Over the weekend, cuddlyeconomist and I went down to the SunFest campout on the Oregon Coast. It was a long drive from Seattle with bad traffic making a 5 hour trip take closer to 8 hours. With a busy Thursday night, we didn't get packing until Friday morning and didn't get on the road until 1pm. We pulled in to the site about 9:45pm.

It was nice weather and an enjoyable trip. The Oregon Coast was pretty awesome, and the wind made for some awesome kite-flying. We had a rough time sleeping Friday night with a leaking airbed, so we took it easy most of the day. Rhys seemed to enjoy himself. The event gets AAA for great props, but the rit was really long.

Sunday we got packed up and ready to leave by 11am, and decided to take a leisurely return to see more of the coast. Going all the way up to Astoria was going to take ages, so we settled for going to Tillimook to see the place where our cheese was made. Rhys seemed to have mixed feelings about visiting a cheese factory, but Margo thought it rocked. We had ice cream and did some cheese tasting. We then made a trip to Powell's City of Books, had dinner, and then hit the road making it into Seattle about 10:30pm.

We still haven't finished with all the laundry.

Spent the weekend down in Silver Falls, OR for the Northwest Fall Equinox Festival. The weather was lovely--last year was raining every day--but a low-key affair. Spent most of it reading and chatting with some friends I made at Summerstar a few years back. It's easier camping in that they provide all meals, so I don't need food stuffs and cooking gear, but the menu was a bit 'themed' this year in a way I didn't find that appetizing and so I didn't really eat much.

On the drive I started listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It's 19 hours of content, and I really only made it to about chapter 8.

All hail Ares Eris!

This was my second year to attend NWFEF based on a recommendation from folks I met at Summerstar in 2005. Last year was a nice small event with a close-knit community and awesome facilities. This year's event was definitely a bit challenged starting with a gatekeeper volunteer who apparently wandered away from the gate well before the deadline Friday to flirt with some dude leaving me to muddle through a self-service check-in, overly aggressive enforcement of state park rules by a noob ranger, low event registration compared to previous years (an issue plaguing many of the local festivals this year apparently), bizarre misspellings of signage, various random weirdness, a return of some of the group's rabble-rousing members from the past, a completely whacked drummer to dancer ratio, a broken water pipe to the dining hall during main ritual that resulted in shutting off water for most of Saturday night to the site, and a failed air-mattress that left me on the ground Friday night.

Despite all this, I had a fabulous time. Got to know some recent friends more, spent a lot of time just relaxing, flirting, smart-assing, staring at white-hot-coals, witnessing shooting-stars, wandering through the dark, listening to amazing if spurious drumming, and a general amount of serious lounging-in-the-middle-of-nowhere. The main ritual was a remembrance of the past twelve years of this event with little vignettes from each ritual. While the execution was like most things this year a bit dodgy, it was great fun. The air-mattress situation was redressed for Saturday night with a trip into Salem for an excellent oversized cot (on sale even!), the water issue never prevented me from getting a hot shower when I wanted one, the company was excellent, and while the weather was a chilly and wet Saturday today's weather more than made up for it.

This marks the second festival this year where I felt more like my old self back before the dark days that closed out the 90s, for which I'm truly grateful and for which the universe seems to be rewarding me with nice positive rewarding experiences.

The drive home was long, particularly since I went to bed at something like 5 am this morning and got up for breakfast at by 10:30a, but a good meal, several Cokes, and an hour's nap at the rest stop south of Olympia got me home safe and sound. The unloading of my camp gear was easy-going thanks to my shed's generous storage and my property's minimal stair-climbing compared to my old apartment. My nifty new washer is whirring away on the laundry, and my needy cat is alternately starring out the open bedroom window and perching on my shoulder attempting to interfere with my ability to type this entry. In this way my new house is sweet. In this way my new house is totally awesome.

So, no progress on home projects this weekend but I didn't except any. Back to my Pagan Martha Stewart/Tool Time behavior tomorrow night. New fridge is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and Friday is another minor house system install. I'm well within striking distance of completing the wood flooring, moulding, rehanging the remaining doors, and otherwise wrapping up the living room, master, study, and perhaps guest room. Then on to the kitchen and bathroom projects.

BTW, I'm discovering as I get my final bills from my apartment that utility companies suck in terms of keeping commitments about ending service.

I just put an offer on a house and wrote a check for $10,000. I won't know for a day or so if they accept the offer and we start on the whole inspection train, but it is a big first step.

Since I need to be reachable over the weekend, I'm cancelling my trip down to Summerstar--I know that I'd have no cel reception out there. It means I'm out $50, but the good news it that there is another pagan campout this weekend just outside Redmond and well within cel range being put on by OLOTEAS. Besides, I know a lot more people at OLOTEAS and the people I met at Summerstar last year are going to the Northwest Fall Equinox campout in Sept instead. The camping is nicer down in Oregon, but still a chance to get some camping on.

Happy belated Solstice! (no one around here plans campouts in June for fear of downpour)

Update: They accepted my offer. Wow. It's amazing house fast you can get in debt for a lot of money. It's going to be a mad, mad week. Could still fall through, but not bloody likely.

Back from the festival. Nice, low-key weekend. The site is really nice, with lots of cabins, hot showers, and great dining hall/meeting hall facilities. The weather was very comfortable during the day, but frickin' cold at night (in the 40s) so by morning it was really hard to convince myself to get out of my mummy-bag. The attendance was a bit lower than normal apparently (they set a limit of 275, normally get close to it) with about 50 or so people. Hung out with some people I meet at Summerstar, enjoyed some great drumming, and will be sure to go again next year if at all possible.

Happy Beltaine / Mayday!

One of my Tacoma pagan friends is seriously into astrology, and I find it interesting to hear what she has to say on the topic. She says stuff like "You are the only Pisces man I've ever really liked. A real Pisces would be all emotional and crap", "Oh, you are a Gemini rising... that is why you seem emotionally detached", and "Aquarius are usually arrogant as well as intelligent, but you are so messed up [astrologically] you don't seem arrogant.". I find it amusing, a bit distressing to be pigeon-holed based on factors totally beyond my control, and I try to take this opportunity for free new-ager analysis for what it's worth...

I am deeply connected to my emotions. I have a strong intellect. I am humorous and interesting to be around. My greatest strength is my focus, and when my heart and mind are in harmony, I am in the moment to an incredible degree. It has served me well at work when I'm challenged creatively, as focus and detail-oriented behavior helps a lot when coding. It has served me well when I'm in a relationship, making moments of connection blissful and powerful for me, and making me a good partner and friend.

But my strength is also my weakness. Silly obsessive-compulsive behaviors fill my daily routine, keeping my house in neat order and my bills paid but I think makes me come across as a nutball to people who visit me. When that focus turns inward these days, I find that my heart and intellect are at cross-purposes. Life lacks the nurturing emotions my heart needs to grow and be fulfilled, and lacks any clarity or direction for my intellect to engage in or plan for. The best I can manage these days is the distractions of hobbies, focusing on very short-term financial and career goals, and trying to not focus too sharply on the future, being depressed by focusing on the present, or twisting myself into a mess of despair focusing on the past.

I'm doing better this year with growing my social circle here, and friendships are an important step towards finding real connection with others. I try to portray the image of self that I want to be: witty, bright, trustworthy, responsible, fun, and interesting. I try to be honest about my feelings and my past for those who express an interest in deeper understand of who I am, but try not to burden others with the pain I carry around inside of myself. Apparently that comes off as emotionally detached...