suushii

LOOK AT THAT! One little scabby wabby left. It is just waiting to come off.

Another lovely sunny day. Perfect for eggs and bacon and dishes. I started rifling through my pictures books looking for the images that really inspire me. Our first professional practices assignment is to collect 10 images that we would want on a desert island to inspire us. 10 things that really move us. Right on my mind is Scott McKowen's cover for The Pillowman, Lucian Freud's Ib and Her Husband, this Missoni campaign from about a year ago, some Sterling Hundley... yeah. So I pulled out the stuff that jumped out at me. Need to go through my other art books as well.

Went to school and returned the Mad Men dvds and checked out some stuff. I've twice been disappointed to find that the Fassbinder collection was not Fassbender, so I decided to check it out so I'll stop being confused.

Went back home. Relaxed. Shot the tv with nerf.

Kristen and I walked down to school and met up with Tabitha and Mel to get some sushi at sushiland. The selection wasn't that good, so I didn't gorge myself as I normally do when it comes to rotating sushi. We wandered back. I did more image hunting. Watched some stuff.

Tomorrow there is a craft night (whatever that means) and I'm going to paint my studio. WhOO! Then time to get cracking on homework. I want to be on top of things and AWESOME this semester.

flash first thursday

The people were running the leaf blower in the courtyard at like 9am. ARGH! But it got me awake and up before 11pm, which is good.

Oatmeal. Emergen-C. Yum. Put my paperwork in a file folder.

Kristen and I went to Fred Meyer's for some shopping. Trader Joe's is great, but if you want cheaper cheese then you really have to go elsewhere. I got supplies to make a delicious lasagna. Kevin was coming over for dinner and then we were going to see Mesrine: Killer Instinct (part one, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 is part two). But back to lasagna. I bought cheesy sauce and spinach sauce and cooked up the rest of my beef and put that in and damn did it look good. Threw it in the oven and real quick went to PNCA to see Robin's show.

Robin has greatly expanded her houses at night portraits and got a show in the BFA gallery at school! Great location. Thousands will see her art, and they should because she is awesome. Kristen and I also got her flowers for her accomplishment. Go Robin! I chatted briefly and then headed back. That was it for my First Thursday adventures. I was home not a minute before the timer went off. Perfect!

Removed the foil. Cooked it some more. Did dishes. Kevin came over with a nice bottle of wine and a salad and dinner was wonderful. The lasagna cooked just perfect. Full of flavor. Can't wait to eat more of it. But shhh, don't tell people I enjoyed something with spinach in it. Mesrine was intense. It didn't try to paint a sympathetic picture of the criminal Mesrine. Not at all. Vincent Cassel was spectacular and there were some beautiful shots. I simply MUST see part two. Thankfully it is the next movie show at Cinema 21...and it starts tomorrow!

We parted ways after the movie and that was that. Nice little date. I keep having the feeling like I planned to do something, but I don't know what. Oh well. Sleep time!

Look at that! Just a little bit of scab left! Hurrah! Two more days and it should be gone. The red patch is receding and the pale, new skin is replacing it. I don't think even the knee will scar all that much, if at all. And the shin probably will be just peachy, if a bit shiny for a while.

at pnca we call it moving image arts, not animation

OH MY GOD I'M TIRED! GETTING OUT AT 9PM MAKES ME TIRED!

Animation! Animation is awesome! They added another section at the same time so the whole class is 30 strong and there are some cool people in there. Tippy (was previously known as Raquel) and Matthew Seely are in it. We are taught by Rose Bond and Anouck. Anouk? One of those spellings. I'm really excited. We did some get to know you questions. There is a Swedish exchange student named Andrin and a guy named Kelly with a Don't Panic tattoo. Awesome! We got a lecture on animation and looked at some Winsor McCay stuff. I got a burrito for lunch because I knew I would need a dinner as well.

After lunch the groups divided and we read through some stuff with Rose and discussed it and then swapped over and learned about Lunchbox and some animation basics. First assignment is a bouncing ball, falling feather, and falling sack of flour animation. Real simple. Did it before in Time Arts. Got a good start on it during class.

Karen and I made a quick run to Fred Meyer's for paint. The gallons were on sale so I picked out a nice teal color. It was mixed a bit light, but it should still look good. A nice teal studio. Picked up some color coded stuff for my keys and a nerf shotgun for 9.99. A good deal considering it is double barreled. I arrived at class right on time.

Advance Studio taught by Kristin something something. Editor for Bitch Magazine and Bear Deluxe. And generally really cool. We talked about things we would want from the class and the syllabus and introduced ourselves a little. During break I played with my nerf. So much fun! We got our new assignment and the run down for the EXTENSIVE stuff we will be doing. Lots of stuff. Thankfully I have enough time to keep on track of it.

Dropped the paint off at my studio, and speaking of my studio: I now store my bike in it! No more exposure to the elements. And no fear of missing tires. This weekend, Karen and I will paint paint paint away. But now: sleep. I'm so very tired.

tacos!

10:53pm. Get on a good track of writing early, instead of...later.

Got up at a good time. Showered. Clothed. Unfortunately summer has decided to be over and the weather now sucks. IT RAINED! Like, during the day! Lame! Anyway, got to school. At 11 was a mandatory meeting for all seniors. The Stevens Front was full of familiar faces and holy crap we are seniors now! It doesn't seem that long ago that we were just starting out.

Anyway, Linda the head of senior stuff gave us the run down. A semester lasts 16 weeks. Week 14 is focus week. By week 10 we need to have our idea, and some idea who we want on our panel. Also we need to start getting our presentation done at that time because there will be tons of practice when it comes to the presentations. We got a packet that runs it all down for us. A big thick packet. Well not that big, as it was printed on heavy paper. There was some chatter about the Professional Practices classes and then it was studio assignment time! We scattered. I found where Karen and Heather Birdsong were and picked a studio near where they are. Jon, Sivonna, and Dom occupied the studio that has the wall, and shares the divider with me. Israel Lund and Joey Lusterman are in the sections on the other side of me. I don't have someone in the studio in my little area yet. Eva was going to be there but she changed her mind to a studio that had her own outlet (I had one).

I plan on picking up a miss mixed thing of paint and to do up my studio nice and pretty. I'll also need a table. Should have thought of that. William Temple House! Here I come! After picking the studios, Madeline and I went back to my place for lunch. We got some beef and lettuce and taco shells and made delicious tacos! It was just the right portion. We gobbled them down and talked about Mad Men and True Blood. Then I did a chunk of the dishes, we watched Martin Sheen on Top Gear. Wait. Michael Sheen. The Brit.

Then we went back to school for Professional Practices. We met Iskra Johnson, one of our new co-teachers. She had a bloody amazing portfolio of letter design. She had a good humor. Professional Practices is all about getting ready for thesis and knowing fully about yourself as an artist. It also touches on billing and marketing yourself. It had another packet of information. Our first assignment is an inspiration analysis of sorts. We got out early.

Dom and I hung out in our studios, letting our bikes dry off and waiting for the rain to subside. We chatted about plans and played cards. Justin came by and we chatted as well. Once it cleared up I went home. Did more dishes. Watched Top Gear. Relaxed. Ate dinner. And now I must prepare for bed. Now, because it is what you have all been waiting for, my leg:

It's allllmost there. Mostly just a big scab that can't be picked just yet. It grows smaller every day.

vlog - senior year

senior year at PNCA begins from Trillian Spencer on Vimeo.

vanishing vlog

I deleted the old vlog posts and will remove them from youtube because I don't feel like continuing to post video entries with out of sync sound. I'm going to give Vimeo a try.

I am totally and utterly addicted to Top Gear. My internal monologue is now being affected. By which I mean: it is developing an accent. I only wish that my old Scottish accent would return. Maybe if I checked out some accents for actors tutorials...

There is the leg. Scab keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Tried some of Kristen's banana spread. Went out with her and Anthony for a little roaming. Went to Pop Up Shop, a little over priced vintage store. Everything was priced WAY too high to be reasonably sellable. We went to William Temple and for what one vintage paper back cost at Pop Up Shop ($14!!!) I got two American Apparel shirts, a skirt, and a short story collection book. With change left over! Amazing. And the shirts feel nearly new. Brilliant. Leslie and Randy met up with us at William Temple and I parted ways for home. Ate a sandwich. Relaxed. Put on my new shirt. They came back and relaxed a bit before driving back to Washington.

It was a nice relaxing final day of summer. Now to start my Vlog all over again...(I only had four entries, no big loss).

Oh I don't think I've had dinner yet. I'll boil up some pasta or something.

healination

Oops. Just realized that I never wrote up Yesterday's post. Just went to bed instead.

Friday's Leg:

Sunday's Leg:
It gets smaller and smaller. Nothing more is flaking off noticeably. I have a feeling that it will all peel at once, as this patch all had the same level of damage.

Saturday:

Slept in for a while. Watched some Top Gear. Kristen and Anthony went shopping. They came back with several bags and we all relaxed and watched Big Trouble. Then we drew and colored and sketched and talked about art theory. I also made my first Fruit Basket square. My triangle points are getting better. We listened to Odd Owl. I ate the left over pasta for lunch. I also rested the ironing board on my lap and it took me all of 2 seconds to realize this was a bad idea when the steam got my thigh quite hot.

They went to bed early and I stayed up watching Top Gear online. SO ADDICTED! Hammond, May, and Clarkson make a hilarious trio. Now I wanna drive cars around a track really really fast.

Sunday:

Set my alarm for 9:10, but I didn't roll out of bed till 11:30. Hit the snooze every 10 minutes. I trimmed my bangs. Needs a little touching up but they are once again above my eyebrows. Kristen's parents came down as well and invited me out on their wanderings. It was either join them or watch Top Gear, so I decided to take the social route. We went into a couple little clothing shops but I didn't spend any money. Anthony and Randy looked at cameras and we walked up to 23rd and looked at shoes. An early dinner was had at the sushi place on 21st. Chicken noodles were ordered and many servings of sushi. We gorged and there were no leftovers! I was surprised at how much I ate. Yum yum yum! City Market provided some nice upscale food stuffs, but I petted the dog out side instead (Archie, a terrier chihuahua mix). We returned to the apartment and chilled. Tabitha came over. Kristen's ma and pa left and now it is us four for the rest of the night.

urban (?) outfitted

Kristen's 16 year old brother Anthony is in town for the weekend. He came over during my daily Top Gear dose. You can really tell they are siblings. Curly hair and good fashion sense. We went over to Trader Joe's for some food stuffs (maybe it isn't good to be so close, I keep thinking I need more food) and then did a circuit of 23rd, but a lot of things were close to closing.

Oh mum, how are your Lush products working out? My sea salt scrub is bloody fantastic! My skin has never looked better.

At Urban Outfitters I found a 10$ wallet to replace my well worn one. It is perfect. Has a clasped side for cash and a snap side for cards. And it has a cute print. Also found a 5$ yellow tank. Whoo. Anthony is here for back to school shopping. Kitsap doesn't have much selection. We looked at hats but good hats are expensive.

For dinner we collaborated in ground beef pasta with chicken on the side. Very good and filling! Then we kicked up our feet and watched two episodes of Mad Men. Tomorrow they will go off and do something, I don't know if I'll tag along. Let them have their sibling time.

Can't believe school is starting so soon. Before I know it, I'll have a degree in my hand and have to start my life! Ahhh! I wonder how long I'll continue to blog. I should probably just keep with it till I'm uber famous and successful. Then people can look back on the gibberish I call my journey (e.g. my leg).

pork chops, yum!

I'm so excited for ground beef! I cooked myself up a scramble for breakfast. Eggs and beef. Mmm! With juice!

Watched my usual run of things. Oh! Almost forgot my nightly healing picture:

Looking more soft and skin, less scabs. It also spent some time under some saran wrap. Went over to Kevin's place for some barbecue. It was colder so I wrapped it up in saran wrap and put on pants. Thought it would be a good solution for a few hours. And it did work. It hurt a bit but it stayed moist and came out in pretty much the same condition. I met Kevin's roommates Andrea and Jason, and remet Paris and Kellan who were at the Aerial Pink show, and Amanda and Matt were down from Seattle and another friend Nigel came around. It was nice. It was a lovely little way to spend the evening. Ate pork chops and pasta salad and salad and corn on the cob and chicken! Mmm! Then played spoons! Hurray! Chatted about this and that, and at a little after midnight I was driven home. Nice little social evening.

Yeah. Munched on stuff through the day. Relaxed. I'm out of eggs now.

Wow it is 2am. Need to go to sleep or something.

crusty be gone!

This Aquafore is working miracles. My leg is staying super hydrated and it hurts a lot less to move. That could be part of the healing process, but once I started using it, it just stopped hurting. Soft flexible skin is good to have. And the crusty bits around the edges are coming off. The Aquafore really makes the scab parts soft and they flake off a lot better. The skin is red and shiny, and is obviously a little scarred. But that should fade. It's only been a week. And it gives me a story.

The cute cashier in Trader Joe's asked me how I got that in a general, understanding but not "awww poor you" way. Obviously he had hit the pavement a couple times as well. We chatted about the healing process. I love Trader Joe's! 25 bucks gets you beef, apples, bananas, juice, tortillas, dried mango slices, mochi ice cream, and a bunch of other stuff! And their prices stay the same and you don't have to fight selection! It is great. And for being hungry I didn't leave with tons of snack items. Cooked myself up some beef, threw that on a tortilla with spinach and cheese and ate that right up. Yum yum! I'm going to try to make a beef scramble tomorrow morning. I want to be more proactive about cooking real meals.

It was hot hot hooot. I only left to get dinner fixings. Spent a lot of time chilling and being not sweaty. And also looking at my leg. HEAL! When I first hit the pavement, I didn't expect it to be like this. I thought it was going to be a scrape that will scab and be gone in a week. When I started cleaning it and saw how much skin was gone, yeah...

But look how much better it is!

gross picture time!

Last night:

Tonight:
It's scabbing around the sides, as you can see, and the center is sort of soft but it looks good. It looks like it wants to be skin. Hahah. I'm so fascinated by my road rash. It's gross but I kind of like it. It's also hurting a lot less. I'm not stumbling around and if it brushes something it doesn't hurt a whole bunch. Yeah, it definitely hurts less. I wonder if thats because I'm keeping it moist, because when it dries it tends to hurt because the skin is less flexible. Hmm.

I put out my chocolate croissants last night and had them for breakfast. Mmmm! So good. Went to school and finished up the business card design stuff for Ben. Talked to Cathrine and Jim and Jon a bit. Went back home. Watch Top Gear. So addicted.

Ate a sandwich. Tabitha came over for a bit. Ate some pasta. Tabitha left. Kristen and I watched two episodes of Mad Men. Kristen's schedule got screwed up without warning due to the new internet system of registration. Boo!

I want to be out doing more, but I need to keep my leg in good care.

Thursday, Kevin is making pork chops. Can't wait! A nice summer barbecue.

oh library people, you crackith me up

I love the library staff at my school:

Anyway! Leg is healing. I'll spare you another gross picture...for now.

Slept in. Ate oatmeal and tea. Ate a sandwich later.

At 4:30 I walked to get some Aquaphore. I heard it was good for scrapes. Why not? Neosporin makes it hurt a little. So I got some, wandered back over to 21st and Irving. Caught the 17 to Burnside & 5th and then the 12 to Sandy & 54th. It was another Movie Monday at Madelines! I get invited to her nights because I'm special. It was a nice bus ride over. I ate pizza and chatted with Madeline, Tina, Kate, and the very excited Jackson. Good kid. They apparently have a swear jar. Hahah! Her mums are nurses and so when I relayed my treatment plan of Neosporin, washing it out, and Aquaphore, they didn't disagree or tell me outright not to do something. So I'm on a good track I guess. I applied the Aquaphore while waiting for the bus and it made the scrape go really squishy. I didn't know what was up with that.

Madeline's friends came over right on time: Andrew, Ben, John, and Cam. We watched the Spanish ghost movie: The Orphanage. It wasn't quite what I expected it to be. I was expecting more of a horror movie, not a sad ghost story. It was good. Spooky but not nightmare inducing. Sad ending but also kind of happy.

When I held up the leg, the boys are went EEEWWW. Jackson was much more mature about my really obvious scrape.

Madeline drove me home. Now to chill. Whoo!

entourage of ladies

My leg keeps on weeping. It's gross. But it is almost all on its way to scab town. The skin is less sensitive and hurts when I move it around and out of its healing position. Namely when it gets crinkled up when I extend my leg. All this leg talk I'm sure isn't making for good reading, but not much else is going on these days.

I slept in and then with like 20 minutes to spare before Tabitha picked us up, Kristen and I got ready to accompany Mel on her tattoo getting expedition. We hopped in the car and off we went to Sam's house. Sam went to PNCA but I never met her. She has a little personal tattoo business. All sanitized and hygienic with new needles and stuff. Maybe not certified, but she knows her stuff I guess. Anyway, Mel was there to get a tattoo of Russian nesting dolls that represent her family. She designed it, and it had a little frame around the portrait of dolls. Tabitha, Kristen, and I took turns holding her hand. She didn't squeeze too hard, she probably just wanted the option. Kris and Tab read from a Hodgman book. We were there a total of three hours, but the set up time was lengthy so it probably only took about two to tattoo. Just a straight up black ink tattoo. It looks really good. It is on the inside of her left arm. It was fun to hang out and provide support. Afterwards we went to Hot Cakes & something something. I got hashbrowns and bacon and toast and a scrambled egg. Mmmm! Fried food. We talked girly things and then went to the Clackamas Town Center mall. Kristen and I hit up the Macy's clearance rack. Well mostly Kristen, I just checked out what they had because I was there. We were shopping for unmentionables. I found a great 12.99 markdown from like...$36! And some other unmentionables that were two bucks instead of seven. Kristen was having a lot more trouble and needed girly support to get her through the trials of changing rooms.

I still can't wear pants so my poor friends had to look at my nasty healing leg. It is pretty bright red. No children in the mall stared at it, but if I did I would have pretended to be a zombie or something. We drove back and chilled out at our apartment for a bit, before Tabitha and Kristen left to record some music and Mel went home. Now it is my turn for emotional support! We went to Tab's play, Mel's tattoo, and Kristen's shopping. I don't think I have anything coming up though.

True Blood was a good transitional episode. Mad Men crammed a lot of content into its short time frame.

I want my leg to be better! This seems like it will take far too long to heal.

heal darn you!

My leg now only really hurts if I put stuff on it, like aloe vera. Don't know why it would help a scrape Mom. Oh well.

Did my laundry. The machines are nicer but about .25 more expensive than The Goose. Watched some Mad Men with Kristen. Washed my hair. Folded my laundry. Watched stuff. Ate noodles. Put away laundry. Watched more stuff. Took it easy generally.

A little over a week till school starts. Yipes! I don't really feel the senior year terror yet.

Still can't find my missing suitcase. Really weird.

Tomorrow Mel is getting a tattoo, so I might tag along on that.

I wish I could be out and about and helping with that installation more, but my leg has put a stop to that. I can't go about working on my knees and risking getting old paint in my wound. It is healing well, but I don't want to risk it.

I heard that one of the editors or something for Bitch magazine will be teaching us, and that they'll be getting someone in to help with type. And I think the animation class will be super.

I'm doing a good job making my own meals and not needing to eat out. I did that a lot in the Goose. Well, I just ordered wings. Being in a more upscale neighborhood keeps me eating in. It is a nice place though. An oasis of peace.

Six String Samurai with Pagans and Christians

Thursday

Slept with my leg out of my sheets. Which sucked because the weather went colder so it was a night to sleep under covers. And since the weather sucked we called off the Sauvie's Island trip. Oh! I set out some chocolate croissants over night to rise and they were delicious in the morning. mmmm! But yeah, no sun or whatever. Tabitha and Kristen got some tickets in the nosebleed section to see Lady Gaga tonight. Mel, Karen, and I went to the Goodwill Bins. Now The Bins is this Goodwill of all the neglected Goodwill stuff that is not bought. You pay by the pound, not price. It is amazing. I got three pairs of heels that fit really well (two brown, one purple) and a pair of flats. I got three coats to hang in my studio because I know it gets cold. Also I can loan them to other studio people and if they don't come back, no biggie. So two suit jackets and one larger tan one. I also got a grey jacket that, because The Bins doesn't have mirrors, I couldn't see how INSANE the shoulder pads on it were. They are huuuuge! But it is sort of great at the same time. I got a floral romper that fits pretty well and a dress that ended up being a couple sizes too big (can't really try anything on there either). Also got this ceramic turtle. I paid about twenty bucks for all of that. Niiice.

The leg is doing better slowly but surely.

We had Mexican food after. It was good. Filling. Didn't need a dinner afterwards. I came home when Kristen and Tabitha were all dressed up for Gaga.

They left and I put my leg up and watched Project Runway and then sat in bed and watched True Blood and got drowsy and didn't feel like moving my leg more and went to sleep.

Friday

Leg getting better! The soft sensitive patch is hardening up and being less sensitive. It has also stopped weeping fluid. It looks considerably worse, but in healing things look worse before they look better.

Yeah another gross picture for you guys. But I can go bandaid free on the knee and hydrogen peroxide hurts a lot less. It is a constant soft hurt, but not so bad. I get injured so rarely.

Finished up the lettering and logo for Ben's business card and sent him some compositions. It needs some cleaning up and refining of letters. Then I got ready for another date with Kevin.

We went to dinner at Melt, this sandwich shop on 21st. Drinks and coconut prawns for starters. I had grilled cheese and soup, he had the crab cake sandwich. All in all it was really, really good! The place has a great atmosphere. We got some gelato after but the Green Tea flavor I got lost its appeal really quick. Then we went to see Valhalla Rising at Cinema 21. It is a movie about Vikings and Christians coming to America in 1000ad. IT WAS INTENSE! The atmosphere was really well played out. It is the type of movie where you have to really get into the scenery as narration. Mads Mikkelsen, a Danish actor who is a personal favorite of mine, was awesome as a viking warrior with one eye. It is a movie I can see someone with no patience not enjoying, but I got engrossed. Very powerful. I was glad that Kevin liked it too because sometimes when you pick a movie then you get worried if the other person isn't liking it and resents you for picking it, you know? But no, we left the theater going "that was intense!". We wandered around 23rd and got a quick final drink of the night at Ram's Head. I showed him my Japan photo album back at my place and with that we called it a night.

Yeah. It was a nice date.

ouch! busted

Forgot to mention that yesterday the hinge on my phone broke. It will not close, well it can close and open but it makes it so much more likely that the top will break off the bottom and I don't know if it will work if put back together. I really like this phone. It is reliable and no frills. It is old of course, pushing six years. Which is four years more than the life expectancy of any phone. Booo.

Today I ran some errands. Went to Powell's. Got Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. Space travel! Yay! Also picked up a Crunchie Bar, which is pretty much a Violet Crumble labeled differently. Went to the Bike Gallery and dropped off my bike for a wellness check up. Walked down to Finnegan's to look at their Playmobil. They had a woodshop class set! With a bearded teacher, drill, clamp, students, and first aid kit. It was amazing! Talked to Dad on the phone for a bit about phone problems. Walked down to Verizon to see what sort of phones there are. Basically if I want to replace my phone and not get a new plan or anything, I am looking at spending $150+ on a new phone. Yeah. No way. I don't get at all why phones still cost so much. Everyone has one, so why haven't they gone down in price? Why are there no cheap no frills phones? This is crap. Oh well. Tape for now. Went and got my bike back. I was crossing the street to get in the far right lane and crossing the street car tracks I didn't have my tire slanted enough and it got caught in the tracks. I didn't flip over so much as twist and hit the pavement. Thankfully I fell in an empty parking space and not in traffic or into a car. I skinned a large bit of my shin and my knee isn't too pretty and my shoulder aches. The passers by stopped and were really nice but I wasn't in too bad of shape. I paused for a minute to catch my breath and I got back on my bike and rode home. My bike seems unharmed. Wheel isn't bent. It rode just fine, though the rider wasn't in as good as shape.

Here is a gross picture of my leg before cleaning:

Ouch! Kristen didn't come home till 8ish, which was good. I needed to be alone while I howled and cried as I washed out the scrape (now my slight tan will have a bit missing, nooo!) and the knee gouge. I then sat and watched cable while I patted at it with a damp towel. Just patted and patted. When I was feeling better, I hobbled over (this is the right leg, which has been twice sprained and was once kicked in high school and still is a bit wobbly from time to time) to Walgreens to get hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin and other assorted medical stuff. IT HURT SO BAAAD to sanitize it. I just had to suck it up and do it really really fast and then pause and then go again. Then I lathered it up and let it sit. I took a tumble on my old bike about a decade ago and at that time it was just a chunk of flesh that lifted up on my left knee. Now my right knee might get a matching scar. I can't remember getting a scrape this size before. Still, three years in Portland as a biker and this is the first time I've been caught by the tracks and the second time I've fallen on my bike (the first time I missed the curb when propping my foot up, but nothing really got injured).

To distract myself I did my hair up in Heidi braids. Like a milkmaid. Whee! Tomorrow we girls are going to Sauvie's Island to swim. I'll probably lounge in the sun more than swim. I don't think water will favor my injury.

Also having the Crunchie Bar on hand for comfort was really good. Lovely distraction.

keys and bottles

I have a headache. Ugh. Heat.

Chatted with Madeline for about an hour. Ate some good.

I went down to school and dropped off my health insurance waver. Swung by student services and said hello to the people there. Everyone is getting new hair dos and cuts and looking festive for the season. Went to the library and scanned some stuff. Rented Mad Men season one to watch with Kristen.

Swung by REI to grab one of those things to attach my keys to a belt. Not sure if the proper name. Cariban? Anyway, got that and a proper water bottle. The little one I found just isn't cutting it for my hydration needs. Plus it will probably be good to have one on hand in the studio. Or biking. Anyway, got those. Returned home. Sweated. Ate a salad. Watched Ninja Warrior.

Ben asked me to design a business card for him (for some cash) so I'm working on that. Sent him some font tests today. Will write them out proper tomorrow and play with compositions.

This heat is just...bahhh. It is supposed to go to 70 soon.

day off

Yay a day to do nothing! Just to check out and watch TV and put my still sprained ankle up.

What Not To Wear, Top Gear, Police Academy. I really gotta get rid of cable before school starts. It is just too damn easy.

But tomorrow I have some tasks to do. Whoo!

Uhm yeah. Did nothing. Put away nothing more. But it felt good.

School starts in two weeks. Damn summer went by. I got next to nothing accomplished. Oh well.

directions, poo, and reading

Saturday

Soap box derby! Tabitha picked Kristen and I up and we swung by and got Mel as well. It was a hot hot day. Shorts and bikini top were too much layers. I got some snacks and lemonade so we wouldn't starve on Mount Tabor. It was a nice drive over and we got parking near enough to one of the entrances to Mount Tabor. Unfortunately it was not the entrance near the better entrance. We walked up to where the carts were and what, if we had looked around more, would have been actually the starting point. I got confused with directions and went up the hill and ended up near a drum circle (Mel & co. stayed behind to find their own way). Oh! We were trying to meet up with BT, Liz, Phil, and other people. But yeah, I got lost and called BT three times but none of the directions got me anywhere close (I suspect he was drunk and unable to visualize where we were in relation to him). But I ran into my three girls again and we decided to just park it off to the side of a path and relax and snack for a bit. Tabitha's friend Matt was there in husky colors. He had a soap box car, or one he was helping with. After putting up our feet for a while, we went back to try and find our people once again. We made our way down the track and on the final loop there they were! We whipped out the snacks, I popped a beer, and we settled in to watch the semi-finals of the soap boxes.

One crashed into hay bales and an ambulance came later, but that turned out to be for a skateboarder. All in all, it was really hot and lots of walking around a huge mountain, but it was fun. Then we went back down the mountain, Karen gave us a lift to our car and we went to our apartment. Kristen, Tabitha, Mel, and I sat in the dark, drank cool liquids, and watched cable TV till about 8pm.

We gathered our stuff and got in the car and headed to the north east for Karen, BT, and Phil's housewarming party. They are now living in a nice little North East Portland house. Still moving in a bit, but it will be a sweet place. Karen's bathroom is very pink and BT's is nautical themed. Blues Brothers was playing. Diana, Robin, Alison, and a bunch of sort of unfamiliar people were there. Andy came over. Justin and his Dad. Evan and Holly came. Evan brought a card game called Poo where you play monkeys flinging poo and once you get 15 poo, you are out. It was A LOT of fun. I think I'll have to pick it up at Powell's. Liz, Robin, and Kristen played their ukuleles on the porch. It was adorable. Tabitha needs some sort of award for being an awesome designated driver. She got the standard trio (Mel, Kristen, and I) home safe and sound. I winded down with an episode of True Blood. Then went to sleep.

Sunday

Woke up. Had bacon and eggs. Watched a cable show about cake, then White Collar, then some Ninja Warrior, then more White Collar. Around that time Tabitha showed up. She was doing a staged reading of a friend of hers' play so she drove us to University of Portland with her. (Us being the standard four: her, Kristen, Mel, and myself). U of P is in an area where all the streets are named after Ivy Leagues. She got right to a practice reading. We watched the first half of it. Mel and I played some paper games. At intermission we wandered around to find some sort of food or vending machine but ended up out of luck all together.

The play out of rehearsal flowed pretty well. It was about this guy who murdered this guy but denied it because he was going crazy and had broken from it. It had some good parts but was too heavy with Kevin Smith influence. Tabitha played a girl in one scene. And played it well. The writer wasn't much older than me and I salute that he just wrote this play and edited and got it to test reading stages. A lot of effort and putting yourself out there. Good for him!

Karen snuck in later and she, Tab's friend Kara, and the rest of us went to Nepo 42 to get dinner. Tasty sandwiches! And Karen got a magical free sandwich through missordering. We girled it up and went whooo! It was a great night to sit outside. We made plans to go to Sauvie's Island on Thursday. Exciiiited! Sun and swimming!

Now to curl up, watch True Blood, and rest!

Jason, Chevy, and Kevin

Jason & Chevelle

Went over to the East side to help Jason and Chevelle with their TBA installation. I arrived at 2 and just missed them when they made a supply run. Tesar let me into Washington High School and I loitered for a bit for them to show up. I deconstructed some boxes and explored. Even on a bright sunny day, a silent empty school is very creepy. There were some artists on the other floors but the noise didn't carry.

I helped them haul stuff up three flights of stairs (I got a lot of exercise, dang). Cut up more boxes. Made some sand paint mixture and slathered those boxes up. My knees and hands and bare feet got covered in the stuff. I was quite gritty. But it was fun. We listened to surf music and Jason bought pizza. At 5:30 I left. At 6:30 I arrived home sweaty and painty and took a second shower.

Kevin

Second date with Kevin tonight. After I got majorly cleaned up. We went for Korean Barbecue on Hawthorne. It was quite a lot of meat. But it was good. We caught up on the past month or so. After barbecue we went down to Clinton Street and grabbed a drink at Dot's. It looks like The Matador: Lite. But it was nice. The day was really hot but the night cooled off just the right amount. I was wiped after the long day of actual manual labor so we parted after Dot's (well after he took me home, he didn't ditch me on the East side). So that was that.

Today is Adult Soap Box Derby (adult as in age not adult as in naughty) and Karen, BT, and Phil's housewarming party.