To The Max!

Today and tomorrow are my 2 days off this week. My daughter Mai and I had planned to spend today doing a little cleaning and putting up our Christmas tree and then tomorrow finding some interesting thing to do outside of the house. This is Oregon so we've had a stretch of several days of rain and we were expecting more of it. This morning however, we woke up to mostly blue skies and a pleasant, only slightly chilly day. Naturally we decided to flip our plans since there's no guarantee that tomorrow would be as nice.

After an hour of trying to plan something we decided to just play it by ear and see what we found. Instead of driving around wasting gas and paying for parking in town, we drove over to the TriMet Max light rail station close to the house. We got day passes for the train, picked a direction instead of a destination and went looking for our adventure. Now Mai rides the train to work all the time so she is used to it. This was only my 2nd time, the first being several months ago and only for a very brief distance. She got to show me how it all worked. She has all the color coding and route maps down to a science! We picked the green line to the Rose Quarter and switched to the blue line and headed towards Hillsboro.

The first train wasn't very crowded, mostly people obviously headed home from work. It was fairly uneventful with the exception of the brake locking up for a few seconds when the driver was slowing down. A few people got a little closer to each other. The second one though was wall to wall people. Now Mai and I both enjoy people watching but from looking around you would think we were the only ones. Not one person on the train made eye contact with anyone unless they were together. They read books, listened to music on headphones or poked around on their cell phones. If they were without a physical barrier they simply stared out the windows or down at the floor. Honestly I was expecting a lot more of the weirdness that Portland is famous for.

We wound up riding all the way to Hillsboro only to switch directions and ride back into downtown. After a quick cup of coffee and a little wandering, we headed to Hamburger Mary's for dinner. It was slow and a little early so we didn't hang around too long. From there it was off to Ground Kontrol for some old-school video games and a couple of drinks before reversing course and heading home.

We got back to the station where the car was parked and I couldn't find my car key in my purse. I did find it though, on the front seat of my locked car. No problem, called for help and had a coffee while we waited. It took the guy longer to fill out the paperwork than it did for him to unlock the car.

You might be thinking this doesn't sound like much of an outing but it was. It was really wonderful to see my daughter so relaxed and hear her laughing so freely, especially since only a few days ago she ended her relationship with her boyfriend of over 2 years. She has finally freed herself of the weight of taking care of someone who refused to take care of himself. She's growing and finally learning that her needs are important too. She's seen that a healthy relationship shouldn't require her to make herself less that she is meant to be. The string has been cut, the weight is off and she is free to fly.

Last Year's Birthday With Wil Wheaton

Today is the big day, I turned 50 years old at 6:35 CST this morning. I woke up to 3 different kinds of dark chocolates strategically placed next to my coffee maker by my youngest daughter Mai. This afternoon she and I will meet up with my oldest daughter Laura for a mani/pedi deal. My girls are fantastic, couldn't want for better kids! Pretty laid back on the planning this year but I do hope to get to see a particular friend of mine at some point this weekend, he's such a sweetie! 

Last year on this day I was still living in McMinnville. I discovered there was going to be a "Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm" event in Portland on my birthday so I let out the inner-geek and bought tickets. It wasn't a full W00tstock but it was close enough for me! I even booked a hotel room for the weekend. I spent the day before the show going to the art museum, eating at neat little cafes and checking out vintage clothing shops. 

Yes I know a vast majority of you may not know what I'm talking about but suffice it to say it was destined to be an evening of fun and fabulous. And it was, at least until the show was over. There were 2 local sisters "The Doubleclicks" who sing all things geek, here let me just show you:

And of course, the main event was filled with songs and jokes that can be enjoyed by anyone but only truly appreciated by those who are geek at heart (or geek-adjacent as Wil's wife called herself then). Wil Wheaton shared some personal stories too. The following is a video of the last 20 or so minutes of the show. It is "The Captain's Wife's Lament" interspersed with tons of insider jokes and geek culture references. It pretty much has something to entertain everyone and yet offend more than a few. I apologize if you are one of the offended but it's overall hilarious. 

             This is from the actual show I attended. I was sitting next to the woman screaming at the beginning of this video.

Anyway, as I said previously, I loved the show and had a terrific time. Until I went to my car. Or I should say, until I tried to go to my car. It was gone, nowhere to be found. I tried to keep calm and went into the bar next to the theater to call the police. All the guys were there from the show but I was not in the mood to fan-girl out at that point. The police kindly informed me that I had parked in front of a driveway and been towed! Apparently the wooden fence I had parked next to had one of those gates that slides in on itself so I didn't notice it. Naturally since it was November in Portland it was dark and raining when I parked. I won't go into excruciating detail of the rest of the night. I'll just say that when all was said and done I had walked several miles, alone, in the middle of a cold and wet night, gotten lost in a warehouse district at 1 a.m. and spent an unplanned $382 to get my car back. Yet, it was still a great night! If they come back I'll go again, I'll just be more careful when I park. Better yet, I'll take the bus!

Tonight, The Bloggess!

As forewarned in my introduction, I am a huge Jenny Lawson fan. Tonight I will be joining what I am sure will be a horde of people waiting in line for a signature, maybe a hug and a chance to spend a minute making small talk. I am excited and freaked out at the same time. What do you say in 30 seconds or so that has any real meaning besides a simple, "Thank you"? I fear I'll just be another tongue-tied fan-girl. (And really, at 49 y/o that's embarrassing!) 

This will be the first book reading/signing I have ever attended. Well, I tried to go to one with Amy Tan years ago but it was way too crowded so I didn't go in. There are many writers I admire and whose works I love, but not many I'd stand in line to meet. With @TheBloggess * it isn't just about her growing fame or her way with words. Without a doubt her sense of humor and way of looking at life makes for a marvelous read. She also takes hard edged issues like depression and anxiety and smooths the sharp corners to make her points easier to read and to feel. She doesn't preach about mental health issues, she simply lets you into the world of what it's like and welcomes you to the fold. Through her words and actions she shows that even if something like anxiety can't be totally overcome, it can be harnessed and made to work for you rather than you being its slave.

I found Jenny through Wil Wheaton's @Wilw twitter feed. He was supporting her in some issue with an arrogant PR guy. I followed her too just to keep up on the story. This all happened during a period where I was spending the majority of my non-working time online, reading other about people's lives to avoid my own. As luck would have it, I finally went to her blog and as a result I came to discover the Red Dress Project and the Depression Lies threads and so much more. I was reminded that I was not the only soul seeking hope and relief. I shut off my denial, sought help and climbed back to the reality of daily living. (Possibly more later.) I even shared her story and book with my therapist who has become a fan too!

Jenny's life, as told in "Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) is a mostly hilarious recipe for life with a few pinches of the down sides of reality thrown in. Having also come of age in the South, I can (scarily) relate to many of her stories. She talks of pet turkeys that follow her, I only had one turkey with an identity disorder. He thought he was a pit bull guard dog! My home was also filled with various woodland creatures, only mine were alive. Great horned owls and buzzards make for interesting pets. You can probably see now why I identify so strongly with this writer. With a few changes here and there, she could have been me, or vice-versa


* Just had to note, spell-check keeps suggesting I change @TheBloggess to Togetherness. Guess they know what they are talking about!

P.S. If you are going to Powell's tonight, leave a note below please! If you aren't in the area and read this, also please leave a note. I'd like to know "who" is reading, not just see numbers on a statistics page. Thanks!