hi mom.

for technicality's sake, i'm not a gen-x'r. i'm a y, i think. maybe an x/y cusp?

i'm sending this to my mom. my mom who doesn't understand how white 40-and-unders made a black man their president. to my dad, who can't bare how much i sound like him during the Nam era until he came to realize "how the world works". my folks removed themselves in so many ways to not have to think about these things anymore and as a result they've become imprisoned in misconception via entertainment "news". self-preserved in a dangerous way out of retaliation to a generation that left their hope stranded or buried. this article is much more about parents who maintained the peace and love ideals of the 60's, which my parents left in the dust. but i'll be damned for trying to make them go back and pick it up.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/11/07/havrilesky/

moss covered heart

first ever sister's vacation. first ever presence in the pacific northwest.

made it through security and if it weren't for my cute sister and these cute kid's chairs keeping my mouth at bay, i would've probably made a scene over the zappos.com sponsored security bins for the post-9/11 x-ray machine. i don't care if you make it somehow easy to shop through 8 billion pairs of shoes and come out with some real lookers, zappos.com. i don't need a friendly reminder to buy new shoes while i'm unloading my dirty old ones and standing in my socks, annoyed at the excessive, expensive "protection" before me. it's like Trojan endorsing the rapist who was kind enough to wear a condom. gee thanks and fuck you.

rental Prius with GPS and lots of fresh and clear whizzing by us on our way out of Seattle. northbound to the Bellingham, Washington area. btw, it took at least a half hour to figure out which "buttons" to push to get the Prius out of the actual rental lot.

we had no set time to be in Bellingham so, being back road country kids at heart, we took a bunch of detours off the highway and saw what was to bee seen.

made it to Bellingham in the late afternoon after driving a coastal, winding road with textbook "dramatic views". wish i would've taken more photos but i was pretty preoccupied with being a hippie and feeling a lot.

waiting for us in Bellingham were Mindy's bosses, a married couple, who recently sold their salon internally and up and moved within one week to this wonderland. i love these people so much. they don't wait for shit. when the universe calls, they hear it and they act. they do what they have to do, with consideration and kindness and urgency and that perfect brand of healthy selfishness.

we took a walk around the neighborhood and found that the trees were shedding leaves as big as plates. so p.j. gathered a bunch for a table setting later that night (not to eat off of, for decoration).

p.s. the woman fell 15 feet off of her front porch the previous day and busted herself up badly yet smiled the whole time, just concerned that her makeshift scarf sling matched her outfit. did i mention she has terminal cancer and has as much spirit as downtown Chicago on Nov. 4, 2008 but on EVERY DAY?

next day we headed up to Vancouver. john is UK born but lived most of his life in Vancouver. something like 30 years. so nutty to hear stories about trading haircuts for shoes with John Fluevog when they were both just starting out. "old friends".

we ate at a really good restaurant that follows the rule that price and portions are inversely proportional.

next morning, our last before we broke for Seattle.

hanging out on the front porch.

went to a bakery cafe with pumpkin cookies so good i took down the address and phone # to have them sent to me. fiesta wear and john being john.

they promised us a hike before we left. ferns as big as beds at every turn. heaven on earth is overwhelmingly green.

before we left i had to take a picture of our results from pulling and reading our "animal cards" the night before. some real nu new aging going on. i don't take this stuff as bonded word, but it's nice to pick out an aspect of you life, say new friendships or your job, and sit on it for a minute; see if it needs some work or attention.

my cards suggested that my creative well was about to run over and to stop resting on ideas and make them reality. animal god knows i'm trying. mindy bid a proper farewell.

spent the next 2 days in and around seattle. after being REALLY annoyed with obnoxious bar patrons in the area near out hotel (like some really offensive dickheads and angry lesbians yelling at me that skinny people fucking suck), mindy and i went to a pretty interesting brew pub. yummy raspberry ales. of course this was after i romanticized the idea of going to the Comet, which left us really under wowed in under 30 seconds, even with some Wipers playing. 16-ish years too late i guess. though, according to seattle radio, grunge did NOT die with Andrew Wood. it is, in fact, alive and well.

view outside the hotel window.

farmer's market where you can buy power tools, organic fruits and veggies and cute clothes.

wound up having $1 scooners of beer at this perfect little bar. the tile on the walls (through the door) is original and not kitchy reproduction.

appropriate given our hilarious bar maid.

last morning. headed down to the market. picked up giant vegan cookies for the plane ride home.

minders. wearing the neil diamond 84 tour shirt she bought at the flea market from the portly, middle-aged gay couple that bickered like All in the Family. fitting all around.

you are all getting one of these for xmas.

APPLE JACKETS!!!!!

new dawn

couldn't be more pleased with the outcome of tuesday's election. we have the right man in the hot seat but i hope the citizens he serves don't fuck it up for him. i sense this heightened hero worship going on, a feeling that he's our saviour, but he won't fix what we can't fix ourselves. and he's saying it, i heard it clearly, so i hope we listen. this will be a government's government for awhile and i don't think it's because of the "european socialist" coming to the white house. his government is forced to take up the slack for irresponsible people across the economic board (yeah, doesn't sit well with someone like my self who wants politicians far, far away from my bootstraps). we are a fragmented nation with polarized government carrying masses of hostility and fundamentalist iron fisting. i worry with this air of relief that we'll just learn to play nice instead of finally learning to play smart. but on the lighter side, breathing easier will hopefully turn the motivational wheels and folks will be inspired to live big (creatively, intellectually) and not loose appreciation of the second chance that's been handed to us. but, we are lazy americans at the mercy of a twisted government so who knows.

well this was nice.

http://amandasainsbury.blogspot.com

a pair of my boots were featured!