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This
is Jason. Jason's from Wakarusa. Let me repeat that. Jason's from Wakarusa. Sometimes you just say "Small World" and other times you're going "OhmyGod I don't believe it!!" Unless you know northern amishville Indiana, I won't even bother to explain where he's from and where I'm from (Middlebury) because it just wouldn't mean much to you. Let's just say I'd *never* expect to meet someone from Wakarusa in Seattle. And, oddly, he's in my Multimedia Design class, and ... AND!... he's an architect. And his eyebrow is pierced. It's been another stressful week for me. I took today off from Starbucks so I could do some web work that I've been meaning to do for a LONG time. I can't believe I've sat at this computer from 11 to, well, it's 6:30 now. I've gone outside to check the garden about twice a day - as if something's going to sprout a leg while I'm gone at work or something. Alas, that hasn't happened yet (that would be cool!) |
04-21-03
Jutta and Alexandra spent the weekend in the Olympics, so the Six Arms crew gave advice and drew maps on napkins. Later, Fernanda was doing long division on a napkin which made Emily exclaim "You do it upside down!" and suddenly we realized we had ourselves quite the subject of mathematical culture differences
W e had all different forms of division for Brazil, USA, Canada, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. Okay, USA and Canada were the same, but we had both at the table so they were included. This is what architects do for fun in a bar every week.
Earlier last week the Germans invited us over for dinner and we said "What are we having?" And they said "Sauerkraut" and we said "HAhahahahaHA!" and then they served us sauerkraut.
In more international fun, a couple weeks ago Sean and Shane took a bunch of stuff to the dump, including an old cheap nylon American flag that we found in the garage. They were at the dump with two other trucks and were suddenly stricken with fear: Can you throw away American flags? Is it against the law? Will these other people at the dump kick our asses?
So here are two Canadians with a Canadian license plate and an American flag that needs to be disposed. They kept waiting for the others to leave. They tried to hide it. Then, when no one was looking they threw it in really fast and tried to cover it quickly and zoomed away. Then they came home and asked "Can we get in trouble for that?" I said "I think you're okay."
Back to last Thursday, after Six Arms I went to a gig with Alexandra and Jutta because some guy was playing at Graceland, and they had seen his show in Hamburg. I thought I'd get some sort of German music culture or something. Nope. The dude's Canadian. And boring. So I spent the rest of the night flirting with Graceland employees.
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The
Germans, Jon and Amy, and I may head out to Indiana for a few days in June.
It would be a great graduation gift to myself. This way, the Germans can
see Farmland America, Jon can revisit my family and bring Amy with him,
and I can see my family and be the tour guide. There are great flight deals
out there, so we would probably rent a mini-van from Chicago and hit the
road. Sean's focus for the summer is seeing his Dad in Toronto. <-- [half price orange (Easter) wrap] Saturday we spent the whole day gardening, and the whole night eating and playing Settlers. There's so much more we want to do for the yard, but we don't want to overkill ourselves, either. Everybody go visit the Garden Page to see what we've started! |
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Sean
& Kolja upset me by eating the Easter Whopper Eggs.
So I bought FIVE half-price bags at K-Mart yesterday. HA! I WIN !!! |
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04-16-03
HOLY HOLY! Starbucks just bought SBC (Seattle's Best Coffee) and Torrefazione Coffee Houses for $70+ million. This is big news for me, since I work at Starbucks and own some stock. (Well okay, only about $300 worth.) Unfortunately, I planned on selling all of my stock just this week to use towards my immigration application to Canada.
Time to rearrange the financial plan.
Forecasted weather for this weekend: solid rain. I still plan on starting the garden.
We had a lovely dinner at Kolja & Alexandra's last night, and we met Jutta visiting from Hamburg. And the German chocolate was great!
04-14-03
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sean and I both plan to start the gardening project next weekend.
That dang pool is just so huge, I never thought it could be possible. But I got this book from Amazon, apparently I'm one of the *last* people to own it: Square Foot Gardening. And now, we are in for trouble. We will make two four-foot squares and a compost area. The rest will simply be, um, natural.
Amy and I went to Swanson's Nursery yesterday and I got a box full of flowers for free. I'm not quite sure what they will be, but I'm planting them in the flowerbed next weekend.
Sean and I did a great job with our files this weekend, by the way. Taxes aren't done yet but we will get them done. 1040 EZ, baby.
04-12-03
 This is all of the paperwork/files/stuff I had in our second bedroom (my "office"). Once again, Alexandra was the one in charge of forcing me to get rid of the crap and get organized. I'm still working on it. By the time dinner was done we had merely created seven piles and filled half of a garbage bag. This is what I'm doing for the rest of the weekend. *sigh* |
 "Wo kommen denn diese ganzen Sachen her? Vor eurem Umzug muß da ja noch ganz schön ausgemistet werden!" |
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04-11-03 Sean Penn's car has been stolen. Okay, first, why is Sean Penn driving a 1987 Buick? Second, there is a reason why this is interesting to me. Remember Graham in Berkeley? (He won my "Stupid Skirt Contest" a couple months ago. He didn't win a skirt, by the way, he just identified the symbols on the tag.) His truck was stolen last month, then they found it a couple weeks later. So when I saw this news article about |
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His reply: The bastards! That's about 8 blocks from where I live. Maybe my Han Solo action figure will turn up in Sean Penn's car when they recover it!
So all y'all in Berkeley - keep your eyes peeled for a stolen 1987 Buick AND a Han Solo action figure. Thanks.
Last night was lovely. I hacked my bangs before leaving the house in a mad hair rage (Grab handful of hair. Cut. Repeat.) So that's me and Fernanda above left (she found a wedding dress yesterday, she buys it today!), Noah and the Germans in the back of my car above right.
Chop Suey was crowded as expected, since it was a free show. We only caught two songs by Hint Hint, but I also got to see the Divorce, who have a song called "Disappointed" that I like oh-so-much. The DJ set between bands was great, too.
Tonight is a lovely dinner with the Germans and playing Settlers (board game). Alexandra is coming over early to help me go through all of my files - old tax stuff, old bills and receipts, etc. She whips me into shape.
04-10-03
School is still beating me down, added to the stress of my immigration application for Canada AND paying our taxes (yes, we owe). Yesterday I left work early and Sean and I got to spend some time together, which was nice. It's been a stressful week for the both of us. And I'm tired of West Wing always being a re-run.
Tonight Jason's band, Hint Hint, plays at Chop Suey, so we'll head over there after Six Arms.
Shane is in town, making tables for Graceland in our garage. He leaves tomorrow.
Sean put a new battery in my car last night so hopefully my car woes are behind me.
Oh, and I got that bouquet of flowers (thanks, baby).
I'm glad this week is almost over.
04-07-03
It rains and rains here in Seattle, but it's not rain like others would think of it. It's drizzle. Lots of it. No thunder, lightning, dark spooky clouds. Just harmless, pacifist rain.
Now, in Indiana, the rain doesn't mess around. It can be a hot summer day and WHOOSH you're in the middle of the most exciting captivating thunderstorm possible. And as soon as it stops you're rushing to find your camera so you can just *try* to capture the amazing rainbows.
I think what I miss the most, though, is the smell that Indiana has after a hot summer day. Especially in my car. It's the greatest car freshener in the world. There's just no beating the smell of the inside of your car after the sun has set, the humidity is now hovering the fields, and your car windows have been down while sitting in the summer sun all day. It's like all of the life that was in the air has settled low enough for us mortals to absorb it. And you just *have* to drive with the windows down and the music playing loud. Long hilly fielded roads on a cool night after a hot humid day.... I think of it fondly.
04-06-03
Okay - here are the Housewarming pictures....
 Kolja & Alexandra's beautiful new apartment |
 The beautiful new Fernanda (?) [and Kolja] |
 Em & Josh |
 Nanda, Me, Alexandra |
 Josh being Josh |
Kolja
& Alexandra moved just down the street in Capitol Hill, using a shopping
cart from QFC for the unweildly loads. This apartment is much bigger and has hardwood floors with a nice, open living room and big old windows with really deep window sills. The Six Thumbs softball team is at it again - gluttons for punishment, maybe? We even considered putting on the back of the t-shirts: "The Race to the Bottom." This time they are practicing, organizing, and other things that softball teams usually should do. So today they had their first practice but I didn't go, so that's all I know. I actually had a pretty crappy weekend (if you can't tell) so I hope this week looks up. [Send flowers.] Earlier today I posted..... |
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Okay so you can't really tell much of a difference, but it's done. The utility
sink by our washer was very rusty and we pretty much abused the space beneath
it. After scrubbing off as much rust as I could from the metal legs, I used
the same metallic silver paint as we used in the shower to cover the rust.
Yes, it looks like paint-covered rust. But only if you really look at it. The sink was also coated with brown paint from the work on the roof last month. Most of it came off. I still need to replace the faucet (it's so old the handles actually crumbled off). Later on I'll put up pictures of the Housewarming Party from last night. But for now, I'm going door-to-door to find a tiller in my neighborhood. |
Update! Cyndi sent us pictures of her orange living room! 
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04-05-03 I've had it with my hormones. I did some online research on birth control, although that's not what I really want. I just want my hormones to take a rest. My cycle has spiraled down to every three weeks - and that INCLUDES the five day period. I'm burning through eggs. I have cramps that take me out for half a day, and PMS that's so bad I'm hearing evil voices in my head for two days before every period. Any suggestions? Busy this weekend - Alexandra offered a few hours of her time Sunday for whatever I chose - and if weather permits, we will tear up the pool to make it plantable. |
 Lyle Lyle |
Central Market is having a big wedding expo deal, so I stopped by last night to say Hi. Jim and his business partner (I forgot her name!?! But she is moving to Vegas next fall to attend UNLV) were running the karaoke party, which they are doing again tonight. This shopper sang a Trisha Yearwood song like a pro. |
 Her and Jim |
 Ice Sculpting |
 I don't get it |
 I STILL don't get it |
| Osama
tried to help me with my Flash assignments. Over three hours later,
I was making up rhymes about how much I don't like Flash ("I
do not like Flash Sam I am") All that time and I got half of
one assignment done. (Yes, I have a pink computer. No, it's not a Mac) |
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04-04-03
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Gary is
being trained on how to drive this big rig, so he brought it to Starbucks,
which made all of us run outside like a bunch of second-graders, having
our pictures taken, trying to honk the horn, asking him to turn the flashing
lights on. It's a pretty cool rig! It has a couple computers and a fax machine
and a bathroom, the back third is the paddywagon part. I want to send out props to Meredith, who sent me a great CD (it's in my car!) for no reason other than her greatness. My car battery is still screwy, looks like I need to replace the battery cable now. Maybe. If that's the problem. Kids: when you jump start your car, make SURE the cables are connected correctly!! |
Pictures of the shower:
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The purple
is my fault - I painted that when we first moved here. It made the shower
pretty dark. It's a big double stand-up with enough space for lawn furniture. But now it's silver and bright and cheery and I love it! Only now I really need to clean the shower... |
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<-- Update (For the paint inquiries) Rust-Oleum "Professional" High Performance Enamel (Oil based) |