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i am: 40...a capricorn / moon in pisces / libra rising...an old soul with a young spirit...older than i look...contemplating my 3rd tattoo...NOT a web designer...a lesbian...working things out with the g.f....a native iowan...a graduate of cornell college and ohio state...a critical reader and thinker...really rather shy...agnostic...an ardent feminist...a bleeding-heart liberal...a pacifist...and so not your average white grrl...
e-mail me
feeling generous? *grin*
Who Links Here
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August 29, 2002
trippin'in addition to preparedness, another positive aspect of being a "worrier" is that things are rarely as bad as you've anticipated. *grin*
our trip out west for my sister's wedding was wonderful. portland is a beautiful city in (what i think is) our country's most beautiful region. it was sunny and warm (but not too warm) the whole time we were there, except for some clouds the morning we left. downtown portland is lively, with lots to do and see within walking distance...shops (including the only doc martens store in the u.s.), movie theaters, restaurants, a mall, a sunken plaza-type area for festivals (we were there during festiva italia), and a coffee shop on almost every corner (at least half of them starbucks...booooo, hisssss). our hotel was very nice, with the most comfortable hotel mattress i've ever experienced (which made up for the rather small size of our room). we spent some time in the hawthorne district, which is where we would live if we ever moved there. and we caught a bit of the annual hawthorne street fair, where we saw an act by the lifesavas, a portland hip hop trio (yes....i just used "hip hop" and "portland" in the same sentence) with a cool, positive kinda vibe. if it weren't for the fact that we saw, like, 15 black people there the whole time (okay, that's exaggerating...but not much), i would be ready to look for a job in portland TODAY...it was that cool. but at least we're talking about going back for a vacation...maybe renting a car and driving up to seattle for a few days, too. if we time it just right next summer, we may be able to catch games in both places. *grin*
the wedding itself was lovely. my sister looked beautiful (even done up with that sprout of fake hair that her new husband didn't know was fake until she took it off with her veil that nite) in a simple, strapless white gown with just a little decorative beading and (thankfully) no lace. the church was tiny and quaint. pre-ceremony photographs were taken in the park on the riverfront, and s was included in the photos for the bride's side of the family and the whole group. *grin* we looked fabulous, too...s in a striking cream suit and gold blouse, me in ice-blue with a charcoal silk blouse and shoes that couldn't have matched better if they were supposed to. we looked like the "city mice" of the whole clan.
family-wise, i couldn't really have asked for it all to go more smoothly. my new brother-in-law's family, there from wisconsin and minnesota, was very nice, laid-back, and just real. the first nite we were there, his oldest sister talked and joked with s while i was preoccupied with other family members, and i think she really helped to make s feel welcomed. my family didn't do too badly with that, tho, themselves. my dad gave her a bone-crushing hug when we first walked in, and my mom, both sisters, sister-in-law (the one family member s had already met), nieces and nephews, and j (the new brother-in-law) greeted her warmly. it was wonderful to meet my "little" niece and nephew (ages 8 and 10...i was introduced as "the auntie lisa who sends great presents"...which i most certainly do), and even better to hang out with kim and chris, the older ones (ages almost-18 and 24), who have absolutely no hang ups about gayness—a tribute to their generation, as well as good parenting. among the 30-or-so buttons pinned to the strap of kim's bag was a rainbow button...and, along with chris and my sister-in-law (their mother), we all joked about how j and my sister had invited (and made sure that we knew they'd invited) their lesbian-couple (former) neighbors, so that s and i would have a couple of "friendly faces" at the wedding...as if the fact that they were lesbians would mean that we'd all like each other *rolling my eyes*.....but we never even met them! s and i actually spent quite a bit of time with chris and kim, especially chris. what a cutie. he's got my brother's hazel eyes, dry sense of humor, and dazzling personality (now if he would just get a job...*grin*). and kim, my niece, just started an actor training program at a nearby community college and has her sights set on ucla after that. i've never lived close enough to have the luxury of developing real relationships with them, and i haven't fooled myself into thinking that one long weekend has solved that...but i do feel fortunate to be able to know them at least a little bit. maybe the e-mail communication that has fallen flat in the past can be revived somewhat by the fact that we've discovered things (music, books) in common and have actually spent a little time together just chillin'. it was definitely a highlight of the trip.
lest i give the false impression that all was idyllic, there were a few awkward and painful moments...including how it felt to see someone else standing up with (and toasting to the happiness of) my sister, when i was originally supposed to do that...and trying to negotiate time spent with my parents (which must be time spent with them individually), an all too common trap whenever i'm anywhere near both of them simultaneously. there was also the fact that ol' dub'ya was in town the day we arrived, portlanders were protesting his very presence (i knew i liked it there...we woke friday morning to sing-song chants of "bush is an asshole!"), streets were blocked off, and we spent 2+ hours driving in painfully slow circles around downtown, trying to navigate the maze of one-way streets to get to our hotel. overall, tho, i enjoyed seeing my family (however screwed up they are), meeting j's family, and "incorporating" the most important person in my life into the whole big mess.
2:28 PM
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