Rain Sweet Rain

Memorial Day weekend in this neck of the woods is always a wildcard when it comes to the weather. It's raining. I LOVE it. Started up last night when a friend and I were outside on the deck bbq'ing...we were supposed to take a morning hike to Mossbrae Falls today. I was iffy about it, but my friend backed out when we woke up to rain. Damn!

So for now, enjoying the smell of rain, listening to new wave countdown on xm...'life of riley', gathering up stuff for trip to Yosemite and thinking about the northwest.

ciao!
-a

Lessons Learned in Reverse

What a long day. Wednesdays are always long so I say this as point of fact rather than a complaint. Steve and I mapped out the morning over coffee and on to the homeless camps we trodded. Enclosed is a picture of the remains of a camp. I've come across what I call "40 Graveyards" before - a recyclers paradise....dozens of empty 40 ounce bottles in a pile. The most disturbing part of this encounter wasn't the mess...but on a more personal level...it happened to be mere yards away from my grandmother's house. I've warned her about taking walks behind her house before. Like me, my grandmother almost always pulls for the underdog - so happening upon a camp wouldn't scare her so much as prompt her to offer coffee and conversation. Later in the day I had to go up to Oak Run to validate a 3 day notice. As I left the scene in the woods...I backed up (County vehicle) into a boulder. (fine...it was a ginormous decorative rock...whatever)...fabulous. I got out of the car and the man in the garage came out and gave a yuk yuk chuckle "...heh heh, everybody does that". I can hardly imagine why I wasn't warned.

I looked before I backed up...I saw NOTHING. I usually learn life's lessons in reverse...but learn I do. A few "Cita factoids:

• I always take tests from end to beginning
• I read the newspaper from the end of sections to the front page
• I deconstruct my food
• Undies go on last...(I'm a skirt girl, it's hardly inconvenient) o-wise...Peace, Love, & Freeballers!
• I will most likely gain dual citizenship prior to learning Italian

That's all for now. I'll take the the extra care not to back into any more rocks...instead, I'll be diving off of them in Yosemite this time next week.

Tally 'Ho!

-a

The Kayak & The Case of the Wobbly Arm

Honey! Honey...H-O-N-E-Y, there's a kayak right ahead...turn!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few lessons for my summer on the lake...

• Waterproof. Waterproof. Waterpfroof. I lost my cell phone the hard way ignorning this simple rule. Also....waterproof when it comes to moisturizer, or sunscreen...or whatever. When you forget this rule and sweat drips in your eyes...it ain't pretty. Or at least I doubt it would be if you could see....



• Mornings and evenings on the lake are the best times. Period.



• BIG trucks with BIG boats with BIG speakers...matching big trucks and boats.....there is a theme here...you can come to it on your own.


• Gloves. I type this blog this afternoon with blisters between the thumb and index finger on both hands.


• Lastly, once you've got your perfect lake time dialed in, your gear and smatherings waterproofed and you get in your groove out there...never, EVER underestimate the restorative properties of an ice cold beer.

Who Do You Love?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/15/same.sex.marriage/index.html



So "California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage". A move that screams "duh!" to me. Let people marry who they want to marry. Simple, right? Hardly. Brace yourself for the outcry. "Same sex marriage debases the institution of marriage as defined by..." Are we not already frivolous in our "reverence" for the sanctity of marriage? Marriage is hard, it is joyful, it is difficult as hell at times...and a refuge at others. Not that I've ever been "legally" married...I suppose skeptics could say that I got to play house under the guise of the California Domestic Partnership law. I was able to dissolve that partnership on paper - - single handedly before it became expensive to do so. In 2004 you just had to have one party get the dissolution notarized and away you went. Since that time, I've witnessed friends go through a process that now requires more money, court filings and so on. And yet, no legal marriage. Today, the California Supreme Court has done a very civilized thing.

Cheers.

"it doesn't really matter to me/which side of the line/you happen to be/at any given time"

-suzanne vega (as girls go)

Wrong. All Wrong

Melissa Gilbert....with a bad European accent (was it supposed to be French, Polish, Dutch???)and lots of plastic surgery in a We television film. Planet of the Apes meets Mrs. Beckham. Sorry Melissa.....I just can't wrap my head around it.

Freaky Dreamer

Last night I dreamt that I happened upon a storefront that looked like a cottage right out of a lane in Vineyard Haven...the facade was a sage color with buttercup trim and some embellishment on the trim - swirls, or something. I was drawn to this "store" and found all sorts of clever Halloween decor inside - at a steep discount. Then I fell asleep in a bedroom that was in the "store" and when I opened my eyes (in the dream) I was looking at two empty, pressed wood bookshelves up against an otherwise bare wall. Where was Varuka? Where was Charlie in my dream...they would have fit in perfectly!

Crashing Mother's Day

Hmmm......what shall I do today, she asks......

And there you have it!

This is the first Mother's Day in 3 years that I haven't traveled up to Portland to spend it with my mom. No meandering the NW district, no free scones in City Park, no stroll through the Rose Garden taking a look at all the past Queen of the Rose Festival names...so I'm not sure who is more bummed actually. ; )

Instead, I crashed Mother's Day. Stop one was breakfast with friends - pancakes from scratch, strawberries and French pressed coffee...6 year old Lillee danced for me (I called it Asian-free form-tai chi something or other) before we lounged in the hammock like two little tamales and played "I Spy". Then I hopped on my scooter and went over to my old place to show the Jackson's my newest mode of transportation. I still have not perfected my turns...so each ride is nerve racking and exhilerating simultaneously. Later in the day I dumped my kayak at Boulder Creek Falls and I thought that I would have had better chances dumping the scooter. The water was freezing but I was trying to salvage my backpack that was drenched (phone included). I was certrain that my phone was DOA since it did not turn on for a few hours afterward. One by one - - features returned - but I still do not have any ring tones. Luckily, I was able to pull up these pictures and include them in this post.

Blessings on a Post-It Note

Rolled out of bed this morning with 45 minutes to meet a client at 6:45. Get to the house where the dog greets me with a toothy grin..."come on lady, I dare ya to enter my yard.." In Amberland, logic says that the client will surely hear the dog and come out to meet me. We've got 15 minutes to be where we need to be after all. Amberland logic crashes and burns once again. My county key card doesn't allow me into the building until 7:30. What to do - meet up with the Friday morning Breakfast Club where it turns out to be just 3 of us. Dave buys me breakfast and we voice our frustrations about the current state of services which are quickly diminishing for our clients. Today, I still have a job. I roll south once again to meet my 8:30 peeps - but I want more coffee...so a quick duck into A-Town Sbux where they give me a free Americano is a nice gesture. 8:30 says out of nowhere..."well I can certainly say that my life has significantly improved since you came into it" A reminder that what I do for a living is measurable in ways that I forget. Lunch is an impromptu meet up with dear friend on her way to Sacramento. We talk about certain prospects in Santa Fe. We are both concerned that if friend makes it to the Zozobra Festival that it could be a huge let down - - as I have perfected what I think Zozobra sounds like. Kidding of course, but we laugh until we cry. We are both summer babies - so we talk about past birthday road trips and come to the conclusion that one in particular should become tradition. She is the "mystic after all". Connection. It's 1pm and I haven't set foot in the office yet, but I've accomplished a lot. I'm not chained to a desk. Dave and "Notorious" are waiting for me in the lobby. I give them a tour of the office, sign a form for Dave and check my messages. I've got one more person to see before I blow this popsicle stand for the day. I made it to Friday.

today we're a-okay!

It's Go Time!

A co-worker and I spent our lunch hour at the DMV last Monday to take our M1 permit tests. There seemed to be a 'sisterhood of scooter riders' in line to take the test that day. We all passed. Some of us already had our scooters - and were merely making it legal to take our 2 wheels to the streets. And today my friends, I shall get my scooter. I have already named her "The Black Dog"...Martha understands why. I figure all I need now is a sticker that says "Loud Pipes Saves Lives" and a faux-hawk helmet and I can be a bona fide badass. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

zoom zoom zoom

-a

Spelled Out on the Dance Floor

Simple things speak volumes. Sometimes I refuse to listen.

If you fall down - you get back up. When you make a mistake (I'm a clutz...it happens often) I like to say "just keep dancing!" And when you fall down on the dance floor and your friend does not help you - just remains propped up agaist the pool table, arms crossed -pretending not to see - is embarressed and simply stands there looking down at you...wow...what happens when you really take a tumble?

...dance on

Wit's End - This a Way

Every single cliche about perserverence is a laughing stock today. A friend once gave me a box of matches that said this on the outside "My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - it gives a lovely light!' -Edna St. Vincent Millay. My mom's favorite poet, funny enough. My reserves are empty and while I know I can eeck out just a bit more, I'm tired and know that things could be horribly worse. Trying to move ahead with goals and 'tap tap tap' ahem, the IRS wants more money. New Order's 'Thieves Like Us' is my mantra today...vocal and instrumental...and yes, there is an appropriate timeframe to mourn...be back when it is complete.
-a