amazing rockets

Being an uncle means I get to buy toys that make noise and fire objects. I bought my oldest nephew Ethan a foam rocket launcher. At first I didn't think he'd be able to play with it until the spring but he launched them around the house. It's a simple concept and it's safe and easy enough for him to operate. He kept saying, "These rockets are AMAZING!" I was pretty proud of myself for a while...until I heard him say, "Mom, these almonds are AMAZING!" :)

What else?

When I was home this summer, I brought home my board game Agricola. It's just big enough that I didn't want to carry it in my luggage and Andrew doesn't have any interest in playing it. The only people I'd play it with have a copy already so it can just stay here. We played two games throughout the day. My brother and sister-in-law really liked it and were excited to play again. My mom was unsure about it even though she won the first game. My dad picked it up pretty quickly when we played again in the evening and ended up winning. I love board game holidays.

coming out of the dark

 

It's been a rough time for me these past couple of weeks which is why I haven't been posting (also, the holidays are crazy-busy). It's been rough due to a number of things, primarily the weather, the dark days, and my busted ribs. 

My bike accident three weeks ago ended up hurting longer and more than I had anticipated and caused me to work shorter work days. I'm very lucky to be in a workplace where that's possible. Mostly, I would have to bail after 6-7 hrs and go home and medicate with pot. What's also been hard for me is not going to the gym. I was on such a good streak before this but any lifting was discouraged by Dr Google plus it hurt when I did minor lifting at home so I skipped the gym for three weeks. But I returned today!

Over the weekend, I felt better and at the last minute today, I decided to go in and see what I could do. I didn't bench and I couldn't do my inclined sit-ups but I managed to do all of my free-weights, albeit at a lower weight. Still, I feel good for going in and this way I'll be able to get in almost two weeks before I go back to Nebraska! My new thing was bussing (and then walking) to the gym.

What else?

Most of the days, my new thing was a new work contact but I'll touch on the highlights:

On Tuesday, 12/15, my office mate brought in her baby who is about 6 months old so I couldn't help but pick him up a few times (and parade him down the hallway).

On Wednesday, 12/16, I finally finished "A Tale for the Time Being." I really need to read more books and less comic books this next year.

On Friday 12/18, I DJ'ed the work party for Ashes. This is the first year in seven years that I haven't DJ'ed the client party for GW so it felt good to have one gig. It was nice and chill and I got to get better acquainted with people that I had only met briefly before. Plus there was a pug.

On Saturday, 12/19, I went to Tim and Sophia's and we played a bunch of games. I tried Exploding Kittens and we also played 'werewolf' which I had played years ago as 'mafia.' I was originally only planning on being there for a few hours but I stayed all day because I liked the new people that I met.

On Sunday, 12/20, I spent most of the afternoon working on Hayleigh's x-mas present. I can't go into more detail because I haven't given it to her yet.

On Monday, 12/21, I tried two new-to-me dark beers at NWIPA's dark beer fest, one of which had coffee in it. I don't think I slept that night except for maybe two hours.

On Thursday, 12/24, I walked all of the way home from work which was only possible because A) we got out early for Xmas Eve, B) it wasn't raining, and C) Andrew worked from home that day so he was with Ava. It took me just over an hour which isn't too bad. Also, for dinner, we went out for Bejing Hot Pot. Neither of us had done Hot Pot before so it was quite an experience.

On Christmas Day, I got up early-ish and made coffee in the house! Since we've been living together, we have never had the capability to make coffee in the house but Andrew bought a French press the day before so I made coffee (and pot chocolate chip cookies) first thing. He got me a bathrobe, underwear, and a new vape pipe. I got him a shirt, a sweater, and rain pants. It was nice just to have an easy Christmas morning. Afterwards, when we were both high on cookie dough, we walked around Tabor with Ava. We took her into the dog park quick and she did not attack another dog! It's a Christmas Miracle!

On Saturday, 12/26, we tried to go to the new Tarantino film The Hateful Eight but it was sold out. I had to buy tickets on-line for almost a week later (New Years Eve) instead. However, we did go to the upper part of Sam's Billiards to have a drink.

On Sunday, 12/27, it snowed! Plus I went to Tim and Sophia's where we played Power Grid. It was fun but I don't have a strong inkling to play it again.

LTS

I wasn't prepared to deal with dog medical issues yet. After having an older dog who couldn't walk very far for his last few years, Ava seemed like she was invincible. She had boundless energy and pain never really seemed to register with her. She would get tired after long hikes but she was always up for another walk if the possibility came up. Well, yesterday, she apparently pushed herself too hard and her tail paid the price.

The term for the affliction facing Ava right now is Limber Tail Syndrome. It's kind of like a sprain. She can't raise her tail and it just sort of droops there, looking comically pathetic. I only say that because it's supposed to bounce back in a few days. Otherwise, I'd be mourning the loss of her wagging tail. It's also affected her lower back. She wanted to run on the beach still but when she was hauling a log out of the ocean, she came back to the beach, dropped, and sat down like her back legs weren't functioning appropriately.

Apparently, LTS is caused by either over-exertion, cold weather, or being too used to a kennel and not being as active. Ava experienced all three of those things. We went into Tillamook to get her some baby aspirin as an anti-inflammatory. It's good to know that it's a limited time thing because I don't want to deal with chronic dog issues already. I need another few good years of a healthy dog.

What else?

Yesterday, I beat Andrew by more than 2x his score in 10,000, earning myself the first drink off the game.  I collected at The Schooner which has a great porch with glass walls and blankets available to cover yourself while you dine which I did.

and then i just chilled

Like I predicted, the days began to blend together. It's been nice just relaxing and not having any big tasks or journeys ahead in the immediate future. Still, I've been trying to get new things done and spend time with my family. 

On Friday, my mom and I went to "town" (that's what we call Kearney) and I used the HyVee gas station pump. I also tried the Chile Relleno for the first time at the mexican restaurant/store here in Gibbon. I thought I had had it before but after seeing it, I realized that it was new (and pretty damn good). My aunt and uncle came up from Kearney to join us for dinner and to see me and meet Ava.

On Saturday, I got my car worked on and ready to come back to Oregon and then went to the Goodrich ice cream here in town and had a cone with Ava in the park while the rest of the town watched the Huskers game.

On Sunday, I got up early for sunrise pics below. My dad and I also went to see The Martian which I really enjoyed. However, the movie cut out 80 minutes into it and we had to wait for a bit for the management to fix it. I also downloaded Words with Friends onto my Kindle and my mom and I have been playing a lot.

Like I said, it's been chill and easy. It's what I came here for.

keeping calm

 

The reality that I'm going to be gone from work for 4 weeks in a little more than 2 weeks is setting in and it's starting to freak me out a bit.

Yesterday, I worked over nine hours, just trying to keep my wits about me. I brought Ava into work which really helped. I've gone from pretending she's a service dog in order to get her into places to actually using her at work to keep me calm. Plus it was nice not to have to leave work over lunch to go home and walk her.

Today, I asked Andrew to do Ava-duty so I could have another day to focus on work. Now, I feel better. I think I can do this. I may have to come in on a Saturday before I leave to get everything squared away but I believe that I'm going to be alright.

What else?

On Tuesday, my new thing was presenting an topic to our whole staff at work. I talk a LOT during meetings anyway but this was the first time that I had to inform everybody about a new procedure. I'm not looking to take on a lot more roles like this but sometimes, you just have to step up.

On Wednesday, I scored at least six points muggins on Andrew in cribbage. We agreed a while ago that this would constitute a drink which I will gladly collect this weekend!

Today, I went to Happy Sparrow pictured above and got a potato and cheese kolache which was really delicious. I also went to the office of a provider at work for a client's disciplinary meeting .

midwest games

 

Today, I orchestrated a game of Agricola at Sophia's. After I won, Sophia and Tim showed us Euchre. Andrew says it's an old game, referenced by such authors as Jane Austen and Walter Scott, etc, but it was very familiar. The rules were slightly different than pitch, Wizard, or hearts but the play was typical. Sophia and Tim referred to it as a midwest game which I guess is why it was so familiar. I can't wait to play it again!

men who play cribbage

 

We have a morning routine on the weekends. We get coffee out at one of the coffee shops we like in SE and play BattleLine on our apps. We then decide where to go to brunch and while at brunch, we play cribbage. We play cribbage at dinner too typically. We're often recognized by restaurant staff as soon as we pull out our cribbage board. Today, we decided to go do brunch at a new-to-us brunch spot Oscar's Cafe in Lents and when we walked in, for the first time, we saw another group of people playing cribbage. There were three guys playing a three-person game. It's good to see that we're not completely alone in our routines.

from fireworks to bubble baths: memorial day weekend 2015

I planned to do a post every day and it's even easier for me to post since Andrew fixed my computer last weekend. However, time got away from me and I decided to do a wrap up of the weekend. Here we go:

On Friday, May 22nd, it was the start of the Rose Festival so that meant fireworks! Andrew and I bussed to the waterfront from our house and then met others there. The fireworks show was, as usual, awesome but that wasn't my new thing. My new thing was sitting in a bench I haven't sat in before at Nayar Taqueria. Nayar is one of my neighborhood joints and I've been there quite a bit. However, I've never sat on the bench. It wasn't life-changing but it was a different perspective and really, that's what this whole "one new thing a day" idea is all about. Change it up. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering, just different.

During my class of my graduate program, I wrote a paper on how I will avoid burnout and cited doing one new thing per day. I didn't mention the blog because I hadn't written that favorably about the class here but my professor liked the idea. He said that if I don't "run with the idea" and write a book around it, he may just steal it. I don't think that it's worth a book but I do think that it has validity. We get stuck in ruts and fall into familiar patterns way too easily. This is a way to shake things up, even if it just means finding a new seat.

On Saturday, Andrew wanted to plant our tomatoes and peppers in the garden and I felt like helping. I recently listened to a Joe Rogan podcast with Ron Finley about gardening and it made me want to get into it more. But I had another assignment. Since we have our bike shed in the backyard, we needed a good path to get from the back gate to the bike shed. Andrew had moved some flagstones there but wasn't happy with it so he bought some proper path stones (and moving them from Home Depot to the house was my new thing on Thursday). Being the Tetris fanatic I am, I instantly took to playing with them to derive a pattern that would meet our needs and came up with our path design. It came with its initial frustrations with the stones having to be under the swinging gate but not too low that it was a big drop-off at the start but I eventually found my groove. I didn't quite finish it on Saturday since we ran out of stones and we had friends coming over to visit so I had to clean up but I finished it on Sunday.

On Sunday, I also worked on our dingo-proof fence. My hammock rigging is on the front porch but I really want hang out with Ava while I'm in the hammock so I came up with the idea of a barricade on the porch. I was going to buy a bigger piece of lattice, trim it, and then frame it but Andrew suggested the smaller, pre-framed style which worked out perfectly. I was able to finish the path and get the fence installed all before heading over to Muffin HQ for some board games.

I love gaming on a three day weekend. I love gaming anyway but it can eat up most of a day and then I have guilt but when I've got three days, it's all good. We played Agricola which I love and did a fairly good job in this time. We also played Samurai which was new to me. It's a challenging and unique game which I will play again.

On Monday, I used the stain that was left with the house from the front porch and I stained the fence to match it. It may have well been my first time staining anything since shop class in high school. It looks so good now. We also went for a bike ride down the Springwater Corridor to Sellwood where we went to the Muddy Rudder for the first time. Andrew had been there before but for some reason, he just now introduced me to the place. It's right off the Corridor and I love it. I will definitely be more eager to go for a ride knowing that this place is there. At the Muddy Rudder, I won our first annual Memorial Day cribbage tournament although no drinks were won. Still, I have bragging rights now.

And then I ended the weekend with a bubble bath. I haven't been sleeping great. I will stay up later and then wake up pretty much as soon as it gets light out. Sometimes I can fall back asleep but not always. A combination of some manual labor, a bike ride, a few drinks, a light meal, and then a lavender salted bath had me so relaxed that I'm sure I'll be fine tonight. It was a fabulous weekend. There are things that I could have added on like dancing, a hike, shopping, etc. but right now, I'm completely content.

pac man: ladd's addition edition

Oi, I had the best of intentions to work today and then Google Maps had to present the option to play city streets as a Pac-Man game! I didn't spend that long on it but damn it was fun. I looked up the most interesting set-up in a Portland neighborhood which is Ladd's Addition and turned that into a game. It was difficult because when Pac goes off screen, I didn't know what street he was coming back on. The loop in the middle was fun tho.

I'm including the pic below just to show that I did complete it. I wanted to see it through. Once I did it once tho, I decided to return to my normal workday. Thanks, Google, for making April Fools a decent holiday!

the sock dreams solution

I have to remind myself that Dean was significantly more destructive when he was Ava's age. The car used to be a safe haven for her but something got her worked up today while we were at brunch and she tore a hole in the vinyl on the back of the passenger seat.

I was pissed for a bit and then I got over it. I was planning on going to Sock Dreams anyway to spend the birthday cash my parents sent so I used the opportunity to get a sticker to patch the hole. It works. And I feel a lot better after buying a whole new sock regime.

What else?
Marc and Charlie had us over for a post-bday dinner which was wonderful. We also played a dice game called "10,000." At first, it seemed like absurd math but once we got the hang of it, it was great. And I won.

looking forward

I've been in a rut for a bit. That's part of my excuse for not updating my blog. The rut mainly consists of school and work and the rainy weather. However, we had a semi-dry weekend, I'm skipping school this week to watch the election coverage and I got caught up on my work last Thursday so here's a blog update.

Today, I had a great day, working out in the morning, getting a latte around noon at Powells while I read the latest Walking Dead comic, walking around the hood with Arturo and eating vegan milkshakes at Dick's. I also booked the Gearharts beach house for Christmas with Andrew since I'm not going back to Nebraska until my new nephew's born in January. The beach house is what I'm going to be the light at the end of this school quarter's tunnel.

What else?
I thought about going back to update October but for the most part, my new things consisted of new foods or new experiences at my internship. Here are the exceptions and/or the things that stood out.

On Saturday, October 6th, I went to the last night of the PLGFF in which they showed Cloudburst, a lesbian road trip movie with Olympia Dukakis. I can't recommend it enough. Afterwards, Andrew and I went to the afterparty at Crush which was fun but I liked the kickoff party better.

On Sunday the 7th, I watched the Timbers game at Long Haus on a projector in the back porch which has been nicely redone. Also, I joined Bastard and MLE at Ship's Ahoy afterwards for birthday drinks and good conversation.

On Wednesday the 10th, I woke up to the sound of scratching in the drywall behind my bed.

On Thursday the 11th, I met a new guy, the exterminator named Jason.

On Friday the 12th, Xbox and I had a great conversation about the house. Also, I went to see Margaret Cho who awesome as were her opening acts. So so so funny. I also went to Bare Bones bar with Jen, Ashes and Victory and later Justin and MLE. While we were there, we saw Chris Chandler from OCF. When I stopped him to tell him how much V and I enjoyed his library show at the last fair, he sat down with us and chatted for a while.

On Saturday the 13th, Andrew and I went to Brews for New Avenues. My old internship is really good at fundraising and they almost always incorporate booze into it. :)

On Sunday the 14th, I went to the Walking Dead season premiere at the Academy with Jen. It's a series that's really meant to be seen in the theater! Andrew and I also gave Dean a bath!

On Monday the 15th, I downloaded LibreOffice, a freeware version of Micro-shaft. I like it a lot more and I won't go back.

On Saturday the 20th, I took the day to work on my first paper for the term. I finished it in good time. Sophia made vegan chili so we ate that all day and, after I finished my paper, we played a new game which ended up being a D&D game. Yes, I have crossed that threshold.

On Sunday the 21st, Andrew and I went to see Blood Simple, the Cohen Bros first movie. It was great! We also went to Pastrygirl, the bakery/coffeeshop for the first time.

On Thursday the 25th, I biked to Clackamas for work for the first time since my accident (where the top pic comes from).

On Saturday the 27th, I DJ'ed Ashes' 33rd bday party. Since it was his 33rd, it was a Jesus/religious theme. I went as Lot's Wife (a salt shaker). I was one of only four or five people in costume but I still had fun.

On Sunday the 28th, Andrew and I went bar-hopping up Belmont during the afternoon, lightly drinking and snacking while playing cards. We ended up at Hob Nob Grille for the first time where I taught Andrew how to play Backgammon...and he beat me two times. It was also the 10th anniversary of my coming out. 10 years ago, my friend Joe directly asked me if I was gay and he was the first person I said yes to.

On Halloween, I didn't do a thing except go out to eat with Andrew. I really feel that I failed Halloween this year.

On Friday the 2nd, Ashes and I walked to a client's home on NW 23rd as part of my internship. I love working in the same building with him and getting to do breaks together. It was a lovely day for a walk too!

On Saturday the 3rd, Andrew and I went to the Republic downtown where I ordered a new dish. He's never been there and I haven't been there for years. We also went to Seven Psychopaths which sucked so hard.

And that's it. I'll try to update more often and to take more pictures.

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!

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.

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.

my future car

One of the greatest conversations I can remember having was between a handful of other sophomores at McCook Community College one fall evening in 1995. I was in Bryan and Nate's dorm room with a few others while we reminisced about the 1980s, specifically about cartoons from our childhood. The power of our brains to reconnect with a time over 10 years old and reproduce the emotions that went along with that time is truly spectacular. That night was one of the first times I had realized that I just found my new two best friends in college and that's what happened. We were pretty much bonded after that.

If you didn't experience childhood in the eighties, it probably seemed like a pretty shitty decade with Ronald Reagan and the onset of AIDS and more. However, all of that was background noise for me at the time, drown out by Intellivision, He-Man, Rubix Cubes, Sixteen Candles, Care Bears, Space Invaders, Girls Just Want to Have Fun (the movie which I can still recite line for line), Cyndi Lauper, Pac Man (both the game and the TV show), the Never-Ending Story, Burgertime, the Karate Kid, Nerds candies, and Revenge of the Nerds. My friend Teddy and I spent what seems like a lot of time in Ed's Drive, especially when we discovered Mario Bros (the original) and Q-Bert. I was a lot better at Mario Bros. It was Shangri-La but that's because it was an innocent time for us as people. Talk whatever smack you want about the politics, health care, fashion mistakes, or overly synthesized music but I loved the 1980s and I always will.

Dominic recommended a book to me over a month ago and I checked it out from the library last week. It's Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Once I started reading it, I realized that I didn't want to do anything else. It's set in the future but in a future preoccupied with the 1980s so it packed with wonderful references, both blatant and obscure. It's like reliving my childhood or at least that conversation I had back in September of 1995. My only problem with the book is that I'm going to finish it way too soon and then I'll be stuck looking for an adequate summer book to follow it. I'll probably just do what Dominic did and I'll read it again.

I went home for lunch around 3pm today and walked Dean so I didn't need to head home right after work. Since Ready Player One, I've been itching to spend some time dorking out on arcade games while eating mediocre pizza so I planned to go down to Ground Kontrol and kill some time there. Fortunately, I checked my twitter feed first and saw that Powells in Beaverton was hosting Ernest Cline tonight for the tour of the paperback version of Ready Player One. I biked downtown, bought a copy of the book to replace the library's copy I had been reading, grabbed some pizza at Sizzle Pie and jumped on the MAX.

I hadn't biked in Beaverton before and I was quite unprepared for the suburbs but it was going to be worth it. The Beaverton Powells is even in a mall which made even more 80s sense, although I loathe the mall. Ernest's presentation was great. Fortunately, he didn't give away the ending because I haven't finished it yet but he did talk about the work he had to do to get his screenplay Fanboys made and how he came to write Ready Player One. He also introduced me to his contest that he is doing in which he has mirrored his book by placing a hidden easter egg in the book that leads to a video game. The first person to solve all three riddles and games will win the DeLorean pictured above. I don't know if I'm going to compete but I might give it a shot. Really, it was just enough for me to sit in the DeLorean and then bike back the the MAX with a big grin on my face while listening to Huey Lewis sing about the Power of Love.

four pac men enter, one pac man leaves

Today's new thing was just pure fun. I had to head downtown to deposit the check for my car so I decided to head to Ground Kontrol on the way back. While I was there, I saw they had Pac Man Battle Royale. Sophia had told me about playing this game in Vegas so I immediately let her know that G.K. had it. She said that her and her boyfriend would meet me there. In the meantime, I played three other Pinball games and read some DMZ at Powells while I waited. Out of three pinball games (Simpsons, Lord of the Rings and Star Trek), I liked Star Trek the best. However, it didn't compare to Pac Man Battle Royale!

Also, I used the Ground Kontrol bathrooms for the first time since the renovation. They are now my favorite bathrooms in town.

What else?
On the bike ride down, I took the Eastside Esplanade. A fire boat was spraying water in several direction in the river, including on the waterfront. I had to get to the bank before it closed though so I decided I could ride through the water. I was instantly soaked. It was like the rain not that long ago except it was gross river water. I biked a little extra to dry off.

Before hitting the arcade, we went to Kenny & Zukes for my first visit. I can't say that it was wonderful but it was interesting enough to bring me back some day. I also went to Super Supplements and was pleased to find that they have Dean's glucosamine treats there cheaper than the store.

AND BAM, I'm caught up with my blog!!!!!! I didn't think it would happen again. Fortunately, Monday was REALLY slow at work. :)

picking up where i left off

 Yikes. I don't think I've let my blog go by without updating it this long before. No, I haven't given up on it. School-boyfriend-work-life just got in the way. School is pretty much taken care of now and work has slowed down immensely so I'll be able to be a lot more up-to-date soon. I'm gonna proceed by doing weekly summaries until I am up to date.

I think part of the reason for me hesitating on updating the blog is that I don't really want to write about this next thing but I'm just going to sum it up. I went to the hospital on Friday, 4/13, with chest pains and shortness of breath. I biked to Long Haus, went into a mild panic attack and called 911 cuz I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me and I had just attended a CPR class yesterday in Salem so 'heart attack' was the first thing on my mind.

Really, I am a hypochondriac but the words of the CPR trainer surprisingly stuck with me, "It's free to call 911. It only costs when they transport you." I was hoping the 911 responders would just diagnose me with "Definitely Not a Heart Attack" and I could put it out of my mind but they didn't. They said that I should go to the ER.

Ashes & Victory drove me to the ER and Sophia (via my neighbor) came to meet us there. Andrew saw I checked in there through foursquare and asked for an update. He also later texted me the "L" word for the first time (not lesbian).

I had to go in and out of several rooms and have those sticky monitors placed on my hairy chest several times. I also had my first IV. In the end, they said that it almost surely wasn't a heart attack but recommended I take some heart relief medicine, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't heart burn.

As a result, I have been taking easy this weekend. On Saturday, 4/14, I met Andrew at Sound Grounds where I had yogurt and granola in determination not to eat any food which may have affected my heart and I said the "L" word back. Later on that night, I went to karaoke with Dom.

Today, I took it easy for the day and bought an expansion pack for Munchkin, a game Sophia and Xbox have got me into. It was silly and fun. Later, Andrew and I went to dinner, I pretty much realized it wasn't a heart problem and I got to end my weekend knowing that I was fine. So, I guess all's well that ends well.

What else?
On Thursday, 4/12, as I mentioned, I went to CPR class in Salem for the second year in a row. I went down with the same two co-workers that went down with my last year. This time, we ate at Super Pho which has fake calamari so I will definitely be back to try that.   

snow luck

Yesterday, Andrew and I hung out and ended up getting caught up in the snow talk, hoping with half of Portland for a good snow. The other half is probably panicked over the idea. This morning, we were pretty disappointed to see that there was only a little bit of flurries that would stop occasionally and nothing was going to stick. Still, it was nice to walk in the flurries from his place to Crema, a coffee shop that I visited for the first time. They have a fabulous pastry selection that will definitely bring me back. While there, we played some more Battle Line. I finally won some games yesterday and today.

hanging out with dungeon masters

Today my new thing was going to Guardian Games. Yesterday, it was going to Portal Games. I think that I may be crossing over the threshold from slightly curious about the gaming community to becoming one of them.

I've been looking for the game Battle Line that Andrew introduced me to on Sunday. In the process, I've had to step into stores that are normally not my scene. However, I've noticed the scene has been growing around me. Several of my friends are in a relationship with experienced dungeon masters of ceremonies. That's...odd. And it's not like any of these guys that my friends are seeing were playing D&D together. It's just a coincidence that many of my friends find dungeon masters hot. :)

I don't believe that Andrew has ever played D&D or Magic the Gathering. I wouldn't mind if he did but I would be surprised. Since he's not into it, my exposure to it will probably be limited to partners of friends. I think it takes a lot of imagination, dedication and time to really invest in these games. I only have the first of these qualities. I like my games to be a little simpler and quicker. Still, it's a slippery slope.

What else?
Besides looking for Battle Line at Portal, I also headed to the PSU gym for the first time in a while. I had a great workout and even did 30+ minutes of cardio afterwards. Then I rewarded myself with a slice of Waldorf pizza at Hot Lips. I think that I will try to schedule my classes in the future on Mondays because Monday is Waldorf slice day and I love this pizza!

game day

I've really really enjoyed this resurgence of games in my life during this winter break. So far, I've learned Wizard and Phase 10 over break. Yesterday, we played Cranium and Apples to Apples. Today, Andrew and I went up to the Star-E-Rose cafe and played some cribbage. While we played, a group of jazz musicians were putting on a performance would provided great ambiance to our game. Andrew hasn't played cribbage for a long time and I recently played with my family so I pretty much destroyed him the first two games. The third game was a lot closer but I still won. My best move was when we were laying down our cards and I ended up laying the fourth ace in a row for 12 points. He doesn't enjoy losing, and more specifically getting his butt kicked, so I actually prepped him by saying, "Okay, here we go but you can't leave..." and then dropped the points. Hells yeah. (I'm a hopeless dork)

Anyway, he later showed me how to play the game Battle Lines back at his place. It's a very strategic 2-player game. I enjoyed it a lot although he won three games in a row. So I guess we're tied. After we said our goodnights, we each promised vengeance and to practice the other game.

For a while, I have had this glorified idea that the perfect way to spend a Sunday would be to be playing games in a pub or coffee shop. So for me, this was practically a perfect Sunday.