Cheek to cheek is almost chin to eye.

Family time!!!!

My Aunt Sherry came to visit from Fresno. This means I was on the receiving end of real quality time with her and my cousin Nicole.

In addition to the standard family fare of rivers, waterfalls, and the Saturday Market, we made an appearances at the annual Portland Zine Symposium...

...Trek in the Park...

...and plenty of public fountains...

Never thought I could miss Fresno so much. I wish my family was closer.

Time will vindicate us all someday.

There is something about a cemetery, some sacred beauty revealed. It is amazing how much you can discover about people when you witness how they remember their dead.
The amazing thing about this forgotten cemetery is its proximity to the I5 freeway.
One has to wonder how much was disrupted when the bulldozers came through.

Bearing down the interstate...

People often wonder why I'm so MIA all the time, and I can see the doubt in their eyes when I excuse my absense with the word I've spoken so many times it ceases to carry any real meaning, "homework."

Just to emphasize my sincerest remorse for not being there the last two weeks and proactively apologizing for any belated responses the following two weeks (school is out July 20th, and believe you me I am counting the days), here is a list of the things I've just printed that I must read this week, in addition to the three novels I have to finish by Friday:

"Defending poor women against 'sex trafficking': Looking holistically at human trafficking"
"Violence against women, trafficking, and migration in the European Union"
"Prostitution on demand: Legalizing the buyers as sexual consumers"
"Confronting sex trafficking: lessons from history"
"Migration, sexual exploitation, and women's health: a case report"
"Ending sex trafficking of children in Atlanta" (yes, that is Georgia, US)
"Human trafficking in the heartland: Variation in law enforcement awareness and response"
"Sex work during the World Cup in Germany"
"Confusion between prostitution and sex trafficking"
"Prostitution and trafficking in women: An intimate relationship"
"Prostitution and trafficking of women and children from Mexico to the US"
"Looking for Child Psychiatric Nursing--Vietnam 2005"
"Representations and misrepresentations of human trafficking"

and a few more that I have already completed reading and hilighting and taking notes from and therefore do not have them sitting right in front of me.

My point is, be grateful for my absense. My talking points of late aren't the usual poop and ice cream banter that you may usually count on me to provide.

Two more weeks,... two more weeks...

Throw me a line, attach a cup and whisper, "hey hey"

Totally obsessed with this one lately. As Jonny says, our generation truly has the best humor.

Does it mean yr getting old when you can accurately reflect upon the qualities of your generation?

We float like rocks in water

So exhausted. So exhausted. I think the dog has me beat though. By far.

We went to the river today.

My camera got river tested. I used it to paddle a bunch and it didn't give me any guff at all. Seemed to enjoy the freezing cold more than I did, in fact. Learned that the Clackamas near Eagle Creek can be a bit more grueling than the Sandy that us river rats are more accustomed to.

Before the halfway point, after watching the old man doggie paddle against the current with what seemed to be an exhausting frustration, I couldn't feel right about it any longer and decided to excuse ourselves and meet back at the house.

Leuc took it like a champ in the beginning, but soon I found myself without direction and in thickets of briers and stinging nettles and blackberry thorns. We wandered into friendlier pastures, often meaning that we were trespassing and hoping that no buck-toothed Jethros in overalls were waiting for us with raised shotguns.

We made it through (mostly) unharmed. I think the old man needs a day or two to recover. Jonny tried to walk him around the block and returned after only a couple minutes, carrying the dog heroically through the door to let him rest quietly upon the throne of the queen bed.

Poor guy. I think he turned old today.