i'm just sayin' is all...

read the fine print.

seriously, i'm just sayin'...

music makes the world go 'round

I spent the weekend in the company of friends, both old and new, and the beauty of song in some way, shape or form. It was the annual Sasquatch Festival in Eastern Washington. I've been going to this event every year since I moved to the west coast to get my fill of music, both well-known and up-and-coming. 6AM Saturday morning and I'm driving down highway 84 in Oregon, rocking out to my music and seeing beautiful country that I've never laid eyes on. I managed to meet up with all of my Seattle-based friends at a rest stop off I-90 outside of Ellensburg, WA. Four cars wagon trained their way deep into a wildlife preserve and we had the fortune to camp at the same spot we'd inhabited two years prior - a grouping of our tents up on a ridge overlooking Quincy Lake. What a glorious way to wake up each day! The weekend's big kicker came in the form of grape-sized hail pelting us for 30-45 minutes on Saturday afternoon. We're dedicated and committed fans, so we just sat there and took it waiting for the shows to continue. Other than that, it was a beautiful time filled with beautiful people - makes you glad to be alive.

I met yet another new friend, a musician and a good one at that. She's set to play in Portland in a few weeks and once I've seen her live, I'll introduce you to her sounds. If her music is anything like her personality, you'll find she touches you deep down, understands you even though she doesn't know you and remains sultry and sexy while performing on stage. Try it Mikey, you'll like it.

can a phone call really change your life?

Until Monday night, I didn't think it was possible for a phone call to actually change anyone's life. I mean, unless it's Ed McMahon calling to tell you that you won a million dollars there aren't many phone calls that would completely turn your life upside down. I suppose there are some that are somewhat life altering - a call to tell you you have a terminal illness, a call about a new job - maybe changing your financial status, happy calls - births, engagements, etc., but not really any life changing.

Outside of my career job, I'm involved with a hefty volunteer position part of which includes overseeing a collegiate group on a local college campus. Most of the work I do with them is purely advisory helping them think about ways to raise funds, signing off on paperwork, etc. Occassionally, I deal with moderating some type of dispute - you know how people can be. They're passionate about their organization and everyone has the organization's best interests in mind, so when they disagree on the best direction it can cause complete chaos. This week they took things to a new level and a few of the members got so hung up on the situation that they made a phone call that could have potentially ruined another member's life. Just like that, one phone call and the girl's future would've been in jeopardy. I spent most of Monday night and part of Tuesday working through the situation and preparing for the possible ramifications. Luckily someone had their head on straight and the problem was finally reconciled before it became a totally life changing event. I have no doubt that it has altered the member's life in someway forever, but not in the noticeable and ultimately detrimental capacity that it had the potential to do.

The morale of this story (because there's always got to be a morale) is that you never know when your life can change or how quickly it can change for that matter. I know we talk about living each day to it's fullest, but honestly that's not easy to do especially when you're working to pay the bills. My recommendation instead? Do the best you can, think about others before you act and remember we were all young once.

(btw - apologies for the vagueness of the content, but someone's got to protect the innocent)

let the good times roll...

This weekend was one of those that was filled with unexpected fun. A moment arrived on Friday when no more work could be done so a co-worker and I ducked out for a couple cocktails and a showing of "Thank You For Smoking". Bad news: the theater was incredibly hot (btw - when have you EVER been in a hot theater?) and with 2 drinks and a week of work under my belt, I fell asleep and missed some of the movie. Good news: We ran into some friends of said co-worker's and they had complained to management. Free movie tickets all around.

Saturday started with a nice run with one of my great new Portland friends. Follow that with a lazy day around the house and you start to think things are going well. On Saturday night we were set to attend the 30th b-day party of one of the b.f.'s co-workers. I wasn't so much looking forward to what I understood to be required drunken debauchery. However, we had a great time traveling to 10 of Portland's finest dive bars in a bright yellow school bus. The drunkeness was not mandatory, but it happened quickly and I spent all of yesterday nursing what might be one of my worst hangovers in recent years. Man, remember the days when you could just power through that stuff?

At any rate, here's a little snapshot of the fun. Me and my new friend, Olivia.

3rd Party Conversations

The original purpose of this blog was to not only deliver semi-regular updates on me and my goings on, but to provide myself (and others who comment) an open place to address the drinking of the kool-aid that seems to be so common in most places of employment these days. (That's where the title of this blog comes from - there will be no kool-aid here.) So from time to time I'll be covering off some random kool-aid induced conversation I've had recently. BTW...most of my rants relate to the use of corporate jargon which may be one of my all-time greatest pet peeves. But today? Today, I stand corrected. For the first time ever, I was introduced to a piece of corporate jargon that doesn't make my skin crawl. I'll never ever add this to my vernacular, but I love its pseudo positive note as opposed to its "tell it like it is" partner's negativity. Yesterday I was introduced to the phrase "3rd party conversations". It's a really nice way to say gossip. But where gossip sounds snarky and undermining, 3rd party sounds proactive and resourceful. For short I'll call it TPC, because why say it all when it can be abbreviated, right?

When I really think about it, I'm a TPC regular. I wouldn't call myself a gossiper, but I often seek validation for things I'm thinking or planning to do in the form of a TPC. And, isn't this blog just an outlet for the TPC. Hmmm, that's frightens me. If I'm TPCing for all the world to see and it's only 9AM, my world is going down. Next thing you know i WILL be drinking the kool-aid. In case you care, I prefer grape.

the traveler

I have been to Seattle and back twice since Saturday! What?! First, a Saturday excursion to visit somebody's "mother" for Mother's Day. A delightful dinner - a little drunk, brunch by the pool and a sunburn from poolside poker. All in all, a good trip with someone else's family. Days by the pool remind me of home. Sitting on my parents big backyard deck eating breakfast, drinking coffee - they don't serve mimosas at my house for Mother's Day. Isn't it funny the little things you notice and maybe miss? I missed my mom on Mother's Day, but I suppose that's fair since it was her day and all. Speaking of travelers....she's off on a grand adventure in South America.

My second trip was completely unexpected. I knew I needed to go back to Seattle sometime this week, but didn't know if would be hours after I'd returned to Portland. I found out Monday afternoon that I needed to be in Seattle on Tuesday for an early morning meeting, so I hopped on a plane and up I flew - another quick, but good trip.

I love Seattle. I consider it my home and my heart flutters everytime I enter the city, see the skyline. If you have a place you call home, then you know what it's like to arrive there. In my two trips this week, I saw the skyline zero times. I itch for the skyline, the smell of sea air, the quaint little neighborhoods, water everywhere and all the things that make Seattle my home. It's a difficult city, it beats you down, makes you question yourself - ask anyone who's moved to Seattle as an adult about the difficulty of making friends in that city. It hates you. And then, things change and one day it loves you, it embraces you and it makes you miss it.

I've spent most of my adult life looking forward to what's next. When will I move again, when will I start a new job, when will I get a new car, clothes, pet, whatever. Always travelling from place to place, job to job waiting for the next thing. Soon I'm going to stop that kind of traveling and focus on traveling places I want to travel, places I've never been, maybe see some people I haven't seen in awhile. Soon, I'm going to go home. To my home. To Seattle. I don't know when or how, but I know I need to go back. Some people say they left their heart in San Francisco (there's definitely a piece of mine there), but my heart belongs to Seattle.

your body is a wonderland*

I've spent a lot of time this week thinking about body image and the thing that I came up with? I'm pissed! I can't think of a single female in my age group (myself included) who hasn't had some type of body image issues. In fact, I think most of us have battled some level of eating disorder and no one thinks that they're pretty anymore. Oftentimes, I'll catch a glimpse of myself in passing and think how thin that person is only to realize I'm looking at myself and make note that I never think that at all. This week I learned that someone I know took fairly drastic measures to change her body. A secret, somewhat major surgery and she's back in it. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we allow the media to tell us what we should look like? No one who's apple or pear shaped is accepted anymore - it's stick thin or you're out. I'm just as guilty as the next person of judging a person based on their looks and weight, but I'm scared that changes are simple and it just takes money. What about changing what's going on in your mind and just being healthy - running and skipping and doing what makes you feel good?

I don't know the solution, but I know it makes me angry that all of us are being consumed by our own bodies. My body is not a wonderland and it probably should be!

* Thanks John Mayer for the title to the post.

a marathon nation?

Technically, I guess you'd call it a marathon continent since I just got back from finishing my second marathon this weekend in Vancouver, BC. The weather was miserable and since I had injured my knee in February, I had to walk almost the entire thing! I never knew what sore feet felt like until I walked 26.2 miles in standing water in my running shoes. (Is it me or does that sound a little like that whole walk to school in 4 ft. of snow up hill both ways thing that my parents share out?) The good news is that I was raising money in honor of a friend through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Today I hobbled into work with a blister the size of a golf ball on my heel. Y'all might know I'm a bit of a self proclaimed fashionista so imagine my difficulties in getting dressed this morning trying to plan an outfit around whether or not my foot could tolerate the shoe. It's a travesty indeed! Side note: I had a glorious girlfriend filled weekend in Canada with my friend Trika - well worth the pain for the insight and laughs gained.

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The best news of the day? I just discovered a listing for blogs that critique beaty products - who knew?! Watch for links soon.

my life as a motion picture soundtrack

What if my life had a soundtrack? What would it sound like, who would compose it? It would take an extremely talented and committed musician to compose my sountrack - all the ups and downs moment to moment, maybe a bit too much drama? I got to thinking about my life as a soundtrack last night as I listened to Sigur Ros for the first time. Their music washed over me and at moments I let a few tears trickle down my cheeks. It's been a long time since any music made me feel this way and I just wanted to lay down on the ground and bathe in the beauty of the music they were creating. See them if you're able.

Welcome to Friday!