La............ blog.........

blogging (writing?) again

2008-01-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

much has happened in just over two years.

quit fred meyer. worked for this awful place, in gresham, on graveyard. quit. worked early mornings at ups by the airport. quit. worked at the haunted maize on sauvie island in october. now i'm in school.

rode my heavy-as-shit bike from portland to vancouver canada in september. i was proud. five speeds, wonky rear wheel.

gone through several bikes and more boys than that. priority list: brains, bones, bikes, boys. always.

tonight is band practice (shhhhhh!) and tomorrow is chemistry exam and a potluck. maybe i'll make cookies. i have the best peanutbutter cookie recipe out there. in my brain. and it's proven.

Knitting

2005-12-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

I have this idea that I can do nothing and everything will turn out fine.

I don't really do nothing, I work, I cook, I knit. I stay home. I play games. I ride my bike.

I take the path of least resistance.

I used to dream that someone would come and take me away and everthing would be Happily Ever After.

Yeah, right. Back to knitting.

Places.

2005-11-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

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Your personality type is SCUAI

You are moderately social, calm, unstructured, accommodating, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Providence, Austin, Denver, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, San Antonio, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Portland/Salem, Nashville, Louisville and these international countries/regions Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Iceland, Norway, Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Russia, Japan, India

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
City Reviews at CityCulture.org

Fractions and Addition

2005-11-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

I received the shock of my life the other day.

Thanksgiving. Boring or rather, Damascus (Oregon's, possibly the nation's, newest incorporated city). Parents' home.

Was at work all morning and was in the process of falling asleep. There's a fire and my belly is full.

My father sits down in the center of the room, leans back, puts his arms behind his head and says, "I've got something that'll get your attention." Everyone in the room quiets down. I sit up.

"Did you know I have a half-sister?" My mind races. Grandma? No. Grandpa? No. How is this possible? Something isn't right. All my personal ideology of paternal family is upside down.

It turns out my grandfather became a father at the age of 15, waaaaaay back in the 30's, years before he and my grandmother met. The girl lived across the street, part of another Norweigian-American family. They moved a couple miles away after the birth and her parents adopted the child (Carolle). My grandfather left school for a year, now presumably to help child support.

The families lost contact. My great-grandparents died. Grandpa's cousin died. His brother died and the cousin's son died. My grandfather was always close-lipped about his youth and passed away shortly after I expressed interest in his life (three years ago).

The mystery was kept to the grave.

Carolle was well-informed about her origins (I suppose, apparently her mother's family liked her father's) but never sought anything out. They bought newspapers from my great-uncle (a lifelong parapeligic who also fixed electronics for Goodwill) but what communication passed between we never knew.

A few months ago, she decided to track my grandfather down. She couldn't find any information on him, but found my uncle's address instead. She came to Portland and a cousin drove her to his home, where he was working in the yard when they pulled up.

He ambles over to the car, presuming they were lost, but instead the story tumbles out of her mouth, one word after another.

I have a half-aunt. She's old enough to be my father's mother. She's 5'9" and lives in Arizona. That's all I know.

Such a strange thing.

Low-Brow Cuisine

2005-11-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

Easy easy easy.

I've been trying to build some good habits lately, ie: eating at home. This has resulted in a few nights of veggiedogs but also some gems as well.

I'm not much of a cooker. It's difficult to garner the energy sometimes to chop slice simmer bake fry. Oh, but the experiments.

Tonight's dinner:

Carmelized onion with cabbage and peppers. Super easy.

Olive oil

One onion, sliced

1/4 purple cabbage, chopped

One bell pepper, chopped

Tater tots (as much as you'd like)

Optional: mushrooms (sliced), bragg aminos, hot sauce, other condiments

Fire up the oven for the tater tots. They'll take the longest.

Once the tots are in there, heat up the olive oil over medium heat and carmelize the onion. Add the cabbage, wait a couple minutes for it to wilt, then toss in the pepper (the mushrooms too, if you use them). You'll want this hot.

When the tots are done, put 'em in a bowl and layer the onion mixture on top. Toss on some Braggs, pepper, ketchup, whatever you like. Yummy!

Brand New

2005-11-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

I've been blogging for a long long time on MySpace, only to suddenly realize "hey, this site is owned by a corporation whose purpose has nothing to do with the way I think the world should work."
I'm planning on moving all my old posts over here eventually.

December Revolutions.

2004-12-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

A'ight. The end of the year is coming up fast, and with it, resolution time. Resolutions are fine as they are, but nobody (cetainly not myself) sticks to them more than a week anyway. It is time to be extrordinary and revolutonalize your life!

Revolution .1: Be an ambassador.

I no longer consider myself to be much of an American. Oregonian and Portlander, yes.... but my nationality for all unofficial purposes is exclusive to myself. I am a citizen of my body, an ambassador of me. In this view, I must be polite and respectful to others (including those who don't share my views) at all times as well as maintaining utmost integrity to my own.

Revolution .2: Keep things clean.

I'm sure my housemates will appriciate this one: I am going to attempt to do the dishes more promptly upon my turn and keep my bedroom cleaner.

Revolution .3: Register more books with BookCrossing.

Revolution .4: Smile more.

Suddenly and silently.

Revolution .5: Cull.

Get rid of objects I do not use and store things I need only rarely.

Revolution .6: Eat healthier.

Drink more tea and kombucha, avoid uncultured dairy products and sugar, buy in bulk and eat more greens. Try less stinky fermentation experiments.

Revolution .7: Live more thiftily.

Spend less on cds, books and other things. Eventually take a cut in hours to spend more time working on projects and do things with all the wonderful people around me.

Revolution .8: Remember that the possibilities for art are everywhere.

Art is all the time. Yay!

Comments? Ideas?

November 30, 2005

I've pretty much failed at .2, .3, .5 and .7. The other four were no problem. Things to work on, hrmmmmmmmmmmm...

No Energy.

2004-11-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

I just quit the Sprockettes.

I didn't really want to, but I woke up and heard my housemates talking about stuff they've been doing lately and realized I haven't been able to do any of that. I haven't had the time or energy to dance or ride or even sit at a bar and drink.

So I quit.

November 30, 2005

I did this via email during the middle of the night. The next day we were supposed to get our picture taken, but instead I arrived all snotty from tears. Shannon talked me out of it though.

The Last Six Days

2004-08-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

Busy, so busy.

Since last post, I've been diagnosed with strep throat, gone absolutely stir crazy from staying home, poured tons of time into a little 72 hour (-s of production) movie called "Cold Lampin'", watched said movie at the premiere, worked 32 hours, and injured myself again (not entirely my fault, thanks Hansum) at kickball.

The strep forced me to stay home until Friday night, so I got some rest and it cleared up most of the problems I've been having, mainly the constant backache that has plagued me for the last month. When I finally jumped on my bike again Friday evening it felt so good to be alive and to have my legs moving and to be going somewhere and talking to people!

I went to the meetings for the production of "Cold Lampin'"; a movie that was conceived, carried to term and born within 72 hours. It was wonderful to work with the old Gracie's crew again after not seeing some of them for months. I met two new people there, Jeff and Texas Peter, who were extremely good additions to the crew besides being really cool people. I'm not saying anything more about the film at this point because it would mean spoilers and spoilers mean no fun.

Work is the same ol', except i had not one, but two shifts outside the kiosk so far this week, both in the music market, prepping "Passion of the Christ" and "Lion King 2" and making the dvd wall look super good. Nobody can do the dvd wall like me. This guy came in today to pick up a bunch of 11"x14"s he had made from slides and they looked super good, I'm thinking about taking in some negatives from last summer and having some made up. I've probably got 40 rolls worth of unsorted negatives so that should be a fun project.

Kickball was fantastic, so many people that I've been wanting to see were there (Grizzly, Kevin (ex-husband, lover, future husband, who is this guy?), Nerf (who I haven't seen since the Century and is the most adorable boy ever)... I got injured, which wasn't my fault for once, and made two outs and flirted like crazy with two of my favorite boys. Afterwards Dave and Kevin and some other boy and I went to Ole Ole where I tried a Chile Relleno burrito for the first time (super yummy) before going to Solid State to see the open mike with Nerf. Full full day yesterday.

Now I'm gonna go to Nocturnal's indyTuesday, they're showing "Cool Lampin'" and I'll hang out with Jeff. Yow!

November 30, 2005

Like I said earlier, I get crushes on everybody. I did put tons of negatives away but they're still very disorganized. Oh well.

Sick!

2004-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

For some reason my body has decided it doesn't work right. Today was the second time going home early this week.

I need some sympathy.

My back hurts, my head aches, I've got a fever and my throat is swollen. What's wrong with me?

I should probably go eat something. I ate half a sandwich for lunch and otherwise it's been limeade and water and ibpofrin all day. Eating is good and gives the body building blocks with which to heal.

While I was at work I ran into my friend Mike. We don't hang out too much, mostly at kickball, but he's really cool. He'd broken his left arm Zoobombing and was buying chee-tos. Poor guy.

November 30, 2005

Mike (therafter known as Grizzly) broke his wrist, then had mono and like pneumonia or something. He was sick for a really long time.

I used to have a major crush on him, but I get crushes on everyone.

Flat.

2004-08-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

The 200 Nickle Bastard has a flat. As a result, it took me about an hour and a half (normally 30-45 minutes) to get home. And I have to take the bus all day tomorrow. I hate the bus, and it's three-quarters of a mile from my bus stop to work unless I want to transfer. Which takes almost as long and is a pain in the ass.

That said, I'm tired, my feet are tired, my toenails are tired but the brain is still somewhat functional. Everything is stupid and today is a stinky day. Or I am a stinky (as in SBDs) person today. A stinker. A sinker of toy ships upon the sea of pleasant smells.

November 29, 2005

I fart a lot.

Toys

2004-08-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today I am playing with Barbies.

Tomorrow is work, Tuesday is work, Wednesday is marked only by band and dance practices, Thursday is work, Friday is work and Critical Mass and possibly meeting coworkers at the Alibi to drink and to sing. I haven't done karaoke since October. I haven't hung out with coworkers since before my transfer, nearly as long ago. Yes. Not since I slept with PeeWee ages and ages ago. A year and a half?

Would it be bad form to sleep before 9 on a Sunday night? I told others I'd ride but it's been rainy and I'm making excuses to stay in.

Hungry hungry hippos.

2004-08-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today is a hungry day. I don't really know why. Wednesday I was sick, Thursday I rode around Sauvie Island with Manderin and Evydave and yesterday I made sure Ian saw The Goonies once and for all (Ian plays guitar and banjo, is from Boise and hugs me nicely. I'm not sure if he's a pet, a toy or a person yet) minus the duct tape and toothpicks that I threatened. I guess I haven't been eating much.

I woke up at 2am, so hungry but my alarm was set for five and I didn't get up. When I did it was sleep sleep shower!!! Dress!!! Wolf down bagel and gardenburger!!!! I don't normally eat in the morning. It was weird.

Then I go to work and the machines are freaking out: "Oh Lauren, we've missed you, calibrate our lasers, airbrush the dust from our lenses" and I didn't get a break until nearly 11 (started at 6:30). I swear I was so hungry I would almost stand in front of a rampaging elephant with my mouth open. Hungry.

Get back to work and avoid a thousand and one catastrophes, the developer, the silent and sweet developer that has a steady green glow to show all is well and beeps to tell us when to put in and remove film, got too much lint in its inner workings. Thank goodness for tech support and the air compressor. Not another break either before 3 when I went home.

Hungry. I bought mushrooms. I was going to make chili but maybe not. Maybe eggs. Scrambled. With mushrooms. How does one go the entire day mostly hungry in a most desperate sort of way? I do not know how except it is happening and why can't my stomach be happy without something to fill it?

Must eat.

November 28, 2005

The hungriest day of my life. I am a total glutton though.

Odd

2004-08-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

I ran into an exboyfriend today and I'm not sure he remembered who I was.

Of course, he'd never known where I worked and I've gotten glasses and it's been two years since.

Odd

To see him in a store when he used to talk about how he'd only spend money on rent.

Of course it did just stop when we stopped calling one another and it was a tad mean of me when he had a broken arm but if you use pity as an excuse not to it's worse than breaking up.

At first I couldn't stop blushing and then I had to keep busy but it's strange to see someone you've been close to and they never give you a second glance.

November 28, 2005

Oh boy. Emo!

Profile Views: 666, Injury Count: 4-ish

2004-08-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

So in the space of a couple days, 666 people have looked at me. Wow. I feel so self indulgent.

The icecream trucks have been wandering about like crazy. They are eviland trying totake over my poor injured brain. With drinking songs and hip-hop circus music. You know the song. The clown entrance song. It's actually called 'March of the Glahave hands ondiators' and I can play it. Sort of. But you hear that and it gets louder and closer and all of a sudden it's got a beat and I just know those ice cream truck drivers are evil with their songs and $5 ice cream bars full of complacence-inducing lactose-imitating chemicals.

On to better things.

I think I've got carpal tunnel, maybe it's paranoia or something, but my right wrist has been real achy since yesterday morning, can't put too much pressure on it. Now my left wrist is hurting too, but not so badly. So far, the only effect on my life is the number of times I say "ow" in a day.

I went with the crew down to the Thunderdome last night after kickball to shoot the shit and drink. Drink drink driiink and lend people a few and still come home with six cans. Jack had a really stupid mix cd that was cool the first time but after hearing the 'Macarena' four times I lent him my Pixies. Much better. My ex-husband wasn't around, he's been busy (I am forever tempted to call him a memishimmyhed but that's a work term) but Mike was there and it was good to talk to someone who's not crazy zoobomb but consistent and interesting.

I tried climbing the Thunderdome but hit my head on the fencing and got scared halfway up so jumped down and sat to drink. Then hit my head again when I got up to run around and figure things out. It was pretty funny, "CLAAAAANG" and reeling, almost like Looney Tunes and no birds.

I made out with this new guy, he just moved back to Portland and talks about dancing and living in the woods. It's nice to make out but I was trying to hold myself back for awhile. I was saving myself for ex but he hasn't tried anything yet. It felt nice to feel hands on my body and teeth and lips and tongue. Tongue hasn't really been my thing, never has, but show me your teeth and wow.

I woke up this morning with cherry-red lips.

November 21, 2005

The song is actually called "March of the Gladiators." That's a funny typo.

I don't have carpal tunnel. I never figured that one out.

I can't remember that guys name, I gave him my number but he didn't call me for a month. By then I'd forgotten about him.

Olympia & Catan & 6:30am Saga

2004-08-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

So the Sprockettes went to Olympia on Friday (they picked me and Emy up from my work). Drive drive drive then took over the town! It burned! (Not really, but I like to think that).

We parked and then met up with Romantic Retardnation at the Love Nest where we wiggled into our costumes and got glittered up (I still have glitter in my scalp) before we walked to the Capitol Theatre.

Our performance was a part of Homo-A-GoGo, this huge weekend long festival up there. It was fabulous. They had all these shows and workshops and stuff going on and there were these beautiful people everywhere. I'm very fond of looking at people who are of no particular gender.

Lis and Mandy and I got Thai food a couple of blocks away and sat on the floor right in front of the stage to eat. It was crazy nuts. There were tap dancers and rollerskaters and a violinist and brides and people running around in the nude. There was a makeup room where we got our faces done. We all have crushes on our respective makeup artists now and had a conversation on whose makeup artist was cutest.

Then we went outside and stretched and smoked and took pictures and this guy started talking to me (apparently he's the entertainment director of the bar next door to the theatre) and wants us to perform there. He let us park the van in their lot. I have to check my email.

Then we did our thing. Greta (RR) and her assistants did their thing, making everyone feel beautiful and fabulous and doing breathing exercises and then we got up there and she rapped S.O.T.I. (Sexy On The Inside) and we danced. People were shocked. Weird stuff from Portland?

The show was rad, I couldn't see much of it because my glasses were locked up (I didn't want to misplace them, so the were left in the van) but it ended with a slideshow followed by a bridefight and a little dance party on stage.

Then we went to this little bar slash healthy restaurant where they had 99¢ well drinks from 5 to 5:30 pm on Fridays. We waited fifteen minutes and then got quite nicely. Greta came by and asked if we wanted to be on TV. Does a Sprockette ride a bike?

They drove us out to TCTV way out west where they film Dance 'O Dance once a month. There were a bunch of highschool kids there all gussied up but we were the only ones with a routine. We wore a collection of sunglasses and some of the boys danced with our bikes.

Then I got really tired and we drove home. It was a really long day.

I worked all the next day, yesterday or Saturday or whatever you call it. Up at 5:30, on the clock at 6:30. It was crazy busy and then I went home. Mikey may have broken his wrist. I called Alan and went over there to play mega-Catan. It wasn't too eventful. We played an 11-point game (Joe won) and there was sinkage and volcanoes and I built my third city bordering the Dark City but I don't know what it was supposed to do. Jungles are rad though.

Then I went to Strifeway for salsa and an ace bandage and went home.

Today is nothing new. Work. Computer. Perhaps world domination, but I think I have to be an American Idol first.

November 21, 2005

That was my first time in Olympia ever.

Romantic Retardnation changed their name that weekend. People protested a performance they had earlier in the week for using the word "Retard" as part of their name. They go by Romanteek now.

Lis is another ex-Sprockette. She's quit twice now and isn't allowed back.

The guy never emailed me and I think that's a good thing. Our venues of choice tend to be parking lots, streets and tennis courts.

The bar we went to is called the Voyeur. We seem to end up there every time the Sprockettes are in Olympia. They're a lot like the Vita Cafe here in Portland.

Catan's a good game. Sometimes it can be really frustrating if you don't place your numbers very well. Alan moved back to California around a year ago and Joe just moved to the Virgin Islands.

Mikey's wrist did turn out to be broken. Fratboys are assholes.

Que Sera Sera

2004-08-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last night the Sprockettes had dance practice at Liberty Hall. I was late due to scheduling by Memishimmyhed and refusals to my requests to leave work early. Then I couldn't figure out where Liberty Hall was and ended up riding right on into the practice in a daze (I should stop, there's bicyclists.... oh wait, I know these people!). Eliza had found my missing kneepad so I wore that (the other was misplaced in messy room). We worked on SOTI and then we (Elicia, Maggie, Mandy & me) went to the Rabbit Hole for beer.

Mmmmm, beer.

Mandy and Maggie have never heard Black Heart Procession so I must make a mix cd of depressing winter music. Elicia and Maggie left and Mandy and I were about to leave when this nice lawyer from Arkansas bought us beer so we stayed longer. Talk talk talk. Death penalty and biking. Then we left and rode home and I went to sleep with Sylvie on my foot. She has fleas now and needs a new collar.

Today I went to the Small World cafe, but it wasn't the same as it being a half mile away. I had to ride my bike and they took my favorite item off the menu but I sat drinking their excellent coffee and reading library books (tumbling and baton twirling and comics) for an hour and a half.

November 20th, 2005

Memishimmyed is my ex-boss. He got transferred a few months later.

The Sprockettes are a somewhat-synchronized minibike dance team here in Portland. We had our last performance of the year earlier this evening. At the time Eliza, Elicia, Maggie and Mandy were all in the group, since then Elicia and Mandy quit.

The CD never got made.

Sylvie is my cat. She used to live with me but now my parents take care of her. She's still mine though.

Small World Cafe is no more, after awhile it deteriorated. In it's place is a restaurant called Albina Green, but I've no idea if the're any good or not.