out of the blue

Here are some pictures from Cami's delightful end-of-summer party (at least it was the end for me). Everyone was so smiley!

These pictures are from last week when I got a bunch of people together on short notice for a picnic in the park. I took pictures of Sarah because she was leaving the next morning (though I still got to see her that night). That last week was packed full of seeing people.

I'm back in Spokane; my pretty, new, flat-panel monitor arrived this morning; the wireless is re-configured for the non-home network; windows is still as-yet uninstalled; my stuff is mostly unpacked, though there are a lot of things left to go; I'm enjoying Becky's company (at least, I did before Aaron flew back in last night); and I'm missing quite a few people who, incidentally, are not in Spokane.

Cami, thank you again for organizing the get-together on Friday night. That was a perfect end to the summer.

Earlier today Aaron and I drove to the store to pick up hamburger makings. We drove in his dad's old car, which he has had forever, claiming that he was going to "drive it into the ground." So far, Aaron's dad has done a good job of it, because it's falling apart so much that it would be absurd to worry about theft. So, we left it's dangling wires and broken paneling in the parking lot at Safeway, joking about how silly it was to lock the doors, because nobody in their right mind would want to steal it.

cut to six hours later

Aaron and I arrive at my house, and decide to go in to talk for a while (which will end up being almost four hours). We continue our joking of earlier and lock the doors "just to be funny." Then we go in to my house and forget about it.

cut to four hours later

Aaron can't find his keys. We go out to the car and peer into the window with a flashlight, and what do you know? There are the keys sitting in the ignition. Aaron rarely locks the car door at my house, but this time he did, and it's the one time he's forgotten the keys in the ignition. Can you say Irony?

Anyway, we eventually use a coat hanger, a screwdriver, and a pair of plyers to unlatch the door and retrieve his keys. A shaking of heads at the irony, and Aaron drives off into the night.

So it's less than a week before I go back to Spokane. Less than a week to visit all the people I want to see. Less than a week to pack and think of everything that I need to do to be ready to leave. Less than a week to do some work for Regina. I'm kinda feeling overwhelmed, which makes it a lot harder to work on anything. Oy.

But I'm very much looking forward to going back to Spokane, no matter how many of you I'm going to miss (and there are a lot). I'm looking forward (strangely enough) to getting back into that strange rhythm that is school, and doing homework and stuff like that. I'm looking forward to getting up at 7:30 three days of the week to go to my math class, no matter how boring it may be. I'm looking forward to getting tired of school a couple months into it, and trying as hard as I can to remain responsible until I finally give in to laziness and start slacking again. There are a lot of things to look forward to.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to being back "on my own", buying my own food, and not dealing with parents on a day-to-day basis. I'm looking forward to seeing Becky and Aaron and Josh and all those Spokane folks. Beware, I return shortly. And I will interact.

A quote from Charles Stross, in an article (re)examining the actual cost of terrorism in human lives — against the number of people dying in lightning strikes or striking deer with cars.

"It used to be said that patriotism was the first resort of the scoundrel. Now terror-mongering is giving it a close run for its money. When someone tries to scare you, the first question you should ask is "who benefits?" Al Qaida and their friends carry out terrorist actsin order to terrorise you, with a specific political agenda in mind. Why are the US and UK governments trying to do the terrorists jobs for them? And what is their fear-facilitated agenda?"

We got back yesterday from our trip to the Olympic Peninsula, which was a lot of fun. Sarah came along, so I had another entertaining character with whom to talk. We went to Hurricane Ridge, we hiked in to some hot springs, we had tea in Victoria (although Sarah had juice with the tea service). A very happy trip. And here are some pictures:

Found this link in Neil Gaiman's blog.

I Bet You Look Good in the Bookstore

Okay, I'm leaving early for the Olympics and Victoria, British Columbia. I'll be back on Sunday, with lots of pictures (hopefully). Until then, enjoy life.

I just uploaded a few photos from my trip to the beach, and there are a couple from the star party. And then, of course, there are probably pictures that a bunch of you haven't yet seen, so feel free to explore.