guard dog

Dean's an awesome awesome loyal dog and smart as a whip but bravery is not among his strengths.

When I got home from work today, I opened the door and he wasn't there to greet me. I looked on my bed and he wasn't there either, nor was he in the office on his pillow or the loveseat. The baby gate was still up in front of Sophia's room so I knew he wasn't in there and his leash was still home so nobody was taking him for a walk. I panicked for a second, calling his name. Then I noticed the bathroom door was closed. I pushed it open against some towels that were laying in front of the door along with an upside down trash can. Dean came running out.

Here's what I assume happened: The mailman came by, approximately at 1:30pm and opened the screen door to drop two packages in between the screen door and the wood door. Dean barked at the mailman as per usual. However, he became frightened when he thought the man in uniform was coming into the house so he ran to the bathroom, pushing the door closed behind him and then barricading himself in with towels and a trashcan. That's my protector.

This is all speculation but it's also the most logical conclusion. (Obviously, I have been watching too much of the BBC show Sherlock.)

What else?
Sophia, Xbox and I tried the relatively new Thai Dish Cuisine near our house. It used to be Thai Thai but it changed owners. Anyway, it has some of the best Pad Thai I have ever had. I love this neighborhood!

Also, I finished the DMZ comic series today. I loved it but not as much as I loved Y: The Last Man. Still, I would recommend it highly to almost anyone.

the adventure across state lines

Who knew Vancouver could be exciting? Andrew and I had heard about a bike trail in the Couv a week ago from one of his friends. We set on a quest to find it today and had a great time, even in misadventures.

I got a thrill as we rode over the I-5 bridge. The Columbia River is huge and all of the traffic on it made it really loud. However, the bike lane was separated from the vehicle traffic so it was surprisingly calm. We rode in downtown Vancouver for a short while, trying to find the Burnt Bridge Greenway. Once found, there was the momentary thrill as we got to ride through the lush scenery. However, it ended too quickly and too confusingly. I led us on a goat trail path for a bit through the woods which was adventuresome but resulted in a flat tire for me. I bought a tube patch kit not that long ago so I was able to patch it quickly but the patch didn't hold. Andrew volunteered to ride two miles into town to a bike shop to get it fixed. In the meantime, I got to sit on the side of the path by the interstate, listening to a reggae cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band while eating berries. It was surprisingly delightful.

After he returned, we biked for a while longer, trying to find another good bike path that would lead us to Vancouver Lake. We settled for some country roads that dead-ended at the lake and chilled out in the meadow grass pictured above. It was even more delightful even though there were hunters near by firing gun shots periodically.

Biking back proved to be difficult since we wanted to do the 205 bridge instead. Getting to it was complicated but we eventually managed, opting to take a sure road instead of a scenic road. The bridge itself felt like a giant reward since the first mile of it is all downhill.

We concluded the evening with a deserved dinner at the Observatory. It was all good but the Oregano Fry Bread was awesome.

What else?
Yesterday was really chill. I ended up biking around a bit, buying a bottle of Rose for today (my new thing), getting a new tail-light from Corey and another new pair of sunglasses (I broke two pairs of sunglasses this weekend). I ended the day at Andrews, hanging out with our friends Jason and Lauren who introduced me to the reggae which soundtracked my wonderful day today!

the way it should be

 Today exemplified how well things have been going lately. I was able to spend time with Dean, get some housework done, have a long lunch with Andrew (my 1st salad at Oasis Pizza), bake some more chocolate cookies and then bike to Jen's house with Andrew for her 33rd birthday party. After the funeral last week, I really started to have a longing to see my friends more in more positive contexts. I wish I could have seen more people but it was still wonderful to see Jen, Donald, Nikki, Eric, Destonie, Bastard, Jesse, Lori Ann, Melissa, Nathanial, Ashes, Sophia, Xbox, and more. I also met some new people (but I'm horrible with names). And along with Jen's birthday, we were all able to celebrate the fact that Bastard just got offered a clerkship in Portland and Ashes is starting county job soon! It's been a tumultuous year for too many of my friends so I'm glad to see things work out for the better and I'm glad to see them under such celebratory circumstances.

What else?
Last Tuesday, our HR director sent out modifications to the dress code, saying that we could no longer wear t-shirts on "casual Friday" but we had to wear golf shirts or oxford shirts. I love my t-shirts and one of my career goals is to work somewhere that will allow me to wear t-shirts all of the time so we're going in the wrong direction here. However, at our Wednesday meeting, my boss was wearing a knit top without a collar when she was reviewing the changes in the dress code which now calls for a "business casual Friday." Someone curiously (not insubordinately) questioned what she was wearing and how it fit into the dress code. She then said we could wear t-shirts, just not thin white ones. She added that we should avoid hot pinks and yellows because we wouldn't want to draw attention to ourselves. Confused over what I should wear today, I just decided to stay at home on a sick day.

On Wednesday, July 25th, my new thing was trying the veggie reuben at Eastside Deli. It had peppers in it which made it too spicy.

On Thursday, July 26th, I took charge of our sheltered workshop clients at work for the day. Also, afterwards, Erin, Tim, Scott, Leah, Andrew, Ashes, and I went to Roadside Attraction for Happy Hour where some asswipe stole my solar-powered bike light. :( Also, Andrew and I tried the Pad Thai Kitchen for the first time.

happy meal

Today was DC Vegetarian's third birthday. I was probably going to end up going there anyway but I especially wanted to eat there since they were celebrating. Also, they were giving away desserts with sandwiches today so I had their yummy and rich chocolate peanut butter cup for the first time. On top of it all, they let me draw out a prize from a paper bag which ended up being a plastic toy rhino. The rhino is my power animal so the guy there determined that it was serendipitous that I got it.

What else?

The photo above is my first Instagram. A few of my friends do the Instagram thing. I haven't done it before although it's been on my phone for over a year. Since I like taking pictures so much, I'll probably do it often. My username is Tophurious if anyone is looking for me.

It's been nice here weather wise (finally!) so I pulled out my hammock today. After chilling in it with a beer and a comic book, Sophia, Xbox and I played some Munchkin with some silly expansions. That game is ridiculous but fun. It's a nice, frivolous summer activity which pretty much describes my day.

a masterpiece in three parts

So here's a shocker: I loved the latest (and last) Batman movie, the Dark Knight Rises.

I've loved Christopher Nolan as a director/writer since Memento. When he got money, he was able to really strut his stuff and pull off what may be the best original trilogy in film history (I would say LOTR was the best based upon a novel series). Each movie stands alone as a great film but, when you combine the three, you get interwoven stories, well-developed characters, some solid acting and beautiful cinematography.

I have to admit that I was apprehensive about how Anne Hathaway was going to play Catwoman. I have always seen her as a living Disney character. However, she did a fabulous job, comparable to Heath Ledger's job as the Joker. However, there's no comparison between Anne's Catwoman and Michelle Pfieffer's Catwoman, mainly because Pfieffer's character was written by Burton and therefore completely over-the-top.

My one critique of the movie (okay two critiques) was Bane's voice. Yes, I realize that it had to be obscured due to a mask but between Tom Hardy's muffled dialogue and Christian Bale's raspy Batman, it became difficult to get invested in their scenes. Also, I hate ticking time-bomb suspense scenes. They always seem too contrived. However, those are minor complaints considering everything I was happy with in this and the other two films.

I will probably go see it at least one more time. It is almost three hours long but it almost seems too short because I don't want it to be the end.

What else?
Andrew and I went to see it at the Roseway today after having dinner at Zien Hong, which holds one of my new favorite dishes in town: Pepper-Salted Eggplant. So good!

My new thing today was helping Ashes put up the door to Sophia's room. It's halfway there. Who knew that it'd be so damn complicated to put in a door that's already framed?

that other reality

Last week, while we were enjoying the beginning of Country Fair, one of our friends passed away. Since I've been in Portland, I've only had to attend two funerals. One was for my co-worker's child and the other was for my grandma. I consider Portland to be a wonderland of sorts and death doesn't belong here. Today, I had to face that, even here, death is a reality that will still find us eventually.

I can't say that I knew Syd very well. We had only met a handful of times but I was more acquainted with his partner, Cat. Syd has faced a long and grueling battle with cancer, only to pass away due to the doctors' denials that it had returned. Cat's been with him for over 20 years. I can't imagine what she's going through.

Yesterday was Syd's funeral which was referred to as a celebration of life. It was hard for me to view it that way when I didn't know him very well and I could see that my friend was so clearly suffering. Despite the imposing religiousness of the ceremony and sermon (Syd wasn't a church-goer) and the meat at the reception (Syd was an animal rights activist), it was nice to have such a large gathering of people there to honor Syd's memory. It was also a lovely setting, on the marina on Hayden Island.

Afterwards, Cat wanted to go to the beach so we made that happen. Ashes, Victory, Josie, Jesse, Lori, Cat and I all headed to Manzanita at sunset. We didn't really have a plan other than to get to the beach. Normally, I would have had to bow out of the trip due to Dean but Sophia was able to care for him. Cat also had her little dog Buddha so I bought some treats for her.

 

It was a long drive but it was also nice to be with friends. We got to the beach after dark. None of us were really prepared for a beach trip so we didn't even have jackets, except for Cat fortunately. Initially, Lori was going to rent us a hotel room and told us to buy some food. When we found out all of the hotels were booked, we just sat on the beach by a campfire. The beach was calm and beautiful and not too cold or windy. Sometime after midnight, we decided to head back to Portland. I drove Ashes' car and he drove Lori's since hers was a stick shift and she was too tired to drive. We didn't get back until this morning at 3am.

I love my friends. I love that they would be up for going to the beach at the last minute at the wishes of a friend in need without any attempt to dissuade her or push their own agendas. We're a special bunch and I don't want to lose any more of us.

What else?
In witnessing Syd's ceremony, I would like to get out of making a will right now and instead opt to do the cheap version by posting my wishes on my blog. I don't want a priest there, especially one who doesn't know me. I haven't gone to church in a long time and that's been a conscious decision. To have my funeral be overtly religious would be to dishonor my memory. If I change my mind one day down the road, I will update this. I would have the people from the Spirit Booth at Community Village do their thing but that's not a requirement. Also, I don't want meat served but dairy is fine. I want whatever animal I may own to be there and I want to be cremated. There's a cliff outside Manzanita where my ashes could be dumped but don't pull a Lebowski and let them fly back in your face.

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately so I haven't been updating my blog this week but here's what's happened:

On Monday, July 16th, I woke early in the morning at camp and registered for classes on my I-Phone. I got into the class with my instructor that I had for my generalist class which went along with my internship two years ago. I'm thrilled about that. Also, on the ride home, Tomas taught me how to play Backgammon. I was exhausted and not in the right state of mind to learn the game but I think I got the concept down.

On Tuesday, July 17th, I was hit by a car on my bike. I was and still am 100% fine. I was biking in a crosswalk that pedestrians were in as well on Powell and 28th by the McDonalds. The eastbound traffic stopped and a car was slowing in the westbound traffic but she didn't hit her brake all of the way. I was in front of her when I noticed she wasn't actually going to stop but I couldn't speed past her because I didn't know if the cars in the right lane were going to stop or slow down at all. She tapped by back tire and my bike stopped so I jumped off. I cussed at her and then saw she was maybe in her mid-80s. She pulled over and gave me her info. I released the quick release on my tire and it fell back into place. She told me to get it looked at and I had to spend a good amount of time consoling her. Maybe I should have called the cops because I don't think she should be driving still but I'm hoping she'll realize that on her own.

On Wednesday, July 18th, I got my bike checked out. Corey at Seven Corners had to true the tire but it was fine other than that and he didn't charge me anything because he's super-awesome. I bussed out to Clackamas for a store visit for the first time.

On Thursday, July 19th, I went to Veggie Grill for the first time. I also picked up a book on defending animals called the Bond. I like it so far but it makes me want to quit my job and devote my life to animal activism. Later on, Ashes and I picked up the door for Sophia's room from the store and I bought a spring which I used to fix the front screen door. I also went to the Hunger Games with Jesse. It was okay but a bit long. I'm impressed that I managed to stay awake through it all since it's almost a three hour movie and it didn't start until 9:15pm.

On Friday, July 20th, I made chocolate walnut cookies for Syd's service. I was also thinking that I would bring them to a BBQ that Andrew and I were going to at his friends Mark and Emily's house but they weren't cooled in time.

alternative states of mind

 

This year, Fair has been just fair. Last year, when I was getting ready to leave, I fought against the idea of reintegrating into outside society. Fair was just too fabulous. So far, this year's fair has been fun but not extraordinary. However, today made it all worth it.

I did my morning shift, found Tim who was visiting again with his friend and then went and watched a circus act. I haven't sat through a lot of the acts this year and today I was determined to see at least one. I ended up getting there early and catching the end of the Dr Atomic Medicine Show which is pretty radical. Then I watched the Eccentric something-or-other circus thing. It was a funny act with some decent stunts and a good break-dancer. Right afterwards, I was walking out of the show and the parade dragon came by so I jumped in and paraded into the Chaela Maela Meadow and danced in the sun. After that, I found a beat-boxer performing under the tent. I strolled for a bit when that was done and happened upon the Risk of Change group. I paraded with them for a while and stumbled upon Ashes, Victory and Tomas.

It was just a great several moments where I really felt like I was a part of the fair and so was everyone else and it was all beautiful. I realized that this is how fun and wonderful humans are capable of being. I'm a misanthrope in the outside world but it's easy to be a philanthrope...at least temporarily. Still, I would like to bring some of that out of Fair when I leave and into the outside world. Yeah, we're a plague on the earth as a species but we're not all bad individually and we can do some good.

What else?

After hanging out at the camp for most of the late afternoon and evening, we headed into the Fair at dark. Victory and I went to see Chris Chandler perform a late night show in the library. It wasn't as solemn as Jason Webley's late show last year but it was still entertaining. Fair wouldn't be fair without seeing Chris Chandler a few times.

fair food

Another fun fair day. My new thing was eating at Cafe Mundo, the new Community Village cafe. The salad pictured above was amazingly good.

let's get radical

The OCF is typically (and incorrectly) thought of as a bunch of hippies in the woods. While there are a lot of hippies and more tie-dye than you'd care to imagine, there's a lot else going on at the Fair. However, today was probably the most radical speaking engagement I've ever seen there. In the picture above (from R to L) is Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers from the Weather Underground movement and Jeff Jones from SDS.

I've read Prairie Fire, the anthology/statement of the WU so it was awesome to be able to see and listen to two of the people that had a hand in writing it. People have given Ayers and Dohrn crap for turning liberal instead of radical based upon how the media aligned them with Obama. However, in listening to them speak and hearing about their experience with the campaign mishaps, it seems like they were still as radical as ever but just a little more seasoned now.
What else?

More pictures and Friday's outfit. It was a fun day although I think I spent most of it wandering around aimlessly after the Dohrn/Ayers event. At night, I went down to the gate and helped the security crew shuffle people back in after the fire show just outside the fair. Maria, a traffic person, gave me a fun light to use which helped. I strolled back into the fair later and happened upon a few music performances, one of which was Jaya Lakshmi, a new age yogi person who was singing beautifully while a DJ put a fun bass beat behind her. It made for fun dancing in the dark.

candy ass

Fair only lasts for three days (Fri-Sun) but Thursday always feels like a fair day because the vendors open up around noon (or earlier it seems) and I like to dress up on Thursday. In looking at my outfits, I basically just re-formatted each of last years four outfits with slight alterations. However, I added my coy fish socks and my fuzzy vest, each of which got a lot of compliments. As I've said before, that's one of my favorite parts of Fair!

Another favorite part is the fairy name. I have a fair (ha ha) amount of aliases but I like to be creative with my name here because it will only last for 4-5 days. Andrew lovingly refers to me as a candy ass when it comes to my taste in drinks (amaretto, anyone?) so I presented that as one of my potential choices to Raven and Mercury. In unison, they quickly responded that I should go with Candy Ass. In the outside world, I wouldn't want strangers calling me Candy Ass. However, having fair family say it (and even sing it like the bridge security lady does) is just fine with me.

What else?

Speaking of singing, Victory and I were treated to this little child singing while we were setting up our booth in Community Village. Her mother works in the Wild Edibles booth next door so she just sat on a bench, singing a number of songs but mostly focusing on ABCs and some song about ponies. She did manage to sing a few lines from Taio Cruz's Dynamite though which I thought was awesome. Fortunately, Victory had some change so I was able to tip her

I actually felt useful setting up the booth this year. I sanded the steps of our ladder in back and hung the curtain between our booth and Wild Edibles. I can't wait for tomorrow!

loading up and settling in

We're off to the Fair!

My new thing was loading everything I was bringing into my bike cart to take it over to the RV at Long Haus. It just barely all fit and I had already dropped off some things in the RV already, not to mention the mattress that I'll use in my tent. Poor Deano was so used to traveling with me after the beach and Nebraska that he got excited when he saw me taking things out of the house and ran out there. Since there was no car around, he just sat outside my bike cart. I hate leaving him but we just had a good week+ together so I don't feel guilty.

We had the RV filled with people and stuff but we made it to the Fair without any issues.  We got the camp set up which includes a multi-keg tap. We'll have an apricot ale, an IPA, a hefeweizen, and a dandelion wine to choose from. Ah, camping!

What else?
Yesterday was just spent getting packed up to go. I bought a few new shirts at Buffalo and at Metro and a new hat at Classic Collection. I'm not 100% sure that I have my outfits together but I'm here and I'll make do with what I've got.

the road home

I'm back home. It was a long journey but I think I liked it just as much as flying because A) I had my dog & B) I didn't have to put up with airport crap. It's too bad it's really not feasible in the winter because I'd do it all again for Christmas.

Another reason I liked driving was due to the car. This little Focus was fuel efficient and intuitive as far as the controls like cruise control are concerned. When I got in it last week, I was initially concerned because it was so nice and I had declined the additional insurance that they offered, although I did opt for a $7/day minimal insurance offered by the third party agency that set up the rental. However, I managed to return the car without any damages and with 15 minutes to spare before the end of my reservation! Yeah!

I stopped at a few new places (rest stops and gas stations) for my new thing(s), in addition to returning a car to Alamo. While I was a bit concerned with having a deadline of when I had to have the car back, the drive was relatively easy and pretty. Again, I just listened to the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood audio books, making it through the 4th book. The audio books were another reason that the long journey didn't seem so daunting. Maybe I'll do it again next summer!

utah'lking to me

Today I started back home and went to Utah. I have always avoided Utah. The last time I was in the state was in 2002 when I took a small vacation to explore and drive aimlessly out of Nebraska. The farthest west I got was Logan, Utah. The scenery is pretty but I never really felt comfortable here, mainly because of the Mormon predominance.

When planning my trip back, I decided to do it a little smarter than my trip to Nebraska in that I wanted to split my days up evenly so one of them didn't wipe me out and leave me pulling into my destination at 3am. I figured that Tremonton, UT was the middle point and I booked a room at the Sandman Inn there because it's dog friendly (although not as outwardly dog-friendly as the Ontario Inn).

Tremonton is a little town. I was unaware of how small it was going to be until I pulled in. Next time, I will most likely opt to stay in Ogden. However, the drive was nice and listening to various audio books helped. Tomorrow, I'll most likely just stick with the Sookie Stackhouse novels because they're entertaining and don't require a lot of thought distraction from the road.

What else?

I stopped at a little shop across from the University in Laramie. Laramie only holds one association for me and that's the Laramie Project, a heartfelt dramatic reproduction of interviews conducted with people regarding the death of Matthew Shepard. Initially, I was wary of the town but it wasn't the whole town's fault, just a few homophobes. Proudly, I wore my two unicorn/star wars shirt there.

the bridges

The first picture above is the exact spot where Dean first learned to swim 11 years ago. I kicked a beer can into the river when he was a pup and he jumped in to fetch it. He went under quick and surfaced a second later, splashing around. He looked panicked for a second or two and then I saw the realization wash over him and he started swimming in circles. It was one of my proudest moments as a dog companion.

The second picture is where he really learned to walk off leash. He walked off leash in town here and there when he was young but out on this trail, he really was able to step out several yards in front of me and I was able to trust that he would come back.

The last picture shows the remnants of the bridge. We used to call the trail here "The Bridges" because there were two long well-constructed bridges out here just east of Kearney. A bunch of us who worked at the video store would come out here at night, just to hang out and do something other than go to a party or play video games. Mostly, we would just spook ourselves out and get in a good walk to look at the stars. I guess the first bridge burned down three years ago in a wildfire.

One of the goals with bringing Dean back was to take him back here. He seemed to enjoy it. I had to improvise a bit since the first bridge was burned down. I remembered that Shawn had taken us out there once on an intersecting road. Thanks to google maps, I was able to figure it out quick and make it there so we could at least get to the second bridge. It's weird to think that it's been ten years since I've been here last!