tonight's my friday woohoo! too bad it's mike's tuesday. we're all sorts of outta sync.
anyhoo, man, i was working downtown today and around 2pm it started raining like crazy! like out of nowhere! people were stunned. it was hilarious. i guess even the general population tends to forget how rainy portland is after several days in a row of gorgeous sunshine. anyway, people were coming into the store saying "rain!? i didn't hear about any rain forecast!" and after ringing their purchases up, people saying "thanks, now can you do something about this rain?" ho ho ho
i actually said to someone who said that: "you're in the wroooong city, if you hate rain", as if i'd lived here my entire life. i laughed pretty hard at myself after that. i'm fitting in really well here, it seems. already i'm feeling like i've worked at borders forever (even though i'm clueless about what to do there still). it's a routine, which i was desperately in need of.
i think i mentioned the kickball team...tomorrow at 4pm, and apparently, it's "drunken kickball" according to a coworker. hahaha. so i'm going to go check it out. apparently it's pretty fun, and hey, it's kickball. i need to refresh my memory and think back to 6th grade, when i last played the game. at least i probably won't blow my knee out doing it. thanks to my scottish father, i learned soccer (read: kicking a ball) skills at a pretty young age. i credit my awesome coordination to that--and my horrible clumsiness to my mom's side of the family. (sorry mom--two sisters and a cousin have all compared notes! it's the beechams who knock in to things so easily!)
alright, i'm going to lie down and read my newest comic--er, graphic novel. i'm flyin solo tomorrow, so i think i'll write letters and take photos.
kitty and thomas: i got your letter today!!!! oh man, thanks a million!! you guys have given me the idea to make little movies of our world. i already made one for you guys and it's on a cd to be mailed with the next letter (monday). it's so nice to see ollie again (the old sourpuss) and your little family. so awesome. mike and i got a ton of laughs from that. and we love you too. not sure about canada, because that's a ton of vacay to take when we've just started our jobs, but we can for sure figure something awesome to do!
--anne
29.4.06
28.4.06
ahhh the "weekend"
well, i have to work tomorrow and mike's next day off is on wednesday. i guess our weekends have altered a bit. it's day 2 of my job at borders and i still love it. i'm just in training right now, and we have to do all that corny "role-playing" crap, but it's still so much fun. i was invited to join their kickball team that meets every sunday at the park down the street. i might have a bit of a swelled head about this, but i know for a fact they didn't invite the other two people i'm training with... by the way, the girl who's training me is from DES MOINES. hahaha. how's that for a small world?
mike and i were talking about it earlier, but it's really nice to see the same people at work and to be able to call them by name. thus far, we've ran into people and said "hi" and whatnot, but no one knows our names. and that's something i definitely was missing. big time. i don't know, it's just really nice to be able to start fitting into a group. i thought it was so funny when, the very first conversation i overheard at work amongst my co-workers was about gilmore girls, a show that i watched in secret for about a year, only to find out that most of the women my age were hooked on it, as well. well, the girls at borders watch it diligently, too! it was just really strikingly funny to me.
okay, well mike should be home from his very first day at his new job pretty quick here. he not counting any options out right now, and he's got an interview on wed. for a produce delivery guy. union pacific also finally called last night (mike doesn't know this yet--i checked the message after he'd been at work). so he's stull shopping around a bit for "the perfect fit". it's good that he's got options, though.
--anne
mike and i were talking about it earlier, but it's really nice to see the same people at work and to be able to call them by name. thus far, we've ran into people and said "hi" and whatnot, but no one knows our names. and that's something i definitely was missing. big time. i don't know, it's just really nice to be able to start fitting into a group. i thought it was so funny when, the very first conversation i overheard at work amongst my co-workers was about gilmore girls, a show that i watched in secret for about a year, only to find out that most of the women my age were hooked on it, as well. well, the girls at borders watch it diligently, too! it was just really strikingly funny to me.
okay, well mike should be home from his very first day at his new job pretty quick here. he not counting any options out right now, and he's got an interview on wed. for a produce delivery guy. union pacific also finally called last night (mike doesn't know this yet--i checked the message after he'd been at work). so he's stull shopping around a bit for "the perfect fit". it's good that he's got options, though.
--anne
27.4.06
for four years i've wondered...
what the hell was under all that fur. welp, i got my chance today. isn't he adorable???
--anne
Mike here, I'm taking votes on the best look for my future head shots. Vote for the bearded guy, the handlebars, the mustache, or smooth faced boy.
All votes will be tallied and serious consideration will be given to the most vote getter. I'll also consider any suggestions not previously pictured. Thanks for your time and lets start voting America! 
--anne
Mike here, I'm taking votes on the best look for my future head shots. Vote for the bearded guy, the handlebars, the mustache, or smooth faced boy.
All votes will be tallied and serious consideration will be given to the most vote getter. I'll also consider any suggestions not previously pictured. Thanks for your time and lets start voting America!
no more rabbi
personally, i dig the fu manchu
and mike says "don't mess with me, brother!"
yes, we're aware that he looks like a porn star...
...or a used car salesman.
tomorrow will mark the first day since we landed where both mike and i will be at work. we celebrated by a few rounds of pool at the belmont inn, up the street, this afternoon. it's another gorgeous day in portland (i think it's been over 5 days since it's rained!), and we're still loving it here.
today we walked a couple miles to the south in and out of neighborhoods. we're prowling for better apartments than the one we've got right now. i know i've mentioned it before, and it's not that we're unhappy, per se...there's just this one tenant here who's the disruptive factor. we were warned on the day we moved in that this guy was a pain in the ass, and he's proven thusly. he's (and his buddies) up at all hours of the night. our window faces the street (second floor) and that seems to be where he's decided to hang out at 2 in the morning and fight with his girlfriend. it's not every night, but we keep our window shut because of this guy. i really hope he gets evicted, but if he hasn't by now...he's never getting kicked out. so thank goodness we only signed a 6 month lease. with only 4 months left, we're sort of scoping out potential neighborhoods. we'll be socking money away again in preparation for this move, too. and don't get us wrong: we expected this. i think it's defnintely too much to ask to move to a new city (having never been there before) and land the ideal apartment for as cheap as this one is. ah well.
so i've taken some pictures that i'll post later on. actually, mike should post them. they're hilarious. mike's been undergoing some "changes", and that's all i'm gonna say.
we're thinking about you all. i've been so happy to hear of people we love reading this blog so diligently. i honestly had no idea. please comment if you like! i've got to get better at responding to comments. please, though, if you have any questions for us, or want clarification on anything: let us know!
love, anne
today we walked a couple miles to the south in and out of neighborhoods. we're prowling for better apartments than the one we've got right now. i know i've mentioned it before, and it's not that we're unhappy, per se...there's just this one tenant here who's the disruptive factor. we were warned on the day we moved in that this guy was a pain in the ass, and he's proven thusly. he's (and his buddies) up at all hours of the night. our window faces the street (second floor) and that seems to be where he's decided to hang out at 2 in the morning and fight with his girlfriend. it's not every night, but we keep our window shut because of this guy. i really hope he gets evicted, but if he hasn't by now...he's never getting kicked out. so thank goodness we only signed a 6 month lease. with only 4 months left, we're sort of scoping out potential neighborhoods. we'll be socking money away again in preparation for this move, too. and don't get us wrong: we expected this. i think it's defnintely too much to ask to move to a new city (having never been there before) and land the ideal apartment for as cheap as this one is. ah well.
so i've taken some pictures that i'll post later on. actually, mike should post them. they're hilarious. mike's been undergoing some "changes", and that's all i'm gonna say.
we're thinking about you all. i've been so happy to hear of people we love reading this blog so diligently. i honestly had no idea. please comment if you like! i've got to get better at responding to comments. please, though, if you have any questions for us, or want clarification on anything: let us know!
love, anne
26.4.06
my first day at borders
well, i didn't quit! ha ha!
okay... i love it. it's going to be such a fun job, i can tell. the people i'm working with are so friendly and silly--it's totally a cross between my years at the record store and my experience working at the library. it just feels natural; and in a weird way, is bringing a sense of normalcy to a town that i'm not completely familiar with yet. it takes a certain type to work in a bookstore, record store, or library, so i'm amongst my kind: the dweebs. i also get health benefits as a part-time employee (i'm told i will be upgraded to full-time very soon), so that's awesome. did i mention the discount, too? 33% baby! woohoo!
i'm so excited to be getting promos again (cd's AND books). i really missed that when i quit the record store (those 4 times i quit over the years)--as a matter of fact, one of the reasons i kept going back to work there was the promos. it certainly wasn't the $5.25/hr i made the entire 8 years i worked there. so yeah, it's great. i'm thoroughly happy with my decision to quit the scanning job and take this one. like i said: this feels natural.
ta ta!
--anne
okay... i love it. it's going to be such a fun job, i can tell. the people i'm working with are so friendly and silly--it's totally a cross between my years at the record store and my experience working at the library. it just feels natural; and in a weird way, is bringing a sense of normalcy to a town that i'm not completely familiar with yet. it takes a certain type to work in a bookstore, record store, or library, so i'm amongst my kind: the dweebs. i also get health benefits as a part-time employee (i'm told i will be upgraded to full-time very soon), so that's awesome. did i mention the discount, too? 33% baby! woohoo!
i'm so excited to be getting promos again (cd's AND books). i really missed that when i quit the record store (those 4 times i quit over the years)--as a matter of fact, one of the reasons i kept going back to work there was the promos. it certainly wasn't the $5.25/hr i made the entire 8 years i worked there. so yeah, it's great. i'm thoroughly happy with my decision to quit the scanning job and take this one. like i said: this feels natural.
ta ta!
--anne
I hope to make Mr. Miage proud...
Well, I'm typing this as the newest member of Tranquility Ponds. I'm there new retail/maintence/install guy for the Portland shop. It's a shop owned by two brothers and a sister dealing with all things pond related. What's kinda cool is we sell really odd/rare aquatic plants as well as 20 different kinds of koi, in addition to 1000's of different pumps, filters, liners, etc. It's a small place, which is nice since I really dont know what the heck I'm talking about initially. I'll mostly be working in the shop selling the products, but on the side (days off, or when a customer calls for help) I'll get to go to the houses and do cleanings or pump repairs or even installs with John the owner. The pay is good enough and it's fulltime, plus the side work is paid out at $15/HR plus commision on anything I use during the onsite work. Which according to Jeremiah (the manager) can ad up very quickly, since some of the pumps we sell are well over $800. So, it fells good to not be working for some megalo mart type of company, and I get to work with plants in a way. So that's my job in a nutshell, I start Friday. Peace, Love, and Ponds
25.4.06
my thigh muscles are still on fire from hopping from rock to rock at the beach. i felt like a freakin mountain goat. i wasn't so afraid of fallin into the tide pools, but i didn't want to squish any little starfish or anenomes out of existance. so two days later i'm still wincing whenever i sit down.
we drove over to division and clinton streets last evening. there's a kick ass safeway over on aobut 45th and clinton. those streets are comparable to belmont. every 5 blocks or so, there's a street that's a neighborhood hub, with bars, restaraunts, boutiques, salons, etc. belmont is just one of many little neighborhood areas (granted, belmont is slightly more established than others, and maybe less so than hawthorne). we're sort of looking around for other places (neighborhoods) to move. we really like belmont, but there's way more out there. also, our apartment building is really loud. there's lots of street noise, and we can't really sleep with the windows open. there's a dumpster across the street and there's homeless guys digging through it (loudly) all the time--when they aren't shouting at each other, or in general. we still have 5 months left of our 6 month lease, i know, but it doesn't hurt to look. i'm not sayin that our apartment is trashy--it's just...er, lively. so yeah.
anyhoo, cross your fingers for mike today. he's got a second interview, and that's all i'm gonna say about it (i don't wanna jinx it). i'll give details later after his interview.
more later in the day!
--anne
we drove over to division and clinton streets last evening. there's a kick ass safeway over on aobut 45th and clinton. those streets are comparable to belmont. every 5 blocks or so, there's a street that's a neighborhood hub, with bars, restaraunts, boutiques, salons, etc. belmont is just one of many little neighborhood areas (granted, belmont is slightly more established than others, and maybe less so than hawthorne). we're sort of looking around for other places (neighborhoods) to move. we really like belmont, but there's way more out there. also, our apartment building is really loud. there's lots of street noise, and we can't really sleep with the windows open. there's a dumpster across the street and there's homeless guys digging through it (loudly) all the time--when they aren't shouting at each other, or in general. we still have 5 months left of our 6 month lease, i know, but it doesn't hurt to look. i'm not sayin that our apartment is trashy--it's just...er, lively. so yeah.
anyhoo, cross your fingers for mike today. he's got a second interview, and that's all i'm gonna say about it (i don't wanna jinx it). i'll give details later after his interview.
more later in the day!
--anne
24.4.06
god it's soooo gorgeous here today. i'm already getting a tan just from walking everywhere. mike's out pounding the pavement, so to speak. i just walked over to uncle pauls for our weekly produce shop. i think i bought 20 pounds of veggies and fruit and it came to only $16. very economical! this morning, i went over to the portland coffeee house and wrote a letter, read issue #3 of the sandman graphic novel, and read a few chapters of mark twain's a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court. so far, it's been a beautiful lazy day. my training for borders starts on wednesday, so i've got a whole other day to relax before i start work.
--anne
--anne
23.4.06
Views of the beach...
Just some shots of the scenery from various points. I must say that this was one of the more impressive beaches that I have visited in my time. The mix of rugged cliffs and dense forest, with the delicate yet powerful ocean at its doorstep. It really makes you feel pretty small. I've been to many beaches and oceans in my time, and I have aspecial fondness to the Pacific Ocean. Maybe it's because I was born in southern california and the pacific has always flowed through my veins. It might also be the fact that I enjoy surfing and the power of the pacific
ocean is stronger and more powerful than anyone could ever imagine. I used to read Surfer Magazine and Longboarder and see these exotic pictures of great surf breaks that had huge pine trees lining the cliffs. I have always wanted those surf spots to be ones that I could surf. I guess my dreams of that happening are here (well once I can afford a wetsuit and board) Well enough already. Enjoy the beach
TidePools @ Indian Beach
This little crab was freaked out by my presence, but he still wasnt going to give up his ground (or rock)
This was one of the thousands of anenomes that you could find in the pools between the rocks. When the tide is low the just recoil into the shape of a ring and wait for the tide to come back up. Very impressive considering my brother Rob and myself did a saltwater tank for a few years, and it was such a delicate ecosystem to manage.
Another anenome, this one of the white variety
A couple of different color starfish, living in harmony together
well, today we decided to drive to the beach. it's about an hour and a half drive from our place (it's a gorgeous drive, too). so we drove to cannon beach which seems to be a sleepy little resort town right on the ocean. i packed us some sandwiches and off we went! just to the north of the cannon beach town, is a state park called "enola", i believe. anyway, it cost us $3 to get in and we drove right to the beach area called "indian beach". it was jsut after high tide, so our spot had a distinct fishy smell to it, but otherwise it was perfect. almost no wind, perfect air temp (about 70-degrees), and chilly water---okay, it was COLD.
i called kirsten (which was roaming, so i didn't call anyone else) and told her that "the ocean called and they're runnin out of shrimp".
mike wandered off to look at the tide pools and such (he's got a million pictures of them, so i'll let him write about it). we've been to two beaches so far in oregon, and this one far surpassed the first one at seaside. i love the feeling of sitting on the beach--it's like perching on the edge of a continent. i look out across the ocean to the horizon and know that i'm staring at JAPAN. it's huge. such a calming, restful feeling. i really wish we lived closer to the ocean, but i think for our price range, portland is the best thing for us. it's a relatively short drive and anything within sight of the coast, well, prices go up exponentially.
this weekend we'd set a budget of $40. i'm not sure if i mentioned that earlier. starting friday morning, and ending tomorrow, we were only allowed $40. well i'm happy to say that as of now (about 6pm, sunday) we still have 6 freakin dollars left over! this budgeting thing has forced us to try and do things that don't cost a lot. it also puts the kibosh on my "impulse spending". i don't know about you guys, but i'm pretty freakin impressed with us. not to mention the exercise we've gotten by walking places rather than taking the bus or driving.
oh yes, on the way home we followed a sign that said "largest siska spruce tree in the united states". this tree is 750 years old and TOWERS above any other tree near it. it's huge. i posted a picture of it, and i think we have one more to post of it, as well. so yeah. we saw it.
more later!
--anne
i called kirsten (which was roaming, so i didn't call anyone else) and told her that "the ocean called and they're runnin out of shrimp".
mike wandered off to look at the tide pools and such (he's got a million pictures of them, so i'll let him write about it). we've been to two beaches so far in oregon, and this one far surpassed the first one at seaside. i love the feeling of sitting on the beach--it's like perching on the edge of a continent. i look out across the ocean to the horizon and know that i'm staring at JAPAN. it's huge. such a calming, restful feeling. i really wish we lived closer to the ocean, but i think for our price range, portland is the best thing for us. it's a relatively short drive and anything within sight of the coast, well, prices go up exponentially.
this weekend we'd set a budget of $40. i'm not sure if i mentioned that earlier. starting friday morning, and ending tomorrow, we were only allowed $40. well i'm happy to say that as of now (about 6pm, sunday) we still have 6 freakin dollars left over! this budgeting thing has forced us to try and do things that don't cost a lot. it also puts the kibosh on my "impulse spending". i don't know about you guys, but i'm pretty freakin impressed with us. not to mention the exercise we've gotten by walking places rather than taking the bus or driving.
oh yes, on the way home we followed a sign that said "largest siska spruce tree in the united states". this tree is 750 years old and TOWERS above any other tree near it. it's huge. i posted a picture of it, and i think we have one more to post of it, as well. so yeah. we saw it.
more later!
--anne
22.4.06
Mt St Helens
tough shot between the trees but it can be seen somewhat. hopefully it doesnt plan on blowing its smooth round top anytime soon
honey bee just taking it easy
if you look close enough you can see the smile on his face mentioned before.
A Day Spent with Oregon's Finest Product....
Wood, in the form of books and trees. We started our day off with some choice sugar cinnamon toast that I made with our killer toaster oven (thanks McGraws) plus some fabu moka pot koffee. After that, since there was not a cloud in the sky and the temps hit the upper 60's we trekked to Mt. Tabor. What a great day to be alive and at Mt Tabor, it was evident on every face on every person that was at the park. I could even see a smile on this cute little honey bee that Annie saw sitting on the trunk of this huge pine tree. It's really an impressive park to just have blocks from our apartment. After walking around the park and getting a few pictures of Mt Hood and Mt. St. Helens (didnt know that it was so close) we headed off to the Oregon Convention Center for the Wordstock Festival. I had big hopes there of meeting with Dark Horses Comics (based in Portland) about me being the next greatest letterer in the business. Let me just say my dream is still alive, I'm going to submit a letter (probably the alphabet) to them showing them my work. Annie and myself listened to three authors of individual books dealing with the war and the affairs of the middle east. There names are Laurie Becklund, David Oliver Relin, and Stacy Bannerman and each spoke with such passion about there books. It really got the blood moving and your mind thinking. As they were speaking I was thinking to myself about how crazy these times are, but was energized about being in this city during this time of my life. It is hard to explain, maybe more of an overall energy that seems to be created by the individuals in Portland that create this idea that things can be different, and that they must be different! Anyway, enough about that. We then ventured to the Powells Bookstore stage for an hour with Jessica Abel, a graphic novel author/artist who has a new book out called La Perdida. The moderator from Powells kinda stunk so it made it hard to find the energy that she was bringing to her piece of work. The book does seem like it could be a great read for those of you whom enjoy graphic novels (ie. comic books) not to mention the book took place in Mexico City for those of you whom enjoy Mexico. I guess it was said best by David Oliver Relin when he said how amazing it was that this type of convention could have just as many people packing the walls as a boat/home show could. It was a bookworm/nerd paradise, pretty cool for sure. Well I should be going I'm making pasta and alfredo for dinner. Ciao for now
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