Better than fruit salad

On Wednesday, I was informed that my application for an apartment in Portland was accepted. One deposit later, I finally have an address to investigate.

I am going from a two bedroom condo to a studio and paying about $175 more than I am now, which is a bit off-putting, but everything else about the place is perfect. It is between Hawthorne and Belmont, one block from a community garden, 7 blocks from Powell’s on Hawthorn and the library, a mere stone’s throw from the Friday art walk galleries. A nearby parking lot hosts a Farmer’s Market every Thursday.

I was telling Anthony about all this (as indeed I have been telling everyone in earshot) and he said “Okay it’s official. I am a little jealous.” Coming from him, this speaks miles. This will be an interesting few weeks actually, because even though for the past month or so ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE HAS CHANGED OR WILL CHANGE HERE VERY SOON*, this whole confirmation of an apartment thing has kind of sealed the deal for Anthony — he finally understands that most of these changes do in fact extend to him. Which means he will be having the same dialogs and worries that I was having about four months ago. In some ways this is aggravating, because I like it when people worry sympathetically (you FRET when I say FRET, man!) at the same time, it’s a good survival tactic for us because we can be hardcore fretters. I had the wander-around-sobbing period of the semester while Anthony was experiencing relative calm, and now that he is occasionally catatonic with thought I am back to mercilessly crossing things off the to do list and planning for something concrete.

And I must say: for someone who had no real emotional conception of my constant sense of injustice this whole semester — the responsibility v. no responsibility thing, when everyone would go to the clubs in Denver at the drop of a hat while I was at home reading about Gulags and writing papers until 3am — in a sick kind of way it is really satisfying watching him realize OH HOW THINGS ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE.

*No kidding. Here is a list of things that are changing, that is by no means exhaustive:

COMPUTER
Including unit itself, operating system, legitimacy (no alleged pirated programs).

LIVING SITUATION
Including state, building type, square footage, living companions, number of objects (including dishes, towels, furniture, etc).

LIFE SITUATION
Including friends, places to visit, ability to garden, daily ritual (no watching the birds on the feeders or preparing homework), and really just entire life focus (moving from school/Anthony to art/living, Anthony included)

CAR
Make, model, year, size, miles per gallon, color, coolness factor. Oh yes indeed.

So that’s the news from lake Wobegon from my world. Three big projects left and about 3 finals. Then end, she is nearing.