Category: Life

Mr. Pencil and I are heading out this afternoon on a weekend trip typical of us: a rambling, informal Oregon-exploratory thing that usually leaves us dusty and informed. We’re headed to Condon, a small and mostly forgotten town in the midst of the Oregon wheat hill country. That is to say: about 2.5 hours east [...]

You, dipshit street girl with off-leash pit bull. People are scared shitless by pit bulls. All the more so when they lope down the sidewalk unattended and unleashed charging directly towards them. Especially people (aherm) who have been attacked by dogs twice in the last year, unprovoked. You, watching the frightening beast run up to [...]

I slipped and fell in the bathtub last night. I’m growing a big ol’ bruise. Just like an old woman. I passionately hate the teenage taggers that bedevil my neighborhood. Madonna is fifty. Almost everyone around me has or is currently cultivating children. It’s getting awfully hard to have five drinks and stay out til [...]

You, sir. You, the effete bastard in the late-model Volvo. You, with the Oregon license plate tacked over your European plate that proves you Went to Europe and bought it there. You don’t realize how your pretentious display of your unnecessary license plate irritates me. You, sir, are a twit.

I found out today that a) someone I care about very much has cancer and b) the girlfriend of someone I care deeply for has cancer. Seriously. WTF. That’s terrible. Godspeed, everyone.

Yesterday I had another colonoscopy. It went very clearly and very smoothly. I say “clearly” because most of my hospital-based experiences of late have been not unpleasant but very hazy. Tending to resurface in snippets and impressions, mostly. For example, this weekend I re-watched a documentary about the Hobart Shakespeareans that I had watched the [...]

I generally think quotes are somewhat shallow in conveying meaning, that they’re over-used by people who can’t come up with their own ideas, and that they’re specific to the demesne of the quoter, but occasionally quotes really work. For me, the perfect quote storm was brewed by a particular scene in Twin Peaks. Stay with [...]

Hi everyone. It’s actually surprising how many people read about my health travails and even more surprising how many people genuinely seem to care. So say my stats and my comment log, anyway. I’ve been neglectful in faithfully updating in this regard in the past few weeks. Perhaps I hope it will magically evaporate, go [...]

I am happy that I finally have a coffee shop that is a) in my building, b) cheap enough to patronize daily and c) my own. I enjoy being able to order things like “what John normally has” or “It’s afternoon, so you know what I want” (Earl Grey–it’s an afternoon tea! English Breakfast is [...]

Via Kes. Rather charming, no? Here I am registering people for an event on a rather unique business trip with lots of drinking. What, maybe 2003? Not that long ago, but not that recently. I got in a lot of trouble for something I did sitting in that chair within an hour of when this [...]