Guacamole Summer

Infinite sundowns in shades of chartreuse,
warm air and the mingling of lime and
avocado centers;
always the near-slit thumb
and forefinger
that dips slyly into the heavy bowl,
emerging, the bearer of bliss,
so acidic,
so perfectly alive
in the way that its gift adorns
our sun-stained faces.

Never turn your back on your die-cutting station. Lesson learned. 

After the crafting, I turned my energy toward grocery shopping. I suppose the whole bright side of this diabetes thing is that I'm probably eating quite a bit less nasty food, and a whole lot more fruit and vegetables. Too bad all I want to do is eat pints of ice cream by myself and listen to Saves the Day and whine to myself about how hard life can be. Whannt-wha. 

Check out this little comic strip I drew about Beck for my friend Cameron's new blog Minds on Music. I've been pretty excited to see it get posted along side so many other cool and creative pieces, so read around if you have the time.

In other news, it's been kind of a hard month for me. But the sun has come out and I've got some new cookbooks, and Tom and I have been working on home improvement projects that make me feel satisfied and productive. Today we spent the morning listening to NPR and doing the crossword puzzle, a quality way to follow this past week of waking up early and working long hours. Today's This American Life was dedicated to the late David Rakoff, who died last week, and frankly it simultaneously made me want to cry and go out and buy all of his books. But also Ira Glass opened the show with this really nice quote, "Great stories happen to those who can tell them," which I thought was really true, and also really unfortunate for me, since I am a horrible story teller to be honest.

Greetings from Madison

 

Greetings from Madison, Wisconsin, where my lovely cousin tied the knot this weekend. Her wedding was beautiful and just the right size. I hope someday I make such a lovely bride. Madison was hot and muggy--a nice change from the dreary PNW "summer" I've been struggling to enjoy. I saw my very first real-live firefly, visited the country's largest farmer's market and ate fried cheese curds, a true delicacy. Wednesday I'm off again for New Hampshire (not too excited about that plane ride) but I'll be glad to head back into hotter weather.

Just take a look at all those toothbrushes (Tom's cousins)

I'm writing to you from my couch--a new couch--and in a new place, too. The last couple of weeks have been ridiculously busy and I've spent a disgusting amount of time in the car, driving the I-5 corridor from Duvall to Bellingham, and once to Olympia even. I went to graduations and quit my job and attended family reunions and birthday parties and baseball games and moved out of my little house for good and started a new job. Thank goodness for Tom, who has been a huge help all along the way, hauling my stuff and tolerating my bossy and grouchy behavior. Now we're moved into our cozy little home just outside of Duvall, and I am definitely dreading the thought of another move any time soon. If there's one thing I know for sure right now, it's that I have way too much crap. 

It was pretty sad to say goodbye to my little Bellingham home, though it had gradually lost some of its homey-ness over the year. Still, it was hard to leave the keys under the garden statue and drive away. 1415 was in a great neighborhood, and I loved it for its funky little quirks like how the front door was impossible to open and the roof was infested with squirrels. Also, the raised bed I built last summer and planted full of random stuff is just starting to flourish, the poppies just about to burst open any day, and I was sad to leave that behind. I hope the new girls will tend my garden at least a little bit, though I tend to think they might not. 

Friday we'll be jetting off to Wisconsin, quickly followed by eight days in New Hampshire...but I'll try to be diligent about posting and making myself write more. It's hard to be productive when you have very little time to yourself, I've found, but there's been some poetry rumbling around in my head so we'll see if I can get it out and onto the blog sometime soon. 

Some favorites...

I thought I'd post a few of my favorite pictures from graduation. It was, after all, a momentous occasion. Feel confident that more might appear here later.

Also, it is important to note that all of my final grades were posted today and I've passed (I was sweating it out a bit for that biology grade...I'm so thankful to never think about mitosis vs. meiosis ever again...) and I can feel confident in my freedom! Huzzah!