You know how you go to the hardware store and they ask you for the specifications on what you are looking for, and although you kinda knew already, you end up just stuttering and walk out empty handed? Well this was happening to me at bike shops. I have been to most of the bike shops in Portland over the past month. I finally gave myself an ultimatum today. I put my credit card in my pocket and ran to Sellwood. It was a 6 mile run, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make the run back, the only solution would be to get a bike.

I have commitment issues. It took me nearly a year to buy a couch, and I still wonder if I got the best one. Anyway, my system worked. There was really only one bike in the shop that would work for me, and it is awesome! It doesn’t even have a brand, they said some British guy custom assembled it from really good (European) parts, then he shipped it here and consigned it. I have no idea why he didn’t then ride the bike, or why he shipped it here, or why he was so short. The story barely makes sense, but I like the outcome. The bike-selling-man said that people will totally “nerd-out” when they see my bike. Ah, I just called it my bike. 

So about the monocle, this part of the story really isn’t very interesting. But both pair of my glasses have broken and I just wear them anyway. I need a set of tiny tools.

And now you know everything that is happening in my life.

Somehow my friend Greg convinced me that I should give him partial ownership of my garden plot. It was a pretty good idea, because he showed up for our work party with wine and snacks. We ripped out all of the old plants and reestablished the property line with bricks.

We started some lettuce, beans, and nusturtiums. I think we’ll add in some kale, and starts from Uncle Stan later on in the season.

Between you, me, and the internets, Greg came up with a brilliant idea to have a secret, in-ground compartment where we hide stashes of wine and candles so that we can show up at night and impress our dates. We’re still working out the logistics of this. Clearly, Greg understands what this garden is all about.

It was a perfect weekend with some very dear girlfriends who all lived in the Kansai area. The tiny island is barely inhabited, so years ago, the island got some sort of grant to bring notable artists in to create installations in abandoned buildings. For about $20, you get a pass to go tour all of them. Crazy shit. We stayed in a yurt on a quiet beach, rented bikes and wandered from one exhibit to the next, ending at a huge underground (literally) gallery, where we had a near-private viewing of Monet.

We ended the weekend saying, “Where are we going to go next February?” Which of course, I assumed no one would take seriously.

Some time this fall, I got a message from Gabby, who plainly stated that our trip this year would be to Brazil. I must admit, I had to pull up the wikipedia page on Brazil to figure out what sort of place it was. We would all be flying in from different places, and would meet for five days.

It was a perfect trip. Despite the 17 hour flight to get there, it was a lovely time, with such great girls. I’m going to post pictures now, as I’m running out of time.

We danced in the Samba parade, which was nuts. One of the dance schools had some extra costumes, which we agreed to take sight unseen. Little did we know, we were dancing in the parade as these Portuguese grandmothers wearing trays of cakes.

People in Brazil are so nice. This law enforcement officer agreed to be in a picture with me. I told him it was my birthday (because it really was). The picture below is what the beach looks like. We made some friends with the hippest group of siblings that I’ve met, since my own, of course. They are all in a band together, which is pretty neat.

Okay, that’s all for now.

January 2011

Last January I was wrapping up my time in Japan. I spent two transformative years living near the beach in Kobe, Japan and teaching at a university. Today I was cleaning out my closet and found a silk blouse I made out of discarded kimono remnants. Seeing the muted orange and grey pattern made me remember how the silk would stick to my skin in the humidity. I would often race down the hill to jump in the ocean before work in the morning, just to have a moment of relief. I remember how my mom came to see me in the peak of the summer and we wandered through the narrow streets of Kyoto looking for the bundles of fabric tied up with pieces of string that were always sitting outside of the kimono shops. I’m selfishly relieved that no one else wondered what stories those pieces of kimono would tell us about the world they saw.

My goodbye parties were so touching that I almost didn’t leave.

February

I returned to Portland in February. Waking up in Ingrid and Brad’s basement felt like Christmas every day. I would wander upstairs to see all sorts of delightful people eating breakfast, and I knew that the next day I would wake up and they would still be there. I spent the month catching up with friends and walking kids to school. Or dressing up in pirate wear for my nephew’s third birthday party.

I discreetly celebrated my own birthday as well. Uncle Rick had an amazing cake made for Tuyen and myself, as we share a birthday.

March

I could finally move into my apartment on King’s Hill. I remember jumping up and down (literally) because I couldn’t touch the ceiling even if I tried.

April

I spent an absurd amount of time socializing in the spring. None of these people held it against me that I left.

May

I got mono.

June

The early summer in Portland tends to be a time of great disappointment. The weather teases with glimpses of sun followed shortly thereafter with flash floods. This June though, was magical. I tried to wear as little clothing as often as possible, which was made easier because I was an active part of a running club which shared my goals. One of the highlights in June was the annual Toga hash, where hundred of us dressed in home-made togas and ran through the streets of Portland, stopping only to dance in the streets and drink beer. It was a beautiful day.

I ran into my friend Kevin at the end of the day. He wasn’t participating in the festivities.

July

I spent July failing to get a job. I wasn’t too distressed by it though. I joined an indoor soccer club where I got in the way of my teammates. Sometimes I got in the way of my opponents. Our team was better looking than most of the other teams. We didn’t win.

The loss of my grandmother was quite poignant. Her passing seemed to have reignited the bond that the Parmeter family shares. Spending time at my grandmother’s house in her final days, I remember helping address my cousin’s wedding invitations. It is nice to know that I’ll spend my entire life with such lovely people as my family.

August

As I was headed to Coos Bay for a weekend of running and camping, I got a call about a job I had applied for months prior. They were finally ready to interview me.

September

Alas! I had a job writing training and professional development materials for the second largest privately held company in Oregon. The transition to working again was challenging, and working a desk job/corporate thing was new to me. I work with amazing people though, which is wonderful.

I’m actually only pretending to work in this picture.

October

October was a hard month. I’m glad it’s over.

November

I celebrated the first Thanksgiving with my family since 2008. I love holidays!

December

December was great. I was finally figuring out how to do my job, and continuing to develop my friendships. I took a quick jaunt over to Hawaii with a girlfriend. This is the only picture I took, and I have no idea who this guy is.

I’m excited about what 2012 holds. Sometimes I stop and think about what I was doing a year ago, and I can’t even believe where I’m at right now, and how I never could have predicted what I would be doing a year into the future. I’ll keep you updated.

For the last few months, I’ve been eating a lot more fat and fewer carbs as I’ve learned more about how poorly our bodies handle sugar. I’m not very strict about it, as I can easily get talked into beer and ice cream, but I try to eat well about 90% of the time. Below I’ll chronicle three days worth of meals. I tend to have coffee with whole milk a couple times a day, and eat snacks like cheese and apples.

Day 1 Breakfast

I seem to remember having leftover enchilada filling this day, so I put it over an egg and served it with half an avocado and a salad. It was a memorable breakfast.

I haven’t written in a couple months. Sorry. Consider this my warm-up blog post. I’m learning that 40 hours are so many hours. It’s remarkable you all do it. Once I find a wealthy man to support me, I’ll write on here a lot more.

My big news is that I have a couch now. It’s like the most adult thing I’ve ever purchased. I suppose that I bought a couch in Japan, but it was so small that it barely counted.

Now that I have a couch, I do everything on it. I’m writing from my couch now. This morning, it was where breakfast was served.

It’s funny, since I found out that I got the job, I’ve been frantically trying to complete every project that I have ever started. I’m also trying to have my life totally organized, as though the world is about to enter apocalypse or something. I’ve heard that pregnant women do this before having a kid, they want everything to be perfect.

Recently I’ve also fallen into this mindset like, “This is the last time I’ll ever go to the gym,” or “This will be the last time I meet friends for happy hour,” I think I’m so intimidated by the idea of having an office job that I forget that I’ll have a couple hours free in the evenings (with any luck). People have been reminding me that I used to have a job, and I managed to have a social life as well. I suppose I didn’t really count that as a job, just like I don’t count being fabulous as a job, or being a pisces. I suppose that I just have to figure out how to meld this new career into what I “do”.

Dear readers, please tell me how you do it. I am open to advice or words of wisdom.

“Well,” I would answer, “It was so good that I made another serving just like it so that I could take a picture for you”. I was merely utilizing some leftover enchilada filling that I had made out of chopped onions, konnyaku, and enchilada sauce. I put an egg in there and used the Japanese method of steaming the egg, by just putting a lid on the pan and allowing moisture to cook it.

In other news, I’ve been working on several house projects recently. Mostly lighting. I’ll have ya’ll over sometime to check it out.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, the raw food movement is based on the idea that heating foods above about 110 degrees starts to kill the nutrients and enzymes. I don’t think I would make the switch to 100% raw foodism myself, but I do think that we should all be eating a lot more raw fruits and vegetables.

If you plan on trying out your own raw food night, you should invite my friend Niaz over. She is a fabulous cook and adventurous eater. I like to keep these people in my life. She made a fantastic raw pasta out of spiralized zucchini tossed in a pesto of pureed basil, garlic, walnuts, and olive oil. It was truly brilliant.

My friend Tess made a really great coleslaw out of sliced apples and carrots. She dressed it with “just some random stuff”, which I think included some lemon juice and oil, maybe salt and pepper. My dish had a lot of character, but fell short in all other ways. I was trying to make a Korean style lettuce wrap, but it ended up being impossible to eat. I seasoned sliced mushrooms in my take on Korean marinade (soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, brown sugar, orange juice, and siracha sauce) then wrapped them up with vegetables. Really only great in theory. I decided what I’ll do differently next time.

Dessert was more of a success. I blended blackberries with frozen bananas and almond milk in a mixer. It was like a little berry smoothie. Next time I’ll run the berry pulp through a sieve before adding the bananas, because it was quite seedy. Strawberries might have been good too.