London Calling

Well this is a pointless post. I have been very busy today, and I haven't had a chance to think of anything to write about.

But, it is only 2 weeks till I am back in England. I am going to be spending a couple of nights in London. I've never really spent more than a few hours down there, and I am unsure what I am going to be doing - other than spending a few hours at the consulate.

My family is deciding whether to come with me down there or not, and one of my friends from the Netherlands will be flying out there to spend one night, but that still leaves 2... I have some friends that live there, but I am unsure of their availabilty at the moment.

Well, whatever happens, I'll have fun, I am sure of that.

The other 2 weeks, I'll be spending most of the time up North in Durham, other than a weekend in Wolves... I am so excited, its going to be so great to see everyone again.

This Is The Life lyrics

I am so much like a yoyo at the moment, unfortunately it’s not gravity that is bringing me down. I do a pretty good job of talking myself into a happy confident place, but then something will happen that will send me back down again. I don’t do well with sadness, I really don’t like it (although I am sure that not many people do like being sad). I much prefer to be a happy person, and I am doing my best to get there at the moment.

Well, now that is out of the way… as some of you know I ride the MAX to and from work (not relax max, but the light rail system here in Portland – I have to say that otherwise all kinds of rumours will be bouncing around). Well yesterday was no exception. I was on my way home, thinking about my life (deep stuff you know), and then there was a group of 4 guys who got on to the MAX. It was hard to miss them as you could smell them as soon as they stepped through the doors. I am not sure about the rest of the states, but Portland seems to have a lot of young folk who don’t seem to have homes. This group was one such group. They were a few seats away, and as I zoned out staring out the window, one of them picked up his guitar. They started singing a song, all 4 of them, on the MAX. Now I am sorry, but that sort of thing doesn’t happen everyday. It happens in movies and commercials, but not in real life. I’ve been riding the MAX now for 3 years, and I’ve never seen that before.

The song, what I could catch of it, was a little amusing… something along the lines of “You are what you eat, I am no Golden Arches” of course I wasn’t able to catch much other than the chorus. Well, once the song was done they got off the MAX, and life returned to normal (relatively speaking of course). Now the odd thing to me about this exchange, was no-one on the MAX really acknowledged what was happening, no strange looks, no uncomfortable glances or smiles, everyone just continued with what they were doing, it was as if this sort of thing happens every day. Perhaps it does, just not when I am around.

Peaches

Well I am back after a crazy weekend.

The craziness all really began on Saturday.

While on my way to breakfast, the ex-fiancé decided to send me a couple of text messages, I am not sure when he will come to realize that my lack of response to him, is because I don’t want to stay in touch. He was texting me to see if I would be at the Brew Fest, which I was going to be, but I had no desire to respond to him. I love “delete”!.

After breakfast, Ryan and I had to go our separate ways, I was looking at my blackberry reading the post over at the pub, and wasn’t really watching where I was going. I ended up walking into the middle of a group of pigeons… I have a terrible bird phobia. I felt as if someone had shot me with some adrenaline, my heart was going boom boom boom boom boom. I then popped into the grocery store to get some sun-screen (it was a gorgeous day – I love summer). On my way out of the store, a homeless lady started to tell me her story. I didn’t really want to give her any money, but as I was right outside the store, I offered to buy her some food. I expected that she’d want a sandwich or something along those lines, but nope – she wanted a peach. So peaches I bought.

I then headed to meet my friends and make our way to the Brew Fest. We stopped by the Saturday market on the way, as the festival began later than we imagined. We were able to kill sometime before the drinking would begin. A couple of years ago my friend and I had volunteered at the festival, and we had lots of beer tokens left over. This pretty much meant, that once we paid the $5 for the mug, the rest was free. I normally don’t drink much beer as it has a tendency to make my allergies flare up… but not this day.

I started off with a blue frog, it was ever so tasty. I don’t really remember the names of much else that I drank, there was a surfers summer ale, and a raspberry wheat, but I have no idea what else. But we made our way through several beers, and I don’t think there was a bad one in the bunch. Needless to say, we got merry, rather quickly. The sun helped us out with that. At about 4 we left the beer fest and headed over to a friends house, finally we figured it was also time to get some food (yeah, I should know better by now). One of my friends took a turn, and got a little sick, so we let her take a rest, and chilled out till it was time to move on to see our friend playing at the bar.

Once at the bar, I played some pool, I ain’t played pool in a while, and really, I am not all that good anymore. I seem to remember me being good at it while I was at college, but maybe that is my memory playing tricks on me. I switched from drinking beer to baileys and coffee, it was so scrumy. I lasted till about 11, before Ryan and I got into a discussion which made me flip from happy to sad. (more alcohol fueled than anything else I think). Well, I decided it was best if I just went home, so I called a cab. I feel quite sorry for the cab driver, who had to listen to the drunken ramblings of my heart break for the journey to my house.

The rest of the evening involved me shouting at Ryan about stuff (alcohol fueled again), us sitting at the top of the stairs for goodness knows how long, talking and crying, then a little sleep. Yesterday, I was so tired, we did our normal Soprano’s fix, then went to bed.

It was for sure an eventful Saturday, most of it was fun, the rest just needed to happen – I feel much better after letting that stuff out. There’s other things that happened that I chosen not to write about, its already a long post.

We Are Family

Well here I am again, stuck not knowing what to write about. It's been a little while since I was here, however, I know by now, that once my fingers hit the keyboard something will come.

I went to a(nother) happy hour last night, to meet a friend of mine who was in town for the week from The Netherlands. It was great to see him again, and there was a good turn out. We had quite a lot of fun. We met up at a Brew Pub, which of course only served beer and wine. I really enjoy drinking beer, but it doesn't like me so much. It normally messes with my allergies... but last night it did not. So after a few beers I was having a pretty good time.

This afternoon, I am planning on heading down to the Oregon Brew Fest at the riverfront. I volunteered at the event a couple of years ago, and still have a bunch of beer tokens left over... so they'll be getting all used up today and tomorrow. I just hope my allergies continue to stay at away, so I can enjoy it.

On another note, my mum just sent me such a lovely message. I am going to be over there for 3 weeks within 3 weeks, and I am really looking forward to it. My mum, is also looking forward to "taking care of me". Even though I am 29, I still like to be taken care of by my mum. Of course that doesn't get to happen very often as I only see her once or twice a year... but still... I love my family oh so much, and I really enjoy it when I am over there with my mum, dad and brother.

See, I knew I'd be able to write a post, once I got started :)

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Last night I got to watching “Who killed the electric car?” It was made a while ago, back in 2006 I believe, but it was really interesting. I don’t drive, as some of you may or may not know, this mainly is due to the fact that I don’t need to, although I am also quite proud of the fact that I have never had a license or owned a car – some people especially here in the US, can’t get seem to get their head around that idea.

It begins with a funeral, for the car - which to me seemed a little odd, but by the time you get to the end of the documentary, it makes sense. The story of the cars conception till demise is told by numerous people: actors, consumers, engineers and politicians.

The film, certainly sparked some good conversation between Ryan and I. And, of course when I log into my email today, what should be on yahoo’s headlines?

Hopefully this car has a brighter future than the EV1, which ended up getting crushed somewhere in the desert.

One day, I hope that electric cars will be sold at an affordable price for the general population, and that they have batteries that will last those long distances that people need to drive at times. The technology exists, its just up to the motor companies to put it on the market, and for us, as consumers to start to demand products which are kinder to the environment.

Hate

Have you seen or heard of this site http://www.hatebook.com/?

A friend of mine just sent it to me, and I thought it was kind of neat. Sort of like that secrets thing. I quite like being able to see the things that bother other people.

Its amazing how much time can be spent at either of these two sites.

I was reading the secrets from Sunday July 12th, and it brought a tear to me eye.

It gave me a different perspective on my own life.

Put on a Happy Face

Although I've had a lot of great girl time the past week, I still feel like I am putting in a lot of effort into keeping a happy face.

I am generally a postive person, and also believe that there's a reason for everything. On top of that its not the first time I've been heart broken, so I know I'll bounce back. I just wish I could get there a little faster. I know its only been a week - patience is not a strength of mine.

I just want to be happy and having fun again. I don't like this sad feeling and I don't like the tears. I know I have to go through this, I just wish I knew what the point of this heart ache crap was. But I don't, nor am I ever likely to

So, in the meantime, you get to read my vents - and my apologies for that.

Good thing is, work is crazy busy this week, which is a great distraction, but my evenings are looking sort of empty until Friday. I need to get them filled up. Sitting at home trying to figure out what to do with myself, is not the way to go just yet.

Swan dance

I said I'd post a photo of my wrapped up food... well here you go - my drunken swan

Life

Well its Sunday, and almost the end of another week.

This past week has been a crazy one. First off with Ryan and I breaking up, and I've just been really busy - which has been a blessing. Tuesday night I went to Eddie Izzard, oh my gosh, he is just so funny. In case you don't know who Eddie Izzard is:

The above is a clip from a previous tour, but its one of my favourites.

Beside seeing Eddie this week (he made me laugh so hard by the way), I went to see Willy Wonka in the Park (which I already posted about), Friday it was a happy hour with some folks from work, and the first night that Ryan and I have been out at the same place since we broke up. We have many of the same friends, so its probably something that will happen more often.

It was actually remarkably ok, it was only awkward for the first couple of mins.

Last night it was girls night, we went to a place called Montage, its one of my favourite places to eat here in Portland. It's cajun food. The mac 'n' cheese is my favourite. They have what they called Spold Mac - its basically a combination of Spicy Mac and Old Mac (Old Mac being yesterdays mac), but it is so tastey. By the time the night was done, I had a good buzz on, and done more than my fair share of laughing. Its always good to get out with a group of girls.

I don't have the photo yet, but one thing I like about this place is the way they wrap your left overs. They make your left overs into foil creations. Mine was made into a swan last night, they also make flowers, snails, swords, trees, crabs, giraffes and goodness know's what else. As soon as my friend gets me the photo, i'll be a posting it. (the photo that is posted is not mine, I stole it from Helen Y)

Today, I'm going to be off to help one of my best friends pack, she'll be leaving the state soon, and although I am happy for the opportunity that's come her way, I am sad that she'll be leaving. She's a wonderful person, and I'll miss her very much.

Over at the pub

Max lately left me in charge of the pub while he's away on vacation.

I am not really sure what he was thinking when he did that, as surely I am going to be causing some trouble - its what us ladies to best after all.

I decided to bring in a new barman - you should go over there and take a look.

We are also trying to collect some fun/mysterious facts about each of the pubs regulars, Maxie boy, has to figure out which one belongs to whom, and then perfom forfiets of sometype for each one that he gets wrong...

Mwah ha ha ha.

The Candy Man

Last night I went to go see Willy Wonka in the Park with a couple of friends. It was even better than I expected - and rather random.

We headed down after work, to the Rose Garden where the show was being held. There's an amphitheatre there, and it was a beautiful evening weather wise.

The cast was a combination of adults and kids.

The set, although it looked simple upon first glance, was actually incredibly put together, there were many combinations which could be created from turning bit around, or flipping pieces up and down by hinges - very cool. We weren't able to take pictures otherwise I would have posted some. After all a picture tells a thousand words.

The kids were so cute, and when they were playing the part of the umpa lumpa's they were just brilliant.

There were some weird, and funny parts though, for which I really do wish I had pictures, as I know I can't do them justice by description alone. Do you remember the part in the movie, or book where they are in the candy boat, and its all psychedelic. Well in this case it was achieved by the umpa lumpas walking round the stage with sign like things in there hands - ranging from Inca mask type things, to kites, to posters with tasselike thingies. It was quite bizzare, and I couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

Then, do you remember the part where Charlie and his Grandad take a sip of the floating bubble stuff...? Well, that bit was very amusing. Of, course with this being outside, there was no way to use lines to make them fly... so instead... they had life size dummies of Charlie and Granddad who flew about the stage attached to poles... Oh my gosh, it brought tears to my eyes.

Now, I may sound as if I am dissing this show, I really am not. I really think they came up with creative ways to make this work and tell the story on an outdoor stage, but it was quite humorous.

When it was over, all us girlies walked back to the car singing and dancing to the Candyman song... yeah - we really can't sing.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

To all my friends... I am so pleased I finally found out about this...

The correct way to weigh yourself...

Can you believe I've been doing it wrong all these years...

Doodle Week - Doodle Garden

Sorry about the quality of the photo, i only had my phone with me.

I doodle flowers, snails, butterflies and dragonflies a lot... they are just fun.

Doodle Week - Doodle Space

For more doodle week posts and information go to Doodle Week

Got to love facebook

So I went to check my facebook earlier today... and since I changed my relationship status... this is what I see in the ad's section:

Really... is this supposed to make me feel better...? I mean seriously... I just got out of a relationship, you think I

a. want to jump straight back into one

b. want to see the header 29 and alone again... is that supposed to make me feel good.

At least I still have my sense of humour, and I find this a little entertaining.. but seriously...

Doodle Week - Doodle Bug

To Wish Impossible Things

So I am sure you are all keen to know how my weekend trip was.

It started off great, we took highway 101 down the coast, and saw some incredible views. The Oregon coastline is impressive, the sheer number of trees, the high rising Cliffside and craggy beaches, as you travel south the cliffs turn to long and high dunes, like I’ve never seen before. We spent the night at Coos Bay, and left early for Crater Lake. The drive to Crater Lake was also impressive, especially as we started to move into the mountains following the Umpqua rivers.

We stopped off at Diamond Lake for lunch, I had a little splash in the Lake, then back in the car. I can not describe Crater Lake well enough to give do it justice, nor do the photos give it justice. Ryan and I discussed this a little, and decided part of the beauty and awe of crater lake, is that as you drive through the mountains to get to it, you’d have no idea it was there. Its not until you get to the top of the rim do you see it. Its incredibly blue. Crater lake was created about 7,700 years ago when Mt Mazama erupted and collapsed in on its self. Over time, the crater has filled with rain water and melted snow, the Lake is 1.963 feet deep, and about 5 miles across.

We spent a few hours driving around the lake, getting out of the car at every opportunity to take photos and enjoy the scenery. One stop was at the pinnacles, they remind me of the architecture created by Gaudi, but of course were created long before his time. They were created when Mt Mazama erupted. Hot gas was pushed through the ground and fumaroles were created. Over time as rain and melted snow etched the landscape the pinnacles were revealed.

After making the round trip of Crater Lake we headed to Chemult for our lodgings. Chemult is a small town of 75 people. Our motel was the first on in town, so we pulled in checked in, then headed out for dinner. We ended up at the Chalet for dinner, we had a great rib-eye then went into the bar. We expected to just be there for an hour or two… well how wrong could we have been… it was 1am by the time we left and many drinks later. There wasn’t many people in the bar, but the people that we there were extremely friendly. The karaoke was in full swing within no time at all. If you’ve been to my blog much before, you’ll be aware of my feelings regarding karaoke and my ability to sing… well, with enough drinks I was up there singing a duo with Lea, I don’t think it was too bad.

As last call was called, Ryan and I left and went back to our motel to rest up for the long drive the next day. We this is where the perfect weekend turned sour. We got into a conversation which lead to Ryan telling me that he is not in love with me. He told me he wanted to be, that I am what he wants, but there is just something missing. So that’s it, the wbf becomes xbf.

The drive back home to Portland yesterday was long, I spent the whole time with tears rolling down my face trying to piece it all together – when the cure song “To Wish Impossible Things” pops up on Ryan’s iPod, it just seemed to sum up the whole situation perfectly.

Now we are both trying to figure out what happens now. We are tied into the lease, and neither of us can easily afford to pay the rent on our own, so at least in the short-term we will still be living together.

I know that the pain I am feeling at the moment will disappear with time, and I am just looking for the positives and opportunities that will arise from all this.

More photos:

Friday

It's finally Friday, and I am so happy. The weather here is wonderful right now, and I have no desire to be indoors, however, at the moment I need to work to pay the bills so there's no getting past the fact I have to at least spend some time indoors - oh well, such is life. I suppose if I was really bothered by that fact, I'd look for a new job in which I could be outdoors all day. Been as I'm not going to do that, I'll just stop my whining now.

Today, I'll only be working till lunchtime. Then I am going to Coos Bay and Crater Lake for the weekend. I've never been to either of these places, in fact I have never been that far south in Oregon. This is part of my birthday treat from the wbf. I am so excited.

We leave at noon, and then we'll be taking 101 down. Its going to be so much fun, I can hardly wait. I know this morning is going to take a long time, I am counting down the hours (I'd do minutes, but then it would feel even longer).

I've added Twitter to my blog, and I'll be sending updates there.

Smell ya later :)

July 4th

Well it was almost a week ago, but I had a fabulous July 4th.

After arriving back from my camping trip, I had a lovely bath and got all cleaned up. Camping does lead to a mucky Caroline.

I then had a nap, as I hadn't got a whole lot of sleep while I was gone, then I headed out to a friends for BBQ and drinks. We were there for a while, then we went to the Blues Festival. This is the second year that I've been. Both times its been great.

I never really thought of myself as much of a blues fan, but its so much fun to sit on the grass, in the sun listening to it. I was there with the wbf, and it was so nice.

At about 10pm it was fireworks time. They had two barges set up on either side of the Hawthorne bridge. I love fireworks. The wbf put his arms around me as we watched.

It was such a lovely birthday eve.

Doodle Week - Starts on Monday

I had so much fun at doodle week last time, and I am happy to see there's another one coming up!

Woo hoo!

It starts on Monday, you can find out more at Doodle Week.

Here are my doodles from last time around:

Take on me

I was going to write a lovely post about last week camping, but that will just have to wait as I haven't gotten around to uploading my photo's yet, and I am waiting on Marie, who took more photos than me.

So, I am going to write about something else instead, but of course in true Caroline fashion, I have no clue what I am going to write about just yet.

I am still waiting for that A ha moment. Not A Ha as in the group, although I really do like the video for Take On Me. I remember dancing to this in my living room when I was all of 5 years old – I think I still dance the same now as I did back then – (sorry to disappoint, but the below is not a video of my crazy dancing)



We tried to go dancing on Saturday night for my birthday celebration, but the place we ended up in was not playing the type of music that me and my friends like to dance to, and we were too lazy to go wandering around to find another place. Saturday nights in Portland is not the best dancing night for me – I prefer Fridays.

As the group I was with wasn’t dancing a whole lot, we spent a lot of time people watching.

Oh my goodness was this a great place to do that. I thought my dancing was a little crazy, but mine is normal in comparison to some of what we saw, it was a blast. I am not one to make fun of other people (unless I know them first), but I just couldn’t help it. I just couldn’t take my eyes away from some of these folks. One lass was line dancing to R&B, well I say line dancing, that’s really just the best way of describing it. But you know what, everyone was having so much fun, and at the end of the day, that is what counts.

As Mark Twain said: "Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth."

Short Post

Took a while for me to get back to my Blog, but here I am.

I had a great week camping, and was back home in time to take a nap and then head out to the Blues Festival, and watch some fireworks.

Saturday was my birthday, after grabbing breakfast, getting a manicure, pedicure and haircut, the wbf, myself and our neighbour watched a movie then headed out to celebrate my special day.

I will write more about all the week in a bit, but right now I am back at work, and they already have me busy.