PNW Hijinks
So, for those who didn’t know, I’m in Portland. This is the write-up of my journeys in the Pacific Northwest thus far. Sorry to those I’ve missed; some of you still have a chance to see me this time out, but don’t forget I’m moving to BC in August.
So the first thing that happened when I got here is that my host was scheduled for abdominal surgery on Monday the 11th. It went fine, but basically I got up after about 5 hours of sleep to go hang out with her mother at the hospital while we waited for news. Fortunately her mother isn’t someone who gets overly stressed-out at hospitals. Waiting for indeterminate hours for news about surgery on someone you care about is no fun, but the one way it can be worse is if you’re with someone who adds stress to the situation instead of coping with it. We both did fine. Rebekah was very druggy and dazed (and rather pale) when we first saw her, but a robot had neatly gone in and removed the malign growth without any complications. She came home putting on a brave front, and insisted on going out to dinner the first night at her favorite pub. I think this was partly to reassure her mother she could leave. She did that night. Then Rebekah allowed herself to collapse and relax while keeping up her painkillers and accepting occasional visits from her friends.
In the meantime, I got together with Rod, Jim, and Melissa for lunches, beers, tea and the like. Rod is a British immigrant who came over here many years ago and was associated with anarchist circles I hung around in. Today he gets himself into trouble by criticizing Israel and Climate Change. He also climbs mountains and rides bicycles over insanely long distances. Jim is from Buffalo and was for some years my primary drinking buddy, until he got into a relationship and went the way f so many drinking buddies. Melissa is someone I met working on my MA. She’s nearly finished with hers, on Puritans, and seems to be set to launch into a serious career as a historian.
Next on the events list was the Zompire Film Festival, which is put on by Andrew, the same fellow that has done the HP Lovecraft Film Festival here for over a decade. Rebekah had hoped to see some of this, but wasn’t up to sitting upright in uncomfortable chairs that weekend. I did get to see my friend Michael from Seattle, who always comes down for the event, and we went drinking with Andrew and his crowd each night after things closed down. Zompire is a much less stressful event than HPL, so one gets to talk to Andrew without him thinking his hair is on fire.
I took a ride with Michael to Seattle, where I saw Osiris. Osiris and I met nearly twenty years ago in college. Today he is interested in the Left Hand Path and has a book out on the Thoth tarot deck. We had a good chance to catch up as I made plans for my further travels.
From Seattle, I went down to Tacoma, where I got to see
mskoi ’s art gallery. It is worth the trip for those of you in the area, both to see her art displayed as it was meant to be and to see someone of “our” generation making a dream come true. We drank some truly awesome wine (and I hate wine), made by her old business partner’s family. Look for Vino Aquino, if you’re ever in town.
I stopped over in Portland, and was able to help Rebekah with a few chores and check in that her condition was improving some. She tried to remove her bandages, but nearly fainted, so had to stop (they’re off now, no problems). Then it was off to Walla Walla, to see Rufus, Mark, and Kallisti. I lived with them when Kallisti was little (about 2-5 years old), and also knew them from Olympia (after I had graduated, but they’re also Greeners). Today Kallisti is 10, and nearly not a child anymore. She is more sensitive to my big-brother ribbing than she used to be, so I have to be nice. Osiris (“uncle Skull”) was there also, so she was super-energized and wild some of the time. She showed us how to play on her Wii and we also played with some of her big-headed animals. I named mine after a friend in Germany, Jacqueline. Rufus is working for the school district, and Mark continues to work insane hours for a startup company that has no money to pay him right now.
I’ve been taking it somewhat easy since I got back to Portland Monday night. Rebekah needs rides to work, but is managing to work part-time days and prepare good food for dinner (with some help on the lifting). We watched the “Bourne Identity” (her choice) and “Das Boot” (my choice). Is it possible that the guy who plays the enthusiastic arms dealer in Das Boot went on to play the security guard in “Lola Rennt?” I think so. No! No! He's Franz Biberkopf, from "Berlin Alexanderplatz!" How could I make such a mistake after watching him for 22+ hours of my life!? We have also watched a documentary on television horror hosts, “American Scary,” which is badly made but inspiring nonetheless. I may look into a project along these lines myself in the future. More later.
So the first thing that happened when I got here is that my host was scheduled for abdominal surgery on Monday the 11th. It went fine, but basically I got up after about 5 hours of sleep to go hang out with her mother at the hospital while we waited for news. Fortunately her mother isn’t someone who gets overly stressed-out at hospitals. Waiting for indeterminate hours for news about surgery on someone you care about is no fun, but the one way it can be worse is if you’re with someone who adds stress to the situation instead of coping with it. We both did fine. Rebekah was very druggy and dazed (and rather pale) when we first saw her, but a robot had neatly gone in and removed the malign growth without any complications. She came home putting on a brave front, and insisted on going out to dinner the first night at her favorite pub. I think this was partly to reassure her mother she could leave. She did that night. Then Rebekah allowed herself to collapse and relax while keeping up her painkillers and accepting occasional visits from her friends.
In the meantime, I got together with Rod, Jim, and Melissa for lunches, beers, tea and the like. Rod is a British immigrant who came over here many years ago and was associated with anarchist circles I hung around in. Today he gets himself into trouble by criticizing Israel and Climate Change. He also climbs mountains and rides bicycles over insanely long distances. Jim is from Buffalo and was for some years my primary drinking buddy, until he got into a relationship and went the way f so many drinking buddies. Melissa is someone I met working on my MA. She’s nearly finished with hers, on Puritans, and seems to be set to launch into a serious career as a historian.
Next on the events list was the Zompire Film Festival, which is put on by Andrew, the same fellow that has done the HP Lovecraft Film Festival here for over a decade. Rebekah had hoped to see some of this, but wasn’t up to sitting upright in uncomfortable chairs that weekend. I did get to see my friend Michael from Seattle, who always comes down for the event, and we went drinking with Andrew and his crowd each night after things closed down. Zompire is a much less stressful event than HPL, so one gets to talk to Andrew without him thinking his hair is on fire.
I took a ride with Michael to Seattle, where I saw Osiris. Osiris and I met nearly twenty years ago in college. Today he is interested in the Left Hand Path and has a book out on the Thoth tarot deck. We had a good chance to catch up as I made plans for my further travels.
From Seattle, I went down to Tacoma, where I got to see
mskoi ’s art gallery. It is worth the trip for those of you in the area, both to see her art displayed as it was meant to be and to see someone of “our” generation making a dream come true. We drank some truly awesome wine (and I hate wine), made by her old business partner’s family. Look for Vino Aquino, if you’re ever in town.
I stopped over in Portland, and was able to help Rebekah with a few chores and check in that her condition was improving some. She tried to remove her bandages, but nearly fainted, so had to stop (they’re off now, no problems). Then it was off to Walla Walla, to see Rufus, Mark, and Kallisti. I lived with them when Kallisti was little (about 2-5 years old), and also knew them from Olympia (after I had graduated, but they’re also Greeners). Today Kallisti is 10, and nearly not a child anymore. She is more sensitive to my big-brother ribbing than she used to be, so I have to be nice. Osiris (“uncle Skull”) was there also, so she was super-energized and wild some of the time. She showed us how to play on her Wii and we also played with some of her big-headed animals. I named mine after a friend in Germany, Jacqueline. Rufus is working for the school district, and Mark continues to work insane hours for a startup company that has no money to pay him right now.
I’ve been taking it somewhat easy since I got back to Portland Monday night. Rebekah needs rides to work, but is managing to work part-time days and prepare good food for dinner (with some help on the lifting). We watched the “Bourne Identity” (her choice) and “Das Boot” (my choice). Is it possible that the guy who plays the enthusiastic arms dealer in Das Boot went on to play the security guard in “Lola Rennt?” I think so. No! No! He's Franz Biberkopf, from "Berlin Alexanderplatz!" How could I make such a mistake after watching him for 22+ hours of my life!? We have also watched a documentary on television horror hosts, “American Scary,” which is badly made but inspiring nonetheless. I may look into a project along these lines myself in the future. More later.