A Total Blam Blam

I was going to fix up the last set of Norway pictures and post them here on lj along with a couple more songs I like, but now that I've opened up the update box, I'm too tired.

This is torture not being able to read. Stinking eyes!

What a cool feature! LJ now can autosave entries, so if your browser crashes while you are updating (which is what just happened to me) your entry is not lost to the world!

I've been reading about the experiences this random guy has had while working in the Montana Conservation Corps, and it's got me all excited and brimming with plans and imaginings for the future.

First of all, about Americorps NCCC: there will be one more session starting early this July for the SE region of the US, based in Charleston, South Carolina. It's only budgeted at this point to last for six months, rather than the traditional 10-month NCCC term. Also, a lot of the planned service projects have been canceled to make room for a ton of Katrina relief work in hopes that some Katrina-related NCCC publicity will help save the program, and that much exhausting disaster relief work could mean getting burnt out, and at the same time, missing out on a variety of other service experiences. BUT, I think I'd like to try and do this one. I'm going to call early Monday morning and see if it's possible to switch over from the winter session I was accepted for to this SE session starting in July.

( So, how cool would it be to do it like this: )

And that's that. I am very glad the weekend is finally here. Ahhh. So good.

A song:

Handsome Family - Weightless Again
http://s7.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=01JYJRW6F7CWO2SOMFC7X28AUP

Dark, cavernous, jangly, mmm.

Dude. Spending all day on the internet sucks.

And it was totally wasted time, too. Nothing but farting around all day. I should should should be working on summer job applications but it's hard to get back into that whole mindset. Meanwhile, I am wasting time. Blah blah blah, la la la.

Here are some songs I like:

Cocteau Twins - Ivo
http://s19.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=17T12JQHK7HVJ2K39MTG7M2BB8

Devandra Barhart - Quedate Luna
http://s21.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0SXI7CWDHMV231JYJWQS40C0WG

Sivert Høyem - Big River (I like this cover even better than Johnny Cash's original--played hard and reckless)
http://s10.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=30FG4BYE8FKZD06LMOQTFXMJSP

Johnny Cash - Walkin' the Blues
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0XS13CL1NQYYW2FKUJXYK7L60Q

Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
http://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2ZYXDHBTDN0G91UR6UUSGVS7OF

All right, might as well go to bed. Try and get a decent start on the day tomorrow. I need a social life. I used to not care about that, but anymore I feel antsy and bored hanging around this house all the time. I want to go places on the weekends, do things. I do things by myself, but a person cannot survive on bread and water alone. I don't know why I feel so uncomfortable at the thought of like going out to concerts right here in the town where I grew up. Do I not want anyone I know to see me, or what? Yeah, that's it, it's not really a question. For some reason I find it very intimidating, the thought of running into anyone I used to know from high school.

Anyway, I'll be moved out and on my own in due time. I always feel more comfortable to be myself when I'm away from my family. I'm really trying to make this next leap off the family nest my final one. I want to stay on my own for good this time. I feel very ready for it. Beyond ready. Living here in my old basement room, it feels like trying to squeeze into something that doesn't fit anymore. Feels like I'm trying to pretend to be a kid again. Just doesn't feel right.

Edit: Oh yeah! I forgot to mention. You guys remember Chris from when I was working at YMCA? Here's a song from his band:

The Valediction - Caution to the Wind
http://s15.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1PQP1R892A9RD2RWEJRRSL6FA3

I'm sure he'd want me to add a disclaimer that this is just a rough recording and not the best representation the band. Chris plays guitar and does some of the vocals, and as far as I know, the band is still up and running.

I've been messing around in my photo editor today, trying to clean up the pictures from that disposable camera a bit.

Here are some pictures of my good friends Sabor and Bianca, some places around Ørsta, and Markus in a good mood(!).

( Read more... )

I'd like to update my journal today, but it takes too much time and there's too much I wanna say. Eventually I'll have internet at home again and can stick a foot back into lj. Short and sweet: I'm still living. I'm doing, things are doing, it's all happening and being. Good things, bad things, boring things, new things.

Hey, quick update. I ended up stuck in Stamford for three months rather than three weeks. Although being there that long ruined a couple opportunities I was hoping for, it got better when I stopping whining and picked up a map of the city and started exploring. The two weeks finally came when Aunt G. left to deal with her matters in Portland, and it felt really good to be totally alone and feel self-sufficient and responsible for two little critters and one uncle in addition to myself. I walked all over the place, everywhere: an hour's walk to the hospital and back again, two hours roundtrip to the library. I found four really cool nature parks and saw skunks, deers, and raccoons right there in the middle of the crappy city. Found out what it was like to be on food stamps. It's cool- I had a little silver debit card-type thingy and you just zip it through the machine.

G-Ma and -Pa drove cross country and we were able to spend a few days together before I was off to the airport. I arrived back in P-town last Saturday night. Now I'm hanging out here for a few weeks or a few months, don't rightly know yet. I might be hired onto a travelling crew of the Washington Conservation Corps--I'd get to do all kinds of conservation/naturey type work in places like Olympic National Park, Mt. Ranier NP, etc. etc. And sent for at least one month to help out in the relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. And maybe fighting wildfires and getting all kinds of cool training, such as Wilderness Advanced First Aid and learning about the ecology of the NW.

Sorry have to type fast so lots of and's.

If I don't end up doing Washington CC, my next plan is to stay here in Portland for the next 4 or 5 months, meanwhile applying like crazy to Northern Arizona Conservation Corps, which starts Jan. 30th based out of Flagstaff.

And there's the flying fingers update.

I will be happy to someday have internet again when I can catch up on all the wonderful goings on of all you lj-friends.

Blah. Where do I start. Don't even feel like writing about it right now, but here's my chance, so I'll try anyway.

Ok. So. I quit my au pair job. The week ended. A-M paid me. She drove me to the bus. Ten-hour nighttime bus ride from Ørsta to Oslo. They took the route through the mountains. It was so amazing, and even more surreal with the barely-there twilight of the dead middle of the night. Coolest things I saw: this one narrow mountain road that makes its way up the mountain steeply with switchback after switchback, and the side of the bus is just about hanging off the edge of the road. The mountains are so giant and tall and steep, crowded so closely together, and here we are, weaving our way up out from the center of them. Opposite us looms Trollstigen (means something like Troll's Pass), a giant rock wall of a mountain, so big and close that through my window I could not see the top or either side, just a giant expanse of solid rock. Will find internet pictures of the road and Trollstigen to show you guys when I get a chance. When we reached the top of the switchbacks, we plunged right into the first of many tunnels. At one time, we emerged from one tunnel into a strange high mountain world, a giant gently-sloping field, one wide-open stretch of white, white snow. Here and there out in the open expanse were the black squares of emerging rooftops of summer huts, but that was it. No vegetation, no rocks, nothing but a big smooth swoop of snow, there was no clearly visible horizon, just snow blending up into night sky. Then we dived into another tunnel.

Don't have time to keep this from sounding too purple, so I'll just move on.

Got to the airport in Oslo, the very helpful bus driver helpfully helped me find a cart for my bags and directed me towards the right part of the airport, then I went inside. Checked my bags, and thus began the nine-hour wait for my flight's departure. First I went back outside and tried to find somewhere with trees to stretch out and prepare to be cramped up indoors for a while. Found a closed overflow parking lot way out a ways. Was gigantic and open and a perfect place to stretch and eat breakfast. Then went back to the airport, looked at every single store, bought some Norwegian chocolate at the duty-free store for people back home, contemplated buying a book but decided it was better to save my money for Malmö, har har har (foreshadowing). Slept a while on comfy bench, then it was time for the plane to leave.

God damn, library's closing. To be continued.

Ok, let's do that Paint meme.

1. Comment and I'll pick one of your LJ interests and draw you a picture in MS paint.
2. You have no say in what I draw for you!

Edit:

3. Then you guess which interest I picked!