A First Time For Everything.

So they say.
But I never thought that I would do this:
I met up with a fellow Capernwray-er -had a tiny reunion- without a digital camera. Amazing. Sad. Discomforting. So, unfortunately, I have no pictures to show that Austin has long-ish hair and facial hair. Now you all will have to just sit there and wonder what he looks like. (Or harass him to post something on his blog.) But dij or no, it was great to hang out with Austin and see his family/friends. It was even worth the ridiculous drive home! (I never thought it possible to drive five miles in an hour.)
So there it is - sunday christened summer with the first trip to the beach, first afternoon of Cwray reminiscing, and first date with my sister (the long drive was salvaged by the clean, warm smell of the woods, our loud, energetic singing of Ben Folds and the fact that DQ's drive thru is open late).

Raspberry Rigor Mortis

It's one hundred degrees in the shade in Portland this June afternoon. And I'm not exaggerating.
See?

Not too long ago, I was sorting raspberries. (Yesterday's heat nearly did them all in, so the pickings were slim.) Oddly, rather than going mushy, many of them had gone all hard and tasteless. I guessed them dead, and blamed the stiffness on rigor mortis.
To avoid the continuance of looking like a dirty hippy, and to avoid the heat, I gave Sister Maria a thorough bath this morning. I was amazed to find that it was necessary to wash not only one section at a time, but one half of a section at one time to keep the soap from drying on. Goodness sakes. This is my reaction to the heat:

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

I feel inclined to post as it is the first time in a few days that I have been near a computer, much less having time to post something. Not that I have been what one would actually classify as busy, but I have been occupied and "working".
How about a "Good Things" list - those are fantastic.

-Courtnay and her prayer day idea. Wonderful way to wake up.
-Rosie and her super fun graduation party!
-How funny my voice sounds since it is almost completely gone.
-The hot weather that has finally arrived in P-town.
-That school is not in session.
-The BBC homepage and its English language quizzes, using phrases such as: A: Do you fancy going out for a drink? B: Actually, I'd __________, if you don't mind.
-Joshy buying a ticket to Portland!
-Seeing Pamela yesterday morning.
-Having Greek food with my Parents.
-Spending lots of time with people younger than myself. (Uni gets a little old with everyone being your age or just a little older or younger sometimes.)
-The prospects of possibly rock climbing next week.
-Seeing Mike and Lisa last night (I've been going through withdrawal)
-Not working till noonish today.

[This list is not comprehensive of the good things in my life in anyway. It is only representative of my current joys.]

Yaaaaaaay!

With all the turmoil and trials in the world, one must cling to the small things, the simple pleasures of hard work and the benefits therein.

Aka - I got my Spring 2006 grades back and they are as follows:

ARH 493 MODERN ART A
ENG 305U TOP: CHINESE FILM A
FR 203 SECOND YEAR FRENCH B+
LING 390 INTRO TO LINGUISTICS A

Something New Every Day.

Today I tried loose-leaf Tazo. My teabag broke. I have never experienced a tea bag breaking. It looked like a jellyfish in my mug. With nasty little flakies, like soggy shredded wheat swimming with my jellyfish.

Today I decoupaged my switchplate and had fun with conte crayons on black paper.

Today is Father's Day - Happy Father's Day, Dad! - we celebrated by watching movies and eating yummy food.

I Like That.

Somehow never before has it come to my attention a very curious thing that Blogger prompts the already over addicted internet users of the blogworld to do: Choose an identity. This interesting command presupposes that we all have more than one identity. It also served as a reminder of the amazing (possibly terrible?) power of the internet to provide masks and barriers for all sorts of people. But conversely, it rather made my day. I now feel like a superhero.

This morning, Emilina and I discovered the Boulangerie et Patisserie Francais dans le District Pearl. The very place Pamela and I searched for exactly one week ago with no avail. And, oddly enough, St Honore was not what we were looking for this morning.
Perhaps they are magical places which can only be found by not looking for them while simultaneously desiring them. (St Honore etait tres delicieux.)

In the same way as last saturday was German Day (for Pamela and me), yesterday was Euro Day. Fabulous! And the weekend is swiftly becoming French Weekend.

Bye Bye.

To Spring Quarter 2006
and...
to my hair.
:D
(I needed a change.)

And hello to my way cute new hat from my Mommy!

Happy Anniversary To Me.

Today on my run, I saw grass as green as England.

Boo.

I would have titled this "Tears." but we didn't cry.
Because we'll see eachother next week.
But still - the trend my life has taken for the last two years is changing. Dear Pamela just left my house a mere 45 minutes ago, but I am deeply feeling the tragedy of loss. Though I know for sure of at least two times (minimum) that I will be seeing her in the next few months, it is still not the same. No more roommate Pamela. I will most likely continue to call her that, since she has been my roommate as long as I have had such things. Now isn't that just crazy. It is as if God created us to be roommies - oooh... Yay. Lucky me because she is the bestest. (Yes, dear, I'm aware that "bestest" is incorrect.)
I am glad that I take up Pamela's whole heart with love, though it be one of many hearts stacked one on top of the other (or something like that?). Mmmm - it has been a good year.
Pammy, I love you. This is for you: mmmmuah! (Hahahaaa - evidence of the fact that we have somehow managed to girly-fy eachother this year. Who would have thought.)

This Weekend

...Was so much fun. With the papers and projects out of the way I felt no obligation to have anything to do with school (even with finals coming up this week).

Friday was my dear friend Rose's vocal recital. Sheeee's amazing.

Saturday we had Pamela and Allison time - went out for breakfast and spent a few hours at the art museum.
(Pamela, Me and Brushstrokes by Roy Lichtenstien)

Sunday afternoon, Mom, Dad, Tracy and I went down to the Waterfront where we looked at ships, watched dragon boat races, ate Ben and Jerry's and people watched.
(Mom, Dad and a really big Marine)

And then, sunday night, I finally got to see Mr Potter! A year to date after the last time I saw him.

I found out that Pamela likes to spin. I think spinning is pukey.

For All the Complaining I Do

I may sound like I hate school, but moments like these remind me how important education is.


Overheard at Cafe Ono:

Girl 1 (to the barista): You want Lebanese food?

Girl 2 (to the barista): Don't worry - I've never heard of it, either.

Barista: No no... I'm just not hungry. Ironic thing, though - my mom's on a missions trip in Lebanon.

Girl 1: I don't even know where it is.

Barista: It's in the Middle East, by Jordan.

Girl 2: By where?

Barista: Jordan... by Israel...

Girl 1: Whatever. I don't know what it is so I don't want any.

Eeeeee

Can I just say right now that I have the best boyfriend in the whole wide world? Yeah, that's right. I arrived home from school today to find a Finals Survival Kit, complete with sumatra coffee, orange mandarin spice tea, mug, toblerone minis, sigur ros "takk", and a teddy.

He's pretty much everything any girl could want, really.

:D

The Middle Stretch

If this were the first stretch, I'd be okay. I'd have my energy, my motivation, my ideas, my eloquence flowing like the Tigris and the Euphrates... okay... it's not quite that great, but I would at least have my vain hope that accomplishment and success were in sight.
If this were the final stretch, I'd be even better. With the end in sight I can convince myself to fight the urge to go make more tea or wander off to another project. Or I can allow myself to hope to finish the paper before midnight.
But, here, in the middle... I check the word count every 50 or 75 words and go eat some more raisins.

One Who Understands.

“I do believe in reincarnation, but I do not believe there is life before noon.”
~Florence King

There are those who wake up every day without benefit of an alarm clock, who get out of bed as soon as they open their eyes and are instantly alert, cheerful and full of energy.

And we hate them.

For those of us who prefer to get up at the crack of noon, the world seems to conspire against us. Ever since Benjamin Franklin admonished those who burn the midnight oil with his fatuous prescription for health, wealth and wisdom, we stand tacitly accused of indiscipline and sloth. The typical working day favors the lark who arrives early and dives in while we owls valiantly just try to not be 20 minutes late again.

...

For better or worse, it's a lark's world. We're just living in it. Still, if it's any consolation, James Joyce, Winston Churchill, Dorothy Parker and Elvis Presley were all night owls and somehow they managed to cope. And, of course, there's always the hope that someday our nocturnal fraternity will change the world when everyone else is asleep.

(an excerpt from, "Rise and Shine: Coping Tips for Night Owls" by Peyton Mays, Senior Editor, MSN Shopping)

Drip Drip Drip Sploosh.

That is what it sounds like outside my window. With the occational car driving by, making that particular wet tires on wet asphalt sound. It's not particularly cold to go along with the rain, but I still don't want to leave my house. Or my bed.
I don't know what shoes to wear.

Never A Cradle-Robber Again.

Happiest of birthdays to my Joshua, who is tragically 3000 miles away, inhibiting my celebration with him of this momentous day. (The day ensuring that I will no longer hear remarks such as, "You're dating a teenager??".)

All I've Gotta Say Is...

My Chinese Film professor had better like my paper 1 rewrite because I just put about 3 hours of work into it and it's not even finished. Close, but not quite. And not to mention the amount of thought and research I'm putting into it. She expects me to have 2 more done by next week? Oo that's a good idea: Kill off your students from hard work and insanity and then you'll never have to actually grade their papers!

Ding Ding Ding

I thought to myself, "God must know I don't have money". Haha. Of course He knows, and of course He cares. How do I so often forget? Today, for the second wednesday in a row I got free coffee. And tonight, the same guy who told me it was my fault my phone was broken accidentally pushed the wrong button resulting in a free phone for Allison!
In other news, I am successfully registered for 3 out of 4 classes for Fall. Hard to think about the classes I'll be taking in 4 months while I still have 4 papers to write and 3 finals. Middle Eastern Studies, Modern Art History section 1 and Mark Twain, here I [slowly] come.

Grr Roar [Whines].

Hmph.
I woke up tired and disgruntled this morning after a series of dreams involving sand, car chases, sneaking through some house and fear of small places such as the little sideways backseat of a pickup. I reached over to my phone to see what time it was, and on opening it witnessed 3 little pieces of my phones fall to the floor. Now it hangs together by one hinge. Please don't break. I left the house late after making a series of stressed phonecalls regarding the phone situation, but managed arriving at the stop 2 seconds before the 8. The Mark Building was open, finally, but it was sadly filled with highschoolers. Nothing can dampen the experience of P.A.M., though, with its new German Expressionist installation (go check it out) and my discovery of the 4th floor of the building - there aren't just three. Amazing. It stopped raining by the time I exited down the stairs and proceeded up the remaining 5 or 6 blocks to Chinese Film, wherein we started a thus far good film, Chinese Box, but received our Narrative Structure papers. I am now meeting with the professor at 9:30 tomorrow. I rushed back to church (I wanted get to the mall to get the phone problem taken care of), turned on Sister Maria, threw her in reverse, and noticed the green Camery behind me. Close one. I hopped out of the car and as I headed toward the office, Nancy came out and moved her car for me. At the Verizon Kisok, the girl informed me that my problem was a common one she has seen, and that I should head downstairs to the Verizon store and get it taken care of. FORTY minutes later, the customer service man told me that it was my fault and that my particular model of phone was not under the normal 1 year warranty (I've had this one since last June), but he could give me another for $50. Thanks for believing me, buddy. Also, somewhere along the line I missed a few phone calls, one informing me that my thursday job is cancelled, and wasted about 15 minutes trying to get unofficial transcripts that I can actaully just print offline from my house.
Good thing I don't have lack of sunshine depression on top of it all, or this might have turned into a bad day.

Funny Like That.

Maybe it comes from not living together very often, but Josh and I have some difficulty when it comes to planning and carrying out dates. Maybe because the nervous anticipation of wondering what kind of impression you're going to be making on the other person doesn't really exist for us because we know each other so well. Maybe we just got accustomed to having unplanned (yet not premeditated) so called "dates" (as Janell insists they were) at Capernwray that either consisted of shirking dish-clearing duty by sitting for an hour talking after tea, or finding a quiet place on saturday and watching a movie.
On the other hand, one might consider all the totally rad things we've gotten to do together dates - and in that case, we're very organized and pretty much master the task.This past visit, we had a pretty funny experience with the whole date thing. And unfortunately, since I was the hostess this time, the blame falls on me. The thing is that I wanted Josh to experience Thai food. Thai food is yummiest ever and we have loads of Thai places in Portland, so I thought that'd be a good idea. To make a long story short, I picked somewhere I'd never been, ended up looking for it in NW rather than NE Portland, adding an extra half hour of driving, upon arrival, discovered that the place only took cash (whaa?), and ended up having to go somewhere else that I knew I liked and probably should have just gone to in the first place. Then we drove around a bit after, trying to decide if we wanted Coffee Time or not, and when we decided we did, and after waiting in line forever (since they always only have one barista), received really nasty, incorrectly made chai. Whaaaaaat is up.

But it was fun anyway: we had fun joking around about how frustrating and awkward it would have been if it really had been our 3rd date in a normal amount of time (not 3rd in a year as is the case); Josh discovered that he likes Thai; and I finally wore a dress on a date.
And the moral of the story is: Good company makes up for bad plans.