31.12.08

2008


The Emerald City, originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.



The Ice Cave, originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.

Hope isn't blind optimism., originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.



, originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.


Hannah, originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.



2008! JAN.House party to ring in the year. Laser light show at OMSI that freaked me the fuck out. Mckenzie books to pass the time during winter break. Andrew Simon's Iowa caucus party, when we thought, hey, this skinny black guy might actually have a chance. Spending a beautiful layover day in Seattle. "I drink your milkshake!" The look on a face with a ridiculous new eskimo coat through the pinhole of my dorm door after having not seen you for a month. Chuck Green Fellowship Retreat, with sad Bob and city planners and haggis. FEB."I thought you said maple leaves." A Valentine's day at the greek restaurant, and a smile creeping across your face on the drive home. "The world is made of energy." Standing in the Minneapolis slush on a highway overpass for hours just to get seats in the Target Center to see that same skinny black guy speak, and then get to vote for him on super tuesday. LUNAR ECLIPSE. Jake's 21st birthday party, complete with summer camp swimming attire. "Don't be Bitter Dawg" is moved to Saturday nights, hilarity and alcohol ensue. Minnesota goes bitterly cold, stays below zero for a week, Mac students pile in a van and visit an ethanol plant in Wisconsin. "Sing again." "Keep your eyes ahead." That time that I was "tremendously excited with life." "Its such an enormous thing to walk and to listen." MAR. Fucking ice storm, power outage, general shitshow at Macalester, shitshow over OCS. Skinny black guy winning more primaries. That time we had like 20 people in a dupre single, drunk as shit. Finally contact TLC, get gig to work with them for the summer. MCSG actually does something, wooo facilities management day! Papa Brown and Aaron visit Turkey over spring break; new levels of white guilt attained after watching children in Hasyenkeyf play in sewage water. I don't know, kiddo, I think you should listen to your gut. APR. Wooo, sloshed all day for springfest! Photobooths have never been better. The Geography progressive! Getting written up! Science class isn't getting any easier, french is remaining worthless, this geography stats class is killing my soul, and the Fellowship makes me want to strangle everybody, since nobody is taking any initiative. An anniversary at the Olive Garden; I found it ironic, you just liked the breadsticks. Minnesota thaws, and then refreezes. Snow until the end of the month. MAY Finals, ack, re-oregonizing, home in the suburbs again. Timbers suck this year, and I don't see a game until August. "Broken Hearts Tessellate Tonight." Perfect day at the Oregon Coast. Take family and friends to see that skinny black guy give another speech, this time with seventy five thousand along Portland's front yard. St Johns, Hotcake House, Montage. Awkward birthday at home, teenager no more. Chris Dunder abandoning us on sasquatch plans at the last minute. Listening to MGMT in the back of some van with a bunch of high schoolers.The Mobile Party Unit. The girl that just showed up with a handle of tequila at the portapotties. The National, MIA, Fleet Foxes, DCFC, Franti, Mates of State, Rogue Wave, The Flaming Fucking Lips. Eating nothing but honey buzzers and hot dogs for four days. Oh yoshimi. Do you realize? JUN New apartment?! No bed, no nothing. Oh shit, I never did figure out exactly what I would do every day at my job with TLC. Skinny Black Guy finally says that he's won his party's nomination, and I'm there with Papa Brown in St Paul. Slowly getting that apartment decorated with things like beds and pots and pans and indie rock posters. What do I eat? What food can I even make? The FINAL TRIVIA NIGHT at Green Mill. Midwest rain storms don't fuck around, and make me feel so alive; such onslaught. Minneapolis' Grand Rounds, followed by some of the best ice cream ever at Se Salt in another powerful midwest rainstorm. "Biking 'round these lakes, man, thinkin' I finally figured out my escape plan." Chris Dunder's toe. JUL.The Summer's Life is Good. Two Trips to Duluth on two weekends. THe fouth of July with the Chuck Green Fellows, watching the fireworks up in the sky, thinking that my friends are scattered around this entire country, getting phone calls from DC and Minneapolis and Neskowin. "Sorry, the city's full." Hot, sweaty apartment with no AC, no internet, and a beautiful porch view where I read and watch traffic on Selby. Bikeportland.org is a great way to procrastinate at work. JUSTICE sure is catchy. Remember the time I couldn't sleep on the megabus, four-in-the-morning truckstops in Wisconsin, followed by a radiant morning in Millenium park? A twenty-first birthday in a twenty-first century city. That other perfect day on the beach. "I-don't-need-a-house-in-Lake-Michigan." Bon Iver, live, his album of Walden-esque escapism never sounding better. Andrew Bird, sinewy and lanky, Simple X. The Midtown Greenway at midnight, the Minneapolis skyline rising above the Mississippi, man's triumph over the midwest's harsh weather. Mornings in municipal Minneapolis government buildings, seeing the nine-to-five, bitter coffee and city planning. AUG. Admission to my study abroad program! One final party, and then back home. The new puppy, Rilo. Waldo Lake. The Empire Builder! The RNC, school starts early, oh shit this is going to be a tough semester. SEP.American Environmental History, US Urban Environmental History, Metro Analysis, Race Place and Space. "You must be a masochist to love a modern leper on his last legs." What do I even do on weekends anymore? Who do I even hang out with these days anyway? The Chuck Green Fellowship steering committee takes over my life. Reading 250 pages a week, at least, but thankfully no more Mac Weekly. Mac Weekly party! My morning commute is beautiful; the leaves on Fry Street are such a vibrant yellow. "I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders."The WMCN radio show that never had a name. OCT Biking biking biking. "The winds blew me back, via chicago." Google Reader effectively takes over my life. Skinny black dude kicks ass during debates against the old guy, Macalester huddles around televisions, "take a drink everytime the old guy says 'My Friends.'" Mark Kozelek takes over my life; all I ever needed are Songs for a Blue Guitar. The Blue Door Pub. Michelle Obama at Macalester?! Critical Mass! Halloween. Joe the Plumber. The only way to enjoy the fall colors of the Mississippi River is from the seat of a bicycle. Placializing Whiteness with Chellis Glendenning. Greg Oden goes down early, but Rip City is back. A lack of charming things to say. Carving pumpkins. In need of an escape. NOV. Halloween hangover. Watching rugby in prom dresses. Halloween, Girl Talk show, and Election are three consecutive great excuses to drink excessively. Shit hits the fan. Skinny black dude wins. "In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." It keeps getting colder, I keep breaking things, I stay moody and depressed and surly, and stress hits all time high. Attempts to get MCSG to do something, anything, although all efforts will be futile. That one weekend, beer tears, angst, anxiety, time for an escape. "Tell me hey, what's the news from your bed?" The Hold Steady come back home to Minneapolis, and Craig Finn absolves me of sin, tells me "We drink too much but we feel fine" and "We've got to stay positive." Thanksgiving back in Oregon, Decemberists concert, stress stress stress. "You can still ruin my day." "Take us apart and put us back together right." Visiting Starbucks across town for the Race Place and Space paper. Breaking a new record, I have a cold for an entire month, starting at the election and lasting through November, thus disproving my usual invinicibility to petty illness, and also destructive emotion.DEC Three straight weeks of hell from thanksgiving through December 8th. Papers on Vanport floods, Portland's waterfront, housing submarkets and Starbucks. I haven't been this unhappy in a while. Study Abroad will be a giant escape. Papers are finally all turned in, and after last EPAG meeting, I'm free. Drinking, recovering, dealing with everything for a week while slowly packing up my apartment. Drunk times at the zoo, huge snowstorm the night of our kegger, still spending every night falling asleep miserable, cursing and muttering. Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles. Scrubbing fingerprints off of everything. The elephant in the room. Missed opportunities, chances, whatever. Free in paranthesis. Tom eating sushi for the first time. Zac a superdrunk idiot at that last party, all those bottles of Andres, and Simpsons monopoly during a blizzard at 3 in the morning. "Looks good, but you looked away." "What's the blues when you've got the greys?" If you've got an impulse, let it out. Waking up in a cold bed in an unfamiliar house. So long, Minnesota. Snowpocalyse in Oregon keeps me in the suburbs for two weeks, minus a trip to Salem to celebrate Alex's graduation. Who the fuck is Ray Lahood? Brandon Roy for 52! "Oh yeah, well, my mom just bought me a bunch of new clothes!!" New Years, in which Andrew and I crash the 1940s hipster party in northeast portland.


Hello, 2009, how are you, lets be friends.

They'll bring the order out to you.

HCH is one of those local legends. It's always nice to order some fries and time the closing of local bars by the 2am arrival of drunks, drag queens, and those fighting the arrival of daytime.

30.12.08

The friends you'll meet on a Monday Night at Hotcake House.

Scenes from a late night diner.

25.12.08

Pioneer Courthouse Square

Merry Christmas.

"I want to be your Paul Shaffer. I'd laugh at your jokes, and I'd even shave my head. I'll cue the band and play your song when you enter the room. And if something is ever wrong with your heart, you know I'd hold down the fort until you came back."


Has someone already stole this idea for a cute poem or hip song or something? It's the only stroke of creativity I've had all year.