What a day

If this day were a tree it would be a really awesome tree that is really awesome. That is to say, I had an awesome day. Let me count the ways.

I got up early. Well, early for me, I've been sleeping in as of late. I arose and practiced some Tai Chi, showered, and left my apartment. I went to my favorite breakfast joint, Pine State Biscuits, and met my newest best friend (I have several) Corin for biscuits and shiitake mushroom gravy. Also, they make the best chocolate milk in Portland. srsly. We talked about neat and fun things and then walked about a bit.

I then went to my old JMP friends' place to teach some Tai Chi. Aaron and Ida have nearly 80 acres(!) (not really) of garden space at their place. I am not hesitant to call it a farm. It's that big. Anyway, I taught Aaron and his pal Henry, who is visiting from NY, the first few segments of the Beijing Form, while Ida milked the cows and fixed the tractor (not really). The sun was hot and the air was crisp, perfect for doing martial arts. When we were finished, Aaron, the awesome dude that he is, took me out to the fields (not really) and harvested a bunch of veggies for me. I got two types of kale, a cabbage, a platoon of carrots, some leaks, and a grip of collard greens. It's something like two pounds of produce! He also gave me a huge mason jar of cider from his friends orchard and another filled with crushed San Marzano Tomatoes, the finest sauce tomatoes in the world. Amazing. THEN! Ida made some amazing, I dunno what to call it, warm beet salad(?) I don't know what to call it but in taste it was FUCKING EPIC! Check it:

That's beets, carrots, oranges, black beans, quinoa, feta, and cilantro. And that's it. Somehow this blend of unremarkable ingredients yielded one of the most superbly satisfying bowls of food I have had in a long while. For realz yo, totes tasty.

I am humbled by Aaron and Ida's generosity. They essentially supplied me with several meals worth of food for coming and doing tai chi. amazing. But I guess this is how the neo/retro economy is going to work, trade of goods and services instead of cash and credit. Not to say this was a business transaction today, it was too fun for that.

I said farewell and took a wobbly bike ride (overloaded with produce) back to the Villa. On the way I dropped off some of the veggies at my folks' place and played with Walter. Here is a sleepy picture of my folks + Walter from the other night:


Anyway, at the Villa I chatted with Niko and Steph (Brother and his wife, for the new readers, who are also my neighbors) and spread the veggie wealth out some more. At this point I learned the bummer news of the day: My mom was laid off this morning. Her last day will be June 30th. She is currently a Juvenile Parole Officer and has been wearing many different hats for Multnomah County for over a decade. This is really stupidly bad news but I know things will be okay. If my mom is anything, she is a survivor. In a lesson in making lemonade from life's lemons, she will at least get the summer off with my dad. Soon after hearing this news, a hobo came to tell us that we woke him up from his nap in the bushes. He played us some blues harmonica, the same riff over and over and over and over and over, and I gave him a dollar to go away. It was kinda awkward. This drew out the new neighbor Alima and gave me a chance to introduce myself to her and her baby.

NEXT! I went down to PSU with a mission to ask out a girl. We'll call her Z. I have been trying to ask Z out for a few weeks now. She is a new transfer student majoring, like me, in Printmaking. I don't have any classes with her and, because of my degree requirement standing, never will. I have only seen her around the studio when I am poking around the lower division classes. From the beginning it's been all smiles and easy chatter. Enamored is probably too strong a word, smitten works better. I was smitten. First I didn't ask due to nerves, then I got over those and was bulwarked by situations beyond my control. I literally was going downtown to PSU just to try and ask her out, but if she wasn't absent from the class the class was canceled. If she wasn't chatting with a large crowd of other girls she was consulting with the professor for an hour while a shuffled around the studio pretending to do stuff, only to leave untried. TODAY! Today I went to PSU's print lab and found it eerily empty. Accept for Z. I chatted her up a little bit then lost my nerve. The iron was hot, it was laid on the anvil, and the hammer hung still in the air. I was ignoring all of my power training at the Mountain Temple of Dating, forgetting that if she said no nothing would change and life would go on.

I struck. Blushingly, Z informed me that she has a boyfriend (how could she not? total babe) and I apologized for my presumption. She told me that I am sweet and also that I am a real nice guy. I would have preferred a "yes" but this went as well as a no answer could possibly go. I made sure that we were cool, and bade her success on the Reduction Print she was working on. I am just happy that this has come to pass. I have been contemplating this for weeks and am contented with the outcome.

Tyson, it turns out, was a mere block from where this all took place. I met up with him in the park blocks and we walked to Pioneer Courthouse Square. There we saw a pimp, a man with a cat face on his chest, a magician, a homeless youth with a comically-sized salami chub, a man with a cudgel, a cute girl with a Loaded longboard deck that she got for free, aging, yet skilled, hackeysackers, and the sun sinking into the city. I taught Tyson butt stretches, he traded some tobacco and rolling papers for a lighter with a drifter, and got politely scolded by security for smoking in the Square. (Not me, Tyson. Smoking is for dummies). We said au revoir and went our separate ways; He the number 4 across the river, and I the number 12 to Jesse's place in SW PDX. No, not Uncle Jesse of Full House fame, Jesse Latimer, notorious lady-killer and Fro-llet legend.

Here we watched The Taste of Tea, a contender for my all-time favorite film list. This movie is completely wackadoo. Perhaps this is because it is hyper-Japanese. The pacing, the acting, the cinematography, the script, the set design, the score, the characters, all amazingly imbued with the essence of Japan. Simply wonderful. I am hesitant to recommend this film though. I lifetime of studying Japan's language and culture has prepared me for what this film offers. Others might not, well, get it. Jesse fared beautifully and pointed out that every character in the movie is likable and appealing, a hard feat I feel. This viewing went longer than expected and forced me to cancel my Kung Fu class. I deemed this okay since I was with Jesse, who is sick and not going to attend anyway, and katelyn texted me to tell me that she had a migraine (I hope you two are feeling better!). These two are my regulars and I did not expect anyone else. My father did me a huge favor and posted a note on the door of the Kwoon just in case someone did show up.

I got home and made a vegetable medley using some of Aaron's harvest. Delicious! and that's where you find me, content and full, writing this blog.

I hope that you can have a day like this soon too.

Here are some pictures from the past few days: