new years day 2016

It was chilly today but not rainy so we took Ava up to Tabor again and again we walked her around for a bit before going into the dog park. And again, she didn't get into a scuffle with another dog. I like this pattern! My new thing was talking to the owner of a rat terrier which Ava seemed interested in.

time keeps on slipping

When I decided to come back to Nebraska, I had the momentary idea that I would put blogging on hold during my stay here because I was going back to little town Nebraska where new things would be harder to come by but then, I thought, that's kind of the point. I'll admit that my new things are often new eateries/bars/menu items/drinks so staying in a town where the dining and drinking options are much more limited (especially for a vegetarian), I knew I would have to be more creative with my new things. We've kind of had an agenda for the past week: getting adjusted, visiting Grandma, my sister and her kids visiting, going to the bridges, and visiting the new baby. Yesterday was our first lull in activity with no real plans on the near horizon. Today was even moreso with my parents both working all day out of town so I was here with Ava.

I thought about heading to town to get some routine maintenance on my car or driving to a spot where Ava and I could go on a long hike but we've been driving every day. So instead, I ate half a THC caramel and chilled at the house, watching Orange is the New Black, sorting through my 1000+ iPhone pics, making lunch, doing dishes, laundry, etc. My new thing was walking down some different streets with Ava. I've pretty much explored a different route every day but that will only get me so far. After a while, one runs out of streets and the new things become something that you have to actively work towards.

In cleaning up my iPhone pics, I came across this excerpt that I took out of the Shell Collector by Hugh Howey. When I read it months ago, it resonated with me and this blog. This is why I'm determined to keep on doing new things. Not only do I want to sample so much of what life has to offer but I also just want to slow it all down. When I reflect back on my vacation here in Nebraska, yesterday and today (and probably tomorrow) will all blend together and be categorized as "and then I just chilled," but I like telling stories to friends and family and I want to be able to tell them something fresh all the time which is why I've got to keep doing new things. Keep it fresh...yo.

compare & contrast

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Almost eight years ago, Dean and I went to Zach's Shack for the first time. I walked him there from Long House which was a significant walk for him, stopping at two parks along the way. Today, I took Ava to Zach's as well, stopping at Clinton Park with her for the first time. It's a big open field where she got to run carefree....until she saw a basketball and attacked it. She loves her balls and is quite possessive of them. It definitely feels like spring. It was 72 degrees today. While taking Ava there, I walked down several streets that I haven't been down before, admiring their yards but I still believe that our yard is better.

For some reason, when I brought Dean to Zach's eight years ago, I bought him a hot dog and I didn't feel inclined to do that with Ava. Well, I guess we'll have to walk there again soon so she can get her dog.

brunch walk

I feel fortunate to have found a man that doesn't mind walking because I'm all about the walk. Today, we walked 6.5 miles round-trip to brunch and then again at 1000 Acre Dog Park where we walked another 3 miles (and Ava did about 10). We took some new paths both at the dog park and on my way back to the house from brunch. Yay for exercise. I feel like I earned all those brunch carbs.

to the top of tabor

Not much to write other than I loved this walk and this day and my dog and my man. It was a great day to hike up a volcano. Fortunately, it's also the closest nature walk to me. Dean loved it although he's hurting now. Poor old guy.

What else?
For my new thing, I tried new drinks at Sapphire Lounge and had a new special at J&M today for brunch.

Yesterday, my new thing was hitting a new bar/restaurant while Andrew and I waited for the doors to open for the new Bond film. Daniel Craig is great but it was a very formulaic Bond movie. The villain would have been better without blonde hair.

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.

by the power of gay skill

The diabetes walk is okay but the AIDS walk is fabulous! So many more people show up and dress up. A lot of costumed people were mythological beings, hence He-Man and She-Ra above! Too AWESOME!

Andrew came with me this year as well as some of my regular friends and co-workers. It was a small group of us in comparison to last year but I liked it more. Dean came again this year and did great!

Also, we went straight to Ashes' soccer game afterwards so Dean got to come there too. The game was fun and Dean got a lot of excitement today although he looks pooped in the picture above. It was great because I'm anticipating being really busy next week and really for the next 9 months as school starts again so I was thrilled to have a great weekend with friends and Dean.

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!

the bridges

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

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

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

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

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.

satur-date

Sorry for the cheesy post title but I loved today. Andrew and I had brunch at Bar Carlo, drinks at Ford Food and Drink, a walk down the Eastside Esplanade to the Steel Bridge and back down the Westside Waterfront and across the Hawthorne Bridge, a museum exhibit (Bodyworlds) and dinner at the Produce Row Cafe. It was so perfect.

My new things were trying the french toast at Bar Carlo, seeing the beautiful art at Ford Food and Drink (pictured above in the first pic), using the toilet underneath the Hawthorne Bridge, seeing a skinless giraffe at BodyWorlds and drinking the hot buttered rum at Produce Row. So good!

2.5 mile morning

I've been meaning to walk to work since moving into Muffin HQ but I wasn't able to because either I had to use my bike/car to get to another work site, I had to get home at lunch to let Dean out or I had to get to the gym right after work. Busy busy busy. However, today all of the cards fell into place for the first time. It wasn't raining, I worked out yesterday, and my co-worker left for vacation and left me in charge of the work van so I can use it to go to the other sites and let Dean out at lunch.

On the way to work, I listened to an NPR interview with Aaron Paul on playing Jesse on Breaking Bad. t was a fabulous way to start a morning and a year.

What else?
I deleted the Twitter link on the side of the page. I only ever had one person follow the blog on twitter and it didn't update correctly so I lost the one follower and just ended up getting rid of it. I'm trying a new feature instead which is signing up via e-mail to receive notifications of new posts. I'm going to try to be timely about my posts so ideally interested people could check back daily. However, if one wanted to be notified whenever I post, the e-mail link should work...hopefully. I may also be reformatting the page in the near future.

tabor trip

 

I finished my last school assignment early and turned it in yesterday so today, I took a long walk.

I love walking. I think that is part of the reason that I'm somewhat depressed about Dean being injured is that I lost my walking buddy and my motivation to get out to a park. Hiking up to Tabor was something that I really valued this summer, mainly because I got to do it with him. However, today, I really just needed to get out and walk. He wasn't up to it and Sophia was going to hang around the house with him so I went tripping around Tabor on my own.

Honestly, I still loved it. I had twinges of regret and second-thoughts as I got started, feeling like I was betraying him. I thought about the class I just took on Old and Frail adults and thought it was hypocritical of me to learn about how we should value older adults and here I am, enjoying an afternoon without my dog. But then I thought about how maybe I should reframe our time together. As he gets older, I need to just value little walks around the block with him and chilling out with him in the house while I read a book or watch some Breaking Bad.

Comforted by the idea that I wasn't abandoning him, I proceeded to enjoy the serenity of walking just to walk. It was a beautiful day and, when I got above the #6 reservoir, I heard a guy practicing his trumpet through an otherwise tranquil early afternoon. I walked up to the top of Tabor and then back down through the dog park (which I realized I had never been to before) and then over to Rain or Shine for a mimosa.

When I got back home, I got Dean in the car and headed back to the dog park. He found a Doberman Pincher named Duke to play with. However, Duke then started to rough play with a shaggy black dog. He lightly bit the dog on the ear, like puppies do when they play. Then he brought the shaggy dog to the ground and put his mouth over the dog's throat. I was a bit concerned but then I lost focus when I saw Dean run behind Duke and start air-humping. Inappropriate, although funny. That's my dog. It was a fun ending to a fabulously chill day.

What else?

I saw the above sticker on a fence post leading up to a stairway...

cascade aids walk 2011

 It's time again for the Cascade AIDS walk. This is my fourth year organizing it through work and, like every annual event that I enjoy, I had to amp it up a bit. I had everyone wear black again this year but I also brought matching red feather boas for the dogs. We had 12 people in the photo this year and five dogs, each wearing feather boas. It looked fierce and that's what matters. ;)

We weren't the only group that brought it though. A bunch of people were dressed as various superheroes. I didn't get pictures of all of them but one lady was a nice Mystique and a guy was a body painted Green Lantern who was only really wearing his undies. It's also just a fun, festive walk. As I annually do, I went to the diabetes walk last month and it's very tame compared to the AIDS walk. We queers really liven shit up! It was a great time and I got to meet Zilla, the lil pup pictured in the last photo. She was as big as Dean's snout. She wanted to play with him badly but I was afraid he would step on her and that would have put a damper on the day.

long distance uncling

When I decided to move up to Portland years ago, I knew I had to do it but one of the hardest things was knowing that I wouldn't be able to see my niece Hayleigh very often. At the time, she was six years old. Sometime soon afterwards, she wrote a short little story in school about how if she was the state of Kansas, she would move to Oregon because then she could be near me. It was very touching but ultimately Portland was the right place for me and I couldn't convince my sister to visit, let alone move up here.

Tonight, I was checking my facebook feed when I saw that Hayleigh posted that nobody has ever had a worse kid than her and that she was so stupid. I wasn't sure what it was in reference to but then I saw my sister had posted something right before that, stating that she was sure she left the car that she owned in the driveway...

Anyway, I wrote to my niece and told her that it probably wasn't as bad as it seems and plenty of people were worse and did stupider things at the age 15, like her mom and other uncle but not me. ;) Honestly though, after working with homeless youth, I have seen and heard enough stories to make me see my niece as a little saint. And please, even I rolled the car at age 16. Hayleigh managed to return the car in one operating piece so she's a step ahead of me.

It felt good to be able to be there for her even it was just through facebook. But, after all, she is the reason I am even on facebook in the first place so I'm glad it could be used as a tool for good.

What else?

Sophia, Dean and I walked around the Belmont Street Fair and I bought a little kid's shirt from a vendor for Mr Whiskers! I hope it fits him! Also, when we were walking by a booth selling lawn ornaments, Dean stopped to relieve himself on the merchandise. I yanked him away and Sophia quickly threw water over the items to wash it off. The vendor was cool though and didn't make us pay for it.

I also went on the Diabetes walk again for work. Dave, who organizes it just told me about it on Thursday but he always goes on the AIDS walk so I agreed to go with him. It was okay but not very well organized. Still, I'm glad I could support him.

farewell july

This month, I started a new tradition with my best guy & climbed a volcano six times. Today, we walked around new paths on Tabor in the sunset instead of the sunrise so we could say goodbye to a good month.

This month, I was told I was beautiful and I was called Princess.

This month, I picked up the ball and continued the game.

This month, I saw Lt Uhura pull a knife on the alternate Sulu after spending the afternoon relaxing in a park.

This month, I was a jellyfish and I swayed in the woods with the hippies to a jam band.

This month, I said goodbye to two worlds and one friend and made friends out of co-workers.

This month, I worked on living spaces, inside and out.

This month, I sat in the dark and listened to a minstrel tell stories of his ill-begotten year on stage.

This month, I took a lot of pictures of all types and I was proud.

This month was fabulous. The weather cleared up, I was healthy, I was happy and I only hope that it continues...

What else?
This month (today actually), I went to Fat Albert's, the Columbia Outlet and shopping in the downtown H&M for the first time with friends. That and the 6 mile walk around my new favorite park made for a great day. I also tried out a new scalp detoxification technique.

This evening, Dean and I sat down at the summit of the volcano and watched the sunset on this fine day and fine month. Bring on August.

when trees fall

Shortly after I moved to Portland, I found a group of friends who were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. We were ready to rally, prepared to protesting and fit to fight. I guess that's what comes with time. People got into relationships, fell out of relationships, fell off the wagon, got into work and basically became overwhelmed and out of steam. It's sad but that's the toll time can take.

For me, school is what happened. I've done very little since starting school. I'll go to protests here and there but there was a time when I wouldn't miss a thing. I can't say that anymore. I was reminded of how far I've fallen today by watching the documentary, "If a Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front." It's inspirational to see what Daniel McGowan was doing and the drive he had during his protest days. However, it seemed like he changed his focus and his tactics even before he was caught like I feel so much of us have done. He went to work for a legitimate non-profit and started focusing on his personal life like most of the rest of my friends.

I went to the documentary today with Arturo and Max. It was great to see them again and to see a great movie with them. We walked around NW 23rd afterwards and I went to Escape from NY Pizza for the first time, although just to use their bathrooms. We sat in Couch Park while it got dark because nobody felt like drinking. It was nice and reminiscent of a time when hanging out didn't have to involve a bar.

What else?

I had another nice walk with Dean on Tabor today, trying a different route. I think I like our regular route better but maybe I just need to head out earlier so we have more time in the park.

outdoorspace

Sophia has been more than generous with her house. Aside from my room, she has also given me the office/man-cave/Dean's room and the back porch. Tim started with the back porch but it still needs some work. I plan to make his vision a reality and get a hammock back there.

I was going to do it earlier this week or last weekend but the rain stopped me. Today, I decided to dig into it and cleared a pathway in the back and pulled a lot of the dead plants from the back. There's also a small plot of dirt back there among the cement and the rocks which Dean has claimed. I'm sure he'll burrow a bed there when I get it to be usable. I didn't succeed yet but I made good progress.

What else?
I walked Dean to Clinton Park for the first time today. I didn't plan on it taking us as long as it did so we didn't get to spend a lot of time there. Really, Mt Tabor is just as nearby and a lot more pretty so I'll probably just go there from now on.

ikea'l you

Box stores are exhausting. Sophia and I went to Ikea today for my first time. We were looking for curtains for our living room and we foolishly thought that Ikea would have something decent. For the record, their curtain selection sucks and just getting to that sucky section was a cumbersome process. Still, it was an adventure and we did end up finding nice light fixtures. Also, I was comparing what I saw there to what I saw at the Whole Nine Yards in Portland and that's not a fair comparison.

The Whole Nine Yards is an awesome fabric and upholstery store. They don't sell curtains but they can make them for you. However, it would be a six-week wait and we were tired of having our living room be completely exposed with no coverings. We plan to continue the hunt for cool curtains but not today. Ikea kicked our asses.

What else?

I ended up doing a lot of new things today:
* Dean and I discovered the Sue Parman field just five or six blocks from our house where he could run around.
* Sophia and I went for brunch at Utopia for the first time. I loved their potato pancakes.
* After striking out at Whole Nine Yards and Ikea, Sophia and I unsuccessfully shopped at the Ross Dress For Less by the Ikea store.
* Ashes, Victory, Sophia, Atomic and I met Justin and Jenn at Bazi Bierbrasserie to watch the Timbers win their first away game since going MLS.

turning negatives to positives

I used to be a bright and shiny optimist. Somewhere along the lines, I became a whole lot more cynical. It wasn't a conscious choice. It just happened. This morning, I decided to reach down deep into my core and bring forth a little optimism. Yes, I am still thrown off-guard by what my dog did yesterday and over the weekend. However, until I can figure out why, I decided that maybe he just needs a new routine that he would enjoy. So we're walking.

I love walking Dean anyway but it seems like time is never on our side. In order to make a little more time, I got up this morning at 5:30am, got all of my stuff ready for work and then walked Dean up to Mt Tabor. We ended up walking 3.2 miles and he got some off-leash time around the reservoir. Until now, I haven't wanted to walk him to Tabor because I thought it was a bit far for him and his bad legs. However, he's proven that he needs to burn off energy and since I'll be gone for several hours at work, the morning seems more of a fitting time to wear him out.

It was a great walk and it made me feel fabulous. When I got home from work today, I didn't see one thing torn up, moved or disheveled. Yay for easy solutions to odd problems.

What else?
I did my country fair laundry today. I realized how much pink I wore there because it turned the laundry water pink and all of my white pink too. Now I have a lot more pink items which I have again determined to view optimistically. I like pink!