today's morning commute

I had to start off my day today in Clackamas so I rode down there first thing.  I didn't take the I-205 bike path this time.  I used my phone and found a nice path which wasn't so out of the way.  It was nice and peaceful, albeit not so quick.  However, when I passed Johnson Creek, before I got to Causey, I came upon this open area which was just pretty to see in the morning on bike.  It let me start the day off on a good foot...or pedal as it were.

tiny techs

This little itty bitty card can store all of the photos I have taken over the last several years twice over and I take a LOT of pictures.  It's crazy to think that so much information can be so itty-bitty.

My i-pod's been acting up and I was going to replace it but then I thought I should consolidate my resources and just upgrade the memory on my droid instead.  I would like to be carrying less things on me eventually and my music is something I always have with me so I bought more memory at the verizon store today.  I got a 16GB flash drive with the gift-card they sent to me for my phone showing up late along with a check of money owed from Nebraska.  16GB won't hold all of my music but my I-pod now doesn't either so it'll have to suffice.

this year's 15 minute break

These past six days (Wed-Mon) have been recharging, making the rest of the year manageable, like a a 15 minute break in an eight hour workday.  Bastard and I put a find 'dot-dot-dot' on the vacation by hitting the Ritz together today.  I say 'dot-dot-dot' because exclamation points are too abrupt, final and loud.  I wasn't aware that the Ritz had 3 steam rooms until today.  We took it step by step, from Mild to Medium to Hot until my nostrils burned.  It was exquisite and made me wish the Ritz and the rest of the Fair came along more often.  When I get back to the other world, I think I'll start a countdown calendar until my next break.

The pic above is from another night but all my electronics have died and need to be recharged.

What else?
Miracles do happen.  We made it back from the Fair without breaking down!

do-over

Today was the cherry on top.  Last year, I loved Fair but felt like I was robbed after Saturday when it started to rain.  This was my first chance to experience a true full Fair Sunday.  I did a lot of walking and took in a lot of shows with friends who were visiting Fair for the day.  My favorite show of the day though was one I saw alone, Girl Circus which was just adorable and very well done.

Exhaustion hit by the end of the day.  I think I fractured my little toe last week and it began to really ache today from too much walking.  I miss my bike...and my dog.  I love it here but it's about time to wake up.

What else?
Chris Chandler, Girl Circus (3 pics), Wanderlust Circus (2 pics), belly dancers and me pictured below.

risk of change

Today was another great day for compliments on my outfit.  However, the greatest compliment came by coincidence when an art troupe, Risk of Change, paraded by and told me to join them.

Honestly, today's outfit was filler.  When I was laying out my clothing for Fair, I decided that I would just do an all-black-and-white day.  Fortunately, I did in on the same day as Risk of Change.  I had just gotten out of a show (Kazum pictured below) when Risk of Change came parading by us.  One of the troupe told me that I belonged with them so I left my crew I was with and abandoned all other plans and jumped in with them.  While taking pics, I heard a few people surprised at my appearance, saying things like, "Was that guy with us at the beginning?" but I ran into several members later and was told, "We'll never forget you."  I know I'll never forget the spontaneity of it.

What else?
When I was working at the booth, two random ladies came by and asked to get their picture with me.  High compliments indeed.

I also saw a number of new acts. They're pictured below in the following order; Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Kazum (3 pics), Jason Webley, Yes Sweet Can (2 pics) and NANDA again.

my fair routine

Today, the familiarity of the functions of the Fair allowed me to access as many acts as possible.  My morning routine consists of me walking into the fair from camp, hitting the Ritz, grabbing coffee on my walk back to camp, adding a splash of amaretto, making an awesome egg sandwich and going back into the fair to 'work' at our booth for two hours.  I put work in quotation marks because, compared with work outside of the fair, this is easy and joyful.

I love Community Village.  The above pic is part of the opening ceremony where we honor those who have passed since last fair by placing a piece of paper with the their name on it on this little tree.  However, it's not just Community Village work at Fair which is enjoyable.  Half of our camp does security work and I've heard that they love it too.

I did some security work today too just because Friday night is hard at the gate where most of our camp is stationed.  There's a fire show outside of the gate which attempts to draw people out of the fair at closing time.  However, when the show is over, the gate is swarmed with day-pass people trying to get back in for the nighttime festivities.  I helped out tonight and so did several other workers who weren't on shift right then.  I heard from a lot of the security regulars that it was one of the best Friday night Fair security experiences they've ever had.  It's nice when Fair family can help out.  I think I'll add this Friday security gig into my regular fair routine.

What else?
I saw many new acts today!  However, the one that blew me away was the last picture, NANDA.

showing my show

I could never wear a uniform.  I love changing up my clothing periodically.  Styles, colors and levels of formality have to vary day to day or I get in a slump.  Part of this need to switch it up is seeing what appeals to different people.  I'm a sucker for a compliment on my attire.

I decided to dress it up just a bit today even though fair doesn't technically start until tomorrow.  When else am I gonna have the opportunity to wear a short pink skirt and thigh high pink striped socks in the woods?

I got soooooo many compliments between the skirt and the socks.  The veggie dog cart guys hooted at me and asked me to 'show 'em my show.'  It seemed like I got a compliment every twenty feet or so.  That made my day!

What else?

This morning, I went to the Ritz for the first time ever.  The Ritz is a large shower/sauna facility at the fair.  Beautifully crafted with wood and no ceiling (except for in the saunas), it's well worth the six dollars for an unlimited visit.  It costs more if you want a private shower but that's just silly to me.  It's the same principle as the WNBR.  If everybody's naked and cool with it, nobody's judging anyone else and everyone gets to feel comfortable.

sleeping inches above the ground and beneath miles of stars

I've made it.  It was great to be on the land a few weeks ago during the work parties but there's a different energy here now.  It's also familiar this year.  Knowing the land, the people and the process is a bundle of comfort.

There are new people in our camp this year but it seems like a tighter family than last year.  Meeting some of the new people was my new thing.  There was also sleeping in my tent and, best of all, sleeping on a small mattress I pulled out of the RV and into my tent.  It's definitely the best sleep I've had in a tent.

who's motorcyle is this? it's a chopper, baby.

The first time I rode on a motorcycle, it was with my uncle Randy when I was in elementary school.  I've had a scooter but a scooter is quite different than a motorcycle.  Ashes bought a motorcycle a while ago from a friend and I've been refusing to ride it.  Not because I'm scared of it but I'm just really pro-bike now and I don't want to be seduced by a motorcycle.  However, because of this blog, I got on today.  The picture above is the back of Ashes' helmet as we were moving so obviously I feel comfortable on it but I wasn't thrilled with it.  It wasn't bad but I still love my bike more.

my x-wing

This is my first tent. I'm quite proud of it. It's easy as hell to set up and I got it using a co-worker's husband's employee discount at an outdoors store for like 65% off. I think I'm most proud that I thought ahead tho. I got it in March, specifically for the Country Fair. Today was just my first time setting it up.

I'm not one for sleeping on the ground but I'm bringing a whole lot of padding & Melatonin to help me sleep.

This is also my first blog post via droid.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.3.9

raven is 12

It's hard to believe that I met Raven when he was four years old.  I think we moved in together when he was six.  He's grown up a lot and we've been getting along really well lately (thanks to Doctor Who).  He had his birthday party part two today.  He had some friends over and we went to play soccer.  I got to meet Somola who will be coming to the OCF with us.

What else?
I spent an hour on the phone (not my blackberry) with a Verizon rep while he walked me through moving my contacts from my blackberry to my droid.  It was cool cause he could've left me hanging but he was a decent guy and really went above and beyond.  It ended up paying off as I'm all done with my f***ing blackberry.

It's the fourth.  I couldn't care less.  We stepped outside for about five minutes to watch Raven light off some fireworks he got for his birthday.  Wooooo.

this is the droid i've been looking for

I have given Verizon its share of hell over the past eight years but it's been a reciprocal relationship.  Having put up with a phone that dies after 5 minutes of talking, a combined 30 minutes of texting or one web search if not actively being charged at the time for a month has justified every complaint I have lodged with the company.  However, today I was able to forgive all trespasses as I was given a new toy.

Yesterday was filled with shooting teenagers with lasers so I didn't get much time to play with the droid incredible upon delivery.  Today, I put in some quality time with it.  It is incredible, especially when held up side by side with the blackberry, may it rust in peace.  I even used it to control the computer via VLC remote.  Brilliant!

The one downside to the phone today was I wasn't able to transfer over my contacts yet.  I went to the Verizon store near Pioneer Place Square and had one of their people try to do it.  They had to reactivate the blackberry as my primary phone so they could install some software onto it which would sync my contacts.  However, the phone died in the process.  Now it won't start again for 18 hours.  Oh well, I still have an active phone.  I re-activated my droid and am using it today without my contact list.  I'll try again tomorrow.  However, I didn't get upset at the sales rep person for their faulty equipment and inability to help me.  I was in good enough of a mood to accept that it might not all work today.  Plus there was a lady giving another sales rep hell right next to me.  I've given this same rep hell before but, after hearing why the lady was complaining from her own yelling mouth, I really felt sorry for the guy because Comcast screwed her over, sent her to Verizon.  Now this guy was working extra hard to fix this lady's mistake and she was being really rude.  So, even though they didn't fix my problem, I told them how much I appreciated them trying and was relatively sincere.  Eh, I got a working phone.  I'm happy.

What else?
My new thing today was going to Thatchers, a bar next to the Academy Theater after seeing MacGruber with Jen and Donald.  I haven't seen a SNL movie in the theater since Wayne's World 2.  I don't plan to see one again unless I'm in the mood for tasteless, sophomoric and homophobic humor.

laser tag

Today I fulfilled a life-long goal of playing Laser Tag in an arena.  When I was a kid, my parents bought us generic laser tag guns which were fun but not the same as the real thing in an arena.  I remember the Laser Tag frenzy in the mid eighties along with the Laser Tag cartoon (which probably lasted as long as the Rubix Cube cartoon).

It was part one of Raven's 12th birthday party tonight.  Four of us joined him at the Ultrazone tonight in Milwaukee.  It was great.  There were a few other adults there but mostly it was teenagers.  Sophia, Ashes and I held our own though.  We made plans before our game started and worked on strategy together.  We took turns taking out the bases of other teams while the other two guarding them.  We defended a upper landing well and targeted these teen boys who wore headbands and had war crys.

Overall it was a great way to spend the first day of my vacation.  Below is a pic of the sign advertising the Ultrazone.  If the image was different, it could be an ad for...something else.

What else?
I GOT MY DROID!  The pics above are from my droid.  I love it.  I've got to spend some more time with it but tonight was dedicated to hunting people with my friends.

1st thursday

I took art classes all throughout high school.  My art teacher was very supportive although I really don't think I had a lot of talent.  It was still fun and it gave me a good creative outlet.

Today, I struggle with finding art unpretentious.  I find a lot of art amazing but a lot of artists and art aficionados annoying.  I think a lot of that is insecurities regarding my own creativity combined with the idea that art does hardly anything to advance the well-being of the oppressed and the planet.  That being said, once I feel comfortable with artists, I adore them.

Al's work is a good example of what can be oh-so-right with art.  His imagery conveys a very distinct, strong political message, even though it may leave a little open to interpretation.  I headed down to Autonomy tonight for First Thursday.  I've only been down to First Thursday once or twice before.  I went through a lot of galleries today and almost bought a bike shirt at one place but then I realized that I could make it.  It was a simple design and I've done screen printing.  I wouldn't use the same design because it's someone else's and it wasn't that great.  I may have to creative soon and print.