taking bellingham by storm!

on monday in a wave of madnesss i bought greyhound tickets up to bellingham. the goal, to see betsy (one of my dearest friends from bellingham) perform a piece in an amazing production titled, "undressing the other." river (another dear bellinghamster) called and demanded i show up as his date, and he is a total babe so the suggestion was impossible to deny.

i opted for a bus at 7:40 in the morning, which resulted in me having to rouse myself at 5:30 to make it down to the station in order to board the bus. i have been riding my bicycle non-stop lately, and although i love bicycling there is something really human about riding public transit. i ran into a woman who was in a really tough spot, and i attempted offered her words of encouragement and a friendly face to talk to. i think she appreciated the company and i was touched by her courage and hoped that my meager conversation helped fuel her journey. it's strange how trimet is a great unifier. it seems like there is a strong community between riders, and i think that is essential in this big city sometimes.

anyhow, the greyhound station was as depressing as ever. there is something about that place that makes me instantly weary. i sat in front of a woman whispering words of the apocalypse and the impending doom of each member on the bus, which was unnerving to say the least. i am the ultimate cat napper, especially when it comes to traveling. i was snoozing in minutes.

bellingham welcomed me with a gracious dose of sun and warm winds that i highly appreciated. the moment i stepped off the bus i realized that this was no longer my home, which was really strange. it scared me a bit, but also encouraged me that what i've been doing (the life i've been fostering) in portland is right. i instantly missed sidewalks crowded with productive young people, and the bustling conversation. bellingham felt a bit like a snoozer town, which was actually refreshing for me once i took a few deep breaths. my head has been spinning since the beginning of february, so i was happy to be there wandering the empty gravel paths that wind along the shores of bellingham bay.

i made a few phone calls, reaching out to the friendly faces i'd left behind this past october, but everyone was busy. rather than being disappointed i was excited about spending an afternoon being an anonymous stranger. i read my book on a familiar bench in boulevard park, and paused to reminisce about how much this place has molded my past. this was the site of the first meeting of bellingham's juggling club (which is a monster today.), this is where my first love deepened and blossomed. this is where my family gathered each fourth of july to watch skyrockets explode and shimmer over the ocean. okay, this is getting a little to gooey for me too. let me finish by saying: it felt healthy and nice to recollect all the magic that bellingham has established within me. it was neat to spend the afternoon reflecting and recognizing that although the past was amazing my time in this town is done, at least for the next few chapters of my life.

i met jules and river at the food co-op and we giggled over the fabulous '3 salad plate' that the swan cafe offers. jules is working non-stop on some performance art madness which includes a marching band, modern dancers, the grocery store, and many many hours editing video. he was pretty tuckered out, and i was grateful that he made time to come say hi.

river, my date to the show, whisked me away on the most ghetto fabulous scooter of all time. the seat is nothing but exposed foam, the battery lives in a crate that's bungied onto the back, you have to hot-wire it to get it started, and i'm not even sure there is a headlight... it was the most delightful ride. we even found a concrete jump (which we drove over multiple times) in one of the western campus packing lots. we finally parked and bolted to the multipurpose room where i was showered in the many beautiful faces that i had spent so much time with this summer at the juggle farm. dream, daniel, vanessa, jackie, reid, and others that i am forgetting.

then the show began...

the premise is this (imagine a cat walk, fashion show styley): part I entails each individual comes out decked out in garb that reflects the stereotypes and labels imposed upon them each and every day. they speak from the lies of the whispers of the people who judge them. buying into the stereotypes and through that process showing you just how fucked up those judgements are.

part II entails each of these ladies coming out once again and speaking the truth. discussing the challenges and truth of their lives with brutal honesty. the second half hurt. each woman had such powerful words to say and i ached for each one of them.

this was by far the most powerful performance i've ever seen in my life. the women spoke from their hearts, and the profound honesty they shared impacted everyone in the audience in a way that we had never felt before. if you have the opportunity to see it (the next shows are thursday, friday, and sunday) you must make it. yeah. congratulations to everyone that made that production happen. i am touched and forever impacted by your efforts.

after the show river whisked me away on the fabulous scooter. we headed to jules' house, jumped the curb into his yard and tumbled off the ridiculous red monster as jules watched from the window. jules showed us the nook that he calls his bedroom and it was freaky how similar it was to the barn at the farm. same unfinished roof with installation visible (granted it was fiberglass installation and not carpet padding stapled into the wood), he had lebn's futon and my pink and green fleece blanket. i loved it and shuttered a little.

at 3am jules said goodnight and we mounted our great steed once again, this time with an ambitious goal ahead of us...getting out to the trailer. the journey was long and my hands were icles by the end, but it was all worth it. astra (one of the farm kittens) met us at the door and i had a good snuggle session with my favorite furry friend. river has entirely renovated the jolly van, and it looks absolutely fantastic. his toolbox is installed in the back, which allows him to drive anywhere with his shop on board. it's carpeted, decorated, heated, and generally spruced up.

being in the trailer again reminded me of the past yet again. the memories of juggle parties and amazing pasta dinners(thanks to the smoked salmon from the BGO). in the morning we rode into town in the 'little van that could', which still has the remains of an unidentifiable (at least by me) animal skull still intact and wired to the roof above the windshield. that van is a beast and i think it will keep on kicking as long as river is still around.

we stopped at 'Deals Only' an amazing consignment grocery store that boast, 'only deals, all the time.' and let me tell ya, that's no lie. i went in without intending to buy anything, and left with a bag stuffed with goodies for my bus trip home (all for under 5 bucks!!!). we then stopped for breakfast at the bagelry, which still serves the best bagels on the west coast. i stocked up, and chatted with old co-workers. some of the faces at that place never change, although most do...

we met up with betsy at western and brought her poor tattered soul some good eats. i have met no one as passionate and productive as that gal. she is a gem, one that i hope to know forever.

then it was off to the bus station. now i am here, at a silly coffee shop, kiddie corner from the greyhound station. waiting out my layover.

thanks for listening. i bet all this blogging is a bit overwhelming. i was so dormant for a while! but, i'm back. don't fear. i love you all to bits.

-kelly PEACH!!!!

backyard bonfire=fire department

good ol' rob, a co-worker at hot lips, is moving out of town for good. so, we decided to have a little send-off party for him at the 'moon castle' (my house). the theme was 'burning rob', and although we didn't have enough time or motivation to built an actual rob shaped effigy, we did decide on having a fire of some sort. palettes were hauled to the backyard, gasoline was purchased, and a few racks of PBR jump started the fun. we were almost foiled by the rain, but even wet wood had no chance against a gallon of gasoline.

once we had achieved a fire with a good crackle and hiss everyone started having a great time. jd (from hot lips) even showed up in fake snake skin cowboy boots, a man with a true sense of style. i guess time flew by because all the sudden i was really tanked and men in fire suits were walking towards us with my housemate in tow. rob pulled through in the moment of hysteria and a. collected the massive amount of empties littered throughout the yard, b. filled up a bucket of water to put out the fire, and c. joked around with the firemen (a past profession of his) making everyone a little less freaked out about the situation.

i imagine our friendly relations with the neighbors are over, which is slightly unfortunate. but, a good time was had by all, so i am not going to complain.

bike adventure #34

i recently received a notice in the mail announcing that my burning man tickets were returned to the post office due to lack of signature upon delivery. this means the ticket is up by mall 205 on 104th avenue. for those not familiar with portland it gets pretty gnarly past 60th avenue. 82nd is a terrible strip of big business, rotting garbage, and zrooming cars.

but! i needed my ticket, so i geared up and rode my ass up there today. giant semis were flying by me left and right. it was terrifying. the bike lane was full of gravel, broken glass, and metal car parts that must have dislodged during transit. once i got past I-205 i immediately got lost. the grid system that makes portland so easy to ride through disappeared into massive construction sites, massive blocks of ugly businesses, one way streets, and giant vehicles.

i asked a woman unwrapping a 'lunch-able' for her screaming child sitting in the child safety seat installed in her four runner where the post office was, and she said, "it shares the parking lot with the village inn." everything is surrounded by massive amount of parking. to be honest i bet there is more parking than actual businesses up there. i rode across a 4 lane one-way street without being scathed, and escaped into the warmth of the post office. the lady told me i was in the wrong place and directed me to drive this way and that to find the other location. this was funny to me because i was wearing a helmet at the time, and people wearing helmets don't drive (if they do, that's crazy!). i adventured back into the insane traffic, and was repeatedly foiled by giant black metal gates upon trying to find the actual door to enter the office. again i felt a freaky amount of relief upon entering the building. the man behind the locked door who took my package slips (the door reminded me a lot of the wizard of oz, when dorothy tries to enter the castle) asked, "do you ride in the rain?"
"yeah. i ride everywhere!" i replied.
"how far do you ride each day?" he asked a bit bewildered.
"i dunno, maybe 10-20 miles," i responded.
"huh....that's pretty neat." he said. it was as though he had never met a bicyclist before. riding home i was met with looks that made me feel like a bona fide alien from another planet. people's heads would cock and they would just gawk at me.

all in all i made it out alive. i am not quick sure i will make many more trips up there. it was pretty unenjoyable riding. but, i do love adventures and this was just that.

ALSO! i made it to 'breakfast on bridges' this morning on the hawthorne bridge. stef, stef and another great bike lady were all there and we had a good time chatting and advertising free coffee and donuts until the sleet set in. my fingers have never been so cold! i escaped and scuttled into stumptown coffee downtown where i discovered that it was the bike messenger coffee hub. i've never seen so many messengers in one place in this town. clad in their tights covered by cut-off green cargo shorts with patches on the ass, black hoodies, sambas, giant messenger bags with awesome individual art and radios, great bicycle caps, and mini u-locks. i did some really great people watching before treking home.

good times.

love,
kelly

wednesday!

so, post posting yesterday i went on another grand portland adventure to experience the wednesday sites. and boy are there more things than you can imagine happening on wednesday. i started out my journey a little shook up. i almost got hit by a car, i had far too many layers on, and i was late for food not bombs. but, i persevered. i rode over the freeway on a crazy pedestrian footbridge to get to outlook park. the park was dark and uninviting, but i discovered a covered area surrounded by funny bicycles. oh course this was the food not bombs crew! portland has 4 different food not bombs days in town, and the particular organizer of wednesday's event in NE is great. his name's diego and he comes into the iprc (independent publishing resource center) fairly regularly during my open hours shift.

anyhow, i partook in an amazing tofu scramble, bread, donuts, and amazing columbia gorge apple juice. all free! i also learned that portland's food not bombs groups get pretty much all their food donated, rather than dumpstered, which is pretty wild. in fact, a gal that was there said they announced her arrival on the intercom at new seasons market when she came for her pick-up. i wish i was there to hear them announce, "the food not bombs representative is here." so cool. they also got all the tofu from a local tofu producer. columbia gorge gives them a bunch of free juice. voo doo donates donuts. it's amazing!

after meeting lots of amazing punk kids i headed back over the footbridge towards 'n. portland bikeworks' for women/trans bike nite. a fabulous lady helped my adjust my brakes and generally tune up my sad ride. my bike has been feeling all the wear and tear from the weather in a serious way. riding it now is far more enjoyable. there's no longer crunchy noises emanating from the chain, my pumped up tires made me far more speedy, and i have brakes again!

then i was off to downtown! i wandered into stumptown coffee and read some of their magazines. that place is great, but snobbery seems to ooze from every inch of the space. there are turn tables in the back, and the furniture made me feel underdressed. i really enjoyed the chamomile lavender tea and it was a nice breather for an hour before my next stop.

which was the someday lounge. dave clay is a fabulous friend of mine who is an insane juggler, and an all around fabulous performer. he and friends put on a delightful comedy show last night that made my day. i was feeling a little tired and down with adventure until his brother (a fabulous musician) came out with amazing lyrics such as, "what the fuck is with your truck, i kind of like my fucking bike, take a fucking nature hike..." not to mention his wonderful dancers. his fingers danced across the keyboard creating amazing melodies that were amazing in their own right, without the marvelous lyrics.

i finally got to see dave do 'tony woo yoga' and it was hilarious as expected. he plays an arrogant, new yorker who likes to brag about his yoga skills and push his students around. it was awesome.

the night got totally ridiculous to my never-ending delight, and i finally rode my bike home at midnight. it was raining and i was in jeans unfortunately. so, i arrived home in a giant sopping mess from head to toe. the rain soaked through a decent amount of my layers and my thighs were that wonderful red splotchy pattern with a nice cold clammy touch. but, i lived another adventurous day in portland, and that's the goal.

today is my giant work day! i start at hot lips pizza at 9am and end downtown at the iprc at 10pm. wowie! wish my luck.

the fun starts and it don't stop.

holy moly. this month has been totally crazy. i am truly perpetually accelerating! this past weekend 'mini-bike winter'. a crazy and ridiculous collection of events mainly celebrating the mini-bike. on thursday there were videos, and spent the whole night making and printing stencils. on saturday i met up with a crazy crew of over 100 freak bikers with outrageous outfits and awesome decorated bicycles down in swan island at the 7-11. we rode through the industrial district, over train tracks and to a crazy site with fantastic pieces tagged all over it. there was a chariot 'deth match', which entailed bicycles with elaborate trailers built to accommodate a rider whose job was to bash off the riders of other chariots. it was amazing and brutal. the canadian team ended up taking the battle in their ride titled 'the meatball'. later that night there was a giant party, which we all had all meet downtown and to ride to due because it was at a top secret location. the sprockettes (the portland mini-bike dance team) performed and 'show me the pink' performed as well. not to mention the massive amount of dance party bootie shaking. the weekend was amazing, and i made a lot of new friends.

this tuesday rob, steve and his wife, and i went to karaoke at the sketchiest bar of all time. it's called "BC'S" and it's on powell. not to mention that the building it an ugly white block of cement with red and white lights that blink with perfect irregularity. we were the youngest people there by at least 15-20 years. we also were given a TON of free glowing and blinking mardi gras shwag because it was 'fat tuesday'. we collected glowing sunglasses (oxymoron?), blinking mouth-guards, glowing plastic clip-on hair extensions (!), and necklaces, of course. it was totally awesome. we then adventured downtown to the 'tube', possibly the biggest hipster bar of all time. however, on tuesdays the dj throws a wicked dance party that makes all the scenesters around disappear. it's that good. the tube was at capacity when we got there and we suddenly realized that people really do get into mardi gras, even in rainy ol' portland. there was an amazing collection of thoroughly wasted people who were all goofy smiles. not to mention hordes of police! so many police. it was insane.

anyhow, we rocked it hard at the tube attempting to rub up against strangers and have the best time ever with our insane blinking necklaces (totally uncool by the tube's standards). rob was accosted in the bathroom line by a guy who demanded he turn off his necklace. rob responded by shaking it around his face and acting totally oblivious to the guys suggestion (awesome). once things mellowed down we moseyed over to 'voodoo donuts' for a late night snack. oh how i love the oreo encrusted monstrosity they serve there. we wandered down the water front, and headed home. it was an awesome time.

well, my fingers are officially ice cubes because i am typing this outside my window, on a little ledge, which is officially the only place in the house where i can even find 1 bar of internet.

come visit portland sometime. it's wonderful. fuck it, everyone should move here. now.

love,
kelly

burst of exciting and anxious anticipation!

summer!

things i am looking forward to:

less work.
more play.
yurt living.
sparkling leaves.
mini-skirts.
bike rides.
less responsibility.
more spontaneity.
juggling outside.
sunny hula hooping.
barbecues.
hullabaloos.
ballyhoos.
tattoos.

hooray! it's february.

so, january was a total and complete disaster. i sunk deep into the post-college doldrums. i didn't go out, i didn't call friends, i didn't have any fun (well, very, very little fun), and i sat around my house brooding while my housemates enjoyed their romantic relationships in the cold weather. also, directly after the portland snow days i visited my local emergency room.

wednesday morning (6:41 am) in a state piercing, alarm-induced mania i wrenched around and slammed my hand onto the alarm. next thing i recognize is an inability to move any part of my body (except of course my mouth, which whispered 'holy shit' in a desperate, hushed tone). after a moment of paralizing fear, i decide to try and wiggle my fingers and toes. i continue with this exercise until my arms are submitting to my demands, and pinpoint the problem. whenever i move my neck, back, and other nearby body parts i am in excruciating pinching pain.

first things first, i called my mother (with the cellphone that was luckly on the floor directly next to my bed). she suggested that i may have meningitus, which didn't exactly elevate my mood. we decided that no matter what i needed to get my sorry self to a hospital. i called my housemates (downstairs), who asked, "where are you, and why are you calling us at 6:50 i the morning!?!" i responded, "upstairs, and i can't move." they feed me water and peanut butter so i could eat a handful of advil, and once i was sufficiently numbed we headed in the truck to the hospital. however, we didn't know where the hospital was.

our first stop, called a 'general health clinic', was a bust. we walked into a scarcely furnish room with unfinished walls, and a receptionist behind a think layer of glass. a strange disheveled man walked towards us and exclaimed, "can i help you with anything?." the moment that directly followed this comment was possibly the longest silence of my life. neither sara, nor i responded to the question. we just stared at this strange man in a moment of mute disbelief. it seemed to continue for an eternity. in my state of excruciating pain i started mumbling about my neck, blah, blah, blah. he suddenly understood our confusion and said, "oh, this isn't a health clinic..." we had wandered into drug rehabilitation center.

safe to say, once we departed the rehabilitation center we spent a good 5 minutes in the car laughing uncontrollably at this unfortunate and hilarious mishap. we found 2 more drug rehabilitation centers before finally giving up on a walk-in clinic and heading to the emergency room.

they quickly gave me a vicodin and sent me to the pharmacy. sara and i bought candy along with my pain killers and muscle relaxers. by the end of my interaction with the old man behind the counter (who referenced fancy 'electronic numbers' and 'digital displays'. he still seemed mystified by the concept of technology.) i was super loopy due to the drugs, and we escaped quickly to breakfast.

i spent the following two days watching terrible movies with stunningly simple plots that were bewildering to me throughout my drugged out cloud of recovery. i also cooked my first loaf of bread.

enter february!!!!

taa daa.

i woke up february first and decided to turn my life around, and it worked. i started volunteering as the open hours staff person at the IPRC (independent publishing resource center) for thursdays. i wrote a zine. i got promoted to supervisor at my delightful job at hot lips pizza. i started calling friends in town that i hadn't contacted in months. i started having fun! it was freaky to see the correlation between my attitude and how much fun i had. when i thought positively, i'd get invited to go out with people. so, now i am sticking with that plan. stay positive. greatness will follow.

i miss you all a bunch. email me with you address and i will send you a hand written letter. that's my new thing.

love,
kelly