I start work next Monday. Thank God!!! I have done so much/nothing that I'm just exhausted.
In fact, I want to write more but the effort is strangely taxing. Off to dinner. Will write more when...zzz.....
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
If I never see another allen wrench...
Seriously.
So we're all in. Well, excepting the bed frame but we're going to do that tomorrow and then THAT'S IT! No more running around town all crazy trying to find a tv, a shelf, stools, a table, etc. It's been a harried 5 days but JC and I have finally furnished and placed everything that we're going to for right now. It's a relief but it's also been fun to pick out things together. I truly feel as if we got a second chance or something. We got a mix of new and used things which I'm glad for- not just because of budget but I think it's important, especially in these times to get as much from others as I can. There's so much STUFF in the world, why not just keep it going around?
I was sitting on our balcony watching people across the street in Esther Short park and I was just hit with an overwhelming sense of appreciation. There was, and not too few words uttered by myself, not a huge fan base in Portland for Vancouver. It's actually quite charming. Like a lot of the country, you can see the economic downturn reflected in the not-so bustling downtown but it's peaceful, safe and fairly convenient.
Tomorrow there's an international festival. The place is hopping!
It's good to be back in the Northwest.
So we're all in. Well, excepting the bed frame but we're going to do that tomorrow and then THAT'S IT! No more running around town all crazy trying to find a tv, a shelf, stools, a table, etc. It's been a harried 5 days but JC and I have finally furnished and placed everything that we're going to for right now. It's a relief but it's also been fun to pick out things together. I truly feel as if we got a second chance or something. We got a mix of new and used things which I'm glad for- not just because of budget but I think it's important, especially in these times to get as much from others as I can. There's so much STUFF in the world, why not just keep it going around?
I was sitting on our balcony watching people across the street in Esther Short park and I was just hit with an overwhelming sense of appreciation. There was, and not too few words uttered by myself, not a huge fan base in Portland for Vancouver. It's actually quite charming. Like a lot of the country, you can see the economic downturn reflected in the not-so bustling downtown but it's peaceful, safe and fairly convenient.
Tomorrow there's an international festival. The place is hopping!
It's good to be back in the Northwest.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ogden to HOME
It was raining and grey as we pulled out of the Days Inn Ogden which featured "UTAH'S LARGEST HOTEL INDOOR POOL". I am very nervous about driving in a) rain b) mountains and so I had a taste of the combination. Like everything that scares the crap out of me, it turned out to be fine. We crossed into Idaho after an hour. Idaho is...varied. We went past gigantic rocks, far off mountains, the valley, the city of Boise and then a lot of farmland. I never thought I'd be happy to be in Ontario, Oregon but we got there and I gladly handed the keys to JC. He brought us on in about 4 1/2 hours later. I almost got out and kissed the ground. Anyway, no more beastly road trips for me. I am done.
Fun part of the day: leaving Idaho
Fun part of the day: leaving Idaho
Sunday, July 20, 2008
lincoln to ogden
we made it to utah. man, that was an awful trip. the middle of such a journey usually is. i hope to never experience it again...well especially under such circumstances. we packed the car up! i mean packed! the broom that we jumped during our ceremony kept hitting me in the head. funny.
i took the first leg again and drove FOREVER through nebraska into wyoming. there are apparently far more brown people in wyoming than i'd previously thought. we had lunch at a village inn and everyone there was brown. it was nice. JC took us on through wyoming into utah and here we are. ogden doesn't look like much. we hit up a chinese buffet for dinner and, i am not lying, everyone in there spoke spanish. nice.
well, today is it. we'll do about 12-13 hours and pull it on in.
funny observation of the day: 20s era police cars on a flatbed destined for hollywood. they even had fake bullet holes.
i took the first leg again and drove FOREVER through nebraska into wyoming. there are apparently far more brown people in wyoming than i'd previously thought. we had lunch at a village inn and everyone there was brown. it was nice. JC took us on through wyoming into utah and here we are. ogden doesn't look like much. we hit up a chinese buffet for dinner and, i am not lying, everyone in there spoke spanish. nice.
well, today is it. we'll do about 12-13 hours and pull it on in.
funny observation of the day: 20s era police cars on a flatbed destined for hollywood. they even had fake bullet holes.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Atlanta to Lincoln
As I did last year and never thought I'd do again this year, I am chronicling our journey across America. This time is very, very different. We're in one car sharing the driving. We are driving through the middle of the country and as I said before, we are not insanely desperate or in a rush.
Yesterday, we left the A at 6:37am and arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska at 9:17pm. Now that's all Eastern time but yep, we did it in 15 1/2 hours. Go us! I did the morning shift since JC can barely remember his name that early in the morning. He slept about three hours and then kept me going for the next four that I drove. He brought us in. Along the way, which was mostly in Missouri, state of my birth, we listened to This American Life, sang, played 'Six Degrees of Forrest Whitaker' and 'Who Am I?' It was a good trip.
Didn't spend much on gas or food (total food bill for the day was $27). Tomorrow we'll try to get to Salt Lake City and then pull it on into the Couv. W00 H00!
All prayer, good wishes, thoughts, juju are appreciated for our trip. We'll see ya soon...unless you don't live in the Portland metro area. Sorry.
**Fun part of the day: Watching a bull mount a cow. Ouch.
Yesterday, we left the A at 6:37am and arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska at 9:17pm. Now that's all Eastern time but yep, we did it in 15 1/2 hours. Go us! I did the morning shift since JC can barely remember his name that early in the morning. He slept about three hours and then kept me going for the next four that I drove. He brought us in. Along the way, which was mostly in Missouri, state of my birth, we listened to This American Life, sang, played 'Six Degrees of Forrest Whitaker' and 'Who Am I?' It was a good trip.
Didn't spend much on gas or food (total food bill for the day was $27). Tomorrow we'll try to get to Salt Lake City and then pull it on into the Couv. W00 H00!
All prayer, good wishes, thoughts, juju are appreciated for our trip. We'll see ya soon...unless you don't live in the Portland metro area. Sorry.
**Fun part of the day: Watching a bull mount a cow. Ouch.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
impressivo!
man, JC and I knocked out that apartment in a total of nine hours. luckily, we had packed up 75% of the place before we even left so that helped a lot.
a moving review (cue bad pun music): we landed at 10pm EST on tuesday night. we then got to our apartment around 11:15pm and instead of sleeping we worked on the upstairs part. we crashed around 1am. i got up a little before 8am yesterday and worked on the downstairs starting in the kitchen. we had two big grey bins, one with media and the other with kitchen appliances, etc. i decided we should bring the contents of the kitchenware box with us and have the dvds/cds shipped. my sister wanted the bed that we slept on so we hauled that thirty miles and then caravaned back up to the apartment with my brother and he and josh loaded up the washer/dryer and then packed up the car for our move. i did that whole traditional woman thing and cleaned up the apartment and organized things while they provided brute strength. i didn't mind because it was a 89 degrees. that's with a heat index of 92 so...yeah. the worst rental company ever, aka our landlords, had not yet fixed our AC so it was almost as hot inside so i got good and stinky. we loaded everything, JC and I said goodbye to the place we'd called home for 9 months and that was it. there was little emotion on my part, i had viewed our apartment as just that- a very temporary living space. it was often visited by bugs due to the ridiculous amount of pine straw that managment felt necessary to keep outside our door. ugh.
i spent last night riding around downtown atlanta to (a) pick up our half-sister who is in from nc for a visit and (b) JC and I trying to ship our media via greyhound. stupid greyhound. they said it weighed too much so we're going to try UPS today.
i played spades and gave my niece many, many hugs. it was a good day.
what i am most proud of is that i prayed HARD that i would maintain a good attitude and not bite someone's (JC) head off due to heat, heavy objects, etc. and it worked. i dare say i even had fun doing it. no doubt the presence of my brother, a very strong 6'4", 270 lbs football player type, helped but i really didn't ever feel too annoyed. a truly impressive feat for me.
a moving review (cue bad pun music): we landed at 10pm EST on tuesday night. we then got to our apartment around 11:15pm and instead of sleeping we worked on the upstairs part. we crashed around 1am. i got up a little before 8am yesterday and worked on the downstairs starting in the kitchen. we had two big grey bins, one with media and the other with kitchen appliances, etc. i decided we should bring the contents of the kitchenware box with us and have the dvds/cds shipped. my sister wanted the bed that we slept on so we hauled that thirty miles and then caravaned back up to the apartment with my brother and he and josh loaded up the washer/dryer and then packed up the car for our move. i did that whole traditional woman thing and cleaned up the apartment and organized things while they provided brute strength. i didn't mind because it was a 89 degrees. that's with a heat index of 92 so...yeah. the worst rental company ever, aka our landlords, had not yet fixed our AC so it was almost as hot inside so i got good and stinky. we loaded everything, JC and I said goodbye to the place we'd called home for 9 months and that was it. there was little emotion on my part, i had viewed our apartment as just that- a very temporary living space. it was often visited by bugs due to the ridiculous amount of pine straw that managment felt necessary to keep outside our door. ugh.
i spent last night riding around downtown atlanta to (a) pick up our half-sister who is in from nc for a visit and (b) JC and I trying to ship our media via greyhound. stupid greyhound. they said it weighed too much so we're going to try UPS today.
i played spades and gave my niece many, many hugs. it was a good day.
what i am most proud of is that i prayed HARD that i would maintain a good attitude and not bite someone's (JC) head off due to heat, heavy objects, etc. and it worked. i dare say i even had fun doing it. no doubt the presence of my brother, a very strong 6'4", 270 lbs football player type, helped but i really didn't ever feel too annoyed. a truly impressive feat for me.
Monday, July 14, 2008
today on CNN...
I heard about this ridiculous New Yorker magazine cover and was SO enraged...but THEN they did a story about people who couldn't access their money from a bank or something. That was funny because the reporter was interviewing this older black couple and their son (?) was sitting by for support and he's wearing a shirt that said: Really, Really Ridiculously Good Looking. It looks like this.
I literally guffawed. I got a little outraged again but then I laughed.
That was my day.
We're off to Atlanta tomorrow to get a few belongings and drive our car back out here. Sigh. I am trying to take the attitude that this drive is not as emotionally pointed or even desperate as the one previously taken. One of us has work, we have an apartment to come back to, we have money to buy a few new things. We're in a much, MUCH better boat...er, car. Thoughts and prayers will be welcome. We should be back in a week and then I'll be a black hick living in downtown Vancouver.
woo hoo.
I literally guffawed. I got a little outraged again but then I laughed.
That was my day.
We're off to Atlanta tomorrow to get a few belongings and drive our car back out here. Sigh. I am trying to take the attitude that this drive is not as emotionally pointed or even desperate as the one previously taken. One of us has work, we have an apartment to come back to, we have money to buy a few new things. We're in a much, MUCH better boat...er, car. Thoughts and prayers will be welcome. We should be back in a week and then I'll be a black hick living in downtown Vancouver.
woo hoo.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
"Accept the good"
In my quest to apparently watch every movie I missed out on seeing in the theatre during "The Atlanta Months", I have singularly kept the Hollywood Video on Broadway & 10th in business. I'm averaging five movies a week. I haven't be able to review everything but I have to comment on the following.
Things we lost in the fire. This movie, starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro, is set outside of Seattle, WA and focuses on Halle's character, Audrey, who is grieving the loss of her husband, played by David Duchovny. Audrey ends up inviting Jerry (del Toro) to live with herself and her 10 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Jerry was her husband's best friend and is also dealing with a serious heroin addiction. It's a classic, quiet character study and does well exploring the grief process of both Audrey and Jerry. The withdrawal process is accurately portrayed as Audrey learns to cope without her marriage and Jerry without drugs. The film is tender but also emotionally harsh and Benicio del Toro is, as always, compelling to simply watch. Supporting characters (neighbors, Audrey's family) as well as the children pay pivotal roles that help make the film a concrete piece of drama that will give the viewer (or at least did for this viewer) a renewed faith in independent film. Not to mention, Halle Berry's ability to cry. *grin* A-
Things we lost in the fire. This movie, starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro, is set outside of Seattle, WA and focuses on Halle's character, Audrey, who is grieving the loss of her husband, played by David Duchovny. Audrey ends up inviting Jerry (del Toro) to live with herself and her 10 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Jerry was her husband's best friend and is also dealing with a serious heroin addiction. It's a classic, quiet character study and does well exploring the grief process of both Audrey and Jerry. The withdrawal process is accurately portrayed as Audrey learns to cope without her marriage and Jerry without drugs. The film is tender but also emotionally harsh and Benicio del Toro is, as always, compelling to simply watch. Supporting characters (neighbors, Audrey's family) as well as the children pay pivotal roles that help make the film a concrete piece of drama that will give the viewer (or at least did for this viewer) a renewed faith in independent film. Not to mention, Halle Berry's ability to cry. *grin* A-
"Accept the good"
In my quest to apparently watch every movie I missed out on seeing in the theatre during "The Atlanta Months", I have singularly kept the Hollywood Video on Broadway & 10th in business. I'm averaging five movies a week. I haven't be able to review everything but I have to comment on the following.
Things we lost in the fire. This movie, starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro, is set outside of Seattle, WA and focuses on Halle's character, Audrey, who is grieving the loss of her husband, played by David Duchovny. Audrey ends up inviting Jerry (del Toro) to live with herself and her 10 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Jerry was her husband's best friend and is also dealing with a serious heroin addiction. It's a classic, quiet character study and does well exploring the grief process of both Audrey and Jerry. The withdrawal process is accurately portrayed as Audrey learns to cope without her marriage and Jerry without drugs. The film is tender but also emotionally harsh and Benicio del Toro is, as always, compelling to simply watch. Supporting characters (neighbors, Audrey's family) as well as the children pay pivotal roles that help make the film a concrete piece of drama that will give the viewer (or at least did for this viewer) a renewed faith in independent film. Not to mention, Halle Berry's ability to cry. *grin* A-
Things we lost in the fire. This movie, starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro, is set outside of Seattle, WA and focuses on Halle's character, Audrey, who is grieving the loss of her husband, played by David Duchovny. Audrey ends up inviting Jerry (del Toro) to live with herself and her 10 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Jerry was her husband's best friend and is also dealing with a serious heroin addiction. It's a classic, quiet character study and does well exploring the grief process of both Audrey and Jerry. The withdrawal process is accurately portrayed as Audrey learns to cope without her marriage and Jerry without drugs. The film is tender but also emotionally harsh and Benicio del Toro is, as always, compelling to simply watch. Supporting characters (neighbors, Audrey's family) as well as the children pay pivotal roles that help make the film a concrete piece of drama that will give the viewer (or at least did for this viewer) a renewed faith in independent film. Not to mention, Halle Berry's ability to cry. *grin* A-
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