The Great Escape.

I have a confession: I love moving. Planning the intricacies involved and coordinating the logistics of uprooting and rearranging my life brings me great joy. In fact, Moving Day is second in anticipation only to Christmas in my world. The sight of duct tape reinforced boxes with permanent marker scrawled labels gets my heart pumping because it means that something new awaits. My moving crew (also known as my loving family and willing but grumbling friends) do not share in the festivities. I'm almost certain that my grandparents have the day my lease ends marked on their calendar. One to two months prior, I become consumed searching for new, larger and better apartments with more amenities and researching the surrounding area.

My lease this time around actually expired in April. I'm still put. At times it makes me a little uneasy. But I rather like my home sweet apartment and adore my charming neighborhood, Browne's Addition. I also find that my family has been rather clever about intensifying my bond to my current place as my grandparents recently came into town to make some renovations and additions to the decor. As my gpa was putting up floating shelves in my living area, he slyly brought up the idea of me signing a contract to stay put for a few months after all the effort that has gone into my most recent place. But no worries. I'm not going anywhere this summer. Did you see that hefty to do list I posted? Besides I love Spokane summers and am not quite ready to say goodbye to my wonderful friends here.

However, as I have been spring cleaning, purging things I don't adore enough to move with me to the next place, I can tell I am making mental notes of what will go and what will stay behind. I am more cognizant of the sunrises that I watch through my large living room window as I drink my coffee in the mornings--I will miss that. That's five minutes of peaceful bliss in my day.

And this time it isn't a move from the lower South Hill to Browne's in the works. It's out of our little city that I know so well (and love and loathe it for that reason) to a new location with many places to explore and new friends and memories to incorporate in my life.




I was reminded of my intense desire to live in a large city when Cristie and I spent a couple of days in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. We bravely took the Greyhound over departing at 1:25 in the morning and stayed overnight in the Bate's Motel. (Actually it turned out to be clean and safe despite the appearance of it belonging on a slasher set). Being only a couple blocks from downtown, it provided the perfect location for us to set out exploring unique local clothing boutiques and the larger chain stores as well. We were able to walk to the concert we went over for, Cobra Starship/3OH!3/Travis McCoy/& a new band to me, I Fight Dragons. So much to do and see! I scheduled drinks with a friend and accidentally and happily ran into an old buddy at Top Pot over coffee and donuts.


See the great thing about having fun everywhere I live and appreciating every day as an opportunity to create enchanting memories is that no matter where I am, I will find something entertaining to do. I still have to go on the chocolate run, float the river and complete my summer to do list here in Spokompton but then it will be my time to move on (hopefully and sadly before winter).

The bustling excitement of my beloved Portland is calling. I'll keep everyone updated.

The Discovery of A Local Haunt.

The vote took place around a high table. It was a Saturday night and the three women alternated between hushed tones reserved for sharing compassionate advice as they worked through scenarios and hypotheticals and frequent but seemingly intermittent bursts of laughter. It was a meeting where the friends would make an influential decision and a tradition would be established. As is often the case when discussing matters of great importance, there was gin. "All those in favor of this being our local hangout raise your hands". It was unanimous-Andy's, the bar on First Ave that serves sweet potato french fries, would be our neighborhood purlieu. (I'm going through a French phase).

There is enough empty space and sharp corners. Large canvases of abstract art are hung squarely on the walls and the music in the background is the kind that if identified, earns you cool points. By definition, this bar should be a hipster hot spot. But the young and painstakingly fashionable crowd must be ordering their Tom Collins elsewhere. Cristie jested that it was too far west to walk over from the Baby Bar-a small space overrun with big egos. Aside from the decor, the atmosphere is surprisingly laid-back as the regulars are too at ease to concern themselves with that pretentious mishegaas.

The atmosphere is probably the most important aspect to me. I tend to suggest, advocate, plead and cajole for the rowdy pub over a place that could be referred to as part of the scene or a lounge. I like a low-key, high volume place. When I lived on the lower South Hill my beloved choice to drag my friends to was the PI (Public House Inn). It offers baskets of popcorn on the worn wood tables and a Golden Tee in the corner. Large television screens are hung on the walls amidst beer garlands and flags. I've heard it referred to as a dive bar. But that's inaccurate. It isn't even dirty. The clientele just seems to prefer pitchers of beer over martinis. I rarely make it over to that side of town anymore because it is easier to go somewhere closer. Which illustrates another contributing factor to Andy's getting the vote-located on the fringe of downtown near the Browne's Addition end, it is in close proximity to everyone in the group's home sweet apartments.

The first night we loitered there as a group we spent hours entertaining one another with stories from our childhoods-of our sisters trying to flush us down the toilet, of cutting our grandmother's hair when we were supposed to be napping-of getting into general mischief whenever an adults back was turned. I laugh often but I will say that I have never had a sore throat from laughing so hard. From the beginning it was a place of enjoyment.

I think I can narrow the particulars necessary for a good haunt: atmosphere, proximity, memories and product (and really as long as a place has a quality gin and a few ambers on tap, that will do for me).

So this all leads me to wonder: Where are your local hangouts? What are the particulars that drew you to it? Did you formalize it with your friends or just happen to end up there every week?

-ako

An introduction and insight.

The purpose of this blog is to capture every day moments, immortalizing them and appreciating them so that I never fail to find the beauty and create meaning in my life. One of my greatest strengths is the ability to find wonder in all things. I understand that my perspective is how I view the world and that consequently, shapes my reality. Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it "I know I'm not seeing things as they are, I'm seeing things as I am.”My audience is unclear to me. Perhaps I will write for my own enjoyment, piecing together words in a way that pleases me, attempting to express the ordinary in a way that shows it is quite extraordinary when taken advantage of. I suppose it is a diary of sorts then as it is focused on my life and my perspective as I experience these moments. I fear it will become narcissistic but hope it will detail aspects of the human condition to inspire others to realize their power to design and construct the life they want to live as they examine the ofttimes considered mundane experiences in life and see not bland days or hours but to find potential in everything.

*A note of explanation about the word habitué. The definition suggests that it includes a physical locale: One who frequents a particular place, especially a place offering a specific pleasurable activity. And while I have many familiar and nostalgic locations already known and new and remarkable nooks awaiting, it is meant more as a mindset. A constant approach of a person focused on enjoying and appreciating life.

It is when you look around and feel that is all is right in the world. Not globally or even locally but here, in this moment, you are truly happy. One of my favourite quotes that I live by is Kurt Vonnegut's "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" Those captivating moments where the dynamic is just right. Some of my most cherished memories that capture this magical feeling include late nights around the campfire and lengthy dinners with good company that extend well into the night...

It is long after the battle to cook the best smores when I shift around uncomfortably in my seat, repositioning my weight in order to assuage whatever part of my body is falling asleep or has gone numb. I adjust how close I am to the fire as my legs grow unbearably hot. I wrap the throw blanket closer around my body though because there is a chill in the early morning air. I have been sitting here for many hours listening to the familiar stories that everyone knows but loves to hear so they let the storyteller go on. I regale my companions with my own version of events as they boisterously interrupt and we playfully banter over how it really happened. A night full of unending laughter-you know the kind where you are doubled over with tears streaming down your face. Conversation often moves onto the meaning of life, which seems to be the preferred topic of choice after 2 am. It is then that I look up into the captivating night sky, so dark against the brilliant stars and fight the temptation to move out of fear of breaking the spell of the moment. I drink in what I am feeling and go through my senses. I can hear the soothing, crackling of the fire and comforting voices familiar as my own. I can simultaneously feel the heat from the fire and the chill of the night air. I can see the still lake water lit up by the moon. I can smell the fresh air far from home and I'm probably munching on some leftover chocolate. I make a conscious effort to catch the moment so I can recall in vivid detail the treasured memory at a later date.

Someone must rise first to go to bed but it never has been nor will it ever be me. I revel too much in the dynamic of our personalities, as they effortlessly demonstrate exactly why we have been so dear to each other over the years. This is a celebration and I would rather go without sleep. Those are the moments I live for.