Bullets

• Today we finally hit Winter Cold here; it was 19° with the windchill.
• I know that in a month or two, 19° will sound balmy.
• We haven't had more than a sprinkle of snow since our storm last weekend, but winter seems here to stay.
• It's hard to believe I ran in shorts just over a week ago.
• It's also a little hard to believe the news I just got from my credit card: the fees for things like late payments are going down!
• In fact, if the payment due is less than $100, they won't charge you a fee at all.
• Is that you, Obama?!
• I bought this sweater today at Gap, in blue.
• It was 40% off and I had a Groupon.
• I've never owned a cowl sweater, and I love how cozy this one is; the cowl neck is huge!
• Unfortunately, it's pretty itchy. I need to find
• In between that bullet and this one, I searched for, and found, a base layer that I hope will work.
• I'd been wanting a long-sleeved silk layer for this winter; I just ordered this one (with a free shipping coupon code!) in black.
• I am a huge fan of silky baselayers in cold weather; they make winter here so much more bearable.
• Seriously. World of difference.
  

Bullets

• Today I ran in shorts
• It has been a lovely, warm November so far
• Apparently we only had three 60° days in October, and are already at six for November
• After the run, I ate a big dinner and then sort of passed out on the couch
• I'm still feeling a bit sleepy, and thus rather uninspired
• The slumber party was great fun
• We plan to do it again
• I feel very happy and grateful to have made such good friends in Mpls
• I've got to go to bed
  

Pallottole

• Last night Hathor and I went to see The Taming of the Shrew at the Fort Walla Walla amphitheater.
  
• It was set in a trailer park, and although that might sound gimmicky, I thought it worked pretty amazingly; they threw in a few "beer me"s and "ka caw!"s, but you'd be impressed at how well the script fit without any modification.
• Earlier in the day, I had gelato with the Englishman before he flew to San Francisco--coincidentally, on the same flight as my aunt and uncle.
• I had coconut and mango lassi, and he had Japanese plum and strawberry.
  
• I almost always have coconut gelato when it's available; my favorite pairing with it is Nutella or something chocolatey, but I'm not consistently impressed with the patisserie's chocolate (though I am with almost everything else).
  
• Tonight I joined a local Italian conversation group at the Starbucks.
  
• I'd been invited by my friend Lidia, whom I ran into at the patisserie several weeks ago, and have since visited to meet her new puppy.
  
• Lidia is the woman responsible for the quote in this entry.
• Ironically, I'd just had my hair cut short again the day before I ran into her.
• It felt good to speak Italian again, and funny to hear Italian words held awkwardly in so many American mouths (including mine; I'm very rusty).
• Maybe I can find an Italian speaking group in Mpls.
• Tonight is rainy and cool in Walla Walla, and it feels pretty fantastic to have the windows open.
  

Seattle, Walla Walla

At the moment, I don't have any pictures of the weekend, and although I'm sure David will share them with me eventually, many of my favorite moments weren't even photographed:

• My delicious Hermiston taco wagon veggie burrito and the preteen at the counter who seems endlessly fascinated (in the most charming way) with our personal lives
• The beautifully banked curves of Snoqualmie pass and the muted layers of hills
• Sleeping on my sister's floor in Port Orchard, where the crisp, evergreen-scented air from the open windows made it feel like camping
• Giggling with my mom and sister upstairs while we sorted through and tried on clothes she was getting rid of
• My amazing Bay Street mocha with homemade vanilla whipped cream, accidentally iced but all the better for it, enjoyed amongst Bremerton's new fountains and educational plaques
  
• Analyzing the gigantic crowd waiting to board the ferry to Seattle and determining, from the preponderance of skirts with cowboy boots, dudes in cowboy hats, and at least one "Chesney" jersey (bright orange), that there was a Kenny Chesney concert across the water (in addition to SeaFair)
• Making the best Thai peanut vegetable curry of my life, to which I attribute my mom's inimitable skills as sous chef and my sister's cayenne and spicy curry powders
• Playing Aerobie with David and the Rockstar at Illahee State Park
• My mom's nachos with David's spectacular guacamole
• Sharing childhood memories over Swedish pancakes Sunday morning

We did take photos of some of the other fun stuff, which I'll also try to post.

I do have a few pictures of Monday, taken on a camera kindly loaned to me by M&C after the lunch invitation they extended turned into an all-day outing of the not-to-be-unphotographed kind, playing tourist with the Englishman David and I picked up in Seattle and brought back across the mountains with us. Sadly, the vast majority of the photographs I took were shot from the moving car, and although they are a tribute to my fascination with the wine country scenery and the fortitude of the camera, they do little to capture the essence of the afternoon, which I suppose was a sort of social experiment gone excellently.










































































































































We ended up at the Thai restaurant in College Place, which serves some of the best food in the area, but at which I've only eaten once, given their rather unpredictable hours. Most of Walla Walla was closed for Monday, but Bangkok 103 was open and we enjoyed excellent spring rolls (a once-in-16-years rarity, our waiter told us) and a fantastic squash curry, among other things.

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, which M snapped, that I am attempting to recover from an incapacitating laugh that left me all flushed and weeping (as I believe it did all of us, though no photo could ever do that baffling scene justice). As I recall, it was M's story of the bearsharks, and in particular his use of the word "enraged" that set me off, but really, it was just that kind of an evening. The best kind.

Bullets

• One of the Popcan's (many) names was the Sapphire Bullet of Pure Love
• Tonight I started my taxes, but couldn't finish them because I was missing a tuition form
• I lost one of my toenails
• I painted the other nine, and the spot where the tenth used to be
• I've been sick all week, but I'm feeling better (not dead yet!)
• My voice isn't totally back yet, but I'm only missing every fifth syllable or so now, instead of every second or third
• I've been drinking a lot of tea and ginger/lemon/honey goodness
  
• It has been raining here
• I feel like I should be happier about that, because at least it's warm
  
• I don't, though, because (a) it's gray and ugly and (b) it's still going to be winter for another two months, at least
• I am, however, happy about this upcoming weekend!
• I love my new red laptop
• I used it to edit the paper I'm workshopping tomorrow, but mostly I'm liking catching up on TV on the Internet
• Oh, and video chat with the built-in webcam! Who knew?
• I forgot to rip a copy of my brother's new CD before giving my last copy away, but he sent me one a few days ago
• It's brilliant, the kind of album you want to listen to over and over again (which I've been doing)
• Someday I'll succeed in persuading them to set up a website that actually sells said album (each of which is a beautiful, individual piece of art)
• Until then, you can mail $8 to an address I'll give you if you're interested
• Seriously, though, I'll work on them on the website. Setting it up myself is far more tempting than, say, writing a dissertation

Lincoln

So a week ago Friday, I headed to Lincoln, Nebraska, for my first visit back since leaving in August of 2004. I lived in Lincoln on and off for five years,* the longest I've lived in one place since living with my parents in Auburn, where I spent six years.

It was my uncle Paul's idea. Most of the time I was in Lincoln, I lived with him and my aunt Teri, and stayed in their house even after they moved to Walla Walla. His business was having a 20-year anniversary celebration, and he suggested that I come out. At first I didn't think I could do it: school! my car! Heather's visit!

But then I realized that the timing was perfect--it was the weekend between my exams and Heather's visit, and I didn't have to be in class on Friday or Monday! In my head, it was a nine-hour drive, but when I actually looked it up, I discovered it was more like 6.5. I took the Bruise in for an oil change and check-up, and although it had some problems, the mechanics thought I could make it (especially as long as I didn't have to brake).

And then, Internets, I became seized with the joy of the road trip! My mom thinks this is genetic, and not from her side, but whatever the case, I was absolutely giddy to be on the open road, and of course to head back to Lincoln. We wanted to surprise Ter, so I couldn't post about it here, which was terribly trying, but we managed to pull off the surprise, so it was completely worth it.

I left Minneapolis on a beautiful Friday morning, which did, sadly, devolve into gross gray raininess about the time I hit Iowa. The drive was long, and tiring, and at the end I missed my exit and had to call Ellen to help me get to where I should be (which she did! I was so impressed!), but it was thrilling to be back in Lincoln, and especially to see Paul and a very surprised Ter. We met at one of our favorite Indian places in Lincoln; those of you who haven't been there may find this hard to believe, but Lincoln has really great ethnic food!

Actually, we did a lot of eating, all weekend. Saturday night I met up with Karen and Daniel at the Blue Orchid, and then Daniel and I went to Ivanna Cone (remember this dream?). Sunday, Paul and Teri and I went to a new place everyone was talking about, the Shadowbrook Salad Factory, for soup, salad, and gelato. Monday, Ter and I hit the Thai House, to this day one of my favorite restaurants ever, for lunch before I had to leave town. We also did both the downtown and the Prescott Mills, a couple of times. Oh, and hands-down the best part of ending up back in Lincoln Monday night was getting to visit Bread and Cup for dinner Tuesday (where, oddly enough, we ran into Ben!). I could write an entire entry devoted just to their pesto, let alone the entire dining experience, but let's just say it (and the swell jasper earrings Ter bought me) pretty much made up for my sadness at the reason I was back in Lincoln in the first place:

Ladies and gentlemen, the Bruise is dead.

I got as far as mile 66 on east I-80, which is about halfway between Council Bluffs and Des Moines--or the middle of nowhere--before my car died. To make a long story short, I called AAA and got towed back to Lincoln.** The next morning, my trusty local mechanic told me it was the transmission (our fingers had been crossed for CV joint, which the Mpls mechanics had noticed), and that he could put in a used one for $740. I think that's a really amazing price, but don't think I could have sold the entire car for that, even when it was running. It ran well, but according to the Mpls mechanics, desperately needed new brakes and was seeping various fluids, among other complaints--and was never any star in the looks department.

So, I rented a car and drove back to Minneapolis, arriving just hours before Heather flew in. We returned it the next morning at the airport, and now I'm car-less.

I am trying to be as genuinely thrilled about this new position as I wish I were. After all, I've hardly driven (with the exception of my teaching job last summer) since I moved here. I bike almost everywhere anyway, and this city has great public transportation. I sort of feel like I earned $750, with another $200 coming next month when my insurance would have been due--not to mention things like oil changes and mufflers and headlights and brakes and parking tickets and vehicle registration.

However, living as though you don't have a car, and actually not having one, are, needless to say, different in ways I'm only just beginning to fathom. I did laundry yesterday, and because I don't have a trailer or panniers yet, I stuffed everything into my big backpack and rode that way to the laundromat and back. It was suboptimal, to say the least.

In any case, it's a new adventure, which I suppose one has to embrace when one is disaster-prone. (You do realize that this is the second time I have been unable to leave Lincoln in my own vehicle? The last time I tried, when I moved to Bowling Green, the Popcan died, in Indiana. This time, I'm leaving the Bruise in Lincoln as a sacrifice to the automotive gods: I'm hoping this will be sufficient to grant me safe passage out of the state should I ever return to visit.)

It may be a while.

Oh, I almost forgot! Many (many) more pictures are here.

*I spent nine of those months in the Spokane area and another six in Florence
**It is true that you can sign up for AAA after you have a disaster, and they will still help you; they don't even charge more! In that way, it's delightfully unlike other aspects of real life.

Seattle report

So my adventure started with missing my flight. I was to have flown from Minneapolis at 9:20, have had a brief layover in Denver, and have arrived in Seattle at 2:03. Due to a series of miscalculations on my part, I arrived minutes too late, and the flight had been locked, so even though I didn't have any luggage to check, they wouldn't even let me try for it. To make a long and rather painful story (involving lots of nerve-wracking waiting on the phone and a preponderance of self-castigation) short, I was able to get on an 11:00 flight to Kalispell, Montana, with a connection that arrived in Seattle at 4:45.

That meant that I didn't get to spend a few hours in downtown Seattle with my sister before picking up our aunt, but we were still able to meet her in Tacoma for dinner as planned and I really was allowed off the hook much more easily than I deserved. Plus, I got to spend time in and outside of the tiny Kalispell airport (which the woman who made my mocha--$2.75 for a large!--called "the most mellow airport in the world," an assessment with which I agreed), where the air smelled great and the people were calm and friendly.

April picked me up at the curb and we headed straight for Tacoma, where I got to see my aunt's condo for the first time and she served us the first of the many wonderful meals I enjoyed that weekend. I'm not sure I met my goal of gaining five pounds, but I'd like to think my jeans are fitting a little better upon returning.

Back at her house in Port Orchard, we slept for about five hours (my third of these in as many nights) before getting up at the crack of dawn to head across the mountains. I was able to sleep for a few hours while Chris drove; we stopped in Ellensburg for coffee that made everything better.

The drive to and from Walla Walla--from 90 to 82 to 12--is, other than ones up and down I-5, probably the roadtrip I've made most frequently, and it was long, but comfortingly familiar (now that I'm not a college freshman headed back into collegiate purgatory, anyway) and beautiful.

When we arrived, we were plied with food and then headed for church where my grandma was delighted to have all her kids and grandkids in a single (very cozy) pew. Back home, we ate more, and then alternated talking and eating for the rest of the day. Joel also played his guitar and humored our efforts at singing along. I love my family.

I stayed with Ted and Heather, who joined us for brunch the next morning. My aunt Jan had cleaned out her closet, so I scored several sweaters and a T-shirt. We met up with some friends in town, did more eating and chatting, and had the best gelato I've tasted since Italy. We ended the evening playing video games back at the Swinjarnyars'. I tried the Wii for the first time, and found it very surreal, from the experience of trying to design an avatar that looked like me using fixed features to holding a controller that both acted as an extension of my own body and transmitted the sensation of contact directly into my hand. I have never felt like more of a cyborg. It was weird.

Sunday morning, we piled back into the car, this time with Joel (and all his Costa Rica luggage), and headed back across the mountains, dropping the latter at his car in Auburn before heading back to April and Chris's house in Port Orchard. April and I made brown rice and curry (I am very excited about this new tomato-garbanzo curry; this time we threw in a zucchini, cauliflower, and fried tofu: awesome) and we all ate it while watching Surf's Up. When it was over, she took me back to Sea-Tac for my 12:55 a.m. direct flight to Minneapolis.

I grew up in the Northwest, and it still feels like home--along, oddly, with most of the west coast and much of the Midwest. Although I'm technically back "home" now, I'm relieved I'll be flying to California in just a few short weeks.