All the leaves are brown, leaves are brown

It's a beautiful sunny day in Portland and I'm about to climb into an allergy pill. Sunny and warm and windy as hell. It seems like all of the musty summer goodness has been unearthed and is being shuttled around town by the pesky winds.

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Unexpectedly got the day off work. Woke up at 7am to feed Gus and then went back to bed. Slept until 9:45! It's been a nice little morning. So far my duties have included: Pet the dog, drink the coffee, play the guitar and search the internet for information on casting basalt - in order of most to least important.

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First day of ceramics was last night. Made a few things, including a tea pot that is part of a group project. This is a first in Kowkie's class. She had us make the parts, and then we'll pick different pieces from different peoples pots and assemble them. I think it's a pretty cool idea. Whatever I end up with, I think I'll try to recreate it for a real project.

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This week is the last week of summer before the term starts at PSU. I'm excited to start classes, and a little nervous too. This seasonal transition always hits me a little harder than the others. I remember most vividly this transition when I was a kid. I was always bummed that the light didn't last as long and that the air began to encourage layers. Meh. I'm glad that it's hot this week. One more week of driving in the jeep with the top and doors off, in relative comfort. This week also will see the sculpture club installing our first show at the MK Gallery on campus. I have a piece to include and as the date approaches, I'm noticing that I'm feeling nervous about my contribution. The word "anachronistic" keeps swimming around in my head. I've never shown a piece of sculpture outside of a classroom setting. I'm sure it will be fine. The chances of somebody looking at my work and then hitting or shooting me is pretty slim. It's not that good.

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Oh! I think I just heard something. . . yep, it was the dog park calling Gus. I'd better help him out with that.

Saturday camping trip?

Rolled out of town around noon. Meant to leave much earlier. Picked up Kyle in McMinneville and headed west on a two lane road. Within 20 miles the road was dirt and logging roads split off every couple hundred yards. We took the jeep up into the hills and after a while of driving came upon a puddle that was pretty large. I accelerated into the puddle and made it to the bottom, before water rushed into the cab. It was much deeper than we thought. Managed to keep the engine running and Kelly got out and pushed while I threw it into 4-wheel drive. For a couple minutes, we thought we were going to be there for awhile. With Kelly's help and the 4wd, we got out of the puddle. As I was backing out of it, I saw some plastic floating near the surface. It turns out the water had knocked a bunch of stuff loose under the hood. The jeep kept running though, and we were able to take everything that was hanging, completely off. Made it past the puddle by driving around the edge. It almost pulled me back in to the center. A little while later, covered in mud and feeling pretty excited about things, we decided to head to the beach for a some ocean time. It was sunny and warm on the east side of the mountains but by the time we hit the west side, it was in the 60's. We were still wet from the puddle and the wind was chilly. We stopped in at a roadside bar and had some really fantastic fish. They'd probably caught it earlier that day.

Woke up early this morning pretty groggy. It had rained during the night and we were in for some more cold driving back to Portland. The sun finally came out shortly after we passed Clackamas, 3 miles from home. Fun trip. Short, but fun.

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yeah, yeah it's been awhile. Bought a house. Painted a house. Painting a house(not our house) worked a lot. Kayaked not enough. Bought/buying a jeep. Going camping Saturday. Sunburn on the farmer's parts. Listening to music. Sunglasses. Eating out too much. Wishing I had more money. Liking some people that are my friends. Disliking some people that are my friends. Wasting time occasionally. Throwing pots. Sculpture exhibition coming up. Driving two hours every day this week - bleh. Gus is barking a lot in his or my sleep, I can't tell which. Friends are in dire straights, relationship-wise. Other friends have been together a long time and love one another madly. My Mom does not have cancer anymore.