Day 271- Recovery.

Puttered around the house.

Had dinner with Dan, Katie, Steve, Eric, and Mebbie.

Slept well.

Day 264

Made a huge mess shutting the window and breaking a drinking glass in a mousetrap-esque crazy chain reaction.

Cleaned up bathroom somewhat. Vacuumed up the broken glass. Cleaned hurriedly.

Had lunch with dad and Marilyn at Ipanema. Walked around down town and the market. They bought me a nice handbag and expensive perfume about which I had very mixed feelings.

Had a pretty good time, considering.

Went to family Sunday dinner (Freezer dinner night). Paul dropped huckleberries by and joined us for dinner.

Watched some TV and read more of The Story of Forgetting. Very poetically written, but not engrossing as of yet.

Day 257

Went to the Evergreen State Fair with Ferretnick and Hotness. Had a great time and a LOT of fried food. Bought nifty lotion.

Had dinner with Angie at Ixtapa. I'm pitiful and miss her already and it hasn't even been one work day yet.

Watched Psych at the dog-sitting house.

Got a little more painting in.

Finished Pillars of the Earth.

Day 249

Cleaned house. Drove Rachel out to Mon’s in-laws for her bridal shower, which was only sort of awful.

Dropped by Everett Mall then went to my awesome b-day BBQ. Had pizza instead of BBQ. The Jasons, Paul, Jim, George, 2.0 + new lady, Todd + Stephanie, Tom + Hotness, the Columbo’s, and Rachel in attendance. I got a host of awesome stuff including a musical toothbrush and a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Was very shocked at the awesomeness of the Kitchen Aid. Almost speechless.

Read more Pillars of the Earth. Stayed up way too late.

Today was very damp, but pretty much awesome.

Day 242

Packed up and left the dogsitting house. Returned home and ate a big breakfast. Watched TMNT:FF, DS, CR, and a British mystery. Made dark chocolate raspberry ice cream (from The Perfect Scoop.) Delicious but very rich.

Had pasta at FSD, all present and Frank was over as well. Came home and watched John Adams with Jim and had ice cream

Stayed up far too late reading Pillars of the Earth.

Day 235

Had cinnamon rolls for breakfast then headed over to Ballard for some shopping. Had lunch at Snoose Junction with Czar, Czabrina, and Ron. (Snoose Junction took forever and their pizza was not very good.)

Ran to the grocery store to load up on Swedish Fish, Pop Tarts and PB Captain Crunch for Mom.

Had Auntie and Mel’s Birthday celebration (with pot roast and ice cream cake). Played a few games.

Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 228

4:30 am, a squirrel attacked my uncle. Delicious revenge.

Drove home and mostly slept.

Went with Mel and Jess to pick up Thai. Ate Thai with the fam. Returned home for laundry and TV.

Day 221

Spent most of the day driving into Montana from BC. The border guards took my grandma's prized houseplant. (teehee) The scenery was gorgeous. I forgot how beautiful parts of Montana are.

Finished What is the What.

Day 214

Fed the dog and hustled down to Chris’ place. Picked up Jen and her friend Steve and went to the Microsoft Company Picnic. It was really fun. We ate lots of good food and enjoyed watching the many many children going nuts for pony rides and giant inflatable toys. Steve taught a little boy to golf (adorable) and Jen had an epic squirt gun battle while the boys played volley ball. We also played bingo and Jen won, then I won too.

It was a really nice picnic.

After that I went to my uncle’s for FSD- Birthday edition. Had chicken parm and salmon and of course a DQ cake. (yay!) Then we opened presents and I got really neat kitchen utensils from my auntie and uncle and the neatest mouse from my cousins.

The girls went home and then we watched Persepolis. It was pretty good.

Returned home and puttered then watched Venture Bros. and Best Week Ever.

Very good day. Except I got sunburned. Which did not hurt, but is irritating.

Day 207

Met up with Grandma and Brad at his place. Had an awkward family meeting.

Went down to Shoreline for Great Great Uncle Dewey’s 80^th Birthday. It was good.

Brad and I then watched Theremin (so-so, but interesting biography of the inventor of the electronic instrument) and The Air I Breathe (great film in 4 vignettes, very effecting).

At some point during the few hours I was away from the house, one of the kitties I’m sitting scratched the hell out of the recliner in the family room. This is very annoying as they had full bowls of food and water and a clean litter box. (Note: this is why I do not own cats. Also no butt cheeks. Gross.)

Also there was a spider inside the dishwasher. Spider INSIDE THE DISHWASHER. This phenomenon of spiders in household appliances is very upsetting.

Read more comics.

Day 200

Woke up in extreme arm pain. Dog walking was a bit uncomfortable.

Had breakfast at Julia’s in Cap Hill with Josh and then dropped in at the aquarium to see the remodel. (Very pretty but not very useful/interesting.) Had some time on our hands still so we headed up to SAM to check out the Impressionists collection. Pretty good. I’m not much of a Monet fan, but they had some good stuff (including Degas, one of my favorites.)

Had ice cream.

Watered the plants and walked the dog.

Went home and watched the first disk of the BBC mini-series, Ultraviolet with Jim. I really like it and think it probably could have gone beyond a mini-series. (Although the end may not allow for that I suppose.)

Day 193

Got up early, walked Theo and dropped by cat-sitting house to water plants and feed Smoky. Had breakfast at the diner with Paul and ran to get some new paint samples. Ran to Kieran’s to get new containers for my patio. Swung by Fred Meyer’s to pick up some soil and herb plants.

Stopped for a slurpy at 7-11 and got the annoying mating dance action from some dude. (Whose girlfriend was there.) (And rough looking.)

Planted:

Radishes

Cucumbers (one for pickling and one for tzatziki)

Peppers

Bell Peppers (Yes, I am an optimist.)

Basil

Sage

Rosemary

Slurpy was melted in the ricockulous heat before I had anything planted at all.

Had Chinese food at FSD.

Watered all the plants at Theo's and took a nice short walk as it was hot as hell.

Watched disc 1 of season 3 of Weeds. Read more Th1rte3n.

Had the vapors from the heat.

Day 186

Went shopping all day with Addy for clothes to wear to her sister’s wedding. Experienced a repeat of Friday’s PIN debacle at Target. Grrrrrr. I guess I'll call the bank tomorrow.

Helped roll appetizer rolls for a coworker’s retirement party.

Had Indian Night at FSD. I made “starlight” yellow cake with chocolate frosting from the new Betty Crocker cookbook. Neither were good at all. I was not impressed in the slightest. But the family was simply happy to eat cake.

Watched The Savages, which was well made and somewhat compelling, but very lacking in the screen play department.

Watched an episode of Bones and read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 179

Watched some SNL with Jim over breakfast. Caught The Happening matinee, went home disgruntled and tidied.

Went to Brad & Cynthia’s for a Father’s Day BBQ and laundry fest. Watched Indiana Jones, then brought Mariah home. Packed up laundry and hauled it home.

Read more Nocturnals.

Day 172

Had hashbrowns and watched part of Transformers. (Big Beef!)

Said my depressing goodbyes to mom.

Was late to pick Kim up as I am lame. Went to the big Asian mall in Richmond. Had cream puffs, bought stuff, coveted other stuff.

Arrived at border and endlessly sat. Ate some sushi. Car boogied.

Eventually shot south at a great rate of speed. Dropped Kim off. Went to Ye Olde Family Homestead. Junior Squad ran to Target (where I bought a bright green shirt which reminded me of Speed Racer) and then Best Buy (where I bought the cable adapter that I had gone to Target for in the first place.)

Had homemade potato soup. Made and devoured a box cake.

Came home, called Mom & Grandma. Puttered and passed out.

Day 165

Got up early to feed and walk the dog. One cat would not come out from under the bed to have breakfast (nor dinner, actually). This is because cats are hug jerks.

Picked up Sean and met Paul for the Speed Racer matinée (now 6$). It was fantastic.

Continued my campaign to reorganize the house until Family Sunday Dinner time. Pot Roast Night! I did something like 6 loads of laundry. Brad and I watched Dead Alive (Kiwi Zombie flick) and Bright Future (another in an endless series of incredibly slow and weird and confusing Japanese/ultimately pointless movies we continue to watch for no discernable reason). Mel and Jess did not make it.

Ran home and finished up a few things around the house. Chatted with Jim.

Spoke with Addy.

Read a bit more of Th1rte3n. Still no cohesive anything, each chapter still excellent and then a let down.

Day 158

Watched Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull with Auntie, Sean, and Mel. It was good but very silly.

Met Paul at my old place to transfer my old stuff to new folks via Craigslist. They were adorable. Tidied and had lunch with Paul.

My apartment manager called to cancel the next morning’s walk through and we rescheduled it for that very moment. My deposit check is in the mail!

Brad picked up some old junk for the dump. Paul and I moved the rest of my junk, and I spent the rest of the day unpacking.

Returned to Riley’s and read until bedtime.

Day 151

Left my car at Jeff’s and Steve dropped me at Ye Olde Family Homestead. Made bacon and chocolate chip waffles with Auntie. Ran to Costco, Bath and Body Works, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond(!). Bought some new hangers and I am unreasonable excited about them.

Watched Arang (Korean horror/detective movie) with Brad. Had a Hamstravaganza! Watched Ugly Betty and an independent film about street art.

Started Daughters of the North, by Sarah Hall. Very good so far and a very fast read.

Feeling a bit over dramatic about my car situation. I think that I am right to be frustrated, but I need to be sure to keep perspective.
That I chose my path.
That I am safe and healthy.
That not crashing into things with my car is a very good thing and well worth the money.
That maybe my car only breaks when I can most afford it?

Part of the joy of having an anxiety disorder is that everything is initially upsetting and panic inducing. It always takes me a bit of time to push down the panic and logic myself out of the problem. (This is why I will never survive the zombie apocalypse.)

Day 144

Helped Friday at the Registration/Information booth most of the day. Was still extremely tired. Spoke with mom briefly. Steve and Addy popped in for a very brief time.

Dropped Friday’s car at her friend’s place and headed down to Ipanema for dinner. The food was fantastic and it was nice to unwind. Sat with some really nice guys and had a nice time.

Looking at volunteering at the con from a post-con perspective, I’m not sure that I will want to volunteer in the same capacity again. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the con, but I think I don’t have enough interest in comics to sustain the level of dedication needed to bust my ass for three days. I do have a level of friendship with the people running the con to bust my ass for some increment of days, but probably not three straight.

There is something in the nature of fan-dom that I do not possess. For some reason seeing Bill Pullman at World Wraps was a much more interesting experience than paying Wil Wheaton to sign my ass. (Which I did not do, btw.) (And I did not meet him at all as he ran out of books and I couldn’t convince myself to stand in line for forty minutes to buy a picture of him dressed as Wesley Crusher.)

Also, as it turns out, not only am I not so fond of regular folks, I am also not so fond of my nerdy brethren. Which is to say that I am the lowest level of social function allowable in my estimation. Which is to say that I hate people. Which is a bummer as conventions typically features a lot of those.

Where was I? Ah yes, I had a dinner entirely composed of peppers, mushrooms, meat, cookies, caramel, and booze. Hooray!

(Final parenthetical sidenote- this blog is getting lengthy and Doogie Howser MD-esque, but I will not reign myself in, because this is my boring blog and I am not bound by rules and conventions and numbers of lines and I am wild and full of words and thoughts about Jamie Bamber’s British accent, the necessity of soap and social skills, and not actually having things signed by Wil Wheaton. So there.)

Day 130

Fed Quincy breakfast and watched the news.

Went to Brad's and had to go to three different auto supply stores to get replacement bulbs for my turn signal. (Almost forgot! My car is now wearing its first piece of duct tape. It is holding the cord to the signal casing. This is like a training bra for cars. Today it is holding together a loose connection, next year the ENTIRE BUMPER.)

Helped Auntie cook dinner. Watched Ugly Betty and Lars and the Real Girl (fantastic). Jess was quite sick.

Went home early to tidy and prepare for the week. Finished up an episode of Bones. Read a little more The City and the Stars.

Spoke with Steve and Mom.