what a wonderful party, what a memorable night...

here's what i remember:

when people started to show up i was working on my pre-party hydration. weird how you can be completely sober and people say, "uh oh, on water already?" well, no, i haven't started drinking yet.

and then i started drinking. and the merry-making was good. music and more people. mike paraphrased 'snakes on a plane': if the cops show up, this party's going down faster than a thai prostitute...

the party kept building, people kept showing--awesome. somewhere around 11 i took a shot per connor's request that i be loaded for the puppet show. not quite loaded, but warm and/or fuzzy on the inside! the puppet show went surprisingly well. ben, kc and connor did the action, darren taped the shenanigans, and i was tasked with pressing play and swaying with the closing music: 'we are the world'. it was a cathartic release to the times the puppet show symbolized: jen's getting knocked out of commission by three foul aneurisms and the process of getting them taken care of. that was what we were celebrating, though i thought it was cool that it fell on the fall equinox.

we are the world. we are the children. we are the ones who make a better day, so let's start givin'.

the party continued. the denoumah (damn, how's that spelled???). on the plus side, i think i know of a girl who digs me. the negative side, i got tongue-tied when i made that realization. the other plus side, i don't think that's the last i'll see of her. so yeah, everything's coming up milhouse!

that's about it. no wait, there's more: i broke one of our lawn chairs. i went to sit down and it was slightly inclined. it started to lean back, hit the fence, and broke so i could continue my fall. me and my fat ass! then, of course, i'm laying there like a turtle on his back and there was a delay in the reaction... it took awhile to get the help i needed to get back to upright. hi-larious.

that's about that. i awoke today to a messy house. we cleaned up, jen made some grub, i found out that connor lost his cookies at some point in the evening, and now i'm starting to think about dinner. i think the time-stamp is still on mountain time, but it's 9:30.

and the saga continues...

rainy morning ponderings, part 1

got onto a bus with available seats this morning for a change. sat down next to a girl who was wearing a shit-ton of perfume. turn my head to the right, perfume cloud; to the left, an odor remeniscent of a lavatory. the rain was heavier yesterday. i'm not saying yesterday's rain was severe, but today's drizzle was... less so.



i've heard that eskimos have, like, thousands of words for all the different types of snow they recognize. all the different heavinesses, wetnesses, shades and strengths and what have you. i wonder if portlanders have a similar number of words for the different types of rain. i wonder if portlanders would even call this morning's rain, "rain." it wasn't much, but it speckled my spectacles...

i know of drizzle, which indicates small droplets that sort of float down the atmosphere, blanketing the air somewhat. and i know of torrential downpours of large drops beating down, soaking passersby to the core. i huddled in my office one lunch hour while the rain came down in torrents. then i picked up an umbrella on my way out for the day to what i considered drizzle. i never used my umbrella, but found that it was doing something more than just drizzling. during my walk i got gradually soaked. it wasn't really drizzle, nor was it torrential. with my limited rain-vocabulary, i've decided it could only be one thing: "to-rrizzle"! er, fo' shizzle...

and the beat goes on like rain on a metal awning.

don't stop the rockin'

i'd like to take this opportunity to welcome back helskel of therubberwall (see "links" for a link). helskel, i'm gonna make you jealous by the end of this post... just fair warning (which i've been less than generous with as of late...) without further ado:

MusicFestNW... a showcase of what portland has to offer musically, some great, some not-so-great, but quite an interesting barhop from the bicycle. and what i found was worth the price of admission, both in spectacle and talent:

first, the spectacle: portland's "next hottest band," as decided by i-don't-know-who, is copy--and copy sux big donkey doodie. a cheeseball with a key-tar busting out pre-programmed beats for the retarded portion of the portland population (which, by the way, i didn't know was so large, but i guess it goes to show that drugs ARE bad... mmmm-kay). really bad, and truly pathetic in his professionalism (laptop failure sent his crap... uh, act... into a tailspin). perhaps he should cut the techmological umbilical and get a new groove... (damn, that's nerdtastic!) fortunately, i found much better at the fest...

for instance, there was alela diane, who's good in a folksy sort of way, and i think she could do well. time will tell, but she's got a good sound. (i like it for a song or three, but i'm not sure about an album... maybe to lull me to sleep, which is actually high praise coming from me... you get the picture)

the lead singer from sunny day real estate has a solo project. i think his name is brian engck (or maybe jeremy?). saw him at the crystal ballroom, and i was pleased. he only did one solo acoustic song, which i thought he'd be exploring more since leaving sunny day, but i liked sunny day and his band is pretty solid.

and as loud and cool as engck was, the melvins took my ringing ears and shoved them through a shredder. apparently they were a big influence of k cobain's. fuuuuuuck... two drummers beating the crap outta the drums, and some freaky big guitarist and bassist clad in black dresses and rocking--ROCKING!--like i can't remember seeing since... i don't know when. if i ever need some wake-up music, a melvins cd is in order. they were really, really good. thank god for earplugs and the advanced age that makes hipness secondary to comfort.

and now for the jealous maker:



KRISTIN HERSH...

saw her at jimmy maks, a jazz club in the pearl. (the pearl is like lodo--ex-ghetto turned hip, white, urban, yuppie. not my fave part of town, but kristin hersh for god's sake!) a set with some of hips and makers, some throwing muses, and kind of heavy on her sunny border blue album. she introduced "william's cut" with a warning that it includes the f-bomb. she was shy and strange and sweet, and this was the first time i've seen her solo. she (unlike copy) was a professional; the monitors were bad and she didn't make a fuss until between songs, and even then it was with humor ("that's ok, i know what guitar sounds like"). and when they got it together, she wowed the almost-capacity crowd. 25 feet away from her is far compared to the muses shows i've seen, but this felt more intimate.

i need to see her group 50footwave soon... i missed out this past weekend due to ear issues, but since she also lives in portland i think i'll get another chance soon.

and that's pretty much that... i mean, the first band i saw (and i forget their names), i recognized the keyboardist from the bus (never knew i was that close to greatness on the number 4!!). and helskel, look for jurado in denver--i have to go up to seattle to see him in october--you don't need to take that three-hour journey!

and i'd like to thank henry ford for repetitive stress injuries...

i think it was selma (though it could've been patty) who said, "i think i got carpal tunnel from scratching my butt all day."

bitterness and irony

i'm a temp. i temp for [big insurance co]. i have no insurance...

i've been meaning to get some form of insurance. COBRA from my old work was running over $300/month so that wasn't an option. but my roommate's brain surgery bills reminded me how important insurance is ([different big insurance co] is stuck with over $200k for her).

my temp agency offers insurance--they were supposed to provide info with the first check. i've gotten 2 checks, no info, and haven't followed up yet. i'm a slacker.

my ear seems to want to be infected. i'm almost positive it is. my sinuses have been messed up since my arrival. now my ear hurts. constant effort can keep it at bay, but it's not giving up easily.

i have no insurance. i'm in a new city, i need some form of infection killer, i'm an american in america. they don't sell antibiotics over the counter. i'm screwed.

well, not screwed, but seeing first hand how screwy our system is. i can afford (with some pain) a doctor's visit and a prescription. but i'm not looking forward to spending more than $100 for a five minute visit for the doctor to tell me what i already know and to scribble on a piece of paper. i can think of much better uses for (untold amounts of) that money.

i've been looking into insurance the past couple of days. i can have a free doctor's visit in two to four weeks if i apply today. i can't take the chance that the infection will spread further and make me really sick. i can have catastrophic insurance "coverage" in a couple of days, but that doesn't do anything for something as routine as an ear infection... hell, it hardly helps me out in a catastrophe unless i come close to death--then i'd still leave the hospital with a mountain of debt.

i'm an uninsured employee of an insurance agency. i'll be fine, but our system is broken. a fractured system that leaves millions out. something's got to give.

ps, for a good time, try searching for your own health insurance; that was one of the more confusing things i've done in a long time.

from freewill to my cranium

LEO:You may soon have a dream of beating up the person you were five years ago. This would be a good omen. It means you're ready to wean yourself completely from a stale old self-image. If you dream of feeding caviar and champagne to a donkey, it's also a positive sign. It means you're beginning to recognize that the hard-working beast in you needs to be treated more luxuriously. And if you dream of yelling at a bunch of kids to go clean up their messy bedrooms, Leo, that's an auspicious portent as well. It signifies your readiness to discipline the irresponsible habits and organize the unruly impulses of your inner child.

(assuming copyright control, here's the link)