Continued ramblings from a sneaky Siamese!
It's been about a month since I wrote a blog entry, so I'll catch you all up! This could be a bit long... ;)
First of all, the home situation has been going really well! I'm really taking to living with a spouse, and I couldn't imagine a more comfortable way to relax, than snuggled up in front of the TV. Before partnering with Hunter, I barely watched any TV at all, and now I find myself caught up in quite a few series. Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs are two of my favorite ongoing shows at the moment, and recently we finished up the British 'Allo 'Allo series. I highly recommend 'Allo 'Allo; it's very funny :D Currently, we're working our way through the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 series. I was never really into it when it was first run, but after watching more Star Trek: Enterprise, I've got a taste for it and want to see it past the second season. We watched a clever old movie the other day with Peter Falk, too, called "The Cheap Detective", which I also recommend... Especially if you are a Casablanca fan. There were an amazing amount of cameos in it, too!
Hunter's also been getting me out of the house more on the weekends, which is a good thing! I do like the comfort and security of home, but I tend to not bother with traveling outside much since there is equally interesting things to be done at home. However, I tend to miss out on things because of this, so I'm grateful for Hunter's nature to want to explore and see the state.
Yesterday, on Easter, we drove up to Portland, Oregon, to try a sushi buffet, see the Oregon science museum (OMSI), and afterwards went and checked out an old Hudson Bay Company fort. I determined I'm not much for sushi; it all tastes too fishy for me. I like fish, but more the cooked kind with seasonings and hot rice. Frogg told me later I might have liked it more with the soy sauce and wasabi added, which I had totally forgot about somehow. The OMSI, well, was mostly for kids and school field trips, and not what I remembered at all. Additionally, it was filled to the brim with dinosaurs, which I guess kids still go gaga over. I never saw the attraction to dinosaurs, and since Jurassic Park was over 14 years ago, you'd think the popularity would have died out. But no, the place had two whole floors dedicated to the beasts. There were other exhibits too, but mainly overrun with kids treating the facility as a kind of daycare, as the parents went off to do God-knows-what. Of more interest was Fort Vancouver, just over the border into Washington. It's an old fort built to protect the interests of the Hudson Bay Company, during the middle of the 19th century. Most of the buildings had been destroyed before 1900, but back in 2000 they started reconstructing them and digging up artifacts, and they really did a great job. It was a neat slice of history to wander around the old wooden fort, checking out the grounds and imagining what it must have been like back then to be working there.
We've mainly been doing these side trips on weekends, as I'm not much for travel on a work night. Plus, the live music shows have been keeping Frogg and I busy on weeknights. We did take our birthdays off, though! We had them recently; Frogg's on March 15th and mine on the 19th. I get four days to call Frogg and "old timer" and he gets to call me a "young whippersnapper". For Frogg's birthday we went to Ring of Fire, an excellent Thai-themed place, and for mine we ended up at the Oregon Electric Station, which I truly love as a meat place.
The continued concerts in Second Life have been keeping Frogg and I very busy, as we still do about five shows a week. It's not really Hunter's style of music, unfortunately, and he is fairly bored when I'm not available during shows, but he knows they mean a lot to me and Frogg, and encourages me to play. I still really enjoy it, too, and I find it a perfect way to relax and get out some of that pesky internal creativity that builds up over time. If any of you out there don't play Second Life, but would still like to listen, you can use Winamp or Windows Media Player to connect to us, as we play live. Our regular shows are from 7PM-9PM PST on Fridays, and from 7PM-8PM PST on Saturdays, at this URL: http://TheStreamteam2.serverroom.us:8876. Most all of our shows are played at that URL, and for a complete schedule of upcoming shows, check out the calendar in this Yahoo group. I've even been doing a few more solo shows, which I enjoy, mainly to keep up my playlist from getting stale and forgotten :D
Let's see.... what else has been going on. Oh, trips! Hunter and I have been planning some trips, as well. Overnight ones, that is. In the middle of April, we're headed back up to Portland, for a more extended trip, staying in a Residence Inn as a home base as we do a little cooking and browsing around the bigger city. Then, in late May, we will be taking a week-long cruise along with Hunter's relatives to Mexico on the Royal Caribbean. It's a lot of money, and we had been planning on not going, but his folks are really eager to have us along and are helping out a bit :). After that, some time in late June or so Hunter and I will be going to the northers Oregon coast. I'd love to show him Fort Stevens, which is very impressive, and we'd both like to see the Spruce Goose again, which is also up that way. Then, in August, as part of his birthday gift, we are staying at the Crater Lake Lodge. His birthday is really July 15th, but when I tried to reserve a room, I found that the only two consecutive nights together were in late August! Ah well, it must be a popular spot. :) Also some time in there we will visit my good friend Maken Waves (Wes) in Bend, Oregon. That one probably won't be an overnight trip, however. Frogg and I are longtime friends of Maken, so Frogg will probably come with us! Lastly for 2008, in September Hunter and I will drive up to Seattle to attend the RainFurrest furcon, which I am really looking forward to. It's just a 5 hour drive from here, so that really cuts down on costs. I might even have my fursuit head by then, and I can't wait to get to try it out at a con. With a bizarre amount of luck, I may even have my partial suit then, too. That would be a blast! We do also hope to visit Further Confusion in early 2009 down in California, too, provided we can afford the airfare and room cost. And of course, if my father is still going, Hunter and I will be joining him on Vancouver Island, B. C. in late January of next year, too, at Yellow Point Lodge.
Oh yes! There are times I might not be traveling, but I still get to meet friends :) My very good friend Rosa will be visiting me again, maybe even twice! Could be as soon as mid-April she will be able to stop by Eugene to visit with Hunter, Frogg and myself. She has been here before, and we all had a really great time touring around the state and hanging out. We didn't make it to the coast last time, so this time we will! A longer trip is planned in July, too, where she will visit us and also Patrick in Seattle. Woo hoo!
Well, gosh, that's quite a post from me! I hope to keep you all updated more when I can. Take care, and have a good spring!