Hot outside

Gaaa... 103 degrees today. Ouch, thats hotter than China, but with less than half the humidity.

I've been running errands and such for most of the past few days, nothing really exciting there. Been hanging out a lot with Kyrie and David watching movies and playing board games.

I leave tomorrow (yes, still techinically tomorrow) for a hiking trip, I'll be back sometime mid-next week. Kinda sucks that I'll miss out on all the fun here, although I could go for a cold lake right around now... preferably one with less toxic algae than Vancouver Lake, which is now closed to swimming and probably lethal to pets... what a great backyard!

Whee

Well, it looks like the laptop's sudden loss of internet connection caused last night's post to be deleted. I guess thats ok, it was mostly just stuff about my day, nothing very interesting as far as I can remember.

Today wasn't a wasted day, but I really didn't do a whole lot with my time. My morning consisted of sleeping, driving my brother, and learning to play The Only Gay Eskimo on guitar. Heh... add that to Good Riddance and a few other songs, I'm slowly learning. Got a few projects completed for my history class this afternoon, almost halfway done with those. My contribution to that yesterday was to create a picture (in paint) of a coyote being chased by an angry glacier. Hey, the assignment was to illustrate a legend, ok? I'll post it online if I don't get too lazy or forget (read: don't expect it.)

Spenser went to the doctor again for his knee, he's going to have to get an MRI and go through some kind of therapy (not the mental kind this time... darn) before he can climb and play football, so he's been taking out his extra energy on me. That's one of the reasons I've spent the past few nights "out", mostly with Kyrie and David watching movies and TV.

I wish I had something more interesting or sarcastic to add, but I'm afraid not!

FFF

Well, the beach wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, I guess. Although I still had to go through 8 hours (4 each way) in the car with my mom and brother, at least I got to drive for some of it. After dodging other cars and avoiding a few wrecks due to the stupidity of others, my mom will let me drive pretty much anywhere now. I may have had to camp overnight with them, but I got to sleep in the back of the truck. We may have stayed with some of my mom's high school friends and their young children, but at least they brought along their 16 year old cousin (she seemed glad to have someone else to talk to.)
 
I actually went out and swam (sort of) in the ocean, it wasn't so bad once I went numb. Sat around on the beach and in camp around the fire. I guess there was some story involving some distant relative-of-a-friend, mixed up campsite reservations, and the police... but I don't really know the details there. Sleeping in the back of the truck was better than a tent, but still nothing like a real bed. I'm a bit sore from the leaky air-mattress and sleeping with my head downhill, I don't think I slept as well as I thought I did because I'm exhausted. Just notice the time of the post, its not even 11:00 yet!
 
Well, now that I'm done with my FFF (Forced Family Fun) for the week, I guess the parentals can't complain when I'm out at night.

day + rant

Woke up around 9:30 today, someone was yelling my name from downstairs. "It's 9:30, GET UP." Go away. Just because I take a 0 period during he school year doesnt mean I enjoy getting up early. Just look at the time of this post. Did another few hours of pressure washing, almost payed off the driving I've done by now. Soon I might actually earn some real money, unless I drive anywhere. (For more complaining about that, look farther below.)
 
Trombone lessons at JPC, one of the classrooms upstairs. It was pretty nice, better than a closet at school. I'll have to record my WIBC and All-NW auditions soon, I should make a tape of my solos to send to colleges too. Washed the cars when I got home, they were looking pretty dusty after a few weeks of the construction on Fruit Valley.
 
Wasted an hour or two around the house, then I went to see "Anchorman" with more or less the usual group. Very, very funny movie, I reccomend it. Got to follow a Metrowatch rent-a-cop most of the way there. heh... good times. Almost ran over my neighbor coming home at 11:35, he was walking his dog in the middle of the road. Actually, he was walking with his dog, since his dog was a good 40 feet in front of him, nicely hidden in the shadows. Bah.
 
I'm getting kinda mad with a few things right now. First, I'm still paying 50 cents a mile for car use. That may not sound too terrible if you aren't thinking about it, but its more than 2 miles one-way from my house to anywhere worth driving to. Without a job, thats hard to pay off. I can understand paying for my own gas, but I didn't ask for a nice car, I asked for something with wheels and an engine that would get me uphill without a push. Not that I mind driving nice cars, but I don't think I should be paying 40 cents a mile for "depreciation."
 
Ok, so I'm paying 50 cents a mile for car use. Fine, at least let me stay out a bit later. But no, my curfew is 12:30, unless its earlier because my mom is tired. My license is good until 1 AM, so I guess I can understand being home by 1, but I don't understand why my mom insists I wake her up when I get home, then complains that she's not getting enough sleep because I wake her up.
 
The only reason I'm home right now is she set curfew tonight to 11:30. Thanks. Now I'm going to spend the weekend at the beach with my mom and my brother. Could be fun... except that we're meeting some of my mom's friends from high school and their bratty kids. Seriously, these kids are almost my age, and I bet they don't even dress themselves. Bah.
 
I'll be free on Sunday, unless the parentals decide to make that a "family night." Yay. We sit and watch a movie until 10, when my parents get tired and go to bed. Maybe 10:30, if the movie is almost over. Too late to go anywhere at 50 cents a mile, but not even close to time to sleep. Apparently they do this sometimes because I'm "always gone." I'm home almost all day working around the house and doing stuff while they're out and about. Usually, plans come together and I leave around 7 for the evening, meaning I'm gone for about 3 hours of their time. So I'm "always gone" 12 percent of the time? Greaaat.
 
Sorry for the sarcasm, I feel better now. Have a safe weekend, remember: winners don't do drugs, don't get anyone pregnant... thats about it. See you all on Sunday.

Aaand... summer

There's really not much to do in the 'couve in the summer... or anytime of the year, for that matter.
 
Ever have one of those days where you do a lot of work but nothing really gets done? I've had a few of those, without the work. I mostly do small stuff around the house during the day, maybe work on some stuff for that stupid online history class (I'm considering taking it pass/fail, these projects almost aren't worth it. If anyone has projects leftover from their Washington State History class, I'd like to borrow some of them!) I go out in the evenings, usually to Kyrie's since neither of us have anything better to do.
 
Today was a little different, I actually got up before 9 (8:35, but I guess it still counts!) Spent 3 hours pressure washing little spots of mold off the back patio, I probably have another 3 hours of work tomorrow on the path... maybe I'll clean the cars while I have the stuff out too. A little extra money never hurt anyone... ok, where was I... after working into the afternoon, I did a stupid little map of the Pacific Rim and colored it kinda half-assed. Bah. Met up with Kyrie, Goose and Jesse and went downtown to see Reverend Horton Heat at the Roseland.
 
Fought traffic getting into P-town and found a place to park. Walked toward what we thought was Burnside... but no, we hit 405 with no sign of it, so we asked someone, who pointed us back the way we came. Goose felt pretty dumb when it turned out to be a block away from our parking garage. Rocco's Pizza for dinner, that place is great! $4-ish for a huge slice of pizza and a drink, cant do much better than that... I think we hit there during our 30 minute break before the Starlight Parade too. The concert itself was pretty decent, the opening act was mediocre at best, and the second act was only decent. Rev. Horton Heat was good, they played a mix of blues and country that is best described as classic rock&roll. After a while their songs started to sound pretty similar, but it was still a good time.
 
The crowd was interesting... I kept getting the feeling that somewhere not far away there was an empty Wal-Mart. There was some old hippie guy with a big beard who kept getting yelled at by security for taking off his shoes, I think he danced the same way for almost 4 hours, regardless of if there was music playing or not. And then there were the people who smelled like pencil shavings and old taco-bell. mmmm... yuck.
 
Thats about all for now, I'm going to try and post more regularly when I'm in town. Convieniently for me, I'm going to the coast this Saturday, so I'll probably just slack off like I have been, but you never really know.
 
One more thing... is it just me, or did they change the way you post things on Blogger again?

AP and Warped Tour

Got my AP test scores back today, I guess the results weren't all that surprising. Got a 5 in Statistics, a 4 in English, a 3 in History and a 1 in Chemistry. I suppose that although Armstrong is a great teacher, he doesn't focus on the humanitarian / social aspects the test covers. (Things like the type of paintings the Hudson River School is famous for... and for all you at CollegeBoard, I got that one off the SAT II, so you can't cancel my scores for this!) The 1 in AP chemistry is dissapointing but not unexpected, I really had no clue what half the stuff on the test was. Thanks a lot, Skoog. (I hear he's not teaching AP chemistry next year, so all my past warnings not to take it can be ignored.)

In other news, I went to the Warped Tour yesterday. 40 bands on several stages played all afternoon and evening. It's really nice to be tall in a mosh pit, although you have to help the people launch up to crowd surf. It was weird how friendly the crowd seemed; although we were mostly in our late teens and early 20's, people were generally nice and all seemed to be having a good time.

Well, I should really be out doing something to earn money, exercising, or even just laying in the sun instead of inside typing here.

Where to go

I think its time for a post again.

Over the past few days, other than dealing with some issues I don't really feel like discussing online right now, I've been working around home and earning some money. I wish I could find a job, but I guess that can wait until I'm done with band season this fall and can acutually put in some hours. Personal car use now costs me 50 cents a mile, which is recockulous, but apparently covers: gas, insurance, and depreciation on the car. I still get to drive on errands, etc for free, and driving my brother gives me free miles, so I guess it could be worse.

On an entirely different note, I've been getting more and more requests to share more of my feelings on this blog. I'll try to do that more and more, but since I really have no clue who is reading this, that's difficult for me. Sure, you all say that doesn't matter, but believe me, many of my day to day thoughts could get me in trouble if they were written down for you all to see.

That's pretty much it, let me know what you think, don't be afraid to comment on a post in here or to use the tagboard, thats why its here.

I'm Baaaack!

Back from China!

First, I have the pictures online. Click here for the photo album!

Someday I'll write this up in a format that might be easier to read, but until then, here ya go.

Day 1 - June 23 - Travel

Got to PDX at 4:15, turns out the flight didn't leave until 8:00

Sat around PDX for a while after checking in as a group

Arrived in San Francisco to find that our SFO - Bejing flight was delayed

Collected $15 lunch vouchers in the airport and spent an hour eating lunch, then several hours playing cards.

Left SFO at 9:00 for Beijing

Day 2 - June 24 - Travel

Traded seats a few hours into the flight for the empty seat next to Cory

Due to the dateline, we arrived in Beijing at 10:00 tonight

Transfered to the hotel just before midnight

Day 3 - June 25 - Beijing

Free continental breakfast at the hotel, then free time until 11

Visit to Tian'anmen Square, a 20 minute bus ride from the hotel

Free time to explore the square, then lunch as a group

Extra time before rehearsal, so we go to a Chinese tea house

Rehearsal at the Beijing Cultural Center for tomorrow's performance

Dinner at another typical Chinese restaraunt

Free time in the shopping district before returning to hotel

Weird Chinese movies with funny "engrish" subtitles in the hotel

Day 4 - June 26 - Beijing

Free breakfast at hotel

Walk 30 minutes from hotel to Forbidden City

Tour Forbidden City, walking from South to North as tradition dictates

David gets attacked by a beggar, obviously a burn victim, a joke which continued for the rest of the trip

Lunch at a restaraunt similar in style to the last two

Arrive at performance site, perform with Chinese bands

Dinner with Beijing and Olympic officials... in sweaty half-uniform

Free time in the hotel and city

Day 5 - June 27 - Beijing

Breakfast at hotel, which is getting kinda monotonous by now, but still is quite edible

Leave for Great Wall, a few hours from our hotel

Stop in Beijing to buy papers (our performance from last night was featured)

Visit a jade factory / store (tourist trap #1)

Arrive at Great Wall, perform marching show in parking lot

Climb Great Wall as far as possible in the heat (2 or 3 towers)

Lunch at a local restaraunt with more traditional Chinese food

Tour the Emperor's Summer Palace

Stop at the hotel for a quick change and shower (with smog, humidity, and heat, every shower was welcome!)

Peking duck dinner... Robertson and Nick got lost on the way and met us at the hotel again that evening

Beijing Acrobat show, a traditional Chinese acrobat show similar in some ways to Cirque de Soleil

Return to hotel for movies and such

Day 6 - June 28 - Beijing

Breakfast once more at hotel, this time in other buffet

Free time to shop until 11:30, explored Wangfujing St and the mall

Lunch... you know the drill

Shopping time in an imitation market, with "Playboy" belts and "Engrish" shirts

Tour of Beijing's Tsinghua University

Performance at University and cultural exchange

Return to hotel to prepare for early departure to Shanghai

Day 7 - June 29 - Beijing to Shanghai

Leave hotel at 5 AM, drive to Airport

Wait for ticket counters to open while Sueanne replaces her lost ticket

Due to our "group check-in" we have seats down the middle of the plane, I switch to sit by David, and we write messages on a notepad to Kyrie, a few rows back

Arrive in Shanghai, go to lunch at a similar location

Visit Yu Gardens, a private garden in the heart of Shanghai

Tour a silk factory in Shanghai, home of much of China's silk trade

Check-in at hotel, explore the surrounding... slums

Dinner at McDonalds, the only "safe" nearby restaraunt

Cruise along Huang Pu River to see Shanghai at night

Return to the hotel for movies on David's laptop (TV is all in Chinese here)

Day 8 - June 30 - Shanghai

Breakfast at hotel, more "interesting" local foods than our last buffets

Shopping at a market an hour from our hotel

Lunch on our own... McDonalds, again

Drive to the Shanghai TV Pearl Tower, set up for performance

Performance with Chinese band and a very bad drum & bugle group

Changed into formal clothes on the busses for our final dinner

Farewell dinner at another typical restaraunt

DVD shopping at a shady store across the street, $1 American each

Movies in the room until 2:30 AM... why not?

Day 9 - July 1 - Shanghai, Travel to Home

Pass on breakfast... silkworm grubs and chicken feet, anyone?

Take another shot at the DVD store, pick up more movies and some PS2 games for people

Drive to airport, guides sing us songs on the bus

Check-in in groups, seating is much better than the past flights

Wave goodbye to Tony, who lost his passport and spent the next few days in the Embassy

Fly to San Francisco, arriving before we left, thanks to the dateline

Clear customs in San Francisco

Eat Pizza Hut and Starbucks and call home... welcome back to America, home of people who speak English!

Sit in the airport for hours, going between gates and sleeping

Arrive back in Portland, collect luggage, and go home!


Lets see... heres a few more things:

Taiwan Hotel Beijing

Nice, comfortable rooms

Air conditioning

One block from Wangfujing shopping centers

Free, good breakfast with western and Chinese food

TV has English captions, a movie channel, and CNN

Jinsha Hotel Shanghai

Smaller rooms, ours has a "window" in the closet, we can see light from outside through the wall

Air conditioning

One block from McDonalds, some pirated DVD places, and not much else

Breakfast has the more interesting Chinese dishes... yuck

TV is censored heavily and entirely in Chinese

Beijing

Streets are clean

Persistant beggars/peddlers in the tourist and shopping areas

Hot and humid, temperatures near 100 with thick smog

No problems with safety being out at night

City has a central shopping area, normal downtown feel

Shanghai

Streets are much less clean than those of Beijing

Beggars are more passive, peddlers are only near the tower and the markets

Heat and humidity aren't as bad, or maybe I'm just used to it

Feels uncomfortable outside hotel at night, guards at entrance

City is sprawled over several hundred miles, skyscrapers are scattered throughout and not centralized


That's about all I have to say about the trip, overall it was a great experience.
Only one more continent to go! :-)