I'm happy to be here, even if I have come down with The Sickness. In my doped-up NyQuil stupor, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the things I am THANKFUL for:
Health: What is life without health and happiness? I've been in increasingly good shape over the last six years... but I just caught a chest cold, the first I've had in a loooong while, so I can really appreciate the amount of time I spend feeling better than I do right now.
Wealth: It's wonderful to (at least temporarily) be a two-income family and focus on important things rather than stressing about finding work.
Coziness: Finally, out of the Ghetto Apartment and in the same zip-code, J and I can start nesting in our awesome apartment. We've got new furniture, new art, and a nice new place with giant, bright windows in which to arrange it all.
Buddies: Though I miss my Llamas in Eugene, my bestest friends are still close in my heart. With new neighbors and new co-workers to hang out with, my Seattle social network is happily growing.
Blood: I'm getting used to living in proximity to my parents-- and they, thankfully, are finally seeking some emotional well-being for themselves. Between that and being embraced by the dynasty that is Justin's family, I actually feel like I have a familial support network.
Felines: Nothing is more relaxing than the soft purr of my sweet kitty cat, Rupert.
Of course there's much more...but that's all my enfeebled mind can create at the moment so I'll stick with simplicity. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hope you eat yourselves into a stupor. :-)
Posted on November 24, 2005 @ 6:50 PM | 1 comments
Comments:
Happy thanksgiving gobble gobble gobble.
In any case, the new apartment in the Cake House is awesome. Over 1,000 square feet of plush-carpeted, waterproof goodness. We're almost all the way unpacked. I might post a photo to further elaborate on why I call it "Cake House," but I'm not sure if I want my address to be that apparent. Another awesome feature of the new place is that it's within walking distance of work (1 1/2 miles). I trekked this morning, through pleasant neighborhoods, and it only took me half an hour. Huttah!
In just two days we're flying to Pittsburgh, PA, for Thanksgiving, where the forecast says it will be a lovely 30 degrees and snowing. Snow! SNOW!!!11one I guess I bought all those wool sweaters for a good reason, then. =D
Posted on November 21, 2005 @ 1:11 PM | 0 comments
Comments:
I've more than survived my first week of work, however! Being unemployed didn't sit well with me... I don't cope as a "purposeless" individual. I'm quite enjoying the company of my three coworkers and feel confident about even the dullest tasks they put before me. I like working in a place where I can know everyone and be friendly with them. It's a little weird to have my input taken seriously as the "new guy," but I guess one really does come in on-top when the company is this small. What am I doing? Currently, a lot of web work, ad account monitoring and submission, link building, marketing, promotion, copy editing, and some writing. Some of this and some of that. Going good places, ya know, ya know!
But right now, going to bed!! >_<
Posted on November 18, 2005 @ 11:27 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
you color your hair? what does it look like naturally?
By 
, at
3:57 PM, November 20, 2005
Sorta dishwater blonde... I lighten it a few shades but nothing drastic.
A favor... would you mind choosing a name? (Anything is fine.) I personally think that anonymous commenting is rude, but blogger gives no way to disable it without locking out everyone without a blogger account. Thanks!
By 
Kat, at
10:01 AM, November 21, 2005
Now Gunther has his own site, Gunthernet.com, complete with photos, a screensaver, and wallpapers. He may be pretty to look at but his tunes are decidedly the best feature of all. Since I last rocked out to the Ding-Dong Song (which I actually *purchased* from iTunes), he's come out with two more music videos.
Touch Me (With Samantha Fox) is an uninspired video. The tune is catchy, but Samantha Fox is freaky. Her initial eye-opening shot is reminisce of Japanese Horror. (I cringe at the implied video-phone-sex between she and Gunther.) Ooh, Gunther, you're so sexy, she whispers, in-between shots of a woman crawling on her hands and knees for no discernable reason (who is she? where is she going?) and bois with shaved chests feeding each other grapes. At best, it leaves one wondering what Samantha Fox is doing in Euro-trashpop. At worst, it's basically a video orgie of girls and androgynous guys fondling Gunther while eating fruit.
Fruit seems to be Gunther's new "thing." His second video, Tutti Frutti Summer Love is full of ripe bananas & melonas, literally. Though it can't oust the Ding Dong Song from its eurotrash throne, it comes close. The filmography is actually pretty good for something that's pretty much just shots of people jumping on a trampoline partially clothed and throwing fruit in the air. The horrid lip-synching by girls with decent bodies and insufferably ugly faces is somewhat intolerable, but it's cancelled out by the AWESOME fat Hawaiian man playing the guitar.
Gunther drops suggestive lines as usual, including it's a no-no/and I like it and doing the naked dance but nothing *too* lurid. Watch carefully though... toward the end of the video you'll catch a glimpse of some REAL bananas. There's several-frame scene near the end of the video featuring a completely naked man flying through the air. Alas, I paused it and it's not the main man himself.
Pouty lips and mullets will be the next big thing. Here's to you, Gunther.
Posted on November 17, 2005 @ 11:15 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
...interesting...very interesting...
By , at
9:49 AM, November 18, 2005
How he makes that mullitude, that trash 'stache, and those poufy lips work for him is truly amazing. I gotta check out the new videos!
Posted on November 16, 2005 @ 10:53 PM | 1 comments
Comments:
But meeeh, how is your new job??
It was just like Old Times, chillin with my homies from the Llama D. Last weekend, M & R, two of our bestest couple-y friends from Eugene joined J and I in Seattle for a relaxing tourist... tour.
Our Saturday went a little like this:
10:00 AM- Wake up, scritch self, crash with friends in sofa bed for a while
11:00 AM- Girls journey for bagels and espresso
1:00 PM- Drive to Wallingford, buy vitamins and window-shop. Show them the new apartment
3:00 PM- Drive to Pike Place Market. Shop and gawk. Eat seafood, act generally like idiots
4:30 PM- Drive south to IKEA. Spend two-and-a-half hours touring the huge-tastic warehouse so R & M can find a new entertainment center. Act generally like bloody fools. Leave with everything but the damn entertainment center
7:30 PM- Buy ingredients for awesome spaghetti dinner, including two bottles of wine
9:00 PM- Finish the wine, start on everything else in the liquor cabinet, get shitfaced drunk and generally act like debaucherous heathens
2:00 AM- Drag selves into bed with the blessed realization that some things never change
Damn I miss those guys. We've gotta move closer together again.
Posted on November 14, 2005 @ 10:54 PM | 3 comments
Comments:
Best eyeliner sisters of the heart 4-evah!!11
We had such a great time with you guys and we miss you guys a lot. Someday we will move closer to one another, have babies together (in the faaaaaaar future), and keep 17 cats between the four of us!
By Waterseek, at
7:45 AM, November 15, 2005
lolz, ok about that squirrel sign... where was THAT?
I'm still trying to figure out what the hell that means. We have the following clues:
1.) a Scottish squirrel
2.) encouraging frugality in a giant corporate business were one could easily spend thousands of $
3.) serving as a reminder to use the white-handled switches only...
I feel an aneurysm coming on...
"If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college..."
By Waterseek, at
10:32 PM, November 15, 2005
I... don't know. It was on a staff-only door near the exit of the first parking garage. It hurts my mind too! >_<
By Kat, at
10:39 PM, November 15, 2005
In other news, my old domain Schoolgirlsophistry.com, has been bought by a porn/spam redirect site. Ironic? Yes, I suppose so. For one brief week before I bought the domain, I was the number one google hit for "schoolgirl." But the change is rather confusing to people, like my uncle, Tom, who haven't checked the site for a while and returned to find pornspam where my old blog was.
Posted on November 13, 2005 @ 5:19 PM | 3 comments
Comments:
lol... this is unrelated (maybe?) but have you ever noticed how Victoria's Secret employees are more often than not white trash?
PS: your comment options on this site are not as nice as Schoolgirl. we have to be anon.
-Eva
By , at
10:41 PM, November 13, 2005
You shouldn't have to be anon. There are three options: A blogger login, anonymous, and "other." Choosing "other" gives you the chance to type in your own username.
By Kat, at
10:46 PM, November 13, 2005
oh. i be idiot.
By , at
10:48 PM, November 13, 2005
Searched: My name on Google. That top hit is the profile for my new job. Yeop, Project Manager!
Posted on November 12, 2005 @ 9:04 PM | 13 comments
Comments:
That search thing - that's awesome. I also especially would love to google my own name and find, like on your result list, a result half-way down the page describing me as a "a statuesque model"!
By Adrienne, at
9:42 PM, November 12, 2005
PS. I think it's kind of odd that my blogger verification word for that last one was "kuunt".
By Adrienne, at
9:43 PM, November 12, 2005
Impressive... bling!
By , at
12:30 AM, November 13, 2005
what IS your new job, exactly?
By , at
5:24 PM, November 13, 2005
Project Manager.
By , at
5:45 PM, November 13, 2005
Here's a sort-of job description:
http://www.seomoz.org/blogdetail.php?ID=537
By Kat, at
7:19 PM, November 13, 2005
yeah, but, like, what's the company? you giving up on journalism? who cares, computer stuff is way cooler. probably make more too.
By , at
9:42 PM, November 13, 2005
Giving up, no. Taking what's offered, yes. This job has good potential for growth and intersects really well with my skills set. It is writing based and though I wouldn't call it journalism in the traditional sense, it involves a lot of work in Internet media. (I'll be doing company blogging and PR work, etc.) You can read about us in Wired Magazine's upcoming January 06 issue. ;-)
By Kat, at
10:51 PM, November 13, 2005
(more) I wasn't heart-set on being a "trad" journalist anyway. It appeals to me in a romantic sense, but I think it might be a drag in some ways. In any case, what I did get into journalism to do is travel, and I expect I'll be getting to travel. So when I took this job, I wasn't like "oh, man, it's not Seattle Times but it's OK"; I thought it another playing field entirely, and a particularly good fit.
By Kat, at
10:54 PM, November 13, 2005
have you done any newspaper work??? would?
By , at
6:51 PM, November 14, 2005
Haven't done any. Would... I can write in news style but I prefer the more extended magazine format.
By Kat, at
7:24 PM, November 14, 2005
Project Manager... from the old software development world, they were people who bothered the developers, and otherwise didn't know their head from the arse.
Congratulations ^_^
By Chris P., at
9:38 PM, November 14, 2005
KURISU! I dunno if you'll see this, so I'd best contact you via email. You're in Kobe now? Rad! Did you and Izumi tie the knot? I miss you, but I may have the chance to meet you if we come to Tokyo in May for a conference.
By Kat, at
9:59 AM, November 18, 2005
I wonder if this correlates at all with the fact that at least 40 percent of Americans have an IQ of less than one hundred points. Sigh.
The President, in response to recent criticism of the war (especially by "some Democratic leaders", has issued a statement. You can read the President's response on CNN.com in more detail. Below are some choice extracts, emphasis mine.
"The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity," the president said. "We must recognize the Iraq war as our central front against the terrorist."
Hmm... war against humanity, eh? What constitutes that? Killing without regard for innocence? Murdering thousands? Well, OK THEN. My question is... if the terrorists are fighting against humanity, what does that make them? UHHHHH.... aliens! Yeah, that's it. And apparently there's only ONE, great BIG alien. Wowwies.
If the terrorists drive America out of Iraq, Bush said, they could develop weapons of mass destruction, intimidate Middle East regimes friendly to the West, attack the United States and "blackmail our government into isolation."
I'm sorry, what? Drive our government into isolation? Unlikely. We're so good at doing that by ourselves. And it seems that Iraq is the only nation capable of producing WMDs. Our friends in North Korea couldn't POSSIBLY hurt anyone with those Nukes they're hiding.
"Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme," Bush said. "They are fanatical and extreme but they should not be dismissed."
In other words, "I'm a crazy, power-wielding psycho... NOW DO AS I SAY!!!!! Blargh!"
Comparing the terrorists to Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, Bush said "evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply."
*cough, cough* My thoughts exactly.
I wonder if he still writes his own speeches. Because, seriously, someone needs to shut him up. Actually, it's better he keeps talking. I find the drivel painfully, painfully amusing.
Posted on November 11, 2005 @ 12:19 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
Wow... Americans must be pretty smart. Those IQ tests are designed to fit a normal probability curve, so that 50% of people hit 100 points.
Of course, it doesn't say anything about how smart a person with an IQ of 100 is.
By Cory P, at
12:48 PM, November 12, 2005
I sent the paper to your contact info for this page since I didn't have any other current email addy.
thanks :)
By , at
9:03 PM, November 12, 2005
Eddie went to the Wells Fargo ATM near his house very early one morning to make a withdrawl. When he approached the machine, he found one THOUSAND dollars in cash sitting in the slot. He could only know it was a thousand dollars if he'd picked it up and counted it, because I think it was a fat stack of twenties. The bank wasn't open, so he couldn't report it. He had two choices: take it or leave it. He left it.
Why? In his words, he didn't know if there was someone waiting around the corner who had also seen the money and wanted him to take it so they could assault him, off camera, and get the cash for themselves.
At face value, a legitimate train of paranoid though. However, I find this reasoning tragically flawed. Even if it were likely I were to be assaulted, and had I considered this fact, I *might* have opted to clench my keys in my fist and take a chance. But I know this Wells Fargo and therefore I can honestly say that Eddie made a bad call.
First, the bank is located in Laurelhurst, a neighborhood third in line for yuppie capital of Seattle. Second, it's WELLS-FRIKKIN-FARGO! Who banks at Wells Fargo except high-ranking execs?!? Certainly not low-rate thugs hiding in imaginary bushes! Yeah, there isn't really anywhere to hide either. Bad call, Eddie.
Finally, even if someone were hiding, they certainly couldn't expect not to be caught on camera-- the only way to know about the money was to have seen it, and counted it up close... in front of the ATM... on camera.
Me? I might have reported the money, might not have. Call me a bad person but I certainly would have taken it and considered my options. I guess that's why I don't bank at Wells Fargo.
Posted on November 10, 2005 @ 9:20 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
At least you're honest about it. After all, money talks.
By , at
8:11 AM, November 11, 2005
I think I would have done the same as you. I would have taken the money, with an idea of returning to the bank when it was open to report and turn it in. Except... I might not have done so.
Around here, you bank with Wells Fargo when you get sick of US Bank's shenanigans.
So, yeah. Hi!
But I am nevertheless gleefully drooling, for many reasons. One is that it's 5:30 and I'm going out for Ethanopian food with the Abbey crew. MMMMM! More later. :-D
Posted on November 09, 2005 @ 5:28 PM | 8 comments
Comments:
Congratulations! Ryan got a real job today too. Enjoy your yummy food.
By Adrienne, at
5:39 PM, November 09, 2005
Gainful employment is you!!!!111 I knew employmentery would come along for you sooner than later! We will celebrate this weekend!
By Waterseek, at
6:38 PM, November 09, 2005
Congraturation!
Hope your nifty job treats you well! I am still getting pwned by the Microsoft contract until December (alas) but then I get to have fun at work again, and take time off to travel and suchlike.
Just got your phone message, but I'll wait till later to return it as you are likely dinnering at the moment.
By , at
6:41 PM, November 09, 2005
Congratulations!
By , at
11:13 PM, November 09, 2005
Regards & Congratulations!
By , at
7:22 AM, November 10, 2005
Too, too excellent. Congrats, miss Kat.
By inkandpen, at
8:58 AM, November 10, 2005
congrats kat!!
By , at
11:04 AM, November 10, 2005
CONGRATULATIONS KAT !!!
You R Awesome !! Knock 'em dead (wait, someone said that before - ah, who cares) Kick Butt !!!
By , at
6:19 PM, November 10, 2005
Anyway, I digress. You know what I'm gonna do if I get the job? First, I'm gonna go out to dinner. Then, with my first paycheck, I'm gonna buy a Canon Speedlite 550 EX because my camera needs some new clothes. Then I'll turn the rest of the paycheck into dollars at the bank and roll in it, just because I will feel so rich.
Or maybe I won't do that last part. You never know if your money has been between the ass cheeks of a fat man.
Posted on @ 9:38 AM | 6 comments
Comments:
Ok. That last image? SO unnecessary. Ew.
Hope to hear good things from you soon!
By , at
10:23 AM, November 09, 2005
Actually I believe it's the 580 EX you'd be getting. Top-o-the-line!
By Justin, at
3:03 PM, November 09, 2005
ooooh. flash.
Sometimes I wish I'd bought an SLR so I could buy it fancy accessories. Then I remind myself that I do not need anything else to spend my money on!
By Lazy Lightning, at
3:25 PM, November 09, 2005
what kinda camera do you have?
By 007ben, at
8:41 PM, November 09, 2005
A canon 20D.
By Kat, at
2:57 PM, November 10, 2005
so jelous.
congrats on the job as well.
By 007ben, at
2:12 PM, November 11, 2005
I reap life's rewards in the same way that everyone does: I witness the benefits of hard work and enjoy the leisure of a day of rest. But somehow, from somewhere, came the expectation that my life ought to be one grandiose adventure. More than that, this adventure would come upon me, rather than me upon it, as if I were a chosen pilgrim on a sacred path.
Ironically, this dream is quite the opposite of my approach to reality. Not that I'm lazy... but quite to the contrary, I'm controlling and driven. I don't know if I *could* let life take the reigns were I to find myself in the middle of the biggest adventure. But still, I feel I'm entitled to be something MORE than ordinary.
( Continue...)
I know where this feeling comes from. It's the life I lived as a child, vested in a fantasy so real that I could have sworn I WAS a changeling. I thought myself special, not just in an "I'm smarter than you" sense but really Special. To make a long story short, my best friend and I believed that we were two chosen members of a triad designed to rid the world of the blackness that possessed it. We called this demon, representative of all banality, simply "It." (I should note that yes, Stephen King's "It" freaked me the heck out.)
Despite being entangled in such a complex fantasy I was, nevertheless, satisfied with my lot in life. Presumably *because* I knew I was Special. Ironically, as part of the dream, my friend and I could never visualize ourselves living beyond the age of nineteen, probably because adult life was far to banal and separate from us. Yet we continued to age and, to our disappointment, survived being killed by any monstrous onslaught that might destroy us in a blaze of glory.
At fifteen, I still believed our 'History.' At fifteen, I was also told by my parents that we were moving from Michigan to Seattle. The move became a right of passage, iconic to me of the transition between "past" and "future." I wrote in my journal at the time:
I can see my past stretched out behind me, perfect snapshots in a sepia tone. And my future stretches before me, shining and golden.
The spring before I moved hung in perfect bliss, poised on the fulcrum of change. It was the last time anything ever felt good enough.
Seattle was nothing like what I expected. I was more than disappointed; I fell into a profound depression. What was left of my dream self was dealt the fatal blow that would, many years later, finally kill it for good. I began to vehemently believe in 'the future' and how things would get better... but at the same time, a dark seed of doubt planted itself in me, that maybe, nothing would ever be good enough again.
Naturally, my life has never again been the same as my childhood. In fact, it feels a separate life entirely and I have a very difficult time placing myself into any event that occurred before I was fifteen. I still feel I am two different people, me before and me after. The person I became "after" is more self-confident but also more self conscious, someone who speaks easily but is hard to soften up. This "me" does not make friends easily, and often expects too much of people. And rather than experiencing a sense of possibility in life, I feel that the world is my adversary.
Since the schism in my life, I'd be hard pressed to find a time when I ever felt truly satisfied. That's not to say I haven't been happy... I did pull myself out of that dark place, though I've revisited it several times. I function normally, even above average, if I flatter myself. But I still feel lacking in an odd, haunting way. Out of place. Not good enough. Too average. Less than magickal.
Post-grad life has been nightmarish for me for this very reason. Not only is my classical education over, I'm now expected to pick a life path. I'm expected to be judged. And I find myself entirely mortal and entirely disappointed. Where is my grand battle? Who recognizes me as one who once fought evil?
I want to learn to enjoy the "everyday." I want to be happy with who I am... you know, really, as a normal, mortal person instead of as some superhuman ideal. I want to wake up in the morning and not think "ugh" at the prospect of a normal, working life in a normal city. I want these things and I know, practically, how to work on achieving them.
I have a supreme entitlement complex, the psychologists could say. I believe DSM IV has a perfect diagnosis for my childhood mental state. I'm still confused. Rather than accepting my life, I'd prefer to be spirited away. I just don't think that will happen. Instead, maybe I'll make a new version of what's "good enough."
Posted on November 08, 2005 @ 6:09 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
It's possible to do both at the same time ;)
Just look at any superhero... mild mannered salary-person by day, crime fighter by night. Trying schedule though, hope you don't like your sleep too much.
Seriously, though, I have (as you might imagine) run into many of the same issues with my (largely unsuccessful) incorporation of reality into my worldview. I find myself easilly seduced into sub-cultures of extreme escapism. Alas. Much the opposite of your hard drive for idealized real world success - but a coping mechanism of similar function, I think (if somewhat less utility).
By , at
12:13 PM, November 09, 2005
Hughug! I miss you. You should come visit soon so we can chat. =^_^=
By Kat, at
5:34 PM, November 09, 2005
On my way around the Kent area, I passed the T&A Supply warehouse. Hee.
Posted on November 07, 2005 @ 11:19 PM | 1 comments
Comments:
I would love to drive around for work sometimes. My desk gets really boring. Like I said before... pick me up some T&A sometime.
Follow the link to view galleries for this year's trip to San Francisco. We visited the 2005 Love Parade, walked around the piers, and experienced (for the second time) the madness & debauchery of Folsom Street Fair. Enjoy, but be warned of explicit content on the Folsom site!
Posted on November 06, 2005 @ 11:37 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
How are people allowed to walk around butt nekkid??
Isn't that like Indecent Exposure or something?
By , at
10:32 AM, November 07, 2005
In public, it would be. But Folsom is a private, secure event. People can do pretty much whatever they want, including touching themselves (and each other) in public, even though there's a large police presence.
By Kat, at
12:07 PM, November 07, 2005
Posted on November 05, 2005 @ 10:10 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
I'll lorr you up some ffffiery hot... ANGAAAAAAAAAARRR!!!
The percusssion g33k in me would also like to play some Taiko. Isn't there a Taiko PS2 game? Not that it is a true simulation by any means, but fun nonetheless.
Miiiiiinge!
By Waterseek, at
8:21 AM, November 06, 2005
Rolling love has become the biggest hinderance to my academic performance... and the biggest boon to my sanity. Maybe drums are the next big thing in the Proctor household?
By , at
10:23 AM, November 07, 2005
I've passed this sign about seven times in the past two weeks. There's also another company called Tacoma Screw on the same route.
This strange babushka-woman was standing at the bus stop next as I pulled into my part-time job. She wasn't there after I parked.
On the way home yesterday, I saw someone with the liscense plate "240 JLO." It wasn't a vanity plate so I just felt sorry for them. J and I ate pizza at Madame K's, a burlesque-themed pizza and pastaria in Ballard. I'm happy to say I beered, pizza'd, and desserted myself into a stupor and promptly fell asleep when we got home. I've heard that if you doze off too soon after eating, you turn into an elephant or something. Unfortunately, this is not true, as I wager I'd have a hard time sitting here typing unless I were a wee, small elephant.
Posted on @ 2:10 PM | 5 comments
Comments:
You'll have to pick me up some T&A...
By Adrienne, at
8:24 PM, November 05, 2005
Speaking of t&a, what's it like being you in the big city? Do you get hit on, like, constantly?
By , at
10:17 PM, November 06, 2005
Being me in the big city isn't much different than being me in a small town. I get hit on some, by both obnoxious types and regular types. *shrugs* I don't stand out nearly as much as I did when I lived in Tokyo.
By Kat, at
10:43 PM, November 06, 2005
describe your most recent getting-hit-on experience. ;)
By , at
11:30 PM, November 07, 2005
Probably this. And like most, it's not actually flattering.
By Kat, at
11:41 PM, November 07, 2005
Four other girls, two European, one Chinese, and I, stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Yano. The Yanos were apparently rice farmers, as evidenced by their spacious paddies. Their children had long since left home but they lived alone in their massive farmhouse presumably planting and picking away. It wouldn't surprise me if they did their own farming, but who knows, I didn't ask.
At the Yanos, we were treated to a stupendous feast featuring cuisine I couldn't quite identify as Japanese. Mrs. Yano, a tiny, hunched woman, prepared the whole thing herself, without an ounce of help. She even hand-made udon and let us try a turn at the crank. Mr. Yano, on the other hand was content to drink and smoke and then repeat in the reverse order. He was obviously disappointed that we weren't boys. He kept mentioning in a rather beligerent manner that they'd had boys stay with them during the same exchange a few years ago. The boys, he said, were quite happy to drink their asses off with him. While we, on the other hand, were not.
( Continue...)
The European girls were strangely reserved about drinking. The Chinese girl was just obnoxiously reserved in general. I wasn't against drinking with Mr. Yano per se, it's just that at that point I had been ceremoniously overfed and unceremoniously drunk so often that my heart wasn't in it. Also, I hadn't slept well the night before, despite being lulled into a stupor by crickets, and my tired eyes were dry with the smoke from his cigarettes. Nevertheless, I after a few small glasses of Sapporo, I agreed to drink with Mr. Yano and immediately became his best friend.
We got down to the business of drinking and making the type of awkward conversation one has in a second language with a stranger. It was hard to follow what he was saying not only because he was drinking but because he spoke in traditional Japanese male-speak. I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or offended that he didn't deem it necessary to clean things up for me, but either way he was damn difficult to understand. After five beers, my brain did a pretty good job of filling in the blanks.
Mrs. Yano just sat silently while Mr. Yano and I yammered on and on and the other guests stared in a food coma at the massive mountains of edibles in front of them. At one point, Mr. Yano told me how me how much he LOVED American women. Eyeing me hungrily, he told me that I had to be careful though, because American women are only so beautiful until they get married. Then they just let themselves go! Having eaten and drank WAY more than I could stomach (and packing an extra ten pounds from ten months of doing so), I retreated to the bath. I wasn't in there more than two minutes when Mr. Yano asked if I needed any help. Hmm... He hadn't asked any of the OTHER girls, when they'd departed sheepishly from our drunken banter, if *they* needed help in the bath.
I managed a suspicious "no!" through the door, which I thought would stay locked, and another fifteen minutes later when he asked the same thing as I was towelling off. I came out of the bathroom warm, fluffy, and quite a bit soberer, to find Mr. Yano peeing off the porch. Pretending not to have seen, I ducked into the empty tatami room where the four of us girls were sleeping on futons. I feel asleep quite easily (alcohol is at least good for that) and only woke once in the night to the insistent scrabbling of mice in the ceiling above me.
In the morning, Ms. Yano put us in their van and drove us faster than the fear of God back to the Ookamura Cultural Center.
Looking back, I realize how odd it must have been for them to have us in their home, as it was for us to be their guests. They gave me a fond impression, which is more than can be said for some of the other homestays... one friend stayed in a home where a snot-nosed toddler hacked & coughed all over them, then screamed for the entirety of their visit. I do wish that I'd seen the rest of their house, or had more time to learn about their lives.
They aren't the source of my taiko memory; that's the kids of the Ookamura Cultural Center. But somehow the taiko makes me think of them.
Posted on November 04, 2005 @ 6:04 PM | 0 comments
Comments:
This is the scariest baby I've ever seen detailed in an illustration, courtesy of the Portland expo center bathroom:
This is me and one of my little sisters (and I say little with much chagrin because she's obviously taller), wearing matching Guns 'n Rollers tanks:
( Rose City Roller Girl gallery... )
Posted on November 03, 2005 @ 8:03 PM | 5 comments
Comments:
Ok - that baby illustration? Oh my GOD. That's awful.
By Adrienne, at
8:38 AM, November 04, 2005
Yeah, I ought to submit it to Fark for captioning or something. It was on a changing table. >_<
By Kat, at
8:42 AM, November 04, 2005
HEY leave Gatekeeper out of this!!!!! Nothing was up here. F blogger in the A.
M
By Cockblocker, at
9:44 AM, November 04, 2005
Hey Numine, cut Hung Far Low a break. The owners closed the Chinatown location back in July and it was a favorite spot among celebs and hipsters alike. Over the decades, Humphrey Bogart, Keanu Reeves and, uh, Rasheed Wallace were spotted in there. It was my favorite Chinese restaurant in Portland, mostly due to the creepy ambiance. The inside looked like something out of a mob movie. Definitely not a place for wusses but I did come across a bunch of teenagers on their way to prom one night. Why they were there, I have no idea.
By Brandon, at
4:43 PM, November 04, 2005
Yeah, I read about it in your blog-- was surprised to stumble across it by accident. Thought it was great so I took a picture. Still don't know if I'd trust the food!
By Kat, at
4:58 PM, November 04, 2005
-Last Thursday was Japanese curry, straight from the S&W curry with fresh vegetables. Just the way the Japanese do it.
-Friday was so-so Chinese with my parents and one sister.
-Saturday we went out for sushi.
-Tuesday I made broccoli beef and sweet & sour vegetables w/ rice.
-Last night we had Japanese curry again, cooked by an acquaintance.
-Tonight we're having Kitsune Udon.
Between eating like this and our usual staples of creative pasta and bean dishes, I think I could eat happily and affordably for the rest of my life. ^_^
Posted on @ 5:41 PM | 0 comments
Comments:
This sign was at the trailhead of the hike J and I did on Sunday. It's funny even for those who don't get the in-joke.
How am I doing? Well, today gets a big, fat, "MEH" for unenthusiasm. I'm having a really difficult time counting my blessings and I'd like to rewind to summer to soak in the sun with friends. I could write a volume right now of metaphors and analogies about my less than rapturous state of mind, but that wouldn't be a good idea for two reasons: 1) I'm dog tired, 2) it's probably BECAUSE I'm dog tired that I'm feeling this way. So I'm going to go to sleep instead of feeling sorry for myself on the Internet. That's about as productive as arguing on the Internet. Yep. Bedtime for Bonzo.
Rachelry, can you send me the address of Blaze's blog? And Allie, didn't you say you have a LiveJournal? Or was that Liz? Anyway, I feel out of the loop, and my most recent job interview has inspired me to up some of the linkage and readability of this blog. So cough up those URLs if you'd like me to link/read ya. :-)
Posted on November 02, 2005 @ 10:16 PM | 5 comments
Comments:
blaze reads your blog :)
lorelei-lee.blogspot.com
though I've gotten to the 'starting to hate it' point. in every blog I've ever kept I've written really honestly and after a while I find myself starting to hate feeling so exposed.
By Loreleilee, at
9:14 AM, November 03, 2005
That sign begs the question: why hikers AND llamas? No horses allowed? I wonder if horses are more destructive to trails than llamas.
Speaking of llamas, we miss you and at least Micah and I will get to see you soon! Sleep well!
By Waterseek, at
11:35 AM, November 03, 2005
Llamas are soft footed. They have pads, sort of like dogs. It gives them good traction and very low environmental impact. A horse hoof can rip up trail, but llamas are very low environmental impact. That particular area is heavily travelled and under "recovery" from heavy use. Probably why they don't want anything with sharp metal shoes wandering up it.
By , at
11:57 AM, November 03, 2005
....and I was just about to get those tap-shoe hiking boots. Man I heard they are great off trail too.....damn.
By Cockblocker, at
3:17 PM, November 03, 2005
I'll give you my LJ name when YOu get me those Banff pics!!!!
By , at
4:44 PM, November 03, 2005
Oops.
Posted on November 01, 2005 @ 4:59 PM | 3 comments
Comments:
open mouth, insert foot
next time you should just take the other interviewee down. just crouch outside the door, pounce them down the ground, hold 'em down and say, "you've got no chance, bitch!" and then stroll into your interview. :D
By Rachel, at
7:39 PM, November 01, 2005
big oops
By , at
11:47 PM, November 01, 2005
I agree with Rachel. Less talk, more action!
