the gathering

when i tell people what i am doing this weekend they generally say something like:

“ooh, sorry.” or “that’s kind of a drag.”

but they could not be more wronger.

what i’m doing this weekend is going up to my cousin’s property and camping with my extended family. this, is excellent times. we all really enjoy one another, and the activities usually include some or all of the following:

• drinking. lots. part of why we camp.
• laughing. also lots.
• fires. tall ones.
• copious amounts of amazing delicious foods.
• horsey rides.
• shooting.
• rambling walks through the national forest located up the road.
• fever pitch political/religious/social/psychological debates
• intoxicants of a more exotic variety.
• singing.
• mountain climbing.
• feats of strength.

oh, these times, they will be good.

 

FORE-play

newly added to the list of things i really like but am not that good at: Golf.

at least i look the part

i went out with my friend Darrin last week and played my first round of big girl golf. up til then it was all par 3’s and pub courses and the driving range.

at the first tee i had a misleadingly good start: swung and connected first thing. ball flew straight and reasonably far. i was all cocky for a minute. then, well, my moment of luck passed, not to be seen again in that round. ah well.

i did really enjoy the scenery. the evening was sunny but cool enough to be pleasant. the greens were lovely. we had some drinks… so the golf cart part was fun. all in all a really nice evening and something i cant wait to do again.

i have the gin & tonic portion of golf DOWN!

 

Things the Bridge Pedal Taught Me

in Portland every year there is a fundraiser hosted by Providence Health Systems. it essentially involves all of the bridges across the Willamette being closed or modified to traffic so that the bikers can descend and ride over them. i’ve been meaning to do it for years, but this was the first time it all worked out. TBIL hooked me up with some of his coworkers who were doing the 8 bridge course and we were off.

this process was not only really fun and rewarding, it was instructional. i learned the following things:

• you can appear to have all the trappings of a semi-serious cyclist and still have a gigantic ass
• getting into a traffic jam with bike is just as annoying and actually more scary than in a car
• the more derisively you yell “ON YOUR LEFT” the less i want to move aside
• the sense of superiority you achieve by yelling “ON YOUR LEFT” with such derision is illusory. everyone else thinks you are a fucktard.
• just because an event is hosted by a health care system does not mean first aid will be available when and where you might need it. (poor Gindy)
• riding all the way to the top of the app roach to the St John’s without stopping is ALMOST enough to make me pass out, and IS enough to make me see stars.
  
• there may be no greater pleasure in life than getting OFF one’s bike.
• when you send someone a text that reads “sweet holy baby jesus, my ass hurts” it is helpful if they have the context that you were riding 30 miles on your bike that day because otherwise they might assume you are just mentioning consequences from the party they hosted the previous evening.
  

feeling proud of myself, if still sore and tired. next weekend: climb mountain. time with family. can’t decide which is more daunting…

 

weekend wrapup

it was a wild one, no doubt.

hodie-related drama friday night cut short plans for evening. made it out for shoe admiration and drinks with Lyza but no karaoke. sad.

on the whole, it might have been for the best, since i woke up in the wee hours for my race. it went really well, though it turned out that the swimming was better than i feared, and the running was harder than i’d imagined. i think the momentum of exhaustion just built up. but! i ran the entire course and didn’t wuss out and walk at all. hooray me!

this medal is the hottest accessory EVER!

brewfest was less than thrilling. dusty, hot, crowded, and spendy. i saw some peeps i like and heard some juicy gossip, so that was fun anyway. got a bit drunker than planned due to low food intake coupled with heat and alcohol. staggered a little on the way home. designated driver fetched me out for an additional party later that evening. announced my arrival with bellowing belch. as usual.

sunday morning

dawned with golf on the agenda. met up with pops and went out to the course and hit some balls at the driving range.

which, being only the second time i ever picked up a club, went pretty well! then i hit a hole in one on a par three. so… strange luck that i have. that was pretty cool. steakburgers after. yum.

after the golf-stravaganza, i went off to ann taylor to get the dress for the wedding i am going to be in come march. it’s GORGEOUS and AWESOME and it was KILLER to walk into ann taylor and a) get to buy something b) put on a size 4 and have it be too big on me. ha. i heart shopping.

mike & les are going back to the mitten state and we had a little farewell feast for them at madison’s last night. drinks and food, wee bit o’ crying on my part because i am a sentimental slob. nice way to say goodbye.

premier of Mad Men was last night and went to Lyza’s to enjoy with wine and her lovely friends. the new motto of the moment is: take off your hat. on behalf of womanhood: thank you, Don Draper. thank you.

on the whole a capital weekend! hoo-rah.

 

happy weekend

oh, lordy sometimes you get a good one.

in honor of the impending departure of the aforementioned Leslie, we had a grand campout over the weekend. we arrived midday on saturday to a glorious sunshine day with panoramic views of Mt’s Adams and Hood. keg was tapped, guitars and harmonicas in tune, frisbee aloft. it was excellent.

but as can happen when i start drinking in the middle of the day, come 7pm i was a wee bit toasted. and so, when i climbed into my passenger seat to reach across for my camera, i fell. and hit my face on the seatbelt reciever. fuckow. i managed to give myself a wee bit of a shiner. also bruised the inside of my palm playing so much frisbee.

watched Dune in the wee hours of the morning and annoyed the shit out of everyone reciting every 3rd line out of the film.

lovely Feyd…

met and was subsequently licked by a steer. i guess i’m salty.

yesterday. ended up at the strip club, cause nothing says “It’s the Lord’s day!” like naked bitches and cheap meat! and… after long searching… i found her: my strippl-ganger. two people pointed at her and were like “Hey, she looks just like YOU!” and she did. so i sat up at the rack watched her to pole tricks and touch my boobs. the boys around the rail seemed appreciative. good times.

 

things at which i am randomly pretty good for no apparent reason

i can sew. and this flies in the face of my fundamentally uncrafty nature. i mean, i like crafts, and appreciate people who are crafty, it just generally requires a level of manual dexterity which i am painfully lacking. but for whatever reason, i can sew. tiny perfect stitches. and no one taught me this skill. i’ve just always been able to do it.

also, horseback riding. i’ve been on a horse maybe 2 dozen times in my life, but every time its been easy and natural and great. and people who know more about it than i do tell me i’m remarkably good at it for such a novice.

this point was made in a rather exciting fashion yesterday when i took hodie and her little friend up to my cousin’s farm to do some riding. i hadn’t planned to mount up myself, and so was dressed in shorts and flip flops, but on a whim climbed on good old Durango and decided to take a canter around the pasture. it was better to go without shoes altogether than with the thongs, so i got into the saddle barefoot, with no helmet, and took off.

my cousin warned me Durango was a bit of a lazybones, so after we trotted around the fenceline once he dropped to a walk and seemed determined to plod along at what i can only characterize as a less-than-scintillating pace. i was not having it.

so i gave him a bit of the business. he ignored me. i am not one to be ignored. so i gave him a little MORE of the business, with my bare heels. and he responded. we broke into a canter for about 3 strides, at which point he decided he had had enough of my instructions and pulled hard to the left to flee the pasture and run back to his buddies in the paddock. when i pulled up to slow him down and correct him, he liked that even less and ATTEMPTED TO BUCK ME OFF. he put his head down and lifted both back legs to try and get me to topple over his neck. gripping with my thighs for dear life i snapped back on the reins and grabbed the pommel. he gave over bucking and stood there as placid as can be. my cousin and her trainer who had been watching me take him around the pasture both ran over in a panic. apparently it was a freaking miracle of some kind i’d managed to stay on the horse. so, yay for that. i mean, as much as i fall down for no good reason, being tossed would probably be exponentially less awesome.

i cant think of any other skills i have for no apparent reason. everything else i’m good at, i have to try pretty hard. but this random facility for pony-rides came in handy…

 

Tuesday Thingers: My Summer Vacation

Since we’re past the Fourth of July and the summer season has officially started, what are your plans for the summer? Vacations, trips? Trips that involve reading? Reading plans? If you’re going somewhere, do you do any reading to prepare? Do you read local literature as part of your trip? Have you thought about using the LT Local feature to help plan your book-buying?

i am going on a road trip, by myself, for 6 days through southeastern Oregon, northern California, and northwest Nevada to see my very favorite singer in all the land Neko Case i am excited about this to a sort of ridiculous degree. i will have never been to ANY of the places i am going, and i am deliberately avoiding the interstates. as such, atlases and guidebooks are going to be crucial. moreover, there will be approximately 30-35 hours of driving all told during this trip, so i am planning to lay in a supply of audio books for the road as well. i’m thinking the theme will be: transformation classics. coming-of-age, travel tales, books which contain scenes of desert revelation. oh, yes.

cant fricken wait. only 6 1/2 more weeks to go….