No Accuser

Ask me about it and I'll tell you where it is.

Hope you all are doing well. :)

Due to general idiocy on my part, an attempt to increase the amount of space on my hard drive by moving my music files to an external drive resulted in me accidently deleting those files. My music collection now consists of Conflict, Oi Polloi, a punk rock compilation called "Peace and War", and one half of a Joy Division album. I need to bit torrent a brain.

Notes from the other room: Tim and our friends are currently trying to get the boys to eat their dinner by using soccer chants, clapping and all. "When I eat, I eat all my burger..." I wonder what these kids are going to think about this part of their lives when they look back on it.

Timbers season starts tonight! 7pm, PGE Park! And right now I'm supposed to be writing a paper on class structure in the U.S., but my leg keeps shaking and my hands keep tapping on things that aren't the keys I want to hit. I think I may just say fuck it and turn it in tomorrow, else things like "Suzuki whoa-ohh!" sneak into sentences where they don't belong.

Since the extended trip to Texas I've just been trying to keep up with school, working on the garden (including buying enough concrete for a compost area that it could probably double as a bomb shelter. my car and back hate me.) and catching up on sleep. Yesterday, when I really should have been working on my paper, I got caught up watching a series of those stupid crime shows, marveling at how appallingly bad the acting was, how unrealistically awesome the equipment they used, and how even in the face of piles of dead bodies, backstabbing coworkers and general gruesomeness, no one ever utters the word "fuck". Fuck, I've said it 17 times this morning and it's not even 10am!

And I know, I've been a bad blogger. Apologies. In my defense, when I'm not doing something lazy and stupid like watching television all afternoon, I've had a ton of reading, band practice, soccer, and numerous trips to the store to build things in my room (it's coming along. I'll put up a before/after picture when and if I get to the after).

*listening to: Conflict - buncha albums*

My flight Monday night was delayed, of course, and so I didn't make it in to PDX until about 1:30am. When I made my way out to the taxi queue (I love that word. I really love spelling it out loud, "kyoo-yoo-ee-yoo-eeeeee!") a lesbian couple in line in front of me were having some sort of problem.

"Um, this man made us very uncomfortable," she says to the woman in charge of matching people to cabs in reference to the first driver who was standing outside his car looking rather bewildered. So the woman went to explain to the cab driver to not say to passengers whatever he said to the women, and the couple went to find someone more PC to take them home.

"I don't understand," said one of them, "This is Portland. What the hell?"

Ahhh yes, yes it is Portland. Someone who probably doesn't even speak English very well attempted to make a joke and deeply offended someone who then expected someone else to take care of it and be just as deeply offended. Or at least act like it. The only way this could have been more Portland is if one of the parties was on a bike.

Tuesday morning I managed to get out of bed on time, chat with the housemate and his sister and make it out the door on schedule. School was uneventful, if tiring. All of my classes or on Tuesday or Thursday, and Tuesdays go from 10am to 9pm. I was practically delirious as I rode the bus home with the early evening drunks.

Wednesday, after forcing myself to sleep in, I took the bus in to take care of some errands. What a beautiful day! Sometime while I was gone the trees started sprouting flowers and the icky hailstorms I heard about had given way to warm sun, which was pulling itself from behind a snowpacked Mt. Hood, and splashing against the highrises across the river. Public transportation! Mountains! A clean city! GOD I MISSED PORTLAND!!!!

And things just got better. There was no line at the bookstore and I chatted with a friend who as it turns out, was in Wyoming just a day before I got stuck there. One of my classes requires a book that's only available from a feminist bookstore which is lodged in an old brick building with a beautiful hidden courtyard that's filled with flowers and green leaves that have already begun sprouting.

The park blocks, typical of the first really nice days of the year, were nuts. Everyone gets out there when the sun starts shining, and man have we waited a while for that to happen! A string quartet was miked up and blasting classical music, a Snapple truck with a platoon of perky volunteers handed out free drinks, and my giant burrito with extra guacamole only clocked in at $5. C-SPAN, for whatever reason, had a "2008 Political Bus" and accompanying camera crew present, I chatted with one of Portland's mayoral candidates, and registered to vote (at my new address) at the Obama '08 campaign table. Everyone, walking around or sitting, had these dreamy smiles on their faces and unconsciously paused in spots of sunshine. Either everyone is pleased to death the weather has improved or the entire campus was stoned.

Since I was on such a roll, I decided to brave the crowds and get a new transit pass, only to find the building completely empty, save the clerk who took all of ten seconds to give me a new sticker. Whoa. Then I headed to the veteran's affairs office and en route, ran into the founder of the veteran's club and briefly caught up with him. Turned in my papers so as to get a paycheck as soon as possible, and picked up the last of the first round of books this term.

I missed the Arsenal v Liverpool game during all of this, but that's ok, they play each other two more times this week. I did catch the rerun of the Chelsea v Some-Turkish-Team-That-Starts-With-An-F who to my delight defeated those boring snobs with a beautiful goal. hahahaha, gooooo Some Turkish Team!!!

Off to Denver tonight after a long day of class.

But there are a few scattered posts over here. I've been in Texas and its been mostly great, even if the weather has forced me to spend a bunch of $ I don't have to fly home in order to make my class tomorrow morning. (Travel tip: don't ever go to Wyoming. Drive hundreds of miles out of your way if you have to.) Thursday night I fly back to Denver to pick up my car and drive back to Portland. So much for my plans for taking the youngest sis around Portland next weekend.

Socialist Guy: "Come to our presentation later over at the Yankee Capitalist tent."

Me: "The what?"

SG: "The anti-capitalist tent."

Me: "Oh."

That's what happens when you pronounce it 'an-tee' instead of 'an-tie', like neck 'tie' or 'Thai' food. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed there wasn't a Yankee Capitalist tent. It could have been next to the Yankee Imperialist tent and a band could play "Party at Ground Zero" and the world would turn to flowin' pink vapor stew. Now THAT would be a war protest!

I have the world's worst case of Senioritis right now and it's carrying over into other aspects of my life, like blogging. I mean, I haven't felt like doing anything. There is a new post up at my travel blog and I'll try to keep that updated as I drive to Texas at the end of next week, but other than that things will probably continue to be quiet and lame here. Apologies to the two people and my mom that actually read this thing anymore.