8/31: "And look what happened to HER!"

-While I was waiting to get picked up by my dad to go to the airport, my mom and I were sitting around talking about how to get all my stuff back to Oregon once I graduate. She made a really offensive joke about one of my friends who committed suicide a few years ago, along the lines of, "I mean, J______ drove across the country to bring her stuff back west, and look what happened to her!" All summer I've been kind of afraid of offending my mom, and then she rips out with this; I feel like things have gotten back to normal a little bit now--and it was the type of joke the friend would have liked.

-I made a wicked dank sandwich when I got home to Vermont, with fresh tomatoes, butter lettuce, vegenaise, stoneground mustard, curry paste, olive oil, salt, and pepper, on rustic whole wheat toast. What a delight!

8/30: "So my friends were all just sitting around and picking their butts, and I was like, 'I'm going to go upstairs and do some math...problems.'"

-I found the ideal glasses for pretty cheap, and will have them ready in a few breif days. They look like this, or rather, hopefully I will look like this in them.

-Clark and I had the best hanging out in the world. I made some sick tomato sauce, and then we went on a walk and ended up sitting in the weird circular part of a steel traffic barricade which had just enough room for two. We picked blackberries by the slue right before it got dark, and he a) climbed over the brambles to get the juiciest berries for me, and b) pulled me up when I slipped and fell down the creek. Then we went back to my house and he played metal licks for me on my guitar and talked about Wittgenstien. Though we hadn't hung out in a year, and we were never that close of friends in high school, I couldn't have asked for a better last night in Eugene if I tried. I accidentally kicked over a drum when he hugged me goodbye, but I didn't care in the least. And I would totally have tried to kiss him if I were sticking around.

8/29: "Really, the best deal is Busch Light. 18-pack for like, ten dollars."

-I had some friends over to say goodbye before I head back to Vermont, and had a box of Pabst in the fridge. My little brother, an ex-jock stoner type with a heart of gold, stopped by for a few minutes before the party, and, as he was walking out the door, said, "You're such a hipster." I don't think I realized "hipster" was in his vocabulary, and somehow it made me happy that it is.

- Also, this, striking the perfect balance between touching and exploitative.

-Plus, I got to call Chad "The Hemingway of Cougar Jokes," and then go on a little too long about how I love the part in A Movable Feast where he keeps going on about how pretty Fitzgerald's lips are.

8/28: "On forms that said M or F, I'd write, 'none of your business.'"

Lots of good things:

-I came out to my mom as trans and it wasn't nearly as scary as I'd anticipated. She even used the word "strap-on" when we were talking about the possibility of bottom surgery. (!).

-After dinner, Mom and I went and saw a clay studio on 4th and Polk, and got the "grand tour." Though I totally made a fool of myself trying to talk to the owner about wood kilns, mom introduced me by the dude name, which was great, and affirming.

-I went out "on the town" with Shai, and got a free ride in a bike cab from a total cutester who saw me play at Wandering Goat a few weeks ago. Then we got served drinks by Mark, the guy who used to serve me and Andrew pizza in high school.

-I drunkenly biked home listening to Your Arsenal and ate a Haagen-Dazs bar. Yes!