procrastination

I'm currently snuggled up in my giant green papa san, after the beautiful quick drive home from portland, and couldn't resist recounting all the fun that added up over the past 48 hours. This weekend was fabulous, stuffed full of adventure, the legal and memorable kind. I should be working on final projects, but I've become very skilled at avoiding work with other work that isn't due, or never will be due. For example, last term, just before our final review of the most intense studio of our program, I spent 3 days:

§ researching the history of blues music

§ downloading blues music and making a shnazzy cover for it

§ ordering books online

§ making b-day presents for all the december b-day buddies

§ cleaning out studio

§ cleaning the house

§ researching info about japanese internment camps

§ researching family history

§ researching info about dioxin contamination and information about the old saw mill in chiloquin (currently under DEQ dioxin testing): potential UO studio project, or design competition project

§ hanging out with Rob Ribe talking about studio, thesis, saw mill project and history of portland

so, this blog, if you add it to the other 48 hours of procrastination this weekend, should put me right on schedule for final projects this week. Minus sleep.

On Friday we zipped up to Albany to review the design work of Jenn's students. I say "zipped" because mostly we got lost, got stuck behind a train in the switching yards, drove past signs 4 or 5 times to LBCC, and ended up 1 hour late for a 2 hour long review, and spent 2.5 hours driving, when it should have taken 45 minutes. The review was super fun, and just happened to be held in a greenhouse of all places.

Our pod, which now consisted of 3 cars, jenn, jules (partners in crime) and scully, drove back to corvallis, drank margaritas (I believe we were the only ones in the restaurant), ditched 2 cars and drove on to the coast.

The temptation was too much, and a few articles of clothing were thrown into the wet sand, and we ran for the freezing water as we lost the last light of the day. Tingly fingers and toes and waves and dusk and sand and friends. Doesn't get much better than that.

Jenn picked out the 'just for the halibut' fish and burger shack that was more like a dairy queen than a seafood dive, we ate and tore up our receipts and headed out for a camping site.

Camping involved the four of us sharing 3 sleeping bags, a couple of blankets, a 2-person tent and no pillows, beer, fire, marshmallows and chocolate. Also hard to top. I'm not sure how much any of us actually slept.

We wandered around to the lake, then wandered back to the ocean and collected rocks, drove in the direction of home, and happened by a fundraiser for a tiny airport with small planes, a pancake feast and lots of pilots. We drooled on the planes, ate the blueberries out of the pancakes, and drove again.

Back in corvallis, we took a short tour of the OSU campus in bloom, gathered vehicles, managed to loose jenn leading her out of Corvallis back to I-5... strike #2 for the weekend.

In all, I thought the weekend was over, and the work was starting. I cleaned my room, did the laundry, unpacked, aired out the tent, all in preparation for the downpour of work to come. Then I called jenn, who convinced me to drive to portland for my site visit. This counts as homework.

Bikes on the river at night in portland, perfect weather, st patty's day! People everywhere in green and giant hats and dresses clover beer and music. We parked our bikes, wandered the scene, and chose our bar based on the music.

Someone stole my credit card out of my hand like magic. Jenn bought the drinks and we danced until the bars closed, and biked home, then talked until our eyes closed. And woke early (accidentally) in the morning, biked to a fabulous breakfast joint, then to the south waterfront for some 'homework', which involved taking pictures of cool industrial sites and bad new urbanism designs and riding the most fabulous bikes in the sun, which was warming the sweet cottonwood buds along the river, and my insides.