This and That: News Updates
Hey hey! Sorry to leave you on so melancholy a note. I'm back now, though God knows I'm tempted to disappear into the Void now that Justin's down here. Poor Frederick (that's my computer) will become a bit less of a lifeline, I suppose... Actually, we get our DSL in two days, so I will be online all the time again. I can't see that as a bad thing... dial-up is really starting to get on my nerves!! That, and Justin and I can finally game together... MUAHAHAA. We'll need to get a webcam on our office like Rachel and Micah have so everyone can be amazed at what geeks we are. Tho, in our case, it would ultimately turn into some American Pie-esque fiasco. Ahem.

In any case, Justin came down Friday and after much grunting and lifting, we managed to clear out the U-Haul into the apartment. The only thing I refused to lift was the couch. I'm proud to say I know my limits!! I tried but due in part to psyching myself out and in part to the fact that my body said "NO!" I gave up on taking it up the stairs and got help. We're int he process of unpacking everything now so the place is a mess but we'll have it all cleaned up by Saturday when we're having the party!

YES... the party is THIS weekend. Cory was so kind as to inform me WHY there was confusion LAST week about my post concerning the party. Apparently, because the english language is owerwhelmingly STUPID, THIS weekend and NEXT weekend mean the same thing. Blow me, grammar... I suppose that will be useful as a journalist somewhere, someday. So we're having the party Saturday Evening... say 8- 8:30 or so. We'll make pizza or something yummy. Bring food or drinks if you can. Please lemme know if you want to come and if you want to bring someone. :)

Several interesting things happened this weekend. I feel the need to tell you about them:

The Birds and the Bees
I was biking home on Friday with plenty of time to get the apartment cleaned up for Justin's arrival. I crossed the Millrace bridge and biked over to the art complex where I stopped because the street was taped off. Inside the taped off area was a parked truck with an old man standing in the truck bed. He looked to be fishing up into the pine tree above him with a long pole. At the end of the pole was a seething foot-thick mass of bees clinging to the tree branch. Some of the bees were migrating from the branch to the pole, at the end of which was attached a rectangular plate like those which are stacked into hives. As I watched, a bunch of the bees moving onto the plate dragged a cluster of the other bees off of the branch and, weighted down by each other, they all fell into the truck before they remembered they could fly. There were bees everywhere, on the tree, in the air... swarming. It was really intense but not particularly scary. As one girl explained to me, the bees had swarmed into the area around 3 o'clock in a horde and flown around the buildings before congregating on the tree branch.

The old-timer standing in the truck eventually removed the plate of bees from the pole and placed it into a bee-box with a few others he had already removed. A few onlookers and I crossed the rope to talk to him about the bees. The old guy, who looked like a kentucky farmer, was a real bee man. He handled the bees like they didn't have the capability to sting him to death. I guess he'd probably been doing his job a long time. He said that, most likely, these bees were from the bee boxes behind the Urban Farm and that they had vacated with their new Queen. Sometimes, he said, when a new queen is born and the old queen doesn't kill her, one of the queens will leave the nest accompanied by worker bees and search for a new home. He explained that he was baiting the bees off of the tree with a substance that smelled to them like Queen Bee hormones. Unfortunatly, it wasn't working too well. I think he wanted to just smack the branch and get the bees to fall off and then bait them into the box... he said there were too many people around to safely try that though.

I watched him for a while (45 minutes... oops) and then decided that I had to go home. I was biking through the field before Autzen Stadium when a huge bird shot out from the underbrush on my left side and over my head, followed by another of larger size. From the way their tail plumed, I guessed they were grouses or pheasants. The first one, I guess, was a female and the second was a male chasing after her. They both landed in the grass to my right, the male stalking after his mate with something like wild fury. I couldn't resist, so I got off my bike and chased them both around the grass for a while. It was fun! The male was beautifully in display with a bright red flush and long feathers. He was also pretty sizeable and I thought he might make a good dinner... heh...

Tie up the Loose Ends
Saturday we drove up to Portland both to drop Karl off at the train station and to go to the "masque of the black stag" that evening. I met Marla Beeson (my landlord) at the train station and signed a contract that released me from my lease. I let them keep my deposit ($200) and one month's rent ($325) in return for severing all ties with them and relinquishing all responsibility to rent the room. I felt a little weird about it until she assured me they weren't re-leasing the house immediately and were instead pursuing my allegations against Reilly and August. I feel a little guilty ratting them out but MAN did they screw me over. Do unto others, I suppose... Marla also told me that their legal fees run close to $200 an hour. Money well spent, I guess! So I've been released from the stress of that house. I went back on Sunday and got my belongings from the room. Looking at the place in decent condition makes me think that maybe I would have been able to rent that room, if I had just put enough effort into it... but sometimes peace of mind is worth just that much.

My big Chest
Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking...

On Saturday night we went to the Masque of the Black Stag in Portland. Most of the guests were dressed up as lords and ladies, with a few exceptions who were either clergy, fae, or peasants. I was one of the few more 'peasant' girls, as I haven't had the chance to accrue a huge stock of fancy garb. I'm almost sure I'll buy another skirt this summer and perhaps a nicer dress so I can get on my way to becoming a "lady." With the dress I have and the garb lael gave me, I have almost 2 full outfits. I'm in need of a belt and a trinket pouch for ID and change though.

The party was a bit awkward at first, partly because I felt too informal and mostly because it was SURREAL... for about an hour I was too tense to consider getting into "character." I expected it to be a dance outright but for the most part the guests (about 50 people) just milled around this huge mansion, chatted, and ate. The best part was that this mansion (Autzen Mansion, I believe) was someone's family home so it wasn't oddly cold and there were kids and a dog (in garb... the kids anyway) to play with. They had a buffet table with hors d'oeuvres set up and a wine bar with punch, wine, champagne, and "ale" from Ye Olde Kegg. Since they weren't carding (and I didn't expect they would) I had a few glasses of a really nice, sweet, lightly sparking white wine. That REALLY helped me loosen up and after running about the yard with the dog for a while, Justin and I chatted pleasantly with a few people around our age group.

I was surprised to see that there were a lot of older people at the Masque. For some reason I guess I assumed that after a certain age, folks get too banal to care about the magik of assuming another role. I didn't realize that, in fact, while this may be true, the largest portion of the SCAers, Members of Court, and Knights there joined in previous generations. I think fewer members of our age group are joining these associations than members of past generations. A lot of the people there were pretty hard-core, but fun. At around 8:30, we all went into the banquet hall for more wine and dinner. They had a really lovely roast and smoked turkey with soup and bread. (and Justin would want me to mention the FANTASTIC chocolate dip for strawberries and bananas which he got ALL over his shirt)

After dinner, the host had everyone put their name cards into a velvet bag and then drew out cards in groups of three for rounds of rapid-fire trivial pursuit. Each participant was given a bell and then the group was asked questions from the "history" category. The first to answer three correctly was given a prize. Justin played once (and got one card only ; ) and then I played and... um... we won't talk about my lack of historical knowledge. When that game was finished, the host then announced that he would be giving out the chest that all the other prizes had been in. He put the chest, a thigh-high box with a leather exterior, into the middle of the room and locked it. He then had all of us draw a combination from the bag and told us that whoseever combination opened the lock would get to keep the chest. I always feel I have psychic luck when it comes to chosing the right number... and I'm always proven wrong. This time, though, I'll give my brain the benefit of a doubt. My number opened the lock!!

So now Justin and I have a wonderful wooden and leather lock box in our living room. We call it the Magic Porn chest, for reasons I won't tell you but you can probably guess. (WHAT?? Jeez... we needed some place to put it so that guests won't look at us funny ^^) Someone later told me that the host had tacked the leather on the box himself (and he also drew the correct combo out of the bag but put it back for fear it would look rigged). It really is a keepsake and it made the evening truly worthwhile! We danced in the foyer for a while before winding the evening down with some conversation and piano music.

Sunday we drove back to Eugene with no rush for time. It really is strange having Justin down here and not having to think about him returning to Seattle for work and class. No pressure and endless possibility. With the release from one major binding commitment (lease) this weekend and the opening up of so many more possibilities, I really do feel like I have a new life ahead of me. We each can have the freedom to our own existence but FINALLY we can have the chance to exist together. We won't feel that every moment we're together has to be exclusively savored, we can spend time with friends without feeling it's an intrusion. We can do things on weekdays!!

We're excitedly building our house together, working out the little details and stocking the cupboards. We have way too much stuff since we're both pack-rats, Justin even more so than I. It's embarrasing, he has about 2 times as much clothes as I do and I'M the chick. We won't have any trouble stocking our fridge with new groceries, though. Justin's mom gave him $50 at Safeway, $50 at Albertsons and $50 at starbucks for his birthday. A generous and useful gift! She's also given us a lot to furnish our place... I'm grateful : ) At least we'll have th opportunity to repay her when she stays with us next week!