portland goodbyes

i did a great job lying the bricks for the foundation of my new life in portland. in fact, that foundation was a bitch to demolish once i decided to uproot and head to school in santa cruz. i should pay those construction dudes extra because the mortar between those bricks was flawless and tough as steel. in fact some of the connections were impossible to break. my heart will have to remain stretched, on the verge of tearing, across state lines.

as many of you know i'm a bit of a softie, thus goodbyes are super hard for me. i like them to be perfect and resolute. i hate it when you whisper your last nothings, place your last kisses, and squeeze your last embrace only to run into the recipient 5 minutes later on your final visit to the bathroom. anyhow, there was no way to say goodbye to all my precious, precious portland friends before i left. in fact, out of emotional self-preservation i presume, i got strep throat right before i left to burning man (i was still taking antibiotics mid-way through the week at black rock city), so i felt like shit for my final few weeks in portland. i was in no mood to see anyone. i had a lymph node in my neck swell up to the size of a lemon and people generally wanted to avoid me altogether anyhow.

luckily my antibiotic prescription was timed to allow 5 days of wellness (a false sense of health?) to run around like the crazy person i am and attend all my FINAL bike events, uncover a sweet veiled love, and drink myself silly one last time.

ALSO, folks from the LA bike club, the midnight ridazz, came up and ransacked our home for a weekend. they provided an endless supply of food, booze, and merriment to distract me from my looming departure. talk about insanity. by the end of the weekend they were up to 10 injuries, 3 of which required a trip to the emergency room. they must have administered over 20 wacky haircuts with buzzers they plugged in wherever they went. oh and there where megaphones...with police sirens built in. two BBQs, the dropout's ride, zoobomb, some quality COCOC time, a late night free pizza raid, march forth block party, and (of course) early morning waffle tacos. it was a weekend to remember, and now i get to visit those crazy LA cats and see how they do it in the big city (so close now!...well, so close soon...will i ever get to santa cruz)

yeah. how's that for a portland wrap-up. none of that crappy, 'now i will make a massive list of the people i want to thank for improving my life and thus exclude half of my lovies because those lists are stupid and never do it right.'

yup.

that's the scoop.