OK. So let me tell you about yesterday. Good lord yesterday.

I was awoken by the woman across the way (remember the scary guy with the gun who tried to steal a house? His wife) pounding on my door at about 11 am. I ignored her, but she pounded twice on the one door and then again on the door to my bedroom and then again on the main door. Apparently Ricky and Lucy’s* teenagers were fucking around in my car last night. AWESOME. Now I have to start locking shit. Little felons in training. YOU DON’T STEAL FROM YOUR NEIGHBOURS! Especially since their grandfather’s a friend of mine and will kick their asses. (Not to mention just about everyone else in the neighbourhood.) Since it was about 5 degrees warmer outside my house I promptly opened all my doors and windows and put a big fan in the doorway to blow in the warm air (it works! From 14º to 18º) and have my breakfast outside while listening to DNTO and WWDTM**. I was promptly asked by Ricky if I had heard a gunshot the night before. I hadn’t. Neither had the neighbours on the other side (ah George - the one who kind of asked me out and super drunken Sean his new roommate) or Ricky and Lucy. Apparently the Chow that hangs out next door (I thought that it was their dog, but apparently not) got shot. I would like to say that this was at about noon. An hour later (after lots of drinking and swearing from next door - there’s now about 4 guys and the 2 future felons there) Sean comes over with a gun and shoots the poor dog again. Then they put it in garbage bags and take it away. I don’t know about you, but if my dog gets shot - hell if a shot dog comes back to my house first thing I do is call an emergency vet. I especially don’t let it sit there and suffer for hours before I put it out of it’s misery (I wouldn’t be able to shoot it). They come back and see that the scary neighbours across the street have come home and the lot of them trudge up the hill to confront them (I mean really? If they shot the dog we all would have heard it). At that point Lamar was coming up the hill to see what was going on. He’s one of the lifelong residents who is pretty cool. We were talking for awhile (I told him about the dog getting shot) and since he’s talking to me the guys next door notice me. FUCKING GREAT. Since now I’m getting hit on by drunken morons that I’d rather hit with a broom, though Lamar tells them to fuck right off before I even get to, which is nice. But he tells them about his neighbour who has a few gallons of a keg left over from a party last night. So they empty a cooler and go down and fill it up. Oh this will be good. Then there’s a lot of drunken piling into the minivan driving to who knows where (which thankfully stops the loud music, but fortunately it was the Beatles this time) and then coming back. I was invited, but I’m not getting in a van full of drunken dudes who all continually hit on me. OH HELLS NO. At one point there was a gunshot and they all piled in and sped down to where it came from. I would hate to be that person, though if they shot a dog they deserve whatever they get. I was inside and I hear moron #1 (my LL calls him “drunken Brian”) was in front of my house hollering something so I come out and he was all “yeah….” and gets a big smile on his face. I will punch him very hard in the nuts if I have to.

OH MY GOD. When does it go back to quiet around here? Why do I have to live next to the troublemakers? Ugh.

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention that I kind of got asked out by Lamar (HA!) and was informed that NASCAR is the biggest "sport" in the US, to which I replied "that's sad" and was promptly invited to a NASCAR event, free of charge, of course, because I obviously do not know the AWESOME POWER of NASCAR. HA!

*not really Ricky & Lucy, but they remind me of Ricky & Lucy from the Trailer Park Boys
**Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me

Because the computer takes a long enough time to think, and it's turn based, I play MegaMek while inking. It gives my drawing hand and eyes a break. Seems to be going well.

Today, the most amazing thing happened. I'm still trying to parse the entire course of events, but the last line is extremely funny after the catastrophe that befell these poor mechs.

( The Three Stooges )

click for larger image

I've always sort of wished that I'd attended WWU's Vehicle Research Institute instead of the Art Department. It was right next door, and they were always doing much cooler things than we were. At least, in class.

My friend and colleague, Julie McGalliard (a.k.a. mcjulie), just finished writing this fantastic series of essays on her take regarding religion. It's autobiographical and covers her history with churches, so it's easy and fascinating to see where she's coming from. I also relate to much of what she has to say. That last bit of her last post is particularly masterful, to me. This link will take you to her LiveJournal's "religion" filter.

Completely without context: Conversations about why Ikea reminds me of abortion, FTW.

So, I deeply believe that this comic just gets hotter and hotter with every page:

http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/

Just sayin'.

I think I'm still overwhelmed. I think I may have taken the last three years far too seriously.

The house next door has its Christmas tree up. And lit.
Please send help.

Come Eat Free Mallard's Ice Cream at Whatcom Community College campus in Syre at 3-4:00pm!
It's hosted by the QSA Club!

For more contact here is our club's livejournal community:

http://community.livejournal.com/wcc_qsa/

(double posted on WCC, QSA_WCC, and Bham community pages)


~Hope & Light~
~Rachel Simpson~
~QSA Club President~

Come Eat Free Mallard's Ice Cream at Whatcom Community College campus in Syre at 3-4:00pm!
It's hosted by the QSA Club!

For more contact here is our club's livejournal community:

http://community.livejournal.com/wcc_qsa/

(double posted on WCC, WCC_QSA, The_Black_Drop, and Bham community pages)


~Hope & Light~
~Rachel Simpson~
~QSA Club President~

It's been a month without posting. A lack of power and a laptop at the doctor means I've not only been lurking LJ, but have also been away from Internet access for long stints in general. I feel like I've had a harder time answering the "How's it going?" question because there's just so much. Fall has been a time of extreme change for me; heartbreaks and homelessness, inspiration and insecurity, travel and freedom and cold and hungry. Over the past month or two I've been living in a hut in the woods when not surfing couches and guest rooms in town. I'm essentially living out of a car - which is good for keeping down the number of material objects, but not so good for keeping them organized. The rest is in storage, awaiting the day I once again live between a regular set of walls: books boxed up at Poplar House, clothes in the trunk, DJ booth set up in the Cirque Lab.

Living in common space is tough - it's almost impossible not to impose. So I'm sticking with my road principles - do your own dish plus one, feed the animals, cook when your host will let you, and leave the place looking better than when you came by it. In the mornings, I've been awakening to dress, tie up my hair, and pack my bed away like I won't be sleeping in it again. Maintaining the trackless step.

So where does this go? I'd decided to move to Oakland last year, but plans haven't firmed up until just now. I'll be visiting in the end of November in order to plant seeds, explore schools, and break ground in the place I'll be living. That place is Vulcan Studios, an old forge that's been converted into a warehouse complex filled with performing artists. Manifestation win: the Vulcan was one of the few specific destinations on last year's hitchhike, and the seeds planted then are now coming to fruit. Oakland is live-work paradise; the industrial-park-turned-performance-studio is not a unique occurrence down there (one response to a description of the Circus Guild: "Oh, that sounds like about ten or fifteen of the troupes down here!"). But this'll be a good one: "Intrinsic Self", a short doc about several peeps I have come to know and love. They speak it truly - circus is filled with passionate, inspired, kind, and beautiful people, and I feel blessed and excited to be able to explore this new and strange avenue.

December 4th is my 27th birthday, falling ominously before the year I'm supposed to get wildly famous and die off in a blaze of glory. I suppose I'll make it a going-away party as well - seems like a good way to spend a Friday birthday. By January, I'll be gone.

Oh my god, I cleaned my bedroom! I hadn't touched it since raising the bed because I was busy and it was so overwhelmingly trashed, but I took care of everything except one small box of odds and ends yesterday. I had to neti pot all the dust and dog hair out of my sinuses when I was done, and my throat still feels trashed, but it was worth it.

I want to do the living room and kitchen this morning, then bake, bake, bake all afternoon.

It has been so long since I made apple pie, I'm going to have to relearn how. Like riding a bike, I'm sure.

So incredibly tired....

I didn't cook a whole lot during the Halloween costume/event rush, nor the week and a half after that when I was weaving every few days. I mean, I made a shitton of falafel, with pakora for an appetizer (the first time I ever made them at home, and I'm going to make them SO much more), plus some piroshki, pizza, and a few other things. Still, I didn't get to spend as much time in the kitchen as usual, so I have a lot of pent up culinary energy. I spent all morning making yeasted orange waffles (the boy made the breakfast potatoes) and pouring over cookbooks, making lists. With the cooling of this part of the world, I just want to bake!

I have plans (and ingredients) to make cinnamon rolls, my favorite jam filled nut dough cookie, muffins, scones, and several salads/healthy snack type dishes.

On Monday we're going to have a vegan pot-pie type casserole—a thick vegetable stew with a biscuit topping, then apple pie a la mode for dessert.

Tonight the boy and I are having a version of the famous Yumm Bowls (stupidly named, but delicious), with homemade Yumm Sauce, but instead of the standard rice, beans, and cheese, we're having quinoa and puy-aka-french-green lentils, topped with avocado and tomato. It should be tasty. That sauce is really good. It's one of the few things I couldn't conceptualize the taste of from reading the ingredients. It has a unique flavor.


I have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do, and a few craft/sewing projects that require immediate attention, but otherwise, everything is going really smoothly. I have been relishing the extra time that I have now that the boys are in school. That quiet, alone time really helps me find my balance. I have been a better, more attentive mother, and am continuing to make progress in getting my household routines down. Life has been really enjoyable lately.

I got to spend a few hours with my darling Carol yesterday. I am so enjoying getting to know her better. I have very few close friends, but the ones I have are the best.
 

A student asked me, "They say teachers don't get paid very well. Why did you decide to be a teacher when you're so incredibly intelligent?"