L i n k s

August 16, 2008 - photograph a day, day 16

Another Olympia Oddity, the Annual Pet Parade, in which normally sane people dress up their embarrassed animal companions and promenade them down main street. The dogs were plentiful, though there were cats, goats, horses, turtles, fish, lizards, hamsters, rats, mice, ferrets, birds and guinea pigs.

August 15, 2008 - photograph a day, day 15

The morning after I returned home, happy to be back.

August 9 - 14, 2008 - photograph a day, days 9 - 14

I returned to Olympia early Friday morning, after traveling Thursday for almost 20 hours. The entire trip was an amazing, inspiring experience, all 1,300 miles of it. A true adventure. I feel like I rediscovered myself while simultaneously clarifying a multitude of murky thoughts that have been floating around my head for years. Ultimately, I realized that at this particular point in my life, it's all about me, all the time.

I can do what I want to, whenever I want to.

This is a magical statement. Say it out loud. Feel the power. "I can do what I want to, whenever I want to." How fucking privileged is that? The only compromises I make are those restrictions I place on myself, consciously or otherwise. The only obligations I have are those I willingly give. This amount of freedom can be terrifying and immobilizing, or it can be exhilarating and empowering. I'm choosing exhilaration and empowerment from now on.

I'll post a recap of a couple days at a time, as I'm still mentally processing the trip as a whole. Check back for updates.

Saturday, August 9 - camped outside of Tillamook, OR

After spending the night at Jessica and Eric's, I set off Saturday morning towards Astoria, ultimately ending up outside of Tillamook. Below is a view of the Columbia River before it merges with the Pacific. Washington looms on the opposite shore. The Columbia in Astoria is always predictably monochromatic, and I love it for this reason.

I made it into Astoria just in time to catch the Astoria Regatta, celebrating local industries and talents. Quaint is an understatement. These kinds of parades always leave me with tears in my eyes. In such a cynical society, it's a wonderful feeling when sincerity bubbles to the surface in unexpected places. These girls were the 'royalty' of the Spokane Lilac Festival. The theme of the festival this year was "Salute to Service."

As I continued south, toward the central coast of Oregon, the clouds became denser and darker. It started to rain around 3pm and didn't let up until the next morning. By the time I got to my camp site, I was more than a little worried about staying dry that night. Fortunately, the private campground I stayed in had a communal kitchen in a garage type structure, which also featured a perpetual garage sale. As I cooked dinner protected from the rain, I was able to browse tables of tchotchke. Needless to say, I was in heaven. I purchased an old souvenir set of frosted drinking glasses featuring screen printed scenic tableaus of Oregon. The set of four glasses was two dollars.

Remarkably, the tent held up all night in the rain. My site was located under some birch trees which deflected some of the storm's intensity. I bedded down rather early, book in hand.

Sunday, August 10 - camped outside of Coos Bay, OR

The next morning, the sun was out. After a quick shower (50 cents for five minutes!), I was packed and on my way down the coast. I would venture to say that the area between Astoria and Coos Bay offer the most outstanding views of the ocean I've yet seen. Tourist towns line the coast but because the summer season is relatively short, the towns retain their own year-round utilitarian charm built upon fishing and logging industries.

This was a vista around Depoe Bay, where I went whale watching from the coast. Grey whales migrate through these waters heading north in the spring and south in the winter, feeding on the abundant ocean life in shallow coves. Many whales stay, however, becoming "residents" of the coastal waters. I like to think of these whales as the smart ones. While standing on a bridge in Depoe Bay, I saw a whale surface and then fluke its tale a mere 50 feet away right along the breaker wall. It was amazing! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. I could see the barnacles on its back and the spots on the underside of its tail!

I did manage to capture some activity further out on the water at another location.

From above- Whales, magnified:

After an eventful day whale watching, I arrived at my second camp location, Sunset Bay State Park. It was pretty, yet unremarkable. Very family oriented and the camp sites were rather squished together. I went for an evening bike ride along the coast, climbed some rocks, hunted for sand crabs and eventually made dinner on my camp stove for the first time this summer. I'm a little afraid of propane. There's always involuntary facial wincing as I connect everything together and light the burners. I try not to imagine what an explosion would do to my head.

Throughout the trip, I couldn't help but contemplate myself in relation to landscapes, whether they're social, cultural or physical relationships. I mean, that's what my work is about. Always. Landscapes and how I live in them or how I view others living in them or how I imagine others live in them. Horizons fascinate me. The interaction between the wild and the colonized, or the merely settled - that grey area in between, where the wild still has a chance to win against civilization in the end. I guess I see myself outside of this cycle, detached for whatever reason. A voyeur in the most important, epic battle of our time. Yet I can't help but take sides, routing for the wild while enjoying the comforts of a civilized home. Contradictions, always.

Monday, August 11 - Crater Lake National Park

A little after noon, I finally drove into Crate Lake National Park. This was the first glimpse I had of the lake. Crater Lake is contained within a a volcanic crater, created nearly 8,000 years ago. The force of this eruption dwarfed Mount St. Helen's 1980 explosion 42 to 1. Water remains constantly level in it's caldera "bowl" with rain replenishing what sinks into Oregon's earthen water tables. The lake's depth along with its high altitude and the resulting white light from the sun give the lake its brilliant blue water color. The lake is the deepest in the United States and one of the deepest in the word, reaching depths of 1,932 feet. The air was crisp and cool, still with hardly a breeze. The quality of air here is also one of the purest in the States, as evidenced by the amount of lichen growing on surrounding rocks and trees.

The caldera contains numerous geological oddities, but perhaps the most recognized is Wizard Island, which sits amidst the lake, a remnant of another long ago eruption. Essentially, it's another volcanic cone with a hollow depression on top of its tiny mountain. I took a boat tour on Wednesday and was dropped off on the island for a number of hours to explore.

After I set up camp, I hiked a couple loops, ending up at Watchman Overlook for a spectacular sunset. Here are some views of the surrounding area as I climbed the steep trails up to the overlook.

And finally, sunset. A beautiful way to spend my first evening in the park.

Park

Tuesday, August 12 - Crater Lake National Park

My second day at the park, I decided to take the "Rim Drive." I worked from east to west, going counter clockwise to most of the other tourists. I started off at Videa Falls and continued east, taking in beautiful vistas and occasionally stopping to smell the flowers. It's only a 33 mile drive but it took over 6 hours to complete, as I stopped and hiked nearly every available two mile loop.

Below is Phantom Ship Overlook, as seen from the Sun Notch trail. That little outcrop of rock is geologically older than Wizard Island, a remnant of an older volcanic cone eroded back into the lake. Also, that cluster of rock is 16 stories tall, which we will see as I take the Crater Lake boat tour.

Wednesday, August 13 - Crater Lake National Park

My last full day in the park, I got up at 7am and drove to the ticket kiosk on the opposite side of the lake to purchase a boat tour pass before they sold out. The boats had not been running for a week due to an earlier storm that damaged the docks. This was the first day the tour was operational. I chose a 1 o'clock trip with a Wizard Island Drop Off. Only 2 boats per day allow drop offs at the island, in 3 hour blocks of time.

There is only one legal way down to the water of Crater Lake, down a winding switchback trail known as "Cleetwood Cove." Signs abound that the elderly and the weak should not attempt to complete the trail; as difficult as it is getting down, it's a monster going up - a vertical mile up and down a steep cliff.

Wizard Island itself is simply made of rock - different kinds of volcanic granites and pumice. The rocks are very sharp. The island is in no way developed; there are a few trails but even those are difficult to find. They take twice as long to traverse as dirt packed trails because you are constantly scrambling over rocks. Sharp, unstable rocks. We were told at the docks that if someone broke an ankle on the island, that person could expect to wait 4 - 6 hours until they arrived at a hospital. So I was surprised at the number of parents with whiny children that also decided to take the three hour unguided tour of Wizard Island.

Needless to say, I immediately left the soccer moms and sniveling brats behind as I picked my way, goat-like, over a few hills of rock, toward Fumarole Bay. Below, I'm peaking through the trees of the island to my first glimpse of the bay.

The amount of lichen and moss that grows on trees here indicates the high quality of air. The moss and lichen are the most amazing shade of green. This green, coupled with the blue of the water, presents the most unreal color scheme I've ever seen. Photographs simply don't capture the color.

Fumarole Bay was beautiful. The only sound I could hear were insects chirping and buzzing along the water. It was incredibly hot in the crater - heat is reflected down into the bowl and with little shade, it got pretty toasty. This is where I went swimming! The water is so clear you can see every stone you're swimming past. The water was extremely cold, however, and my swim session didn't last overly long. There's still snow on the slopes of the caldera!

Soon enough, the boat was back to pick us up. We still had an hour and a half tour on the lake to complete though. Ranger Don explained the geology and natural history of the park as the captain zipped us along the caldera walls. Behind Ranger Don is the Phantom Ship I had looked down upon the previous day!

The blue water in this photograph comes close to representing the true blue of the lake. And look! There's more snow!

Pumice Castle, sitting stately on a tall cliff, was my favorite geological oddity.

Once the tour was over and I had climbed the steep hill back to the parking lot, I made my way to camp to cook a well earned dinner. It was now almost 8 o'clock and I was utterly exhausted.

Thursday August 14 - Traveled all day, made it to Olympia @ 2am, Friday Morning

The next morning, I broke down camp, packed up my car, and was on my way. I stopped in the pumice desert to take some lonely photos and a few self portraits.

The next stop was Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which was a smaller, less awe-inspring version of Crater Lake. I stopped along the way in a few tiny, nearly deserted towns to snap some pictures.

Once I arrived at Newberry, I decided to keep moving. I just didn't want to stay there - it felt wrong, like a cheap imitation of the experience I just had. I did however, stop south of Bend, Oregon to travel through one of the longest lava tube caves in the United States. The cave is a mile long and approximately 42 degrees. You can rent lanterns (let's have a whole bunch of people carry propane torches through a giant hole in the ground!), or bring a flashlight. I had my huge maglight with me, so I was more than prepared. As most people ahead of me turned around and gave up making it to the end of the cave, I continued, even as I had to double over under a continually sloping roof. At the end, I met a man waiting for his two sons while they crawled on their hands and knees another 100 yards to the true end of the cave. This is their portrait after the kids emerged.

Of course, I wanted to crawl to the end too. Luckily, 16 year old Tim and his Great Aunt showed up on the scene. I made a deal with Tim that we could crawl to the end together and he could lead with my flashlight. So, yes, I literally crawled on my hands and knees, even army crawling at one point, to the end of the Oregon Lava Tube with a 16 year old boy. I have no shame. Tim, pictured below, wants to join the army. He lives in Ohio and was sent to spend the summer with his west coast very liberal Great Aunt and Uncle in hopes that he sees he has more options in life than the military. Yes, his Aunt told me this as we walked back through the cave together. Pretty awesome. Tim, if you ever read this, Do Not Join The Army!

The long and short of the last day: Driving. I stopped at a couple locations hoping to find camp sites but everywhere I stopped, it felt... wrong. So I left. And I kept driving, stopping often to take photos. I even put up my tent at Bagby Hot Springs but I couldn't bring myself to stay. It was too hot, the camp sites were strewn with beer bottles, not many people were around and the people that were around made me a little uncomfortable. So I drove to Portland, checked in with Jess and Eric, and made my way back home. I still want to go to Bagby but I will wait until the weather is cooler this Fall.

The entire trip was an amazing adventure. It had been too long since my last roadtrip. I'm still processing everything I saw and did, the converstaions I had with people, and all the thoughts that bounced around my head. I forget how good it feels to be in nature; removed from everything you're familiar with, returned to a blissful state, living only in the moment. We forget to do this all too often. At least, I know I need to be reminded once in a while.

August 8, 2008 - photograph a day, day #8

Well, I guess this isn't a real photograph, but I'm gonna count it anyway. Today I leave for my camping adventure. I will spend the night in Portland, where I will also go grocery shopping tax free at Trader Joe's. Mmmm.... Tasty Bites. I will return to Olympia by Sunday August 17th. Photos will be promptly posted. This is my route:

August 7, 2008 - photograph a day, day #7

Tonight I went to see my student's opening at a cafe in Seattle. I've been working with him for six months on this project. Students like this make me feel like a good teacher. He assembled a large book in an edition of 20, and made 8 feet tall relief prints which he hand printed. Yay, Adam! He's pictured standing next to his book display. They're beautiful artists books; $400 each, and a bargain at that. If anyone is interested, let me know.

August 6, 2008 - photograph a day, day #6

The 150 year old black walnut tree in our backyard and the back of the house:

Also, someone tagged our apples, probably during the aerial performance last Friday. They left a perplexing message: "Fuck Ramtha." Ramtha is the local cult that has a nearby complex. They were made famous by the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know" which starred their leader, JZ Knight.

August 5, 2008 - photograph a day, day #5

There was a show at the Phoenix House on Tuesday. The Vibrarians played, as well as Jeremy Jay. Have you seen the magnificent book Punk House by Abby Banks? The first chapter covers Olympia. Below is a photo of buddy Joel, of BatCaveParty, and Bridgit's cat.

August 4, 2008 - photograph a day, day #4

For today's photographic excursion, I'm going to take you for a brief stroll through Olympia, down to the tip of the Puget Sound. The morning was chilly but around noon, the sun came out and it reached upwards of 90 degrees. It's now approximately 8:30 as we head down the hill to the water. Wearing light sweaters, we're quite comfortable. We have an hour or so to wander around before the sun sets and the streetlights come on. These are some of the things we stop to look at.

August 3, 2008 - photograph a day, day #3

The backyard.

August 2, 2008 - photograph a day, day #2

The main floor bathroom in our house.

The one I will be cleaning tomorrow morning.

August 1, 2008 - photograph a day, day #1

Last night, there was an aerial performance in our backyard's massive 150 year old Black Walnut tree. It was truly breathtaking and beautiful. Two cellists performed haunting music as the performers danced with skeins of fabric, one using only her strength to keep from falling. The other dangled from her pelvis by rope. Over 100 people attended.

July 26, 2008

This morning, I woke up to a deer outside my window. She had two speckled babies with her. The family usually hangs out in the backyard, even during the day, napping under the cherry trees completely hidden from the rest of the neighborhood. Even though they are eating the tops of our tomato plants, I can't bring myself to shoo them away.

July 25, 2008

I think I have most of the bugs worked out with the comment system. I've been tweaking code for several nights now. I think the people at the JS-Kit board hate me. "I don't understand! But what does this code MEAN?! How do I change the font color?! Wah!"

A lot has been happening the last few weeks. As July starts to wind down, all hell has broken loose in the arts area. Monday, the annex was bombed with graffiti. Yes, painting over "Eat Shit, Fuck Pussy" really made my day. Thank You. You're so urban and edgy. Wednesday, the etching tank's aeration system went haywire, leaking ferric chloride all over the floor. In the process of fixing it, we also managed to spray acid all over the enclosed booth's walls and ceiling. Worst mess in the studio I've ever seen. There was a whole bunch of fiscal stuff to wrap up, inventory to take, books to adjust, proposals to write... I mean, I could go on and on. Thankfully, Saturday is my last class, though I will probably let the students have an extra week to work as I piled on three assignments at once. Meh.

I also bought a new tent from Yulya on the cheap, who had purchased two while they were on sale last month at REI. I went to Yulya's going away party last Friday night which was very sad. Yulya is a great friend - the first I made in Olympia. Anyway, she received a full fellowship to attend Columbia in Chicago for grad school, working toward her MFA in creative writing. She is a very talented poet, specializing in book arts and letterpress. Her work-in-progress website is Peel Bark Press. After I gave her a tutorial of Dreamweaver a few months ago, she wisely opted to have her website designed through Other People's Pixels. Though I will miss her tremendously, I'll see her in March when I attend the SGC conference that is conveniently being held at Columbia.

Last Saturday, I was featured on iheartphotograph.blogspot.com which was a huge surprise and an ego boost exactly when I needed one. They highlighted my Google Air Guitar piece and I've been getting traffic from all over the world at record numbers. I almost feel famous. I have no idea who runs the site, or how they found me. Thanks, iheartphotograph!

In closing, some exciting things are happening next month here at Play! In August, I will be posting at least one photograph a day, new or from the unpublished archive. There will be a lapse when I am camping in Oregon, but I will catch up on those missed days upon my return. The site will also be going through a renovation, work will be completed and new work made, and Things will be Applied To.

July 23, 2008

Now with comments! Test!

July 13, 2008

Today I went to the beach in Copalis and stopped in Aberdeen on the way home.

July 9, 2008

Summer has finally made its way to Olympia. It sure took its sweet ass time.

Alabama is fine, thank you very much. After four days and three nights in a hospital, three more days of forced fluids and syringe feeding and another week of sleep after that, he's back to his old self. I had a second consultation with my regular vet, who said that when his herpes virus (a feline autoimmune disease, folks!) flares up, secondary infections can wreak havoc on his body, which is exactly what happened. Al is a healthy 11lb stealth machine but during his illness, he got down to a little over 9lbs, which is an almost 20% body mass loss. A lot! All I have to say is credit cards do come in mighty handy from time to time.

After that fiasco, I think my anxiety and myriad sleepless nights finally caught up with me. I came down with a very nasty summer stomach flu. Thus, I experienced an embarrassing drawback of collective living while one is very ill - shared bathrooms, when one needs to lay on the tiles beneath the toilet for extended periods of time, are not isolated, soundproof peaceful rooms.

In other news, I did it! Tomorrow I pay off my car! So in a way, I feel like I accomplished my 10 month plan, at least the financial aspect. I have some money in the bank, I paid off my car (in less than three years!) and I paid off my new computer. Now I just have to apply my frugality regime for another year and I'll have a nice down payment / travel / retreat fund.

My summer class is going well. I teach on Saturdays all day for five consecutive weeks. This Saturday is week three. It's been a lot of work but thankfully, it's just a repeat/rehash of a few beginning to advanced serigraphy courses I'd already constructed. So far so good! A few more weeks until August!

August plans are already well underway - I feel like it's already mapped out. Besides reorganizing my career, I have a few other things up my sleeves, including: car camping down the Oregon Coast for a weekend, making my way to Crater Lake and camping for three nights, and back up through central Oregon to Olympia. I should be a true granola girl after a week and a half on the road, sleeping in tents, swimming in lakes and oceans. I'm finally stopping at Bagby Hot Springs as well. This is going to be a personal retreat, a spiritual regrouping, a rebirth and a baptism of sorts (hippie? Not Me!). On Saturday August 23, I'm hosting my first show at the house. I'm working with K Records (hipster? Not me!) to host Karl Blau, Your Heart Breaks and Madeline. I love everything I've heard of Karl's; I have a few of his albums. He's also in Your Heart Breaks. Madeline is a young, talented singer/songwriter. I'm making posters - silkscreen baby! If you'd like one, let me know. I think it's going to feature the lion from Maurice Sendak's Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue. Finally, toward the end of the month, friend Nic is coming back out to visit, taking a vacation from her exile in grad school at Ohio State. We're going camping at the coast for a few nights, which will be quite fun.

I feel like Summer just got started and it's all planned away!

At least there's something to look forward to this fall:

June 25, 2008

Happy Summer! Although it's not quite summer-like yet here in the Pacific Northwest, at least the sun has been out the last few days. Friday night, Starfucker from Portland, my new favorite band (read: I'm obsessed), played a house show here in Oly. There were maybe thirty kids. In Portland, they pack 'em in at shows. They were just signed to Badman Records, and are being hyped as the next break out band of Portland. Whatever that means. Anyway, the jams were pumpin' and the crowd was bumpin.' See photos below.

On a much more serious note, Alabama Cat is seriously ill. He was acting reserved and lethargic last Thursday and when I got home from work on Friday, he was laying in the same place he had been that morning. I decided to wait until Saturday to see if he would snap out of it. During the wee hours of Saturday morning, he threw up four times. I promptly took him to an emergency vet. His temperature was 105. He was lethargic and almost non-responsive, pitifully protesting being picked up with a pathetic mew. He was dehydrated and I had not observed him eating or drinking in over a day. He was hospitalized and given IV fluids, antibiotics and antihistamines. His blood work showed a high white blood cell count, which meant that he was fighting a horrible infection. The vet said that, had he been an outdoor cat, this condition is called "Songbird Fever," which occurs when a cat eats something dead and gets a bacterial infection. In Al's case, the cause of his fever and infection remain unidentified.

He stayed hospitalized for four days and three nights. Questioning the care he'd been receiving at the emergency vet office, I brought him home last night. He was extremely stressed at the vets, drooling incessantly. I've been administering his meds (he's on five) and force feeding him with a syringe-type instrument. He's much more comfortable here in the house, on his chair. He's slowly becoming more responsive and he recognizes his name. He purrs weakly when I pet him. He's still so sick; his regular vet (who was not open last weekend) is on standby should he get worse. Right now at least he's stable.

It kills me that I can't make him feel better, that I don't know what's wrong with him. It's truly heartbreaking. Though Al has always had chronic health issues, he's never been this horribly ill. He's such a playful, loving cat. Even people that hate cats like Alabama. My housemates are super supportive and concerned as well. In the few weeks since he's been here, he's become the star of the house. I just hope he pulls through and returns to his normal self. Send some good vibes Al's way, huh? Maybe a little meow in the general direction of Olympia, Washington when no one is listening...

June 17, 2008

Above: The view from the front porch, and my front porch, on an overcast typical Olympia morning. The red windows enclose my room.

New work: The Sunday Olympian Real Estate Pages (Goodbye Mr. Rauschenberg), 2008, screenprint, 60" x 80"

My student organized an amazingly refreshing show in an empty office building downtown. The walls were painted Incarceration Green. My print was in a tiny, windowless office that lovingly boxed it in. The lighting was done with clip lamps.

June 10, 2008

I feel quiet.

I'm now completely moved. Well, I still have a few boxes in my car that need to find a dark corner to sit in for an indefinite amount of time. I live in the "rose room" or "the library" depending who you ask. I have a non-working fireplace and my room looks onto the front porch. One of my walls is mostly made of single pane glass. I have my first house meeting on Wednesday. The cats are transitioning slowly. Alabama is the new star of the house.

Classes officially finished last Friday. This Friday is graduation. I have a print in a local show which opens on Saturday. The show is called "Last Dance."

The weather has been horribly cold and rainy all week. Someone in the house actually said they saw snowflakes in the air, which immediately melted as they touched the ground. My feet are cold and my nose is dripping.

June is a busy month and July promises to be even more so. I'm mentally trying to prepare while also trying to build momentum for August, which I have off. I went to Seattle on Saturday to attend a workshop by Artists Trust on researching local grants and opportunities. The list keeps getting longer.

It's time to make work and get it Out There.

May 17, 2008

It's a sweltering 90 degrees. Two days ago, it was 55. I'm packing up my apartment for the fifth time in three years, except this time, most of the stuff is getting dropped off at GoodWill. I already gave two of my chairs away via Craigslist. I'm going to put my television and kitchen table up for sale next week. Many of my plants need to find new homes as well. Tomorrow, I'm going to take the first load of stuff to my new room. I have a Uhaul reserved at the end of the month for the big stuff. I'm also boxing up my 800+ compact discs in archival containers; I just don't have the floor space in my room for their multiple stands. It's making me a little anxious, since I'm pretty obsessive about them but I'm trying to be like the Buddha and break my dependence on material things. Most of them have been uploaded to my computer anyway.

In other exciting news, this summer, we're building a chicken coop in the back yard where we'll raise our own egg laying hens! In conjunction with my long-running Mexican Cowboy fantasy, I've always wanted to raise livestock. Since I don't eat animals, that particular fantasy has always seemed like the more unrealistic of the two. Yet again, Life throws me a bone.

Last night, the house sponsored a "prom." Desolation Wilderness, Calvin Johnson and Karl Blau played awesome sets, despite the stifling heat in the basement. I recognized many of the attendees as soon-to-be-Evergreen sophomores, whose high school prom was only last year; I have more than a decade under my belt.

This of course, made me think of MY high school prom. Throughout high school, my friends and I had viciously made fun of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the prom, that supposed milestone of youth... until it came time to buy our own tickets. Myself and my very good friend Woody decided at the last minute to go cross- dressed. We went to GoodWill in downtown Buffalo and scored a slinky red dress for him and a 1970s powder blue tuxedo for me, complete with a green ruffle shirt and cumberbund. I wore matching red chucks to accent his dress. He shaved his entire body, including his head, and donned a nappy blond wig. We did his makeup, and even found some size 12 pumps for his feet. I wore a glued-on mustache. By the end of the night, we had ditched both the mustache and the pumps. It was hot in the dance hall, and Woody's make-up ran down his face, making him look quite whorish. Despite my best efforts, prom was indeed a milestone of my youth. Ah, memories.

Here's a couple pictures of Olympia Prom 2008, with Karl Blau making an appearence in the background.

May 10, 2008

Every college, every university has its own set of myths and mysteries. Whispers mumbled in drunken ears, passed word of mouth over decades. Magical places, located in basements, along heating shafts, tucked around corners, snuggled by fiberglass insulation, lined with Campbell's soup cans. Mmmm mmm good. One must be invited and escorted, bearing gifts as offerings to this sacred place. Bunkers, time capsules, a space to lay one's head, to soak in every essence, a place to listen to whispers. The Promised Land, Happy Land.