Sunday, January 08, 2006

Frog not blog.

It has been another set of forevers, hasn't it? Happy New Year and merry Christmas and Hanukkah and whatever else you've been celebrating out there in Internetland.

Since I last wrote, of course, plenty has happened. That's why I wasn't writing. I mean, shit, the blog loses out whether I'm busy as fuck or I'm bored to tears, and you'd have to assume going to the Northwest for a week and change doesn't qualify as "bored to tears." Or if you do, you are mean.

The trip went something like this: Four nights in Seaside with the family, one night in Olympia where Becky and her mom were briefly visited, one night in Portland/Beaverton where I crashed with my old friend Rachel, a train ride up to Seattle where I met up with Jenny for lunch, hauling all my shit around the I-district until Chris could come down with his big blue stallion (I mean, Volvo) and pick my ass up and let me stay on his couch for the next three nights.

The family part was good. The weather in Seaside was crap, so we hardly even went outside, but there were enough VH1 and Bravo reality TV marathons to keep us all busy for days. Well, and food prep and my nieces and the like. I got some good stuff (including a lovely new bag and another year of Netflix, meaning I will never have to pay to rent movies again, seemingly) and gave just as well, I think. The best, of course, was mom's black iPod nano, the cost of which my sister and I split. After my holiday bonus windfall, I also felt like buying her more presents, so I went to the Nordstrom Rack and found a nice pair of black Josef Seibel mary janes, figuring she'd end up returning them* so it was essentially a gift certificate, but she ended up putting them on and not wanting the receipt.

I wish I could've spent more time in Olympia. It always seems like hanging out with Becky is something that happens between other things (for her as well, no doubt) and that's sad.

Rachel has a new boyfriend, one her mother likes and seems to treat her well. She is a good friend for putting on a bathrobe and slippers at 6:45 am to drive me to the MAX station.

Seattle was great. Everyone told me to move back and part of me does want to. It's the part that's irresponsible, but still. I hadn't seen Jenny in ages, and she's so funny. The first couple times I called her to make plans, she answered the phone saying, "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!" because I guess it's just *that* special to receive a call from me.

There was a Harem party on Friday night that everyone came to. Well, everyone except Adam, who showed up the next day for some pre-Harem/Lander 7 (Christine, Josie, Graylan, Adam, and I make up that group) sandwiching, and Jen, who came to the New Year's Eve party instead. Anyway, I definitely saw everyone else that night, including my other old RA (who didn't quite remember my name, hah!). Reid hosted at her new house in Lynnwood, the house she and her fiance bought, which is impressive to the rest of us unattached leaseholders. The party was almost chaotic in its kitchenful of 20-somethings catching up. After almost everyone else left (mostly for other parties), Chris, Graylan, and I stayed and hung out with Reid and watched Bad(der) Santa, which was still just as funny to me and Chris as when we saw it in the theater and more funny to Reid and Graylan who hated it when they first saw it.

The people I saw the most of were Chris and Lauren, which is never a bad thing. More Chris than Lauren, of course, because he was doing nothing but preparation and shopping for his New Year's Eve gala and I went along for the ride (and because I have a Costco card). All his prep did not go to waste: the party went off beautifully, with ex-girlfriends and Something Awful goons and space house roommates and old friends mingling into the new year. Also, and do not judge me, but I was pretty drunk. This managed to be fun and not scary at all. The drunken New Year's Eve party experience was kind of a new one for me, and I reveled in it.

Until the end of the night, when all the guests had left and the people staying were getting ready to crash, a handful of partying neighbors showed up. One of them was drunk and gregarious to the point of hugging me and lifting me as part of the hug. We offered him some water, which he accepted, then turned and tried to give me another fizzy lifting hug but didn't keep his grip, so I fell backwards into a bookcase, hitting my head. They all left after that. I had a pretty nasty bruise on the back of my head, but no serious damage.

I slept like crap and I had a bad headache I can only assume came from the blow to the head, but it all went away with some coffee and an ibuprofen, so I was hangover-free. Chris called me out for my Irish heritage.

The next morning, Jana convened a delicious breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe which Tom, Josie, Danger, Graylan, and I attended. After that, she and Tom gave me a lift to the King Street Station, where I checked my bags and got some lunch at Uwajimaya and contemplated my foolish decision not to just pay to change my flight from Portland to Seattle.

This week has been back to work as usual. Well, one day I tried out my new New Balances, which hurt my toes to the point of numbness within 10 minutes of starting out. Unfortunately, I was also trying to get to work, and my boss spotted me walking down Winchester and, confused, pulled over to give me a lift the rest of the way. I think next time I will just wear my old Reeboks, which are at least broken in enough not to hurt that bad. This time I will also have a coffee thermos so it won't get cold like it did in my silly water bottle.

I'm cleaning my apartment this weekend, and damn if it isn't roomy. I also bought a vacuum cleaner. And I need to call Comcast and give their billing department hell.

Oh, and I finally saw Brokeback Mountain. It's gonna win awards, but it didn't *feel* like it--I mean, it didn't feel like obvious and horrible Oscar whoring, it just felt like a quality film. A sad fucking quality film.

* Mom is notoriously bad at finding shoes that meet with her feet's satisfaction. For some time, the only shoes she ever wore were a particular model of New Balances. However, due to her recent weight loss (100+ lbs. in a year--she looks amazing), her feet are not as wide and that makes a huge difference. I say this not to embarrass her, only to explain the gravity of buying her shoes that fit that she didn't personally try on millions of sizes of before actually buying.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry I missed all of this, Emily. I would have liked to see you (and the rest of the Harem, of which I don't have *anyone's* contact information except for Josie, and she never wrote me back). Larisa and I didn't get into town until the evening of the 3rd, and it appears that you were well on your way back to CA by then. Too bad!

Julie said...

I am also sorry to have missed you! I spent most of my vacation sitting on our couch in Seattle, either napping, watching TV, or reading books.

I hardly saw anyone, as I was really tired most of the time and could only remember who I wanted to call around 2am. But I'm kind of tired of always being the one who has to call and make the plans anyway.

It sounds like you had a really good time, and I'm glad to hear that! I will try to catch you on the next round of visits. :))