Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Portland

Occasionally, I will hear a sound that is so satisfying to my ear that it is almost tangible. Some people have the quality in their voice (one of the narrators on "Nova" and the lead singer of Cake), but most of time, sound satisfaction is found in everyday objects. Today, for instance, I discovered that the crosswalks in Hillsdale make a lovely popping/clicking noise when pressed. It's cartoony and wonderful, and it made me want to press the button over and over again, just to hear it. This sound was audible candy.

I love Portland. It is my favorite place to be, possibly ever. Every time I am home, I am happy (except last January at the Portland Art Museum. Ask Jessica). Reading the Willamette Week today, I saw at least ten different happenings around that city that sounded spectacular (especially the chocolate tasting at the convention center). I read my indie, alternative newspaper while eating bread pudding and drinking excellent drip coffee at a friendly bakery within walking distance (I know, because I walked there) of my house. And I felt happy, happy, happy. I'm happy to be in my jewel-toned bedroom full of eclectic art. I'm happy to see my family. I'm happy to walk to the Hillsdale Library and check out children's books that I can read in one sitting and then sit and read them in one sitting.

I have city pride, much more than country pride. I mean, I'm as patriotic as the next person, but honestly, the Pacific Northwest is where it's at. Besides, the "next person" in Portland is probably a multi-pierced, mid-twenty year old man who is making his own home brewed ale and spends his time reading Kierkegaard in Powells.

But the rest of the country is pretty cool too. I guess.

But not as good as Portland.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Breakthrough

Last Jan Term, I spent most of my time watching "Sex and the City." And also the O.C., but I don't like to talk about that. I had a lot of free time, and it was cold and depressing. Occasionally, I would also look up pictures of fantastic looking pieces of cake on Google images and wish that I was eating them. This is sad and pathetic. I know that.

Anyhoo, this January has been ridiculously sunny and warm. It was 50 degrees on Monday. FIFTY Degrees. But even though the weather is nice, and I no longer fantasize about baked goods, I still have too much free time. Thankfully, I have finally discovered TV on the Internet! Wow! Three years after everyone else found out about it! This means that I can watch the whole season of Glee in less than a week, and then move on to Mad Men and The Big Bang Theory, and ultimately, become educated enough about pop culture to finally know what everyone else is talking about. It's a breakthrough, I tell you, a breakthrough.

In other news, I had a super weekend. And I've been embarking on strange, semi-creepy (but not really) random acts of kindness, and I'm going home for six days.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Abode

I'm shocked by everything in my house. Literally. Every time I touch anything-iPod, light switch, door knob-I receive an electric shock. They don't hurt, but they do cause my face to make an unpleasant wrinkly expression, and they sometimes elicit little yelps.

Occasionally, I will try to shield myself from the shocks by wearing my red, fuzzy blanket around the house and putting my hand inside the blanket before attempting to touch anything. This brings me mixed results.

The house also has a strange heating system that I can't quite get the hang of. About every fourth day, the heater will blow cold air, and the temperature in the house will slowly drop until it reaches 58 degrees. And then, magically and usually at about nine in the evening, warm air will start coming out of the vents. Again, this happens every fourth day. The problem with this is that I tend to turn the heater up realllyyy high on these days in an effort to get the heater to come on. It never works, and it makes the house incredibly hot at approximately 3 a.m. I have gotten up at 3 a.m. three times so far this year to turn down the heat. Because I felt like I was sleeping in a sauna. And then the heat will be perfectly normal for three days. Why is this?

It is a great house, though. It has cushy white carpet and gigantic bedrooms and a dishwasher! And I have a room of my very own with big, pretty windows that look out on Lola Lane (it's a private drive. I never thought I would live on a private drive. It makes me feel...wealthy. At least it would if the road was paved, instead of being covered in gravel and dotted with big potholes that freeze over every night .)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Post-Christmas

Few things are sadder than the end of Christmas. Usually, I pick up with my life and move on when the season ends, but this year I am still in mourning for it. Maybe because it was extra good or maybe just because the build-up lasted so much longer this year (since Christmas starts on November 1st in Ireland.) North Spokane-ites have not lost their festive Spirit, however, as a good number of them still have their house lights, animatronic reindeer, and light-up, life-seized plastic Santa displayed proudly on their front lawns. I was walking to Target the other day down Hawthorne (an exceptionally ugly street), and I actually got a little pang of sadness when I saw a house that was still decorated for Christmas.

"Come back, come back!" I said to Christmas as I walked by.

Perhaps next year, I will ask Santa to extend Christmas through January. Because seriously, January needs a good dose of Christmas. In fact, February and March could use a dose too. Why is it that the best holiday of the year is over at the beginning of the most depressing season?

Here is what I shall do: I have hereby invented a holiday that will fall in February (right in the middle of the glumness), and it will be an antidote to all things unexciting, cold, and dreary. This holiday will involve the consumption of something delicious and comforting (like bread pudding! And mararoni and cheese! And sausages...) and will also have some alcohol (because it's winter. Enough said), and all that wish to partake will make merry all the day! And night! And it will probably involve gifts (handmade, of course) that have been hidden about the house and can only be found by following clues made by the gift-giver. Fabulous! And it will be called Paroomba Day!

If anyone would like to join me in celebration of this festive event, please let me know. The date is negotiable. 'Twill be a jolly time, a jolly time indeed!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Spokane and Why It Is Not Depressing

Things to Like About Spokane:

1. "The Inlander"
This is the Inland Northwest's solution to an indie newspaper. Portland has the "Willamette Week" and the "Portland Mercury," and Spokane has "The Inlander." Hehehehe... It comes out every Thursday, and every Thursday (or Friday), I read it with glee. Besides containing continual references to being hungover (because being hungover is hip and trendy), it has the best Personals section ever. Ever, ever, ever. Some of them are downright poetic.
2. Cheap Public Transport
It's cheap. It also only comes about once an hour (or less), but it's cheap. Here's something odd about Spokane buses: people talk to each other on them. Not just the people that already know each other, but everybody. Unusual... I think that I have been engaged in conversation everytime that I've ever ridden the bus here. It's sort of nice.
3. Free New York Times
It's free! Awesome! Not in all of Spokane (obviously) but on campus. And it has a great Dining section on Wednesdays!
4. "Benny and Joon"
A jollly movie about a girl with some mental problems and a young man who wears fun, Charlie Chaplin-esque clothes who fall in love with each other. Featuring young Johnny Depp and the fair city of Spokane.
5. Bakeries You Can Walk To
There are at least three within two miles of campus. All of them are eminently sit-able (as in, they make you want to sit in them and watch people and eat your delicious coffee cake and read the a book.) Also, one of them makes a pastry called a "cheese cloud."

Friday, January 8, 2010

Not A Travel Blog

This is not a travel blog. I had a travel blog, but since I am no longer traveling, it is somewhat irrelevant now. Unless you count living in Spokane as traveling. Which I don't, since it is a rather depressing place, and I feel that travel should be to a place that is actually pleasant and not covered everywhere in frozen clumps of dingy snow. I don't know anyone who would want to travel to Spokane, unless they are someone who enjoys a plethora of pine trees.

Anyway, I liked having a blog. So even though I won't have any cool, travel-y things to write about anymore, I am still going to have one. And here it is. Ummm... yes. The End.