reacquainted

On Saturday Ally and I went to a wedding. It was the wedding of Becky Slayton.

I met Becky in the dorms freshman year of college. I was in a relationship at the time, which was the only thing that ever stopped us from getting together. One of the first nights I met her (it may have even been the first night) she slept in my bed, and to be honest I can't recall if we kissed or not. I remember her saying over and over how she wished I didn't have a girlfriend. I did have girlfriend though, and therefore nothing really happened. It's probably better that way, we are very, very different people ... it couldn't have worked out.

We remained close friends throughout freshman year, but sort of lost touch the other three years, rarely hanging out.

A few years ago, Becky found out from Matt Thomas (who I went to high school with, and who owns a tea shop on NW 23rd Ave) that I worked down the street at the Shutterbug. That X-mas I got a card from Becky at the store. I tried to call her to get in touch with her and to see if she wanted to get coffee and catch up for old time's sake. For one reason or another, that never happened. Over a year went by before we actually met up. Ally and I were now engaged, and she had just become engaged too. The four of us met for dinner, but I honestly thought that after that she wouldn't be interested in hanging out again ... time had changed us even more apart from one another.

About a month after our wedding, Ally came home from work to find a present on our doorstep from Becky and her fiancee. It was a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. It was a really nice gift, especially since we didn't invite them to our wedding. A few weeks later we received an invitation to their wedding in the mail. It was starting to seem like the differences between us still didn't matter to Becky, she wasn't going to let that stop a friendship from nearly ten years ago.

When we arrived at the wedding on Saturday, we felt like maybe we shouldn't have gone. I didn't know anybody there. We decided that after we ate, we would bow out. As soon as the ceremony was over, we turned around and saw my roommate from the dorms, Chuck. He and his wife (Brynn) live in Italy but were in town to visit and to go to this wedding and David Wood's wedding. Things started to look up now that we had someone to talk to. We sat at a table with Chuck and Brynn and after a short time, Matt Thomas and his wife Bethany showed up as well as Luke Atwood. I can't say that I have ever been friends with Luke, but it was interesting to talk to him about his Eurobowl championship and to realize that he has seemingly outgrown the cockiness that made me steer away from him in high school. It was also nice to catch up with Matt Thomas. We were on the soccer team together freshman year of high school, his older brother took me to a Nirvana concert the same year, and we lived together for a brief time in college. He now lives in NE Portland, not too far from us, and I'm thinking of calling him one of these weekends to see if he wants to hang out. I could always use a new/old friend.

All in all, it was a fun wedding ... I'm glad that we went.

published

My friend Jeff is re-opening the Satyricon. If you are unfamiliar with the Satyricon, it used to be the longest running punk rock music venue on the west coast. It closed a few years ago. Jeff needed photos of himself for an article in the Mercury, and he asked me to take them. The article came out on Thursday. The picture is small, and nowhere in the paper do they have photo credits. Despite the fact that you have to be looking for the picture to notice it and I got absolutely no recognition, a photo of mine has officially been published in a periodical for the first time.

Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor)

I watched this movie last night.



I'm not going to say that it was the best movie ever ... because it wasn't ... but it was awesome!

It's sort of weird combination of the Matrix, the Lord of Rings and vampire movies. Sounds weird right? It is ... but it is also interesting and well done. Even the subtitles are done in an innovative way; moving around the screen, passing behind objects in the foreground, coming out of a character's mouth when they scream, dissipating into water, and changing colors.

As for foreign films of the last few years, it ranks up there with Oldboy and City of God as one of my favorites. I would recommend all three of these movies to anyone that can appreciate good movies.

culinary ingenuity

You know you're poor when you have to start putting together weird meals using whatever you've had sitting in your cupboards for a while. Or by combining food items that you wouldn't usually pair together.

Tonight I dined on a grilled cheese sandwich and a reheated barbequed sausage from several days ago. Not exactly a pinnacle of cooking mastery, but filling nonetheless.

As I peer into the cupboard and the fridge, I am start to worry about the ratio of side dishes to main courses. Soon I will be forced to make a meal of only sides. Perhaps au gratin potatoes, green beans and pineapple wedges. Doesn't that sound excellent?!

I can't remember being this food poor since college, when it somehow seemed normal and not in the least bit ridiculous to eat an entire box of Stove Top stuffing in one sitting ... without meat as an entree.

I also have very few slices of bread left for my PB&J sandwiches I've been taking to work. It may take some inventiveness to sustain myself the rest of the week.

I can't wait until Ally gets paid on Friday, then we can buy some groceries.

Odin

Look at how awesome my dog is!

broke

My entire paycheck went towards the mortgage this month. It's proof positive that Ally and I can not currently be a one income couple. We'll be low on funds until Ally's next paycheck a week from tomorrow. What makes this a tricky situation is the fact that Deana and Shain are in town. I guess this is what "they" mean when "they" say that credit cards are good for emergencies. I need to win the lottery one of these days just to pay off my credit cards. Isn't this what being American is all about though ... living beyond your means and constantly putting yourself deeper into debt?

I want to be more finacially stable than I am now. I need to minimize my expenses.

I'm tired of my job. I have applied for a job with a railroad company based on the fact that they pay well and have amazing benefits (plus I would be able to work in jeans and T-shirt). I am thinking of applying to another railroad company to increase my chances. Financially and careerwise it would be a great opportunity. The downside would be having to be available to work 24 hours a day 365 days a year, the high possibility of relocation and being out of town a lot. So far, the pros outweigh the cons. I need something stable that pays me well.

mini-vacation

It's Sunday, and I am on day four with no work. I don't ever work on Saturdays or Sundays, so that is nothing special, but when you start out with Thursday and Friday off, it makes for a nice little break from the 8:30-5 Monday through Friday gig.

The extended weekend started in all reality on Wednesday around 4 when I was off work early for a dentist appointment. It was round two of my deep cleaning sessions. I hadn't been to a dentist in 6 years, and my teeth were gross. Two days of novocaine and pain and the brown is now gone from my teeth. With my coffee and tobacco intake, one can only wonder how long it will be before it all returns. Oh well ... I may quit smoking someday, but I'll never part ways with my precious black coffee.

On Thursday, Ally and I headed to Eugene for a change of scenery and for the Death Cab for Cutie show. Death Cab was pretty good, they played a tight set, but I'm not a huge fan of outdoor concerts and in all honesty, DCFC sound good but are pretty boring to watch. I think metal and hardcore shows have ruined me for life, I just can't help but think that indie bands aren't trying hard enough to entertain me.

After the concert, we headed to John Henry's in downtown Eugene for 80's night. For some reason I ordered a Long Beach, even though I was already probably 4 beers into the night. Apparently that was all I needed to start dancing on stage with Slye, Silke, and their friends. Tyrel's friend Matt pointed out to Ally some girl on the dancefloor who was getting finger-banged ... I can't believe people really do that kind of thing in public.

After we left John Henry's, we went back to Slye's and tapped the keg that we bought earlier in the day. Slye passed out before even taking a sip of his beer and Ally went to bed, so Slye's roommate Jesse and I drank beer and smoked from a hookah until I was ready to pass out.

The next day we went to breakfast at Brail's, watched a bunch of episodes of Tourgasm, and went to coffee at Espresso Roma's before heading back to Portland.

Once home, we went to the Marathon Taverna for Amai's birthday and saw Logan who has been on tour with Emery for last 6 months or so. We left there and went to Sabala's to see Mike V's band Black Mamba. I wasn't feeling that great all night (probably because of the previous night in Eugene) so we left early and went to bed.

Yesterday, Ally worked most of the day so I just took it easy at home. I cut my hair, did the dishes, and did laundry until it was time to pick Ally up from work. I made dinner for us, and then we went to Leslie's house to see their new cat.

After we left there, we picked up some beer and went home to the garage where we drank and played video games until we were tired. It was nice.

Today, Ally is at work again. My mom and grandma are coming over later this afternoon. Yesterday was the 19 year anniversary of the day my grandfather died. I haven't been to his gravesite since his funeral in 1987. I have been meaning to go, but I always find some reason not to.

Tomorrow it will be back to work. I'm not excited about that, but it was inevitable. On Wednesday, Deana and Shain are coming to visit for a few days. We haven't seen them since we were in Vegas for our honeymoon. It should be fun, Shain has never been to Portland. It's nice to have something to look forward to.

and we're off ...

Ally and I are leaving for Eugene in a few hours, and then on to Veneta for the Death Cab for Cutie show. It will be nice to have a four day weekend and to see friends in Eugene.

Slye and Silke ... we're coming!

Seattle pics

Finally, here are a few pics from our trip to Seattle the other weekend.



Gasworks park



Adam and Shannon



Ally with Seattle on the other side of the lake



Ally and me



Ally and Toby rockin' out with Jimi

for Judy

While I am writing this, you are probably somewhere between Portland and Atlanta, on your way to your new home in Dublin, Ireland.

I would be lying if I said that I'm not completely jealous of you. The fact that I minored in German in college and yet never lived in Germany is one of my biggest regrets in life. I wish I could go back and make better decisions the second time around.

I would also be lying if I said that I wasn't happy for you. You know what you want in life, and you aren't afraid to get it. I wish that I had even the slightest clue about what I want to do careerwise in my life.

I wish you all the best and hope that everything continues to work out the way you want it. If I'm ever in Europe, I'll let you know.

video game marathon

I went to Target after work yesterday and bought a TV stand for the computer in the garage. I came home and set it up. Then Tim and I played video games for around 4 hours.

Super Mario Land
Super Mario Kart
Super Tecmo Bowl
Super Mario Brothers
Street Fighter Turbo
some crazy japanese game called Super Chinese Fighter
Road Rash II
some cop game
Psycho Pinball
..... what else?

My garage is awesome!

officially over now

Around 1pm yesterday I got a call from Caleb asking me if I have a belt that holds a belt buckle. I knew why he was asking, he had bought his groomsmen belt buckles from Hot Topic. I asked him what time the bachelor party started, and he told me 8pm. This was perfect, I could go to Judy's going away party at 6 for an hour or two and then head over to the bachelor party.

Then around 5pm I get a call from Tyrel telling me that Brett posted a bulletin on MySpace around 1:45pm pushing the bachelor party up to 6pm. Not only is this bad for my being able to go to both parties, but it is starting to make me think that I am not wanted at the bachelor party since it is an hour away and I have yet been called about it by anyone other than Tyrel.

When Tyrel and I get to the Kennedy School, we join everyone at a table outside and have dinner and a few beers. I heard Brett say something about calling everyone to let them know that the time had changed from 8 to 6 which seemed funny because in the week or two he has been in the states I haven't received a single phone call from him. Ryan Begley, Justin Ferry and Brent Patterson are at another table so it isn't a big deal. After dinner a few of us go into the detention bar and smoke cigars so of course those three don't go in because they don't smoke. So again, no confrontations so far. Ryan Begley left around this time.

After a few more drinks at Kennedy School, we head to the Lucky Lab and My Father's Place (the bar, not my dad's house) and have a few drinks and play some pinball. Someone finally convinces Caleb to go to a strip club, so we head up the street to Sassy's. This is where the shit hit the fan. First Brett comes up to me and asks me what I know about what happened when Ally was in San Francisco last March. I tell him that we already talked about it and it didn't need to be brought back up. He tells me that he just wanted to make sure that I was told "the truth", which he says is that Ally slept with a bartender. I know this to not be true, as I said, we've already dealt with this. I tell Brett that she didn't sleep with anyone, and he says something about me being okay with infidelity and how he just wants to make sure that I know "the truth". Immediately after Brett finishes, James Potter comes up to me and tells me that Ryan left because he couldn't be around me. I respond by telling him how I didn't make Ryan leave, and he counters by telling me that I need to apologize to Ryan and Brent for how I've treated them because we are all friends and we should just apologize and let things blow over. I point out to him that it is not my duty to apologize, and that friends grow apart, and that just because we are all his friends doesn't mean that we all have to be friends with one another. He doesn't seem to get it. Feeling cornered and angered, I tell Tyrel to take me home. Once home I go straight to bed where I toss and turn and barely sleep, my mind reeling with anger and the obvious decision that I was going to have to make about not being in Caleb's wedding.

I called Caleb this morning and told him that I couldn't be in his wedding. He was mad. I pointed out that he himself had told me that maybe Ally shouldn't come to the wedding because he didn't want drama at his wedding, and so since those "friends" of his couldn't keep the drama away last night that I shouldn't be at his wedding so that there is no drama. He said that he had asked me if it would be a problem that those people would be there, and I had answered that it wouldn't be a problem. It's true that I said that, but when I said it I was assuming that those people would be able to put things aside like I did last night. Obviously my assumptions were wrong. Caleb mumbled something about me being selfish and hung up on me.

If only he could see that they are the ones who are being selfish and that keep bringing up the past and blaming everything on me and Ally. Caleb and Brett were sort of the last stronghold of people in that group that I became friends with in college. Now that they are gone, I know who my real friends are. I don't have to deal with that pack mentality that they seem to thrive on. They're like a gang, and I am now out of the gang.

Ground Kontrol

http://www.groundkontrol.com/

This is the greatest place in Portland, if not the world!

We went the other night to see our friend Ruben's band, Hello Lobster, play a show. It was great! SO MANY PINBALL MACHINES!!!!!!! Also lots of old school arcade games, old school consoles, and best of all .... BEER!!!!!!!

a lot going on

This weekend looks like it is going to be pretty busy.

I am leaving work 10 minutes early to meet Ally and Tyrel at the movie theater to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tonight.

Tomorrow is going to be the really busy day. Actually, everything is happening at the same time, so really it is just a busy night. Judy Cecil (a high school friend) is moving to Ireland, probably for good, and her going away party starts around 6pm. Caleb's bachelor party (if you can call it that) is tomorrow night too, although aparently no one has actually planned anything because Caleb put at least three seperate people in charge of planning it, as well as put a bunch of restrictions on the party (i.e. no staying overnight anywhere and no strippers or strip clubs). I guess I'm still in the wedding, since he hasn't asked me not to be, although I'll be surprised if I ever hear from him after the wedding. Saturday night, Aura (Tyrel's friend) is having a party at her place too. I'm not sure if I'll make it to her party. I guess it depends on how Caleb's faux bachelor party goes.

If anything is planned for Sunday, I can't think of it. I hope not. I would like to relax for a change. I would also like to work on getting all of my emulators and games loaded onto my old desktop computer and put the computer in the garage so that we can start playing some NES, SNES and Genesis games out there.

hope for the future

Fidel Castro has given his power over to his younger (yet still old) brother Raul. I wonder if Raul is as staunchly communist as Fidel, or if he will start making changes towards a democratic Cuba, which could lift the export ban.

If Fidel dies, Raul may not be entitled to the presidency, with power then being given to someone else. Hopefully, if and when that happens, there will be a democratic vote and the beginning stages of a Cuban democracy will be put in place.

One can only hope, not only for the future of US-Cuban relations, but for the people of Cuba as well.