Archive for My ride

Of lysergic bliss

July 28, 2008 at 8:31 am · Filed under Adventure, My ride, Topic gumbo

I have an actual art gig!

The pay is pathetic ($80 for a 9×12 full page) but at least it’s something. It’s a one-off for a splash page, basically. She’s a brand-new t-shirt peddler, I’m trying to beef up my portfolio and to do so for some cash vs. pro bono works for me, and it certainly works for her. Sold! I have several sources to work from but she really liked James Jean’s work for the 2007 Prada campaign so I’ll be focusing on that style-wise. A little of that, a little Bosch for surreality’s sake, and of course a whole lotta me.

For having absolutely nothing official about my illustration abilities, I was flattered to have essentially scored this purely on this drawing which, I gaged correctly, fit what she was after:

Obviously she wants something a little more crisp, something with her subject matter.

And I guess I shouldn’t kid myself. Definitely I want my art to be “worth” more, but when it all comes down to it: when you have $5.86 in your checking account, $80 really is a lot of money.

LINKY-DINKS

I have been binging on ectomo’s archives, because I haven’t been reading it since I moved here. Usually Anthony reads this and most of the Wired blogs religiously and bubbles all the interesting stuff over to me. This was one of the many things I enjoyed.

I kind of look like this kid, particularly the four pictures in the middle where he’s making faces. That’s basically my haircut, and what I look like in the morning before coffee. I don’t know that I look that charming, though. I should do my own shoot and find out.

This is fantastic. Good stop-motion gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, as does weird surrealist stuff.

I do this.

THIS WEEKEND

I went lazer-tagging. It was a sort of last-minute thing for me, I invited myself to another outing, but I had fun. We were the oldest people there. Our team obliterated everyone in the first three games, and then we were stalked and murdered by all the little kids in the subsequent two. Fair play to the kids, really.

And I also went walking around for the geohashing time. It was just myself and one of the guys. I drove, he (sort of) navigated, and we just had a nice two hour walk near Eagle Fern Park. We didn’t really make it to the point, but we had a nice walk. And I saw an inch-worm! I have this catagory in my head: quasi-mythical beasts. Things like aardvarks and such, that you hear about but never see in a zoo and you almost wonder, real? I think I always placed inch-worms in that catagory, but Saturday! Saturday I saw one. I also saw a caterpillar that morning when I went to get coffee. It was a good wormy-day.

Then yesterday was interesting. Got the art gig as I mentioned, which was essentially a result of my insomniac questions about the ad on craigslist. And when you ask questions about art stuff, the best was to do it is with sketches, and the rest just worked itself out rather well. I took my $20 advance and bought coffee beans, and then went right home to get started. About two hours later, Anthony and I texted each other at (weirdly) the exact same moment:

Me: I got the gig!
Anthony: I am thinking seriously about buying Dani’s car.

I guess I need to back up a bit so you can understand my shock.

Anthony did not drive when I met him. His learner’s permit had expired long before, and he’d never bothered to learn to drive, as he’d been carried along by friends up until that point. About three weeks after we started hanging out/ kissing, I lost my license for six months as penitence for being a lead-foot. And when you live in a place like Greeley, CO, there is only so long you can go without a way to get out of town, particularly when you are used to having a car. So we dealt with it for awhile until about a month later, when Anthony told me he’d get his license so we could go to Denver sometimes on the weekend. So we reinstated his learner’s permit, I guided him through some basics he was rusty on, and two weeks later we were mobile. I essentially played the part of hardcore copilot — checking shoulders when he didn’t and telling him to BRAKE sometimes. And, when the weather was icy, occasionally I was illegal pilot. (Only twice.)

So Anthony can drive, but since he hasn’t constantly since age 16, he isn’t very good at it. He’s fine if it’s a long stretch of highway. But shaky skills in conjunction with absolutely no sense of direction and you can understand why we usually just let me drive. I love to drive, he loves to be a passenger, so it works well for us.

So he’s buying a lemon off a friend. Or wants to. Part of me was thinking Dude we have a beautiful little beet that is paid off why would you want to insult it by doing that? But of course this does make lots of sense when you remember he will be going to school in Eugene for the next two years. And on the weekends, we certainly won’t want to be spending time there. (No offense, Eugene.) The logistics of me driving there, getting him, driving back, then dropping him off and driving home Sunday night…quite a headache. I just assumed it wouldn’t be able to happen all that often, but now it looks like I could be seeing a lot more of the guy, which is always a good thing.

And let’s be honest: it makes one feel pretty special to know a guy would buy a car so he could visit you more. Oh yes indeed.

Here are two things about the river from lately:

1. Last time I was on the bus, I saw a barge with big piles of sand on it! I have no idea what it was doing, but I liked it.

2. Overheard on a different bus ride: “I like bridges — it’s like a city stitched together.”

Well, I have some drawing to do. And then cleaning, since Anthony is coming in on Wednesday.

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Adventure Sunday

June 9, 2008 at 12:25 am · Filed under Adventure, My ride, Photo-tastic!

I’m listening to The Splendid Table, and they just recommended a coffee shop in Portland. That is less than a mile from my house. Oh hell yes.

One of my favorite things about this place is the food. I can’t afford to eat out like I want to every day, but that still means I am cooking with ingredients that are top-notch. Oregonians like their cows, chickens and pigs happy, because happy animals make tasty meat. The vegans and vegetarians like happy veggies and fruits so that those creations will also be in peak flavor. Between the numerous farmer’s markets and small grocery co-ops in my neighborhood, it is almost harder to get something factory-grown and pesticide-ridden than it is to get the real stuff.

And when that isn’t enough, there are opportunities to go get it yourself.

I-405

Drove on some new bridges to get to this farm, to pick some strawberries.

first patch

See those people? Waaay over there? That was the first patch. Farmer Don himself told me that those were a treasure hunt, but there would be more further out, which is where I was headed.

on the way

On the way there. Isn’t it nice and farmy? Different plots lay fallow and have things that will ripen later in the season, so there isn’t a real map of where you’re going, you just kind of have to follow where the other people are. It should go without saying (except apparently it doesn’t) that they do not use any pesticides, no sprays, nothing. Just the bugs, dirt, and food.

strawberries!

This makes it look slightly better than it was — many of these berries were white on the back side. It’s still very early in the season (cold weather has pushed the ripeness back) so as you can see there are plenty of berries to come. Kind of slim pickings, especially if you wanted them ripe ripe, like I did. But! I didn’t mind! I squatted up and down those little rows for a long time.

Towards the edge of the patch, there was a small flock of some gorgeous little birds, that turned out to be waxwings. (WOW!! says my inner birding brain.)

waxwing

Of course, there were more familiar avian specimans too.

rooster

Near the chicken hutch, I also so some grey rats rooting around in the hay, which made me weirdly excited. There were two pigs in the barn, and between there somewhere there was a mop-haired kid who was talking to me about the chickens, pigs, and so on. I walked on to try and find the turtle pond, and instead found the bee houses.

bee houses

I didn’t get this close, this was using my zoom. There were tons of little bees all buzzing around and pollinating the little blossoms on the strawberry plants. I get a great kick out of honey bees. They have a very special place in my heart. These gals were good at sharing — they would skip a plant and then come back to it if you were there rooting around for a berry. On my way back, there was one that hitched a ride on the windshield wiper.

bzzt

Not sure what she was on about, maybe she wanted to warm up? She rode all the way over the bridge, and then hopped off as soon as I turned west. Because oh. It was just too pretty to go back after that — it was only noonish, and there was only 76 miles separating me from some seaside towns and turn upon turn of highway.

trees

I didn’t actually make it to the sea, I spent too much time ogling the river. I turned off at Astoria and poked around their Sunday Market. It was a bit cold anyway, and I was getting sleepy. I found a coffee and got back to the helm. It was mostly the driving for me, today. The driving and the strawberries.

riverfront

haul

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Yawp

May 12, 2008 at 6:23 am · Filed under My ride, Topic gumbo

WELL HI THERE

On Thursday I woke up early to drive to Denver and pick up the new car.

New car

It took all freaking day, because my Dad was in a quasi-jovial mood and that usually means coffee and stories which are both good things. Ans after that we had to go to a bookstore and sit very still in the little kid section, because holy shit I was just essentially given a car, worth more than everything I will ever have, that is cooler than anything I have ever had and will ever have. I also bought a little stuffed pear that had a reassuring smile. Need to keep it real with the balance of child-like whimsy and title-paper-signing adult.

On Friday I woke up early to put the finishing touches on my research paper and fix my works cited page. It wasn’t hard, and between my first blue book test and my second I was able to camp out between Z and G in the library like I’ve done every almost every day for the past year and finish it up. Of all the crap papers I’ve written this semester (and there have been several) this one was the least crap — at least having the decency to have a proper rhythm and flow to it, rather than be just a panicked jumble of text.

On Saturday I stood in a crowded gymnasium with about 1,500 other people who were all either a.) still drunk b.) hungover c.) nearly dead from the exhaustion of staying up late and working their ass off all semester. The event was held outside despite the dismal forecast, and eventually it became too frigid and blustery to carry on. There was a very amusing moment when Kay Norton came back to the mic, her hat nearly blowing off and her life in jeopardy due to the violently rocking tent that was being held up by four event volunteers, and said “there has been a change of plans. Will all of the remaining colleges please stand? By the power vested in me by the Board of Trustees…” and the remaining ~1,417 of us were asked to move our tassels from the right of our mortar boards to the left, and viola. Graduates.

Kind of an unconventional ceremony. I think if I hadn’t sat in the wind for an hour and a half before that moment I would have been a little irritated — all this work and I don’t get to go through the motions?! But really at that point I was just glad to be saved from frostbite. And we had Mrs. J. Ritter as our speaker, who surprised me very pleasantly by giving a lovely speech — not something that every graduate can say.

Even later that day I dressed in a banana suit and went to my party. I received an edible arrangements arrangement which is quite possibly one of the coolest things I’ve ever received, combining three things I love: color, food, and silly things.

Somewhere in there I also watched a boat-load of Spongebob, Mr. Megorium’s Wonder Emporium, and Speer Racer. I loved them all, particularly the latter. It is really great to see someone try and do anime live-action, in a way that retains what I love about the medium (ridiculous situations, over-the-top characters, COLORS that push the boundaries of reality that make you question if you ever really knew what colors were). As long as people go into the movie remembering that it’s a right and proper take on anime, and that the whole show was a bit retarded to begin with, they will have a super-fun time.

Oh you. I’d carry on or elaborate (there is still a lot to say) but I am going to work at eight this morning just like a big girl. So I need to work on the whole morning rhythm thing, because I’ve sort of forgotten how. Here are some leftovers:

1. How I’ve spent graduation money
2. Life paths, or, What I Didn’t Do This Summer in Terms Of Large Investments
3. I guess that means I’m a terrible friend (people present v. people past)
4. Fourteen days

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Abandon ship

May 7, 2008 at 2:41 pm · Filed under My ride

I have a confession to make. Well, more of a big messy feeling to sort out.
I am getting a new car. I’ve mentioned that several times here I think.

And before we get any further, understand: I am a driver. I was one of the first one of my friends to get a license, and because I had a four wheel drive and more experience I became the designated winter driver for some of my friends. When people are going to carpool I am the one who pipes up and offers my seats, if people need a designated driver on big bar nights I tend to be the one to drink diet cokes all night. I have never lived in a well-planned city — my part of the country is sprawling and vast — so driving is a big part of my life. And while I am looking forward to living in a place that will offer public transit and all the perks accompanying that (i.e., read to work! save on gas money!) the ability to drive around is something I keep very near and dear to me.

If I’m alive, I drive.

So I was ready for the sadness. I was ready for the wistful sigh of something Big and New. Even when I was driving an ‘82 Jeep Grand Wagoneer that got 8 miles to the gallon and would routinely leave me stranded, I still felt a pang of sadness when I was lent my current model.

This isn’t about feeling ungrateful — only a fool would feel that way — it’s more of just an urping up of sudden grief. This car has been with me through a multitude of changes. Now I face them without it.

What I was not ready for was the sudden upsurge of radiator problems. Granted, it’s had coolant-region issues for years, but lately I think we’ve either repaired or replaced everything in the coolant system. If there is a hose that connects to the radiator, it’s burst. If it touches the coolant well, it’s become disconnected. If it involves antifreeze at all, it will flow freely from its place to the concrete. Not good. Over the course of the last few months I have become intimately familiar with the parts under the hood.

Dad emailed Saturday to tell me New Car would be ready for me Thursday. The next day I was running errands and — once again — the coolant low signal went off. I pulled over, popped the hood, grabbed the gallon jug of antifreeze I keep wedged between a suitcase and a sleeping bag, and took a look. Antifreeze was dripping, quickly. Not from the coolant well in the back, but from the front of the car. From the radiator. A bottle of Bars leak later we were still experiencing acute coolant hemorrhage, so I was told to bring it in.

I know we are going to try and sell it, but the logistics made my head hurt a little. We are spending money to fix a car that will be replaced in two days.

For a moment I skipped over the sadness and instead moved on to anger. I know the jeep is mad, jealous, frustrated and feeling abandoned. I got that. It could have told me in so many ways that WOULDN’T mean driving the loaner Buick around town. You know – the one I recognized instantly in the parking lot, because I was here only three weeks ago. Realistically though, it could have been so much worse. I was able to drive it to the mechanic’s, which I have not been able to do the last three times it’s broken down. The jeep could have told me how vexed it was by leaving me stranded somewhere, or it could have blown something more deadly. I could have burned up the engine, or it could have been crushed by a tree limb in the wind the other day. But instead it popped a radiator seam in a graceful yet expensive fashion. Really I should feel honored that it only did that.

And so I am doing it right by fixing it. Even if it’s on its way out my door, it is not going to be towed off my driveway to be scrapped for parts like the Wagoneer was. It has a long, limping life ahead of it and I wish I had the money and energy to help it along. Almost. I am getting something much better, and do not regret that even for a second. It is pure history speaking here.

Tomorrow morning I am still going to brew a fresh pot of coffee, pour it into the travel mug, and pop in a Bela CD, like I have almost every morning that I’ve needed to drive somewhere. I am still going to make that big loop to 85 and let the music swell up and fill the speakers. This is it. kid. Let’s make it a good one.

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