Hurts So Good

My final day in Portland has been quinessential so far: I went to yoga, ate kale salad, got a tattoo, and then had cocktails. All before dinner. God damn, summer is a fun time.

The great part about staying with friends is getting to do how the locals do:
*Iowa City-watching a lightning storm approach while sitting in a kiddie pool at 10pm
*Badlands-Pulling into the visitor area and having a park ranger walk by and say "Massachusetts!"
*Bozeman, MT-playing bacci ball and drinking PBR in a park next to picnicing familiies, practicing belly dancers and sword wielding college students sparing down the hill
*Sprague, WA-striking up a convo with a trucker couple while eating breakfast in a diner called "the Viking". The lady trucker became enraged after reading that the state of CA had banned all trans-fats from restaurants. Turns out she had lived in the TL in the 1980s.

Resting

I have spent hundreds of dollars since arriving in Portland two days ago. The tent that broke when we tried to set it up in a hail storm had to be replaced. Ditto for the camera I lost while galloping over the plains of South Dakota on a horse. Then there's the usual PDX fare I can't resist: zines, art prints and and a good rub down (my friend hooks me up!).

Beck and I rolled into Seattle on Saturday after surviving the night in a Christian camp ground in Iowa. We tried to pretend we were a straight couple but then they referred to us as the "two boys". Can't pass even when we try, oh well. I feel braver about these things after hanging out with the lesbian moms in Iowa. I also feel REALLY GOOD about not getting into grad school there (thank you HP!).

Torrance came up from Pdx to meet me and we were going to spend several days exploring Seattle but we began to feel unwelcome at the place we were staying after my friend's housemate had extremely loud sex with the door open! We hung out in a coffee shop, went shopping in the gay part of town and then decide to go back to Pdx and watch a beloved high school movie Singles. We enjoy watching the movie more than being in the city, go figure.

Thursday I leave for Mt. Shasta where I will spend the night camping on my own and then head down to the Bay for a week. Although it's been a lot of driving, I put 4000 miles on Yuri so far, this trip has been amazing so far and I can't wait for more.

Go West Young Weasel

Except for a brief stint in Ohio, I have lived on one coast or another my entire life. But even when I was in Ohio, I never got deeper into the Mid West than Indiana. That all changed this week, I have been doing it up humid rainy style in Shytown since Wednesday.

After Philly was Ohio (via Maryland?!?) and the lovely Char and Leslie. They fed me delicious vegan food (and they're not even vegan), and spirits Char brewed herself--beer and ginger honey wine! There were fireflies and ponies, fresh eggs for sale down the road, and then we went swimming in our undies on womyn's land. Such a paradise.

Chicago is vast, like its lake. But when Abby and The Lady tried to take me to the last lesbian speakeasy we found it had been transformed into a bar which allowed men and no longer required you to buzz in. That's the 21st Century for you.

Today I visited Frank Lloyd Wright's house in Oak Park and went to see the new bat man movie while the rain came and alternately steamed us up or cooled us down. Tomorrow Beck and I leave for Iowa and points beyond. In a week from now I will be in Seattle...

A Place of Refuge

It's raining in Chicago, thwarting Nomi and my attempts to walk the Magnificent Mile (think 5th Ave). The stores are all really expensive so we are hanging in an Apple Store. Love the free internet.  My road trip has been awesome so far. 

On Monday I drove to Philly and saw Patti for the first time in many years. She showed me around West Philly which is a rad place. I got to see Will Smith's high school, hang out at an urban farm, collect free tranny buttons and drink a kale smoothie. FUN. 

Oh the rain has stopped, bye!

I Hate Landlords

I really do.

Would You Rather...

Go out dancing on a Friday night or stay home and clean your mom's basement? Tonight I chose the latter and found myself half drunk and sweating away in the humid summer night as my grandmother's 77th bday party dragged on past my socialization point.

It's nice not being too depressed to accomplish things (thanks prozac). In high school, I would have retreated to my room to talk on the phone about how much I hated my family and put off searching for my tent.

Although I failed to get her a birthday present, my grandmother arrived with a gift for me: a traveling utensil set she bought at Eddie Bauer two years ago."I knew you were going to do something like this someday Laura!" She said laughing, referring to the six week cross country road trip I am embarking upon on Monday.

"See that? Grammy has always been a little psychic." My mom told me later.

7+7=14
1+4=5

A pentagram (five pointed star) is a symbol of life. I hope this is a very good year for my grammy.

Morning

People keep asking me why I shaved my head. My answer of 'a mourning ritual' has been commonly misheard as a "morning ritual." Then they ask me why I feel the need to shave every morning.

My family thinks I look terrible, but the ladies seem to like it, so I'm not too concerned. Except when I start to think about the straight wedding I am attending this Saturday, then I start to feel nervous. It's my Italian side of the family, my dad's side, and they are a little more conservative than my moms. In a good Boston liberal way but still, I don't want anyone to feel like I was trying to ruin my cousin's wedding or something.

When I was younger I thought that I would only have to come out once, tell my parents, and then the information would be psychically broadcasted to everyone in my family and that would be that. Not so. I have learned there are stages, the first time they meet your date, or all your trans friends, or see you wearing a "eat pussy not cows" t-shirt. Coming out is a constant process, in each situation with my family I have to negotiate how out I want to be. This weekend, there will be no choice. My haircut screams "BIG LESBO" and it makes me a little nervous considering I have never actually articulated the words "I am gay" to most of these people. If they ask why I shaved my head, should I use the easy 'my cat died' excuse or should I go big (gay) or go home?

This morning, Sid, the first kitty I adopted on my own, a tiny black and white little guy, woke me up at 6am with a single meow. I thought he wanted to be fed, but downstairs I discovered that he just wanted me to open the screen door. The light streaming in from the windows next to my bed made sleep impossible, so I went to a 7:30am Bikram yoga class. The experience confirmed my hunch that I really don't like Bikram, it feels more like an aerobics class than yoga to me (I can't believe I got so into for a month five years ago).

Besides the sun, the other reason I couldn't fall back to sleep is because this weekend I BOUGHT A NEW CAR and if everything goes well at the insurance place, I can pick it up today . Yes, that's right, I achieved my goal of making it to 30 without ever owning a car, a small victory for a North American, and now I am the proud owner of a Toyota Yaris. More updates on this crazy turn of life events to come...