers Bloom, the new movie by Rian Johnson (he directed Brick). It was the early showing. A brilliant beautiful day. Almost hate to waste a part of it inside, but hey I got to see it for free with a groovy chick so yay.

Brothers Bloom was as good as I expected it to be and even better. When it was delightful, it was perfectly so and when it was serious it carried that well. It had the right blend of characters and reality while suspending disbelief. A lovely little romance story. It is about two con men brothers, Stephen and Bloom (Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody, respectively) who plan one last con on this rich shut in (Rachel Weisz). They travel the globe and have an adventure with their silent Japanese demolitions expert. It was really nice. Highly enjoyable but not fluffer. The color was nice, the costumes were impeccable. I just want to watch it again!

When I walked back along the park blocks I saw:
Three young boys skateboarding and one of them was working up the courage to skate down some stairs.
A small group of outdoor yoga enthusiasts.
Lots of chalk art.
"Capitalism allows creative freedom" written in chalk.
Old folks taking a slow meander.
Young folks playing guitars.
People staring at the clouds from a spot on the grass.

It was all very serene.

Then I ate a bunch of ice cream! Yay!

Rested a little and then went to check out the BFA/MFA Thesis show. It was crowded and I was anxious from almost the first minute being there. Lots of people drinking free wine and mingling in nice clothes. I just sweated and had a hard time focusing and didn't really want to talk to anyone. Lots of neat work, lots of confusing conceptual stuff, and of course a few, "Lookitme I'm breaking the barriers of sexual identity!" things. It was far too crowded to properly enjoy. So I got outta there (talked to Jon and Jim a little) and rode home as fast as I could.

Talked to mom who has some bread from San Fransisco that she is going to eat all by herself in Seabeck! Someone, quick, visit her!

Watched No Heroics, a show Colin suggested. Real life lazy super hero type show. British people, the Nathan Barley crew.

So tired. Time for night night.

The Road. So good.

It is 2:20 am and I had to force myself to put down The Road. I am like, 230 pages into it! I knocked off well over half of it in a day. I'm such a slow reader and it is hard for something to grab me this much to just keep going no matter how long I take reading it. So good. I was up late reading it and just the morning I spent reading. I had a stuffy nose so I took a decongestant but it made me way too drowsy and I fell asleep for quite a few many hours.

I didn't plan to do this little today but then again, I didn't really have plans.

But I'm having fun not focusing at all. Tomorrow there is the opening of the thesis shows so I'll have to leave for that.

Gabe's friend Chaz visited and we all hung out and talked about British TV, comics, travels, and whatever else came to mind. Sat about enjoying a mild night.

And eating ice cream. Mmm. Mini drumsticks rock!

The tension in The Road is insane. Right now he is just scavenging this boat and the tide is coming in and he just keeps looking for more and more! Sometimes they stay for so little time in one place and too long in others. It is a post apocalyptic tale about a father and son going across the burned land and trying to find the coast. It is so tense and I know that next time I sit down to read it, I'll finish it.