♥ stormy

Stayed in bed till noon. Past noon even. Had a dream I was on Britain's Next Top Model. I came in half way through and all the judges loved me. We had a challenge where we had to decorate a mannequin display. To do so we had to locate the pieces of clothing by shifting through this pile of parchment. Most of them contained DaVinci's drawings or food recipes. I couldn't find the one that listed the directory for wigs. I tried to imagine my mannequin turning into Al Gore to keep me in the dream but alas, I still woke up.

Showered, tidied a little bit. Gabe made eggs and hash browns. Almost done with Dead Like Me. Taking a really depressing turn, still enjoy it. Not quite as charming as Pushing Daisies.

The day went by really fast. Staying in bed really late helps for that. Packed things up. I don't have that much to bring home but when it comes to having to lug a few big bags versus one suitcase, I went with the suitcase.

Katie's sister K...Katherine. No. K-something. Shoot. Anyway, she came over and so did Luke. We four went out to the southeast. We went to Devil's Point. A strip club. Now I know mom doesn't quite approve. Says they take advantage of women. I don't know about that when it comes to Devil's Point. Those ladies seem to know exactly what they are doing. Stormy, Rocket, Piper, and Gwen. They danced and scores of people tossed money on the stage. Gwen played with fire. It was really cool the first time but after that it became evident she only knew the same four tricks. Still, pretty cool thing to watch. Stormy is the notorious dancer. So notorious that I had heard of her through the Portland comic scene. She was a flirt. Danced mostly with the audience. When the large crew of lesbians came in, wow they went wild for her. Hard to get a spot at the stage near the end. Rocket had some sweet moves. Very energetic. These ladies are in shape. It takes a lot to do some of the moves that they do. Anyway. Yeah. I had fun. It was a pretty cool place. Only one stage. Small. Kody, of Kurt and Kody, showed up. I sat at the stage for a couple numbers. Stormy was friendly towards me. The girls dug her, the guys were more reluctant towards her charms. None of the dancers looked emaciated, which was nice.

So yeah. Had fun there. Probably will catch Mom's evil eye tomorrow for it but whatever. This ain't Kitsap.

papa berger

Bleh. Feel terrible. Short disrupted sleep does not work.

Started the day with helping Doug and Rick move Karen's stuff. Doug is Karen's pop and Rick is his friend. Phil and Andy Bone came and helped, as did Gabe. Karen has a HUGE amount of stuff. It filled a whole Uhaul. The kind with the attic space, not the trailer. And I mean filled. Books, shelves, clothes, craft things, couch, cabinets. Tons of stuff. That little lady is more of a collector than me, she just has organizational skills.

Gabe was blown away by the scale of the boxes. He had not seen her place before. We worked for two hours. I mostly helped by keeping doors open. I'm not good at lifting. At noon Andy left for work and the rest of us got pizza. Mmm Pizza. Good ol' Bellagio's. Doug, or rather Mr. Berger, is really nice. He lives in Poulsbo. They upgraded from Bremerton.

The rest was the light stuff and cleaning. I scrubbed the walls a little bit and swept. So empty. I wonder how many boxes I'll move out in. I have a lot of books and clothes, but my trinkets are mostly small things. Have the decoupaged chest of drawers and the head lamps.

Karen's Ikea shelves were trashed. The Billys fell apart as they were lowered to the ground. They were fully decimated by the boys.

We were all paid in checks. That's right. Paid. I made money today! I could go buy mom another birthday present. But I won't because my bike has a flat tire! The tube must have a hole or something. It can be filled with air but once I sit on it, it goes flat in a minute. I don't like to walk. Very lazy I am. It is also hot, I don't want to spend more time in this weather than I have to.

Mailed a few letters. One to Karen, one to Llyw. They were bulky and the lady behind the desk gave me some hassle about their irregular shapes. Some mail to my traveling friends. Put my check straight into my Key bank account. I went to the downtown branch. They were much nicer there than the one on Burnside. The lady who helped me had a really pretty name. Enjoille I believe it was.

Kind of checked out for the rest of the day. Napped. Alternated between a couple television programs. I think I'll go to sleep early. Still need to pack.

can't even do songs that don't require a key

Even drunk, I am fully aware that I can't carry a tune. But I guess I'll start at the start.

Went out in the bright day to run some errands. A couple things needed buying from a certain shop up on 23rd. The people in the store were very nice, very helpful. They let me get as much as I wanted to get and didn't load me down with salesman trickery. And if they did, well it didn't feel like they did.

After that, made a quick stop at Trader Joe's. Fantastic amount of A/C there. Just lovely.

The rest of the day was spent in hiding from the sun.

At around 8, I put on a nicer outfit for Tom's birthday. Katie did my makeup. I'm hopeless with makeup. Never learned. She did a smoky eye. At first it was startling to see me with that much goop on my face but I grew used to it. I undid my braids and tousled my hair.

We were the first to arrive at The Ambassador. First after Tom. I gave him a card and a To(m)blerone. Started off with a Long Island Iced Tea. It wasn't the best one I'd had. All the drinks I ordered were meh. A lot of people showed up, even Tom's mom Carla. She was delightful. The twins Kurt and Kody were there. Everyone was nice even though I was meeting half of them for the first time. The karaoke queue was long. Katie sung Hey Jude and later she and Tom did Under Pressure together. I put Rock Lobster in under my name and by the time the song rolled around I was more drunk than I was aware. I don't think I did Rock Lobster all that well but the large table of people I was with sung with me and carried what I couldn't. Uhg. Karaoke is fun to watch but I don't think it is my thing so much. Heh.

It was fun, even with my poor performance. After we were to Kurt and Kody's for a little after party. They had a really nice cat. I sort of napped a little bit (yeah right, napped). Kurt and Kody are Katie's old old long time friends. They act as well and were in a Disney channel movie. They have a really nice cat. Eventually Katie, Gabe and I went home. I cleared my bed of the standard debris and curled up all cozy and fell asleep for good.

journey to the east

Starting to cool down. And by that I mean 88 degrees or so.

Didn't quite sleep in but I took a nap later on.

J and I had a little girl date. I walked to Fox Tower and met her for the 5:15 showing of (500) Days of Summer. A movie about love and how devastating it can be. Also a good movie as well. Believable characters, swell acting from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey "Trillian" Deschanel. It fit together nicely. Nonsequential narration but still easy to follow. Sad but not heart wrenching. A good movie.

After we braved a few more minutes of sun and caught the number 12 to the other side. Riding a Portland bus! First time I've done it in ages.

A few blocks took us to 24th and Burnside. The Screen Door is a cozy, jam packed little place. Very warm with cute waitstaff. J and Gabe both said it was good. I trust their opinions of food. I ordered a Mint Julep because J ordered the Porchswing Lemonade. I wanted the lemonade but felt weird ordering it as well. I should have just ordered it. Not that the Mint Julep was bad, it just isn't my kind of drink. I had the screen door plate, which is any combination of sides you wish (well three of them). I had mac and cheese, fries, and a pork chop. It came speedily and was scrumptious! We ate and drank and I ended up rambling a little bit much about a certain subject.

The sun descended and so we left. J went back to the other side with me on the 19. So sweet, even though it was going in the other direction for her. The only max available was a yellow so I walked the rest of the distance. The breeze from outside is nice now.

Tomorrow I have to run some errands, buy a train ticket (I'm going back to Washington for two weeks, starting this Sunday), and go celebrate Tom's birthday. Going to get my karaoke on, hell yeah!

heat continues

800 entries! Whoo whooo!

At around 2, J texted me asking if I wanted to enjoy a few hours of A/C with her. The only stipulation was that we would be seeing The Ugly Truth. At free, the price was right. It was predictable. Had a few good moments but it wasn't anything great. Gerard Butler's biceps were probably the best past (next to Gerard Butler himself). Tomorrow J and I are going to see 500 Days of Summer. Another movie about love all though I think this one will be actually good.

Still, it's always nice to get out of the house and see a friend.

Afterwards I went to school to touch up the Cordia portrait. It didn't reproduce quite as nice. The Macs in the lab had HUGE screens. Gigantic. Never seen one so big. Just a total DAANNG experience. It was also nice and cool. Still, I had to leave.

Lots of bicyclists out today. Saw a shirtless one. Smiled at him. He smiled back. He was wearing a helmet and looked like he actually washed his clothes (well his shorts at least, who knows what state his shirts are in). My kind of Portland biker.

Watched Torchwood. Gabe, Katie, and I went threesies on a Bellagio's pizza. We got half butchers block and half mother earth. Aka half MEAATTT and half artichoke and garlic and la la la. It was good. Uhg. So hot.

Mummy, when is a good time for me to come home?

102

102 degrees with one little tiny fan and no A/C.

Had a really bad night sleep. Upstairs neighbor was having some bedspring issues for an hour and a half.

Braided my hair again. Drank lots of water.

Went to school at around 4:50 to scan the paper planes. Sadly I only got one in and then the library closed. Talked to Amanda till 5:30 and then I left for Yoga.

Thankfully Yoga has a shadow from the building, otherwise it would have been intolerable. Very warm and toasty. Some cute babies were about. My mind wasn't quite in it today.

Afterwards, I stepped into the Art Direction class for the last hour and a half. There were only two critiques left. Mackenzie's mock Reader's Digest had already been discussed. Didn't mind. I wasn't asked to say anything. It was interesting to see all my classmates illustrations. Karen's one was nice but it didn't quite fit the body of the article (not her fault) nor did it seem like the person who chose her had any idea why a person would pick Karen. As in, if I wanted a bold poster design with type I would go for Karen. If I wanted a painted still life of food, I wouldn't go for Karen. Dominic's fit perfectly. It was about brewing beer. Very light hearted. J's was a nice illustration but it didn't fit the style of the rest of the article.

After that, Wes Youssi gave a little slide show of his art and design. He did the cover for Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. It was cool. He was nice. There was A/C and drinks and treats. The sun had gone down by the time I left school but it was still, very believably hot.

Rest of the night was a dead space of watching Eureka and Buffy. It doesn't drop below 80 for the next 10 days.

now that is a cool tattoo

At the symposium, this girl had a very rad tattoo. It was of a waffle iron. It was in the crook of her elbow (the soft side where it folds...I think there is an official word for that side, or maybe it is just all the elbow). Anyway, when she folded her arm it closed the waffle iron because each side of the iron was done on each side of the crease. It was so totally cool. Blew my mind. It was really well rendered as well. Lots of nice tattoos and the zine symposium.

Arrived on time and set up. The lady said that if there was empty space next to you, you could fill out into it if you liked. So I did. A full table! Lacey came at around 11:30. She sold four of her comics. I traded alot. Some of the trades were very awesome, some I was kinda more meh about but still my work is getting out there. That's good. The symposium is more about becoming a familiar face than making phenomenal sales. I sold 17 comics over the course of three days (17 hours total, Stumptown is 16 spread over two days). Sold two of the posters. Karen sold three of the Milagro today (when she got back to me with the price which was a buck). Need a more vertical display and more wares to sell. Variety. Because right now its the comic, a poster...and that's it. We are making a pact to quit art if we don't have anything new by Stumptown.

I sold 46 comics at Stumptown. Didn't trade quite so much. Like I said, people come to Stumptown with money.

Exchanged a new plane with BT. Flew one to the Reading Frenzy guy. He was cute and we had a great conversation about Zach Smith and David Lynch via the plane. His flights to my side were a lot better than mine to his. I'm just dreadful at throwing them.

The revolutionary guy was gone and Jason and Sarah were next to me. They had a box with sticks set up. The sticks had a little mini clothes line esque set up which held one dollar mini comics. Awesome set up. They were really nice people with a great sense of humor. We pitched each other every now and again. Jason had some really beautiful comic work.

Lacey bought tater tots for lunch. Mmm. Jim stopped by. His hair is longer. Like a damn hippie.

In the last 2 hours I did a circuit and spent about $23. Not a whole lot interested me. Bought Jesse Reklaw's Slow Wave compilation. 16 dollars marked down to 10 for the convention. He vaguely remembered me from Stumptown. I told him my dream about Batman eating coleslaw.

I wore longer pants so I didn't get hurt sliding under the table.

Tomorrow, if I remember, I'll scan the paper planes.

Met some nice people. It was fun. Need more stuff. I'd do it again for sure but I won't have such high hopes for big bucks. Stumptown 2010, The Perceivers are coming for you!

Spent the rest of the day indoors. Gabe made tacos. Caught up on So You Think You Can Dance. Great thing about watching them online is that you can just skip to the dancing. Loved the 5 girl Bollywood number and the Seven Nation Army routine. So cool!

Braided my hair for the convention. I felt really cute with it like that. And I like how it crimped once I removed the braids.

Lacey is a great table mate, just want to say. Fun and easy to sit next to. Gets what is going on.

paper planes and a single perceiver

Rushed downstairs right at 10 to get Karen's box. A sign was up saying they were closed for training and that they were sorry for the inconvenience. Before I swore to the heavens I heard someone behind the closed door and knocked and booyah I got my package. Smaller than I thought.

Raced off to the symposium. The set up took a while. The box contained a lot of large loose letters and extras. Taped them to five lines of string so that it spells out
THE
PERCE
IVERS
in front of the table. Real slick. Karen made little Milagro displays with pins. I never quite got down the pitch for them. She also didn't include a price. Nor have her phone turned out. I sold two for three dollars. One to a lady who knew what they were and one to Nathalie who also knew. Some of the pin shapes are a little ambiguous and hard to identify. Still, the half table filled out.

A guy (Dominic) from Laughing Horse Bookstore took the table next to me. He was pretty cool, into revolutionaries and all that. Cassie and Bethany took my other table half. Pretty cool blond Pacific Northwest chicks. They liked all my little drawings. And were fun to talk to.

Made about 18$. Traded mostly. The symposium is such a hard sell, then again I'm not buying anything.

10 to 5. Spent most of it at my table. Left to grab a free bagel.

I brought a lot of paper to sketch on. I ended up drawing doodles and folding them into paper planes and chucking them at the tables across from me. They then drew on them and tossed them back at me. BT and I had an epic paper plane. I took out half of one tables display but they had good humor about it. Dominic (Laughing Horse, not Snacks) and I made an epic plane. Well one of his friends the the folding. It was out of the paper from one of his poster remnants. It was very aerodynamic. It got one table minder in the chest. He wasn't too happy so we ended up tossing the big one back and forth between us and the F-Bomb table. I had so much fun drawing and chucking the planes. I sort of neglected my pitching duties. Will certainly scan them.

The day moved by really fast.

Lacey came by in the last hour and joined the little Perceivers table. She will be back tomorrow. She sold a comic to Nathalie. I sold a little poster to her as well. Whoo whoo!!

For dinner I had sushi at Diana and Robin's. Diana is a master roller. Afterwards we walked to a gelato place on 23rd and Kearney. A long walk. In flip flops. We had a good long talk about Doctor Who.

Now I'm just going to put my sore feet up. 10-4. Last 6 hours. Hopefully I'll sell a little better.

"Luna"-gacy

The package didn't come in the morning so I set off to Friday with a big feeling of dread that all the weekend might just be my comic, Luna, and Katie with Jade Plants.

Dom and Michaela already had their neat little set up. Mine took all of two minutes to put together. Blanket. Comic. Prints. The price tags took a little while longer. 2$ for the comic, 50 cents for a Luna, and 3$ for the two color Katie with Jade Plants. They are not registered all that well so yeah.

The Luna prints sold out pretty much, save for a few of the blue on blue ones. Some people remarked how cheap they were. Personally, I would have felt bad for charging more seeing as how I gave away 150 of them to family and friends. I want my art to be shared and put up, not bartered for. A few people were psyched about the comic but not as many at Stumptown.

I traded a comic and a luna. One to a very nice shy girl with pretty features. A man with hair like Wolverine bought my comic and I didn't even have to give him a hard sell. And I'm not being mean, he must have genuinely styled his hair like Wolverine. The side tufts, the mutton chops. All the way!

All in all, I made $21 for about four hours behind the table. Seems not like much but the numbers are good. About 7 comics and 19 Lunas. Now that I'm just down to the comic, it will either be a buy or not. And there was not that many people wandering around. The crowd is very different from Stumptown.

Stumptown Comics Fest
+bigger name publishers
+larger crowd
+participants in a slightly higher income bracket
+mostly comics but is open to prints and zines
-costs more for a table
Portland Zine Symposium
+free admission
+cheap, easy to get tables
+mostly self publication
-small crowd
-participants in a slightly lower income bracket
-not as much comic folk

For showcasing a comic, go to Stumptown. For showcasing cool printing, go to PZS. Combining both? Do both.

My table was slightly almost directly across from Robopocalypse. BT and Matt mostly manned the table. BT's moustache was all dishelved. He should use that moustache wax that he handmade. I tossed a few paper airplanes with doodles on the paper at them. One of how their table looked and one of BT thinking, "What ever happened to Orlando Bloom?" Because seriously, whatever happened to him? I shared some cookies with them (oh yeah, I went to Safeway to get some change and some yeast and chocolate milk. Gabe also made me a sandwich that I ate half before leaving and the other half at around 4). It's nice being near familiar faces. Dom, Thom, and Michaela have a table farther away. I can see them and they can see me but thats about it.

Rustin, the guy from my failed internship, was also there. He said something about feeling guilty or ashamed or something. Not sorry. He didn't say he felt sorry. Dom and some other people came up when he was at my table and he didn't stick around. So thank you Dom, it was too early for me to have an awkward moment.

A lot of people loved Luna. Of course. Some of James' roommates were delighted to meet the person who drew the cat. I love it when my art preceeds me. If I died tomorrow, at least I have left a legacy.

Did I mention the guy with Wolverine hair? Yes? Okay.

I left my table for a minute and turned around to see people eyeing my art. No one else is coming to take over. 7 hours tomorrow, by myself. Well Michaela and people offered to watch my table if ever I want to wander. I want to make some more money first. No buying unless I earn. Well, I might buy lunch from Subway. Unless Gabe makes me another sandwich.

My table right now is next to some anarchists. My halftable mate and next door table mate have not arrived yet. Stuff I have overheard from their table:
"It's like an anti-patriarchy scene right?"
"What's your name?" "Shirt, and yours?" "Yuglo."

Adam from Australia and I had a nice chat. He had a thick accent and we chatted about travels. I mentioned living in Australia with my oil rig working pop and he recommended a book call "Don't Tell Mum I Work On The Rigs, She Thinks I'm A Piano Player in a Whore House." Does this sound like something acceptable for dad to read? Hmmm. Paul Carter wrote it.

Met some nice people. Met some really pretty people (mostly the girls through, the guys are more along the lines of Derelicte).

I sat and wrote and looked sad and lonely.

The building is a real challenge to get into. You have to take the right stairwell or else you'll wind up in a different section with no way to get across the floor. Doesn't make any sense to me.

I came home at around 7 to an email about me recieving a package!! Karen's I hope! If one of you loving family members sent me something...well it better be something awesome. But yay, I'll have the set up. And I will look more like a Zinester printer than a huge lonely nerd.

sweet, I get to sleep in

Regarding mom's question: I will be selling my comic "Fifth Chapter of a Larger Story" at the Symposium. Karen's box still hasn't shown and I asked the desk if anything has come because I stopped getting emails when things arrive for me. The symposium does not start till 2:30 so I hope that her stuff will come. Doing things the non Internet way is too slow. Too bad you can't download letterpress zines.

Oh well.

Finished my Illustrations. Talked to Josh and Janessa. I suppose I could have done a little better but I think the aesthetic works with the magazine. I already know some of the problems the images have. It isn't technically too late... anyway. Did that. Posted it. Went home.

Thighs are not so bad anymore. Adam gave us some of the stuff that was left over from his moving out. Jars of pasta, various seasonings, homemade sauerkraut, tissues, etc. He will be back eventually. He brought some bath salts as well so maybe I'll have one of those things (a bath) in the morning.

Have my symposium pile ready. Nothing says how much it costs but I'll make little signs. Comic is $2, the Lunas will probably be $1. Sure I gave them away but my customers don't need to know that.

It will just be me at the table. Have a couple people say they will visit but I shall see. J will be there. Mmm. Karen will be around for Stumptown. We have agreed if we both get a table for Stumptown and both do not have anything new to put on it we are bums. Lazy bums who are in the wrong career. Course Karen has a jump what with being at Hammerpress and staying there for another semester. Did I mention lovely Karen will be in Kansas City through the rest of the year? Well she will be. I miss her. She is all sassy and cool.

Pile of Buns

A pile of burger buns for a mock Reader's Digest article.

Art directed by Mackenzie Bartels.

Photoshop.

Cordia Harrington

Finished portrait of Cordia Harrington for a mock Reader's Digest article.

Art directed by Mackenzie Bartels.

Photoshop.

days are numbered

The state of my thighs has been downgraded from excruciating to hurting with touches of pain.

Went to school and worked on my illustration. Watched this and that in the background while using the lasso tool and coloring it in. When I looked at it at print resolution, alot of the detail was lost so I will have to work on it like that a little bit. But I'm feeling good. And have to crank out the whole second one.

Then I have to hope Karen's Perceivers package arrives in time for the Symposium. She shipped it but you can't trust the Goose Hollow desk people. They don't care and I want to shout and scream at them because they are so lazy. My birthday present from Celia went uncatalogued and I was only informed of it a month later when they did an audit. Karen sent me something to give to Adam and UPS said it had arrived but I was not informed for a few days. Laaame.

The symposium. How exciting. Three long days sitting by myself behind a desk. Sucks because I won't be able to walk around as much. Still, it will be an experience. And staying behind the desk will keep me from spending money I don't have (yet, hopefully I'll make some decent change from my comic). Almost here. Keeping busy enough to not freak out about it.

Gabe made rice, black beans, and grilled chicken. Mmmm.

Cordia Harrington (work in progress)

Digital illustration of Cordia Harrington for a mock Reader's Digest article.

3"x3" when printed. Photoshop. Work in progress.

not the thigh master

My thighs feel like they have shin splints. Pain killers do next to nothing. They hurt so very very bad. All day they hurt.

In the morning they hurt when I made my oatmeal. They hurt on the ride to school. Thankfully it is mostly all downhill so I didn't have to work them so hard. Hurt while shuffling around school because the room was relocated. Met Robin's dad.

We three, Daniela, Robin, and I, we critiqued our two works. Generally favorable but they still needed work. Hobbled around with my hurt legs. Went downstairs to work on the project. We were given source material like print outs and flash cards and we had to use elements from each and combine them into a piece. Robin did a little scene of an old man with people on his shoulder. I did a large man thinking with trees growing out of his head and powerlines in the background. I did it with tempera paint and used big gloppy strokes. My thighs didn't hurt when I was seated but damn they ached when I got up. Ooof.

Ran into Travis. We chatted a little bit. For lunch Robin and I went to Laughing Planet. I was delighted that the Mr Green Jeans burrito special was back. Edamame, sweet corn, black beans, tasty cheese. Very good. Love that thing. And it was on the express ready made tray so no waiting. I wish it was a part of the permanent menu. Anyway, we sat in the park and talked about money and stuff.

Spent another two and a half hours painting. Still hurt but like I said, mostly only when I stand and try to walk. Robin and I tried to take the street car back but we just minute. We opted to walk back. It hurt but the slow pace was good. My normal bike route might have done me in.

I'm keeping to my chair mostly. Trying to relax. Gabe made Laarb for dinner. MMmm.

Still hurts. I am going to redo the second illustration. They are due Saturday but as the symposium is this weekend, I will get both of them finished in the next couple days.

I also redid my nail polish

Set the alarm and got up all ready to go. I had to get my rough illustrations in by 2 so off to school I went. Scanned them in. Talked to Matt. The went to the lab to bring them into photoshop. Said hi to Katie. And photoshopped them. Still need some work. At around 1:50 I left to go to Tender Loving Empire. Needed to buy some cards as I looked at my calendar and there are many July birthdays. Picked out a few cards.

Went down to school again to do some Googling. Went to Oblation and picked up another card and bought some stamps (didn't feel like going to the Post Office when all I needed was four).

Shaking with hunger I went to Cha Cha Cha. Pollo burrito and a fruit punch Jarrito. Mmmm. It was past the lunch rush so my food came quick and I ate it all. Scarfed at first and then slowed and finished it. Read Promethea.

Very warm. A dry heat. Heard that at the most it got up to 92. I believe it.

At a four way stop, everyone actually went in the order that they arrived. It was amazing. Portland drivers pretty much always do the polite You Go, No You Go, No You Go, Okay I'll go oh whoops you were going at the same time so you go, no you go thing. It is really annoying and takes longer than if one person had the guts to just go. Course if the person that goes first is on a bike then all the drivers get mad. I was the third at the stop and the third to go and it all went smoothly.

The new computer lab in the library is awesome. Shiny new macs. Not those iMac things that I used in 9th grade video class. The keyboards don't have the number pad and are really really tiny. I fumbled a lot using them.

I got too cold under the A/C so I went into the main body of the library and ended up taking a nap.

Yoga! Yoga was luckily just in the shade enough. Every breeze was warm but it wasn't too sweaty. There were two new dudes there as well as Ruth and Serenity. Today was did moon salutations in honor of the moon landing anniversary. When we were doing seated forward folds with our legs spread, Ruth was able to get her face on the ground. Made it look so easy.

Got home just as Gabe was finishing dinner. Sadly I didn't have much of an appetite. Looked delicious. Mmm.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Illustration seminar. Booo. Oh well.

Editorial Roughs

The rough colors and sketches for the art direction assignment. Two illustrations for a story about Cordia Harrington. She owns a very successful burger bun business.

Art direction by Mackenzie Bartels.

5"x5" and 3"x3". Graphite sketch, photoshop color.

I don't know why the burger buns are blue and the factory is red in the first picture. Some quibble with Blogger.

art doer

Today did lots of art! Well did a couple things.

Finalized the sketches for the illustration art direction pieces. They both are a little minimal. Tomorrow I will scan them and tweak them in photoshop and work out some color schemes.

Did that. Also did the first of maybe two illustrations for the summer program thing. Some intense lighted self portrait. Broke out the brush box and my ink box. I dig it though I could have slowed down a little bit.

Had a very restless night sleep. I'll be off to bed in a jiffy here.

Dinner was pork with this breadcrumb smear and a salad and homemade cornbread. Mmmm.

some title Harry Potter related

Harry Potter Movie Party at Cherish's place! Cherish and Isaiah to be specific. It was a potluck and chips were already being brought. I asked Gabe what he could make real quick and he gave me an ingredient list. Salmon. Creme cheese. Shallot. Parsley. Avocado. It was combined together into this tower of cheesey spread that was destined for crackers.

I left at around 2:30, severely misunderstanding the distance away of Cherish's place. It was on Alder. Barely 4 minutes by bike. Locked up outside and was the first there. Just chilled with Cherish and chatted and helped and drank punch. I cut the pepperoni into little lightning bolt shapes.

No one else from school was there, but that was nice. No vegans. No drama. No vegan drama.

Bryce. Dominic. Casey. Christy. Uhhmm. Yeah I can't recall all the names. They came and went. I was there the longest.

The mini pizzas, juice, snap peas, and pigs in a blanket were gobbled up first. I let my cheese tower refrigerate. A later snack. The food was plenty and I certainly gorged.

It is really staggering the difference between the Chris Columbus Harry Potter movies and the Alfonso Cuaron & Mike Newell ones. Columbus had no flare for the imagination that the Harry Potter series needed. Bah. Anyway, we watched the first four movies. There was a lot of effort in getting the fourth so I stuck around for it. Cherish didn't have it so some other people rented it and all that. It was fun. it went super later but it was fun. Half the people there hadn't picked up any of the books.

Now I want to reread them. Methinks I will check them out from my local library. Tomorrow I have mega illustrating to do. Productivity! Possibly!

moon pie

Forced myself out of bed at 10. Gabe me a little stirfy for breakfast/lunch. Yes I eat vegetables if Gabe cooks them.

At 1 I left for school to scan and edit my concept thumbnails. Threw in some color in photoshop. Emailed them off.

Zip zoom I left to meet J for a movie. 2:30 showing of Moon starring Sam Rockwell. I've asked about three people and none of them were interested in seeing it. J was totally psyched for it. That is why she is my movie buddy. My cinema employed movie buddy who gets me free tickets. The A/C was cool and we had good seats. There were a couple ridiculous squeaky chairs.

I really enjoyed Moon. It is about a man mining the dark side of the moon for Helium 3, the space age energy source. He is one man on a station and when he gets hurt, he is saved by his clone because he is also a clone. That isn't a spoiler for the movie because the whole clone thing comes in early on. Anyway, it seemed to have constructed model sets for the moon scenes and the sets for the station seemed very clear. It had good production values without showing off. The story did keep me interested. Pretty dynamic for only really having one actor through the whole thing (and Kevin Spacey who plays the seemingly-at-first Hal-esque computer GERTY).

Afterwards we were hot to trot to Baskin Robbins. Crossing over Yamhill, or Morrison whichever is heading West, J whispered, "Is that Christian Siriano?" I looked to look and confirmed, "Oh my God it really is!" I whipped out my phone and texted Terry, "Christian Soriano in Pioneer Square!" Later I found out that Terry was not a fan.

I got peppermint flavor this time. J and I walked up to the Park Blocks and sat on the bench and talked about boys and girls and internships and all that. It was a nice little visit and getting to know her a little better. Soon she had to go to work. We parted ways.

It was warm. Hot. Hot hot hot with heat. I've just been cowering in my room with the fan. I tried on my new second hand shorts and bent to pick up Luna and I hear RRRRRRRRRrrrriiip. Dang!

I accept this

Worked on the sketches today. Came up, finally, with a slightly more than passable idea for the second one. Tomorrow I will scan and lightly color them in and send them off for review. Exciting!

Went over to Jason's for dinner and a movie. We rented The Hudsucker Proxy. Very delightful and often overlooked Coen brothers movie. It's about the invention of the hula hoop (you know, for kids). Highly recommended for everyone. Dinner was pizza. Toppings assembled on premade crust.

Got home to an email from mom saying she wants me to get a job. Maybe I've been bad about looking for a job because I'm not doing so well after having the majority of my summer plans fall through. Maybe that doesn't do too well on a persons esteem and drive. It's been tricky. I kinda hoped for an internship that would get me somewhere but well, that fell through. I know I'm a good worker. I know I am capable of showing up. Yes, I have wasted a considerable amount of time watching Buffy and Angel and Dead Like Me and Mad Men and all that. Yes I haven't been as productive as I could be capable of. It's been...

Sketchbook Upload III

Life drawing from my tiny sketchbook. Josh. Janessa. Daniel Wellington Camel Williams.

Marker on flimsy paper.

I am Snape the potions master

Went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. 3pm showing. I haven't read the book in so long. If anything was missing, I can't recall. It was good. Nice visuals. I didn't really feel a punch or a terror from it. It had some good humour but it lacked...I don't know. Something. Maybe what all the Harry Potter movies lacked: length. They seem to fall short by being short.

Anyway. Watched Mad Men. Worked on thumbnails and rough sketches for the magazine project. I have one idea pretty clear, the other one not so much. Trying to think about how to represent the growth of a certain burger bun business and all that. Hmmm.

Movie and sketching. Not much went down really. Have some evening plans tomorrow with Jason. Then maybe another Flicks on the Bricks. Then a Harry Potter movie party at Cherish's. I should reread those books one of these days. It has been years. Half Blood Prince came out when I was in Japan.

seen but not heard

Illustration Special Class Thing:
The critique for the composition was quick. Only Rachel and I had pieces to show. Passed by Robin on my way to school. We had a value slide show and discussion. I was spacing in and out. Woke up with a stomach ache. I managed to bring a feeble lunch to school with me. Robin and I sat in Jamison Square Park and chatted. Made a stop at the library for more volumes of Promethea and a Euan Uglow art book.

After lunch we went out and drew the lighting on eggs. We first drew the egg indoors and then in three different spots outdoors. First I drew with it on a stairwell. The wind kept moving it. BT stopped and chatted a little bit. Next I propped it upright in some dirt. Then Rachel and I sat in the park and talked about comics and all that. Afterwards we were given our assignment. It is a black and white picture with an emphasis on value. Supposed to represent something we want to share or hide about ourselves. Don't know what I'll do.

Mackenzie:
I was picked to do the illustrations for one of the magazine design class students. Mackenzie wants me to do two spot illustrations for an article about this lady who owns this big bun company.

Dinner:
Had to make it myself.

Dave Chappelle:
Gabe said that he heard that Dave Chappelle was going to do a free Midnight show in Pioneer Courthouse Square tonight. I thought, "why not?" and went. I got there at 11:40 and it was packed. Thousands of people. Crammed and climbing over everything. They were on top of Starbucks tables and chairs and then the Starbucks guy came and yelled and removed the tables and chairs. People climbed on top of the glass roof. Some dangerous stunts. I was behind a pillar. At around 12:30 enough people had left frustrated so I got to squeeze in to a good spot on the stairs. The audience moved and shook the Noon Tunes set up. There was almost a riot! And by riot I mean some people were getting cross and some may have even written a letter. Portlanders are not a vicious bunch. 12:45 rolled around. then 1am came and so did Chappelle. The thinning crowd surged back to the stage and everyone was ecstatic. And then he brought out a tiny amp. Still no sound. I moved into the flow and tried to get close enough to the stage. No luck and with no replacement speaker system on its way, I decided to leave. As I left I noticed one of the people on the roof of Starbucks was down to her underwear. I started to walk away and heard more cheering as she took her bra off. Portland is OK with toplessness. Heh.

I came.
I saw.
I can say I saw.
Can't say I heard.

tiger! tiger!

Finished Angel season two this morning. It is time to take a break from the Buffyverse. Now I expect every show that I watch to have a vampire or something in it. Even Mad Men.

No fancy breakfast for me. Just cereal and tea.

At 1:45 I slung my yoga mat over my back, stuffed a bag with goodies, and rode off to meet Lindsay for lunch! I haven't seen he in so long. She is looking great. She bought some shoes like the brown Sketchers that I have. She bought them because her motto for clothes collection these days is, "what did I borrow from Trillian?" Heh. We walked down to Sushi Land. I keep going their even though I don't like their selection. It is just easy I guess. We got a spot on the bar, not a booth. We caught up about our going ons. She is still doing light shows and live painting and Ibanez has gained some heft. Go Ibanez!

After eating a reasonable amount of sushi, we wandered over to Art Media. I chatted up Michaela a little bit. That was the end of the visit as Lindsay had to meet up with Kurt to do some joint painting.

It was a wonderful visit. I hope for many more.

Oh! She also returned my copy of Invisible Monsters. I thought Cece had "borrowed" it indefinitely. My bad.

Being only 10 blocks from home, I rode back. I had also left my stretchy yoga pants behind.

I loitered for a little bit and headed out once again on bike. Jason was walking to Sandeep's along 13th. Passed him on my bike and stopped to say hello. Didn't stop in traffic of course.

Yoga was outside but chilly. Some of the poses did warm up my body and by the end, the breeze was nice. No hawk during this session. Just a toddler trying to join us. My left thigh is still giving me trouble. I'm getting better at finding a solid foundation for some of the lunges. Fawn started the class with some singing. The chant of the song was supposed to be the theme but in the end "tiger" was the more dominant focus of the day. Our clothes, our attitudes. Raaawrr!

On the way back I passed Amanda and Andy. I dinged my bell in their general direction.

Gabe made tacos but they were way too spicy and I cried. Watched a computer centric episode of The X Files. A computer is the fastest way to date anything made in the last couple decades. They do not hold up well. Heh.

Now time to finish my Illustration assignment. Not much left. Just a little bit.

I still say I have dignity

Wahhoo! I drew! Worked on the informal assignment for the summer Illustration doothingy. Drew and shaded the glasses, pen, and ring portion of it. With shadows. I made the mistake of shading on the right side. When I moved left it smudged. Elementary mistake.

Anyone else notice how cool a word 'elementary' is? Elementary. Of the elements. The pure basic form of something. Anyway, I think it is neat.

Gabe and I were trying to decide who had more dignity. Me, who watched the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie or Him, who watched the recent Dragonball live action movie. I said it was me because I watched that movie when I was a kid and that show was awesome and it is cool, if cheesy. Gabe just watched a recent live action adaptation of something that ended well over a decade ago. Katie said we both had no dignity.

But yeah, I drew something. It isn't finished but I still feel pretty good about actually doing SOMETHING.

Tomorrow I am going to meet Lindsay aka Toon aka my first roommate for lunch! Yay! Haven't seen her in forever. Then Yoga time!

waaasteeee, what a

Oh man. What a waste of a day. This is horrible. I need to assign myself more things to go out and do. I did draw a couple things. Tidy up a little bit. Sorted out a pile for the Symposium. But uhh yeah I just sat about. It is sooo easy to do that these days. Bad. Bad Trillian.

My teeth hurt. I've been eating too many sweets. It always gets balanced by something Gabe cooks though. Tonight was pasta stew with meatballs (the last of my Ikea bag of them). Mmm.

I was sitting down to draw and then discovered I couldn't think of anything. Just scribble a few things that were not at all inspired.

Skipped ahead and watched the Smile Time episode of Angel. He got turned into a puppet through some magic. It was awesome. Ben Edlund did the episode.

Adam stopped by a little bit in the evening and we sipped cheap champagne from really nice estate sale glasses. That's how we roll.

Ruttered

Post number 777. Whooo!

Left the place at around 1:28 to make the trade off with Terry. I drew him a picture of Angel brooding in thanks for all the loans of awesome Buffy and Angel. Working on Angel season two. It is getting good. Even better when Angel sings or dances.

After that was a long slow relax till Flicks on the Bricks. Luna got grandfathered in. She is safe but the rule now is no pets at all. She was safe because Katie is a responsible pet owner. And Luna doesn't wreck the place.

Harmony Rutter, a friend from high school, has moved to Portland. She is living with her fiancee Peter. J couldn't make Flicks on the Bricks due to work conflicts so Harmony, Peter, and I planned to see the show together! A short burst of rain almost made me decide to stay at home but in the end I decided to risk the risk of dampness. I loaded my bike up with a blanket and pillow and went down to Pioneer Place Square. I arrived at 6:30 and much too early. 7:15-7:30 is ideal it would seem. Harmony and Peter took a long time coming. Jordan from school said a little hello and showed me the ukulele he made.

It is a small world sometimes. Harmony's roommate and his girlfriend were also in the audience for the movie and by complete random happenstance, they were not but two feet away from me. I didn't know this till Harmony and Peter showed up and were like, "woah, what a weird little thing to happen." Fun.

The movie projected onto the giant inflatable screen this Friday was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The one with the Holy Grail and Sean Connery. I grabbed a cheesesteak from the legendary cheesesteak man. No popcorn. I pitched in a Sacajawea for the ice cream run and received a ice cream sandwich for desert. Perfect! It was muggy with the occasional breeze and very fun. People clapped and cheered and we all had a good time.

Before anyone I knew showed up, there was this guy with a sign that stood in the square. The sign talked about God and how homeless people are thieves and that there are food kitchens just down the street. As if his sign wasn't clear enough, he started to preach about giving a dollar to a nun will buy three meals and how he was once a nice Jewish boy until he found Jesus. Then he had some words with a homeless man in the audience. Telling him how to save himself and stuff. The homeless man was just mad and wanted to be left alone with his free popcorn. Later the man preached to some kids and it was a little bit creepy. The homeless man and I exchanged glances at his behavior and I made a gesture to indicate I was on the side of Not Being a Jerk. You can't tell people they need help; people have to want help. Feh.

Anyway. Movie was fun but uncomfortable. More pillows next time! The next movie is Dirty Dancing. Then Jurassic Park and then Anchorman. Then it is a 1984 movie of our choosing. I voted for Ghostbusters.

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.