Gettin Under the House

Occasionally, Wren and I have the pleasure of staying at his moms house in Anacortes. Margaret is a fun/inspiring/chef/seamstress/retired-librarian/grandmother/health-conscious/active/thoughtful/friend extraordinaire! Inside her house is full of beautiful artwork, fresh flowers, and lots of great natural light. Outside is soft landscaping, raised-bed gardens, and a well-kept lawn. Also occasionally, there are fun tasks that we are able to help out with. This was one of them... removing the insulation from under the house, packing it into the bed of a neighbors truck, and delivering it to the dump.

Here is Wren in his anti-itch suit.

Wren under the house!

 My main job was to take it from the under-house entryways and pile it up... this was just one of many piles.

 It feels so great to help someone who does so much for their friends, family, and guests. And to contribute toward the upkeep of such a beautiful house! Here is a photo of an evening we enjoyed from her upstairs porch... absolutely amazing.

Thanks Margaret for sharing yourself and your wonderful home!

Oregon Country Fair

This year I was part of an ensemble for the Oregon Country Fair with Shannon Collier, Alex Allen, and Mark Growden.

Marks music was the inspiration of the piece, and lucky for us, he was accompanied by these wonderful musicians Ben Farrell, Steven Bent, and Harry Levine.

Our show was called "Teaspoon of Sugar".  It was the story of an older woman (me) sharing her memories of a lost love.

Shan played the young me and Alex played the old and young love. It was sweet, funny and emotional, and brought many people to tears.

 It was quite a heartfelt production. We all enjoyed the outcome and hope to make our way together again in the future. Thanks to Jess Hobbs for the beautiful photos!

OCF Mud Bay Jugglers n me

A great honor I had this year at the Oregon Country Fair, was to be invited to stand in for an act in the Mud Bay Jugglers' show. I got to wear an enormous beard and take slow-motion cues from Hairy, who I was standing in for. It was such a delightful and special thing for me, as I really look up to and respect these fellas.

I think the look on my face says it all. This is one happy girl.

Thanks Alan, Harry, and Doug!

Workin' Towards Oregon Country Fair

This year I decided that bringing a meaningful, well-rehearsed show to Country Fair was worth driving to California for. It also included living in my van and working with two other essentially "homeless" people. Those two, Shan and Alex, were both couch-sitting or briefly house-sitting over the duration of our month of show-creation. It did allow me to see much of Oakland, San Fran, and Berkely, which was more beautiful than I had imagined. Between the three of us, we occupied 8 dwelling units over a 30-day period. Here is the first place Shan was at... complete with Luke the dog!

 This photo may be representative of the ways in which we individually held it together for the show.

A typical post-rehearsal moment.

 And finally, here's an example of one of the best reasons to be a third wheel... 

Making a show can be so fun, yet so challenging. This adventure is probably something I will choose not to do again under previously stated "homeless" and travel purposes. In figuring travel to San Fran and back, rehearsal and random things not counting food it was at minimum $210 (hooray for Craigslist rides!). This did not count the $600 fuel pump I put in while there and a month of my time. The Fair paid out $290 plus $106 in tips equaling a whopping $396. I do feel like we created the show I was hoping for, and these photos will always remind me of the fun non-rehearsal times we had, and just how absolutely rediculous Shan and Alex are. Yay for that! =)

Random things I like in San Fran

So I had no idea San Francisco was so pretty! I've definitely done a poor job of actively seeking out all the things, or remembering to capture the scenes once we happen upon them, but I thought I'd share a selection of random things I DID capture. Like this park here... it spanned twice as far and wide behind me.

 I definitely enjoy random sidewalk art, like this beauty.

 Three vaccume cleaners, just kickn' it on the sidewalk, no big deal.

 Jeff Lefferts has a banana sticker on his car. The two times I have seen his car parked not at his house, there has been a banana peel next to it... not from Jeff! I parked Vince next to this little yeller without knowing, and when I saw it I just laughed out loud and thought fondly of Jeff.

Along with seeing random street art, I also adore finding scraps of lost or discarded paper with words on them. This one says... "Summer dancing in the winter sun, don't look now I've come undone". Sweet, right?

Another rediculous love I have, is for little dogs. I can't say I'm proud of it, or that I try or want to feel so squeely around them, but oh shazam... I can hardly contain myself, and typically my joy is so overwhelming, my eyes start to tear! Tears of joy! So much joy! Just look at these two! Mo and Lilah... uuuuuh!

 At one point they were both crawling/jumping/laying/licking/wriggling/rolling/snuffeling all over me! I was in heaven! Tiny dog heaven! I also took a video of them playing... you can find it here!

 Other things I've enjoyed while here are all of the parks, bike riding (trying and occasionally succeeding climbing outrageously steep San Fran hills!), taking yoga classes, being warm, practicing doing handstands (which I havn't been able to do for so long due to years of chronic shoulder pain/issues), singing with Marks choir class, and taking Dance Classes! Those classes have been my especially favorite thing that I really hope to continue when I get home. Hooray for interesting, beautiful, and inspiring things within an adventure!

Vince in San Francisco

In my most recent post, I mentioned craigslist riding a couple from Portland to San Fran. I made my way down here to meet up with friends and show collaborators Shannon Collier, Alex Allan, and Mark Growden. One interesting element is that Shan and Alex are sorta couch surfing and I'm living in my wonderful vehicle, home, and little blue buddy... Vince.

One might not think it, but 3 essentially "homeless" people putting a show together doesn't come without complications. All that aside, one hilarious moment came just after packing up ye ol' Invinceable Vinceinator with 3 bikes, three people, their food and personal belongings, including but not limited to aerial, climbing and surfing gear... yes, the board. I'm kicking myself for not snapping a photo, but to wrap this up, not 5 minutes into chugging down the San Fran hills, Vince, the convincingly hopeful, sputters, coughs, then dies. Thankfully I have towing insurance, and thankfully the house we just moved out of had a car so Shan could make it to the class she was teaching on time.

I didn't realize how much I've grown fond of this little blue van until I saw him get loaded up onto this tow truck... just thinking to him, "don't worry little buddy, you'll be ok!"

That night we (Vince and I) spent the night outside "The Garage" the place where he would receive a new $600 fuel pump. While waiting for the "procedure", I was in a cafe across the street and found this in the (seemingly ironic) comics...

 I'm going to take it like this... "I will spend a lifetime nurturing the things/ones I love". And though in this account I'm also spending a small fortune, I quite like that as a general notion.

SanFran Craigslist Rideshare!

For about a month, I will be in San Francisco working on a show for the Oregon Country Fair with the amazing Shannon and Alex. To save a bit of cash, and have some company to California, I searched Craigslist... and it turned out great. Heather and Noah put me up in their house the night before, complete with pre-bedtime sauna! They were great company and we made a safe, quick, fun adventure of it.

All in good time, good taste (that might be questionable), a good price, and in the good 'ol ConVINCEingly, InVINCEible, VINCEnt Van Go (that's my little blue van)! Hooray for craigslist rideshares!