Zoos make me uncomfortable, especially after seeing the movie 'Happy Feet' but it's easier to stomach the Henry Doorly Zoo because of all of the open environments. Plus it was my first time there with both nieces.When my niece Hayleigh was born 12 years ago, I spent a lot more time at home. She was the reason for me to come home more often. Hayleigh now has a two year old sister, Marley. I feel bad because I've only visited Marley twice now. However, these are different times and different circumstances. It was delightful to get the opportunity to watch Marley at a dance. She imitates her big sister in her dance style. It's so adorable.
This was the first Riot Cop performance that I've been to outside. As many shows as I've seen of theirs over the past several years and this was the first outdoors one. Crazy. It's also the first show that I've seen them walk out on.
When I first toured Portland before moving here, I went to Powell's Bookstore to apply for a job. The place is HUGE. They have maps throughout the store to guide you through the five floors of new and used books. At the time, they were hiring for a supervisor and paying $21/hour. I just about shit when I saw that. My assumption was that jobs in Portland just paid a helluva lot more. It wasn't until I moved here that I realized Portland had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
For me, activism has been about 75% campaigning for causes and informing the masses. I began in 1999 or 2000 when Nebraskans were voting on an anti-queer rights bill. Some friends and I made a flyer that said, "All in favor of Amendment ???, raise your hand." And then on the flyer was a picture of Hitler doing his hand salute. We put the flyers everywhere. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the bill passed almost unanimously. Still, it felt good to at least try to get the word out that not all of us supported this piece of bigotry.
The Eclectic Bastards had their second to last show for a while today at the Tonic Lounge. I've never been to Tonic although I've heard the name thrown around quite a bit. It's a nice place. The stage area was typical and reminded me of several bars in Europe. The lounge part was where we spent most of the night. It's nice to go to a place and not have to scream over music to have a conversation. Plus the drinks were pretty decently priced and very well proportioned. I had a big glass of Raspberry Kiss for $5.50. I'd highly recommend the place for seeing a show or just for hanging out.
In the five years that I’ve attended Pride, I’ve never sat and watched the parade. I’ve crashed it twice but I never really took it in. Today, I did just that and I surprisingly loved it. I think that the highlight for me was seeing one of the developmentally disabled adults who is also trans in the parade. That made me proud.
I've really really been trying this week to put a positive spin on Pride NW. I know people who really really love it. However, those people aren't gays or lesbians. Yet this year, I was actually able to enjoy it when I was down there. I wrote a report-back about it on indymedia. There are a lot of good organizations that show up at Pride and it's nice to see gatherings of queers outside the bars.
When I hooked up my flat-screen monitor last month and viewed my pictures on it, I saw the flaws of my Fujifilm Fine Pix A700. I couldn’t get it out of my head and every picture that I took seemed inferior to me. Once I start obsessing over something, it’s best that I just take care of it right away or I will be pining and whining about it until I do. Yesterday, my new camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ4 came in. I didn’t get the chance to play with it but I took it out for a test drive today.
It’s a lot more technical than I am used to as far as cameras go. I usually just have the point-and-click cameras that don’t leave a lot of room to do much else other than turn the flash on and off or make it a night setting. This camera has firework, beach, candlelight, pet, baby, sports, sunset, snow and underwater settings and many more. It also just takes a better picture.
Check the photos above. The first one was taken with my Fujifilm. The second was with my Panasonic, my new favorite piece of technology.
Comic books were probably my most frequent and consistent purchases as a kid. I wish I could say I was into the Superhero comics but they usually ran in a series and it was difficult to keep up with them unless you visited the comic book store regularly. No, for me, it was Archie, Hot Stuff, Groo (most of you probably won't know who that is) and some others for me. Pretty lame but then again, aren't all comic books.
During my final year of college, I had to do a radio show to complete my major in Journalism. I put it off until my final year because I really didn't want to do it. So, when I was forced, I opted for the 12pm-1pm, Monday, Wednesday, Friday shift at the college station, playing blues and jazz. I ended up loving it and wishing I had been doing to all throughout college.
They say "age is just a number but the physical effects of aging are very real." I agree more with the saying, "You're only as old as you feel," because somedays you can feel ten years younger and some days you feel a slight bit older than you actually are.
There is a stark difference between ‘city folk’ and ‘country folk.’ City folk seem a lot more jaded and sarcastic. If you could turn sarcasm into energy, you could keep cities running on that alone. Everything does move slower in the country and it obviously has an impact on the disposition of those who live there. I feel it whenever I go back home. People are just so much easier going and seemingly more willing to lend a hand.
I got to meet the people whose land we were on and Dean got his first and hopefully last taste of an electric fence as he tried to chase a cow. Dumbass. The people were pretty cool, perhaps a bit flaky though. They did agree to let us leave the RV on the land for a bit and the guy is fixing the radiator for a small fee. The lady (I have to use genders because I don’t know names) had to head to town anyway so she gave us a ride home with the possessions that we absolutely needed. We were dropped off downtown and I had Dean so I couldn’t take the bus with everyone else. I had to walk home with Dean, my pillow and a bucket of dog food. I know I got some funny looks but screw the city folk and their attitude.
My most memorable trip in my two years at McCook Community College was when our choir went to a regional recital in Minneapolis. It was during the winter of 1996 and a record setting snow and ice storm. We got to Minneapolis okay, only having to stop unexpectedly once in Iowa when the choir teacher was positive short bus windows were going to break from the cold. Coming back, we broke down in Stuart, Iowa. Hell had frozen over and they renamed it Iowa. It sounds bad but it was one of the most fun trips of my life up until then.