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Monday, December 31, 2012

2013

I'm going to repost, for I beleive the 4th time, my favorite new years quote.
"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
Neil Gaiman

I'm making a list of 13 things to do, which is sort of like resolutions. But sorta not. Some of them are more resolutiony than others. Sometimes people neglect their blogs for several months, only writing whiney or angry posts.Sometimes those people are me. So the first thing on the list of 13 things I want to do in 2013 is:
 
1. Remember to write. Find something hilarious or weird or true to write down once a day. 

2. Take voice lessons. I've wanted to do this since I was a little girl. No grand ambitions, just want to know how to sing properly.

3. Participate in the Urban Iditarod. For the last two years my boyfriend and our friends have created awesome shopping-cart structures and donned costumes for a day of drinking and general portlandy awesomeness. I have been unable to join them. This year, I will make it happen. 

4. Juice fast. Only like 5 days. I am sometimes not very nice to my body. I put bad things in it. It's time for a re-set. 
4A. Buy a new juicer.

5. Pay off 2 credit cards. This is credit card debt mostly from 3 years ago. Time to get rid of it and start being nicer to my credit score.

6. Run a 5k. I did this a couple years ago but know I couldn't do it again right now. 

7. Squat 150 lbs.

8. Bench 100 lbs. 

9. Complete two more series at Night Flight. Make time and room in my budget.

10. Finish my tattoo by the end of February.

11. Get a savings account. Actually put money in it. 

12. Read 12 new books. 

13. Kick ass at my job.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Let's Vote, guys

Why WE(20-somethings) should vote in the Presidential election:
As we come up against everyone's last chance to vote, I think it's important to think about whether or not your vote counts. I live in Oregon. We get 7 votes in the electoral college. They are going to be for President Obama. That's just a fact. That's why nobody campaigns here. So in that regard, my vote really doesn't matter that much (for President. There are also important state and local ballot measures and candidates). But here is a reason that our vote does matter- politics cater to people who vote. People in their 50's are about twice as likely as people in their 20's to cast their ballots. Folks with money are more likely to vote. And more than anything, extremists on both sides are reliable voters. Don't feel like politics is about you, moderate 20-somethings? It's not. Because by and large we don't make the effort to involve ourselves. By voting in an election, you say "I care and I'm watching." Our generation has had one of the roughest starts in recent history. Many of us spent tens of thousands of dollars on college only to graduate into one of the worst job markets since the Great Depression. We should care. We should be paying attention. And we should be making sure that politicians give a shit about how we are doing and what we think. So turn in your ballots, guys.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Simbandy

Sometimes you're just going along with your life and you're hit by a startling revelation.




I was watching football and The Lion King this last Sunday and I had one of these revelations.




My brother looks like Simba. Are you ready for this? Probably not.
I'd like to thank the frametastic app for allowing me to illustrate my epiphany.

Tatted



I finally got my tattoo! It's still healing and pretty itchy but I love it. Right now it's just black and gray outline but in November we'll be adding color. I sat for 2 1/2 hours and let me tell you that was enough. It didn't hurt really bad the whole time but the last part was in the middle of my back and it was downright unpleasant. Melissa and Jason came to hold my hand and then get drunk with me afterwards which was a mission mightily accomplished. (Thanks to the extraordinary major motion picture "Pitch Perfect" and a bottle of Malibu stashed in my purse. No, we are not adults. Aca-obviously.)
Here's the play by play:

These are the sketches from my artist, Traci at New Rose Tattoo in Portland. Basically, it's a paint by number that goes from unfinished(empty) sections, to flat color, to realistic flowers overflowing the frame. I described this idea to her and she captured it really perfectly.
Ignore the double chin. Or don't. Totally your choice. But this is Traci positioning the tattoo stencil on my back before making it, you know, permanent. Also, you can barely see it but Traci has an awesome naked mermaid on one arm and owls with books (harry potter related?? I didn't ask...) on the other. Awesome.
I sat for 2 and a half hours. Did I mention that. I'm a badass.
Well, sort of a bad ass. I don't actually think badasses make this face. But notice that she is smack dab in the middle of my back here. Not the best.
And now I have a tattoo. Just like that. Well, almost like that. I still have at least one more session for color and shading.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Leggo my Ayn Rand

 Another political post- politics everywhere right now and I'm getting a little riled up.So feel free to ignore me. It might be a good idea because when I talk about Ayn Rand I spiral ...


Onward...
Since Paul Ryan was selected as the vice presidential nominee, Ayn Rand has been everywhere. Apparently Paul Ryan, along with many Republicans, has recommended Ayn Rand books and been seen as a follower of hers. Now that he's in the spotlight, Ryan is trying to distance himself from her because she's extreme and also because her philosophy really does NOT jive with the republican philosophy-especially as the party stands today. Reading and liking Ayn Rand has become the mark of the conservative republican. It's frustrating the crap out of me.

I read Atlas Shrugged in high school and fell completely in love with it. The idea that a person's happiness should be their life goal is a fantastic thing. And that is the essence of Ayn Rand's philosophy- each person's happiness is his or her right and responsibility- that I do not owe someone else their happiness anymore than they owe me mine. I find this notion to be basic and true.

I do not agree with her on everything but I do know that I don't appreciate the republican party claiming her as their own.

Ayn Rand also advocates for reason and individuality as basic tenets of her philosophy- which is called Objectivism and is much more closely aligned with Libertarian politics than Republican politics.

Ideals that match up -theoretically- with the Republican party include advocacy of market capitalism, a desire to return to the gold standard, the repeal of the income tax, smaller government, and (I'm guessing on this one but pretty sure) reduction of entitlement programs. Ayn Rand hated taxes- she felt that the money someone earned honestly and through their own hard work should be their own. The reason I say that these ideals align theoretically with the Republican party is that Ayn Rand dealt with absolutes. If one is assuming that the people running companies got there by working their asses off and being intelligent- she believes they have every right to their success. However, we know that the world is not as black and white as Ayn Rand would have it be. The devil here is in the details and I don't know that she would be impressed by the men and women claiming her ideals today.

Ideals that have Ayn Rand cursing in Russian in her grave- banning gay marriage, banning abortion, ANYTHING to do with forcing Christian morality on the country, any claim that the United States is a Christian nation, any attempt to keep people from voting.

The issue at hand here is that the Republican party has chosen the individual as their hero, the idea of the self-made man as their ideal and that's something I can get behind and that most people can support. However, a person stops being an individual and stops having the right to make their own choices as soon as we cross over to social policy. Fiscally, Rand is convenient because she advocates deregulation and free market capitalism. But Republicans are backing themselves into a corner by saying that freedom and individual rights are their paramount concern while also insisting that the idea of two men marrying is hurting America. She starts with very basic tenets of rational self-interest and an individual's right to his or her own life. These things CANNOT be reconciled with the christian morality and extreme disregard for individual freedoms that are officially part of the Republican party platform.

Below is a clip from The Daily Show that demonstrates nicely and in a simple way how these ideas of american individuality and freedom clash against the official policy stances of the party.

The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
RNC 2012 - The Road to Jeb Bush 2016 - The Republican Platform
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

More Daily Show- Ayn Rand scholar discussing the Republican party's relationship to the author over the years.


So yes, I clearly lean liberal (did the 2 daily show clips give it away) and I don't claim to adhere to all of Ayn Rand's principles but I think the things she stood for are at their base good things and I don't think the Republican party of today has any claim to such moral high ground.

I strongly recommend that everyone read Atlas Shrugged. I know it's a fat bastard of a book and it looks intimidating but the story will pull you through. You might not love it, but it's good to have a reference because as Jennifer Burns says in the interview-whenever the country is struggling ideologically she comes up.

Rant over.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Bill Nye the Science Guy knows everything. This is just a fact. He taught me about plate tectonics and also has been rocking the shit out of a bow tie for quite some time.

He also decided a couple weeks ago that advocates of creationism in the classroom needed a scientific ass beating.

Watch it. It's short and it's great.

So then, because Bill Nye doesn't take shit from anyone, he laid the smackdown during a Smithsonian interview. And when I say laid the smackdown I mean he totally lost his shit. Go here for the complete story.

During a live interview this morning with the Smithsonian Channel, the mild mannered science educator unloaded on U.S. Congressman Todd Akin, calling him "a fucking idiot" for accusing Nye of personally provoking Hurricane Issac.
Last week Nye uploaded a video to Youtube urging parents not to teach their children creationism. At a town hall campaign event yesterday, Akin used the video as an example of immoral behavior driving god to punish America through extreme weather.
Although reporters reached out to Nye for a statement yesterday, his first discussion of the matter came this morning at Smithsonian's Washington D.C. headquarters.
Nye Got a Feeling...
The 56 year old star of the long-running "Bill Nye The Science Guy" was in the studio to promote his new documentary series focusing on the neuroscience of childhood development.
After briefly discussing his show, the Smithsonian anchors asked Nye about Akin's recent accusation. The normally genial Nye wasted no time venting his rage about the comments:
"Look, these people they're fucking retarded. Rape can't cause pregnancy? Breastmilk cures homosexuality? I caused a hurricane by challenging creationism? Who can possibly take these people seriously anymore?"
The slightly uncomfortable anchors then tried to change the subject, but Nye persisted:
"It used to be these Republicans didn't believe in global warming or evolution. That was bad enough. Now they don't even believe in egg + sperm = baby. Where does Todd Akin think babies come from? Does he think there are separate storks for people who were raped and people who weren't? "
"Hey look over there! It's the rape stork. It drops off all its babies directly at the orphanage."
"He's a fucking idiot. Just a plain fucking idiot. I'm sorry - I don't say that word very often - but it happens to fit in this case. He's just a fucking idiot."
A Decent Proposal
As the stunned anchors hurriedly tried to wind the conversation down and cut to commercial, Nye stared directly into the camera and issued a challenge to his new-found rival:
"So Todd I got an offer for you. You and me. Any time. Any place. Debating science mano- a-mano. I'll bring the facts, and you bring the Vaseline. Because your ass is gonna fucking need it when I'm done whipping."
Nye apologized once more for his language before ripping off his microphone and walking off the set.
Representatives of the Smithsonian Channel say they have no comment on the incident.
Bill Nye could not be reached, but a since-deleted tweet on his Twiiter account posted shortly after the incident read:
"@ToddAkin Never enter the eye of Hurricane NYE!"


CORRECTION: This article is total BS. It never happened. Which is a DAMN SHAME. So I'm going to leave this up anyway because I'd like to live in a world where Bill Nye loses his shit.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Comfort Creatures

Hey there, my friend Michelle who blogs at Oh Mishka is working to establish a no kill animal shelter in her town. She needs help getting the initial $500 to apply for non-profit status. The shelter in her town has a 3 day kill policy. Very sad.

Growing up, we never bought our dogs or kitties at pet stores. Our pets came from shelters or people with unwanted puppies. Pat and I both rescued pets that were unwanted and otherwise would have gone to a shelter. I believe strongly in rescuing homeless pets and think what Michelle is doing is wonderful and needed. 


Joey throws up for attention (and according to Pat he is even strategic about the location of his vomiting depending on who he is mad at) and Finch is a total asshole but we love them and animals like them deserve a chance at a  loving home. Please visit the Comfort Creatures website, take a look at what they are trying to do and make a donation to help them get started!

Monday, August 20, 2012

My BFF Jeff Goldblum

It's highly likely that as with the wonderful internet memes ERMAHGERD and McKayla (and many other people) is not impressed, I am way behind on this BUT-
I was looking for a picture of Jeff Goldblum to post on my facebook status beseeching everyone in the facebook world to come to yet another of my events at the Garden- I used this picture:

 ...and I came across this:
My BFF Jeff Goldblum (.tumblr.com)
There's a picture of Jeff, and then a "quote" from him. And it basically is making my life right now.

Why do I love Jeff Goldblum? I'm not really sure. It's probably at least 43% because he's jewish and the rest percent because this picture used to be on the inside of my friend Riley's bathroom door and it stuck with me.


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Tattoo Time

More than a year after my friends gave me a piggy bank full of money for my birthday so that I could get my tattoo, I finally took the first step and got a consult with Traci at New Rose Tattoo which happens to be just down the street from our place.
Pat pointed out that I hate making decisions so getting a tattoo is basically the hardest thing ever. It's true.
I don't even want to pick the restaurant for dinner, so committing to a tattoo is sortof a big deal but I'm really excited about it. Below are the inspiration photos I gave her.








Use your imagination! My first session is in September...

Friday, July 13, 2012

I liked that before it was cool.

Once upon a time I was a student at the University of Oregon. We'll say, 2005 ish. A boy I had the hots for (Hey, Neil!) was trying out for an a cappella group called On the Rocks. When he told me this, I thought- all male singing group? I'm intrigued. But also, that's weird. Boy bands are soooo 10 years ago (except now they're cool again. Who knew?)
Naturally I dragged all of my friends to go watch the first performance after he made the group. It was basically the best thing I'd ever seen. Best thing WE had ever seen. We swooned, picked our favorites, we attended all their shows (which still occur every Friday at the EMU.) If we saw one of them on campus, we would text each other and include lots of exclamation marks "I JUST SAW CALEB IN FRONT OF THE VOLCANOLOGY BUILDING. swoooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was basically the most ridiculous thing ever. I was more 13-year-old crazy over a cappella at 18 years old than I ever was over anything when I was 13. My stalking tendencies and crush on Neil have since faded-although I'm pretty sure Neil is still a rad guy.
My love for singing groups and a cappella has not- and it turns out, it's totally cool now. Glee probably has a lot to do with that. And of course, I love Glee. Also, NBC did 2 or 3 seasons of an a cappella competition show called The Sing Off. On the Rocks(OTR) competed on the show, but didn't win. (They were robbed!)
This was shortly after videos of OTR went viral- one of them rickrolling a subway, and another of their cover of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. They're basically a really big deal.
But NOW- NOW there is going to be a movie about collegiate a cappella called Pitch Perfect. It looks to be in the style of such great films as Bring it On, Step Up, and Center Stage- featuring battles, inspiration, self-discovery, and a character called Fat Amy.
So what I'm saying is now that there's a movie out, and a cappella is cool- I want you to know that I liked it before you did and I have throwback OTR CD's to prove it- BEFORE THEY WERE AVAILABLE ON ITUNES. (Visit uoontherocks.com to buy their CDs or mp3s or whatever)

This is the OTR I fangirled about. Of course, because it's a collegiate group, the members change constantly. The new guys are great too but this is the group I stalked freshman year. 
Lots of parentheses in this post. (Deal with it.)

Friday, June 22, 2012

crunch time, more like mush time. Crisp at best.

Usually before events I can easily be productive for like 12 hours a day. Stay at work till 10pm no prob. I'm like a damn machine. Of event planning. Not like Martha. Martha is like a mythical being of event planning. Like maybe she sees all things at once- what the event was, what it should be, what it shouldn't be, what it could've been, what it can't be...you know, everything. Plus gardening.
Not so much this week though with the machine-ness. Hopefully I can get my ass in gear since this thing is happening whether I'm ready or not, in approximately 1 week and 3 days. Or can I cancel it? Probably not.

Can I cancel packing but still get to move? Probably not.

Can I leave work to go eat unhealthy bar food at a shitty dive with my friends? Definitely.

When work feels overwhelming, remember that you're going to die.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Distractions

I have a lot of shit to do(see last post). But in between complaining about how busy and stressed out I am, I'm planning my next road trip with Pat instead of getting shit done-real things with deadlines etc. I just get so distracted planning things for fun instead of planning things I have to plan-which is still kinda fun but of course less, because you have to (and because the event is in less than two weeks).

One of Pat's good friends from college is getting married in Montana at the end of July. So naturally we are turning it into Ghost Town road trip part two- on crack(or bath salts, your choice). Because we're also going to try to go to Yellowstone. And visit Michelle who lives in seriously the bottom of Idaho. Oh and PS attend a wedding.


But there are some out of control awesome ghost towns in Idaho and Montana. With plenty of standing buildings, and hopefully less abandoned motor homes and piles of trash (I'm looking at you Oregon). I'm really into the old jails, and I think a couple on our agenda are still standing. One of them (fingers crossed!) still has standing gallows. And so many cemeteries.


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The next two weeks

I've been at my job a year now, and also at my house for a year with Jason, James, and Melissa. Our lease will be up at the end of this month. Which means that I'll be moving the first week of July, which also happens to be the same time I have a concert/5,000 person event to run. Packing and pulling this together at the same time, for the second year in a row. And I'm whiney and quite grumpy about it.

It's fun re-learning every year (or less) that you're kindof a hoarder and that also, packing takes a lot of time. And that you have SO MUCH stuff, and that the only things you want to find are lost forever because you've moved 11 times in the last 7 years.

Fall 2005- I move out of my parents house into world, also known as Sweetser Hall at UO
Spring 2006- Hey Mom and Dad!
Fall 2006- I'm an RA. Totally have my own room. In McCallister Hall at UO. This is awesome.
Summer 2007- Move into an apartment next to Campus with Patrick. I get a bunny.
Summer 2008- I move into what is referred to as "The little yellow house" which is sorely missed and was a wonderful little house. Alder and 25th in Eugene. I get Joey the dog.
Summer 2009- I move into the Polk house in Eugene, which is clearly haunted. The bunny dies. Joey has nothing to do with his demise. It is more likely the spirits of children trapped in this creepy house.
Winter 2009- I move to Portland, and hang out on Melissa's couch for a few weeks.
later Winter 2009- I move into my studio on NE 24th and Sandy in Portland. It is adorable. I love it. It is so expensive that I eat canned vegetables for dinner for about a year.
Winter 2010- I become a statistic and move back in with my parents in Salem.
Spring 2011- I move back to Portland and live in a house off of Terwilliger. The house has cardboard walls and glittery ceilings.
Spring 2012 (now)- I move into a basement apartment with Pat at SE 36th and Division. I gain a small step-dog.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Office/Cave

I work at a garden. A beautiful botanical garden. There are literally 80 acres of flowers and lawns and pretty trees here.
But I can't see any of it.

I was driving into work, listening to Think Out Loud*, sunglasses on, Starbucks vanilla light double shot making me all alertawakealiveenthusiastic. Took the longer way to work for more farmland/less Mt.Angel. All smiley and good mood and 'I'm gonna kick this day's ass!'.

And then it hit me. As soon as I get to work I'm going to have to go sit at my desk. With no windows. Buzz kill to the max. So now I'm sitting at my desk, kicking myself for not bringing my laptop so that I could work on the landing which sits above my desk and houses the only windows in our business office. Which is at a Garden. But we only have one set of windows. At a garden.

I'm just really mourning my sunshiney drive to work happiness and thought the internet might like to know.

*Think Out Loud with Dave Miller is my favorite program on OPB. It's the second reason (after laziness and general affection for sleep and for being in bed) that I leave for work at 9am. The program is one hour, my drive is one our. It's like Dave and I were meant for each other.

I kinda have a radio crush on Dave Miller. (sorry honey.) I've never googled him because I don't know if I really want to know what he looks like. But that being said, I'm going to some OPB function in a couple weeks primarily because he's making an appearance. And I just can't not go.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Brewfest Aftermath

Holy shit. I just added up my hours. 90 last week.
Brewfest was a knock-down drag-out success. We had over 6,000 people there, who purchased over 40,000 drink tickets (besides the 40,000 ish we gave out with their glasses). And now it's over and I can sleep and hang out and stop waking up in the middle of the night worried about refrigerated trucks. Pictures and other awesome to be posted once the dust settles.
Blitzen Trapper leaving the stage after closing out the fest and completely rocking everyone's faces off.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Ingrid



Last night I saw Ingrid Michaelson at the Roseland. The Roseland is a venue that, for an all ages show(I don't know why those exist), lets the adults go up into the seats on the balcony with alcohol access and puts the kids on the floor. I was working of course so my room mates went early to get a spot. Plan was to sit at the adult table but a ginger who won't be mentioned has an expired ID so we were relegated to the floor. However, because they got there early we were right down in front and ever so close to Ingrid.
I used to be all about the floor and there are still circumstances where that is true- mostly circumstances that don't involve standing on cement floors for 4 hours.
The point is it was lovely to be so close to my future baby mama, to hear the little things she said off the mic- which were usually about how awesome portland/the audience was- but my old ass hurts today. A lot.
Ingrid is adorable and hilarious and kept getting all ferclempt about selling out the Roseland and everyone singing along with her and just generally about performing I think. It's so fun to see someone play who is genuinely touched/honored that people love her music. Also her voice is amazing and she's amazing and I want her babies.

I am no photographer but I just couldn't resist.



Ingrid rocking hard on a Ukelele. Yep.

Group singalong of You and I.
Anyone reading this not already familiar with Ingrid? Download all of her albums. Stat.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Semi-acquaintance

So the following is copied from the facebook status of a girl who lived in my hall freshman year, who I didn't know very well but seems to be pretty awesome so I'm facebook friends with her. Anyway, apparently her friend Ben Finch says awesome things. I don't actually know him at all, but these are his words and I thought they were well worth sharing:
"id say go for it
because why the fuck not
youll probably regret it about dinner time
so i mean
there's two sides to a coin
and sometimes abraham lincoln is on one side."



Pretty much the best justification for anything. ever.
While I'm on the creepy/random track, Betsy(the girl that I'm friends with that I'm not really friends with) has a super sweet etsy shop with beautiful jewelry. I wouldn't say no if anyone ever wanted to buy me any of her pieces.
 Like maybe this...


the Dual Mini Chevron necklace

Thursday, April 19, 2012

When a man loves a dog

I'm at work because next week is Brewfest and it's basically my life right now but I'm taking a brain break and decided to investigate something that my room mate pointed out to me- my dad has posted more pictures of his dog on his facebook than he has of me-his beloved and just damn near perfect daughter. I did some counting.
In my dad's "wall photos" there are 7 photos of me, there are about 7 of my brother, and 14 of Daisy. Men and their dogs.

Daisy has an underbite and an overlarge vulva which you (thankfully) can't see in this picture. I affectionately refer to her as either Cletis (because of her underbite) or tramp/hussy/slutbag (because of the giant vulva). She joined the family in November and has been spreading her slutty lovin all over the Ridderbi ever since. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Working from home

I've started working from home two days a week to save on gas (I commute an hour each way) and it's been pretty great. I roll over in the morning and check my email, then if I'm feeling ambitious I put on sweats and take my computer out to the living room. If it's a lazy day, I stay under the blankets and work from my bed. I get plenty done because there's nobody home to distract me except for these two. And they just sleep all day. Working from home: I recommend it.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

 Things I did recently.


Took the kids to the beach.

Chopped off all my hair. Excuse the awful pictures.

Colored Easter eggs
spent as much time as possible on the deck in the sun. 


 Oh, and also Brewfest. Is a thing I've been doing lately.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Ghost Town Road Trip




I have been wanting for ages to take a road trip through Oregon to visit ghost towns. I really love old abandoned things. Abandoned house on the side of the road? If it's unlocked, I wanna be in it (or if there's a me-sized hole to crawl through). Underground city tour in Seattle? Pretty Awesome. So 100+ year old abandoned towns? Basically the best thing ever. Oregon has lots of old lumber and mining towns that are now dead* and empty*.  Since Pat's into history and also because I kinda like him, we took this trip together. We each took a 3 day weekend so that we wouldn't have to rush through the trip. I mapped out a route to take us through 9 ghost towns. They were Bridal Veil, Ortley, Boyd, Friend, Shaniko, Antelope, Granite, Sumpter, and Bourne. We also went through Kent, which is a ghost town and there were a ton of old abandoned things on the side of the road.
Pat and I went shopping for this adventure the morning before leaving. Tuna is one of our staple meals since it's a meat that I'll eat (/ love too much to give up. It's a serious weakness) and because he can put barbeque sauce in it. However, since we were already packed up/on our way and hadn't brought the various accoutrements for tuna (him: bbq sauce and/or cajun spices. me: mayo and pickles) we explored the world of pre-made tuna salad. I went for tbe Bumble Bee standard tuna salad. (Click that link. WHY is it available on amazon?!) The ingredients were mayo, carrots, celery, and a lot of not pronounceable stabilizers.  Pat got adventurous and chose lemon pepper tuna and thai chili tuna. I can't even find a link to post for these. I was really nervous about buying premade tuna salad. Not for normal reasons of the fact that it's, well, premade tuna salad- but because I'm pretty set in my tuna salad ways. Always tuna in water. Always mayo and pickles. Sometimes pickle juice and/or mustard. Sometimes celery/onions.  Once upon a time this post was about a ghost town road trip.
Our first town was Bridal Veil which is near Multnomah Falls.  We managed to find the tiny little post office which used to be I believe a tool shed of sorts for the Mill that the town was built around. This post office is teeny tiny and there's one lady in there with her dog. I failed to take a picture of the adorable post office but I found this one on the google.


The only reason this little bitty post office is still surviving is because women love to have their wedding invitations sent through here to get the post mark.


We asked the nice lady to direct us to the cemetery because as I think has been mentioned previously, I love me a cemetery. This particular cemetery was very depressing. I know most people find them depressing anyway but this was mostly children who, according to one of my ghost town websites, died from smallpox and diphtheria outbreaks. It was very pretty, despite the dead babies.


After Bridal Veil, we headed to Ortley, which was one that I was really excited about. The story goes that some folks decided they were going to build this European style apple growing community in the Gorge. But whoops, the wind kills your trees on one side and its too dry in the summer. So they built up this whole town before they realized they were totally screwed. You can read a little more here.  But guess what, some jerk bought the property and put up a "no trespassing" sign.

 
jerks.
Pat apparently has some kind of issue with trespassing on private property. He wouldn't let me hop that dinky little chain across the road. I'm really upset that someone bought a ghost town and then closed it off. 
If I bought a sweet-ass failed apple growing town I would at least leave the road to it open. Sheesh.
We continued on to Boyd. There wasn't much but a cool old bridge, a big building that I think was a grain silo, and some little shacks I couldn't get to. There was one really neat looking building but someone had parked their motor home next to it. This would become a pattern. 
Another pattern is Pat's problem with trespassing. He didn't want to walk down to the big building with me but I went by myself and kept thinking I was hearing things inside so I asked him to come with me. He was completely stressed out the whole time but he did come along. 





From Boyd we went on to Friend. Fun fact about Friend is that there is a family that bought the land, who have been on the land since it was a real town. We were driving up and on our right is the "Friend Store" which was an awesome old store front full of junk that I would have LOVED to dig through. However, right in front of us are 3 generations of men working on a tractor. Uh, awkward. So we get out to let the dogs pee and I walked up to the old man to ask him if this was "Friend" and he informed me that he grew up here and owns the land now. The other two men were his son and grandson. The store is full of his collection of old junk. This is adorable but I feel pretty uncomfortable taking pictures/poking around their home so we put the dogs back in the car and continue down the road. Since I didn't take photos, here again is one that I found on the google.


We kept driving and came upon the old Friend schoolhouse. We stopped to take a look. I checked the door and it wasn't locked so I went in. It was basically the cutest thing ever. Its been turned into a community center and they covered the walls with chalk boards. There's still an old piano in there, as well. This was my favorite part of our trip. We sat on the porch of the schoolhouse and ate lunch and let the dogs run around.










Friend was our last stop for day one. I had made a plan for us to stay at Hunt Park, which shares its space with the Wasco County fair grounds. It is the only place to camp for miles. We were a little creeped out and went looking for somewhere else to camp but that just didn't exist. So, we camped next to the track at the fairgrounds. This was our view.

In the morning, because we hadn't paid our fee yet (and honestly were hoping to just skip out of there without putting money in the little envelope) the campground steward or whatever they are called came over to see us. Joey of course tried to eat him. He asked us what we were doing out there and we told him about our road trip. He rattled off all the ghost towns nearby, the people on their preservation committees, etc. Apparently when you live in the middle of nowhere you know everyone else that lives in the middle of nowhere, even if they are miles and miles away. He also told us the history of the Tygh Valley, which is where we were at the time. According to our friend, Tygh means peace and all the Indian tribes used to go there once a year and while they were there they would all be under a truce for the time they were in the valley. The google hasn't verified this yet, but I liked his story. 

The next morning we went to Shaniko which is probably the most famous ghost town in Oregon. It was restored and revitalized as a tourist destination some years ago but someone recently bought the town, got into a dispute with the county about water, and closed all the buildings up. Apparently only jerks buy ghost towns. There was still a lot to see. My favorite was probably the old jail cells. My phone doesn't have flash and so I didn't take any photos that turned out. There was also a little old saloon I tried so hard to find a way to sneak into but no dice.

This building is full of old cars. Used to be a museum. The jerk locked it.








This is where my memory and photo taking both get a bit shitty. We moved on to Antelope which was the precursor to Shaniko until the whole town burned down. There was one great big school there that I liked. We wandered around looking for a way in. Again, no dice. But there was a swing set, which always makes me happy. 

We decided while we were in the area we would see the painted hills.  They were very pretty but we think probably better in the rain, when the colors are more vivid.
We camped that night at Clyde Holliday Park outside of John Day. It was a lovely camp site but cold as hell. So we huddled around the fire and ate our tuna sandwiches. Which were surprisingly delicious. A kitten kept coming  to our site to lick the tuna cans. It wouldn't let me make friends with it but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Joey, however, was upset about the cold and about being outside so he whined until we went to bed with him. The next morning we thawed ourselves and headed for some old mining towns- Bourne and Granite. They ended up being way up in the hills and full of little hunting cabins. Middle aged men walking down dirt roads with cups of coffee. Kind of lovely. 
We then got dinner and drinks in Hood River on our way home. I really enjoyed the trip and the time with my love but there was one thing about the ghost towns that sucked a little. Most of them were actually scattered with motor homes-both occupied and abandoned. It seemed like people just used these places as dumping grounds. I did not take pictures of the piles of junk that were throughout all of the towns because they were depressing. It wasn't old ghost towny junk. It was semi-recent piles of consumer waste and it was an eye sore and just reminded me of sad sad people living in the middle of nowhere. Which I suppose is the reality of these places but I just feel like there should be some sort of common courtesy not to dump your junk in the middle of a town.
Downer, I know. Overall, wonderful trip and it was pretty cool to see some more of Oregon. I recommend visiting ghost towns. I also recommend reading novels I write on my blog. Well done.