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last night, i inked my body to honor the memory of my kitten slater. i’ve been wanting to get this tattoo ever since slater died, and i finally did it. the moment i decided to get a tattoo for her, the idea popped into my head and stuck. a thumb tack. anyone who knew slater, especially as a baby kitten, would remember that before she was allowed to go outside, she terrorized the hotbox. starting in my room, she took all the thumb tacks out of the walls and tore down all my posters… and i have alot! everyday when i get home from class i would have to reassemble my room in hopes that she wouldn’t do it again. eventually i decided to stop trying. then, she moved on to everyone else’s rooms. for months, we would find thumb tacks all over the house. no only would she take them down, but she’d drag them around the house, to the hardwood floors to play with them for hours and hours. silly kitten. once, morgen caught her climbing up a tapestry that was hung on her wall. she watched as she clung to the fabric with her claws as she climbed to the top, leaned over, and pulled a tack out of the adjacent poster with her teeth. what a trouble maker. (its hard to photograph this tattoo… at least right now. so here’s a little something.)

so that’s what i chose. slater was an amazing cat, and i’m always going to miss her, but this way i will always have a way to remember her. all my love.

yesterday afternoon, while i was out to lunch and marie was home alone with the animals, a homeless looking man showed up knocking at the door. apparently he was concerned about urchin and rumi. i’ll try to recreate what he said to marie:

“its your animals… there are newspapers all over the front steps, the cat is outside, the dog is barking. and these broken balloons all over the front yard look like crack balloons.”

now its true… we do leave our newspapers unopened on the front steps, and there were broken neon balloons scattered in the lawn from a recent water balloon fight. so i guess it makes sense, and thanx for the concern, homeless dude. but my only question is: what the hell is a crack balloon?

so i have this friend, zach. he’s a heck of a guy… the sweetest thang you’ll ever meet and a looker to boot. he’s basically held the key to my heart since the moment i met him. but that’s another story altogether. so anyways, zach and i haven’t seen each other in a while, and he’s always telling me that we’ll hang out when i come home, but it doesn’t really ever pan out (my most recent trip home did not break this trend like i had hoped). nevertheless, i won’t hold it against him because he says he loves me. and i believe it.

so today i was online, as the kids are calling it, for the first time in a long time. like actually online and willing to talk to people, and i started talking to zach. chit chat. chit chat. and after i presented the safeway hot air balloon, he showed me a photo of his new skateboard.

“the board spoke to me at the skate shop, it was in a sea of boards covered in skulls and gun,” he said, with great cyber passion that only i can pick up on. “the board is ENJOI brand JERRY HSU signature deck.”

if i didn’t love him then, i sure as kittens do now. kittens… and that’s really all i can say.

since last june, i’ve been nannying for a family in west seattle. their 2 1/2 year old daughter and i spent the afternoons and summers together, playing candyland, doing puzzles, reading and re-reading books, and going to coleman pool. tomorrow is my last day with skye before i leave for europe for 4 months. she’s going to grow SO much while i’m gone; she’ll be learning tons and helping mommy and daddy with her new baby brother who will be born in november. i’ve been thinking about compiling a list of some funny things that she’s said for a while… so lets see what i can remember.

when asked what kids were dressed as in a halloween picture
“that’s a ballerina, that’s a fireman… and that’s, that’s a hobo!”

when i showed her how her spinning top worked
“woah… sweet!”

after the culligan man left
skye: that was the man.
hannah: what man?
skye: you know… the man.

the other day i was getting out of the car outside of the safeway on brooklyn. just as i was closing the car door, an african-american guy in a chef’s coat came up behind me. the following conversation took place:

chef: hey, can i ask you a question?
me: um, sure.
chef: got any rolling papers?
me: no, sorry.
chef: you smoke weed?
me: uhh, no.
chef: yeah right.

with that… he promptly walked away. what do you think about that?
(and this, my dear friends, is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen… maybe.)

i’ve always thought that the english language is pretty fucked up and weird. there are acceptions to every rule, and acceptions to the acceptions. overall its pretty confusing and hard to learn if you don’t start young. anyways, here’s one of those things with the english language that confuses even native speakers. usually there are signifiers to show which is which, but in some cases, there’s just no way of knowing.

words that are spelled the same, but pronounced differenly:

LIVE: you don’t want to live there / this is a live performance

READ: you should read that book / i just read that

USE: its a one use toothbrush / i don’t know how to use that

TEAR: i cried a single tear / i have a tear in my pants

CLOSE: don’t get too close / close that door

here i am again in the indianapolis airport. drinking coffee and watching the weirdos all around me. little girls in brightly colored crocs, sweet old ladies hooked up to breathing machines (who watch my computer while i go pee), and indian men on business calls who smell like curry. i’ve just come to the end of the best weekend i’ve had the pleasure of having all summer. this weekend, i was able to forget all about the stress and pressure of leaving the country (in 23 days) for a few short days and embrace the company of a group of my oldest and dearest friends. i think it might be pretty difficult to blog about the events of this weekend, maybe because they were surrounded by mass amounts of celebratory drinking, but i’m going to give it my best shot and will try to do this wedding weekend justice.

after a brief but always satisfying evening at the pole-barn on wednesday night, ryan holt, tasha, and i (the dynamic trio) left on wednesday morning to drive up to chicago for ben and kat’s wedding on saturday. driving jamie’s brand new ford escape, we headed north on our way to the time of our lives. we checked into the marriot about 45 minutes north of the city, just outside of barrington, il. that night, just a handful of us had arrived and we planned to spend the evening getting reacquainted. ryan, tasha, and i went to get chicago-style pizza and a bottle of rum for dinner with dk. we spent the rest of the night listening to 90s music and some choice durrrty rap songs in our hotel room with blake, erin, chris cox, aj, and zach kahl. ben and kat stopped by later to say hi and have a couple drinks, but i think they were pretty stressed out, or at least overwhelmed by all the activity surrounding the wedding. drink, drank, drunk, and finally some shut eye.

the next morning, the trio woke and drove around to find breakfast. it was pretty strange, but this town was all spread out (which we’re used to in indiana), but there were really no restaurants (which we are Not used to). driving around for about 20 minutes we found jimmy john’s, sushi, 3 dunkin’ donuts, and an assortment of auto supply stores… oh, and at least 4 target locations. it was kinda sick, but at least it wasn’t walmart. after finally finding a dinner (like perkin’s), we headed downtown chicago to walk around and check out some stuff. we parked near the sears’ tower and walked around the streets for an hour or so. we had heard that there were batman movie sets around the city and we happened to stumble right across a few (the new batman movie with is being filmed in chicago). we can up to a big alley way that was fenced off, with large building sets and lots of other stuff that you’d imagine to see around a movie set all around. we also saw a big stunt net hanging in another alley, as well as big lights and fans in other alley’s all over the streets where we were wandering. it was pretty awesome, even thought we didn’t see any real movie things happening, and of course ryan was totally psyched about the prospect of seeing christian “batman” bale. we headed back to the hotel just as everyone else was rolling into town and arriving at the hotel. it was basically the biggest, bestest reunion of friends that i could have imagined. we just went out for sushi for dinner, partied at the hotel, and spent some time just rockin out… or as brophy would say “poopin’ our pants.”

the next day we had breakfast, went for a swim, and got ready for the wedding. geez, we were all SO excited to get all dressed up and head out for the festivities; a cocktail party, ceremony, and reception. with 20 some of your our oldest friends, its hard to not have the greatest time of your life! now, let’s see if i can name everyone that was there: hannah (that’s me), tasha, ryan, joe hebda, dan, brandon carotta, eli, b troy, tyler, drew, blake, erin, danny, chris cox, nicole, aj, jarilyn, joni, jake, zach kahl, ashley strahan, stevedave, nick holton, plus a handful of bloomington and montana kids… and OF COURSE, ben and kat! (i hope i got everyone in there.)

the wedding was spectacular. cocktail hour, ceremony, and reception… open bar, amazing food, and awesome band! we spent the night eating, drinking, and dancing the night away!! i danced so much i could hardly walk for 3 days. but it was more than worth it. check out the pictures that eli captured to prove it. (i can’t seem to add pictures to this blog like i usually do. stay tuned for a couple choice photos.)

hell yeah.

here i am, on my way to indiana and chicago for my friend’s wedding. that’s sort of strange to say, i guess. my first close friend to get married… pretty wild. this morning i woke up to leave for the airport and the girls insisted (haha) that i toke up a lttle bit before the flight. jess ended up being a little too hung over to make the trip with us, so i said goodbye to urchin, and britt and i headed for seatac.

crusing up the hill on i-5 south, we were absolutely amazed by the crystal clear morning that lay ahead of us. we could see everything for miles in every direction. the 5 tiers of mountains to the west barely fading in the morning mist. the harsh and lightly sprinkled mountains to the east standing out in the sunlight. the whole of seattle brightly vivid in detail stretching across the water, with west seattle clearly visible beyond the buildings.

as we rounded the bend on the freeway and mt. rainier came booming into view, we were left nearly breathless. as we stared at the mountain, senses and appreciation heightened, every crevice and tiny peek on the western rock face glistened in the morning sunlight. rainier is usually present in the same sense as an iceberg. its base, making up over 50% of its mass, is most often hidden by clouds, smog, or dense tree lines, but this morning it spread across the horizon like a massive, powerful work of art. examining the view ahead, i soon came to notice the striking resemblance that the mountain held with a somewhat disturbing image. with the great detail showing on the rock this bright morning, it looked amazingly like a face, stricken with great desperation. raised skyward, struggling to break through a snow-white sheet of rock… [or some sort of weird placenta like binding, like in those commercials with the athletes (like payton manning) being born from those eggs or whatever... i think its nike. or gatorade. i don't remember.] with this glorious view of mother nature’s brillance in front of me, i could only imagine an enormous creature from the depths of the earth breaking through the earth’s surface to freedom from its fiery prison. maybe that’s what all mountains and other forms of physical geography are; creatures from the underworld desperately trying to escape. i mean, isn’t that where hell is? centered in the earth’s molten core?

……

then. after waiting in the most ridiculous security line that i’ve ever seen, snaking around the airport like a basalisk (you like that?), i boarded my plane and began to relax. i really like to listen carefully to the strange, “charasmatic” things that different pilots and flight attendants say over the intercoms on planes. once, a flight attendant joked about smoking only being allowed on the wings, where the in-flight movie would be gone with the wind. oh man, she thought she was clever. today the pilot talked for a good minute and a half about how if we were traveling by wagon train to minneapolis, it would take us 63 days… but he’d be sure to get us there in 62 days and a few hours less than that. gee, thanx jack! (that’s what i imagine his name is.) he also said “expeditious” twice, which is a word i don’t hear very often. so thanx again jack… i always enjoy some unique vocabulary… but lets try switchin’ it up a bit next time.

so anyways, i’ll be in chicago for a couple days, indiana for a couple, and then back to seattle on monday evening… missing you all until then. smoochies.

this week i’m hanging out in indiana/michigan with my mom, auntie sarah, and cousin fiona. sarah, fiona, and i flew in monday evening and hung out that night and all day tuesday, then left with mom tuesday evening. fiona and i went to barley island, the local brew pub in noblesville, to have a couple drinks and meet up with some of the noblesville crew. it was pretty awesome, just chatting with DK and saying hi to a few choice others. we finished the night with a little hook, banjo cuddling, and much needed harry potter reading…

tuesday morning the real fun started. sarah, fiona, my dad, and i went to the indianapolis zoo. i hadn’t been to the zoo in indy for years and i had been looking forward to this trip for months, ever since tasha told me about the new interactive shark exhibit. now, for those of you who don’t know, sharks are possibly my favorite animals… i find them fascinating, intimidating, and beautiful, so naturally i was totally stoked about the opportunity to interact with them. the oceans building at the zoo is all remodeled and new since the last time i was there (maybe a zoo sleep-over with the rainforest group or girl scouts?). when we first walked in we saw a large tank with 20 to 30 bonnethead sharks, which look like small hammerheads. they were about the size (give or take) of a foot long sub, plus some fins and teeth. then, after seeing some jellyfish, unicorn fish, and hogfish, we walked around the corner into a large open room, filled to the brim with children and adults alike surrounding a large, low, open tank. we found a opening around the other side and knelt down to get closer to the water. in this 4 foot salt water pool (i tasted it to make sure) swam 20some smallish sharks. it took some patient waiting for the sharks to swim up to us so that we could touch them, but eventually they began to take laps, swimming by us several times so that we could dip our hands into the water and pet their rubbery skin. it was so awesome! their strangely soft, smooth skin seemed to slither under our hands as they swam by and with each passing i think they enjoyed it more and more… and so did i! the small ridge on their backs was surprisingly hard compared to the rest of their bodies, and you could see the veins that ran through their dorsal fins. as we sat hoping to get another hand on a shark or two, we noticed some very peculiar behavior… the sharks would swim around with their heads out in the air, wiggling up out of the water in the way that dolphins do. it was very strange… a zoo worker told us that predatory sharks do this to catch seals and other prey (you may have seen this on planet earth), but since these lil guys are bottom feeders they aren’t quite sure why they do it. the leading guess is that they are just being playful, trying to get attention, like a little kid jumping up and down or pulling on your shirt sleeve. now thats f’n cute. a shark wants my attention, and i’m more than willing to give it.

then after some other oceans animals like penguins, seals, sea-lions, and a bored looking polar bear, we went to a dolphin show. again, i hadn’t been to a dolphin show at the zoo for years and years so i was pretty excited, but didn’t expect anything i hadn’t seen before. much to my surprise, the dolphin pavilion was completely remodeled with a sort of theatre set of a boat house and dock sort of thing. it looked pretty cool, if not a tad bit hokey. then the trainers came out and the dolphins were awesome, just like i knew they would be. they flipped and flopped, jumped 30ft out of the water to tap a hanging ball with their noses, splashed a bunch of little kids, and did synchronized tricks. the set didn’t really do much for me, but i just like to watch the dolphins swim around with big smiles on their faces while we clapped for them… i hear they respond to applause and cheering (i wouldn’t be surprised).

of course the other parts of the zoo were cool… the snakes! red pandas and kodiak bears, hidden tigers, and meerkats. the zoo is always fun, although sometimes i am struck with great sadness as i walk through the exhibits, watching the poor captivated animals pace or swim back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. i want to go to australia and visit the sydney zoo. i hear that the animals have much more room, are able to roam a bit more, and there are many more opportunities for human interaction with the animals. (terri and bindi irwin told me all about it on Ellen.)

yesterday morning, brittany went out of her way to give me a ride to work in west seattle… a drive that only takes about 20 minutes, but a total of about an hour on the bus (i greatly appreciate these rides to work because it means i don’t have to leave at 8.40 to get to work by 10am). usually the drive to work is nothing to report upon, but yesterday morn was oddly noteable.

the trip started out pretty normally, with the regular 9.45am bumper to bumper seattle traffic that makes no reasonable sense to me. but when we took the west seattle bridge we certainly were not expecting the things that followed. in the stopped traffic heading east on the bridge we spotted something that i really have only seen in the movies (a bi-logy with whoopi goldberg to be specific). that’s right, you guessed it… A NUN! a cute little nun, just sitting in traffic like a normal person, with her head peering above the steering wheel of her two door, baby blue taurus. who is she trying to fool? conspicuous much? all britt and i could do was wonder where she could possibly be going. to teach some troubled teens what really matters in life; god, music, and true friendship?? seeing a nun in broad daylight in seattle traffic is as rare as seeing a black bear in a university district dumpster: it happens sometimes, but when you get to see it first hand, you treasure that moment forever.

after we got over the shock of this sighting, we figured the remainder of the drive would be normal, lacking excitement. but man, were we wrong. cruisin along, we were struggling to get past this slow driver in front of us and pulled up next to them at a red light a couple of blocks from work. knowing that our lane would end just ahead, britt had plans to pass this car when the light finally turned green. upon seeing that the driver was a little, white-haired lady, everything about her driving fell into place. as we sat next to her, she must have been aware of our intentions and began to pull forward slowly into the crosswalk. she continued to do this until we were quite sure that she was just going to speed off, disregarding the rules of the road. when the light changed she revved her engine and sped off ahead of us, just beating us to the punch. as we followed her down the road a bit and made our turn several blocks later wondering what her f’n deal was, we glanced forward and realized that she was flipping us off out her window, her old, wrinkly hand shaking with rage as she drove off down the road. man, dude… what’s up with that? i thought old ladies were supposed to be dignified. guess not.

i guess i learned that a typical drive to work can turn out to be much much more with the right rare sightings and old lady road rage.