SPOTTINGS

My dad sent me these videos filmed via motion-sensor from the fences of our farm(s) and before they even played I recognized our land and trees and grass.





I love deer and venison and look back fondly on avoiding the hunting part. Sort of wish I had that choice right now. Im always wishing for a wolf-ish pet to follow me around. They have a stoic way of being which I could use as some protection. The lure of the coyote call haunted me long ago as I laid in bed at Grandma Jackie's farm. Simultaneous to the howling was mooing from the herd and a hissing wild cat fight beneath my window sometimes. No peace in the real world can compare to all those comforting natural reactions. Its primal out here now, in a different way than I remember. Still looking for a lullaby.

via anambitiousprojectcollapsing
via public collectors
via Documentation of Things Left Behind
Mike Benedetto showcases his son's creations.
Endearing work by a four-year-old and charming collection
by his father. This photo reminds me of playing with my sister.

And this next photo reminds me of my birthday, celebrated this
week in Portland with some of my favorite people!

Xactly

"Im just being crazy, I know. Don't pay any attention to me."

I CRY

laughing so hard right now at my sister/family

found this on my sis' facebook.

also, my dad began a string of emails between my family, in pursuit of organizing a summer camping trip. originally addressing us as the "former campers in the mist", dad sought to place us in a woodsy hostel, out of the rain. after a round of concerns about the communal sleeping arrangements, he offered a nudist-camp alternative to which my cousin Darren replied



known for his unbearably dry wit, his email address is literally "thebickersons@...com". thankfully, by the time the sun is bright enough to poach my family's sacred skin, i will have moved far away from wherever the bickersons join the "future campers in the nude"

All Apologies

three reasons why i have this song in my head
1. the weather; activating nostalgia about when i had to encounter the outdoors every day and get messy
2. appreciating the grunge wardrobe; not trying to impress anyone. at least for today.
3. a very long and somewhat painful critique; got me thinking about when i had dreams of being a scholar. now i dream to be back in the physical (contact-sports?) world.

Go here to watch an unplugged version of what i am talking about. I remember watching this on mtv when i was in elementary school. yknow, when i was wearing converse hightops, cutoff jean shorts and tshirts to school everyday and playing rough on the football field. the sun-warmed grass and mud had an embracing effect, for about an hour each day at recess. i remember that the late-melting snow turned in to ice piles on our field that made for pretty harsh scrapes if you really wanted to tackle the ball handler ("smear the queer" - sorry, i said it.) piling up on the ball, on the ice with 10 scrappy boys was embracing, too.

my life was i guess not so innocent back then. we all cycle through these things. i've spent about 6 years trying to convince my mom that my life is drug free, but now i ask that she at least enjoy seeing kids fucked up once and a while...

i seen it

and i'm not ever going back.

The DropZone skatepark. 1999. I'm on the far side, about to .... drop.... in?

LOCATION LOCALE. Almost as upnorth as it gets while still living in the real world to tell about it.

WEATHER HAIKU FOR YOU

on the phones in doors.

would be at the stumptown there.

here im hot and cold.

MICAH VISION

Abi Chase has been gathering interviews and images from a selection of people across the country with unique living situations. When I went to Oregon I handed off an "assignment" package to Micah Hollinger at High Cascade Snowboard Camp. These images were shot in the last few weeks of camp, with a disposable camera. Some excellent exposures, some of which are not so g-rated.

Brenna B! End of Summer '08; myspace

You probably wouldnt believe how many times I begin my journal entries in reference to Stephen Sagmeister's journal-writing theories.  As if I need to qualify speaking my mind. 

Yet I never have regrets for doing so. Maybe I will edit my blog a few times a year, but its probably nothing to worry about that I censor myself. Why not? When everything my generation lives for is erasable. Usually with the hit of one key command our pasts, and now our futures, could virtually be gone. 

So let me take the time to explain, now, how sentimental a few online artifacts have made me lately; The happiest place I have ever been in my life falls somewhere between a van parked on Mt. Hood and in a collective consciousness with two kindred spirits from northern Washington. I have never felt more "myself" than the days us ladies would share all of our innate and primal tendencies without hesitation. We were supported by the woods, mountains, intoxications, friendships and fires outside our backdoors. Within this potent environment, an entire western culture of snowboarding, art, fashion, design and celebrity mingled softly in the underbrush. We made choices between these two quests on an hourly basis. We never had to settle, we always set out to roam the wild. 

dedicated to Danielle Davis, Brenna B., and Anne Lantry and the govy life 2006

WHY WIN?

So it is time to address this poll to the right here. Staying in Minnesota won by a landslide. Now, there is a concern that this electoral collage was rigged, by my parents. Judging by their technical skills, I would say that is near impossible. Either way, I dont think a vote actually clarifies anything. I still have no idea what I am going to do until I am doing it.

This is the same sentiment I will feel when I mail out my ballot. Yes, I get to vote this weekend. I don't expect my vote to really count for much, and I am going to be prepared with a punching bag at my side when the nomination is announced anyway. Four years ago, I was working to get out the vote for change with an organization called Democracy Matters. My friends and I worked tirelessly throughout the city of Duluth. Despite the sad ending, Duluth was acknowledged with having the highest voter turnout out of any city in the country! 91% of our citizens voted! An hour before the polls closed, I literally took the hand of a stoned college student and led him to the poll that was right across the street from his house! No excuses, vote at least to say you did something.

I feel like I am not doing anything.

w.w.a.m.d.?

what would auntie marie do?
r.i.p. auntie marie. i cant begin to explain how amazing she is. stay tuned and i will make it proper poetry to remember her by. (100 years of life!)

she can't be beat!!

she was a masterful calligrapher, among many other things.

(she didnt hand craft this, but she could have.)

starting today, i am learning this, slowly. are you? 

miss this place. portlandhome.

mrs. torrence (ms.terese) upper right.

talking to glen glans. looking at glenhaven.

here it is. the glenhaven bowl i speak of so dearly. these independent videos make me twitch a little. they do a video right! natural audio, the good old chatter and squeak of every skateboard and skateboarder.
this edit opens with the ever amazing minnesota transplant Darren Navarrette.

thankfully, i found some footage of this! its awesome that the only feature worth filming for them was the extension. i wish i could even hit the coping on that wall...
i miss lookin out to the street course to see my friends tailsliding the faux brick bank. lookin pretty mean as they would be dodging a whole lot of small children. hey, i think chet stole your line there, glen glans! i miss us skating in oregon.

(someday, maybe, someone will read this sklog and think i am cool.)

love to this guy

so glad for his life!! michael tubbs im sure he'll be shredding again soon. back to blackberry shakes in oregon again this summer!

if you're interested in his life/death story, read on here at mtubbs.com

* also, he has an article in the latest Concussion skate mag. issue #37.

sandridge

sammige

sammwich

sandweech

sandwich

samrich

sa'wich

theyre all so good!

this soundtrack to my govy life 2006 karaoke clip was in my head all morning.
micah on the mic. and al neun on the dancefloor. my first summer on mt. hood in oregon. (i used to have so much fun, then.) *this was a nightly occurance in the '3rd world' a-frame at high cascade snowboard camp!!

cheer up, sunny days will be back again soon.

a discovery day

i just realized that different sensations can put me in a different state of mind.
nice.
the rays of sun are easing my my weary, arty fists. the Kills are reminding me of the edge i have (reflecting on portland trife life), and some aromatherapy helps sometimes, too.

p.s. i want to write on the world!

a day in government camp oregon

my favorite place on earth!! june 16, 2007

to the ones who call me "t money"! all sorts of lovey.

charlie's bar! modern.

the latest status

i have become a Grenadian!

thanks Joe Millionare and the Grenerds for making it official.

way up north!

im goin to duluth this weekend and i couldnt be more siked!
a private lake, a bigloo,
and a black eyed snakes show!!!!!!!!
no frickin way!
remember this

(this was filmed in the washington cascades mountains)