Cozy.

The carnage of last night's supper lies splayed on our countertop, a minimalist Christmas tree like a sentinel in the corner. We are young, and manifestations of our brilliant ideas and obsessions litter this space, awaiting completion.

Ah, three whole days of sleeping in, drinking coffee by the fire and watching the first season of Six Feet Under. I'm so very thankful for this break, even though I'm going broke and I'll soon have to face another whirlwind of a quarter. At this point I'm trying not to think about it.

Fait Accompli!!!

Wooo! I made it through Christmas at work! Now I get to enjoy ten lazy days off being cozy in my awesome new bomber hat that Jordan got me...

http://madbomber.com/madbomber/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=81

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this hat is amazing. The rabbit fur feels so nice on my face, and it muffles out noise (as in, on the bus when I'm trying to read).

Tonight was the big extended family Christmas celebration, which is always just a bundle of hugs, compliments, cookies, meat, meat, meat, and Bob and Augie's guitar playing. My dad and I accompanied them on some carols around the tree (oh so picturesque, I know).

half the fun of it

Christmas is a holiday of secrets. Everyone is talking behind each others' backs and sneaking bags into the house.... It's been so hard for me to keep gifts secret from people:

somebody: "I think I'll buy myself a _______."
me: "No! You shouldn't..."
somebody: "Why?"
me: "Well...because.........[insert sly response to distract victim]."

Tired.

First of all, why you people gotta be so mean? -in reference to someone you probably don't know.

I'm really having fun with the whole Christmas thing, as I've said before. I'm getting Corban figure skates. He's going to start lessons in January. Jordan's getting everyone bomber hats from www.madbomber.com, which is going to be amazing. I'm also going to baking lots of Pulla, which is a butter and egg-packed Finnish cardamom bread.

We're pulling through at work, but the snow slowed us down a bit this week and probably will again after Sunday. I'm praying with all my might to Quetzalcoatl for help. A blood sacrifice will be needed soon.

Christmas madness is almost over though, and then it's on to Valentine's Day!!

Snow day.

Today I attempted to actually brush my teeth for the recommended two minutes--it's absolutely impossible. No human being is capable of completing said deed.

I also got to watch my neighbor's adorable kids for a couple of hours. They are 11, 7, 5 and 18 months old, and we had an awesome time making snowflakes and playing blocks and helicopter. The 18-month-old had lots to say, his favorite being (in reference to an animal of some sort) "He nose!", "He tail!", "He eye!", etc. He also told me his hair was real and pink. hm.

Strange Conditions

Within the past few months, I've been told by more than one doctor or healthcare figure that "I've never seen a case like this before..." Instantly, of course, I begin to run through all the ramifications of that phrase in mind. That could either be very bad or very good.

Finally...

it's snowing!!! We're going to get our tree tomorrow out past Glacier. Now we just have to make the ornaments. I'm stoked for Christmas this year--I'm really getting into it.

Lost a thought and gained another.

My Anthropology class has corrupted me. I dream about ancient hominids, and have words like Zinjanthropus boisei and Homo floresiensis running through my head all day. This last quarter has definitely been the most interesting for me to date, I'm definitely grateful for my awesome professors.

Bahhhh

Blogspot deleted my post yesterday. I will smite the internet.

Mbleggghhhh D:

I dislike being sick >__<

...and working too much. It's okay. The only reason I don't like working a lot is getting up in the morning. It's laaame.

On a lighter note, school ends this week, and I'm definitely ready to get more sleep.

Talking to Myself...

I feel a little lost and alone in my tiny cyberbubble here. Also, I'm sick, and I found out that I'm not very good at gargling. I swallowed a lot of salt water just now. sigh. I'm lucky, though. This is only my second bout of sickness this season. I guess maybe I am taking better care of myself. Kudos to me! Speaking of which, I just dropped a class from Winter quarter, and it's going to be a huge relief. For my independent studies, I need 30 hours of work study/research per credit. That won't be hard for the independent study in chocolatiering, but I'm also setting up a co-op Early Childhood Education study. I already tutor Spanish, but this will mean I actually have to structure it and present my work. I also want to do some site visits and maybe start volunteering at A Step Ahead Bilingual Learning Center. That would be pretty rad.

I watched Happiness the other day. Great movie, and very well done, but so messed up. Or at least it presents you with the kind of subjects no one really wants to think about. Bart's quitting at Blockbuster, so we'll probably lose some momentum on our movie watching, but that just means more reading!

Happy Wednesday!

"I will fall upon her suddenly and destroy her virginity."
-Yigenek, Kitabi Dada Gorgud

Somehow, at least three times in my life, I've unintentionally wandered into cat shows. I think maybe the cat is my spirit animal....

I have many good things to read. For my humanities class, I'll be reading Bobo and the Catfish, an epic word sequence poem by Frank Stanford; part of the Silmarillion, The Battle of Kosovo, parts of the Secret History of the Mongols, Woman of Steel, Another Account of the Queen of Sheba (from the Ethiopian epic The Glory of the Kings), part of Dante's Inferno, part of El Cid, the Nibeleunga-somethin or other, part of Gilgamesh, and some other stuff. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

I'm also performing this weekend! For Friday's Art Walk downtown, the Mahala dancers are doing three shows at 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00 in the Crown Plaza building between the Sandalwood Salon and the Lucky Monkey (across from Taco Lobo). It should be pretty fun, as should the rest of the Art Walk, which features performance art and other local arts.

And...I get to go to Mt. Baker this Sunday! I'm going with my family to get a Christmas tree for the apartment...though I have no idea how to decorate it yet since neither Bart, Jordan or I have any decorations. We'll figure something out I'm sure. Hurray for Christmas! ahhh! I love it.

Friday.

I took the day off of work today, and I'm sitting an my pajamas eating crepes with herbed brie. I'm a happy Aries right now.

Tomorrow is Gretchen's annual Lord of the Rings marathon! I can't wait!

Almost there.

Last night the bus smelled like pumpkin pie. I had been at work earlier, trying to persevere but having a hard time. I'm counting the hours until school is over and I can live at the chocolate shop and go home to nothing but food and books.

The Of Montreal show on Wednesday was nothing short of amazing:
Enter four golden Buddhas carrying the Ark of the Covenant, followed by five androgynous, heavily costumed men. Buddhas start to dance around and music begins...

That was just the beginning. They had tons of props, mostly homemade, backup dancers, a rotating stage, and a screen in the background showing psychedelic subliminal images. At one point they hung the lead singer and later brought him back out in a coffin, covered him in red paint and whipped cream, and proceeded to spray him and the entire audience with feathers from a leaf blower. Needless to say, much fun was had.


Their shows are always different, always ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V

I'm

tired.

Microcosms of an Undercurrent.

His heart thuds a dhol beat when they exchange looks,
eyes sweeping in demure parallel; they both lower glances.

In a small place like this, terrible instances occur.
Introverts subtly assert themselves,
explosive phrases whisper.

Heroes Now and Then.

I'm sitting in my apartment, writing this and listening to Akron instead of doing my homework. Once I finish these last few assignments the rest of the quarter will be easy...I just have to actually finish them....

The apartment is cold, all clothes and winter sunshine littering the floor. The light always seems to shine brighter in the winter, such a simple pleasure. I had my 10 ounces of coffee this morning (I'm monitoring it, I'm pretty sensitive to coffee. Once I drank too much and worked 25 hours at the chocolate shop---I never told my boss.)

I'm reading The Book of Dede Korkut (Dada Gorgud) for my Humanities class, and some of their cultural expressions just tickle me pink. The Dede Korkut is the epic of the Oghuz Turks (supposedly the original Turks). The Inner Oghuz live in a tribal Western Mongolian society under various Khanates, and their lives are centered around horses and subsistence farming. Just a few interesting expressions in the book:

• When mourning, the Oghuz tore their cheeks and "wept bloody tears"
• The Oghuz society is quite egalitarian. In the story of Bamsi Beyrek, Beyrek must first beat his betrothed in a horserace, an archery competition and a wrestling match before she will consent to marry him. I thought this part was pretty funny:
• (During Beyrek's wrestling match with his betrothed) "'If I am beaten by this girl, they will talk my head off and say awful things to my face in the land of the Inner Oghuz.' He gathered his strenth and finally threw the girl. He took off her shirt and caught her by the breast while she struggled to free herself. Then Beyrek took the girl by her narrow waist and threw her down again, making her fall flat on her back. The girl said, 'Young man, I am Banu Chickek, the daughter of Bay Bichen.' Beyrek kissed the girl three time and bit her once. Then, putting the golden ring from his own finger on the girl's finger, he said: 'May your wedding be a happy one, oh, daughter of a khan. Let this be a sign of our engagement.'" Wow.
  

C'est la vie.

I feel alone but not lonely.
I feel cynical.
I'm not sure why, but this attitude has been persisting for the whole week. It confounds me to no end. I think my stress is trying to make me believe things that aren't true.

Pressure, pressure, pressure.

So, I'm excited and stressed out about several things lately. It's getting down to the wire on my anthropology project, which I've sort of been putting off for the whole quarter. I still have to completely develop my hypothesis and do some fieldwork within the next couple of weeks. My loose hypothesis (I've already found a great deal of supporting information on this) is that as hominids became less physically active and more dependent on technology, our bodies became less suitable for childbirth. It's been a pretty interesting subject to investigate, and Alyson Rollins, my Anth. professor, has been incredibly helpful.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to see the Lucy's Legacy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. That was absolutely amazing, especially since I've been learning about all these famous hominid specimens and hominid evolution in my Physical Anthropology class.

I'm also stressed out about Christmas. Mainly because we are just starting to get our yearly corporate orders, which are almost impossible to keep up with given the amount of help we have. Originally I was planning on working 40-50 hours a week this Fall, but I think if I'm going to do that I will have to take less than five credits at school or work independently.

Next quarter looks like it's going to be a tough one. Word has it that Richardson likes to pile on the work--and I have three classes with him. I'm also still putting off my math classes. gahhh. Looks like I'll probably be doing Summer quarter again.

Awhile ago I dreamt that time didn't exist. We floated in space; in the amniotic fluid of our uncertainty.

"Where do you find these mushroom people?"---"In the faery ring, Jordan."

Earlier today I went on my first mushroom foray with the Northwest Mushroom Association at Bowman Bay State Park. Needless to say, it was tons of fun. What a curious gathering, too, where most of the time everyone is looking at the ground and not at each other, yet we feel such a kinship in our love of the fungi. Vince Biciunias, NMA president, and I went out mushrooming with a couple of reporters from WWU. In about two hours I had collected around twenty different types of mushrooms, and later at the identification table I found out that about five different kinds of those were edible (parasols, chanterelles, honey, boletus, etc.) The whole day was very enlightening, and I was very happy with my harvest. At the end of the day we had a full-course meal and cooked up some of the mushrooms we had found. I am so saturated in fungi I just don't know what to do with myself!!

(I made soup)

My cup runneth over...

...with poison...




Tonight the snails were at it again. They crunched under my feet like tiny moving landmines. I felt bad, a little, but it was wet and dark and I was in a hurry.

I'msotired...tiiiiiredddd.

...

I feel like complaining, but I don't have anything to complain about. That's all.

Cinders and Smoke

The tail end of autumn's leaves lie in drifts on sidewalks and gutters, a carpet of humus bent on reclaiming the earth--but all in vain. November gusts will soon litter those final fragments of summer over the streets; cars will grind them into the asphalt and their colors will fade as bare deciduous claws reach into the chilly air.

My nap in the reading lounge was quite lovely. No one really knows it exists, so it's usually empty. There's a fireplace, comfy couches and soft lighting, and it's nice and quiet.

The Junkyard Ghosts Revival was fantastic. You'd have had to be there.

Ahhh, Iron and Wine...

Hangin' out...

I've been at Whatcom since 8:00 this morning, and I'll be here until 9:00 tonight, but it's definitely worth it. Tonight is the Junkyard Ghosts Revival, a poetry slam featuring Buddy Wakefield, Anis Mojgani and Derrick Brown, some of my all-time favorite artists.

I'm going to have a crazy Winter quarter next year; I'm taking Linguistics, Ancient Writing Systems, and Natives of the Pacific Northwest, all with Allen Richardson. I'm also going to try to complete 2 independent special projects in Early Childhood Education and dance as a humanity. Should be fun.

I'm in the library right now, and it's a little strange because the email computers are very exposed; you have to stand to use them and they're about 3 feet away.

I think I'll go take a nap in the Reading Lounge.

Mmm, lavendar tea.

I believe I thought I had something to say, but then I lost it. Oh well, I'll say something else.

I recently saw Czech director Jiri Menzel's I Served the King of England, which is a lovely film about a starry-eyed hotel worker and waiter who dreams of becoming a millionaire. The story deviates from this theme to tell his lovely and childlike yet chilling story, along with the story of Reich Europe. The images Menzel creates weave a mezmerizing and powerful poetry.

My first Shiitake crop sprouted! There are about thirty of them, and more are popping up each day. I stir-fried some last night and they were absolutely delicious. Yay!

Collapsing Pumpkins, lots of rain.

For me, everything is a ritual. Most of the time it's not about the result of my efforts, but about the process itself. I have never really been fast at anything unless forced to; as a child I took painstaking efforts to write every letter just so; I clean slowly; I cook slowly; I write slowly. A lot of people get impatient with me.

Another thing I realized is that, no matter how hard I try, I'm just not a good materialist. I lose things right and left, and it doesn't really phase me anymore; I can't let it. If I did I would be constantly moping around.

Sand and Fire.

Around noon a negative wind washes over me, and I realize what I've forgotten. But it's a quick fix and I'm back on my feet as usual, moving on an elevated plane. Still I feel as if I'm betraying myself. Ruthie is standing in her own world, an epoch long past, but I speed away with her body, moving chaotically to wherever I'm going.

Sometimes I compare myself to others and wonder why they have it and I don't. I get jealous, but then laugh at my irrationality. We can't all be the same. People have told me I'm amazing, and it pierces me like an arrow. Words like that come and go, just like this chapter of my life will come and go. Compliments are nothing to carry with you forever.

When one wave resides, another will follow. What will my next wave be? Will it drag me to my death in the violent swell? My legs are getting tired and weak. I can't stand up in the waves forever.

Today at work I knocked over a glass bottle full of water. It shattered on the concrete floor, and as I bent to clean the mess, a piece cut my hand, ever so slightly, and a thousand memories rushed to provoke me. I held the shards gingerly and wondered what it would be like to die of swallowing ground glass in a drink. I imagine it would feel somewhat like sandpaper grating against my throat. I didn't drink anymore water until after work, for fear of the harsh sound of explosion; panic; everyone staring if only for a moment.

Fischerspooner makes my mind wander...

So, this won't be an original thought, since Blogspot just deleted my post...yarr. But anyway...

As a salesperson, I can always recognize when someone is throwing me a pitch. Usually I play along and strike up a conversation, all the while thinking about how they must think they're so clever....Actually, I usually sell something to them, by flipping their sales tactics around. Chocolate definitely sells itself, and it's a good product for any store. Check out our website! www.chocolatenecessities.com We sell both wholesale and retail. Oh, my name's Ruthie, nice to meet you! Come see me at the store, I'll show you around! Alright, have a great day! etc. [/high pitched femme voice].

Really, everyone is constantly selling themselves. We work hard to create a facade of ourselves, sometimes exaggerating or acting out. We dress ourselves in a way we think will appeal to others. We attempt at humor, and try to adapt to the tastes of potential "buyers" by the things we do and say, and how we do and say them. I see it in myself all the time.

[There is a yellow jacket buzzing around in the bag I just got from Barnes and Noble...I'm not quite sure what to do...]

Tomorrow my brother and I are "entertaining," as it were. We jazzed up the apartment and I got some actual cooking supplies, so I'm going to try and clean and make something relatively edible for a crowd of five...shouldn't be too hard, right? Luis speaks Spanish, English and a little French (he's in Jordan's French class), Jordan speaks a fair amount of French, I speak a little French and a great deal of Spanish, Bart speaks English, and Chelsea speaks a tiny bit of Spanish. It should be fun...

Ahhh fuck.

My last post just got deleted >.<

Homework.

I am extremely tired. blah. Autumn just makes me want to curl up in a ball and eat squash soup by the fire. Our apartment has a fireplace, and it's so nice in the evenings : )

I don't really have much to say right now, I have to make my mind think about Anthropology.

A Twist of Fate

When I was two years old, two Chadian men stopped my parents in N'djamena. One said "I want to marry your daughter, what is your price?" Knowing the custom, my parents did not refuse--they named their price: forty cows, one camel and two Toyota pickup trucks. The men gasped; this was a king's fortune. They went on their way and thus, I am not an African bride.

But if anyone wants to marry me, they will have to pay this price...

Small feats.

The other night I had a dream that my Scottish ancestors were fighting the Irish, and I was watching from behind a rock on a sort of cliff. Above me were two Irishmen who were watching and talking about the battle. The Scottish were winning, but the two observers did not seem afraid; they looked confident and smug, and one told the other to wait. All of a sudden, a wind rushed onto the field and knocked everyone over, killing them instantly. The Irishman called them "wind warriors" with a grim look on his face. I hid myself under a thick blanket, hoping they would miss me, but knowing what was coming. The wind washed over me and I died as I woke up. It was a horrible feeling, but I haven't yet tried to figure out it's significance.

Every day when I walk home from the bus stop, the same dog barks persistently at me, and I usually bark back. Today, I hissed instead, and the woman in front of me looked at me like she thought I was going to eat her. A little girl at the apartment complex stopped on her tricycle to ask me "why are you here?" I told her I lived here and she rewarded me with a full smile, minus one front tooth.

The Last Happy Night of Your Life

AKA Ruthie in Wonderland: My Trip to the Big City

No, I didn't see any caterpillars with hookahs or hang out with any Cheshire Cats...but I did see a homeless man who could tell jokes and stick his fingers in his eye sockets! My roommate and I took a few city buses down to Seattle yesterday to see the Mountain Goats and Kaki King at the Showbox @ the Market. First we hung out with some trendy art school kids in Belltown, and then we hit up the grocery store for some microwave burritos. Alllllright.

Kaki King, who I'd never heard of before the show, was phenomenal. Their lead guitarist was just a ball of cuteness and energy and dykiness. She opened with a rad slap guitar solo, and then the rest of the band came out. She also had a lovely, eerie voice rather reminiscent of that of Portishead's vocalist.They played a great set and ended with a rousing German hardcore punk anthem. She probably switched guitars about ten times during the show, and her guitar playing was absolutely extraterrestrial. By the end of the night, Nik was in love (mind you, he had no idea that she's a staunch lesbian.)

The Mountain Goats, of whom I am a gigantic fan, came onstage after Kaki, and baaahhhh it just made me so happy (seriously, I made a similar noise when Darnielle started into his first song.) My brother and I have the whole Mountain Goats discography, which, I realized, is actually quite common among Mountain Goats fans. They played a lot of old favorites and some new ones, and Darnielle played the audience like a lord. He did some acoustic songs, and then about three songs with Kaki King on guitar, which was rad. He dropped his guitar pick about halfway through the show and I made Bart get it for me. So that was Monday night.

I'm finally getting to know my way around Seattle; it doesn't seem as menacing as it did before. Bart and I wandered around until we found Motorre Coffee (great coffee, by the way), just across from the Greyhound station. We had a lot of time to kill, so I caught up on some schoolwork while Bart dissected a New Yorker. At some point or another I had to go the bathroom, so I went to find one...

I went down a hall that looked like it probably led to a bathroom, but all there was at the end was an unmarked door, so I turned back.

Then I asked one of the baristas where I could find a bathroom, and she directed me through a glass door on my left. "Just walk past the security guard." uh huh.

Needless to say, he didn't let me in, since apparently I wasn't chique enough for their bathrooms...

So I went back, and she told me to just walk past the guard again, but I didn't want to, so I asked where else there might be a bathroom.

"Well, the key to the women's bathroom got stolen, but you could see if Taco del Mar has one."
That sounded like way to much effort, so I decided to hold it.

Finally, when I couldn't hold it any longer, I opted use the men's bathroom, which was down the first hall with the unmarked door.

I unlocked the door and walked in to the smelly, single-stall bathroom only to be startled by a shifty looking guy in the stall who said "Hello, miss." I'm not sure who was more shocked.

I went back to the coffee shop and told her that there was someone in there, not realizing that Taco del Mar, Motorre Coffee, and 'A' Pizza Mart all shared a single bathroom.

I decided to weigh my options. I could:
A. Hold it for a long time until the guy left the bathroom
B. Hold it forever. Give up.
C. Try to find another women's restroom key...

I chose option C. The barista told me that "One of the doors opens into Taco del Mar." Thanks.

There were about five unmarked, tan doors in the corridor. The aroma of fish tacos mingled with pepperoni pizza, exhaust and bathroom cleaner lingered in the air. hmmm...which door should I choose.

I opened the door directly in front of me, and found myself in a world of color, a pizza parlour run by a friendly-looking Indian woman. 'A' Pizza Mart, read the sign on the window. I didn't think the name was very appealing. The woman handed me a key and pointed me towards the restroom. I must have given her a gaze worthy of a goddess.

As I went out into the corridor, I noticed a man with a horrible bloody nose and blood running down his chin trying to get in to the men's bathroom. I told him there was probably someone in there.

I unlocked the door to the women's bathroom, my heart pounding, hoping no one would be shooting up inside...

But no one was there. I did my business, gave back the key and went back to my reading.

And so ends the epic tale of a very small person in a very large world.

Mushrooms!

On a whim, I went to the Wild Mushrooms festival at Bloedel Donovan today, put on by the Northwest Mushroom Association (I know, right?) Anyway, it was amazing! And I'm now a proud member of the association and owner of my very own Shiitake log! whoo! There was a ton of information on wild mushrooms of the PNW, and the displays were fantastic. They also had cookbooks, mushroom-hunting guides and a mushroom identification table. The best part, though, was the food. First I had roasted chanterelles on buttered French bread, and then this amazing creamy herb soup with some kind of delicious mushroom that I can't remember the name of. On my way home I found five different kinds of lawn mushrooms that I'm going to identify and (hopefully) eat.

So, I dedicate this to the morel, my favorite fungus:

Oh Grim Reaper of flora,

Queen of decay,

fragile and beautiful you wait in the cool, damp earth

to collect the souls of the forest;

until someone collects you.

hehe

íOh! I forgot!

I just Mountain Goats tickets! The show is Monday the 20th at the Showbox. They'll be presenting The Last Happy Night of Your Life. yay. I'm stokkkked.

Also, when making balsamic caramels, I ran out of caramel. So Shu and I added lavender extract and made lavender-vanilla truffles in a white chocolate ganache and coated them with dark. I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate, but these turned out pretty well and we were able to use our excess vanilla ganache from the caramels. The bitter taste of lavender really complements the sweetness of the Mexican vanilla. mmmm.

A visit with the family...

Corban says he has an "eternal tickle" in the back of his throat. He's been home sick for the past week or so with symptoms of strep, poor kid. He's just like me when I was younger. I always had strep syndromes but never an actual strep diagnosis. Corban's twin brother, Jesse, barely gets sick, and when he does it's not nearly as hard-hitting. Corban kind of got the short end of the stick in the womb, so to speak. Jesse definitely got more testosterone and other nutrients. He's more aggressive, bigger, stronger and healthier, whereas Corban is emotional and more content to sit inside and make art.

I wish the boys could have the kind of life Jordan and I had when we were little (well, aside from a few things). We lived in Quebec, Africa and Texas, and my mom homeschooled us for a long time. We didn't really get sucked into the technological world as my brothers are now, and we learned so much more from my mom and from our reading-based curriculum than we would have learned from any public school. Sometimes I wish I could homeschool them myself, since my parents no longer have time.

But they're turning out just fine : )

Le sigh.

Every time I tell myself I'm going to keep some free time in my schedule, I end up loading myself down with commitments and such.

I started drinking coffee again...

Ben's Honors Seminar on the Epic in Text and Performance is great. Basically, we read Beowulf, The Battle of Kosovo, various other epics and interesting articles and talk about them for two hours a week. Narrowing my focus like this has really let me explore one of the oldest classic forms of literature. I'm having an awesome time : )
Ben is bringing Benjamin Bagby to WCC at the end of this month, and it should be pretty amazing. He'll be performing, from memory, the first third of Beowulf in the original (albeit reconstructed) Anglo-Saxon (with supertitles) in the style of a bard. Our class is teaming up with the art department at Whatcom to make Grendel's bloody, sinewy arm, which we'll hang above Benjamin's head. We're making it out of tree branches, sticks and papier maché. Tickets are almost sold out, but you can get them at WCC and (I think) Village Books.

Crazy dream

I was with Jordan, Bart and Jeni at some sort of carnival or resort and we needed to escape. Jeni took us to her "house", which was a concrete shelter on the end of a dock. It was a beautiful sunny day, and Jordan took his bike from where it was stored in the shelter, which was full of water and outdoor gear. I tried to take another bike, but Jordan kept telling me it was "too soft". Then I realized it was covered in batting and blue satin. So we left on Jordan's bike, riding and floating across the bay. After riding on a road for awhile, we saw a small, boxlike car where three tiny women dressed like Amish dolls in red were riding home. They stopped at a house with dry grass and a ditch by the roadside, and then they were all magically wearing shorts and T-shirts, and we realized they were witches. Bart and I recognized them from some earlier time. They had straw sun hats, wings and grey hair, and all of a sudden they began to shrink until they flattened themselves out into flower/weed-caterpillars on the grass and stopped moving. Then they started to skitter around, and change back and forth between their human and...other form. One came down into the ditch and Jeni touched it and it turned into a cat skin and started gliding around on the ground. Then I woke up.

Domesticity

So I'm in the kitchen choppin' this wierdo vegetable that looks like a tadpole; I figure you can toss anything in a stir fry. So I'm in there, right? and all of a sudden the place starts to reek of root beer. So I check around a bit, y' know, it's not a big place, and I come across this purple mess in the bathtub. Turns out Jordan's mixed up some kinda chemical cocktail; says he's been cleanin'. I dunno about the whole thing; seems kinda fishy to me...

Thinking...or not?

I think I've sweated out all of my wit with all the running around I do. Maybe I need to clear out my mind a little bit...

Not too much to say.

Not much time to say it.

As of today.

I am working less. In theory. That probably won't happen, as I'm sure I'll end up putting in 40-50 hours weekly into chocolate...it's kind of becoming an obsession. The transition to madness would not be much of a change for me. Soon I'll be holed up in the Chocolate Necessities warehouse. My eyes will be permanently red from the fluorescent lights and my skin will be paper-thin from all of the handwashing. BUT! I'll be an expert chocolatiére!

In my "spare time" I've decided to teach three of my good friend and hairdresser's children beginning Spanish. I'm figuring out a fun way to go about it, and I'll start this Friday. There is a new program in Washington in which homeschooling parents are paid $1,000 per child per year for school materials and other miscellanea. In addition to the stipend, the program pays for children's private lessons in any subject. Tutors in these subjects get their names put on a list and are referred to other homeschoolers. I'm really excited to start, and I hope everything goes smoothly.

I've also been (kind of) getting more sleep recently. Usually I go to bed around 10:00 and sleep until 5:30. Once I get a bike, though, I'd like to wake up at 4:00 and bike to work. We'll see how that one goes. I've never been a morning person, but it's nice to get as much out of the day as possible. This morning I went to the gym for an hour before heading off to school.

Dance has also consumed a significant part of my life. The troupe is perfecting our first 3 choreographies and working on 4 new ones, but it's really beginning to come easier to everyone. Zils are still a challenge, but I've been practicing until my fingers turn purple!

Speaking of bellydance, there's a show this Saturday at Indian Flavors restaurant (best Indian food in town!) at around 7:00. Ruby and Sedona (Seattle) will dance. Sedona just won the Bellydancer USA competition, so it's pretty exciting to have her in town!

It's been awhile

Yes, indeed it has. I haven't really had much internet access nor time to blog lately, but school's back in session so I should be updating my blog.

I tried out the vanilla black pepper truffle, and it turned out pretty well, though I'd like to change a few things. We added medium ground pepper to the vanilla ganache, and I think I'd like more peppery crunch next time. I felt like the flavour was lost with such a fine grind. I sprinkled medium-ground pepper on top of the truffles, which added a nice little kick, but Kevin kept choking on the pepper...he liked it though. Overall, the truffle was pretty sweet since we used a white chocolate base. I liked the sweetness, though, and I think it will work in the future with a few minor tweaks. The pepper flavour was almost an after-taste, which is nice but not what I want. Next time I think we'll steep the pepper into the cream like a spicy chai. I feel like that will create a more balanced profile. Check out the truffles at either Chocolate Necessities location www.chocolatenecessities.com
My next project, time permitting, will be a curry truffle in a nutty milk base. Curry can be pretty overwhelming, and using a complex Spice Hut blend could be difficult to maneuver since some flavours are stronger than others, but we'll try it out.
My life has been fairly consumed by chocolate lately. The other day I was kind of on a manic adrenaline kick and I ended up working two days straight--twenty-five hours through the night...I got a lot done for sure, and I ended up cleaning up the store pretty well. Coincidentally, we had a health inspector show up the next day. Ah, life treats me well.

Sugar, sugar, sugar

I found five four-leaf clovers on my lunch break today. I was rather impressed with myself.

I also learned how to make coconut gianduja filling...which means I ate lots of coconut gianduja. (coconut gianduja=coconut flakes+white chocolate). Shu's back, so we'll be messing around with flavours before too long. We're trying to bring in a more savoury element to the chocolate, though Kevin, the head chocolatier and store owner, thinks spices and "food" flavours overpower the taste of chocolate. We've decided to prove him wrong......I have so many ideas floating in my head.....

• black pepper with Tahitian vanilla in a dark shell.
• sweet red bean paste in a bittersweet shell.
• BEER! We've done it before...Deschutes Brewery should be putting out their Abyss Stout soon, I can't wait.
• any herb, really. Now that Shu has perfected the tea truffle, we can infuse almost anything into the cream.

the possibilities are endless...

Oh, speaking of flavour, this cupcake-maker seems to have some pretty wild ideas: http://ecupcake.blogspot.com/
I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but they look great. I like that she mentions any problems she encounters.

Art

Bellingham's Gallery Walk this Friday was wonderful. First, I went to see art by Erin Libby at the Blue Horse Gallery. If you have time, I suggest you check it out. Her art is very surreal and full of life and mischief. Some of Tammy Zlotnik's work was also on display as part of a memorial exhibit (one of about four in town!) I also checked out some of Tammy's work at Allied Arts. I also saw some art by Trish Harding (I can't remember the name of her studio, but it's in the same building as the Blue Horse).

I'm falling in love with a word.

I scribble it over and over.
I tumble it on my tongue,
stretch its syllables,
wring it dry,
dissect it until it sounds like some non-sound;
some extraterrestrial utterance...
the sound of wind on paper.

Yesterday

the last hints of summer lingered in the air, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It isn't quite autumn yet; that will be heralded by the sudden ripening of blackberries and the reddening of the maple leaves. All at once, the season will collapse on us like a building. Summer's hard work will come crashing down as tomatoes and pumpkins birth their last, only to be ravaged by death and decay.

Going back underground.

It feels so good to be back making chocolate. I spent twelve hours at the shop today, just playing in that beautiful liquid velvet...
I can feel the hectic Christmas rush creeping up, and I know I won't get out of here much for awhile, but that's half the fun of it all.

I was alone in the back today. I ended up listening to the Democratic National Convention in the evening on NPR, which was interesting. The static added to the aesthetic of the whole ordeal.

I'm feeling restless.

8th Annual Subdued Stringband Jamboree

It was kind of a toss-up between the Jamboree and Meltdown this year, but I decided to head out to Deming and see what all the fuss was about. I got there late Friday night, since I had stayed in town to watch the Muddy Boots play at the market and eat some delicious unagi from Makizushi. We arrived just as Kristen Allen-Zito was started her set, with Yann on the mandolin and a couple other musicians. Then Robert Sarazin Blake, the man of the hour himself, graced us with a rambling appearance on a fittingly rustic homemade stage (materials courtesy of the Re-Store!) I think I tuned out several performers (I was running on about three hours of sleep, and the ground was just so inviting), but luckily I caught C.R. Avery and his derring do at the end of the night. I do believe he closed the show. It was a lovely night, but I probably don't do it justice in words since I was half asleep.

Saturday was great. I went back into town and got some more provisions for the Jamboree. We hitchhiked out around 3, and didn't have much trouble getting lifts down the Mt. Baker Highway. It was a drizzly Northwest sort of day, but that didn't discourage any festival-goers. Now that it was actually daylight I saw a lot of people from Bellingham and met some from beyond. Whiskey was at hand, as were hula hoops and other merriment. This year they set up a second stage (the Slanted Stage) for bands and other acts during intermission on the big stage. The Sour Mash Hug Band was playing when we got there, and that's also where the infamous Band Scramble took place, during which members were randomly selected from different bands and combined with others. One of the results of this was a trio involving an acoustic bass, a washtub bass and a stand-up bass. They were moseying along, pickin' some folksy tunes, and then all of a sudden they busted out a Black Sabbath classic. You can only imagine. The Gallus Brothers, Monday Night Project and the Tall Boys all played on the big stage, and there were a couple more Slanted Stage acts as well, including something hilariously elephantine from the Gallus Gals and a parade of face-painted children. Rain came sporadically throughout the day, making it all a guessing game, and that much more fun. It really started coming down around midnight, when we lit up the bonfires and headed for shelter. At the fire we were at, there was something like a jam involving a fiddle, a guitar and a harmonium. We sat and talked about anything and everything and most of us got about five hours or so of sleep.

Oh my. How things change.

I'm still not sleeping...

The days are growing over the nights like ivy on a hot brick wall. Soon, autumn will brown and whither the vines, their regal trident leaves. Night's appendages will rip up the sunwashed earth, shatter the light and seep into every orifice of day.

I haven't been writing/talking to myself as much lately. And, I confess, these thoughts are recycled. I've gathered all my bescribbled receipts and bookmarks and other writing surfaces in the hope of collecting myself. I'm going to type them up, but they mayn't make much sense. Bart gave me a notebook. That should help a bit.

I've had a lot of company and lots of movement these days. My summer is going just splendidly. I've gotten in touch with old friends and met some wonderful new ones. work is not at all overwhelming, but I'm worried about stocking up product for the fall season. I've moved in with Jordan, and we talk about books and women, among other things. Living with him reminds me of our childhood, when it was just the two of us having adventures and catching lizards. I think that back then we were a little better nourished. Jordan survives on tuna melts, chimichangas, empty pie crusts, waffles, and pumpkin pie. He works at Cash and Carry, so it is not unlikely to find a gigantic tub of ice cream or a box of microwave burritos in the freezer. I try to make do with my busy life. I mostly drink tea and eat bagels or cook, when I have time. Groceries are scarce, mostly due to the fact that I usually don't have time to shop.

I like it here, though, I think I'll stay: sleeping on a grass mat on rented floor;
waking to watch the sun bloom on the old deck or the dew drops clinging to spruce needles;
writing my thoughts on borrowed paper with a borrowed pen, a collection of negative space and books surrounding me like woolly insulation; exhausting thought and breath; the morning light a soft, pale blue; the warmth of the night; a library of smells in the cupboard; years of thought on printed page; the bestial walls of the bathroom, and boxes. Boxes, boxes and boxes. Bouncing memory back and forth like a rubber ball. Like four-square that one fateful year of Christian school. On lazy mornings I have time to think, to breathe, to organize my closet. Wild creativity grows over this place like jungle vines as the next season gleefully asserts itself.

Things happened, minds changed and mine decided not to travel this summer. To my relief, actually. I'm glad to have one more leisurely month in Washington before school starts. I've really enjoyed the time I have spent here.

Travel

So I'm planning to head south this September. I'll fly in to Panamá and stay there for awhile, then I'll somehow make it to Colombia. Apparently there are no buses from Panamá to Colombia, even though the two border each other. This is all thanks to the Darién Gap, which begins south of the Panamá Canal, where the Interamerica ends. This stretch of land is an incredibly dangerous jungle full of malarial mosquitoes, poisonous snakes, other crazy jungle animals, and Colombian drug smugglers and guerrillas. I thought it sounded pretty romantic and all, but I think I'm going to end up taking a boat. Flying is to expensive. This http://magliery.com/Thompson/misctext/darien.txt
is the info I found regarding boating from Panamá to Colombia. Apparently there aren't any ferry systems. I'll probably follow his advice for taking a small boat.

Things.

Work went just swimmingly yesterday. First, all the credit card machines in the Public Market decided to go on strike and stop functioning. Then the cash register informed me it was out of ink by beeping incessantly. Then it told me to change its batteries, but changed its mind and started running again. Then it decided to beep at me any time I pressed a button. Then it completely shut down. All the while I'm recording everything in a notebook, using my cell phone calculator to add things up. Oh, and the battery on my phone eventually died, so I brushed up on my math and went with the old pencil and paper.

Everything, including me, is PMS-ing.


On a lighter note, I went river rafting today with the International Friendship Club at Whatcom (or the Asians and Friends Club...). We went over to the Nooksack with Hobo River Guides and took on some class 3-4 rapids with names like Shiva's Girdle, Death Drop and Spiderman. The rapids were actually pretty mild, since the river was so low. They were nothing compared to the Fraser up in B.C. It was awesome though, and I learned some words in Korean.

Bellingham is:

• Full of foodies. I love how every culinarian appreciates the art of flavour and is eager to share creations, ideas and insights. It's not a big enough town to be snobby, and there's enough diversity in the culinary community that competition isn't much of an issue.
• Teeming with bombshells. And not just the prototype California babes, no. We've got cute nerds, dark, mysterious vamps, rockabilly chicks, butchy heartthrobs, coffeehouse leeches, smart girls, sophisticati, hippies, dancers and all around good lookin' ladies. Kudos to us. (Some of the men are okay too.)
• Electric. This city is so manic in its ecstatic undercurrents, all of which criss-cross and tangle until ideas grow like bacteria.
• A lot more than meets the eye...

Vetring specter.

I've strayed from the navigable waters of my mind. Eyes wandering listlessly; fingers searching for tangible evidence of a past. The concrete is cold and smooth on my bare feet, and I want to flatten myself to it. The lines on my hand, like a flock of birds in flight, seek to renew my vivacity. They guide me through physical creation, but the motor overtakes the mind.

hrm. well enough stream of consciousness bullshit.

I just finished Pico Iyer's Video Night in Kathmandu, a survey of various Asian cultures and how they have turned American culture on its head. In each country, he focuses on a specific manifestation of the cultural hybridization between east and west. The chapter on the Philippines just blew me away. Iyer is a journalist for Time magazine, and a fabulous travel writer. Though the book was written in the late Eighties, it shows incredible insight into the so-called Pax Americana and the coming age.

The other night I gashed my hand on a cluster of amethyst crystals. Ironically, amethyst is supposed to have healing power. Whoops, karma slip. It should leave a wicked scar though.

I like the way cars skitter about town like ferrel rodents, anxious to escape a cat. Rumour has it that the Washington state government plans to decrease the speed limit and raise the gas tax. Meh, doesn't affect me much.

Ruby might be setting up a troupe tour to Turkey next Fall. That would be absolutely luscious. I get all hot and bothered just thinking about it.

Tonight I absentmindedly walked into the Downtown Sounds concert in the alley between the Wild Buffalo and Mindport. Round Mountain, who I had never heard before, was playing some delicious folk fusion. I had a great time dancing with a crazy Irish step dancer. The band (and all of its two members!) used a lot of really exotic instruments, which they routinely switched out during the show. Good stuff. Reminded me of nights in Antigua.

The times they are a-changin'...

The morning glory and peppermint are competing for control of the house. I'm rooting for the mint, but the morning glory has already climbed inside the house, through the floor and up the walls. It's too bad I'm leaving this place. It's peaceful here.

I'm only going a few blocks away though, over to Toledo with Jordan. In the interval between now and August, I'll be a little bit of everywhere. Probably at the studio, on Lummi Island, at Gretchen's by the college, and wherever else I happen to end up.

Strawberries, plain yoghurt, ginger syrup and rosemary go extremely well together.

Sunburnt and worn-out.

Just got back from a trip to Seattle with a couple of hot bellydancers. The festival was awesome...I spent a whole lot of money...

We met some folks from Portland who were floating around in Seattle with no money. Best pick-up line ever: "Hey! Do you like raw seafood?"
I hope they make it up to Bellingham at some point. I have a feeling they'd feel quite at home here. They rather showered us with presents. Alice gave Tara a velvet jacket, and she gave me something striped and velvet. They also gave both of us necklaces and Alice drew us sitting there. I think her name was actually April.

Procrastination.

The cat is being adorable, she's such a lush. She keeps staring at me pleadingly with those big green alien eyes of hers and curling her paws up like only a feline can.

I should be doing my Humanities essay right now, but I'll probably save it until late Sunday night. Ben's pretty lax about it anyway, considering he changed the entire theme of the course the first day of class because he was bored with it. Way to rock the boat man, you really startled all those international students. This Fall I'll be taking his honors seminar on "The Epic in Literature and Theatre." It should be pretty rad, considering Beowulf and parts of the Qu'ran are required reading. I might, might might review The Baron in the Trees for my presentation, but that could get twisty. hah. twisty. What a great word.

I hope it gets nice today, 'cause I'm planning on getting Sushi with Molly and Gen and heading to the library lawn for Felix Sonnyboy.

The Stringband Jamboree is coming up pretty soon as well, advanced tickets are at the Co-op and Avalon.

click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click--high heels on pavement.

Allure.

Apparently she has it.

Supposedly, it will get her into trouble.

Damn, those were some good brownies.

So Gretchen fed me a bunch of brownies from her freezer yesterday. She's moving, so she's trying to get rid of food, clothes, furniture, etc. They tasted great, but I had no idea they were as potent as they were.... Let's just say rollerblading home was lots of fun.

I just got Labcabincalifornia, by Pharcyde. They are definitely one of my favorite hip hop groups. Anyway, the album is from the late nineties, and it's absolutely delicious, in the trend of much 80's-90's hip hop. The piano work in the background is excellent, but it wasn't the album I was looking for. Bizarre Ride is Pharcyde's best album, in my opinion, with classics like Passing Me By and Otha Fish. I requested a copy at Avalon.

Speaking of various artistic productions, I saw Sergei Bodrov's Mongol on Tuesday at the Pickford. http://www.mongolmovie.com/
It was full of great information about pastoral and tribal life in Mongol in the time of the Khans (of course, facts were relatively embellished) and it was one of the most badass movies I've seen in awhile. Go see it.

This whole sleeping in thing is really nice. For some reason, my alarm just doesn't wake me up anymore. I regret not being able to make chocolate more during the week, that will definitely come crashing down on me during the Christmas rush. I shudder at the thought.

My life is going to be changing considerably in the next few weeks. I'm house sitting until the end of July, and then possibly moving back in with my brother Jordan. But that might fall through, since his girlfriend may also be moving in soon. If I don't stay with Jordan, I'm not really sure where I'll go once I get back from Panama. I'm tempted to go back to my dance studio in N. Bellingham, but that would mean moving back in with my folks...not quite sure if I want to do that.

The final lineup for Bumbershoot was announced a couple days ago. There are tons of great artists, films and other sensory morsels; I'm all flustered just thinking about it. Czech it out.

The 2008 Bumbershoot music lineup includes Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Death Cab For Cutie, T.I., The Offspring, Keyshia Cole, Lucinda Williams, Paramore, Neko Case, Band of Horses, The Black Keys, Superchunk, Nada Surf, Ingrid Michaelson, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Jakob Dylan, !!!, Mike Doughty, Old 97's, Xavier Rudd, Anti-Flag, Minus the Bear, M. Ward, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Man Man, Joe Bonamassa, Saul Willliams, Brother Ali, Battles, Aiden, The Walkmen, Kid Sister, Estelle, Unearth, Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Weakerthans, Sons and Daughters, Asylum Street Spankers, Dan Deacon, Two Gallants, Blitzen Trapper, Sondre Lerche, Bedouin Soundclash, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Tim Finn, Cheb I Sabbah & 1002 Nights featuring Riffat Sultana, Dale Watson, The Whigs, John Vanderslice, Flobots, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Final Fantasy, Adele, The Fall of Troy, Orgone, Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles, Forro in the Dark, These Arms Are Snakes, The Blakes, Sweet Water, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Pacifika, Arthur & Yu, Darondo & Nino Moschella, Vicci Martinez, Ian Moore, Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands, Barcelona, Kinski, Throw Me The Statue, J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science, Tyrone Wells, Howlin Rain, Monotonix, Black Eye & Neckties, The Shackeltons, West Indian Girl and many more.

But Bumbershoot is much more than music… the Festival also features three stages of comedy such as Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Behrendt, Doug Benson, PRI's "The Sound of Young America" Live with host Jesse Thorn, and MTV's "Human Giant" stars (Aziz Ansari, Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel) will bring the popular show to the stage with a little help from their friends, just to name a few.

Beyond music and comedy, the Festival offers up a world of arts to make every fan's schedule full (SO full, in fact, that you might wanna put to use Bumbershoot's handy interactive schedule to create and save your own personalized plans and share them with friends!)

The complete lineup includes everything from sci-fi legend William Gibson to Australia's Strange Fruit, The Seattle-Tehran Poster Show to The Post-It Note Reading Series, the 1 Reel Film Festival to Pacific Northwest Ballet, and much, much more.

I'm going all three days, and I'll probably end up in a Marriott again with Michael Raper, Ian Imhof, Taylor, Tom, Chris and whoever else ends up on the floor. Maybe we'll find some gorgeous people and have a hotel party. Whoo!

On Thursdays from 11-7 and Sundays from 1-6, I work at the gelato/chocolate shop in the Public Market. I suggest all you Bellinghamsters pay me a visit or two. I get bored hanging out in the corner all day...

Happy Thursday!

ah, Brazilian music.

I just got the newest DJ Dolores album, which features the lovely vocals and talents of Isaar and other artists. Perfect summertime music, with a little Samba, a little Dub, a little Bossa Nova, a little Bhangra, some Jazzy stuff and oh, so much more. Love it.

Speaking of music, the Showbox is putting on some rad shows this fall. So far I'm planning on seeing Gogol Bordello, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, The Heiroglyphics, and Ozomatli feat. Chali2na of Jurassic 5. whoo! Right after Bumbershoot, too; that lovely buffet of music from near and afar.

Also, Medfest next weekend will be awesome. The troupe is performing on Saturday evening with Ruby. I'll probably blow some serious cash on bling. There are worse addictions. The Friday show at Indian Flavors went pretty well, considering I had about 2 hours to dream up a performance. I draped myself in five yards of sari silk and found some random Egyptian song from probably the 1940's. There's a video of a slowish part here, courtesy of Gretchen: http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z72/amorenonlosa/Dance/
Indian%20Flavors%20July%202008/?action=view&current=Ruthie095.flv

Vaudevillingham this month was lovely. There are a few blurry and glitzy pics here: http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z72/amorenonlosa/Bellingham/
Vaudevillingham/
We went swimming in Lake Padden afterwards, and I caught up with an old friend and made a new one.

Bellingham seems to get smaller and smaller by the day as I start talking to people and realizing that I know them through association or otherwise or have acquainted myself with them at some point. I saw at least five people I know today, just walking down Cornwall. I guess this is what happens when I stay home for the Summer.

I decided to dig up some of my old angsty/wierd writings and type them up, just for kicks. So the old me will be making an appearance in the near future. Watch out.

My gosh, I haven't really been climbing this Summer. I don't think I'll be able to compete much this Fall. Seattle's too expensive anyway. I miss it, but I think I'll have to shove it under the rug for awhile, since I don't have much time to go to B.C.

I'm in the process of planning a trip to Panama to visit my friend Rachel, who offered to show me around. I didn't think I was going to travel at all this summer, but I'm stoked to revisit Central America.

Not asleep.

My mind is restless. I can't wait to get out of the country again, it just wipes everything clean.

Swimming at night is lovely. So is sweet, sweet slumber.

Scrambled.

This week has been a little off.

The other day I closed the shop an hour early, thinking it was an hour later than it was. Yesterday, I woke up two hours late because I forgot to turn on the sound of my radio alarm. Today, I woke up an hour late, missed three buses and accidentally showed up an hour early to class. Also, I'm having trouble with common sense and with thinking and communicating. This is not good.


In other news,
I have a raging headache. Even though I drink about six or seven Nalgene bottles of water every day, I still get dehydrated all the time.

I was informed today that I'm performing a solo this Friday at Indian Flavors. I should probably find some music.

I decided to stay a little longer at community college and get a start on my language requirements for later.

I'm not feeling witty, just tired and whiny.


I saw a couple of excellent movies this week at the Pickford. Gorgeous Audrey Tautou from the movie Amelie starred in Priceless, a French film about a sexy gold digger, a hotel worker and a few twists of fate. I know, it sounds like a chick flick. But it's great.

I also saw OSS117, a French parody of 007. Absolutely blossoming with innuendo and a humor that only the French can offer. Oh, and an original Pink Panther style soundtrack.

I love the way French women say cigarette.

Things I do and don't.

I've been coming to terms with a few things lately. First: no matter how hard I try, I just can't go down hills on rollerblades. Second: I like having my significant other gone for long periods of time and hoping they won't come back but wishing that they would. Maybe that's why I like long-distance relationships. Third, I'm a workaholic. Yes, I'm addicted to workahol.

But seriously. It's summertime! In Bellingham! And I'm hanging out in a warehouse with no windows, getting chocolate all over my clothes. I can sympathize with Willy Wonka.

I've also been hanging out with Gretchen a lot. We're in a bellydance troupe together, so we routinely get drunk and put off practicing or costuming by cooking weird food or watching American Psycho and the like. Then Shelby and Michael come over and we get more drunk and watch Lost (I don't understand why they like it so much...) I guess that's what summer's all about.

Cheers.

Crawling back into cyberspace

Oh wow. It's been awhile.

Since September of last year, I worked my ass off at work, spent awhile in Guatemala and Chile, worked some more, met someone, met someone else, dragged my feet, started dancing Tango, started school again....

So far, my summer has been great. I'm taking one seven credit Humanities class over the summer, and, in the words of my instructor, "It's like the U.N. in here!" Indeed. We have thirty people in our class. About ten of them are from different parts of Japan, three are from Hong Kong, one from Shanghai, one from Taiwan, one from Italy, one Portuguese, one Russian, one Ukrainian, one Filipina, a woman from Indiana, a recently converted divorcee from the South, Shelby, Chris, a couple of nondescript Caucasians and myself. Ben Kohn, the professor, is German, and slightly crazy in a slightly different way than the rest of us. The class is great. Three and a half hours every Monday and Wednesday, but we keep it interesting.

I spent my Independence Day at my dance teacher Ruby's house. Robert Blake, Jordan from Yogoman Burning Band and Yanne played some great folk music and Chuck Barry covers. Tofu dogs and Bratwurst were in abundance, as were neighbors, musicians, wine and beer. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend the evening, and listening to American folk music made me feel rebelliously patriotic.