hop on the bus, gus
I have been wondering why I've been feeling so badly. Recently I've been hungry, full, thirsty, and nauseous all at the same time. And this morning, I realized that it's because out of three of the last four days, I've had ice cream cake for dinner. Ice cream cake and eggs.
The mother of one of my co-workers just won 182 million dollars. Therefore, my co-worker is resigning at the age of twenty three and will never have to work again. I am not really sure what to think about this.
trailblazers vs. wizards
Last night I went to a Portland Trailblazers game with Peter. Despite playing for the JV team in middle school, I have very little interest in our pro basketball team. But I went because: 1) I am a Portlander and it seems like something that I should do. A guilt complex, if you will. 2) Peter is very into the Trailblazers right now, and - as a good wife - I should go and try to experience this with him.
This is not to say that I had the best attitude throughout. I was feeling sick (which may have been due to the fact that I had ice cream cake for dinner) and was, in short, a grumpus. But I ended up sitting next to an elderly man from Greece who was there with his son-in-law, who seemed to prefer telling me about his various family members rather than watching the game. He also went into a long spiel about linguistics ("astronaut" comes from the words astral (star) and nautilus (of the sea) - combine them and you get astronaut: Sailor of the Stars) before we looked up and realized it was the end of the fourth quarter. The Blazers were down, 99-98, with one minute left. More at stake than us losing the game was the fact that if the Blazers score 100 points in a game, then everyone in the arena gets a free chalupa from Taco Bell. Now I was interested, because it looked like free food may be in the cards. Sure enough, we scored - which not only put us ahead, but guaranteed a free chalupa to all the spectators. At the risk of being cliché, but the crowd went wild, yelling "FREE CHALUPAS!!! CHALUPA!!! CHALUPA!!!" in a way that only Americans can. The son-in-law of my gentle Greek man grabbed him by both shoulders and screamed into his face "CHALUPA!!!!! CHALUPAAAAA!!!". The old man gave him a startled look that was somehow excited but confused and a little frightened all at the same time.
And then it was over and we didn't even get to say goodbye.
We're saving the chalupas for when a rainy day meets a transfat mood.
Let's hear it for breaking up with Seattle
Bullet Points:
- This was the first actual good week that I've had in....I don't know how long. Thank you Lord. Didn't think we could take much more....
- Thursday night, I asked Peter what he would think about living in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It's a miniature Portland, with never-ending fields easily accessible. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But maybe I'm not really missing the fields that go on forever, but more the stage of life I was in when surrounded by those corn fields. Somehow, they were romantic.
- Peter got me the Rosetta Stone Russian software for my birthday. Now I have absolutely no excuse. You (all three of you) must hold me accountable.
- Spring decided to come out for my birthday - the cherry blossoms are a welcome present. Warmth can't come soon enough.
- Just finished
My Name is Red by
Orhan Pamuk. It took about 174 pages to get into it, but it was worth it. It takes place in 16
th century Istanbul, focusing on the miniaturists that would illustrate books for the sultan. The main conflict is what influence illustrating in the 'Frankish' style (3-D paintings, as we typically know them) has versus continuing to illustrate in the typical
Arabic style taken from the old schools in
Herat and
Tabriz.
- On the other hand, I also just finished
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. All the
hubbub is validated - I'm afraid that - at least for a period -
I'm going to be one of those people who try to somehow incorporate Harry Potter into every conversation.
- I'm at Jim & Patty's, and am getting ready to go explore Cathedral Park with my 35mm. We've been apart too long.
revolutionary
I turn twenty-six on Monday. The only thing momentous about being twenty-six is that it means you're no longer twenty five. With the passing of twenty-five comes the following:
1) Apparently (according to Peter - who is qualified to say this because he has taken a lot of psychology classes) your personality continues to develop until age twenty-five. But then, around that time - you are pretty much ingrained in who you are, and the likelihood of any sort of personality shift is rather rare.
2) When I was nine, I asked my dad how old we would be in heaven. He said we would be twenty-five. When asked why, he answered, "Because when you're twenty-five, you're at your peak of beauty and physical strength. "
These thoughts coincided with a late night phone call I received from Laura a few weeks ago. With barely a greeting, she asked "Do you ever feel that you reached the pinnacle of your creativity at some point in the past?"
None of these things are all that edifying to think about. This is as good as it gets, I guess - it's all downhill from here. Obviously, I know this doesn't have to be the case. Plenty of people (such as um….Jesus, for one) really came about in their thirties. Or forties. But I feel like the odds are now working against me rather than with me.
On my twenty-sixth birthday, I'll eat sushi from a conveyor belt with good friends. Surely that must count for something?
hallelujah
the sun is out.
