Don't "We" on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining

You've been there. You're talking to an acquaintance and within the first five seconds she manages to mention her boyfriend at least twice. "We like sushi," she says, "we think Dane Cook is hilarious!"

I can't describe the reason behind my aversion to "we"ing too soon (or possibly ever) in a relationship. It's staking a claim on someone else's entire identity and fusing it to your own. It makes me sick to my stomach.

So when Emily and I were in the Elliot Bay Bookstore today, I was appauled to find that I've become one of those detested girls. But I wasn't "we"ing a boy, rather the company I work for. I kept pointing to books on the shelves: "We're promoting this right now." "This is one of our new titles for Fall 09." "We publish this book."

"Uh oh, Emily," I cringed.

Got my photos back from the river. Here's a collage of the better ones:


These were taken with this 1940s-50s Kodak Pony 135 camera I got for $9 on shopgoodwill.com!

I woke up today wishing that I was back at the Yakima River...even if it was cramped amongst six people in a tent and 110 degrees in the afternoon.

Last weekend a dozen of my roommates' friends headed out two hours East to the Yakima River to camp. I was a last minute addition, but was so glad I went! It was honestly one of the best weekends I've ever enjoyed.

We left Seattle in the morning on Saturday and had set up camp and were in our rented rafts on the river by 1pm. I never knew anything like this existed. Everyone fills up their rafts and innertubes with beer, ropes their rafts together and parties on the river all day. The current was pretty strong and we managed to avoid a few catastrophes (people separated from the rafts, etc). Over a hundred degrees outside, I was slathering sunscreen on every five minutes (it paid off, and for five hours on the river in the direct sun no one got burned). The area reminded me of the Southwest, and in the desert sun, the cold water felt so good.

I stole some photos off Facebook for you:

Getting ready to set out. That backpack is filled with Rainier and PBR.

Blowing up the rafts / standing around in the shade.

Bridge across the river. All but three of us jumped off it the next morning (hey, I'm not an idiot!)

They found a wheely thing, put it on the tracks, and rode back and forth. Then used it to carry firewood. We were going to explore a cave across the river that ended up being an illusion. On the way back in the dark, two people almost stepped on a rattlesnake.

It was a weekend filled with sun and swimming and stargazing. Perfect.

104°

It's going to be another hot one.

Yes, yes, it is,

everyone says, or when they meet each other mid-day, It's so hot. Everyone repeats this stupidly, as though at a loss for words.

I read that the line for AC units at Home Depot rivaled nerds waiting in line for the latest sci fi film. Even when the employees told them the AC units they were waiting to unload could never meet the demand, people still stood in the 100 degree heat hoping to be one of the lucky ones. And once they got their treasure, they were sent out through the garden section to avoid...what? Getting mugged? Getting stabbed over an AC unit?

Yesterday I took the bus after work to meet Andrea and swim at Greenlake. Though being submersed to your neck in water was a reprieve, after fifteen minutes and a handful of sunscreen we could feel our faces burning. When we got back to her car around 3:30, a sign in front of one of the buildings claimed it was 104.

It's light and 90° well past 10pm. No one can eat or sleep, and this combined with the heat makes people act unusual and cranky on the roasting buses.

Coffee, Bacon, Toast & Jam

Very little makes me more content than waking up late, making a delicious breakfast, and having the time to savor it. Yes, I move very slowly.

I haven't felt like updating this lately, but I'll give you some bullet-points of what I've been up to since I last wrote here:

• Finished my second week of work yesterday and I still love it. My boss is on vacation all next week, and she left me a list of things to do while she's gone. This is how I work best.
• Sasquatch needed models for a newly-wed cookbook, and I volunteered. I think they really wanted couples, but hey, I'm a rebel. That photoshoot's on Wednesday (and I just found out it counts as work! This really is the best job ever).
• Went back to swim at Madison Park Beach.
• Went rock-climbing last week with Sarah's brother Chris and his friends and saw Chris fall and break his ankle. Horrible. First time I've seen someone break a bone, second time I've been in a hospital. Wondering how much good that first aid course I took did, as I had no clue what to do... Also, increasingly worried about my lack of health insurance.
• Saw "500 Days of Summer," which scarred me for life...maybe in a good way.
• Went to ballet class again over in Greenlake - with Andrea this time. I especially love this class; it makes me so happy! Definitely my exercise of choice.

La Liste

I'm trying not to get too touchy-feely on this blog, but I wanted to share this cute music video. It's all about that list most girls have in their heads about things they want to one day do with a boy (here it's stuff like "Go to Ikea" "Listen to Janis Joplin" and "Ride a bicycle built for two" [yay high school French; I'm pretty proud of myself]). Speaking of high school French class, I remember a girl from that class whose dream was to go to Disneyland with a boyfriend.

I have to stop thinking about stuff like this!

Do you / did you ever have a list like this, and if so, what does it include?

I just finished my first week at my new job. I'm still afraid someone is going to run into my corner office with the huge tree-filled windows, waving their arms and shouting, wait, wait, there's been a mistake!

Meanwhile, while I'm still dreaming this dream, here are some photos:

One of my windows

Hello, Seattle!

Four floors above the street (incidentally, the lyrics of a great Waifs song).

So happy!