Me and the Register-Guard Make Nice*

Earlier today I was interviewed by a reporter for the RG regarding my post on the new courthouse. He found me by googling information about the building and my post was on the first page of hits. The reporter said that the article will show up in either Thursday or Saturday's paper. I think only one or two quotes might end up in there, if any do at all.

Oh, I really hope I didn't sound like a rambling idiot because that's my normal mode. I'm shocked that he wanted my opinion on the matter. I didn't think that the post was all that informative; I was simply trying to explain why I thought the building was so awful. In our interview, I kept referring back to the fact that the courthouse is noticeably disconnected from the rest of the city and the architect didn't feel that it was his duty to build those connections through his design. I'm not an architect yet. I'm not even done with my planning degree. But something in that philosophy just doesn't seem right to me.

My instincts** tell me that GOOD architecture is such that it can stand alone if need be, but also that it successfully participates in an active dialog with its surroundings- both the built and natural (or perhaps unnatural) world. This building doesn't do that. Not one little bit. It is a foreign object that has fallen from the sky with no connection to Eugene whatsoever. Not all architecture has to do that all of the time. But I would think that a major civic building should at least attempt to assimilate itself into its surroundings just a bit. This building looks more like a Borg ship trying to assimilate everything else around it. I still say yuck.


* I say this because I don't like the Register-Guard for their homophobic stance in discriminating against same sex couples listing their commitment ceremonies and the births of their children. The paper won't print a birth announcement unless the mother and father are listed. HI, WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY YOU JACKASSES. THE DEFINITION OF A FAMILY IS MUCH BROADER THAN THE NUCLEAR IDEAL THAT YOU FIND ACCEPTABLE. I won't read the paper unless I want to do the Sudoku or I need the classifieds. I am an Oregonian reader all the way.

**Too bad the instincts can't tell me what constitutes good grammar. Eats, Shoots and Leaves-- where are you?!?

A Reason to Give Thanks

I read a whole bunch of blogs every week. Most of them are about weight loss and current events. Sometimes they are temporarily mundane and other times they leave me holding my sides as I laugh almost uncontrollably. This happens to be one of those posts. Enjoy!

Random Monday--- er make that Tuesday!

1. I have been avoiding the scale for a good two weeks because I knew I was eating way too many sweets. As evidence by the craters on my face today (yuck!), Thanksgiving weekend wasn’t much better. I decided to turn a new leaf yesterday so I mustered up the courage to step on the scale. 193. It was down two pounds from my lowest weight ever. I was shocked. At first I thought it was because I was weighing myself on the bathroom floor in my new apartment. But it was the same no matter where I moved around the apartment. Perhaps everyone is just a little lighter in my new city.

2. That new city is Springfield. GROAN. I don’t know a lot about Springfield other than what I have been told and what I’ve seen while visiting and shopping here. The very first person I spoke to when I first arrived in Oregon (the agent at the rental counter at PDX) told me to never ever move to Springfield. Many others have reiterated that sentiment over the past four years. The crime rate is seemingly higher and there are more unsavory characters roaming the streets than Eugene. Of course the same could be said about Eugene after any Ducks game or around finals week. Unfortunately I didn’t have much choice especially since the budget dictated where I would go. I moved to an area that is close to J, work, and school. I bought extra safety locks for my apartment, some garlic leis for decoration, and I’m going to hope for the best.

3. The apartment is not bad for what I can afford. I know I’m going down a few notches as my previous apartment was only 5 years old whereas this one seems to be roughly 30 years old. The outside looks a lot worse than the inside though. It’s amazing what a new coat of paint, new linoleum, and carpeting can do for a place. The apartment is 700 square feet-only 180 square feet less than the 2 bedroom I was living in. So other than the coveted washer and dryer that I’m losing, it’s not all that bad. I feel like it’s the right size for one person and her two ungrateful cats. What sold me on the place was what is considered the makeup area of the bathroom where there is space underneath the vanity for a chair. The kitty box goes well there but I’m now on a hunt to build odor blocking curtains. A deodorizer that sprays automatically after a cat goes would be a big help too. I never realized how messy and stinky those two brats can be.

4. I walked around the morning with my fly down on my jeans. No one said a word. It’s so obnoxious when people don’t think to clue you in on something like that. Just tell me so I don’t continue to make an ass of myself!

5. As of Thanksgiving morning, I am officially now “The Girlfriend”. (shaking head) It kind of sucks that I have to fall for someone whom I consider THE ONE and yet he’s moving at a snails pace. But it was pointed out to me by another friend that he’s taking it slow because he cares enough to do so. I get that. So for now, I’m learning to keep pace with him- as hard as that is. It’s not like I’m necessarily okay with lightening fast (even though that is typically my m.o.), it’s just that this time… this time it is different. Why? Because not only have I moved fast in a physical sense, but my feelings moved just as fast. I have never fallen in love with someone this quickly. It is my belief that to fall in love with someone, it requires three things: enough time (how much is dictated by each individual case), the total acceptance of the other person and all their faults, and some sort of situation that tests the bond that the two people share- trust and intimacy are essential ingredients to the mix. I didn’t have two of the three and yet I knew I was in love with the guy by the end of the first week. I can’t explain that. I certainly didn’t mean to fall in love with him so quickly. There was no way for me to know that the man sitting 10 feet across from me at work all summer would come to be the one that I instinctive know I want to marry. Not my fault… not my fault…not my fault. Let me recap the days. October 29th- our pseudo study date (do you think any studying actually got done? Accompanying the pseudo date was the pseudo kiss. But I straightened him out on that one. Ain’t never gonna kiss me in the parking lot of a Sherry’s diner ever again!). October 31st- our first official date (in a bar… on Halloween… with one and only one official first kiss that pretty much confirmed that we’d never have a problem finding passion for one another). Now if I count on my fingers- why that would make 31 days more or less. That’s so scary. And in that respect, I get the whole “slowing down thing” that we agreed to. But then again, it doesn’t feel like one measly month. Even in the first week, I was turning towards him from time to time and thinking to myself “Haven’t I always known you? Hasn’t my hand always fit into yours just so? One minute he’s a stranger and 12 hours of phone conversations, 3 dates and 2 dozen emails later, I find myself falling for him as if it required no effort at all. They say that you know when you know. I always thought that was a bunch of hooey… but now, I’m pretty sure there is something to that.

6. I am full of bruises from this weekend’s move. I’ve also been eating poorly (see #1) and so I’m bruising a whole lot easier these days. I bought a multivitamin but I can’t choke the damn thing down. But never fear- I bought some high protein Boost at the store last night to supplement my diet for now.

7. Did the whole Black Friday early morning shopping thing for the first time in my life this year. While I wasn’t terribly impressed, I did get a couple of good deals including some Egyptian cotton body towels that I adore. I’m still on the fence as to whether it’s worth it next year. I didn’t like the whole getting up at 4am thing.

8. It snowed here today and it is forecasted to do so for a few more days. We won’t see a whole lot but it is very rare for November. I wish that if it was going to snow, it should just be a whole bunch so everyone can have a free day off.

The Willamette Locks near Oregon City

© 2006 Punkin Dunkin Productions

Hawthorne Bridge on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon

Dare You to Blink

© 2006 Punkin Dunkin Productions

Gerlinger Hall on the University of Oregon Campus

© 2006 Punkin Dunkin Productions

Through The Looking Glass

© 2006 Punkin Dunkin Productions





(yes, that's him)

I Miss the Christmas Lists of Toys

I got the Toys R Us catalog in Sunday's paper and it reminded me of how my brother and I used to pour over that and the JCPenny catalog as soon as they arrived in the mailbox.

This year, I really have no Christmas requests. That is unless you count needing good quality underwear and pantyhose- which my mother does not consider acceptable gifts for under the tree. Today marks the umpteenth time since this summer that I have to go home and change my pantyhose due to a fatal run. I need good hosiery people! But right now I'm refusing to pay $20 for the new Spanx tights that are taking the average woman's wardrobe by storm. I did find a good knock-off and it's not so much as a knock-off because the product, called Assets (available at Target), is made by the same woman who created Spanx. I need a little more time with the pantyhose before I give an official review but so far, it is looking good.

(Watch, now I'll be inundated with pantyhose at Christmas time. I just know it)

J. was an absolute sweetheart last weekend. After I mentioned I'd have to get some slippers for his very cold duplex, he slipped out to Fred Meyer and brought back two pairs to choose from. It's so easy falling for the guy; I don't even have to think about it. I’ve already figured out that he’s a keeper but I think I’ll wait a little while before telling him. He can continue to court me ‘cause he’s just so darn adorable at it.

So slippers have been taken care of. I could use a new bathrobe since the one I have is 10 years old and 3 sizes too big. But I can’t find a robe that doesn’t make my hips stick out abnormally. Half the time it’s the chunkiness of the fabric. The other half of the time it’s the massive pockets that gather around the middle. I need something warm but not funny looking on me. The search continues.

I boxed up the yarn last night in preparation for the big move and it’s painfully obvious that I do not need any more yarn at the moment. My habit should not be encouraged.

There isn’t much that I need or want this year. Due to the move, I’m actually trying to get rid of stuff instead of continuing to collect it. The St. Vinnie’s pile grows by leaps and bounds every day.

Recap: I need pantyhose and a bathrobe… and before I forget, I could use a variety of trouser socks too, especially in pretty designs. How boring is that? If I got any of those things as a kid, I would have been pissed. I am truly an adult now.

Random Monday

1. Saturday was the first day I finally felt the Christmas spirit move me. I actually got excited about coming home and being near the fam. I caulk it up to three things: Christmas peppermint nuggets in bulk at Winco, my tickets are finally bought and plans are getting finalized, and the new man with whom I spent the weekend being all giddy and stuff. He make Punkin happy. So very, very happy. We aren’t going to be around each other on the actual holiday but we won’t be too far- me in Wisconsin and him in Ohio. And it looks like we will spend Thanksgiving and New Years together. Did I mention he makes me happy? Like a comfortable- I don’t have to do nuttin’ around him ‘cept lie on the couch and hold his hand- happy?? Mmm-hmm.

2. I had the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. And a third of the time I was puking my brains out. Go figure. We spent our weekend together having fun, doing all sorts of talking and laughing, and beaucoup snuggling. Sunday we went to this adorable little 50’s style diner in Springfield full of old coke memorabilia. I had French toast and sausage. He had an omelet and home-style potatoes with the best gravy I’ve ever tasted. We went to do some errands and while out, I thought I was suffering from some bad heartburn but just as I was paying for some tums, I realized I was going to toss my cookies at the cashier if I didn’t go to the restroom. I felt a little better after sweating it out with my head on the toilet in a Shopko. We then went across the street to get gas at Costco where I had to slip out of the truck and sit on the curb with my head in my hands. I was trying so hard not to puke in front of everyone or inside J’s truck. I succeeded until we were within a mile of his duplex. He pulled over and I promptly puked up all of my orange juice (aren’t you glad you read this?!). He took me to his house and stayed with me all afternoon. I threw up like 5 more times all though after the first two, there really wasn’t anything else in my tummy to get rid of. You know how in the beginning of a relationship you try and hide the fact that you fart and burp and go #2? Yeah well, after having puked up in front of him for 6 hours, the fantasy was forever shattered that I was a lady without icky biological functions. I told him that and he just laughed. I was terribly embarrassed but quite grateful to him for taking care of me.

3. With all the puking and dry heaving going on, I didn’t get a chance to stuff my face on Sunday like I normally would when there isn’t much to do to keep me busy and away from the fridge. As a result, I jumped on the scale this morning and saw a very solid 195. This is where I wanted to be at Christmas time. But now I’m thinking 2 or 3 more pounds would be good and that way I’ve got a nice cushion for holiday food. If I can stay under 200 through the New Year, I’ll consider it a success. I shimmied into my jeans and turtleneck this morning (having not had the ability to raise my head from the couch and do any laundry on Sunday to wear my normal business casual clothes today) and while I was in the car, I realized that my jeans were bunching up in my lower belly area as I sat. I bought these jeans when I weighed between 215 and 220. Twenty to twenty-five pounds later, they are the verge of getting larger on me. They are form fitting and I don’t really want to give them up any time soon. Sometimes I have to mourn for the clothes I love even as I drop the weight I despise.

4. Five days until my walking tour of Portland for class. Eighteen days to Thanksgiving. Twenty six days until move out day. Four weeks until finals. Thirty two days till Christmas vacation. And forty two days until my flight home. Time is moving very fast at the end of this year.

5. I’ve been trying hard not to talk about the new man too much. We’ve been dating a week (but it don't feel like no week, that's for sure). If I try and explain to everyone that this one is different, I don’t think they’ll believe me, ‘specially with what happened this summer (we don’t really need to revisit it, do we?). I woke up the other morning with this scene from Sleepless in Seattle in my head.

(Annie is in the attic with her mother, trying on her mother’s wedding dress)

BARBARA
How did it happen?

Barbara starts to unbutton the tiny buttons on the back of the dress and remove it from the dummy.

ANNIE
It's silly, really. I mean, I'd seen him at the office, obviously I'd seen him, he's the associate publisher, and then one day we both ordered sandwiches from the same place, and he got my lettuce and tomato sandwich on whole wheat, which of course he was allergic to, and I got his lettuce and tomato on white.

BARBARA
(utterly without irony)
How amazing.

ANNIE
It is, isn't it? You make millions of decisions that mean nothing and then one day you decide to order takeout and it changes your life.

BARBARA
Destiny takes a hand.

ANNIE
Oh, please. Destiny's just something we've invented because we can't stand the fact that everything that happens is accidental.

BARBARA
Then how do you explain that you both ordered exactly the same sandwich except for the bread? How many people in this world like lettuce and tomato without something else like tuna?

ANNIE
It wasn't a sign. It was a coincidence.

Barbara shrugs, slips the dress off the dummy and Annie steps into it.

Barbra starts to button the dress on Annie.

BARBARA
I was in Atlantic City with my family. Cliff was a waiter. He talked me into sneaking out for a midnight walk on the Steel Pier. I've probably told you this a million times, but I don't care. And then he held my hand. I was scared. All sorts of thing were going through my head. But after a while I forgot about them. At one point I looked down, at our hands, and I couldn't tell which fingers were mine and which were his. And I knew.

ANNIE
(hearing it for the first time)
What?

BARBARA
You know.

ANNIE
(she doesn't know, but she doesn't want her mother to know she doesn't know)
What?

BARBARA
Magic. It was magic.

ANNIE
(repeating)
Magic.

BARBARA
I knew we would be together forever, and that everything would be wonderful, just the way you feel about Walter.


It’s like magic. We have slipped into this easy way of relating to one another that is so rare. There is nothing fake about either one of us. The nervousness, if there was really any at all, dissipated pretty early on. We talk honestly, we laugh heartedly and we both can tell how very happy we make one another. Without J. I’d be just fine. I’m feeling really good right now. Everything is stable and the things that I haven’t fixed aren’t looking like daunting tasks anymore. But with J, I feel even better. He’s the gravy on the potatoes, the cherry on top the ice cream, the extra bag of cookies falling out behind the first bag you paid for at the vending machine. He is someone that I am so grateful for and in just a short amount of time I’ve come to appreciate him completely. (As evidence by the puking session) The rose colored glasses have come off pretty damn quickly (if they were ever there at all) and I just accept him completely. I know what everyone is thinking and I certainly don’t blame them. Rebound would be the first word that comes to mind. But now you must think back to the fact that the last guy was the rebound guy. This one is not. I thought about this guy quite a bit since we sat 10 feet from one another for six months now. We had multiple conversations about school and that’s when I found out he was not only going into the same degree as I am, but he wants to do historical preservation and renovation too. He’s an HGTV junkie. He wants to have a business where he renovates old homes or other structures and sell them. That has been my dream for some time. Even if nothing comes of this (relationship wise) I know instinctively that we will be in each other’s lives from now on. There is no way we cannot be. We have too much in common and we’re too honest around each other. We make one another laugh over and over and we have way too many life experiences in common. Many things seem to parallel one another- to the point that we sing the twilight zone theme song now and then. If I tell you this one is different, I don’t expect you to believe me. Quite frankly, I don’t even care. I’m happy. The happiest I’ve been all year. And that’s what matters the most.

Stuff On My Cat Dot Com

I assure you, it's quite hilarious.

Oregon Electric Station

The best historical renovation in the whole state of Oregon, IMHO. The station has this fantastic atmosphere that's relaxed and inviting. Any history buff, not to mention sports fan, would be in heaven here.