comfortably busy

Almost a week behind at this point, I think barring my road trip I've never gotten this behind.

So where do I begin? Oh! I think I'm going to get my own internet because it's much too difficult to troubleshoot when I'm boosting it from Celia's and a reliable connection would be awesome, and then I can move my wifi booster to the garage so that it extends up there for guests!

Work was fine. Did I cover that I double teamed rooms with Ginger? We did it so fast when we worked together! I also did some gardening. Simple weeding. And a deep clean on one room and now it looks so good. The main offender was removing scuff marks. I need to learn how to make spam musubi. It's so good.

The power went out, and I remembered after the fact it was scheduled. The batteries in the big lamp are dead so I got the propane going no problem (barring maybe turning it up a bit too much to start).

I decided to go down to Portland for Bridgetown Comedy Fest. I want to see more comedy this year and the shows seemed fun and there were some people I wanted to see perform (Eliza Skinner mostly) so I thought, why not take a day and go see a few things? And then since Doug Fir was close to Mel, I asked if she wanted to see a thing with me and she said yeah! So I left at 3 and got to a very warm Portland at 6:30. Parked in residential, met up with Mel and off we walked down Burnside to the Doug Fir, which is a venue I've been to before for a Violent Pink show.

The first show of the night was Baked! which was a combo music and standup thing. Steve Agee and Brendan Smalls fronted a band and did some jokes and there was a bassist and piano guy and drummer and they jammed and I left the program I grabbed at Mel's so I can't double check the names. So they played songs and mashed some up and joked and had doughnuts as it was National Doughnut Day and an audience member tried to stuff one in her face on a dare and she couldn't do it.

Eliza Skinner killed it. She was hilarious and she sung a song with the band and it was AWESOME. Sara Schaefer also killed it. Both excellent hilarious ladies. Julian McCollugh wasn't such a great follow up, though it's interesting to see someone not do totally well. But hey, Portland isn't the best city to make moderately racist jokes in. He wasn't booed but he did get the light (the timing light) and I wonder if that made it so Jonah Ray couldn't do a set. He stilled jammed with the band and was an excellent drummer AND singer. But I'd have liked to have seen him do a set (limited time at the show, ya know). Still, it was excellent and I was happy to have Mel there with me. She's an awesome person!

We hugged and I hoofed it down to Yamhill to see the Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction show at Refuge PDX. A bigger space and I met Evan Dumas there (one half of Man's Face Stuff) who had a pass to the show and is such a great guy that he'd be willing to see a very filthy comedy show with me. The eight comedians were divided into two rounds. One half had prepared material, the other half had suggestions and went on later in the show. So they read out loud written fan fictions about different topics. Slaughterhouse Five, DB Cooper, Party of Five, Star Wars...and it was raunchy and gross and hilarious and awful and amazing all at once. Sabrina Jalees won for her Party of Five piece (which was well deserved and I hollered for her the loudest). Star Wars though, by Dan Telfner (Tenfler err I could Google but I'm lazy) was a close second.

The next round had Gus from The Simpsons by Bill Dwyer. Jurassic Park by err... John F D'Onnell. Another guy did Pantera and he'd obviously not heard of the band and had wikipedia'd them and it was a pretty brilliant piece of writing with lots of references to their song titles followed by "like our song?" "yes, like our song". And Moshe Kasher, you know...from NPR, closed it out with an eloquent narrative about Cthulhu that was...yeah. It was pretty gross and visual. He won. Tried to get Madeline to come to the show but she was tired.

From there, Evan and I walked back up to Burnside for the late show at Doug Fir. We had a nice chat and he ended up not watching the show due to being tired. But it's all good. I sat in the front and sketched and had a blast. Zak Toscani was MCing and he had a nice jacket. Matthew Brossaud Brossard Browhatever is MY AGE and recorded a special. He had really nice hair and a few good jokes. Andy Wood informed us that Ali had died. The murmur of us not knowing rippled through the audience. Bill Dwyer had kinda basic marriage material. Wasn't into it. Nick Youssef was hilarious and had a very tight and well paced set. I tweeted the drawings I did of him and he's retweeted him so he's pretty much my favorite right now, haaa. Sabrina Jalees was on this set too and she was great! My alarm went off during her set and thankfully it was timed well. I felt bad though. Totally forgot it was going to go off (it's a daily regular alarm reminder). Brooks Wheelan was drunk but in his defense it was after midnight in a fun city. And while he also got the light, he wasn't a total mess and did get some good jokes out. Dwayne Perkins closed it out with some kinda dated material about Americans not knowing the PM of Canada. Now they've got that dreamboat Trudeau...we know who their PM is. Still funny. A great set to end an amazing day on. I walked back to Mel and Alain's and we chilled for a bit then went to bed (they have a guest bed). In the morning Mel made AMAZING oatmeal with coconut and bits of apple. And her coffee was great.

After breakfast and chatting, I got in my car and headed north. I used the spare change of clothes I've had in my car for emergencies for several years. Always good to have a spare, and the pants fit better now than when I decided they would do in an emergency pinch (they were a bit tight at that point but not something to be thrown out). So in full pants and a black shirt I drove north and melted and got sweaty and gross and hated everything. I swung through Silverdale and ran errands and went home and stripped down and stood in the Hood Canal for a while to cool off. Then I napped and drew and cleaned house and went to bed.

So I think that brings us to today? Yeah Sunday. Baby shower day. I tidied up a bit. Did some laundry. Went up to Port Townsend for Raechel's baby shower. Coworker, ya know! She had the baby very quick. Early by a few days. I got to hold him for a second. The shrimp I gave to the boss were turned into the meal at the shower. A nice sort of ... shrimp thing to put on toast. Mixed with basil and tomatoes. Really good! Got compliments on the quality of the shrimp. Glad I could contribute. Cake was lemon curd and raspberry and was yummy. It was a nice turn out of most of the crew and everyone was nice. I like my coworkers and bosses. They're a good bunch. AND they said I could put stickers on my work bucket, huzzah!

I helped tidy then I went to QFC and managed to remember all the ingredients for the curry I want to make (I left the list at home). Took me a while to find the coconut milk. At home I got that crock potting, and I washed the car because it was getting a bit dusty and bug splatty. And now my curry is smelling pretty good. So I think on that note I'll go have a bit for a late dinner (actually I need to get the rice going) and tomorrow starts another work week. Then a four day weekend that includes a wedding!!! Then more work. Then might go to Seattle to see John.

My life is comfortably busy and I love it.

the 2015 Seattle Art Fair

What an amazing wonderful fun filled day!

My alarm went off at 6:45am. Did not like that one bit. I rolled out of bed at 7:15ish and got showered and made up and put on a nice dress and coordinated my jewelry on the gold side of my collection annnndd I took out my earrings and put on the geometric triangular ones with abstract dangly bits. I think I can declare my ear healed!

Poured out some cheerios and headed out to Bremerton. Got to Karen's with plenty of time to go to the ferry. We walked from her place, much easier than dealing with driving. Today we were going to the 2015 Seattle Art Fair! Which was in the Century Link Exhibition Hall. Lots of galleris bringing art to represent. New art, old art, big sculptures, interactive things. Heather was there representing the gallery she manages/works for Upfor Gallery, and she scored us a couple VIP passes! So rad.

We caught the 9:45, and arrived at the center shortly after it opened. I had a hot dog on the ferry and split some fries with Karen at a food truck just outside the center. Then in we went! Daniel (of Heather and Daniel) was there too. Ahhh the hall was massive, but not crowded! Just the right amount of people were there to create an interesting variety of fashion, but not enough to hinder art access.

There was what I believe to be a Murakami, not a Koonz.

All three Wyeths were represented.

There were so many women artists. Enough that when you saw a painting and saw it was by a woman, it didn't stand out as being one out of 80, ya know?

I treated myself to a deluxe coffee, which has grass fed butter as the cream component. It was so smooth and delicious! Some of the best coffee I've had in a while. Daniel let me have a few bites of his french toast doughnut.

Karen and I got to chat briefly with one artist: Regina Scully, Very dynamic work. Lively, confidant, fun, interesting color schemes. And also almost affordable! There were 500k pieces in the hall, so seeing one for 3k was reasonable. It made me think more about the print I'm adding to my collection and how stoked I am for it.

Also represented and memorable: Masami Teraoka's contemporary Japanese woodblock prints, Popel Coumou's gentle surrealist landscapes, Dutin Yellin's collage work that was layered between sheets of glass which created a three dimensional object when all pressed together. Really something to behold and walk around and look into. The Eulogy by Patricia Piccinini was this very realistic sculpture of a man holding a blobfish. I saw Piccinini's The Hug at the Frye back in 2007. Nice little memory/call back. I took a silly picture with The Eulogy, because I'm a goober. Andrew Stevovich had some great paintings. Very nicely framed with distinct figures. Al Farrow's Wrath & Reverence was a concept we've seen before but executed in the most perfect manner. So perfect that it was refreshed and intelligent. Yeah. Some really good work.

We sat and chatted with Daniel for a bit in the middle of the day, then at the end we got tacos at a food card (me one veggie one shrimp, Karen two veggie and an empanada) and Daniel walked us to the 3pm ferry (Karen had stuff to do). We had a nice journey back. Lots of talk of the new future and what it may or may not bring. I picked up my comic box in the blessedly air conditioned comic shop and went home. Traffic was a bit of a bummer, though no major slow downs. Just cars a plenty.

I watered plants and now it's late and I must sleep. Tomorrow I''ll tidy up and go dog sit! And when I come back, Brynne will be here.

Shrimpfest 2X15

My body hurts. I did a bunch of walking today and I'm tired. Whewww! But uhh Friday:

Friday:

A really, wholly do nothing day. I had eggs and bacon and toast with jam. I had coffee. I watered the plants a bit. I watched TV. I lounged a bit. Read an essay on Tinder. Tindr. That app. It was a really good essay, Chris linked me it. Then I climbed back into my warm cocoon. Oh, I did some laundry too.

Saturday:

Set my alarm so that I wouldn't sleep through half of Shrimpfest. Got up, had some fluids and coffee and crumpet with jam. Got dressed in the clothes that I would wear in a cartoon: black jeans, Palladiums, black hoodie, graphic tee, leather jacket. The graphic tee was the Anadrill one. Representing at Shrimpfest!! I did my makeup in the purple & gray style. Looked like this:

I try to look distinct.

I opted to walk to Shrimpfest because exercise is good and I figured I'd have a few beers and I didn't want to pay for parking (though now I know that parking is free, still the second point stands). I grabbed my umbrella (white for best visibility) and strode out. The initial hill was tricky and my ankle was feeling jammed (like it was a year and a bit ago at the end of my time in Santa Cruz, I should get it checked out by a doctor) but as I started going down the hill it loosened up and started feeling much better. It was raining, but not intensely so. Still my shoes got a bit damp (I need proper walking rain boots). There was a decent line at Shrimpfest and I joined the credit card line and paid my way in. Struck up a conversation with this guy Larry in line, I would run into him a couple times over the fest. Nice fella, and his son was named Nathan.

I hit up an ATM once inside and bought some shrimp beads to represent. There was a band playing some cover songs, and they were fun. I got a garlic dog with onions (ordered it right after Larry & Nathan) and consumed it under a mounted umbrella. Very delicious and warm and filling. I did a circuit of the vendor booths. I filled out a form at the Habitat for Humanity booth, smelled soaps, looked at sand blasted glass mugs, and bought a whoopie pie for first dessert. Yummy! At this point I entered the beer garden and grabbed a beer and a seat and got to something sketching and much needed sitting. I can only be on my feet for so long. Larry joined me for a second and I sketched him and he told me "I'm made of old leather" as a way to discourage me from drawing him. His son also studies art as it turns out, and we chatted briefly across the Beer Garden barrier about brush pens.

Had a second brewski and drew more by myself. I walked around a bit more. Wished there was some cotton candy. I like cotton candy. There was popcorn but ehhh I don't want popcorn all the time. Bought a little nice smelling soap and a doggy treat for Banjo. Penultimately I consumed a funnel cake with powdered sugar and maple on top. Last funnel cake I consumed was in Marietta (Mariette?), Pennsylvania with Rainbow at that stormed out Seven Bridges concert in the park.

Finished the whole cake and stuffed and tired, I dragged myself home. Woof that was an exhausting walk. Did not like the up hills, but eventually it was all downhill. The rain has stopped by then, and the clicker at the gate said 2000 people at visited! Good turn out. Tomorrow is the belt sander races, but I'm not returning.

Celia stopped by and we chatted. I went pajama mode the instant I got home. I'm stuck on a really hard level in Bubble Fins. Jooosshhhh help!!!

Oh and one of Rachel's friends is doing a Highway 101 bike trip, so I may do the kind host thing like so many people did for me a year ago.

Here are more photos: