Hedgehogs and Fancy Flips

Cherish here!

Everybody! I got a hedgehog! His name is Ianto (pronounced Yawn-Toe). He's quite the lady killer. I've not seen a woman who could resist his adorable little self yet, or a man for that matter. He's an African Pygmy Hedgehog I got from a breeder in Everett. I was quite lucky, I was last on her waiting list so I didn't expect any choices, but the woman who was first on the list stopped talking to the breeder a few days before the pick up was supposed to happen. (Pick up feels like such a shady term, it wasn't shady at all, guys!) Thanks to the mysterious flaky hedgehog buyer I got to choose between my lovely little Ianto and a grumpy hedgehog whose coloring was a little more attractive. This is a life lession, readers, are you ready? Looks aren't everything.

He warmed up to me right away, I haven't seen him ball up even once since I picked him up monday. He climbs all over me and is just fantastic!

Also, I've rejoined the dive team. I was on it two years ago, we'll see what happens. I'll keep you updated!

Cherish out!

Seattle University and Sweatshirts

Cherish here!

I went to a college planning day at Seattle University today with my mother and my friend Kim. It was pretty great. I learned a lot about the college application process and more about Seattle University. I tell you, I get more fond of that school every time I visit it. It's my number one choice I think. I like the smaller school atmosphere and the campus is beautiful. Anyway I also got an SU sweatshirt which I've been wanting for awhile.

Coincidentally today is also the day Riley went to Utah. I miss him already. He was my other half and it's hard being apart. We've been inseparable for the past two years. I don't know, it's scary to think that I can't just go over to his house and spend the day together. Don't let me get you down. We'll make it.

I'm winding down into an all nighter with the little sister, we're watching Breakfast at Tiffany's right now, and then we'll play some more Black Ops. What a day.

Cherish out!

Cloudy Minds and Silver Linings

Cherish here!

Hey guys, I've been distant this week, I'm sorry. It's been tough. And wonderful. The past couple of days have been especially rollercoasteresque. I've bounced from really low to really high and back again. Let's start at Thursday.

I convinced Riley to accompany me to Zippy's for our date night. I was really excited to show him something I've found comfort in, he wasn't really feeling it at first, but he warmed to it when some of the poems were phenomenal. I'm constantly impressed by the caliber of work I'm exposed to there, a bunch of almost strangers stripping down to their souls and giving pieces of themselves away. It's beautiful.

Anyway, halfway through the open mic night I got a call from my math teacher, from the class I've been taking this quarter. She told me that the grade I got on the final pulled my grade down to a D, meaning I have to retake the class in order to get into Math141, even though I'm enrolled in it already for next quarter. So I'm behind now, and I'm not taking it well. I offered to try to correct another test I hadn't done so well on, or write an essay on a mathematician, but she just wouldn't work with me. So, stifling tears I went back into the cafe and tried to shrug it off.

I guess I've always been good at that. Something bothers me, so I drown myself in whatever metaphorical river is closest, and really, a bunch of poetry is as good a body of metaphorical water as any. I lost myself in their words and Riley's arms as I tried to forget this crushing blow to my confidence. Understand, I'm not upset because I got a bad grade, I'm upset because I studied really hard and I couldn't get a better grade.

After the poetry night ended around nine, we hopped in his supersized Yukon and went to Lake Ki. It was beautiful in the light of the full moon. We stripped down and inched into the cold water. We splashed and laughed and stood silently, awed by the black water with its own moon shining in the face of the real one. It was a freeing experience I think, just he and I, alone in a lake in the middle of the night. A beautiful one.

But dear readers, that happiness was not to last. Like I said, ups and downs. Ups and downs. Do you remember the Shaggin' Wag'n? Have I mentioned it? My faithful van, a beautiful blue Chevy Astrovan whom I liked more than most people. I woke up to its transmission troubles becoming permanent. My darling, dead. It was horrible. I watched my dad sell it as scrap to a hideously obese mexican man. I was heartbroken. As though the class was not enough, I lost my van and in less than a week my boyfriend was heading off to Utah. I was in hell.

But I put on my strong face once again, I had a play to go to. My dear friend, one of the sweetest people I've ever met is in Village Theater Kidstage's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Opening night was friday, and I had to be there for her. The show itself was incredible. It's showing at the Everett Performing Arts Center and if you get the chance you should go see it. Two of the characters have songs in chinese and the whole plot is hilarious and cheesy and a complete feel good show. And you know what? It made me feel good. Until I got home and remembered everything that was going wrong for me.

It's alright though. I'll get over it. In the mean time, you all be wonderful.

And go for a barefoot run, it's good stuff.

Cherish out!

Sundays and Sunsets

Cherish here!

 Sundays are tough days for me. I feel distinctly at war with myself when the rest of the world makes its peace in churches and mosques and temples. I wonder why I wage a private war with myself and my maker. It leaves me unsatisfied and questioning everything. So today when the walls of the world closed in on me once again I picked up a card that had been given to me by a kindly Russian fellow at a poetry slam days ago.

In large words the card holds the mantra; Nam myoho renge kyo. I said them aloud and they felt good. They rolled off the tongue and I felt calm. Nam myoho renge kyo. The Lotus Sutra, considered by some to contain the Ultimate Truth of Buddhism. That everyone can become a Buddha, the potential rests within each of us to reach enlightenment. Diamoku is the practice of chanting the Lotus Sutra to find the Buddha in one's life.

The words had felt so right, so soothing a balm to my soul, that I looked deeper. And I'm not done looking. I checked out a copy of the Tibetan Book of Death and I've started reading it. I'm not sure so far how I feel about it all, but I keep thinking how good those words were. So I'll keep reading. And the card? I wasn't brave enough to call the man yet, but I think I will. Nam myoho renge kyo.

***

Also today I went on another family outing with Riley and his family. Prepare for another onslaught of photos, dear readers.

We went to Kayak Point and it was a lot more enjoyable than I expected it to be. And I learned yet another interesting fact about myself! Yesterday I learned I speak Komodo Dragon and today I discovered I am a fantastic bolo player! I was undefeated, ladies and gentlemen. I mean sure, I only played two games, but I destroyed those two games. I sent my competitors running away with their thoroughly whipped tails between their legs. And it was great.

It was beautiful out. Not too hot and not too cold. The sun was more photogenic than usual. We even brough the family dog with us. It was so nice. We had a picnic table under an awning and a blanket in the grass right on the edge of the beach. A perfect set up for reading deep religious texts. Well, except for the children and dogs. I didn't read for long. 

As the sun slowly descended, Riley's family and I played frisbee and bolo in our somewhat secluded field. I didn't expect to have nearly as good a time as I did. He has three younger siblings, and alternatingly strict and laidback parents. Usually I've a headache pretty quickly into our excursions, but this was fun, much more so than any other family trip I've been on with them.

After a wonderful summery barbeque, with delicious garden burgers and root beers out of the cooler, Riley and I took a walk along the beach, just the two of us. It was really nice. The sunset was the perfect back drop as we walked hand in hand down the rocky beach. 

Romantic and beautiful. In otherwords, perfect. It was a fantastic way to finish off the day. I'm so fortunate.

***

That leads us here, sitting with Riley on his couch, he's playing Pokemon Stadium on his Nintendo64, I'm next in the lineup. I've a mug of terrible flowery tea next to me and an english muffin with my name on it. I am content with things. I hope you are too. I'll head home soon and end the night with some more scriptures and a bedtime story from my wonderful boyfriend. Sleep well, readers.

Cherish out!

Dinosaurs and Komodo Dragons

Cherish here!

Everybody! I went to the Woodland Park Zoo today and some dinosaurs invaded and it was pretty crazy!

Ok. Just kidding. They were animatronic and didn't attack so much, but they were still pretty cool. Just a warning, this is going to have more photos than words I think. Anyway the dinosaurs were pretty cool but the exhibit was kind of small. Also, there was this sneaky half put together stegasaurus hidden in another section of the zoo with these controls and a sign saying you could test it out, but nothing worked. It just about broke my heart! And if that weren't enough, they had a dinosaur that looked very much like an ankylosaurus, which happens to be my favorite dinosaur. But it wasn't an ankylosaurus. It was a wannabe. A fake. A douche!

So that was pretty sad. I guess looking at it now it's obviously not an ankylosaurus, those are pretty clearly spikes instead of little balls of death and those colors are pretty ridiculous. It looks like a little kid put make up on its face. An ankylosaurus would never put up with that sort of behavior. 

As you can clearly see the ankylosaurus is much more intimidating. And rad. And adorable too. Without silly little kid make up. Clearly. But the dinosaurs weren't the only cool thing there. I also learned a pretty cool little secret about myself. And I'm not talking parseltongue!

Not parseltongue, but close. So there was a komodo dragon hanging out on one side of the enclosure and I got in and it looked straight at me. I'm pretty sure we had some kind of telepathic connection because he never took his eyes off of me as he walked right over to the glass and stared at me. It was kind of creepy. He kept staring at me until I turned and he walked into his little pool. I'd never ever seen the komodo dragons move so much. 

Elephants have always been my favorite animals to visit when I go to the zoo. I could spend hours just watching them, they're such beautiful animals. When we went there was one having a bath and it was adorable pressing itself against the fence so the handler scrubbed harder and picking up bits of food off the ground. Elephants are just fantastic animals. 

We wandered the whole zoo of course and we saw a bunch of cool animals. They just got a new pack of wolves for their northern exhibit and they were really cute and social, they were chasing each other around, digging, and jumping into their water. I've hardly ever been able to catch a glimpse at them before. All the animals were much more active than usual.

I saw the lioness prowling, and the tigers napping. I saw porcupines climbing trees, penguins sharing an enclosure with a heron, and I pet snakes and hissing cockroaches. And guys, I think cockroaches are really cute, there's one named after me at the Pacific Science Center. It was pretty great.

Afterwards I was dragged to a soccer game for one of Riley's younger brothers and had to cower from the sun. I really wonder about soccer fans. How do any of the children playing the game know what to do with all of the parents on the sides shouting all these different orders? It's so loud!

Anyway. Now I'm watching tv and playing Call of Duty with Riley before we have some delicious Gardenburgers for dinner! A nice relaxing night after a long day. Have a nice night, readers. I will!

Cherish out!

Poetry Cafes and Motorcycles

Cherish here!

I got a new motorcycle!! It's a Honda Saber 750 and I'm pretty excited about it. I hurt my leg pretty badly starting my old KL600 yesterday and so I'm extra happy to have an electric start. The locking gas cap is another plus, we couldn't find one for my KLR, and I just don't trust those Everett people to not steal my gas while I'm in class.
It's pretty great but when I took it for a spin I stalled it at a stop sign and then it tipped over. It was pretty embarassing but I've noticed that whenever I tip a bike there's always at least one fellow motorcyclist who rushes over to help me, and inevitably it's a man. I'm not saying that's not a good thing, because generally dropping my bike leaves me incredibly flustered and stressed. It's a stressful thing. Anyway, I made it home, and now I have a new bike and brilliant plans for some more great custom stuff!

Yesterday my wonderful boyfriend and I went kayaking (and swimming in his case) at Lake Ki! Coincedentally we also decided to keep our kayaking excursions to rivers and the slough. It turns out that lakes are really boring because there's not really that much to explore. It was fun though. As you can see by the photo, we were having a hot and sunny day and there was no way I was going outdoors without as much skin covered as possible. You'll see me fashionably sporting a thin button up shirt and a wonderfully outdoorsy hat, minimally worrying about potential damage from the sun.
Before all our adventuring we started out the morning with a trip to our local Henry's Donuts. We took our usual seats in the corner and I had my usual chocolate cream filled and his donut of the day was an apple fritter. We sat and talked and drank our milks to the tune of the cars passing by. When we were done we played some pinball on the old carnival pinball machine which is one of my favorite parts of the little shop.
Then we went to value village and did some shopping. I got a fantastic jacket for ten dollars and a bag of loose fabrics for three dollars, I'm quite excited to see what I can make out of it. We spent a little while trying on silly clothes and buying maybe more than we needed to. I have a great mug now just for my tea. I've always wanted my own unique mug. And it's the sort of ugly mug that I don't have to worry about anyone else in my house using. It was a lot of fun.

Soon enough though, Riley had work and I had other plans. I headed down to Cafe Zippy's LLC to check out the local poetry scene which apparently is pretty good. They had a featured poet, Priya Keefe, whose name sounded familiar to me, though I don't know why. She's from Seattle I guess, her poems were local and talked about things I know which made me happy. It was really cool to hear all of the poetry there, things people had written themselves and had nowhere else to share it. It was really intimate. And it was all sorts of people and they all seemed to be regulars and know each other. I was so happy to be a part of it even for a little while.
Now Zippy's is a cool little music/poetry cafe with all sorts of organic snacks and healthy drinks. It's cozy. The seating is a hodgepodge of mismatched wooden chairs and tables with the occasional couch or cushy chair and the walls are decorated with giant prints of underwater photographs and abstract flower paintings. Usually, when the owner is there, a black and white dalmatian roams the cafe like he owns it. And I guess he does. After all, the whole establishment is named after him. 
Two poets really stuck out in my head. The first was a tall young man with thick rimmed glasses. He did two metaphors and an english sonnet. Each one ended with him kissing someone. In the first one, which I liked best, he compared "you" to a saxaphone, with a waist of keys and ended it with his lips on "your" mouthpiece. It was pretty hilarious. The second guy was an old biker whose poem was entitled, The Revolution Will Be Televised. With his well chosen words he painted a world where Revolution is the ultimate brand and everything was Revolution TM. I can't really portray what he did, I can't do it justice.
The worst part of open mic night is knowing I'll never hear the poems again.

Cherish out.

Hedgiebags and Sewing Machines

Cherish here!

I was on a mission yesterday! And it was a busy day for sure! I found a bunch of advertisements for hedgiebags online and I decided that I would make my own! So I went to the store with my dad and we got some bright green fleece and some black corduroy and then exploded over the table. So guys, if you're being crafty with a sewing machine and your table doesn't look like this you're doing something wrong. Also, I haven't used a sewing machine in several years now. It's been hiding under my bed. So this was a first.

Anyway we managed to turn a whole mess of fabric into a beautiful bag fit for a hedgehog! It's not quite done yet. The pocket still has to be sewn on and we're going to embroider it a little bit. But overall I'm pleased. The inside is lined with the fleece and the shoulder strap has a side of each material. What's really impressive though is the flower.

I found this really great tutorial to make these fabric flowers and after only one try and several faulty petals we had this beauty! I'm impressed! And it was actually really easy and you don't even need a sewing machine to do it really. The bead was the sneaky part. My stepmother hoards things she'll never use and has a collection of beautiful beads gathering dust. So I set my dad on distraction and took matters into my own hands. Unfortunately on my way back I slipped on something and went flying. The beads were alright but I'm all scraped up. Anyway, it looks great! I'm really proud of it.Perhaps I got cocky. After the hedgiebag was done I decided I would make myself an actual purse out of old clothes. I gathered together a whole bunch of materials and got started. It was going really well until somehow the needle got bent. I got some pliers to straighten it out and the tip snapped right off! I was heartbroken. It was like the sewing gods knew that this would happen to me and I found extra needles stashed with the extra things. I was so excited! I put it into the machine and started sewing, but three stitches later it snapped again.
Right about there I lost hope. So here I am. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.


Cherish out.

Tea and Health

Cherish here!

How are you all today? I'm starting off the morning with a mug of tea so strong it will put hair on your chest and some Les Mis. How are you starting off yours? Tea or coffee? Les Mis or the newspaper? I've always admired people who sit and read newspapers, there's too much awkwardly folded paper and navigating through it to find the second half of a story turns me off. But I love books. Preferably with paper. There's something about having to turn the cyber page every minute that annoys me, but I don't notice I do it with books.
Here's the big topic for the day. I had a physical on saturday and I found out some interesting things. First off, I'm allergic to something in most sodas and sweetened drinks, I don't know what it is, probably some sweeteners (my dad is allergic to them too). It makes a lot of sense though because I drink soda too often and I get stomach aches all the time. Now I know! But it'll be tough to avoid. I'll be relying on tea that I don't actually like. Also she confirmed that I have at the very least a sensitivity to the sun and it could be an allergy. I know what you're thinking, oh great, why would anyone tell her that. But the doctor told me!

Cherish out!

Scrapbooks and Summer Reads

Cherish here!

Guys, you're not going to believe this, but I've turned into a scrapbooking master! Truly! I was up until four last night (or perhaps this morning, I'm never sure how to word that) working on a scrapbook that is both a birthday present and going away present for my wonderful boyfriend of two years. He's heading off to Utah State University in a few weeks. Anyway, we can be sad talking about that or really excited about how much he is going to love the scrapbook! Which is a lot!
Anyway, I've stayed up until four in the morning for the past two days and it feels like my brain is running on dial-up (ha ha that's a computer joke for you nerds out there!) I figured something out though. Late at night is when you can really get clever and creative. Provided you've had half an energy drink and some company. But oh boy. It's hard work though, this scrapbooking. I don't understand how people can do this as a hobby, it's so much work and so stressful. My buddy Kimmy was helping keep me awake and focused (between Just
Dance breaks) said that most people who scrapbook make a page a week, or at least every couple of days. But guys! You're not getting anything accomplished! I whipped up thirty something pages in two days! That's love, my dear, if you read this. That's love.
Anyway, it looks amazing which is saying something because I'm not a fantastically crafty person. I can make a mean friendship bracelet but that's about it. Yes sir. Actually, I make a damn good friendship bracelet. I've decided to add the phrase "hot damn!" to my vernacular. With an exclamation point. Riley doesn't think I pull it off, but he's wrong. I pull it off quite well. I'm getting off topic.
So! I picked up a copy of Les Miserables from the library and I'm trying to read it, I really am, but I just hate the way Victor Hugo writes. I feel always like he's writing down on his readers. Like the tone of his writing is condescending. And it pisses me off. Nonetheless I'm pretty determined. But I've read some good books in the past couple months. There's an author I'd probably be in love with if I didn't think he was disturbed, Yann Martel. If you haven't read Life of Pi I suggest you pick it up from your local library immediately. It's a fantastic story and you get sucked in and believe it even though it's crazy. I recently read his book, Beatrice and Virgil. It's an incredible story that really got to me. It puts the holocaust in a new light. It left me terrified to sleep without a baseball bat. It's beautiful though, the way he describes things is fantastic. I strongly recommend it.
In other news, I've realized I'm a terrible blogger everybody. Maybe I'm not so good at being trendy. It's tough finding the time to write this! Have no fear though, I'm working on it!

Cherish out!