mystic_savage

I left the house today at 2:00 and took the bus to Traveler's.  I was to meet Chuck at 4:30 at the convention center, and wanted to groove around downtown for a bit before I went.  So:  I wore my lucky vest, and went to Traveler's (which is always lucky) and drank a cup of their chai (which is beyond luck -- it's actually magic, that chai).  I sat there and soaked up the atmosphere for awhile and went into the shop part of the store and looked around, not needing to buy anything but just happy to be there.  Exchanged a few words with Liam, the proprietor, who recognized me although he doesn't really know my name.  But we have a distantly pleasant relationship and I like him a lot.  Left Traveler's and went around the block to Babes in Toyland and then to Edge of the Circle.  Again, no need to buy anything.  In fact, in Edge of the Circle I looked at all the magic books and all the spirituality books and just had this moment of recognition that after thirty years of reading about all that stuff, I'm really tired of reading about it.  So I left and continued down the hill.  Stopped in at a furniture store that I'd never been in and had no intention of staying in, but was there for quite awhile because they didn't have just furniture, but also really cool candles and fans and desktop fru-frus and cool greeting cards.  It was a good place to explore.  Stopped in at a coffee shop, Uncle Elizabeth's, which I pass on the bus every morning and have always been curious about.  It's one of those places that's cooler on the outside than the inside, and I won't need to go back again, but it was a good place to spend ten minutes and the espresso, while nothing to write home about, wasn't too bad.  Continued down the hill.

Got to the convention center about an hour early, so headed up to the lobby on the second floor and hung out and read.  The security guard passed me once but decided I was well dressed enough he wouldn't hassle me (although I didn't have a convention badge).  I'm reading "Digging to America" by Anne Tyler and it's really good.  Went down to the meeting place with about ten minutes to spare and didn't have to wait too long for Chuck.  And had a very, very happy time catching up with him.

We sat and talked for a minute or two and then walked toward Wild Ginger, where we were seated at Table 9, which, as it turns out, is the same table I've been seated at the last two times I've been there.  Wild Ginger isn't a small place -- it has easily -- what?  40? 50? tables...more?  So it's quite a coincidence to be at this wonderful booth where I have good memories.  Chuck and I had a good meal -- a tuna thing and a chicken thing and a wonderful bok choi thing, and I had a mango daquiri and a vicodin and the conversation was mellow and loving and interesting and as always when I'm with Chuck I fell in love with him.  It's impossible not to.  I defy anybody to spend an hour or two with Chuck and not fall in love with him.  I don't think it's possible.  It's not that he's terribly suave--in fact, he's not.  He's sincere and has integrity and he's thoughtful and there's just something undeniably super wonderful about him.   After dinner, we walked to Bartell's where he picked up some headache medicine and I shopped for makeup and chatted with the clerk about skin care products.  Her secret is to mix baby oil with grains of sugar.  Mine is oatmeal.  Her name was Amy.  We had a great conversation, enhanced no doubt by my general feeling of well-being from being with Chuck and feeling like we're in a good place with each other.

So...we walked toward my bus stop and kissed a little bit while waiting for the bus, and I gave money to a guy whose sign said he just wanted money for pot, and money to my favorite busker (a drummer who is often outside of Nordstrom's at rush hour--the blond guy with the beard who plays a variety of drums and rhythms from different parts of the world and is pretty damn good.  Also, he looks like Jesus.  The blond Jesus.) And after another fifteen minutes, my bus came and I kissed Chuck good bye.  It was the perfect Saturday afternoon/early evening date.

I ran into Frances and Anna on the bus and we talked about writing and work parties and cohousing until we got to Duwamish.  Disembarked and walked with them through the community,  and found myself at Kevin's house with Kevin and the kids, sharing the lovely biscotti Chuck had brought me with them, and talking about family stuff with Penny and Sar.  Kevin and I are on the same page with parenting more and more these days.  It helps, I think, that the kids always make it pretty evident to us when things aren't good for them (eg, too much tv).  Anyway, made a plan for hanging out with them tomorrow and that was a wonderful cap to the evening.  Got back home around 8 pm, and am now updating this before I do my creative writing for the night. 

Love to all !

V.

Yesterday: got up at 7:30 a.m. at Grandma's house in Ransom and drove across Kansas back to Kansas City. Many frazzled nerves in the car; much annoyance at usual family dynamics, which, while benign, are just-under-the-skin prickly. Habits -- my father's ongoing strategies for meeting everyone's needs at every moment, always worked out aloud; my mother's tuning out all and sundry while on some mental tangent, agreeing to some plan, and then later being unaware of what she's agreed to; my son's ongoing need for entertainment; my daughter's antics to get attention. Just usual stuff, but particularly irritating yesterday. Awareness that my irritation is also a habit, as much a habit as any of the stuff I've just mentioned. We got to Kansas City at 2:30 or so, Dad went to the office, and mom & the kids got stuck onto a movie while I crashed hard. Slept for two and a half hours. Got up to pack us all for the next day and then that yesterday night we went to my nephew's gig/show thingie. He is part of a "school of rock" where junior high kids go to learn rock performance, and this was their year-end concert. Imagine two dozen junior high kids of widely varying abilities performing 23 Beatles songs in a pub atmosphere. Imagine sticking knitting needles into your ears. Same level of auditory torture. To be fair, some songs were good. Abilities and tunefulness varied widely not only from performer to performer but also from song to song even when the performers were the same. Jamie, my nephew, is a pretty good guitarist for 14. Not flashy, just solid. The good part of being there was being there with my entire family--mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, kids. Like the other times I've crossed paths with Jim this week, our interactions were funny and loving, but not particularly deep, which suits both of us at this moment in our lives. Between songs (or frankly, between the songs we had to pay attention to because Jamie happened to be in them) we ate, talked, looked at some of the photos on Jim's camera (he's turned out to be a hell of an avocational nature photographer), danced, sang along, cheered for the efforts of the kids on stage. Fortunately the evening ended about 8:00 -- couldn't have stood it for much longer -- and we headed back home. I put the kids to bed immediately, got all the stuff downstairs for the next day, and then sat up and watched the last two episodes of Jeopardy with Mom and Dad before going to bed.

Today we were up at 4:30 a.m. (this is central time) and off to the airport by 5:15. Our plane left the ground at 6:40, then we touched down and transferred planes at Denver and arrived in Seattle at around 10:45 Pacific Time--about 7 or 8 hours of travel door to door by the time we got home. Sar and Penny were real troopers. They're starting to melt down now (I just sent them off to Duwamish to play outside for a couple of hours before I try to get them down for an early bed time), but they were pretty good during all those hours of air travel, factoring in the six hours they'd spent in the car yesterday and Wednesday. We were all very, very ready to be home about two hours before we were (Sar said in a quite loud voice "I HATE this stupid plane" just as we were taking off from Denver, probably worrying our fellow passengers for awhile). But we all came through, and Sar managed his impatience quite well, and was immensely helpful in getting the bags from baggage claim and to the taxi stand. He and Penny took their share of heavy stuff, and it was manageable. For kids their age, they travel really well. The last couple of hours have just been trying to wind down. Sleeping (again) while they are on the computer. And taking my turn on the computer while they go off to play. Better be off now, though. I'm going to meet them at Duwamish and hang out at the old house for a couple of hours before coming back here for an early (I hope) bedtime.

Glad to be home.

Kevin and I might be getting the Seattlest Divorce of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce for 2008 -- or at least we might be getting it if the Chamber of Commerce offered one.  We've done most of it ourselves, and we met with an attorney -- Jean Hilde -- today at the Starbuck's at Greenlake, where we had the upper room to ourselves and we all sipped lattes and talked about paperwork.  Jean was recommended by Kevin's girlfriend, Maria, who lives next door.  And I liked her.  It was...kinda fun, actually.  And reassuring to both of us that as soon as we do the next bits of paperwork, the rest is pretty much a done deal.  After the meeting with the lawyer, Kevin took me to the bus stop on the 11 route so I could get directly home.  He had a meeting at work.

I also met with a placement specialist at Woods & Associates this morning and I think I'm going to start working for them again.  I had a few plum assignments eight years ago.  The kind of stuff I love to do (formatting/word processing/project stuff) pays much better now than it did in the back-when.  It's $15-20 an hour now; then it was $10-12.  Dude.  If I got a $20/hour job I'd be making more than I did at the U...and getting paid weekly. 

Penny told me this morning that "back then" people were smarter and when they built their houses they didn't take over all the animals' homes.  I said "back when?" "You know, back then." "Do you mean cave times?"  "No," she said.  "You know, back when Mary and Laura were in the Big Woods."

Going to Vancouver on the 6:30 bus tonight and not coming back until Monday.  In a word, wahooooooooooooo!