Thursday, May 24, 2007
ch-ch-ch-changes!
Well . . . since we have some big news and some of you already know and some of you are hearing from people who heard from someone else, we figured it was time to make it official in a blog . . . so, sit back and enjoy – this blog actually contains some things you might be interested in!To start out: no we are not pregnant. So get that out of your head. J
Ok, moving on.
Let's do this in story form (If you get bored easily, just skip down to the paragraph that starts with "The icing on the cake, however, is" . . . that's where the important news is anyway . . . then go down and read "the important details are" esp #6 under "things you should do"):
Once upon a time there was a boy and there was a girl. One day, the boy and the girl met. There are several versions of the story as to how or where they met and what their first impressions were . . . but in time, the boy began to get lost in the girl's eyes and the girl liked the way the boy would touch his chin when he was deep in thought.
After months of coffee, study sessions, music, one unsuccessful fishing trip, the "day it snowed," and some general good times . . . the girl looked at the boy (in the basement of Anna Banana's Coffee house) and said, "You know . . . I think I could go anywhere with you and I would be happy."
They promptly spent the rest of summer far apart, each on a separate coast of the United States. This was not fun. They were reunited that August when the girl picked the boy up at the train station in Portland after his train ride across the country. Their theme album became Counting Crows' "August and Everything After" – and it has been a theme in their relationship ever since (this is important to note for later in the story).
The next year, they studied at different schools, but were inseparable. They took trips to Seattle and to the coast, continued to go to concerts, read books, make music, take trips to the library in the "Book Mobile," spend time with friends, and they began planning a trip to Germany with their friend Niki.
That summer, they again looked forward to August when the boy would join the girl and their friend in Germany. While the girl was away, the boy went to a baseball game with her dad and asked for permission to marry her.
Returning from Europe, the girl got an adult job and the boy continued to go to school. In the spring, they took a spring break trip to San Francisco where the boy asked the girl to marry him. What do you think she said? Why, she said "yes" of course! And they planned their wedding for that August. "August and Everything After" was the theme of the summer.
The Wedding was lovely. If you weren't there, you really should have been. Please know that they missed you terribly.
For the next two and a half years, the boy and the girl built their life together. With ups and downs, friends and family, success and failure, more schooling for each (the boy finished his BA and the girl became an LMT), another trip to Europe, several other road trips and adventures. They lived in a beautiful home full of joy, hope, love, laughter, good conversation, The Crew, coffee and friendship. They continued to make music, art, coffee, good food, and dreams together.
This Spring, the boy finished his Master's Thesis. He successfully defended his thesis in front of a panel of his mentors, teachers and colleagues. He also successfully finished his studies for his Master's of History with a 4.0 (that's all A's if you were wondering). He will be celebrating the end of his career at Portland State University this June! The girl is so proud!
The icing on the cake, however, is that along with these successes, the boy has also been offered a Fellowship at Brown University in Providence Rhode Island. This means he will be able to study for his PhD at an Ivy League School – and he will be getting PAID to do it. The girl could not be more proud!
This brings us back to the theme in the story: August and Everything After.
The boy and the girl will be moving to Rhode Island in August. They will begin a great adventure into the Everything After and they are excited, nervous, thrilled, honored, apprehensive, and just generally full of adrenaline about it all. They are sad to leave Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest behind . . . but they are excited about the new possibilities waiting for them in New England (one of them being a new puppy!).
Besides, the girl did say to the boy, "I think I could go anywhere with you and be happy." As disgustingly romantic as it sounds . . . it is true. They will be together as a team and this is awesome. They will be able to support each other through all the changes and trials and joys that are waiting for them this coming August and Everything After.
Stay tuned to see what happens next . . .
So, the important details are:
Their tentative plans are to sell most of our things (we will let you know when that will be if you are interested in buying some things from us), put some in storage and then pack the rest of what we own into the Subaru and drive across the country . . .
We will most likely move out of our apartment on July 31st. And we plan to leave Oregon around August 18th (after seeing Tabitha's cousin get married in Grants Pass).
The things you should do:
1) give us your contact information (email, phone numbers, mailing address, whatever) so that we can stay in touch with you
2) buy things from us so that we can pay for the gas it will take to drive across the country (and you will have little mementos to remind you of us after we leave)
3) make plans to hang out with us before we go – we only have about 3 months!!!!
4) make plans to come out to the East Coast to visit us. If there is someone coming to see us at least once a month, we will have something awesome to look forward to every few weeks!
5) oh and if you were hoping to employ Tabitha for a massage (especially if you are holding on to a gift certificate or coupon from her), you may want to book that soon – she will only be practicing in Oregon for 3 more months!
6) this is the most important – take part in the scrap book we are making of our friends, family, home and lives here in the NorthWest. Send us pictures, letters, drawings, ticket stubs, memories, pressed flowers, whatever you like (as long as it is flat and can be included in a 81/2 by 11 notebook) so that we can make a page for you in our scrap book.
You can snail mail or email things to us (if you need those addresses, just let me know).
If you mail things, be sure to send them by the middle of July. We are moving out of our apartment by July 31st and might not get your mail after that – since we will be living nomadically).
We love you!!! We hope to see you a lot before we leave!!!
Here's to August and Everything After,
Jon and Tabitha
say it don't spray it 11:25 AM
8 i heard that
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
looking ahead at the summer
some things that should be noted from my calendar . . . jump in and join me!!!#1) anyone going to see michael franti this weekend (saturday) in eugene???
#2) my friend coleen and i will be selling handmade paper journals next thursday at PSU in the afternoon . . . come buy some from us! help us pay off our college debts. if you can't make it to the fair and are interested in getting a journal, we can send you the specs.
#3) anyone interested in seeing Mirah with me at the Aladdin on the 8th? i heart her.
#4) the husband graduates soon . . . garden party anyone?
#5) there is a mother earth gathering at silver falls over the sostice . . . anyone want to join me?
#6) amos lee is playing at the aladdin on the 38th of june
#7) the harry potter and pirates of the caribbean extravaganzas are about to begin (sheepish grin)
#8) and then i am going to be working at a ton of the concerts at the zoo this summer . . . sounds good doesn't it??? i also get free admission . . . so let's go to the zoo!!
#9) and then there are trips to the beach, to the river, roller skating adventures (i fell again yesterday . . . my butt has a big bruise!), walks in the park, coffee, ice cream, books to read, art projects to be done, music to be made and photos to be taken . . . and let's not forget that i still need people to pose for me for my art projects!! come be my model!
let's make this summer a good one.
love you!
tabitha
p.s. i can't believe i missed mcmenamin's 80's prom this year!!!! blast, charlotte!
say it don't spray it 3:56 PM
0 i heard that
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
look out OLCC!!!
so . . . the job at the zoo has been obtained and secured. will be working most of the concerts this summer. that will be fun. (like super fun! patti griffin, the marleys, the be good tanyas, keb mo', pink martini, beer and wine. what could be better??)but the job doesn't start for another month so . . . if you want to schedule some massages or have me babysit your kids or clean your house . . . just let me know.
my friend coleen and i are also making recycled paper and binding it in to art journals if you'd like to purchase one of those - they are really cool! little flecks of color in the pages and sometimes even words and stuff . . . i can't wait to have one of my own - and i am not even kidding. coleen is studying print making at psu so she is going to design some prints to put on the covers so they will have original art on them . . . way cool.
anyway, in order to serve beer and wine at the concerts, i will be getting my OLCC license today. so. fun. 5 hours of class and an exam. and forking out over $50. this last weekend, i renewed my cpr card and got my first aid card as well . . . so if you need some assistance, just let me know. i am all kinds of certified.
uummm . . . what else? i took my dad to see "celtic woman" for his 50th and 51st birthdays . . . it was sooo adult contemporary of me. i think i might have blogged about this already.
on saturday, the man and i were able to go to the ben gibbard (lead singer for death cab for cutie), david bazan (lead singer for pedro the lion and the headphones), and jonathan rice (never heard of him before, but he wore super skinny-i-could-see-the-outlines-of-his-front-pockets-jeans and sort of looked like edward sisscor hands from the waist down, gilbert grape from the waist up and johnny depps character on benny and june in the face and mannerisms) concert at the roseland.
highlights included: jenny lewis walking out on stage to sing a song with jonathan rice. david bazan in general. esp when he added the "speeding toward the ground, through the air without a sound" lyrics to his "i still run the show" song - effing brilliant. he also did some awesome covers of radiohead and jeff buckly (alleluia) as well as singing my favorite "big trucks." ben gibbard is a solid performer (even though my friend paul would complain and say he is a sucker because he always gives the audience exactly what they want - saving the hits for the encore and being entirely predictable. but i say: at the roseland, you sort of have to. most of the people that go to a show at the roseland go there to get piss-drunk, talk during ALL the openers and sing along loudly to all the hits. i hate going to shows at the roseland). anyway, he did some older songs which was cool, he played my favorite song (passenger seat) on his upright piano (yes, he had an upright on stage. that must be a pain to get on and off the tour bus!), he did a cover of nirvana's "all apologies" on his piano (AWESOME!), a shins cover (can't tell you the name) because he's friends with the guy and asked him to come to the show and play it with him, but he couldn't make it. and generally performed very well.
for the final song, everyone was on stage (i was hoping this would happen at some point, i love it when all the artists colaborate - like when rufus wainwright and ben folds sang that george michael rock ballad together. perfection) and sang "such great heights." ben gibbard introduced it as an iron and wine cover when i know full-well that he wrote it for postal service and then iron and wine covered it for "garden state." that silly guy.
anyway, so he played and sang the song and then jonathan rice (with his skinny jeans and long hair), jenny lewis (with her hotness and how much i am in love with her) and david bazan (with his beard, balding head and i-just-became-a-father-belly that i love so much) all stood around a single mic (like the beatles!) and sand the choruses.
and that's my review. any magazine want to pay me to write reviews for shows? that could rock.
my friend m works at a hotel in town where the arcade fire is going to be staying soon . . anyone want to go have drinks in the hotel bar that night? we might see them come through the lobby or something!
peace,
the dread pirate tj
say it don't spray it 10:16 AM
4 i heard that
Saturday, May 12, 2007
well
i got the job at the zoo.i wrote down that my initial choice would be to serve beer and wine at the concerts during the summer. that would seriously kick a$$.
i have orientation/training on wedenesday . . .
do i go? do i give up my freedom so i can pay the bills?
i guess it is the responsible thing to do.
but arwen, it doesn't mean i can get you in for free . . . only me and my immediate family members . . . i wonder how they check? maybe you are my adopted sister?
now i have to get a tri-met pass cause there is no way i am going to fight the freeway to get to the zoo!
say it don't spray it 11:24 AM
3 i heard that
Thursday, May 10, 2007
spring break - part over
so, remember how i was posting pictures from spring break and stuff?well, i figured i should finish that.
so, on the second to the last day in tucson . . .
deborah and i slept in a bit, walked back to the epic cafe, hung out and then walked around the 4th st street fair. it was really great. sort of like a twice a year saturday market, but with more street performers who were actually good . . . not like creepy elvis here. he's just . . . creepy. ok, sorry if you disagree, but i digress.
then: it. started. pouring!
so we hustled it back to jake's place (on foot) while big fat heavy drops of desert rain fell on us. we didn't have a key to jake's place (he was at work), so we hopped in the rental car and drove around tucson a bit. we got to know the downtown area and all it's one way streets very well. we kindly slowed down so as not to splash the pedestrians with the water from the HUGE puddles that had accumulated so quickly (not everyone was slowing down . . . so these pedestrians were SOAKED). we ended up visiting the first ever Buffallo Exchange (used, new and vintage clothing store). deborah found some goodies and i drooled over some shoes, but was a good girl and didn't buy them. although if those turquoise cowgirl boots had been in my size . . . look out! i don't know why i suddenly wanted cowgirll boots. est the turquoise ones. but maybe it had something to do with me spending 10 days in the SW US.
we met back up at jake's place with him after he got done with work and grabbed some liquid to drink before heading to see this free art show and concert put on my salvador durin (he sang on the album that iron and wine and calexico made together a little while ago). there we ran into some of jake's friends . . . people he hangs out with and has recorded with. it was fun. the show was in this woodworking warehouse . . . plus there were tons of cats everywhere.
salvador durin:
what a great artist! if you can google his art, i would suggest it.
and then this girl named maya (not sure how to spell it) played. she sounded like mazzy star/cat power and ALWAYS sings while sitting on a swing above the crowd. she had wings on for a bit (like claire danes in romeo and juliet) but she took them off because they weren't working out with the swing :(
the next morning, we decided to go hiking. jake took us up the base of the ringcons (not sure i spelled that right either). where we hiked 2.5 miles in and 2.5 miles out. the only javalina we saw was roadkill :( it was so sad. jake really wanted us to see some. he had run into a whole herd of them on this same hike a few months back.
the good thing was, we didn't get attacked by rattlesnakes or africanized killer bees either.
so, we hiked up to this waterfall
and then jake reinacted "nache libre" (if you've seen it you know)
we had some water and some energy bars. skipped some rocks. hung out. and then looked touch for the camera before heading back
oh yeah and deborah and i reinacted "nacho libre" as well
the hike back was downhill (if you know me, you know i don't do uphill very well) so i had the time and energy to take pictures along the way
you can barely see the catalinas in this picture
hiking back down into the valley that is tucson
when we got home we discovered that we were all tired, smelly, thirsty and VERY SUNBURNT. we had made the fatal mistake of not wearing sunscreen because it was overcast.
we took some time to recover and then headed over to the red room to see jake play a set.
we met some of jake's friends from "no more death." they were fabulous people with big hearts. they were also ridiculously good looking. all of them.
jake played an awesome set (accompanied by a guy on the drums who was equally awesome). it was good to hear his music. he even covered a song by portland band dolorean. nice touch.
the next morning, we got up way too early . . . we needed to be on the road by 6 because we had to get deborah all the way back to oklahomah in time for curfew that night.
we drove into the sunrise without even having any coffee.
it was a 15 hour car ride. we only stopped for gas and to take a picture with deborah and a tumbleweed
i did all of the driving. and i never felt like i was going to fall asleep (except for right at first in the morning). thank god for our itrip - that charges the ipod while playing the music over the radio. there were times we wouldn't have made it without tenacious d or monty python.
we got home that night. i met some more of d's friends. they are all fabulous.
i got about 4 hours of sleep and had to get on the road again by 5 to get the car back to the rental place and get to the airport. and then my plane was delayed because of the weather radar or something. so, since i hadn't eaten a full meal the day before . . . i got a garden burger. for breakfast.
i should have gotten home by 2 in the afternoon portland time . . . but it turned out i didn't get in until about 730 instead. i did the math and i think with the time changes and stuff, it was another 16 hour day of travel.
with the one meal.
the nice thing though was that i got to sit next to a woman who was the girlfriend of one of the band members of the decemberists. she had the cutest baby who wanted to eat my dreads. we had a good time chatting and laughing at the baby.
my sister and my friend j picked me up and we went to eat THAI FOOD!!! mmmmm . . .
the man was out of town doing research for the thesis. i slept that night and dreamed of seeing him in a few days
peace,
tj
say it don't spray it 10:31 AM
1 i heard that
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
well
i am going in for the silly interview at the zoo . . .say it don't spray it 1:28 PM
1 i heard that
