the gang at the game

When we all went to Oneanta, Andrew had mentioned that he had a friend years and years ago who was always taking pictures of all of their friends, almost to an annoying level. However, many years later, he started uploading those pictures and was able to share those moments which all of his friends thought were lost and they were very grateful to be able to relive those times.

Tonight was one of those nights that I knew I'd want to capture. I don't think Jesse has been to a game before and I haven't been to a MLS Timber's game with my friends (except for the reserve games) ever either. Plus it was an awesome game that we won!

I also walked back downtown with Bastard from the game so he got to show me his work at the courthouse while we retrieved his bike.

What else?
On Tuesday, August 28th, I helped Victory haul her art project from PCC to Al's studio and then I helped haul Al's band equipment to Laughing Horse Bookstore where Dominic repaid me for the favors. It was fun just to hang out with everyone and to be able to help.

On Wednesday, August 29th, I ate a the Denny's in Wilsonville and I felt like I needed to shower afterwards. Yes, I'm a food snob but that crap was gross.

On Thursday, August 30th, I contacted people through Craigslist about getting tickets for the game. I also wrapped my brake-line around a pole in the Corridor because I spaced out while listening to the Nerdist podcast (my new favorite podcast). I know I said earlier that it was safe and I will pay a little more attention now. Still, it's an easy fix and Corey fixed it already for me.

I ended up getting onto the Facebook page Timber's Ticket Exchange which was a lot easier than trying to contact and wait for a reply from Craigslist posters.

the word of the savage

I typically listen to music when I bike. Some people consider it unsafe but then again, some of those people will talk on their cell phone while they drive so I don't care. Instead of music today, I listened to the Savage Love podcast while biking 40 miles round trip to one of my stores for work. Since 95% of my ride is on bike paths, it's safe and very entertaining. I've never downloaded podcasts onto my phone before since I didn't have the available GBs. However, my new phone has a lot more memory so I have room for delicious new material. Jen mentions Dan Savage enough that I decided I could try his podcast. I think I ended up listening to four of his shows just today while riding around everywhere. I love the idea of not just listening to music (although there is a time for that) but listening and learning at the same time.

The above picture is from a debate that he mentions on his podcasts wherein Brian Brown challenged him to a debate about the word of the bible. Brian Brown got his ass stomped. Watch it here.

What else?
We didn't get a package delivered today but Dean still decided to turn down my bed by evenly pulling down my sheets and quilt halfway down my bed and taking the pillows that I put on a shelf every morning (so he can't get fur all over them) and setting them properly side by side on my bed. Oh, then he took half the shoes out of my closet. What an odd fellow. Because I was a little bewildered by him,  I made him pose for a dog-shaming picture which I submitted to the site.

national dog day

Since I gave up my car months ago, I've been meaning to get Dean into the bike cart. Really, he's been doing well walking so it hasn't been an issue to get him to places. Also, Bobby the cat will most likely beat him up if I take him back to Long Haus so there hasn't been a need for him to travel far. However, today was the SouthEast Sunday Parkways and the path passes close to my house. Also, it's National Dog Day (they only get one day?!?!) so I thought today's the best possible day to try to get him to ride in the cart again.

If I had to grade it as a pass or a fail, we barely passed today and that's only because he redeemed himself at the end. He jumped out of the cart maybe 14 or 15 times, nearly injuring himself a few times. I have to say that I think it's the hills. He hates riding up or down a hill. On the flat roads, he was remarkably good. But for the hills, he was frustratingly impossible. Another cyclist recommended getting a Burley cart for him which I will probably do. However, I think that he really just needs to be able to see me so a cargo bike would probably be best but a cart's cheaper. I will make this happen though, one way or another.

What else?
Andrew and I walked around the Hawthorne Street Fair which was delightful. On the walk, we saw this sign which I kind of loved:

the orchard ride

Laying in an apple orchard on a late summer evening after biking sounds as delightful as it was. I love this time of year.

We biked to Powell Butte today and walked our bikes up to the top from the Springwater Corridor. There, we played our card game and sat and talked. It was just beautiful.

Afterwards, we biked down (which was a bit steep at parts but very thrilling). It could have been the French countryside by the looks of it in parts. We ended up craving margaritas so we went to the closest place (thank you, Siri) which was La Costita where we had gigantic margaritas which were much more sugar than booze. Surprisingly, the food was pretty good.

We concluded the fun day with an awesome ride through the Springwater Corridor at night. I've never ridden it at night before and it was the perfect night for it. The air was just crisp enough to be invigorating and the crickets were singing and all of the other people who I'd normally have to navigate around on the trail were non-existent. It was fabulous!

What else?
On Wednesday, August 22nd, I made up for my jerkishness the day before and met Andrew for a nice dinner at Circa 33. I had the drink A Drop of Poison for the 1st time.


On Thursday, August 23rd, I homemade a new veggie pizza with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and goat cheese in an olive base. It was okay but I should have let the dough sit out longer. I also fixed the screen door latch again by switching the handle with the old screen door and getting creative. It works now!

On Friday, August 24th, I invited Andrew over to the house so we could watch a movie on Xbox's TV while X and Sophia are in Boston. We've been dating for 16 months now and this is the first time we've watched a movie at home together. It was nice but I kept falling asleep because that's what I do.

dog day afternoon

I don't see how parents do it. How do you hold this responsibility constantly? I guess kids are generally smarter than dogs and wouldn't destroy an office and then hide in the closet just because the FedEx guy opened the screen door to put a package in between the doors.

After I saw this, I sort of lost it. I don't mean that I lost my temper but I had lost my patience. It was so initially frustrating (why is he doing this? did i make a mistake moving him over a year ago? can i really support myself and be happy by working out of home so i can at least help keep him from doing this again possibly??) that I knew I should have just excused myself from everything else tonight just to fret over it all and come up with some answers.

Instead, I arrived at my date with Andrew and was just preoccupied.I was bordering on cranky about the fact that I had to deal with it. I had an awesome soup at Blue Moon Lounge downtown while waiting for a Science Pub at the Mission Theater. We went to the theater to discover that they were at capacity. This added disappointment and confusion to my frustration and crankiness and I had to tell Andrew that I was done and I needed to go stew over it all.

It was the best idea because I didn't want to take it out on him and I needed time to think about it and properly process it. I felt bad about leaving tho because I've never left a date before and it just seems rude. Anyway, I did get a chance to ponder it with my beer and hammock and book. I realized I can't be mad at the dog because he's obviously just scared and that's not his fault. I'm not going to pay for therapy so I'll just employ some harm-reduction. I asked everyone to not get packages delivered to the house. I'll ensure that the office and shower doors are each closed properly so he can't go in there if he wants to hide. I'll also leave the bathroom door open so he can choose to go in there and just shut the door if he must hide. I've been home when we've gotten a delivery, unbeknownst to the delivery guy so I know that the delivery guy isn't deliberately frightening him. If I didn't, my first step would be to survail my house to see if he's doing something messed up.

So, yeah, I'm good. Now I just have to make it okay with Andrew tomorrow.

What else?
I finished the Hunger Games series today. I burned through book 1 and book 2 but took my time with 3 because I enjoyed the storytelling and I was a little less ready to let it go. It's a surprisingly radical series that I'd definitely recommend for a fun summer week read. 

big girl

This sweet cat greeted Andrew and me as we exited the Reed Lake hike onto Reedway Lane near 39th St. She was probably the heaviest, most docile cat ever. If I was going to own a cat, I hope this is how she'd be.

What else?
Brunch at Detour for the 1st time. I remembered I don't like Frittatas.

After brunch and walk, we hung out with Andrew's friend/ex Mark and then the two of us (Andrew and I) went to grab food and play our game, Battleline. We play this game a lot and we've even developed our own names to recognize ways to win. And then we  made it a drinking game of sorts too but only in the respect that, if you win that way (by getting what we call a peacock cuz we're gay like that), you owe the other person a drink. Andrew got one shortly after we named it and it's been a while but I finally got one today!

duty calls

On a weekend in August in Portland, there is any number of fun things to do. The rain is gone, the heat settles down and the days become our reward for putting up with the rough year-round weather. For example, on this weekend, they're holding the soapbox derby on Mt Tabor near my house. I've been invited by a handful of different people to attend with them but duty calls.

My friend Jen from Country Fair has a five year old son named Sam. Earlier this year, Sam was diagnosed with brain cancer. He's been in the hospital for months now undergoing chemo. While he's in good hands in Doernbecher's Children's Hospital, his mom has been with him the whole time and they will be facing a lot of bills when they get out so my friend Stacie organized a yard sale for this weekend to help raise funds for him.

It began early in North Portland this morning so I had to wake up earlier, load up last minute donations on my bike, and head up there but it was all totally doable and I was glad to do it to help out. Cancer is such a daunting disease and there's nothing I can do about that but I could help in this way. I got there this morning, set some stuff up and helped manage the rush that followed shortly after we opened. A lot of awesome people donated, including the widow of a guy who owned a whole lot of new and nice athletic wear. Two of the first guys to come to the sale were THRILLED and bought a lot of it up before we really had time to research the value. However, they also gave us some tips on what to price some of the other items so it all worked out. In one day, we made around $800 and there's still another day of sale to go!


If you'd like to donate to Sam's fund, here's a link to a site that was set up to help raise money for him. Thank you in advance.

Even if they hadn't needed help at the yard sale, another friend needed help cleaning out her house that she is selling since she was recently widowed. It can be a shitty world sometimes but it's nice to have friends that will pitch in and help out. Plus these hard times remind us to remember and value the good times.

What else?

 A good number of people showed up in the early afternoon to help out at the yard sale so I was able to leave a little bit early. I managed to get home and have enough time to walk Dean up to Mt Tabor quick to catch the very end of the soap box derby. Apparently, Sophia and Jen took him up to the derby last year so I was happy to be able to keep his tradition. I wish I could have seen more of it but there's always next year. I don't regret a bit of today.

robot in my pocket

 During Trek in the Park, my camera on my phone stopped working. Then earlier this week, my music controls stopped working. This all appears to be residual from the water damage. Sigh, I knew the rice trick was just too good to be true.

I tried to put up with it and I even thought I could get it fixed but then last Sunday, when we were taking a break from helping Gail move, I got to play with Bastard's Iphone 4S that had Siri and I knew that was what I wanted.

It's weird having a phone that I can not only dictate to but one that can process things through for me. I can tell it to remind me that I have an appointment coming up when I return to the office. I can tell it that Sophia is my housemate and it will remember that relationship. I'm sure there are a lot of other uses for it that I have time to discover too.

I do have a twinge of guilt about not holding onto my old phone longer but I may try to get it fixed now and then sell it off. I just don't want it to be completely scrapped when it's not a complete piece of junk (like the droid was).

What else?
Sophia came to my work today to teach my clients some yoga. I enjoyed it and I think it was fun for her and the clients. Afterwards, we went to Pacific Pie company for my first sit-down lunch there. I also tried my new favorite kombucha, KooKooLan.

doing archeology

Last Friday, our yard finally go the attention that it had been demanding for over a year. Tim's seeing a guy named Shane who is a landscaper. At his birthday party a few weeks ago, Tim introduced Shane to Sophia and they made a plan to take care of the yard. On Friday, he came over before the birthday festivities to work on it and started chopping away at things. Today, he broke ground and ended up finding this coin which dates back to 1910. It's initially jarring because of the swastika but it also includes a number of other symbols of good luck like a horseshoe, four-leaf clover and a wishbone. Obviously since it was dated 1910, it doesn't have Nazi implications. It was just a symbol of good luck. Still, it was pretty neat.

After Shane was finished with the yard, Tim came over and the three of us headed to Zach's for food. I'd met Shane a few times before, starting with Country Fair but it was nice just to sit down and talk to the two of them.

What else?
It was another trying day for Dean. Shane coming over freaked him out initially so he took up the vent in the bathroom and pushed the rugs out. Then he threw his weight against the office door to get it to open up where he knocked over a sack of Bastard's stuff in front of the door to the garage. Then, in the afternoon, the mailman delivered a package so again Dean pushed his way into the office and knocked over a box of Bastard's stuff and tore a hole in the couch cushion. Shane's going to be working on the yard all week so I'll be coming home each day around lunch just to keep the peace.

pooling moving resources

I've mentioned before how I'm not a good swimmer. However, that doesn't stop me from enjoying a pool, especially on a hot day like today.

Earlier this week, I told Jesse I'd help his mother Gail to her new place today. Despite how hot it was, Jesse, Bastard and I made for a very efficient moving machine and got her packed up within an hour. I was amazed by how smoothly it went.

Unpacking was a little tougher due to the fact that her new condo was three floors up and there wasn't an elevator. Still, we made easy work of most of it and XBox and Sophia came to finish the rest. Afterwards, we went for a dip in her pool. She lives in a 55 and over community now so there wasn't any kids in the pool and hardly any residents around. Every moving party should involve pools...and floaty noodle things.

captain's log: stardate 8.10.12

Today, we all went to the fourth season of Trek in the Park: Journey to Babel. It's my third year here. Previously, it's been at Woodlawn Park but they moved to a much better venue at Cathedral Park this year. There was a stage there as well as amplified sound and more of an ampitheater setting that sat close to 1000 people. Insane.

This episode wasn't my favorite but the acting was great, the sets were more elaborate and I got to sit in the captain's chair and hold a phaser for my new things!

It was fun just chillin at the park but I've been on a social kick for the past several days and my introvert meter is running low. I need a day to myself to recharge.

celebration of sophia

 Last year for Sophia's birthday, I was in Alaska. This year, I wanted to help her celebrate. Sophia and I originally bonded over how much we can't stand to make a fuss on our birthdays. Well, that was many years ago and I'd like to think we've grown since then. Today, I helped her celebrate her birthday properly, with wine, pizza and cupcakes.

She chose to go to Apizza Scholls for her birthday celebration. We did it smart and sent a scout (me) there early to get our name on the list so all nine of us didn't have to wait for an hour in the lobby area. After I got our name on the list, I presented Sophia with 18 cute little cupcakes from Saint Cupcake. It's a great alternative to one large cake.

Anyway, my new thing was buying those and trying the Tartufo with mushrooms AND ricotta. The waitress talked us into the ricotta although I feel it was unnecessary. It's an awesome pie with just the mushrooms.

What else?
I left my bike gloves at Jade the other day but they were so beaten up that I wanted to replace them anyway so I got a new pair at Seven Corners. I'm writing this so A) I can reference it later to see how long a pair of gloves lasts me and B) Corey mentioned how long I had been coming to the shop (9 years). It's nice to feel appreciated and nice that he remembers. 

バーベキューパーティーやゴムバンド

Tonight I got to see Shonen Knife again. I am so thankful that I get to see them annually now. They're so awesome! Who else can wow the crowd with a song about rubber bands?

I was a tad disappointed with my lack of good pictures this year but I'll get over it. There was this gigantor in front of me throughout the whole show who rarely but down his camera. Everytime the band would do something awesome, I would go to take a picture but I would be shot-blocked by this guy. Still, it gave me some perspective. I was so infuriated by him that I refused to be him and tried to show some restraint by not taking so many pictures. This left with with the opportunity to just enjoy the show which I did.

What else?
Before we went, I met Jessica and her friends at the Victory Bar for the first time. It was okay but I wasn't prepared to even attempt to enjoy it since it used to be Laughing Horse Bookstore before the area became even more gentrified.

aftershocks

I overdid it last night. I think it was the Chartreuse or the big stein of beer. Either way, I woke up with a hangover today. I had stuff to do at work though so I couldn't call in sick. However, I made it as easy of a day as possible for me.

For transportation, my job description says that I have to have reliable transportation. One may assume this means I have to have a car. However, a car has never been reliable for me, at least not as reliable as the combination of mass transit and bike which was how I managed today. I biked downtown and took the MAX out to Clackamas where I was able to spend 40 minutes reading Catching Fire, the second Hunger Games book. I'm surprised by how much I like this series.

From there, I biked to Bob's Red Mill for lunch. After that, I biked along Lake Drive and figured it'd be just as easy to bike the rest of the way back to the office as it would be to bus it so that's what I did. Not too bad for a hangover day.

I think I've biked to Bob's before so my new thing today was giving a ladybug a tour of the city and the suburbs while it rested in my bike lock.

lounge acts

MLE and Bastard performed today at the Jade Lounge so Andrew and I went to watch them. It was my first time at the Lounge. It's a very comfortable, beautifully green place. It was a fun performance too and a good night filled with a lot of card playing, too many drinks and great music.

Below is a video of MLE and Bastard performing my favorite Bastard's song, Cannibal Family.

it worked!

I can't believe that my phone survived submersion in water for a minute and came out unscathed!

For 48 hrs, I felt as though I was in survivor mode, like it was me against the odds here in Portland without my Iphone. Still, I made it through and so did my phone!

What else?
Yesterday, my new thing was driving to PCC Sylvania campus to take Victory and her art project there. I had to rent a ziptruck because it wouldn't fit in a standard car. It was also the first time I returned a zipcar (or truck) late. :(

waterfall diving

Tonight, I jumped off the side of a rock wall into a waterfall. It's been a goal to jump along a waterfall into the pool below for some time now. I can't imagine how awesome it must be when the water isn't glacial-cold! Still, it was pretty awesome!

As per our hot weekend tradition, I went to Oneonta Gorge with Ashes, Victory and Raven today. Andrew, Bastard and Emily also joined us. It wasn't as hot today as it was yesterday but the coolness of the Gorge was still worth the trip. After the log jam (pictured in the first picture above), we hiked to the waterfall through chest deep water. I love this trail because it's not for everyone. People with start the hike, see the log jam and give up. Then, if they make it past the log jam, they may not be prepared for the deep water and might turn back. However, if they make it to the end, they still might not approach the waterfall and jump in. But we did.

Ashes was the first person that we saw climb the rock face today next to the falls to jump in. I saw that he climbed it and then Andrew swim over that way. I knew that I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't do it too so I jumped in. The water was FREEZING and the falls pushed me towards the edge of the pool so I had to struggle just to get to the wall. Ashes had already made it up the cliff and into the pool by the time I started. Andrew tried and then swam back a ways to reevaluate how it was to be done. I got a hint from Ashes and then I went for it. At one point, I had to hoist myself up onto a ledge, using just my arms. It was a ways up out of the water but thankfully I go to the gym. :)

When I was on the rock wall, I began to lose my nerve. I don't like jumping a long ways into water but I was convinced that it was going to be okay and random strangers started coaxing me so I did it. It was pretty epic for me. I can't say that I do this every day but it's pretty damn wonderful to know that it is realistically an option for me.

What else?
As per usual, we headed down to where the falls spill into the river. I went to retrieve my phone at this time to capture some memories from this awesome day. Then I dropped my phone in the river. It was in there for a minute before Andrew spotted it and retrieved it. I was told by Victory, Ashes and Bastard to put it in a sack of rice which I did. I've tried this trick years ago with the droid which got we in my pocket after biking in the rain and it didn't work. Even if it doesn't work, it was still an awesome day!

back to vancouver

Today was the hottest day of the year so far and at the hottest point of the day, I found myself on the I205 bridge again biking over to Vancouver. Andrew has two friends, Yvonne and Terri in the Couv and they wanted to have us over for a BBQ so I agreed although I tried to get out of it yesterday when I realized how hot is was going to be. But then Sophia told me about a trick that involved soaking a light long sleeve shirt in cold water and putting it on right before I went. After that, I felt a lot more comfortable.

Yvonne and Terri were great people to spend the day with and it really helped that they had two wonderfully funny dogs, Cali and Coco. Coco is the beautiful lab/chow mix pictured above. The best part of the day for me was tossing a tennis ball to Coco, trying to make it into the kiddie pool that was set up for her. Andrew tossed it over the pool once and Cali walked back to us thru the pool but then decided to stop and squat in the pool to pee. I laughed soooooooo hard.

What else?
Yesterday, we went to Tim's house for his birthday party where my new thing was meeting some of his friends for the first time, although I primarily stuck with my crew.

chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool

It's too damn hot. I wouldn't have been drawn to the Pacific Northwest if I wanted to live in hot weather. Fortunately, it's not going to last that long...hopefully.

It's only been in the high 80s but it supposed to reach the mid 90s this weekend. Really, that's not too bad when I think of the 100 degree days that I used to spend in Nebraska, specifically the times when I didn't have air-conditioning. I remember once sitting around our shack of a house with Brian. We were just both in running shorts and nothing else with our door propped wide open to try to capture any breeze at all as we watched the Simpsons. Neither of us were moving for fear of bringing on the sweat when a rottweiler strode into our living room like he owned the place. Again, we didn't move and he just stood there looking at us, not wagging his tail but not growling either. He eventually left and we were able to then shut the door. I can't exactly remember what we did then but I'd guess we went to Hastings where our friend ran a movie theater where we could just hang out all day and watch movies for free.

It doesn't get nearly that hot here but when you're not used to it at all, these days can be dreadful. Sleeping is particularly difficult. After going without sleep for a few days now, I decided that I wasn't doing a damn thing today and it felt awesome. Also, my hammock in back is a lot better setup than a hot living room.

What else?
My new thing today was buying wine from a vendor at the Buckman Farmer's Market and also buying a loaf of bread. I started reading the Hunger Games yesterday because Sophia has a copy and recommended it. It's really good and it made bread sound like a delicious idea so I discovered a fresh bread vendor at the Farmer's Market which was delightful.

My new things yesterday and the day before were both work things. I had to do a training for new staff on Tuesday. We present a full day of training as a team every other month and normally, I train at the end of the day but due to scheduling conflicts, I went first today. I like going last better because then I get to let the class go a little early. Still, I met some new people, in particular, one new guy who I'm going to be working with at one of my stores.

Today, I toured a store in Beaverton with one of my participants and then met her skills trainer. She asked me a bunch of questions about the clients' work ability and I was impressed by how knowledgeable and professional I sounded. Go me!