The idiot bird leaps up and drunken leans

Ok so I haven’t blogged in months, will do a more thorough update in the next few days but for right now, I’ve been getting really into modpodge and I made this sweet lightswitch plate!  It’s got a photo called “Candy Cigarette” which is pretty popular, it’s actually the photographer’s daughter.  The words are a Sylvia Plath poem called A Sonnet For Eva, which is one of my favorites by her.  I’ve also been making magnets, Brady’s mom is really crafty and I want to get more into crafts but I’m starting off slow because the last craft I remember doing was a macaroni picture when I was in Kindergarten…and it didn’t turn out well.  The light switch plates and magnets are turning out super though!  Also, on Etsy, Jamie and I saw this cool map with Elliott Smith lyrics on it and it was selling for about 30 bucks so I decided to just make one…

I also started doodling a little again and decided to try my hand at pen and watercolor because I think the effect is way cool and it seemed like something I might actually be able to do.  I consider myself qualified because I paint with two-year-olds on a regular basis Anyway, I found a cool photo of Emily Dickenson that I was going to try to replicate but it turned into something completely different:

Not bad, eh?  I’m pretty impressed with myself…just need to find frames for the painting and the map.  Also, I just finished the light switch cover for our bedroom, it’s John and Yoko, picture to follow later.  Let’s see, what else what else… OOH Brady and I took Jamie and Andrew to this little hidden gem on the West Side called the NPS Store.  They buy semi trucks that have been in wrecks and salvage the goods which includes tools, clothes, food, and furniture!  Seriously, if you think the D.I. is a good deal, go to NPS!  Just be careful to check the expiration dates but we paid 60 bucks for groceries that would have been at least 200 at Smith’s or Whole Foods.  NPS is on 1700 S. a few blocks past Redwood, in an industrial park.  My favorite finds on Saturday were Vitamin water for 33 cents apiece and a cool vintage military jacket for 10 bucks!  Picture of that to follow as well (the jacket, not the Vitywater).

We also went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D over the weekend, it was a belated bday present for Jamie’s 21st and we all LOVED it!  I was a little apprehensive because it got poor reviews, but I’m glad we went!  I loved how it wasn’t just a remake of the Disney version, I thought it was pretty original and amazing, despite the 3D effects being sub-par.

On Saturday, the family went to see my coworker’s modern dance performance at Sugar Space called The Grey Area and it was so cool!  Definitely made me want to start taking dance again soon, hopefully Jamie and I can take something together this summer…speaking of Jamie, homegirl needs a JOB!  If you know anyone who is hiring, even for just part-time, lemme know yo!  She has experience doing office/clerical work, hosting, bussing, makin coffee, cashiering, and she’s a quick learner.  That’s all for now, really going to make an effort to blog more regularly…

Moats and boats and waterfalls, alleyways and pay-phone calls,

So Brady and I decided to quit smoking a few weeks back, not because of any health concerns but because it is expensive.  We’re currently on Day 6 without a cigarette and it’s going pretty well so far.  I quit for a few months earlier this year using Chantix and decided to start taking it again.  I’ve read horror stories about the side effects like vomiting and night terrors, and some dude who tried to kill his wife when he was on it, but the only side effect I noticed was incredibly vivid, wacky dreams.  However,  I forgot that when I first started taking it in January, I started with 0.5 mg pills once a day for a week before taking two one-milligram pills a day.  About 20 minutes from when we popped the 1-mg pills, we both felt HORRIBLE!  Completely loopy and, for lack of a better term, straight-up TARDED.  Brady was pretty discouraged after that but I decided to cut back the dosage for a while and let it build up in my bloodstream, and that seems to have worked.

 

Brady and I finally took a trip out to the coast last weekend, which was amazing!  It was pretty stormy, but I was just enthralled to be near the ocean, and it cleared up by the time we made it to the lighthouse.  Anyway, here are some photos from the trip:

 

This week, Brady started his new job and we’re pretty excited about it.  I’m reading Grapes of Wrath for my English class and although I read it in high school, it’s a good read and we’ve been having some pretty lively discussions about it.  This Thursday, I think we’re heading over to the PLC building for the UO film series “Horror and the Horrific.”  They’re showing The Night of the Hunter, which I’ve always wanted to see but never got around to watching, so that should be fun.  When we visited Amy and Andrew in Portland last weekend, they got me hooked on Edward Sharpe (of Ima Robot) and the Magnetic Fields.  Their song “Home” is addictive, I can’t stop listening to it!!  Also, at the Eugene Public Library I picked up a few good finds.  One is a tribute album entitled, “To: Elliott From: Portland.”  It’s not bad, some decent covers, if you pick it up do yourself a favor and avoid Track 4, it’s the worst.  The other goodie I picked up was Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s album “Letting Go,” which is fantastic.  I just recently downloaded an album by the now-defunct Carissa’s Wierd, which was composed of two dudes who went on to become Band of Horses and Sera Cahoone, who put out a solo album after leaving Carissa’s Wierd.  Good stuff.  Anyhow, that’s enough procrastinating for now.  I have some t-tests for my stats class with my name on them, as well as some literary terms to research for my next English paper.  Peas!

Warm me up and breathe me

My apologies once again for being a total blog-slacker.  I would like to say that my life is ridiculously fast-paced and busy, but it’s not really.  I’ve just been having fun and studying and blogging has not been a huge priority in my life.  Classes are swell, Brady and I are having a blast in our new little life together, and I got a job at a little acupuncture clinic close to home and work.  My sign language class is really intriguing; we’ve learned all sorts of things and I’m really anxious to just be FLUENT already!  I’ve been teaching Brady what I learn in class, and it’s nice to have someone to practice with.  We’re really good at remembering the important signs like beer, coffee, condom, and stupid.  My English class is also pretty fun.  So far we’ve read Rushdie, Marjane Satrapi and we’re wrapping up Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, all of which were great reads.  I’m pretty happy about deciding to double-major in English and Psych because I’ll read a lot of books that I wouldn’t pick out myself off the library shelves.  One of my favorite quotes from the Hurston novel is, “So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day.”  Nice, right?  Hmmm not sure what else to blog about at the moment as my mind is on my ASL midterm tomorrow and my stats quiz soooo I’ll just post some pictures.  Here is Brady and I on Halloween as zombie bride and groom:

Braiiiiiiiiins

We were in Portland over the weekend and I slacked off with the camera, should have taken photos of Leland in his amazing bumblebee costume and a million other things but this is the only one I have, from the Roadside bar in Southeast Portland:

Also, yesterday we noticed the black mold in the bathroom was getting pretty bad (yuck) so we sprayed it with bleach and scrubbed it off.  And by ‘we’ I mean Brady:

And here is a random photo of the laundromat we go to every weekend by Safeway:

Fall is really beautiful here, the leaves are amazing and there was an incredible fog early this morning all over campus.  I’ll try to take some photos and post them soon…

Packing blankets and dirty sheets

It’s been about a week since my last update and for that, I apologize but I have had my hands full the last few days with getting settled in at the new pad, exploring Eugene and my mom visiting from Seattle with her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s sons.  I’m loving our townhouse, it is right across from Hayward field, where the famous Steve Prefontaine once ran.  Literally across the street from campus and a 5-minute bike ride from downtown, which is fantastic.  I’ll get pictures up once everyone is here and the house looks more like a home, it’s pretty bare-bones still.  Although, my momma was nice enough to buy me some groceries, a mirror, clothes, and a bike while she was here.  She also drove down with a load of Korean food and my Macbook, for which I am eternally thankful.  The Comcast dude also came by to hook up the wireless today, so I don’t have to use the U of O’s network anymore, which is great because it was failing me.  Here are a few of the photos I’ve taken the past week.  This first one was taken last Wednesday, when Fufu and I took Elsie on a bike ride with her brand new bicycle.  It lasted about 3 minutes, during which time she fell 302149103 times but she was a trooper and got right back on and rode home through her tears:

Elsie, before she fell off the bicycle.

Our new bedroom's balcony!

Fufu and I had lunch at this AMAZING restaurant called the World Cafe in downtown Eugene, around Willamette and 11th.  The mac and cheese blew my mind and Fufu said his philly steak sandwich was the best he ever had, but everything on the menu looked fantastic.

The dankest mac n cheese EVER.

My momma and I on campus

Below is me with my mom’s girlfriend’s kids.  They are 15 years old, fraternal twins, very, very autistic and incredibly sweet.  They are fond of cartoons, gum, and high fives, not necessarily in that order.

Me with some special boys

That’s it for now, I’ve got to get back on the job search and harass the U of O registrar to give me a damn advising appointment so I can register for classes.  Brady will arrive here late tomorrow night and I can’t WAIT!  Just finished re-reading She’s Come Undone, the only box of books I have here are ones I’ve already read.  Although the campus library is a block from my house, so I have no excuses.  Still good the second time, though.  I also just started Water For Elephants, which was recommended to me by Liz, and it is entrancing so far.  A neat band I’ve recently discovered is Matt & Kim.  They hail from Brooklyn, NY, they are adorable and their music makes me happy.  My brother was lucky enough to see them live last week back in Salt Lake and he said it was an incredible show.  Here is a link to a catchy tune of theirs called Daylight (streaming): http://www.imeem.com/rockmusic17/music/p-oi8YtN/matt-kim-daylight/

No one’s gonna fool around with us

Yesterday, I met up with Liz and Katelyn at Powell’s downtown where we got some great coffee and then went on a trek to find me a camera charger.  This didn’t take too long, thanks to iPhone.  We then went down and sat at the riverfront, which was glorious.  Sadly, I missed out on some great photo ops as my battery was not yet charged.  We then got some amazing veggie chow mein at one of the numerous ethnic food kiosks(?) and wandered around, keeping an eye out for a fedora for Liz.  Our one stop at Nordstroms Rack proved fruitless, although we found many overpriced paisley button-downs.  By this time, it was rush hour and we sat for a while at Pioneer Square people-watching, which was definitely more entertaining than people-watching in downtown Salt Lake.  More variety, that’s for sure.  From there, we caught the Max out to Liz and Katelyn’s sweet new pad in Northwest, where we drank a lot of beer and Liz sang a pretty song.  As you can see, we got rowdier as the sun set, but isn’t that how it always goes?

I thought I saw a ladybug on the balcony, and was saddened to discover it was merely a corpse.

They live kitty-corner from a strip mall, which has a dumpster in the parking lot, from which there were smells emanating that I cannot even begin to describe.  Even for a dumpster, it was surprisingly rancid.  There is a little convenience store in the strip mall, where we bought some more beer after we ran out. Katelyn found Marilyn Monroe there:

I had a conversation with the cashier that went like this:

“Thanks, have a good night.”

“You need a bag?”

“No.”

“Yes, you do.  I have to give you one.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, unless you wanna put it in your purse.  It’s an Oregon law about concealing liquor, we have some CRAZY liquor laws here man!”
“Wellllll I’m from Utah, don’t get me started on liquor laws.”

“OhYEAH MAN I’VE HEARD ABOUT THAT!  Well, stick that in your purse then.  Have a good night.”

We then walked back to their place and drank more beer and I must have left around 10.  It took me two hours to get home.  Katelyn and Liz were nice enough to ride with me on the first bus and get me on the blue Max, which was fun.  I think I kept them entertained with funny faces and some Helen Keller jokes, and we sang “Zombie” endlessly (Jay Brannan version!).  From the Max, I fucked it up royally.  I must say, navigating is not a talent of mine.  First, I got off at the wrong train stop once I was downtown.  But everyone I’ve encountered in Portland is SO nice, as I got off the train and realized I was lost, staring at the TriMet map for a good five minutes, a hipster on a bicycle approached me and asked if I needed help.  He informed me I was ten blocks away from my next bus stop, so I started walking.  It was then that I called Brady, who was sweet enough to talk to me on the phone the entire way home.  My reasoning is that if someone is going to jump me, they may think twice when they see I’m talking on a cell phone and thus have the capacity to yell out, “HELP OMIGAWD RAPE!” before I get bludgeoned on the head.  So I eventually found the 33 bus, which took me to the 70.  But at the bus stop, while boarding the bus, I encountered an odd phenomenon.  The bus driver informed me he was not leaving for 30 minutes and I could not wait on the bus because he had to shut the lights off.  I stared at him blankly, trying to make sense of the reasoning behind this, but decided arguing would be pointless so I sat on the side of the road, talking to Brady, trying not to think about how badly I had to urinate.  Normally, I would have popped a squat behind a nearby bush.  In fact, I am notorious for going pee anywhere when I am not in close proximity to a sanitary bathroom.  I have actually peed on the side of 7-11s before because I do not trust gas station restrooms.  Here is a partial list of places I have christened with my pee in Salt Lake City:

7-11 (I would say most 7-11s in the downtown/Sugarhouse area)

Beto’s parking lot, behind the dumpster

Two parking garages somewhere near the Gallivan

Behind Twilite Lounge

The City library parking garage

A bush near the County building

I-15 Northbound, out a car window (it was as messy as it sounds)

Today was relatively uneventful, as I was on babysitting duty all day.  We watched Barbie in Swan Lake, which was actually not bad.  As a feminist, I sometimes worry about the message little Elsie is getting from Disney princess movies, but this Barbie movie gets an ok from me.  Going to watch Revolutionary Road tonight, and probably some It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  I own seasons one and two, and somehow, it never gets old.

Fugitives and refugees

So, today I ventured out into downtown Portland with my little bro Fufu (little sis Elsie wasn’t capable of saying “Matthew” when she was younger). I am absolutely entranced by this place. When I first moved to Salt Lake City, I was completely mortified at Utah’s culture (or lack thereof)…but I decided to keep an open mind. And I ended up getting a fantastic job, great grades in school and eventually made some life-long friends, some of whom are (or once were) Mormon. And I really thought things were taking a turn for the better in Utah around the time that I left – bar memberships were finally done away with, Mayor Becker was putting in more bike lanes around town, and Obama had won Salt Lake County in the presidential election.

But the moment I arrived in Portland and got a breath of fresh air and a look around at the weird, interesting-looking people, I realized what a weird, sad little place Salt Lake is.  It does have its high points (WINTER) and a few pockets of weird/intriguing places (downtown, Sugarhood) but overall, for me, it took being in a super-rad, progressive, COOL town like Portland to realize what a strange place Utah truly is.  And although I was trying to tell myself that Utah was slowly moving in the right direction, I was pretty biased when making that assumption.  Utah now may be more progressive compared to old-Utah, but they are still lightyears behind when compared to the rest of the country.  Example: Gov. Herbert’s comments concerning anti-discrimination laws, and how sexual orientation should not be a protected class (http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=7700000).  What’s really disturbing is all the comments left by Salt Lake residents in SUPPORT of such a hateful, small-minded man.  Also, in Utah, it is legal to fire someone because they are gay or transgendered.  And yes, we did do away with those cumbersome bar memberships but guess what?  Now, in Salt Lake’s restaurants, drinks must be mixed in a back room out of view, thanks to Sen. John Valentine (R-Orem) and a handful of other consevatives.  Why, praytell?  Well, because the pretty liquor may tempt children.  Really?  Reeeeeaaaaally?  If your four-year-old instantly becomes an alcoholic from watching a bartender pour a cocktail, I’ll alert the APA, because that goes against decades of research concerning substance abuse/addiction.

Well, I am missing my homies back in Zion, my amazing boyfrand and my wonderful job at the Montessori school but, all in all, I already feel like Oregon is more my speed.  I’m sorry, Utah, but it’s good riddance to bad rubbish…although I could totally go for some Big Ed’s right now.  Photos to come, I’ve obviously located a cardreader but now my camera’s battery is dead and I was a genius and packed the charger.  Sometimes, I think I need a personal caretaker.  Brady will be here in a few weeks, maybe this is something he would be interested in…

Last days

Going in for the kill

Hello, babies. I am jumping on the blogging bandwagon. I would say it is because I just moved to Oregon and want to keep in touch with my peeps in Salt Lake, Alaska, Seattle, and everywhere else but that would be a lie. I’m just narcissistic and vain. Very, very vain. And now seems a good a time as any. I am currently in Portland, living out of one suitcase but I have boxes at the Portland FedEx that have yet to be delivered, boxes in my parents’ garage and still more boxes at Brady’s house back in Salt Lake. Anxious to move in to the new place in Eugene and begin the unpacking process, which should be interesting. I worry I’ve inherited the Hoarding trait from my mother. I’ve constantly found myself asking how I’ve acquired so much CRAP. Photos of my last few days in Salt Lake Silly to come, once I get my paws on a cardreader. I’m gonna shoot to move in to the new place in Eugene next weekend, although Portland is just LOVELY. Incidentally, I’m reading the 33 1/3 book about XO by Elliott Smith and it is incredible. Definitely a series worth checking out. Also worth checking out: The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes. Also ALSO worth checking out: Cat Power’s Black Sessions. Gawd I just love love LOVE her…