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Yes, 16 is halfway home, and I have a very good idea of what the other half is going to be, which is necessary for it to get done. What? Yeah I don't know either. But I'm not concerned about making sense here. It's been overcast here ALL day, which is unfortunate, but has also forced me to write. I like being outside on sunny days. Like 90% of humanity. Photo: Portland (Old Port) from across the harbor at Bug Light.

and again

photo from another trip into portland, this one on preble st. Having finished some very intriguing developments in my story, I look at this picture and think exactly thus, "Straight to the sky, mind matters, escape from streetdom - shot into the sun. My ideas careen off the buildings and rise. Yes."

these days are wearing thin

I need to start work soon, my orientation is friday, but all this free time is starting to grow stale. Basically did the same thing today as I did yesterday, though I was toting around my 35mm camera. In a week I'll be getting the B/W back from the developers. Stalled a bit on the writing, but no worries. It appears that the extra fine weather of late will be ebbing, going in to some rainy days, which will surely put a spell on me.

memorial day

laundry, wiffle ball (with a hacky sack) ice cream, sittin on the porch, a trip into portland, good peoples over... yeah it was a good day. And here? A Breathing Tree.. that term will make more sense in time, for it occurs in my story.

Watched the phils put the hammer down

Picture is of an apartment building in Portland. It used to be a swanky hotel. Now its kind of danky, but has a great charm.

One of Those Days

Good ol' Woody, doin what we were all thinking. --- I laid down the first several paragraphs of 16. Spent past couple days searching for its tone. --- Some great times, though, tonight. We hosted a gathering for a birthday. Stayed out on the porch all night, lit only by a candle. Then, under the influence, went on down to willard beach to appreciate the ocean. We took a seat up on a bluff and I watched a couple planes on their path to the airport. Their flight path is directly over my house, which gets loud at times, but they are infrequent. What was very intriguing, though, is that when the planes approach at night, they appear as a star in the distance, just over the horizon. Slowly they enlarge, and their two headlights are

reflected on the water. Cars in the Sky!

Baseball Game.

But first, I woke early, spent most of my day at the beach, temperatures flirted with Ninety. Did the paperwork at WF. Then on to Portland for the Seadogs v. Phillies. We got into line, but a woman came over and offered four tickets to a man in front of us. "But I'm only one person," he cried. The lady picked three tickets and foisted them at us - I and my roomate and her brother. That was easy! "Thanks," I yelled to her as she skirted away. As we sat, the Phils put a one on the scoreboard, "Great start!" I recall saying. Pitcher's duel and sloppy play until the seventh. Seadogs ran eight on the plate in the bottom seven. Phillies mounted a meek rally, but could not coax any more runs from a hot hurler who finished out the game. No problem, I thought. The ballpark, pictured here, has an amateur looking replica of the Green Monster. It looked more like sullen seaweed, dried and dead.

And I have a job...

Whole Foods, gonna fill out my paperwork tomorrow.... RELIEF! Went in to help the flower vendor, I put out three cases (six in each) of potted lavender plants. I smelled each one. Then as I was walking home form tossing the fisbee about I took a sprig of lilac, pictured here. Sweets smells.

Finished Ch 15

With the aide of yesterday's excursion I completed ch 15. Today I had the itch to check out Bug Light, which is at the mouth of Portland Harbor, on the South Portland side. Map. Picture. The day was overcast, which is the sort of lighting conditions I like when I take landscape photographs. The light is even and does not over-saturate. The photo here in the post is of Bug Light, looking up at the sun from its side. The Light has engaged columns with Corinthian capitals. Picture. Overall it has a Roman temple design. (Taking into account its circular base) The entablature has dentils, which is from the Ionic order. And this combination of different orders is common with Neo-Classical architecture, popular at the end of the 19th century. According to its entry in Wikipedia, it was rebuilt in 1875, so that puts it in the appropriate era. The Nor'easter that tore through last month really did some damage to

the breakwater area, and its amazing that Bug Light has survived all these years. I also checked out Spring Point Ledge Light - fairly interesting. Map. Picture. I was more occupied with the ground covering, some species of coniferous plant. Picture. I want to check out Bug Light at night, because it provides a stunning view of Portland, with its lights reflecting on the water. I'll be sure to post some pictures of that.

Resolution

First the floral place, then Whole Foods called back, they keep stringing me along, and I follow. Had an issue with my Cingular plan, but twenty minutes on the phone fixed that. Those dastardly pills I take for allergies, they claim they're non-drowsy. Wrong. But I suppose it's a small price for the clearing of my sinuses it delivers. --- Ch 15 is oh so close to finished, and as always its better than I expected - a feeling I won't grow tired of. --- Went on a hike of the coastline, that's where this photo was taken, with a crescent moon anchoring the sky above the cliffs. Look at the map. We (about eight all together)went from the north part of Fort Williams (seen at the bottom of the map) to Willard Beach (that little strip of beige north of Fort Will.) Hopping, climbing, skidding

and slipping around every nook along the coast, as the sun was setting. We left two cars at the park and had one waiting at the other end at one of the adventurer's house. The park closes at sunset, and we had left three people back there (we didn't think it would take THAT long) so we got a call as we were walking back to the car to hurry up, they were gonna boot the others out of the park. We arrived there just in time, and the sojourn came to a sweet, relaxing conclusion. Here are the rest of my pictures from the trip, taken on my phone (not bad, eh?) So to get a grasp of how far we went, look at this picture The Head Light (recall from this post)is far in the distance, just off center in the pic. All told, it ended up being about two miles, with a detour thrown in.

Allergies!

Sneeze, Cough, Snort, Hack, Whimper. I tried to fight them off as long as I could, but it appears that after the rain cleared out the pollen was free and willing to attack. Great timing, too, because I just got over my cold. Ah well, I can at least predict the allergies - two times a year, mid-September and late May, both for about a week. In the world of employment, it looks like the floral place is in the front running, they want me more.... the picture here was taken while we were playing hacky sack, good ol' earthworm, still out from the rain, sittin' on my roommate's brother's shoulder.

Trees of the neighborhood

I took a walk this morning to catalog the flora in the area around my house. What is certain, though, is there's a great many outstanding trees in my neighborhood. If I knew the species I would list them for you. But there is one in particular that intrigues me. The leaves are shown here, they look like six or seven fingered gloves, hanging down asking to be kissed. Some of these leaf grouping have an additional flourish, one that looks like a miniature tree sprouting from the intersection of the leaves and their branch. I ran out of battery, so I do not have a photo to illustrate my point. I'll get back on this task another day. This picture, however, was taken with a flash, which I never use - never. But it was by accident that the camera utilized the flash, and it created a interesting effect.

Laundry day

Taken while at the laundromat, I enjoy framing my photos with flowers or plants, it adds a certain amount of depth, and plants are so lovely - they have the most wonderful inherent relationship of positive and negative space - a designer's dream....What doesn't show up here are the beautiful strands that contour the blossoms, from their base straight to the tip of the petal. Its a camera phone, give me a break! Well, this is my third Saturday in Maine, and I'm getting into the rhythm of things. Some guy asked me why it was strangely quiet today - couldn't answer him, give me some time and I might. Otherwise today is rainless but overcast, and given the option of taking one, I'd have the rainy day. --- Cold clearing up, but not totally better

Temperature - High: ?? | Low: ?? Precipitation - ? in.

"Rain down, come on, rain down"

The steps to my front porch, its been raining non-stop all day. As is my character, I'm thoroughly enjoying it - the rain woke me up with its patter on my window, and it has pleased me with its uninterrupted drizzle - it was the reason for me to go into Portland. While there I made another entry into my photographic series of city architecture in the rain, joining Seattle, London, Phila., New York,Boston (though I have to redo Boston in B/W) This has been the second time I went on photo-safari since I've been in Maine. I anticipate satisfactory results, though no real good composition stands out, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. --- I'm fighting a minor cold (sore throat, very subtle fever, runny nose, mild headache) ---

Ch 15 is shaping up nicely, I'm feeling better and better about the prospects of my writing.



Temperature - High: 43 | Low: 40 Precipitation - 1.1 in.

and the results are in

I went to the floral thing, spent three and a half hours there, I got paid for it too, nice. The job seems easy, just need to learn the ins and outs, but thats no different from any other job. While I was there I got a call from Bank of America, which I applied to, though I don't know how attractive bank work is. Actually, I do know. Not a lot. Went to the Whole Foods interview, lasted twenty minutes, thought I got a fair shake. They're gonna get back to me on Saturday. Let's hope. The photo is of a tree with some sickly looking leaves, almost like a swarm of wine-colored bats.

the job situation

weird, I thought I'd never hear from the seven or eight places I applied to or sent a resume to. Then late in the morning today I got a call from a floral vendor who takes care of stocking and merchandising the plants and flowers at grocery stores. Part time work, but I was willing, set up an observation/interview for tomorrow morning. Then later that night I got a call for Whole Foods. I end up having a twenty minute interview over the phone. Those are awkward, cos I need to read people. I set up an in-store interview for tomorrow afternoon. The picture is of Fort Preble, which is now the campus of SMCC. I reached out my arm to take this'n, it was a blind shot, turned out good, though.

ch 14

finished ch 14 up today, wrote half the chapter today, most of the rest was worked on while here in Maine... I've been helped by reading On the Road... why didn't I think of that sooner.... ch 14 was a pivotal chapter, had to make sure it was done with care and forthought.... Framed between the blossoming branches, out in the bay, is Fort Gorges. I want to visit there, but the only way is by a private boat/water vessel... I'm thinkin a kayak.

one very long day

Very shortly after I woke up, while finishing my cereal, I got asked to go play frisbee - I'm always down for that. Me and my roommate went to meet another guy, and we played for a while. Then for the better part of the day, until well past noon, I went from place to place, following the crowd, just hanging out. Played some banjo and guitar, had a spaghetti lunch, soaked up the day. Went over to Fort Williams again. Kinda needed one of these 'I'm not working, so I might as well make the most of it' days. Then I went to a barbecue, played some hack, then they lit a fire right there in the grill, nice. Had s'mores, which I had not indulged in quite a while. Hung out till the wee hours of the morn. The photo? It's a hairy jetty. Some odd seaplant, very alien looking.

First visit to Fort Williams

I wish I had my bike here! (or could find a cheap one) This park is a little less than a mile and a half away, I'd ride to it every day. (map) This is where one can experience two Maine signatures. The rocky coasts and the lighthouses. This is a picture of the Portland Head Light lighthouse, nothing really exceptional about it. I found some chiseled eaves along the coast, little sanctuaries. Go here for the photo album. Temperature - High: 67 | Low: 31 Precipitation - 0in.

Nice day for some flowers

The flowers are out now, along with the leaves on the trees. I arrived with good timing because there was not a leaf on a tree when I got here. Then in the next couple days I saw signs of life in the land. Before I knew it - through the clamorous days and the doldrum days since I've been here - everything was in bloom. Go here for the photo album. Temperature - High: 62 | Low: 42 Precipitation - .02 in.

end of semester party

I'm rooming with two students of Southern Maine Community College (SMCC). The semester is over, unofficially anyways. So they held party here, had an enjoyable time. Good turnout, I knew mostly everyone, which is fortunate when it happens. Jammed with the guy I replaced in the house, though night quite the 'passing of the torch'.

Half Hour 'o' Humidity

While playing frisbee, I noticed out on the bay that a very large, dense, low-hanging cloud was moving in. I thought it might be rain, because I hadn't seen what rain looked like up here (hey, I was open for the idea) -- well it came to shore and almost completely obscured the campus, swallowing us whole. The bright spot is the sun. Kinda reminded me of home in the sultry days of summer. Temperature - High: 68 | Low: 50 Precipitation - 0in.

Fantastic game of ultimate

Joined that pickup game I stumbled upon last week, thanks to my roommate of course. Most of the same people were there, with only a couple substitutions. I would have paid to watch this game, it went down to the wire. But more than that it was a friendly kind of competition. Intense, skillful and tactical. Surprisingly there was no wind at all, so if there was a mistake made it was on the thrower or receiver, not the wind.

Casco Bay Bridge

This is the bridge that connects Portland and South Portland. I had the pleasure of waiting 15 minutes for a tall ship to go through. Funny thing, though, the car to the right is a BMW.... with Pennsylvania tags.... and a Devon BMW badge to the left of the license plate - freaky. You can see the badge better here Temperature - High: 61 | Low: 33 Precipitation - 0in.

Ultimate sunsets - Ultimate frisbee

Absolutely clear skies! My first day here was terrific. Played a lot of frisbee in the fields at SMCC. The campus is right on Casco Bay (map) and the sunsets are long and strong. Blue, blue water! There happened to be another group of people throwing the frisbee around, this was about six o'clock. My roommate went over and asked if they wanted to get a game of Ultimate on, which was why they were there to begin with. They were glad to and so were we. They were very skilled, I had some good moments and some bad ones - to be expected. They play there every Wednesday at that times, so we might be joining them regularly. Temperature - High: 60 | Low: 40 Precipitation - 0in.

"Are you Excited?"

hmmm, that was the question most asked this past week, and the answer is 'no, i haven't had much time to think about it' there was an endless amount of things to get ready and people to meet, and I didn't get closure on either. yet that is exactly how i operate. so it went that I woke up this morning and busied myself with throwing away the vast collection of sentiment I've accrued, from the worthless to the moderately valuable. I had packed most of my stuff the night before and was looking to get on the road by 11 or so. it ended up being a quarter past 'so' that I left, but not before plucking a sprig of blossom from the tree my yard, and I set it on my dash and its smell cut through all the others. the journey itself was mediocre - i was spoiled last time i made the trip. I got snarled in backup due to an accident, went through two congested areas, and had to drive without my center mirror. Why? because my jeep was

packed solid to the ceiling. I managed to adjust my passenger side mirror to eliminate the blindspot, but I still had to bob my head over to make sure there wasn't some jerk camping in the nanometer that I could not see.




Temperature - High: 59 | Low: 41 Precipitation - 0in.