my brother is very cool

there are three kids in my family. from the very beginning, to keep things strait and eschew fights over whose mittens were whose, we were all given a symbol. mine was a star [it's my middle name], madison my brother got a rising sun [madison], and hannah, the youngest was graced with a heart [i think i actually gave her that symbol when i was too young to know better, but she really is a sweetheart]. my first tattoos were all stars, and last year when my brother got his first ink done, it was the rising sun [drawn by my dad way back in the day for his leather company rising sun leather]. for x-mas this year, my brother got me a tattoo. it didn't take much deliberation to decide i wanted his sun on my shoulder. in a gesture of sibling solidarity, he got my star done on the same shoulder. thanx madi, this is one gift i'm not going to lose.

it's an understatement to say that i'm glad to be back. it's been raining, and cold, and dark and grey. i've already had my favorite coffee and holiday brews, hobb-nobbed with pdx beer celebrities, and fallen ass-over-tea-kettle in a huge puddle of mud [yeah, my elbow still fuckin' hurts]. i haven't seen a single person wearing fucking uggs, or giant sunglasses indoors. it's been everything i hoped it would be. ahhh, nweuphoria.