Blue Heron French Cheese Company

I woke up around 5am and saw the sun rising over the ocean out of the motel window. I tried to make myself get up but I passed out again for a few hours.

Logan somehow convinced me to run into the ocean and then the hot tub. Just putting on my wet bathing suit was brutal! It was fun running on the beach, especially since we've both had Where the Wild Things Are in our brains.

After we checked out of the Silver Sands we wandered around the little town and went into the Thundercade. We played some hunting game forever (and shot at wolves), before discovering a way more awesome game where you just have to shoot peanuts into zoo animals' mouths. Much better!

On our way back to Portland we stopped at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. Rad place with wine and cheese tastings and a petting zoo! It turns out I love animals but am also scared of them. At least putting my hand up to their mouth when I don't know them. Also, some goats almost strangled me while trying to eat my scarf.

Right outside of town we followed wooden signs that only said "Apples" and had arrows for five miles. I got a delicious $5 bag, and enjoyed the sunset on the country roads. Perfect weekend.

Rockaway Beach

On Saturday Logan and I drove to Rockaway Beach. I burned Robyn, Karen O and the Kids, Girls, Outkast, and the Dodos for the drive. We listened to the Robyn cd at least three times. Such a pretty drive! We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory to get ice cream. I got a scoop of mango sorbet in a cone and on the way out to the car the whole scoop fell on the ground. So sad. When we got to Rockaway there were all these tents everywhere, apparently it was the weekend of the Rock festival? This seemed to involve corn dogs, live music, and weird crafts... I'm not certain though because we didn't pay the $5 admission.

We made ourselves at home at the Silver Sands motel by drinking a growler of Deschutes' Hop Trip and throwing pictures around. We discovered the previous guests taped white paper with drawings on it to the back of the hotel art. Coolest idea ever. Later we drove to Garibaldi for dinner. The only restaurant on the water was this place called "Pirates Cove" that looked like a dump from the outside but sold $100 lobster tail. After dinner I was soooo full I couldn't really make myself do anything. We divulged in a guilty pleasure at the motel room later: cable television.

Pittock mansion

This morning I woke up and walked down to SCRAP to get some frames for my Peanuts book. Gloria was having knee surgery so I made these for her and dropped them off at her house with Andy:

Then we went to the Pittock mansion, a "French Renaissance chateau in the West Hills." Henry Pittock published the Oregonian and rode his bike around, and his wife Georgiana worked to improve the lives of women and children. Andy and I walked around the grounds trying to decide if we wanted to pay the $7 to get inside-- we did, and it was totally worth it. And, they were hanging Erte prints which were totally awesome.




Afterwards I met Erica at Jake's downtown. She fed me a mussel. They look funny.

From there I walked across the Burnside bridge to hang out with my man.

horseshoes

This morning after work I drove to Logan's house. Walking down his alley, I noticed this for the first time:





Logan and I celebrated October by watching a zombie movie and eating pumpkin poppers from Noah's Bagels.



Around 5pm I didn't bother turning the right way down the street because traffic was so bad. I just followed some cars, driving farther and farther away from my house. They led me to this:





It was empty except for the old man playing horse shoes by himself.

Back in my car I listened to a Townes Van Zandt song on a mix tape.



If I needed you/Would you come to me,/Would you come to me,/And ease my pain?/If you needed me, I would come to you/I'd swim the seas for to ease your pain.

Now I am in bed, g chatting.

worried shoes

I finally got the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, and Karen O covers Daniel Johnston's Worried Shoes. Daniel Smith and Sufjan Stevens did it too, here.

Worried Shoes - Yip / Jump Music (1983)

I took my lucky break and I broke it in two
Put on my worried shoes
My worried shoes
And my shoes took me so many miles and they never wore out
My worried shoes
My worried shoes
oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
My worried shoes
I made a mistake and I never forgot
I tied knots in the laces of
My worried shoes
And with every step that I'd take I'd remember my mistake
As I marched further and further away
In my worried shoes
oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
My worried shoes
And my shoes took me down a crooked path
Away from all welcome mats
My worried shoes
And then one day I looked around and I found the sun shining down
And I took off my worried shoes
And the feet broke free
I didn't need to wear
Then I knew the difference between worrying and caring
'Cause I've got a lot of walking to do
And I don't want to wear
My worried shoes

just another diamond day

Today is an end-of-week work day for me, so I didn't get out there and do anything. I did wander around two of my favorite stores, though.

I bought myself some herbal tea sachets from New Seasons.

And a pomegranate from Trader Joes.

The sun set on my drive home, nothing but color and chimney smoke in the air.

I watched this short, I think it's amazing: http://foreversnotsolong.com

hoop dreams

First blog post! I've been thinking about forcing myself to go somewhere new everyday, or see or do something new everyday, and then record it in a blog. Kait's 40 days of awesomeness inspired me to actually start.

Today was definitely awesome. A perfect fall day: 69 degrees and sunny, leaves just starting to turn.

Dave made a top 100 songs list the other day and included Late by Ben Folds. It's Ben Folds' tribute to Elliot Smith. I love the verse: Elliot, man, you played a mean guitar/ and some dirty basketball/ the songs you wrote/ got me through a lot/ just want to tell you that.

Today after breakfast I asked Logan if he'd teach me how to play basketball. I meant sometime eventually in the future, but he said "sure, let's go." So went to Fred Meyer and bought a basketball and went to the park. I have NEVER played basketball before.

We went to the courts and I lobbed a basketball around (throwing it from behind my shoulder, mostly, and grunting everytime just to get it four feet in the air.) Awesome!