one new person

I don't think I've ever held such a young human before.

Today, I got to meet my new nephew little Caleb James on his first day home from the hospital. He was born on Sunday and he's just adorable. He doesn't do a lot but he is just two days old so I shouldn't expect much. He can just lie there and look cute.

grandma stories

Every time I come back to Nebraska, my mom arranges for me to come up to see my grandma. Typically, we play cribbage and make small talk about the family. But recently, one of my cousins posted on Facebook that my grandma was the last living WWII nurse in the US. That served as a good opening to ask about get her to talk about her life. So here's what I learned:

My grandma was a teacher right after school. She worked at a number of different local schools, staying in boarding houses around. One day, my grandpa came over to return or borrow a horse and that's how they met. My grandma had one too many unruly children and decided that she could try nursing. She had $100 and that was enough to cover tuition, room, and board for a year. The school she went to was hands on training where she worked during the day and went to classes at night.

During WWII, she enlisted and was sent to Missouri and some other state-side hospitals before going over to the Philippines. She and a lot of other nurse arrived there but the fort/hospital wasn't expecting them so they put them up in an empty hall where all of the bathrooms were set up for guys. They were over there for some time. She stated that she spent some time in Manila. I believe that she was there when she heard about Hiroshima and the end of the war.

Afterwards, they went to Hawaii, shortly after Pearl Harbor I believe. They were going to get shipped back to the US but a group of the nurses including my grandma wanted to go to the beaches of Waikiki first so they went AWOL. They prepaid a taxi driver to come back and pick them up in time to get back but he didn't come back so they had to talk some sailors into getting them back. I don't think she faced any charges.

My mom stated that her hearing and her eyes are going but it's clear that her memory is still solid, making her an awesome source of information and stories. I'm glad that I could take the time to sit and take advantage of her experience.

What else?

My new thing for the day was meeting lots of new people at the retirement home since I brought Ava. She did a good job there and on the road. It was about two hours in the car again each way but she was just happy to be included.

neighborly

I'm heading back to Nebraska for at least two weeks tomorrow. It's been busy at work getting everything done but I also feel a great sense of accomplishment in leaving my affairs in such good order and getting a lot of October's work done ahead of time. I would have left Friday night or Saturday morning but since Andrew was gone last weekend, I wanted us to have a weekend together before we left. Also, I wanted to go to my neighbor's neighborhood party.

There are very few A) parties that I want to go to, B) parties that I want to go to where I don't know that many people, and c) parties that I want to go to where I don't know that many people and I would postpone a trip to attend. However, I want to know my neighbors better and this is a great way to do it. It worked out like I thought it would. People came in, introduced themselves or reintroduced themselves, stated where they lived, and we talked about how great the neighborhood is. I may have overstepped some social graces and asked a neighbor about who owns the house vs who lives in it but I had a few too many glasses of wine and I had lost all of the fucks I had to give. It's okay. I'm sure worse was said.

So now I can head out tomorrow morning. I haven't packed Ava's stuff yet but I don't want to rile her up too early. I'm looking forward to this greatly but I will miss Andrew, Maria, and this charming neighborhood.

making circles

As I may have mentioned before, I don't like house parties. House parties where I know all of three people and the only dog is locked in the basement are even worse. However, I found myself enjoying this party.

Our friends Yvonne and Terri had a party tonight along with another couple to celebrate their anniversaries. I like Yvonne and Terri a lot so I was willing to go to the party. Their cake toppers pictured above are testaments to how simpatico we are. Initially, I was uncomfortably clinging to Andrew who also didn't know a lot of people there. Little by little, we integrated into the party and I ended up producing an ice-breaker and forming a little circle of people to talk to and smoke pot with. Andrew also found some others to talk to and we rejoined later with a larger pool of people to hang out with. I was pretty proud of myself for breaking out of my comfort zones although I think I may have spent too much time talking about Ava.

What else?

On Thursday, August 20th, I brought Ava  to work and I got food to go (for the first time) from Pho Gia and we ate outside which turns out to be an ideal environment for Ava.

On Friday, I got the cheese plate at NWIPA which hit the spot after a long work day and full gym workout.

phone sleuth

On our walk with Ava this morning, we found an iPhone 5. It had no charge so the find-my-phone feature wouldn't work so I took the phone home, charged it, saw the Instagram photo notifications that popped up, tagging the phone's owner in pics. I looked up the Instagram photographer on my phone, and discovered that the phone owner was a heavy metal dancer at the 'gluten-free strip club' so I went to the tattoo shop next door where the photographer's husband worked and dropped the phone off with him since DV8 wasn't opened yet. I felt like an amateur Veronica Mars.

PS I hate this holiday. Our animals are terrified & I'm afraid that an overly-patriotic neighbor is going to burn our house down.

What else?

Ever since I've figured out how to get comics onto my Kindle, I've been reading mostly comics and graphic novels. Earlier this week, I finished the DC Comics' series Flashpoint which was pretty good although I didn't care for the ending. Today, I finished the Sculptor by Scott McCloud which was just beautiful. 

nerd cred

Today, my new thing was meeting some of my teammates for next months's Geek Olympathon. Again, if it wasn't for this blog and my vow to try new things, I'm not sure I would be doing this but it does sound like fun. Basically, there are several events around town (rumor is 32 separate events) that you and your team of 5 try to take part in and win. We don't know what the events will be but in the past, they've ranged from Pinball competitions to rolled-up-sock corn-holing to beer and potato chip taste testing. And we're supposed to do it in costume. I love an excuse to dress in costume so that was the first hook for me.

Anyway, the people that I met today were nice and I'm looking forward to doing this with them and my friends. Hopefully, it'll all just be good, silly fun. In talking with them though, I began to doubt my nerd credibility. I can't speak a lot of the lingo and I roll my eyes at extreme nerdiness. Like, there's a line I've got to draw. Of course, that line gets pushed back and blurrier all of the time. Initially, I was thinking that it would be full of trivia like naming the engine capabilities on the x-wing or some shit like that but I've heard that the trivia portion is just looking for people to have general knowledge in a wide variety of genre which is cool cux that's what I got, unless you're talking Buffy trivia because then, I'd slay.

mountain goating

Last night was probably my first real night of "I'm too old for this."

Andrew and I went to see the Mountain Goats which was fun. It didn't change my life but it was entertaining. The main guy was impressive, especially his solo stuff. However, during one of the songs that I was hoping they would do, Up the Wolves, I realized I was done. I hadn't had too much to drink but I started to ache and feel dizzy. My tailbone hurt. I was standing. How the hell does that happen? Anyway, we left early. I don't think I've ever skipped out early on a show that I've paid for but I just knew I couldn't last. This was also my first show with Andrew unless you could Cirque Du Solelil. I was hoping to stick it out but fortunately, he was fine with leaving when I was.

Oh well, I can say I saw them and next time, I'll just know to get there early enough to get a seat.

What else?

I don't have any excuse as to why I haven't at least kept up-to-date via twitter but on Thursday, we double-dated with our former real estate agent and his boyfriend. It was nice and I typically don't like meeting new people but I enjoyed this.

On Friday, I tried the beverage above which is as refreshing and wonderful as it looks.

Oh, and regarding Tuesday's post, I heard back! She thanked me for my rational, thought-out, and personal email and said that it's given her something to think about. Let's hear it for open communication!

neighbors

When we first moved into our new house, this guy pictured above was the first neighbor to greet Maria in the backyard. They get along fine and I'm happy to see him whenever he comes around. This morning, I picked him up and he climbed over my shoulder and started kneading my back. A good neighbor gives back massages.

We also had some other neighbors come over for a visit. A few months ago, we were biking by a house on our street, maybe 10 blocks away, when the guy living there called out to Andrew. He was someone that Andrew knew from a previous job so today, him and his wife came by to sit in our backyard and chat. It's a lovely day for backyard sitting and I love this neighborhood. It's so quiet and friendly and safe for animals to wander about.

What else?
We also tried Gladstone Pizza for the first time. The crust was great but the toppings on the Greek pizza were a little salty. We'll try it again but just with different toppings.

On Thursday, I tried a homemade egg white drink that Andrew had made.

On Friday, we walked to the Eastport Cinema for the first time where we bough tickets and saved seats for our friends so we could all watch the new Mad Max together. It was pretty awesome. Not quite as fun as Pacific Rim was but close. And it had a better feminist message.

On Saturday, I tried the fried cauliflower at Slingshot. I won't be doing that again. I don't like tahini that much.

pec-upuncture

Ashes and I tried the gym this week. I was determined to do something since I was feeling well enough to ride my bike. I tried bench pressing, moving my weight down to 135lbs but I was only able to do two reps of 7 before my pec starting hurting. It's the same injury that I had earlier this year which stopped me from working out for a while. I don't want to wait that long to be well again so I went to get acupuncture today.

I saw Matt, a new-to-me acupuncturist at the Brooklyn Acupuncture Clinic who did the acupuncture a little different than I have ever had it done before which proved to me to be more effective. He also gave me some good after-care ideas. I believe that acupuncture works but I've never really felt that it worked for me before today.

What else?
Andrew's been sick this week so we haven't gone back to the film fest. Today, they were showing Men to Kiss, a German film that I thought looked funny so I went to check that out by myself. Before the movie, they were showing a documentary on rape in the military called the Invisible War. I knew it would be a hard documentary to watch but I thought it was important to see and it was. I'm glad I stayed for Men to Kiss though because I needed a good distraction after such a heavy topic.

happy fall!

What a beautiful fall day! I got up this morning for the Diabetes walk. My new thing was helping to recruit strangers to walk with us so we would have enough people to satisfy my work and the money they donate. We had a lot of people signed up but people aren't so great about showing up.

Later, Andrew and I took Dean to Mt Tabor and let him roam free-range while we played cards and drank wine. Afterwards, we went to Dove Vivi for awesome pizza but a LONG wait. Still, just an awesome day!

a decade passed

A lot can happen in ten years. Ten years ago, I pulled into Portland with a carload of items and checked into the Economy Motel on Interstate Ave. I was unsure what I was going to do but I knew I was going to make it here even though I didn't have friends, family, a job, a house, money, or even my dog with me.

Now, I'm celebrating with my good friends outside of my home in the street with my dog. I love it when a plan comes together.

I can't say that I always knew that I would make it but I have to say that I was determined. There are many roads, many choices, many chances, and many instances of good fortune that have led me to where I'm at now. This is the reason that I don't believe in regret.If I had made some different choices along they way like coming out of the closet sooner or getting out of Nebraska sooner, my life would be a lot different and I wouldn't want that. I love everything about right now. Well, maybe I would have gone a little slower down that hill last Monday and not wrecked my bike but live and learn.

I'd like to think that I made more positive steps today. Not only did I have a handful of my good friends over to the house today to celebrate my 10 years in Portland but it was also our block party day. Over five years ago, I came to Sophia's first block party here. Last year, there really wasn't a party so I was excited to see that we were having one this year. Chad, one of the neighbors across the street was organizing it. There are two couples across the street who I had never really been introduced to before today but I recognize from seeing them around every single day. Today, I made some cookies for the party and went and introduced myself. I talked to Shannon and Casey for quite a while. I also talked to Matt from down the street and Robert who lives directly across from me. I love this neighborhood and I've only met the neighbors who border us before today. Now it feels more like a community. Now I can wave politely or greet my neighbors with some familiarity without there being this awkwardness of not having been properly introduced. Now, I feel more at home.

Also, Dean was quite at home laying in the middle of the street that was blocked off as long as his bed was there and people were sitting around him. He's so adorable.

What else?
Andrew and I headed to the Belmont Street Fair with Dean today and I bought a tshirt with the design below which I love. It's available at lonelydinosaur.com.

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!

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.

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!

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.

the doctor rides

A lot of times, these pedalpalooza rides are just about getting on a bike, in a costume, and presenting a solid unified front while making a spectacle of ourselves. That's one of the things I love about them. I figured this evening's ride, The Doctor Who Ride, would be not different except that most people wouldn't know what we were dressed as. However, this ride was a lot more about being a fan of the Doctor.

We started out having a quick contest. I went dressed as Rory because it was easy. However, when I went to line up with the others for the contest judging, one of the organizers asked me what I was doing. I had to explain my costume which is not a good sign. I'm in a couple of pictures above. Here's what I was going for:

I was the only Rory so I guess that's something.

Anyway, after the contest we headed to Pizza Schmizza to see the Dalek statue there. Then we went to Voodoo Donuts for some custom made Doctor Who donuts. It was then on to Rose and Thistle for a long Doctor Who trivia game in which I met some fun fellas. We made one more stop quick to see a phone booth in the yard of a house even though it wasn't blue like the TARDIS. Finally, we concluded at the Tardis Room at Fish and Chips for my first time there.

It was a long experience but it was a lot of fun. Dressing up as Star Wars/Star Trek is fun and more recognizable but the truth is I'm a bigger Doctor Who fan than I am for either of those shows. Still, this year's Star Wars vs Star Trek ride is next week and I already have my costume ready.

What else?

Andrew was a sweetie and waited for me near the Tardis room even though we were running over an hour late. We ended up eating late at night at The Delta Room which is very similar to the Delta on Woodstock except this one has yummy vegan collard greens!

department departure

Today I took my first class at PSU outside of the social work department. This quarter, I'm taking a class with the counseling department. It's odd because everyone in my class has been going through this full school year together so they are all quite familiar with each other (As a side note, I am disturbingly reminded of the cast of the 80s TV show 'Head of the Class' by this group of students. I;m not sure why.) When the professor walked in, he immediately identified me because I was the outsider. After he reviewed the syllabus, I began to realize I was outside of my element and my comfort zone.

When he agreed to let me take the Psychosocial Aspects of Disability, the professor added that I may find it difficult because I didn't take the Bio/Medical Aspects of Disability even though it's not technically a prerequisite. However, I felt that I would be fine with the other classes I've had through work and with the social work classes. During the first break though, I went to the computer to look for other social work classes I could take instead but I didn't find any that I would like.

After returning from break, we dove into the actual teaching and material that we were going to look at and I realized that I got this. I know this stuff. I definitely think that I will learn a lot but these concepts are not foreign to me. Plus we can write about any psychosocial aspects of any type of disability for our final paper so I can focus in on my area of interest, adults with DD. This is going to work out after all! Plus, a few of the students were eager to meet someone new and one guy offered me tips to understanding what the professor was referencing. I think I made the right choice in sticking with the class.

keep this party going

I don't love attention focused on me but I do love free drinks. Earlier this week, I contemplated calling for a post-birthday happy hour with my work people and then having another one tonight. However, I thought that would be a bit greedy so I just invited my one good work friend along to happy hour tonight. Twelve or so people joined me at Produce Row for happy hour and then others joined at Hungry Tiger Too for dinner and the worst service ever (I'm really trying to give that place the benefit of a doubt but they take one step forwards and three leaps back). I got to meet Caroline's Cicely who is delightful. Afterwards, we went to karaoke and Cicely sang "There are Worse Things I Could Do" after I told her it was one of my fav Grease songs. Ashes got everyone in the bar to sing me happy birthday and I got to see Victory sing karaoke in a bar for the first time. It was a great night.

good enough for me

When I was in high school, I had a subscription to the magazine Details (which I've talked about before). At the time, I was still in the closet and relatively naive. With one issue, they sent out a sex survey, asking all sorts of questions. For fun, I filled it out dishonestly with dream scenarios. One of the questions was something like, "Where is the most exotic place you've ever made love?" I answered, "On the beach in the rain." Tonight, I came a step closer to living my dream.

Sorry if that's TMI but this is my blog, my life and I'm going to keep it real and as honest as I want.

Today and tonight was filled with just pure and simply enjoyment. We started it with a walk to the beach. I haven't been letting Dean off of his leash that much but I figured he only gets to the beach once a year so I may as well let him have his fun and he did. Then Andrew and I drove to Astoria where we had coffee at Columbia River Coffee Roasters. It was my first time in Astoria where they filmed a lot of The Goonies which was one of my favorite movies growing up so I dorked out a bit. We walked along the pier to the Goonies house (pictured above). Afterwards, we went to Wet Dog Brewery where we had some Wet Dog food :). I also had the Marionberry beer which was amazing.

After coming back to the house and walking along the beach in the sunset (sigh), we went to the Pacific Way Cafe where we met up with Andrew's ex Mark and Mark's partner Charlie who I had only met one time before. We had a delightful dinner and very gay conversation, beginning with talking about poor Whitney's death. I was really looking forward to this dinner because I liked Mark and Charlie when I first met them. Also, I got to meet their 18 month old poodle named Kelvin who bounded around the street with me like a deer.

We ended the evening with the hot tub and looking out at the stars as the clouds drifted away. It was a most memorable day and night that I will probably always cherish.