more than words

This should give you an idea as to what kind of weekend I just had...

return of the swamp thing

I'm back from You-Da-Ho, cause I ain't da ho (and no, I'll NEVER tire of that). Actually, I got back yesterday. But after the excruciating one hour flight that made me more motion sick than any I've been in a long long time, I had to go to work. Today I had a million little errands to run, including picking up my baby from his mini-vacation..so forgive my belated posting. The Vacation - Cliff Notes Version I got there on Thursday afternoon and hung out with Devo and a couple of friends who came down from Seattle for the event. We mostly ate a lot. I don't remember doing much, but I remember there being a lot of fried foods. And American flag speedos. This was actually a great day, I was able to meet a slew of the Boise party peeps and they were all great fun. I also bought some flip-flops, imperative when you walk off the plane into 104 degree weather. Day two began and we drove up to the location (after spending a butt load of money at the co-op) and helped set up some stuff for the party. Lucky for us we had a cabin so we didn't have to set up a camp...but it was still a lot of work and man was it HOT! Then Friday night arrived and we whooped it up, remembering to keep a little bit on reserve for Saturday. During Devo's set, I got really tired and laid down for "just a minute, just to rest my eyes" on the dance floor...an hour or two later my friend Mel found me. According to her, when she walked up to give me a hug I was completely passed out, but my foot was still tapping to the beat. Day three began and I woke up a little earlier than my bedmate. I decided to get my day started since I knew I would just keep him awake with my morning chatter. I headed up to the party location and was picked up by a ragtag group of misfits who were headed to the old swimming hole. I asked them to drop me off so I could rendezvous with my other friends before heading out there. Eventually I made it to the swimming hole, an oasis of cool water and cooler people setting up water badminton. I was there just long enough to keep my internal temperature from cooking my innards since my body had become a slow-roasting crock pot...my god was it ever hot! Then off to the airport to pick up the headlining DJ. Errands, errands, errands and we get back to the party. A little rest and (insert finger snapping noise) time for the party to begin. Party, party, party...more party, party, party...then more party, party, party... It was a great time. There were enough of my favorite Seattle people and enough new people to keep it all flowing nicely. Finally sleep, of course by now it's day four and the sun is high in the sky. By the time we got up after a million interruptions and goodbyes, most of our friends have headed out. They bravely faced the long journeys back home head on. Devo and I however chilled for quite a while and took our time packing up. Then we headed back up to the location where we tried to help break down as much as possible but were fairly useless. We drove back to Boise and hung out a little bit, though honestly the rest of this day was just a blur of exhaustion. Day five began with a big cup of coffee and then driving around looking for breakfast. We ended up eating Thai at noon, talk about indecisive. We didn't have a lot of energy but still had a desire for a little fun, so go-karting it was! That was followed by arcade games, a trip to the airport, a flat tire, and then commando mini-golf...18 holes, 4 people, 30 minutes! A dinner for two and a dipped cone and one last hurrah of being surrounded by people I barely knew but who insisted they liked me anyway because I keep pretty good company I suppose. Then sleep...oh blessed sleep...how I missed that on this vacation. Day six, a coffee drink titled "A Cup of Soul" and so good that it's trademarked. Then to the airport, where this extremely long winded post began. Whew. Just imagine how long this post will be when I get back from Burningman.

potato head

Well, I am off to Idaho in a few hours. Sometimes I am like a litte five year old, I get all excited and then can't sleep. So I'm working about three hours of sleep and working the circles so dark that I look like I got punched in the face a few times look. And just to confirm the fact that I'm no spring chicken, I realized that I'm getting a lot older while packing. Instead of making sure my super cute outfits and hair stuff got priority baggage space, the first thing I packed was my OTC meds just in case. If you hear anything on the news about a party by the river a few hours outside of Boise, make sure you look to see if I'm in the background mugging.

flashback

10 years ago...
Ten years ago, it was 1996. Take this survey, post the results, and see how many things have changed since .

1) How old were you?
THEN: 20
NOW: 30
2) Where did you work?
THEN: Back then I answered to Private (Last Name Here) a lot and worked as a Clinical Lab Tech for the military.
NOW: Clinical Lab Tech for an evil corporation.
3) Where did you live?
THEN: Washington DC
NOW: Seattle, Washington
4) How was your hair style?
THEN: Down to my butt long
NOW: Short and orange (my mother's description)
5) Did you wear contacts?
THEN: Sometimes, when I went to concerts and such
NOW: No
6) Did you wear glasses?
THEN: the BCGs I was SUPPOSED to wear stayed in my closet
NOW: the super expensive trendy homage to Wonder Woman classes I am SUPPOSED to wear stay in my bag
7) Who was your best friend?
THEN: Stephanie
NOW: I know a lot of beautiful people...but my sister will always be my bestest friend
8) Which of your pets were still alive?
THEN: Dino, the worst treated dog and still one of the biggest weights on my conscience.
NOW: Iniki, the best dog EVER
9) Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend?
THEN: Chad, a 26 year old Capricorn
NOW: Devo, a 26 year old Capricorn
11) Who was your celebrity crush?
THEN: Johnny Depp
NOW: Johnny Depp
12) Who was your regular-person crush?
THEN: Ummm, who can remember...I have a lot of crushes.
NOW: Well, I can't answer that...but I have a top 5 list
13) How many piercings did you have?
THEN: Four or so
NOW: Two
14) How many tattoos did you have?
THEN: 3
NOW: 5
15) What was your favorite band/singer?
THEN: Rage Against the Machine
NOW: Too much good music in my life to choose a favorite, but I really like Modest Mouse
16) Had you smoked a cigarette?
THEN: Yes
NOW: Yes...unfortunately.
17) Had you gotten drunk?
THEN: Quite often, especially considering that I wasn't 21 yet.
NOW: Less often and with less effort. Fucking aging.
18) What kind of Car did you drive?
THEN: Hyundai
NOW: Nissan
19) Looking back, are you where you thought you would be?
I can't remember what expectations I had for myself ten years ago. But I think that my ten-years ago self would be pretty pleased with the life I've made for myself and the wonderful people I've tricked into being a part of it. I know I'm pretty pleased with it.

holy guacamole

Somebody pinch me...or maybe don't. I had the most amazing weekend. It all started off with a mini-show at a random warehouse by the water. Then off to a party with a slew of graduate students doing the most non-academic things. Afterwards a club night my friends have just started. One small pitstop at Frittes, a Belgian fry joint, where I introduced a gaggle of drunken folk to the joys of curry ketchup. Then, we were off to my friends' monthly afterhours affair. It's been going on and going off for a little over a year, I've been to all but one of them. I remember when it was just a few of us, chillin' outside. The house and that party have been good to me. It's where I've met most of the amazing people I know. It's where I met an amazing man, who every day I feel a little luckier to know. And somehow...Garth, who was in town for a gig, heard about the house and came out to play...then hung out with us. And he was completely down-to-earth and chill and lo-key, a perfect compliment to what has been building all this time. It was amazing. I was able to hang out with my friends and sweetie on what may have been the most beautiful day of the year...I watched the sunrise over Lake Washington and the sunset over Puget Sound. Le sigh, when did life start getting so...GOOD?

say what?

Yesterday afternoon I had a flurry of appointments. One of them involved taking care of my lady-bits at the Planned Parenthood. While sitting there waiting, because they are the least on-time facility I have ever been to, I noticed that they had one of those "Soft & mellow hits of yesterday, today, and tomorrow for your day" kind of radio stations playing on the overhead speakers. As I'm sitting there, "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna came on. AND THAT is what I call sublime irony!

mystery solved

FRIDAY, JULY 07, 2006 MYSTERY SOLVED It's not a rapid aging process making me want to sleep an obnoxious number of hours...I'm sick! Here's to summer illnesses...

missing sheep

Aging is generally okay with me. I don't mind the gray hairs, the developing crow's feet, the achey knees, the southward migrating bosom...but this losing sleep thing has got to go. I shouldn't EVER feel the need to be in bed by midnight and up before 8am. The only time I should see the sun rising is when I haven't gone to sleep from the night before. I can't start a routine sleep schedule...it might lead to something horrendous like living a responsible and respectable life...and the only worse fate I can think of involves perm solution and a lot of peroxide. PS-Happy 4th of July!

movie mania

THave you seen Syriana yet? I saw it last night after having avoided watching it for a while. I knew it would be incredibly depressing. But I didn't realize how sad and hopeless it would leave me feeling after the credits finished rolling. It wasn't just a general sense of hopelessness either, there were definitely specific, pointed feelings of hopelessness as well. But it is a great movie and worth the two hours of your time to watch it.

heroin chic

Last night, I came home from work and noticed this sketchy dude hanging out by my building's garbage cans. But hell...it's a big weekend in Seattle, the weather is record-breakingly hot and it was Pride...so a few random people out and about is bound to happen. Then I went into my apartment and went to open my window. I look out and there are two guys shooting up outside of my window...literally SHOOTING UP...IN THE NECKS!!! I would have been even more freaked out were there not a fence with barbed wire separating them and my window. Definitely not the sight I expected and made me decide to keep my window closed for the night and just sweat the night out.

if at first you don't succeed...

Okay, this is the third and final time I am going to try and do this post. Stupid blogger and stupid computer. Lots of randomness... o I'm lonely. Both of the guys in my life are gone. My puppy dog is on vacation at my brother's house, playing with his cousins (human, canine, and feline varieties). It's so sad when I come home and there isn't anybody there to give me an enthusiastic greeting. My other guy is chilling in Idaho, where I'll join him in a few days for an ass kicking outdoor party. o I'm going to Burningman this year for the first time with my friends in a camp called The Rockstar Orphans. For a fundraiser, we did a yard sale this weekend. It was much less annoying than the last one I did before leaving Kentucky. People in Seattle...not too big on the bartering, they would mostly just pay what we asked for. It was kind of nice. And of course, it probably helped that I started drinking beer at about 9:30 am and was fairly tipsy by noon. o It is so freakin' hot here. I realize it isn't nearly as hot here as it is in the rest of the country. But it really irritates me when people use that rationale to explain why nobody as AC here. Just because it's 112 degrees in Georgia, well that doesn't make the 96 degrees any more bearable.

summer lovin'

Ahhhhh, summer is finally here. The weather has been fantastic. I've been outdoors a lot and have developed a skin-tint that doesn't glow in the dark or attract moths. People are out and about and having a good time. Hell, I've been out and about having a GREAT time. I went out several times this week and got totally obliterated one night and as per my usual custom, eventually ended up in my underwear passed out on my bathroom floor. Then went out last night and had a GREAT time even though the nagging "you have to work tomorrow" thought kept working it's way into my brain. And it's Pride this weekend so I expect I'll be out a few times for that as well. I swear, sometimes I think that I have a job because I need to escape the fun of my life.

alphabet soup

I don't know why I fill these things out...it's not as though the answers are going to be any different than the last fifty I filled out. But procrastination can be hard.

[A is for age]:
30...three decades of glorious me-dom.
[B is for beer of choice]:
I'm not a fan of the brew...but on the rare occasion that I'll drink that swill it's usually something I took from somebody else so my choice is therefore whatever's free and available...just like how I choose my men.
[C is for career]
C is for consistently grossed out by the nastiness I have to deal with at work. Yesterday I had to chop up bloody, ragged shoulder flesh.
[D is for your dog's name]:
Iniki, the best and cutest dog EVER!
[E is for essential item you use/wear everyday]:
E is for expensive face cream that keeps me looking young and vitalic. At least that's what the multi-million dollar marketing campaign has told me.
[F is for favorite song at the moment)
The Pirate Song by Go Betty Go
[G is for favorite game]:
Freeze-tag
[H is for Hometown]:
Born in Pusan, Korea
[I is for favortie internet site]
backseat bangers
[J is for favorite flavor of juice]:
cran-grape
[K is for kids]:
K is for kleptomaniac too
[L is for last girl you hugged?]:
Christy
[M is for marriage]:
Ahhhh, marriage...they really don't give you a t-shirt despite having been there and done that
[N is for name of your crush]:
I change crushes like I change my underwear
[O is for overnight hospital stays]:
When I was a wee baby and they made my belly-button look like it was mangled by an alligator
[P is for phobias]
Heights
[Q is for quote]:
"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty." Ursula K. Le Guin
[R is for biggest regrete]
Not learning enough french to understand what regrete means.
[S is for status:]
Happy.
[T is for time you wake up:]
9:00
[U is for underwear:]
U is for a little unclean at the moment, I just got back from the gym.
[V is for vegetable you love:]
Broccoli
[W is for worst habit:]
smoking
[X is for x-rays you've had]
head, leg, back, lungs, toes, fingers, knees, throat, chest, I'm practically radioactive by now.
[Y is for yummy food you make]
I'm a pretty good cook, I make lots of good stuff, I'm really good at pasta dishes.
[Z is for zodiac sign]:
Scorpio, what else is there?

two thumbs up, way up

We went to a movie a the Seattle International Film Festival (the largest in the U.S.) on Wednesday called Americanese. It was AMAZING! It was one of those movies that is incredibly depressing and strangely hopeful at the same time. The cinematography was beautiful and minimalist. It was provocative but not preachy. Le sigh, it was good. It was often billed as a movie about race and racism, but that's just a way of trying to most easily shove it into a cubbyhole. If you were to ask me (which you should, cause I'm great like that) it was a wonderfully done tragic love story about trying to let go and how you are never really ready to deal with ending a relationship that you invested so much of yourself into. The movie is about being lonely and how many people are incapable of dealing with aloneness. And how we're so programmed to feel as though we should be in relationships that we'll often allow ourselves to be in really bad relationships because that's what we're supposed to do. AND it also deals with race and racism and racial identity. AND the lead actor was HOT! Seriously, if I had professors like that in college, I might have actually showed up to class a lot more. Anyhoo, if you get the opportunity, I recommend this movie. Or if you don't...you can always try to see Charlotte Sometimes by the same director.

organ transplant

I could have gone my entire life knowing that liver was gross without ever having to try it. It's just one of those things that you intrisincally know...organ meat, particularly the organ that gets rid of the bodily impurities, is probably disgusting. I accepted that knowledge and the fact that I never had to test it out, just like I never feel the need to find out that it will probably hurt really badly to jump off of a three story building. But last night...some sly person brought it an adobo with huge chunks of liver. I knew something wasn't quite right when I was spooning it onto my plate, what I thought was pork at initial glance just seemed a little off. So I went through and picked out the mostly chickeney looking pieces and then loaded up on pancit. Then I'm eating and it's all very chickeny until I start chewing one piece and immediately I know something is amiss. But I don't want to be rude so I eat it. Then somebody comes in and asks what we're eating and only then do I find out that I just ate liver. RETCH!

lunchables

We went to a greasy-spoon diner on the way back from the mountains the other day. The cook looked like he was emulating Mel from that television show Alice. The food came dripping in grease, everything was fried. They had chocolate bars in the dessert display case. Their menu had typos. In other words, it was AWESOME!

academic elite

Last night I went to a dinner party for graduate students. It was fun, I always enjoy getting drunk with new people. Particularly when you get to be the one to drag the conversation down into the muck with topics like "best stoner movies" and "how to do the boodie-clap." And then call the host by the wrong name. I am a social moron.

snowball effect

I won't deny it, it is inordinately difficult for me to make decisions. I get overwhelmed by choice, you should see how confused I get at a buffet. So, like almost everybody else I know, I end up making the safe choice...otherwise known as the easy choice. However, my roommate situation hasn't produced a safe or easy choice. I've had to take a long, hard and sometimes painful look at myself to determine whether or not I could live with somebody so soon after declaring my independence. The end result is that I've realized that I'm not ready to share my space with somebody else. But the constant vascillating while making that decision had the unintended side effect of making me question all of my decisions. And I'm floundering a little bit right now, trying to figure out which ones are "good" choices. And also playing mind-games with myself deciding where my choices will lead me, or as my friend L. put it, "Killing off the chickens you never counted before they hatched." I hate feeling like this, especially when I realize that no matter what happens things will probably end up okay...so serving scones at my pity-party is just me being overly self-indulgent.

first place

1.Who was your first prom date?
Mike W., my brother called him McFly. He and my other prom date both went to my recruiter. It's a good thing I didn't date more.
2. Who was your first roommate?
My sister was my constant roommate. I've rarely lived by myself.
3. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk the first time?
Some kind of scotch. It was actually one seriously mortifying incident wherein I cried for my dad a lot.
4. What was your first job?:
Taco Bell, I was the baddest burrito slingin' mofo in Lakewood.
5. What was your first car?
Everybody thinks they can win the "shittiest first car" game, but I constantly beat people out because my first car, I shit you not, was a fucking Yugo....A YUGO!!!
6. When did you go to your first funeral that you can remember?
My aunt's in Korea
7. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
I guess I consider Lakewood my hometown, so 18 even though I only lived there for a like two and a half years.
8. Who was your first grade teacher?
Ms. Gill, she had hair like Crystal Gayle that she wore in a big bun.
9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Ummm, probably to California. I was just a baby.
10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
Amy and Jenny
11. Who was your very first Best Friend and are you still friends?
Stephanie R. and unfortunately no...
12. Where was your first sleepover?
At this girl's house in Virginia, we played Barbies...she was a little older than me. Years later she moved to the same place we lived in Germany, she dropped out of high school and had a kid when she was like 15.
13. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
I like to keep my internal state in constant disarray so I just seethe mostly.
14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
I've never been in a wedding.
15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Drink coffee usually
16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
It was at the 9:30 club in DC, Sponge & Stabbing Westward. Somebody bought my ticket because he was trying to hook up with my friend.
17. First tattoo or piercing?
I got a tattoo three days after I turned 18.
18. First celebrity crush?
The guy from Dance Fever.
19. Age of first kiss?
In the sixth grade and it was so gross, I didn't kiss another person until I was 17.
20. First crush?
I'm constantly crushed by love.

breaking the code

Quote (probably not verbatim, but very close): I just think we're in different places in our lives and our expectations for our relationships. End Quote. So...ummmm...what the fuck does that mean?