The Web House

I lived pretty much in the same place for the majority of my life. I started out with my mom and my grandparents in a little pink and white house in Burlington, Washington. When I was four, my Mom got married and we moved onto her new husband's farm on the outskirts of civilization somewhere between Lyman and Hamilton, Washington. I stayed there until about two months after I turned 18. Then, I did what so many do. I set out to find a place of my own and learn how to be grown up in the respect of being self sufficient for all my vital needs.

It was a very windy and bumpy road that got me to my first apartment. I lived in four different houses before I finally moved into my own apartment with my friend. I started out in my Ganny and Papa's (my father's parents) house in Bellingham. A few months later, I moved to Oak Harbor to live my grandparents (my mother's parents). A few months after that, I moved in with my Aunt and Uncle that also lived in Oak Harbor, and not much longer after that, I moved in my Dad's house in Blaine, Washington.

From this, I discovered one very important thing. You never really become completely independent when you live with relatives. They have expectations of you, and even though you might be paying rent to live there, and perhaps you occasionally buy your own groceries, it is far from being on your own. They want to know where you're going, how long you're going to be, and they want you to do certain things certain ways. Not to mention how they will complain to others in the family about the little things about you that bother them that they never noticed before you actually lived with them. No matter what, they will all treat you like a child because that is what they have always known you as. Or such was the case for me, anyway. I think it's great to live in a place where people are concerned about your well-being and love you.... but there came a time for me where this became too much and I knew I needed to be on my own even though the cost of living for me would more than double.

I moved into my first official apartment in the first week of July, 2007. My friend, Marcus, and myself chose this apartment carefully. We picked an area we liked and found an apartment complex that was affordable and looked newer, clean, and cozy. And so began the horrible process of learning that student housing apartments are made with very cheap materials and the property management companies that patrol them will suck you dry in every area that they possibly can.

I have many awesome memories from that apartment, and I really did like the layout of the place. However, I will avoid ever living in an apartment complex if I can help it.

I spent a good two months searching for a house that was privately owned and managed, so I could come back from Sweden to a place I could relax and enjoy inhabiting.

I ended up finding a four bedroom, two story house a little more than a mile away from my first apartment. The rent was affordable and I had two roommates lined up.

On the ride home from the airport when I got back from Sweden, I was really excited to see my new house. I don't know about anyone else, but when you do a walk-through when you're thinking about renting a place, you don't really get a thorough look at everything. It is just too much to intake all at once. So when move-in day finally comes, it's so exciting because you don't really know that much about your new home. The most I remembered about my house was the layout of the rooms and the outside because we did many drive-bys when deciding if we wanted to live there.

My two roommates had been living there for about three weeks before I came to join them. When the car pulled into the driveway sometime past midnight the first night I was to spend in my new house (HOUSE!!!!! not apartment!!), I could barely contain my excitement as I scrambled up the front steps and eagerly reached out for the front door. I stopped before my hand touched the doorknob and drew back in disgust. Two very fat, very horrifying spiders dangled on the door. Several webs decorated the porch I was standing on, and each one had an unwelcome occupant.

It was rather fortunate that I was so utterly exhausted from the insane trip I just returned from, because I had so little energy to dedicate to freaking out about the spiders infesting the outside of my home.

That night, I slept on a pad in the living room and spent the entire next day thoroughly inspecting and piecing together my new home.

The house was obviously made in the '70's. It must have been prime in it's day. It's been beat up quite a bit since then, and because it's so tattered, it's affordable! Most of the carpet is vomit colored. Some of the carpet was replaced with a cream colored carpet that has thousands of stains on it from hundreds of parties that have taken place there over the years. I absolutely love it. Pre-damaged means that I cannot possibly do too much to make it worse. I have taken this into consideration as I live with two party-animal boys. Fine, I can get pretty reckless and wild as well. But since I am the one that ends up cleaning, I am much more careful with what messes I make and where I make them. There is at least one wooden wall in every room in the house. There is a functional fireplace in the upstairs living room, and I am excited to hang our stockings there when it comes time to decorate for Christmas. The appliances look like they were updated sometime in the '90's, and they all function properly (so far, anyway...). The downstairs area is perfect for entertaining. A pool table sits in the middle of the room, a bar in one of the corners, and a sauna in the hallway just outside the den.

The outside of this place is brilliant. Padden Creek runs right through my backyard, and we have a hammock overlooking it and a bridge crossing it. Not to mention the awesome two-layer deck, and the padio outside the downstairs.

Over all, I am very pleased with this new home. All but the spider situation.

I discovered that the spider population was even worse that I thought. Spiders were everywhere in the house and the back porch. And these are not just any spiders. They are HUGE. Big, fat, well-fed garden spiders. Anyone who knows me well knows that I cannot stand spiders. When I see one, every hair on my body strains to stick straight up.

How do I deal with it? Well, I decided I would go with the Batman approach. Facing your worst fear and letting it turn you into a superhero. So I am now a superhero. A superhero with a very capable broom. A capable broom of death to spiders.

My roommates, Josh and Paul, and myself, decided that "The Web House" was a very fitting name for our new home.

Oh, Obama!

So yesterday marked a new beginning for the United States of America.

Now begins the presidential reign of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

This election was the first one that actually meant something to me, to be honest. Even though politics mostly stress me out and I do not consider them 'fun' in any way, I am really excited to have been able to witness such an event as this year's Presidential Election. This one is bound to stand out in the history books.

I still harbor the same attitude towards the whole shenanigan, however. I had an extremely hard time deciding who to vote for, and in the end, no matter which way I voted, I was bound to get crap from people I am close to. Like I have explained before, most of my family and many of my close friends are quite conservative and republican, and most of my coworkers and lots of friends are extremely liberal and full-on democrats. I had more than my fill of discussions and arguments with both sides about many different subjects. I read more than I cared to read about the different candidates. I had a very difficult time filtering through everything I was hearing, reading, and seeing and choosing which information I wanted to base my decision on.

Now that it is all said and done, I don't feel much better about things. I feel like everyone around me is one extreme or the other. Every supporter of the democratic party has been absolutely ecstatic, and every republican mopes around as if the end of the world is coming. I remain indifferent. Even though the Presidential democratic party did receive my vote, I am not convinced. I am excited for change, but it is an excitement that is powered both by fear and hope. Actions speak louder than words, always. So, Mr. President, here is your opportunity. Earn back the faith and patriotism of the Americans by showing us that you were the right choice.

During the last Presidential campaign, I was attending college in Skagit County, and there were a few students that were running around trying to influence people to vote, but it was nothing like what I witnessed this year. Upon my return to the USA from Sweden, my friends, coworkers, WWU and WCC students, and even strangers I would pass on the streets were, not only suggesting, but forcefully pushing people verbally to vote, vote, VOTE! Thank you to those people that passionately pushed the young folks of Bellingham to care about their country's government. I am thoroughly impressed.

There is power in number, as life has proven repeatedly. I have heard a few of my disappointed conservative friends complain about how the citizens' vote doesn't really count for anything since the Electoral College performs the formal vote. But I am going to go out on a little limb here and say they're wrong. I feel like the number of voting citizens sends more of a message than we think it does. Power is a potentially scary thing and history has shown us over and over what happens when power falls into the hands of the wrong people. If we, the people, do not care to vote or concern ourselves with the leadership in this country, we are basically forking over the power that was bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers and letting the government know that they could probably get away with tossing us around how they see fit and they will not get much of a resistance because there are not enough people that care enough to put up a fight. (How's that for a run-on sentence??) Even though we are not the final say on who moves into the White House, we are still getting the word out there that we care a lot who inhabits the place by getting our votes in. We are the influence.

It blows my mind that the majority of the world right now is stoked on this year's election. It makes me grateful to live in such an influential country and hopeful that it's universal fame will be used to initiate changes for the good worldwide.

Go America!

*Correction!

A reader pointed out that "All Saint's Day" is actually on November 1st, the day after "All Hallow's Eve".

My apologies for mixing up the facts, folks!

This is Halloween!

As a child, I was prohibited from participating in any 'real' Halloween celebration. My family was very conservative and Christian, and Halloween is widely known for being a pagan holiday and thus something very evil and generally avoided by uptight Christians.

But, like most holidays, Halloween does not really serve the same purpose as it used to. America has a very special way of taking a historical tradition or celebration and turning it into an entertaining hullabaloo. Example? I have a couple. Easter is all about egg-shaped candy and a bunny that hides presents instead of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; Christmas is all about Santa Claus, getting presents, and plastering every surface with outrageous decorations and not so much the birth of Jesus Christ; and Valentine's Day is all about flowers and chocolates and hearts instead of .... what's his name? Saint Valentine? See, that one is so far removed from it's original meaning that I have no idea where it originated from!

And then my main topic of interest for today.... Halloween.

Once upon a time, Halloween, or "All Hallow's Eve" or "All Saint's Day" was the one day a year, on October 31st, that the borders between the dead the living melted away and the Celtic Pagans of Ireland (also some in Scotland) held a giant festival where everyone got together to stockpile food for the winter. The children went from house to house, gathering fruits and berries to eat at the festival, and dress up like creatures you might find in the underworld. The people were quite superstitious and had many techniques of dealing with the presence of the dead being present in their territory. It is pretty common knowledge that the jack-o-lantern was a popular way of warding off evil spirits during this time.

I kind of enjoy the Americanized version of Halloween. These days, we don't really stick to the rules of dressing like only creatures of the underworld, or carving our pumpkins only to look terrifying like a demon. I wonder how many Americans actually participate in Halloween because they believe in what it stands for. They must stockpile their food for the winter and survive through a day of hosting the dead. I am sure there must be a few..

Growing up, my parents would take my sister and I to the church's alternative to Halloween: "Fall Festival". Like Atheists insist on calling Christmas "X-mas", the Christians insist on calling Halloween "The Fall Festival". I find that a little funny. It was fun, though. It was a building full of all sorts of games and candy and stuff.

This year, I participated in Halloween probably more than I ever have in my life. I dressed up and went out to downtown Bellingham with a couple friends of mine. I have never seen such a sight in my life! A couple thousand costumed people crowded the streets Holly and Railroad. It was like living in Hollywood for a night. So many different awesome costumes. I am rather fond of the Americanized Halloween that is all about crazy props and costumes that are never limited to only creatures of the underworld. Along with hundreds and hundreds of others, I watched a large group of zombies do a brilliant job of dancing out the choreography to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in the middle of the road, stopping traffic for more than five minutes, I'm sure.

The little hippie folk town of Bellingham was absolutely shredded by the Halloween night life. And I was amongst it all, contributing to the chaos. It was fun!

....Plus, I met the Mad Hatter, and he bought me a drink or two. And I totally stole his tea cup and saucer and we had a very happy un-birthday at Boundary Bay. How cool is that?