Another Photo

Hey, it's a new toy. I have to play with it, or I'll feel my $91 was wasted. I will not waste $91!



This is the fireplace, not ever being used for actual fires, just candles. So far, all we have are Christian effects, but we intend for the place to be more of a Unitarian Church. I don't even think any of us housemates consider ourselves Christian--certainly, one is pagan and another is lately Buddhist--but the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and kitschy photos of Jesus are pretty easy to come by. Small white tea lights are good for anything.

On to other things.

Kevin is here. He is eating rice cakes in bed. Lately I have gotten whiny about the presence of crumbs in bed and have discouraged doing things that might increase crumbs, but he claims he can be "careful."

The beach was lovely. The house is cozy (read: small), but not too small for a decent number of people to crash there for a weekend. It's comfortable. It will get more comfortable as mom does her thing.

We got in around 1:30 a.m. I was driving. At one point on Highway 30 en route to Astoria, the painted lines on the road faded to the point that I suddenly couldn't see them, and, startled, stopped the car. There was no one else around; I got my bearings quickly and continued on the road.

When we arrived, we walked to the beach, which is three blocks from the house. Some people were stoking a huge bonfire. We could hear the ocean, but barely see it. We walked around only briefly before returning to the house to sleep.

The next day I went to the outlet mall while Kevin was still asleep. I found a pair of jeans on sale for $20 that fit me well, but I thought this wasn't a fluke--silly me. Now I am dying for jeans that don't feel like they're three sizes too large. After Kevin woke up, I took the calzones I'd made and drove us to Cannon Beach to hang out near Haystack Rock. It was pleasant. We went to Safeway and planned a Mexican-style dinner with fake ice cream for dessert, then came home, ate, and watched Alias Betty, which was pretty good.

Yesterday we got up in the actual morning and cleaned up, washed sheets and dishes, and packed the car. I wanted to see if Fred Meyer or someplace else near Astoria had jeans I liked for about as cheap as the outlet store, but no luck. I decided I'd have to return to the outlet mall next time I was in town, hoping those same jeans were still on sale.

We stopped in Olympia around 4 o'clock and visited with Becky for over an hour before we needed to get on the road. I'd promised to take Paul out to dinner, so to Apollo's we went--it's probably the only place in town all three of us could eat well. By 7, we *really* needed to go, dropped Paul off at home--he pretended to roll out of the car and got whatever dirt was on the driveway all over his black polo shirt--and hit the freeway.

A little after 8, we were at Scarecrow, returning the DVD. By 9, we were at the Showbox, regrettably sans earplugs, for the Living Things, a band from St. Louis opening for Blur. Tickets said doors were at 9. The show started at 9. Living Things played a boring, hard-rocking set of songs featuring juvenile liberal political sentiments (very fuck-you-Bush, how daring). I kept expecting them to bust out with a fucking Ramones cover already, but they never did. Fortunately, the set only lasted about 20 minutes.

Blur's roadies spent the better part of an hour setting up. The music over the PA occasionally featured a popular Beastie Boys track, during which a handful of kids in the crowd started rocking out voraciously. They finally came out and played a long, rocking, fabulous set of new songs and old (several were from Parklife). I don't have a lot to say about the show; it was just fun and really cool to see frickin' Blur in such a small venue. Also, Damon Albarn is hot.