twenty is...

amazing.

answers from lewis...

"Child," said the Lion, "I am telling you your own story, not hers. No one is told any story but his own."
Then he shook his head and spoke in a lighter voice. "Be merry, little one," he said, we shall meet again soon."
The Horse and His Boy

sand between my toes...

And in my clothes. and my ears. and my book. and on my [dad's] camera.

But it was still the most lovely birthday weekend ever. I have this strange feeling that Twenty is going to be good. Really good. Especially if the weekend before Twenty started out looking like this...







And spending time with these people...

allison and emily

mili loves harry potter
even when he gets all sandy

allison and michael
tell me again why the waterfight happened after we had all changed into our warm, suitable for windy, freezing-oregon-coast-nights clothing? yeah...

invisi-josh and allison

and some chickens

three's [good] company

for the perfect sunset on nineteen

tuesday's ripley...

Late yesterday afternoon, while completing a rite of transit from one time eating, money producing icebox to the next, I saw the strangest thing...

For two block afterwards, I couldn't speak, unable to process the vision. Then the floodgates opened and I couldn't stop laughing. I was reminded just how I'm going to miss Portland.

A man, grinning like the cat who had recently digested the mouse and the cheese, was strolling down the sidewalk near Hawthorne and 12th. ['not an unusual sight on a bright and cheerful 85 degree day,' you claim]

Less than two hundred years ago [a blink in the scope of history], this man's attire was quite fashionable, particularly in this part of the country. [though i believe that the preferred material was tanned buffalo hide rather than terry-cloth]

His costume consisted of two terry-cloth towels, strategically positioned to precede and follow his person closely, though not cramping his style side-wise. And the rest of his body, void of clothing, was accessorized only with mud/brown paint handprints.

Traditional headdress not included.

sunday, the seventeenth...

Happy birthday, Mili.
Happy blogday, Blog.

one year ago today...

*begin postback*
a quest for a name...

While questing for the highly elusive 'perfectly descriptive, yet creative name for my blog,' I plugged many a 'word that I wish described me' into the depths of dictionary.com's master thesaurus.

Artistic - blah blah blah, so it's not really me, but I'd like to be
i'm getting there.
Creative - occasionally, but as of late I have been strongly lacking in inspiration [as can be evidenced by the plethora of half-paragraphs scrawled in lazily in my notebook]
the posts are in my head, but i can't get the out on the page
Elegant - darn it, the registrar didn't give me a ballet class for fall semester
i'm dancing 5 days a week this coming fall
Rare - okay, so I like to think that I'm pretty unique, and a few of the synonyms were actually promising. especially...

::Recherche - uncommon, rare, exquisite, choice. sought out with care, hence of rare quality, elegance, or attractiveness [of course, it also implies overrefined, forced, pretentious, and overblown, but hey, nobody's perfect]::

Unfortunantely, someone else had plagerized my idea for this beautiful French word! *shock* darn people. However, in true English major form, the word was altered just enough to get the url.

Now, if I could just learn how to pronounce it...
i know now, thanks to one l. childs.
*end postback*

Here's to another great year [to both of you]
'mmm, it's so cute, i want to eaaaat it!'

mili, michael, tracy, e-may, whipple, and alyssa
living it up on Hawthorne street

hellllooooo, nurse...

We regret to inform you that Portland's most adorable cycle commuter spent some quality time with the asphalt, tangled with her vehicle of choice on Friday afternoon. In order to avoid spending less-quality time with one of them modern automobiles.

No broken bones, just scrapes, bruises, strains, and pains. And the exhaustion that comes with the shock and healing process. [yes, i was wearing a helmet]

Updates will come later. I didn't cry, but I was shaking and pretty close because of the shock.

And thanks to the friend who kept me from being alone and listened to me talk shocked nonsense into my cell phone until my mom arrived. As a consolation, you...uhhhhh, win the "knight in shining armor" award for Friday, I guess.

As for the rest of you, roses [in the dozens] may be sent to the usual address.

cityside...

My Dad and I took a detour down by the river tonight...

I need to keep practicing this photography thing, so I can be like Talitha when I grow up.

and this...this is where i live

skyline extraordinare. no, really, i actually live here!
and what good is a camera if you can't pose?

i'm just a ghost in this house

I know it's nothing like Paris[allie] or Oxford[anna], but we manage to have a little bit of fun around here...

first [best] thursday...

Allison and I have been planning to hit a First Thursday in the Pearl for almost a year. Sometimes waiting for Christmas Day is better than the day after, but other years the day lives on for weeks, still bringing excitement and joy. Today is the December 26th after one of the best Thursdays of my life. [i know, i keep saying that. but my life keeps getting better]

It was the perfect evening. Lovely temperature, cute hair, yummy food, adorable 'funky hot' clothing, perfect company. Everyone was friendly and happy and smiling. I love seeing people enjoying art and beauty in this world.

Mili said it best when she reminded me that we develop our talents and dreams when we're close to God. Sing, dance, draw, paint, sculpt, design, photograph, and write for Jesus, and your art will flourish.

I loved how friendly people were. We were taking artsy pictures, and people walking past talked to us, made suggestions, offered to help, or just wanted to admire. I like living in a little big city.

I get happy shivers thinking about the feelings of last night. I was at times slightly overwhelmed. There were too many interesting people to watch, too many conversations to catch phrases from, too many colors and textures and events. [the guy juggling the flaming sticks didn't light his pants on fire this time, but i guess there's always august, right?]

Wanna see what you missed?

bridge over dusk

lebanon, mostly eaten

circle of colors [can you find us for an extra ten points?]

peaceful milicent [new bangs]

literary emelina [curls]

atlas holds the world

zeus creates the world

live art

i'm a moth lost in a fire
and i know this is
just a beautiful illusion

r-o-d-e-o...

it's bulls and blood
it's dust and mud
it's the roar of a sunday crowd
it's the white in his knuckles
the gold in the buckle
he'll win the next go round

Friday night, the Maynards were out on the town. The town of Molalla, Oregon, to be exact. I can't say much for the hamlet itself, but the locals sure as anything know how to put on a Rodeo.

We enjoyed three solid hours of beer-and-johndeere-sponsered blarin' country, boots, hats, cheesy announcer jokes, mud, bulls, steers, barrels, broncos, and of course...the cowboys.

They were all there: the Codys, Caseys, Bradys, and Clays; the Tys, Zacks, and Matts; the Howdys, the Rowdys, and Joes; and two young men named [no joke] Kass Kayser and Heath Ford. [if those ain't right good cowboy names, then i ain't never read louis lamour]

braids and curls with [four of] the maynard girls

My embarassing confession of the week is that I've always wanted to be a Rodeo Queen. With a name like Emily, I have an advantage, too. [you have to have a y in your name to be a Rodeo Princess. for example: [and all those who are planning their childrens' futures] kaylynn, amy, kelly, tiffany, katy, ashley, kimberly, kayla, stacy, and lindsey are all good rodeo queen names. any extra "e's" or "y's" you could throw in there would be great, too] And I could smile big and wear heinous amounts of sequins and gigantic earrings and give stickers to kids at county fairs...

However, I have two main setbacks in my quest for the jeweled hat: city girl and straight hair. If I had been born with a pony and big hair, I'd be in for sure. I have enough teeth.

I did manage to get my picture with this year's models. They gave me a signed picture of all their checked-shirt, bottle-blonde glory with the notation "rope your dreams." Oh, yeah. Definitely going to be the main feature of next fall's dorm room decor.

queen caylee, emily, princess kimberly

My dad pointed out another slight setback with my country dreams and I had to agree with him. I'm not "sturdy" enough. My friends, if you want to feel good about yourself, I suggest you enter a Rodeo Queen beauty contest. You'll be hanging out with ladies who are a little on the...*ahem* Well, lets's just say there aren't any eating disorders 'round here.

Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to win that Oscar in order to become famous...
Until then, I'll meet you in Molalla.

it's boots and chaps
it's cowboy hats
it's spurs and latigo
it's the ropes and the reins
and the joy and the pain
and they call the thing
rodeo