Actually going places
=====================

Had a shockingly busy weekend as I actually went
places where there were people.

I had to wear my kf94 the whole time: on public
transit, in the open air market because it was
crowded, inside the theatre, &c. but community
transmission is low enough at the moment that
wearing the mask the whole time pretty much means
that it was safe.

So what all did we do?

Well on friday I actually saw coworkers in person,
grabbing food while spread out at an outdoor table
and kvetching about internal politics of [college
we work for]. Since I almost never talk to any of
these people outside the context of a structured
meeting, it was nice to feel like I'm recognized
as being a person outside what I do for them as
the coordinator on this project.

On Saturday, we went up to one of the small towns
that's kinda been eaten up by
Portland---St. John's. There was an outdoor market
of cute geeky gay things being held in the parking
lot of this weird family friendly art space and
coffee shop combo. It was nice. I got earrings
that aren't going to burn my skin to blistering,
some washi tape, and cute pastel stickers and
pins.

I saw a ton of Fellow Queers with parasols, which
was funny because years ago when I started using
high upf parasols I was like the only person I
ever saw doing it and there had to have been a
half dozen in one place. I'm just going to assume
I'm a trend-setter.

On Sunday, we went to see the regional finalists
of a youth silent film competition. It was really
fun. I'm not sure what I was expecting but y'know
it was a mix of silly, melodramatic, and fun
because that's what happens when teens make
art. Just kill the part of you that cringes and
appreciate the fact that kids are expressing
themselves and you can enjoy it.

It was sort of a neat competition too because each
film had to be 3 minutes long, set to one of a
dozen pre-written musical tracks (which were
performed live on a pipe organ), and the only
requirement was that it was a silent film. There
were cartoons, black and white artsy films, stop
motion, puppetry, all sorts of things. It was very
cute. I would have loved doing something like this
as a kid, f'real.

Then on monday we did our annual pilgrimage to a
mausoleum that opens its doors for memorial
day. There weren't very many people this year,
which was good, so we could just vibe and wander
the mazelike twists and turns of the (six?) floors
of this old building. We see interned remains of
people who died a century ago and people who died
just last year, walking through this building
that's had so many extensions built and
unmaintained that it feels like you're walking
through a dozen different buildings that all lead
into each other like the inside of the winchester
house.

That's a compliment, btw.

It's quiet and sad and contemplative. We honor
death itself this way.

I don't have a lot of things I do every year but
this is one of them.

Then we came home and the three of us played more
of Night in the Woods together, which despite
being like 8 years old none of us have ever
actually seen.

It was a good long weekend but I'd like to be
myself for awhile now.