05 October 2007

planes, trains, and automobiles

derek loves me so much that he's taking me on a trip with him! mais oui! he cannot live without my presence, and thus must whisk me away.

i was hoping for some crisp fall weather, but it appears that the indian summer is overtaking the entire country. boo. hiss. grrrrr. no matter. we'll be flying off to rhode island for the weekend and then catching a train to boston. derek has some work stuff for a few days and i can piddle to my heart's delight. (yes, i am quite aware that there is a fluevog store in boston. keep me away from it, please.) i'll try to keep from driving into new hampshire by accident this time, but with states that tiny out there... i just can't wrap my head around it. maybe some of you out west, where it's even more vast than here, can understand my amazement at this. how can one just drive into another state by accident? that is still so weird. just. so. weird.

we'll get to see some of our peeps while there, too! kim is coming from sacramento to show off her shoes - errr, i mean attend the conference. my friend brandon has started his senior year at harvard. jeez, i can hardly believe his time there has gone by so fast. when i met him, he was just an adorably cute and goofy kid in high school. now he's going to be a smarty pants harvard graduate. i can't wait to get a tour of the campus in cambridge from him. think you can get contact ivy-league-ness from being near too many of those students?

derek, in the meantime, has started to work out a little. he is getting just slightly addicted to DDR supernova (dance dance revolution on ps2, for those of you who didn't know) and gets his cardio in regularly now. finally! the video games are paying off for him in a healthy way! woooohoooooooo!!! the shit is funny as hell, too. i gave it a whack and was instantly reminded of the time i talked veronica into trying one out with me in an arcade. i danced and flailed. vee danced and flailed. we both ultimately fell off the damn thing in total spasms of shame, all the while having little kids who probably rocked that shit watching. would i do it again? you bet your booty i would. i've been trying to get veronica to get back on that horse ever since. we're short people. there's only so far we have to fall before we thud to the ground.

so off i go to pack for the trip. i'm not going to bring home any tacky doodads. i'm not really that sort. but maybe i'll pick up some postcards and look for some nice artwork to put on my walls at the new abode. here's to hoping i can leave john fluevog alone for a change.


derek's other new toy:
a shiny green roomba! he loves it. who knew it would be so easy to get him to vacuum the house nearly every single day? thank you, i-robot. three laws safe.

04 October 2007

thunderstorm

there was a storm. the day commenced in the dark for me, riding along to work at the tip of sunrise. air all around hung heavy with the dewy moisture that sits before a truly wonderful thunderstorm. i drove with the windows all the way down and a wind smelling of morning and earth, the changing colors of the sky peeking at me over the side of the highway as the sun tried to hoist itself upwards.

each time i stepped outside for a break, the day seemed to become more and more sleepy with an autumn thickness as the sky filled with those moments that arrive before a storm. i was waiting. waiting. waiting. the humidity rushed in around me, caressing my neck, making me sweat just enough so that i couldn't help but want the rain to wash me clean. breezes would swing past the trees so as to make the leaves wave and giggle. it was like having an old friend hug you hello after so many months had passed.

i left work. i ran errands. i went to dinner. still, the rain refused to begin. how frustrating to spend so much time anticipating a thing you've missed. at last, on the way home, the clouds ripped open out of sheer force. great drops fell from the sky with a weight that slapped the windshield as i drove. i got home and watched from the balcony as sheets of water covered the city in a new start. suddenly, there it was - lightning! thunder! a sky creaking with great yawps and flashes as a pronouncement of the weather.

afterwards, i watched the clouds hang so low that they could have masqueraded as fog. in the dark of evening, the skyline of the city was glowing from the lights of the buildings downtown and the city looked as if it were on fire. the wind made the clouds scurry past in a rush as if they were late for some appointment, leaving behind the fresh aromas that follow the rain. random trains called out in the distance. night slowed everything down to a dreamy lull. i breathed it all in and closed my eyes with a thankful little smile. yes, this was the storm i had truly been waiting for since my arrival.


what i'm looking forward to next:
more AUTUMN! leaves! breezes! jackets!

01 October 2007

what's out there - the "here we are now" version

things i have seen lately:
wheelchairs in the drive-thru lane at taco bueno. it was pretty late and they had flashlights with them. there were two guys, and they popped wheelies as they sped off to get their food from the window. their chairs were going pretty fast.

my pants! i'm finally starting to locate some of the things that lurk in all these boxes. i also found my squeezy pig that bonnie sent me in the mail a couple of years ago. it's out in the living room where i can see the stamps on its side. that pig makes me happy.

a perfect gift for amy. if memory stands correct, the thing i bought is exactly what she asked me for before i left seattle. she's going to do a poster for my next show; all she wants in return is some thing i've picked out for her to be sent to her house. that seems like such a wonderful deal that i couldn't pass it up, though i would've gotten her this perfect gift anyway, just because. when you see something that reminds you of a person you like, you should make an effort.

travel plans for boston. soon i'll see my friend brandon, who lives cambridge. we hadn't seen one another in a couple of years. then i found out that i was working with his sister and that he was in town visiting before he went back to harvard. he's a great kid with a penchant for wailing out a simple "yaaaaayy!" at things that please him. like donuts. or hello kitty. or being around people he misses.

speaking of great kids, my brother jason was in town from south carolina, hanging out on leave before he went back to work on a nuclear reactor prototype thingy. it's funny to me, imagining him as a military sort of homer simpson. sector 7-G, anyone? he says it's not as complicated as everyone thinks, but i'm a little suspicious of that. i can barely cook chicken without killing us all in the process. nuclear whatnot is probably not the area of expertise i would be shooting for... in the interest of your safety.

the view from our new house. i must say, i do enjoy sitting on the balcony and piddling away for hours. there i am, reading microtrends or miranda july, drinking my coffee and smoking. or maybe i'm just staring, listening to the trains in the distance. most of all, it's mine. okay so maybe i share it with derek. but this part of the house belongs more to me. when we get done with the new wood floor i'm going to celebrate by buying a picket fence and some flamingos for my "yard" out there. like a sign that says i live here. a very tacky sign.


a faboo thing about my new job:
there is a bakery nearby that brings us free goodies on sundays. can we say spoiled or what? tonight i toted home some shortbread cookies, a box of granola, and challah bread. i won't even mention the frikkin awesome lavender cake that i shouldn't snack on any more or else i'll eat the whole damn thing. or maybe i will mention it - and revel in it. mmmmm... baked gooooods.