I watched a sqiurrel this morning who definitely had a death wish. (IF he had the capacity to concieve of his own death, but if you believe the sciences then only man has the ability to contemplate the inevitable end of his own being, right? whatevah- anyhow yakety-yak) High up in the 60+ foot tall cherry tree in the back yard this daredevilish critter was climbing to the very end of he young upper branches to get the almost-ripe cherries. The branches would bend so much that by the time he'd nab a cherry and retreat the brach was pointed straight down towards the ground and looked like it could snap at any moment. Oddly, his scramble back would release a half-dozen other cherries which the crows would dive in and eat from the ground. That poor little bastard, never knew he was risking his life to do all the work and, in turn, feed a whole bunch of lazy crows to-boot. Yet another tiny little testament to nature's tough and unforgiving cycle... and very entertaining.
Before all that a certain creature (c.) convinced me last night that it would be a marvelous idea to wake up and meet at 7:30 am to run up and down the stairs between Broadway (or is it 10th) and Eastlake. This would've been so much easier had I gone straight home instead of stopping by Lauren's housewarming party (thus resulting in my getting a whopping 3 1/2 hours of sleep) but after 2 gintonics I seemed to have pinky-swore myself into an early rise and run up and down hundreds of stairs! I showed up once again armed with chalk to write "good morning again" in childish scrawl on the barrier at the very top- which i thought all the insane people who do go up and down the steps daily might see as a kind of pick-me-up pep/slogan. The repetition: "good morning again, good morning again" and on and on as your leg muscles burn...
the impossible seems to be happening- italy and the usa are tied 1:1! I just don't know WHO to root for anymore. Germany. for sure. England perhaps. Funny how on the radio they were once again analyzing "the new ball" this lightweight adidas ball specially made for the world cup -and players love it, goalies do not. Hmmm. Makes it easier to "bend it" so I hear- anyhow,

12 hours later... WARNING, there may be some ranting to come...

We had a wedding at work, an older couple got married in the gallery and it was quite painless. The even gave us each a bottle of wine, ok.
The point is that I was stuck in wedding atire all day- which was fun actually, particularly showing up at Town Hall for the "What is Preogressive anyhow?" talk and being in the reception aread in this ridiculos suit which I love) with Ronald Reagan's son (who I assumed was gay adn didn't know was Ronald Reagan's son) and the board member who approached me saying "so, you are either lost, on a blind date, or here and have no idea why you are here- which is it?"
"actually, my friend works for Foolproof, he invited me"
"Who is your friend?"
"Brandon"
"Oh, Brandon, yes. (ABRIDGED, PARAPHRASED) Well I just had to come over and ask why you were dressed how you are and what you were doing here. Most of the people here are people from the 60's - the protest geretation you know, but there are so few young people, do you feel like your generation is getting out and active with these issues?"
"I'm a bit dissapointed in my generation, really" (thinking: these kids are too busy drinking and playing XBOX or myspacing, they don't give a damn really- do they? "But, I think, honestly, that the $27.50 minimum ticket price probably kept a lot of younger people away..."
"You're right, you're absolutely right...."
Anyhow, the debate, which was mostly bogarted by Randi Rhodes, inlcuded Ron Reagan, and Dan Savage very lively, but the usual Liberal middle-aged quacks and brainwashed LaRouche kids as well, were in the audience,the annoying head-nodders, the "yes, that's right"ers the lame "tell us what to do!"-ers. Can hardly stand the pitiful nature of the Q+A's at these things.. "is there a website that will save us, Mr. Reagan?" "What can I do, Mr. Savage, I feel so hopeless..." ugh, you lame lame "liberals" can strap a belt of dynamite to yourselves and go somewhere really important, that's a line of action. (Just kidding, just kidding-) It is this annoying NW/Seattle liberal ueber-hater-line of thought and inaction that I just am soooo weary of. I can't even mention that I worked/voted for Nader at such an event because they all blame him for Gore's loss in 2000, which may or may not be a valid hatred, but either way I think it is surpassed by the man's reputation. Damn politics, it is much better to read about online. If you show up to one of these bitchfests all that happens is people: compalin about the president being stupid, complain about how the election was "stolen" from whoever and how the current president was "appointed not elected!" but at the end of the day the majority of these limp-dick mwafawkas are just that, all bark and huff and hot ol' air, so... lame. Weak. ride a bike and shut yer mouth. Lower your needed standard of living of something, Jesus. I dunno. Ok, whew, I need to chill. To be fair- at least these people care (or just like complaining) so- I guess I cn respect them for that... but... I don't know...
It truly is mindblowing how little people seem to be able to accomplish as far as penertating and improving this two party system, isn't it... who/what/how does this all happen... how are we all such creatures of habit... one of mankinds most necessary yet also potentially hazardous qualities: the habitual loyalties... I think I'm probably just as guilty of that as anyone else (even if it is something slightly worthwhile) ok, nevermind, my train of thought has become jello...
and That's not to say that there werent' a lot of good things said and ideas propsed there, and the panel was clever etc- so I enjoyed it... it was the audience that thouroughly got my goat...
Brandon, his friend Elise and I took the leftover wine from the reception and drank it at the lookout point up the hill from my house, under the tree with a view of miles od nighttime Lake Washinton and whatever is out there- I'm not sure. Husky Stadium, for sure... Elisabeth and Paul (the other Paul) were watching Goonies
"Paul's never seen Goonies" Elisabeth said.
"Omisgosh" my jaw literally dropped.
"He was deprived in childhood" she said.
"Goonies WAS my childhood!" I blurted. Not like we watched it that often, but the bike-riding trouble-causing lifestyle of the Goonies was strange to watch for the first time in 1985 because (minus the ogre, treasure, ship, pirates and data's gadgets) what they did was what we did... and that is how we learned about the world... and that is why I ma terrified of how kids grow-up now and that is why I'm sure there were so few "young people" at the political talk... if you didn't grow up plating in the woods then why would you care?... I know this argument is one big shattered fragment, but let's just say that a kid growing up indoors with artifical entertainment probably doesn't have that same attachment to the kids coming home covered in mud who built forts in the trees and lived a more civil Lord of the Flies type existence... and here I am 20 years later constantly glued to a screen of some sort and DRAWING animals and nature instead... hmm. Should probably get out of town more... man, oh, man.

omigosh, was yesterday father's day! darn you Hallmark! or is it tomorrow?... darn you, habits!...