Hello! It's Been a While. Did You Miss Me?

Golly gosh February was busy! But I'm happy to say I made it through one heck of a full month. Didn't get to do some of the things I wanted to do on this blog though like any Black History stuff. Nor did I post my friggin' interview with the ED of Brother to Brother, which in now called the Unity Project or Oregon. But sometimes one has to cut themselves some slack & I'm okay with that. There were many firsts in February including creating & giving a workshop, being on a panel to discuss a film and writing my first published article. My heart is happy to have done work that truly made me feel like a person creating effective change in this world. Being an instrument of my higher power may not bring power & prestige, but at the end of the day I feel grateful for the opportunity to be of service.

All of these wonderful opportunities came because of this here blog. Though I may not have the readership of say Perez Hilton or icanhascheezburger.com I'm grateful to the readers who have found me one way or another and have read my rants, raves, essay's and various ideas on life. If it were not for this blog and my commitment to keep writing for it even when I'd go weeks without a reader comment, I'm not sure I'd be who I'm becoming. So a huge thank you to all of you who read this and link to me. You are silent but shiny stars in my life!

Some other things are around the corner in terms projects. I'm working on another article for Just Out and have been asked to soon become a board member of an organization I really care for and want to be committed to. More updates on all that soon!

Anyway I wanted to note a few links since I didn't get to my Friday Link Lovin'.

Hysterical website if you love any kind of purebred animal in your life. It's called Obey the Purebreed. You can order some crazy ass tee shirts that are in a propaganda style. Good gawd it's tha shit! Here's my favorite!

If your looking for a news website that has something other than a white white white focus, go visit the great website New America Media whose tag line is: Expanding the news lens Through Ethic Media. It's a collaboration of ethnic media organizations & well worth your time!

One last thing. I'm reading a fantastic novel by James McBride called Song Yet Sung. I don't have time to get into it now, but go get a copy cuz it's good. More on the book later!

Tootles!
~F

Is it Just Me or is February, Like the Busiest Month Ever?!

Holy Helsinki I can't seem to find the time to finish up some of the blogging projects I've been excited to do. My Black History features have are a bunch of saved drafts at this point. My awesome interview is still being written and all in all I just can't seem to focus on what I wish to blog about. Ahh the joys of Mercury in retrograde! Don't get me wrong. I'm so grateful that my life is brimming with meaningful activities outside of the blogosphere. I just want to complete some of the tasks that I set up for myself here. *sigh*

Here are just a few things I've been doing:

Wedding Plans-
Now that my beloved & I know for sure we'll have our ceremony & reception in Eastern Oregon, we're scouting out locations do what were gonna do. Also we needed to figure out just where in Mexico we will honeymoon and for how long. The invitations are another project because she's an artist and I love to design, so we are going to create our invites and then have them printed instead of just picking out some pre-made thing. It's all fun stuff to explore but they take time.

Activism/Volunteering-
Seems like I've been more busy than usual with equality projects. It's wonderful to be able to serve my fellows. So seriously no complaints! With going out of town, writing articles, speaking and such I just seem to need to take that extra important down time in decent sized chunks so I don't get too burned out. My recovery home group also voted me in as Intergroup Representative, which isn't so bad but it does mean I have one more meeting a month to go to & one more thing to regularly report on. Oh and speaking of stuff I'm doing, please come visit the Q Center tomorrow night at 7:30pm for the viewing of the documentary Brother Outsider, about the life of Bayard Rustin. After the film there will be a panel discussion that inclues moi. Learn more here!

House Cleaning-
Enough said!

There's more but I don't wish to bore anyone with the detail like that I not am going to my naturopath/acupuncture doctor every week to work on my endometriosis the natural way. And that I've got to track all of my food comsumption due to my new anti-inflamation diet to treat the endometriosis and shed a few pounds before the wedding. Blah blah blah. Life is beautiful & though I'm not getting all my blogging goals completed, some good things have and will get done this month. So I'm letting myself off the hook here. Right now all I can say for the things on this blog I wish to accomplish is... I'll get to it when I get to it. In the meantime I wish all y'all a happy Valentines day... and night!
Peace!
~F

Life is Good!

So much to celebrate! So much to do. And that means it's extra important to have down time to relax. So I've taken this Friday off to have a 3 day weekend and chill with my boo & meditate on the lovely changes that are coming into my life.

First things first. Pics of the rally for equality sponsored by BRO. I'm sorry it took so long to to get around to uploading them & they're not that great of pics, but you get the idea of how many folks stood in the rain to show they care about all families.

And of course best of all starting yesterday same sex couples are able to get civil unions! I don't really care for the term domestic partnerships so in the future I'll say civil union but y'all will know I mean "domestic" partnerships. My beloved & I are going to get legal at the end of the month! Yay!

The workshop I did for OSCC went well I think. Though I was nervous & as usual forgot entirely what I was talking about at one point, it seemed folks got was I was sharing for the most part & I hope I get asked back next year. Though I didn't get to see much at the conference due to friends coming into town from Pendleton, I had fun!

Tonight my brother in-law to be is coming over for a celebration of his 25th birthday. He doesn't know this but we have some suprises in store!

Okay so even more about me, soon you'll be able to see my name in lights! Okay not really but yesterday I got my first assignment from Just Out and will be writing for them on a regular basis. I'm really excited to stretch my wings & hopefully write things for my queer sisters & brothers in Oregon that they find interesting. March will be when my first article comes out so stay tuned!

Next week on valentines day the Q Center is having an event that is near & dear to me. QDocFest will be showing the film Brother Outsider at 7:30pm. The movie is about one of my all time favorite activists Bayard Rustin. He not only organized the well known March on Washington but had the courage to be an out gay Black male activist. His story deserves our attention so please stop by the Q Center on February 14th. What a way to experience the love & peace he has brought to us all by coming on down that night. Also I'll be there speaking on a panel about the queer Black experience. So ya know, please stop by!

Finally my best gal pal in Portland Zee made the cutest film of her dog Rennie running around chasing a remote controlled car. Too cute! Here it is.


I have not forgotten about featuring Sylvester or the awesome QWOC interview. They're a coming so stay with me. Hope all y'all and enjoying the glow of a little bit more equality this week. I know I am! Peace!
~F

On the Mend

Since late Tuesday afternoon I've been sick as hell. Some kind of evil sinus cold thingy invaded my head & wouldn't let go. Though I'm 75% better I'm still trying to take things slowly & not push myself. In that vein I'm not going to worry about doing a fabulous post to make up for not posting since Tuesday. Instead here's a play-by-play my sick time was spent.

• Tuesday at 3pm. Get off work. Feeling sleepy. Hang with my girl, head to SE and eat Pho at Pho Van.
• 5pm. Fall asleep on the couch with the dogs and cat.
• Wednesday at 5pm. Finally get up after sleeping off & on for 24 hours. Take vitamins and sinus medicine, eat & watch coverage of Heath Ledger's death.
• 9pm. Go back to bed.
• Thursday at 1pm. Eat. Take meds. Watch Porky's 2 and Amityville 2. God help me!
• 5pm. Take a nap.
• 7pm. Get up to watch more coverage on Heath Ledger. Watch an episode of from the first season of Miami Vice while waiting for NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice. So good!
• 10pm. Read David Sedaris to my sweetie which promptly puts both of us to sleep.
• Wake up at 8:16am on Friday praying I can get though the work day.

Good times. Anyway I hope you all stay warm & healthy this week & I'll be back later with links!

Peace!

Busy Fighting the Power

Holy crap my life just seems to get more & more full each day. And just when I had a moment of giving up, hope comes, as it always does. But as we know with hope comes action and boy do I have a lot of action going on.

Last week I did an interview with a QWOC in Portland who is amazing. In the process of working on it I've been contacted by the Oregon Students of Color Coalition (OSCC) to do a workshop on how to counter oppression for their yearly conference. I'm thrilled and honored to be asked. Now there hard part is doing the work behind something I've never done before. I've been a part of holding workshops but have never done one on my own. But as I've learned on my own is never really that. Because I'm surrounded by amazing people who have done workshops & are willing to guide me in this process. Yay!

So for a bit the interview is on hold for a while but know QWOC readers that starting soon there will be regular interviews with amazing queer women of color, so we all can connect that much more.

On a side note I also this week finished knitting two scarves, started a new one and implemented a new feeding schedule for my cat. Woo hoo!

Oh and of fighting the power I think one of the most useful tools in doing such is humor. With that enjoy a classic Eddie Murphy skit on SNL. Peace!

I'm Getting My Groove On!

I met with my sponsor yesterday and I'm officially now working on the 6th & 7th steps. For those who are reading this say "WTH is she talking about?" Let me tell y'all first off I'm in recovery in two 12-Step programs and one deals with my past drinking while the other deals with being affected by other people's drinking. Since the programs are anonymous I'll leave the rest to your imaginations. So anyway the steps 6 & 7 are: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character and Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. It was suggested by my sponsor (which is like a spiritual coach if you will) that I read a book on that topic called Drop the Rock. So I can apply the Snoop Dogg principle here and "drop it like it's hot." Tee hee.

Along with my step work my sponsor who I'll call T asked me what I'd like to focus on for self improvement this month. After some thought I realized I've been missing dancing. For me dancing is key to my spiritual, physical & mental health. And due to a very busy holiday season & weird schedules I have not had a chance to shake it in a while. So tomorrow night I'm going to the Egyptian Lover show at the Tonic Lounge on Sandy. He's an amazing old skool DJ and his spinning always sets my butt a-shakin'. And since my sponsors intuition saw dancing with a group at a community center I did a search and found a class at a place called Dance Momentum in SE Portland that I think will be fun. Let's hope my ankle will hold up through all this movement. By the way if you don't know who Egyptian Lover is check out this video of "Keep it Hot."

More on Friday!
Peace!
~F

Just When I Thought I'd Need to Increase my Paxil

Despite feeling a wee bit better in the last few days my seemingly new case of regular migraines has not waned. Apparently I'm stressed out. And after a few moments this morning of pretty much hating all of humankind I found something funny. And though this joke is as cliche as cliche can get it still made me laugh out loud & give me the strength to find more things to keep me from needing to up my dosage of antidepressants.

So starting with the joke that made me laugh here are some things that made me smile today.

On Marriage

These adorable images from Cute Overload

This from Photobucket:These quotes: And this awesome video with a great message from your favorite band & mine Judas Priest!


Peace!
~F

Can't Think of a Good Title Today!

After finding out about domestic partnerships in Oregon being on hold I've been in a deep funk. Depression & heartbreak have been the status quo for the last week & try as I might, I have not been able to shake it off. When this level of devastation seeps into my heart it's hard for me to be social in any way. Being around people is akin to mild torture and I just can't connect to others by the way of emailing, talking on the phone or blogging. Even work has been hard to get through and I tend to feel good putting my nose to the proverbial grindstone. But since this little ol' blog was recently featured (go here if the previous link doesn't work then go to page 22) in Just Out, a local queer rag in Portland, I figured I need to make contact with y'all and keep going so those who are meant to read & feel this do. So here we go.

The candlelight vigil at the Q Center this week turned out to be wonderful. I was afraid it would be a somber and completely uninspired event & I'm happy to report I was quite wrong. It was very inspiring to not only be in a room with fellow queers who felt the pain this delay has caused, but there was a sense of unity not always felt in a group scene like this. Too boot the message of the night was that it's time to fight, to take a stand & to work for equality. Folks were fired up & there was focus passion that gave me a glimmer of hope that night. At one point my beloved & I got in front of the group & spoke up about how we feel about this delay and I felt so proud to be her lady & know that we are more that a great match but truly kindred spirits and together we'll fight for justice and the freedom to love.

Later that night we went to Wild Abandon and had an incredible salmon dinner then went home to watch PBS's LGBT television show In The Life. It was a great episode because all the stories got us talking. Kate Clinton (click on the link to see a pic of her & I together) interviewed Margaret Cho and they we're discussing all the scandals of 2007 involving right wing republicans and Christians who were caught being "gay." Mrs. Cho said the funniest statement & I think we can all agree when she said "... 2007 was the year of the sorry old queen." And my sweetie added "with no piano bar to go to." So true. Also on In The Life was a story about queer folks in the hip hop music industry. Since most of the folks who know me understand I love hip hop my ears were immediately perked when the story was introduced. Of the artists featured the rap group KIN took my breath away. These women were not only queer women of color but could spit and were fawking hotties too! If they ever come to Portland or even Seattle I'm going to be first in line to see them.

Okay that's it for now. I'll have some upcoming interviews soon so stay tuned. In the meantime...
Peace!
~F

The Bubble Hath Burst: Domestic Partnership on Hold in Oregon

Photo courtesy of unprofound and edited by me

The news came to me later than it did for others in the blogosphere. I didn't find out until my beloved called me at Noon today to share what our lesbian boss told her. That January 2nd we will not be able to get a legal partnership in Oregon.

Truthfully I'm so shocked I can hardly even speak or think. I knew there was a possibility that there could be a delay but I figured the possibility had the odds of like, getting struck by lightening. Fuk.

What happened was a conservative "christian" group called The Alliance Defense Fund filed a suit against the State of Oregon & Bill Bradbury (our Secretary of State) claiming that some signatures on referendum petitions against domestic partnerships were tossed out unfairly and that the people whose signatures were considered invalid should have been properly notified. In order for there to be a delay to the domestic partnerships going legal on January 2nd the plaintiffs needed to prove that signing a petition is the same as signing a voting ballot and that the law passing would incur irreparable harm and also that the ADF in the end would likely win their case.

Yesterday Judge Michael Mosman presided over the case (also called a preliminary injunction). It was what the Portland Mercury called "a secret weapon" that convinced Mosman to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) from DP laws going in effect on the 2nd. The weapon was a case in Idaho where it was ruled signing a petition was the same as voting. Therefore Mosman decided that signatures on a petition were fundamental right and by putting a hold on January 2nd's domestic partnership laws he was preventing irreparable harm.

In reaction to how this case has turned out so far there has been a lot of support by others within the Oregon and or Queer community around this disappointment.

Kendall Clawson, the executive director of the Q Center said "Unfortunately, our fight for domestic partnership may not be over, yet I truly believe that those that opposed this amendment have underestimated the strength of our community and the power of love and respect for others that drives us. As the sun comes up and we begin planning our next steps, I have decided that I will not give away another minute of sleep pondering the negative aspects of this situation. Conversely, I will work to acknowledge, appreciate and derive strength from all of the people that tirelessly work to bring us together as a community rather than tear us apart."

Crallspace wrote an open letter to the Alliance Defence Fund and asks "Why take the beacon that many look to for inspiration, hope and goodwill and shine its dark side? With all the problems that face our world today, homosexuals are your scapegoat; you have a heyday on folks that may have been the subject of the verse, "As you have done it to these the least of my brethren, you have done it unto Me." (Matt 25:40) As much as you think Christianity is persecuted and outlawed for obnoxious reasons, how do you think homosexuals feel about your work?"

Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen noted for us all that "Daily, we are reminded that the quest for equality continues and it is up to us to push forward principles of acceptance, fairness and justice. I hope this issue is resolved soon and we can get to the business of equality - for all."

Jack Bogdanski at Jack Bog's blog made a great point that "...once again, the electoral process in this country is showing itself to be badly, badly deficient. Not only can't we count votes securely and honestly -- we can't even agree on how to check the signatures on the petitions by which we decide what we'll be voting on. Nearly every election -- even every potential election -- turns out to be a lawsuit. It's a disgrace."

For more information on all this go here and here for information from Basic Rights Oregon.

There will be a vigil at the Q Center from 5:30pm to 7pm On January 2nd. The address is 69 SE Taylor Ave at SE Water Ave.

Though personally I'd like to see folks taking this to the streets I know many feel safer in a queer space among other queers & allies. I guess I just don't want it to seem like Oregon LGBTQ2S folks are rolling over and taking this. But I'll be at the vigil all the same, with my beloved.

Stay tuned to Just Out's Blog for updates on this heartbreaking situation.

I wish for all of us who planned on participating in legal domestic partnership on Wednesday a peaceful night & happy, hopeful, loving New Year!

Peace!

~F

Soft Sheets, Jeans that Fit and a Bracelet that Makes me Seem a Little More Butch. Birthday Gifts Thus Far.

My birthday isn't for 2 more days but I celebrated early due to having to work, like most folks, on the actual day. So I budgeted some presents for myself that I felt we're not only desired but in a way needed.

I knew I needed some new Levi jeans because I've gained a little weight since falling in love and have gone up a size (or two) in the last year. Levi's are the only jeans I wear and to boot I always wait to get them on sale. Luckily for me I found 2 pair not only on sale, but got a free $10 gift card that I can use toward whatever, with the purchase of the pants. The new jeans look great, feel comfortable and as Levi's are known for, make my butt look yummy!

For months I've been craving a new bracelet. I wished for something a bit more chunky yet versatile. I figured that a wrist decoration would be a perfect present to my self for my birthday. Usually I go to Portland's Saturday Market for fun hand crafted stuff. But before I could make the trip I found my bracelet at one of my favorite local stores Za Zen. That place is my new favorite boutique for many reasons. It's first off got stylish, comfortable clothing that is low maintenance and best yet...affordable. Plus the selections of clothing and accessories are unique and fun. So I stooped in Thursday to see what was new there and found a really fun leather bracelet made from an old belt. Since I love recycling and it's chunky and smells good I tried it on. All I can say way from the moment I put it on my wrist it felt like it was meant for me. When I took it off my skin felt as if it were missing something.

And too boot a co-worker yesterday though it looked kinda butch. How fun!

A number of years ago I discovered the joy of high thread count bed sheets. I stayed over at a friends after a surgery and on the guest bed was a set of butter colored, buttery feeling sheets. I asked her about them & she explained they were 600 thread count sheets. She claimed they were old and needed new ones. I thought if sheets could feel that amazing yet needed to be replaced, I had to get some for myself. Soon I had some lovely 300 thread count sheets and was excited for the day I could get even softer ones. Discussing high thread count sheets with another friend about 3-4 years ago I learned that Pima & Egyptian cotton sheets were the best to go with, and in particular the ones made in Italy too.

I had sold my small full size bed when I had a woman's size girlfriend and needed a bigger bed, so I had to get new sheets & could only afford 250 threaders at the time. So for the last few years I've really wanted higher thread count sheets but didn't splurge. So at long last on Friday I got some Egyptian 400 thread count sheets. They feel so good on my skin. My beloved has never had high thread count sheets & feels totally spoiled. And we are though I must admit if I can ever get my hands on 800+ thread count sheets I'll go for it. For now though finding this lovely set for a mere $30 bucks at Ross is cool with me.

Today I received the 2nd of B-Day gifts from others that I really wanted/needed. My sweetie got me a lovely set of cast iron skillets. Something happened to my lovely one a couple years ago when my not-so-smart ex. soaked the pan overnight in water. Needless to say the skillet I so lovingly seasoned myself was no longer of use. So I'm excited to make some iron rich foods for the holidays with those pans.

Also my wonderful pal Zee got me something I really needed. She & my sweetheart went out to dinner Friday night and at the restaurant I opened my brand new Designer Envelope system created by Dave Ramsey. Now it will be a whole lot easier to stick to my budget & track my expenses. This gift was truly one I will utilize & treasure!

Thus far I'm enjoying December. Many gifts I have received and how absolutely grateful I am for them & the wonderful riches I'm blessed with. So with that here's a gift for my readers. Well it's not really a gift but something that's fun that I wish to share. The Real does a bunch of hip-hop comedy sketches & I like this one. It's called Failed Hip-Hop Ideas. And the only child one is hysterical. Enjoy!
~F

Failed Hip-Hop Ideas from jeff on Vimeo.

Lights Out!

My partner woke me at 4:30ish am this morning to tell me "something weird is going on." And goodness it was. We had a blackout in our home. The clock I set to wake in for work was dark faced. The microwave clock was off. Everything in our home was quiet & dark grey. Looking outside we saw that it wasn't just us but as far as we could see from our windows were a lack of street lamps lit and not houses with any lights on whatsoever. Off we skulked through our neighborhood to discover where the light stopped and started for our neighborhood.

Soon we were back home putting items for the fridge in the freezer and setting my alarm on my cell phone to wake me for work. Then at 7:30am we heard a kind of pop and what do you know, our home was running again. A strange night indeed. Here's a link to a story a local news station did on it. Anyway I woke up very grateful an hour later for the electricity to be running again. Grateful for the ability to pay the light bill so we could have lights in the first place. And also grateful for the home in which our electricity ran. BTW here's a silly pic o' me. Peace!
~F

Irritation!

Today is one of those. I just can't even get into it. Started reading Atonement last night & like it so far. Had yummy pasta and celebrated a friends sobriety birthday last night. My cat may have a problem with his butt as we found shit smears on the hallway floor this morning. Went to 2 meetings today. Wish people wouldn't give me advice when they hardly know what they're doing. Just want to hibernate in our bed & play "does this tickle" with my spouse to be.

That's all I got today.
Peace!
~F

Why Men Should Wear Shirts

This will be my most bitchy post to date. I was on the bus & saw the man below and was so mortified by his outfit (or lack of) that I had to take this pic. This isn't just a bad taste thing but a hygiene thing. I mean back hair should never come in contact with a seat on public transport. I know I'm wrong to post thing, but he's even more wrong to force folks to look at him like this. Judge for yo'self. Peace!

Gravity

I love John Mayer's music. He's a soulful little dude! Anyway here's something for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.


My 3 days off were good. I spent one of the days on the couch all day & night watching movies. I saw Apollo 13 which quite frankly wasn't as good as I'd hoped. It was directed by Ron Howard which explains that. Next was Antwone Fisher. I really enjoyed the heck out of that film! Some parts of the movie touched me so deeply I cried. Plus it has Denzel who I think is amazing in every movie he's in. Last I watched... oh shit I forget. Damn oh well.

The next day my sweetheart & I went to a meeting and then had a yummy lunch at the Detour Cafe which never disappoints. After that we looked at some reptiles & tarantulas a few block down the street at a pet store. Not my favorite but my partner likes these things. So to settle my fright we looked at fish at another which was much better!

Later that evening we went to my dear friend Zee's birthday bash & had a nice time & ate really good veggie chili. I gave her a nice necklace with swarovski crystals which are really nice to bead with! Then we got home & made sweet sweet love. Pretty good days off!
Peace!
~F

So Tired but I'm Giving Updates Anyway

At this moment I'm so tired. The reason is because I'm experiencing vaginal bleeding. TMI? You betcha! Anyway vaginal bleeding (aka my period) always makes me tired in the first few days. Plus it is after 10pm on a Sunday & I'm here at work off duty waiting for my fiance to get off work.

In a few days I shack up with my beloved. Right now I'm about half packed. All books are in boxes, most nick knacks & such. Clothing still needs to washed and packed or not washed but packed all the same. And I have a lot of damn clothes. The funny thing is that what is in my closet is simply my spring/summer wardrobe and not the other stuff. Yes one could say I'm lucky but it's my ever changing dress size that seems to dictate the quantity of my clothing.

Can't get into details here but this weekend I was at a certain 12 step meeting I shared about some feelings that I had worked through this week. Right after the meeting a person who I've known casually for a year or so came up to me & just spouted off his/her opinion about what I had just shared & what I should do. Not like "oh that was a good share & I support you" or "your share made me think & I wish you the best." No nothing like that it was instead "don't _____ ___." And I was responded by asking him/her to repeat the comment. It was in fact repeated & I said "well it's too late for that" & he/she said "no its not just don't ____ ___." Finally I said to the person as he/she instead of facing me to finish the conversation cowardly walked away "I think I'll defer to my higher power on this matter." Sheesh! I'm so grateful I go to another 12 step group because if I didn't some days I'm not sure I could handle going to my primary 12 step groups. I'm so glad that I can remember that I don't have to play god to other people anymore.

Back to the move... we bought a new shower curtain for the bathroom. It looks like a big ol' mirror ball on a sheet of plastic. Cool! So some of my wonderful friends are helping me this weekend this the move & I'm so damn grateful. I have some of the most wonderful people in my life. God has indeed blessed me.

Lately I've been a beading mama. I'm nearing obsession. Spent 2 hours yesterday trying to perfect a circle on an earring. It was madness but once I finally got it I managed to make a lovely matching necklace. Will show those off later. Must admit though I really love love love beading. I'm good at it & have so many ideas. My goal at this point it to create an inventory of jewelry & start to sell it on Esty. I really think I have a forte in this area! It's weird because lately I find myself doing whatever & I just want to get home so I can bead. I just want to create! Sometimes I dream of beads & think about beads before sleep & as I wake. I'm so sick! Luckily my partner supports my creativity & has even helped my design a piece.

Okay I gotta go as I'm not sure if I'm writing an interesting post or the most boring ass one ever! Please enjoy this horse pic if nothing else!

Peace!
~F

I've Been Meme Tagged

This is a first but I love this kind-o-cheesy stuff at times so here goes...
Thanks to Zee for zee tag (hahahahahah!)

The theme here is Moaning (and not the good kind).

4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth:

1. Mean or careless or ignorant or rude or talking on their cell phone during a transaction customers. In that same vain rude customer service as well.
2. The Electoral college. Utterly ridiculous voting system!
3. Cultural appropriation. Get your own damn culture!
4. The excuse that something is okay because it's art or free speech & therefore not worth examining.

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently:

1. Pretentiousness or trying to be cool.
2. Pessimistic reactions to everything.
3. Smarmy and/or unwanted flirting.
(a bonus one is folks wearing too much fragrance)

2 things you find yourself moaning about:

1. Feeling like I have the body of an 80 year old when I'm only 32.
2. Willful ignorance.

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself:

-a lot of things bug me & I need to cultivate more compassion for others.

Peace y'all!

Splat! Vay Cay Pics!

On Friday I went splat. Was running late for work on the day of J K Rowling's final Harry Potter release. The line for the book began at 6:30am & the book wouldn't be released until midnight and one minute which meant there was a slew of Potter fans infront of me watching as I tripped on the curb & my entire body thudded onto the concrete outside of the bookstore. I skinned my knee & elbow, punctured my pride as three older ladies came to my aid cooing & helping me up and bruised various areas of my body. It was not pretty. I didn't even know I had fallen until I was already making full frontal contact with the sidewalk. I had to go home early to ice & elevate & missed the Deathly Hallows extravaganza. Boo hoo! I'm recovering just fine but am sad I missed the final party as I've attended every Harry Potter release we've had. Ah well!

So for now I'm just going to show some pics of my trip & explain as much as I can for being tired in the moment. Hope y'all enjoy!

The morning we depart I'm happy & relaxed! Just 3 hours to Pendleton Oregon

Baby Alex is so sweet! He & I stared at each other a lot!

Ethan is his own little person! He came up to me on the stairs & just sat there. This pic was snapped & he took off


Kirkham Hot Springs in Idaho. So pretty. We plan to go back & swim!

Target was a very friendly horse. You would walk towards him & he'd start walking to you. Liked to bite a little though!

My beloved with Target at her dad's place

We we're in Idaho & I can't even remember where but we passed this auto shop & had to take our pics there. Can you blame us?

The funny thing too was it seemed like mainly dykes we're driving in and out of the place. I need to see if this place has a tee-shirt!

Sidney & Lucy. Teacup chihuahuas. Very sweet & brave girls on our trip. Here they stand in Crouch Idaho on their human grandmothers porch.

That's Right!

I'm officially on holiday. I'm currently at work waiting for my girlfriend/fiance to get off duty so we can take off early tomorrow. Not sure what else to say other than I'm excited & looking forward to meeting her peeps & relaxing. Will be possibly updating with a pic or two so watch for that. In the meantime enjoy this very strange pic I edited my myimager. I just love that thing!
Peace y'all!

Waiting Game

It's my 1 day off this week today. Got a call from a realtor saying she'd be by between 10:30 & noon to show the house I'm currently residing in that is also currently on the market. While my roommate is in NY I'm here dealing with realtors who leave all the lights on before leaving & wondering if they'll let my cat outdoors to get hit by a car. Mercury is so farking in retrograde!!!!

The realtor who called for today never showed up. I woke up for nothing. My urge was to call her and say something like this even though it's very much not true:

"Ummm excuse me but you said you were coming by noon today & I have some casual sex scheduled for 12:30pm today so can hurry up & come here so I can." Wouldn't that be funny to say? I didn't do it but I certainly felt like doing it!

My partner & I are also waiting to hear back on a rental we're really interested in. We checked out one of the townhomes next door that the neighbors kindly let us walk around in & it's super great. The townhouse we want has hardwoods & a fireplace for a bit under $750 per month. Not only would I personally be paying less rent but I'd get to go back to the neighborhood I love (North Portland a.k.a da hood). So at this point everything is simply in God/dess's hands & I personally have no choice but to surrender & stay in reality moment by moment.

I'm off to chill. Peace!
~F

My 1st Necklace & Feeling Emotionally Shitty

I made my first necklace last night. With the help of a great teacher at Beads at Dusti Creek & some willingness to spend money & get into a new hobby the piece above was made. It's chocolate pearls & these kick-ass glass beads with a few seed beads. It was a lot of fun & I have to complete a couple more projects & then I'll have another private class & learn how to make earrings.

Knitting is fun. I know I'll knit again. But it is also monotonous & lacks a bit for me in quickness & creativity. Beading was a bit more fun because It's cool to put colors together & figure out patterns of beads. Plus I get to get into use my natural obsessiveness to make details in the string & use my hands & tools to finish the piece. I'm a hands on kinda girl. Hehe!

Yesterday I hit a wall emotionally. I felt like a computer that needed to simply shut down & re-boot later. Went to bed at 6pm & only woke for an hour to talk with my beloved & then went back to bed. Mercury is certainly retrograde in Cancer because I feel like all things home related are just wacky as all get out.

My partner & need to live together soon. It's actually more stressful living apart than together. Those are words I never thought I'd say! The trouble is that we're mutually a little broke due to going on vacation next month & her place needed no deposit so we need to save for deposit on a new place. We found an awesome place that we're filling out paper work on tonight. It's a 2 bedroom town home with over 950 sq. feet and hardwood floors. Plus it's totally affordable! But we may need to borrow $$$ to get the deposit paid off immediately.

My home life at where I'm currently residing isn't much better. My roomie & I seem to have differing opinions on a household issue & too boot we communicate differently about things. I love her & hate having any strife especially when she's out of town.

So I came home last night & felt utterly hopeless. Just broken down emotionally & unable to do anything or think about anything. Knowing that I'm PMSing helped. Knowing that there is a solution & that it will pass helped too. My mind & heart know all will be well. So I just went to bed, to overloaded to do much else after my beading class.

Today I ran into a very sweet & squishy friend who gave me an amazing hug. I can't believe how much better I felt within my own body after that. Thank goddess for recovery because if you hang out enough, little angels angels find you everywhere!

I did chip a tooth today though. Hrumph!
Peace!
~F