7.31.99

    Lazy, lazy day. This is the first time I've slept this late (noon) without fretting about what I need to do in a long time. Of course, T. was being vile and trying to get me out of bed. We truly are a yin and yang couple. I'm usually the one on the weekends trying to drag his butt out of bed. The one day I just laze and laze is when he wants to go out and do stuff. Well, no way. Just too tired.

    Last night, he and I worked the Portland Brewing's "Summer Boogie BBQ". A co-worker at my new job used to work there and they were looking for volunteers. We got free access, free food and free beer. There were bands and fresh lemonade and a guy making the most amazing balloon creations I've ever seen. Girls were walking round with fairy wings made of balloons and boys with tall, bizarre hats and turtle shells tied around their waists. I had no idea there was so much potential in balloons.

    I hear that we're actually going to get paid for our time at the taps but I'll be surprised if I ever see a check. That's not why we did it anyway. We did it for fun and the experience. Okay, and the free food.

    We got back at around midnight and after two and a half beers (MacTarnahan's, Oregon Honey & Haystack Black) I felt pretty looped. So, of course I woke up with a headache. I even had my obligatory big glass of water and still woke up with a headache. I just can't process the thought that my up all night, drink-till-dawn party days are over. I guess I'll just have to be a drink-water-till-dawn kind of party girl. Lame.

    I've been on something of a reading tear. I haven't read this many books since high school or college summers. Now that I'm not spending every waking second looking for the next contract or networking or brushing up on my skills or combing the net for the next great idea I actually have some time to read.

    The book I just finished is Bridget Jones's Diary. I bought it as something to read on the plane to L.A. and it was only $4.99 at Target. It's such a fluff book that I really do have to justify it — to you and to myself and to the random strangers on the MAX who saw me reading it last Monday.

    I haven't quite processed what I think about the book yet. I enjoyed it on a certain level. I got a great mental picture of what Bridget looked like and sounded like. The book made me want to act vapid for at least twenty-four hours just because. It also made me want to take up smoking again. I liked Bridget at the same time that I loathed her. She's one of those people who I find amusing but would never want really close to me. I enjoyed it for it's prurient, train-wreck value. In the end, however, Bridget depressed me a little bit. Only a little because I can't believe she exists. She's just too much neurosis in one person. That said, if you find it in the bargain bin, pick it up for a lazy Saturday read.

    The other book I just finished, which I highly recommend, is October Sky by Homer H. Hickman, Jr. The original novel was called Rocket Boys but a movie came out this year (which T's father says is great) called October Sky based on this book which is a memoir. October Sky being an anagram for Rocket Boys.

    It's a wonderful story about a small, mining town that rallies around a local group of teenagers who are designing their own rockets post-Sputnik. The characters come alive on the pages and I just couldn't put it down. The only fault with the story and the writing is the end. I think he fell into something that every writer can fall into and that's how to end the damn story. I think he took the easy way out which is to sum everything up nicely in a moral-of-the-story way and leave it at that. Which is annoying because we already got the moral of the story back in Chapter One. So, if you read this don't read the Epilogue. Wait a day or two after the last chapter before you read the Epilogue to let the whole story sink in.

    I can't put him off any longer. T. insists that I go play frisbee with him. Oh Lord. I can't throw a frisbee.