I just had to let it go...
Just shaved my face with a dull razor and lukewarm water. It's kind of nice just being able to half-ass things like that. At first when I didn't really want to shave anymore, I was afraid that someone would say something about my awful face-full of stubble at work, but it never happened, so now I just do it when I get tired of scratching my own neck, or when I'm trying to make myself feel handsome.
I rode my bike to work today, which is always super rewarding on the way to work, since it's all downhill. But then after work since I had my bike and it was the third Thursday of the month, I went down to the Museum district and checked out the Tacoma Art Museum and the Washington State History Museum, both completely gratis. Afterward, I went to Tacoma Art Supply, and picked up some things. It was like a kid in a candy store. I saw these new things that were called artist trading cards, and they're just packs of 10 or 20 pieces of art paper, all the size of trading cards. Supposedly people collect and trade them, so who knows, maybe someday some one will be trading little piece of my work. That could be weird. I got bristol and canvas paper ones, just to futz around with, since they're so cheap. I really wanted to go nuts and buy an easel and new prismacolor pencils, and some litho tools so I can make prints, but I figured I shouldn't go too crazy. I just got a couple small canvases, india ink, a couple tubes of acrylic, and some new brushes. I need to exercise my creative muscle, and the last painting I did that I thought was too awful to finish, was summarily adopted, so I guess anything's better than buying a canvas and not using it. I'll post pictures if I make anything cool.
Otherwise, I'm spending more time working on my truck now that the weather's nice. I need to pull of the driver's side valve cover so I can check my engine timing. If anyone has any practical advice for removing valve covers, now's the moment of action. I'll probably try it tomorrow. Turning my engine over manually is a great upper body workout. When I get my truck running again, I'll be ready to submit my application to the Esteemed Society of Renaissance Men. It's hard some time doing work myself, because everything in my repair manual has a different name. Every time. Someone tells me to check the condenser, and I have to search everywhere just to figure out that it's what my repair manual is calling the noise filter. A solenoid is the same thing as a starter relay. I can go on, but I won't.
Work's been super busy, but I think it's starting to look up? Some days it feels like I'm getting buried alive, and others it feels like I'm riding a wave. My intern's been sick, so I've had all of 3.5 hours of managerial experience.
Last weekend I went up to Seattle with the intent of going to my boss's BBQ in Mercer Island and watching some fireworks, but it takes 4 buses to get from my house to his house, and takes more than 2 hours, so I gave up, and wandered around Seattle by myself and ate a burrito. Cities like Seattle make me feel small, and more than a little bit lonely. I think I kind of like it. Cities are different in Europe, I like them better. They make me feel small sometimes, but it's like I'm inside of a puzzle, and trying to figure out how all the streets make sense. They get so idiosyncratic. Once you get urban planning getting from point A to point B loses some of it's charm.
I digress. I ended up going to some party at Magan's friend's house, where I hung out with her and Allen. Then Allen and I walked to this place called Beth's that puts drawings up on the walls. We met up with Clayton and Sophie, and then went home and I slept on the couch. Sophie opened the window for me since it was so hot, so I got riddled with mosquito bites. I'm still discovering their exact whereabouts. I'm like some bug buffet.
The next morning Allison got brunch with Allen and me in Madrona, and then before she let me off at the bus stop, I showed her the building with the walruses on it (it's a Double Tree right now), and then we checked out the Seattle Library. What a sweet place! It made me really want to work there, so now I'm trying to decide if I want to go to law school or get a MLIS and make twice what I make now being a librarian/information architect. I should probably get more of my current student loans paid off first, but it's fun to think about. I need to get over the idea that school is prohibitively expensive, because I think relative to UPS, most schools are probably pretty reasonable.
If you made it this far, then I adore you. You deserve a prize:
I rode my bike to work today, which is always super rewarding on the way to work, since it's all downhill. But then after work since I had my bike and it was the third Thursday of the month, I went down to the Museum district and checked out the Tacoma Art Museum and the Washington State History Museum, both completely gratis. Afterward, I went to Tacoma Art Supply, and picked up some things. It was like a kid in a candy store. I saw these new things that were called artist trading cards, and they're just packs of 10 or 20 pieces of art paper, all the size of trading cards. Supposedly people collect and trade them, so who knows, maybe someday some one will be trading little piece of my work. That could be weird. I got bristol and canvas paper ones, just to futz around with, since they're so cheap. I really wanted to go nuts and buy an easel and new prismacolor pencils, and some litho tools so I can make prints, but I figured I shouldn't go too crazy. I just got a couple small canvases, india ink, a couple tubes of acrylic, and some new brushes. I need to exercise my creative muscle, and the last painting I did that I thought was too awful to finish, was summarily adopted, so I guess anything's better than buying a canvas and not using it. I'll post pictures if I make anything cool.
Otherwise, I'm spending more time working on my truck now that the weather's nice. I need to pull of the driver's side valve cover so I can check my engine timing. If anyone has any practical advice for removing valve covers, now's the moment of action. I'll probably try it tomorrow. Turning my engine over manually is a great upper body workout. When I get my truck running again, I'll be ready to submit my application to the Esteemed Society of Renaissance Men. It's hard some time doing work myself, because everything in my repair manual has a different name. Every time. Someone tells me to check the condenser, and I have to search everywhere just to figure out that it's what my repair manual is calling the noise filter. A solenoid is the same thing as a starter relay. I can go on, but I won't.
Work's been super busy, but I think it's starting to look up? Some days it feels like I'm getting buried alive, and others it feels like I'm riding a wave. My intern's been sick, so I've had all of 3.5 hours of managerial experience.
Last weekend I went up to Seattle with the intent of going to my boss's BBQ in Mercer Island and watching some fireworks, but it takes 4 buses to get from my house to his house, and takes more than 2 hours, so I gave up, and wandered around Seattle by myself and ate a burrito. Cities like Seattle make me feel small, and more than a little bit lonely. I think I kind of like it. Cities are different in Europe, I like them better. They make me feel small sometimes, but it's like I'm inside of a puzzle, and trying to figure out how all the streets make sense. They get so idiosyncratic. Once you get urban planning getting from point A to point B loses some of it's charm.
I digress. I ended up going to some party at Magan's friend's house, where I hung out with her and Allen. Then Allen and I walked to this place called Beth's that puts drawings up on the walls. We met up with Clayton and Sophie, and then went home and I slept on the couch. Sophie opened the window for me since it was so hot, so I got riddled with mosquito bites. I'm still discovering their exact whereabouts. I'm like some bug buffet.
The next morning Allison got brunch with Allen and me in Madrona, and then before she let me off at the bus stop, I showed her the building with the walruses on it (it's a Double Tree right now), and then we checked out the Seattle Library. What a sweet place! It made me really want to work there, so now I'm trying to decide if I want to go to law school or get a MLIS and make twice what I make now being a librarian/information architect. I should probably get more of my current student loans paid off first, but it's fun to think about. I need to get over the idea that school is prohibitively expensive, because I think relative to UPS, most schools are probably pretty reasonable.
If you made it this far, then I adore you. You deserve a prize: