Well, for those of you who care, I've decided to post a journal of sorts to keep everyone up-to-date on what's going down with me. I've been meaning to do this for a while, and will try to keep it as up to date as possible. For my convenience, I will start with my departure from Lexington, KY on 7.21.99. For your convenience, I will write it in reverse-chronological order, just in case you decide to come back and don't want to wade through several months of my pitiful life just to see what pathetic mundane things I'm doing. So that means after you read this, start at the bottom. Well, here goes nothing.....

10.23.99
Well...... I just finished making puppets for a demonstration on Wednesday, our (Art & Revolution Eugene) "Festival of Resistance". I made a wearable puppet mask, suit, hands called.... Uncle Scam! Imagine Uncle Sam with a fistful of dollars in one hand, flipping off workers with the other, and a big money sign on his hat. Heather made an awesome 2-person giant turtle puppet. It's gonna be one kickass show. Oh, learned how to make paper today via Himalayan and European methods at the craft center.

10.15.99
Sweatshop Fashions: An Alternative Fashion Show was a success.We (I was one of the models) modeled our UO gear, marched to Johnson Hall (the administration building), presented our demands regarding a UO code of conduct, and stripped. To our underwear, anyway. I had "Full Disclosure" written on my chest, and "End Sweatshop Labor" on my back. We got great press (I'll post a pic soon).

10.15.99
Tom Waits Show. Magnificent.

10.9.99
I have gotten so bad about updating this site. Sorry. I just can't find the time to do everything I want to. Very little free time. For instance, today I had to get up at eight am- on a Saturday! I was petitioning at the Farmer's Market at ten, at the Art & Revolution puppet show at noon, in their workshops at two, and an HRA meeting at five. The Art & Revolution show was really great, and the workshops really fun. Learned how to make giant puppets. We learned a little about safe & effective civil disobedience as well. At the HRA meeting, I really found out how much I've bitten off this term: I'm in charge of finding bands for the WTO Teach-In (Oct. 29-31), gotta get stuff ready for the USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops) WELAP National Action Day (Oct. 20), put the screws to UofO administration, go to Seattle and maybe get arrested (dead week- Nov. 29th-Dec. 4th), meetings, events and more.  Oh, and go to school as well. Maybe find a job. Actually, I have a job(co-coordinator), I just need to find an additional one that pays. Oh yeah...... here is some really bad news (for me, anyway): Coffee People is closing down. I'm really sad. I'm going to miss that place, those people. Tomorrow, potluck at Agatha & Sarah's with a Guatamalan Democracy/Women's Rights activist. No rest for the wicked.

10.5.99
Let's see.... This weekend I went to a Human Rights Alliance potluck/strategy meeting. I baked a cake beforehand (lemon-poppyseed), and everyone seemed to like it. Good news: got the co-coordinator position. Yay, Randy! We had our general interest meeting of HRA tonight, and I had to talk about the WTO. I was shaking in my boots (I hate public speaking). Agatha told me I did a good job, but... hmmmm...... Anyway, it was a good experience, and I suppose that I'm going to have to get used to it. I am so psyched about this term. Lots of stuff is going on. WTO. Anti-Sweatshop stuff. Seattle. Aaahhh....
Oh, went to Kung Fu class last night, and dropped the for-credit Karate class. Gonna check at Coffee People for a real job. Wish me luck! A good way to do that is to  email me.

10.1.99: 1st Week of School in Retrospect
Apologies to those of you who eagerly check this site on a daily basis because YOU CARE about my life, as I haven't updated in a while (I'm sure noone lost sleep). I  like my classes. I've met some really neat people. I'm really liking this place. Been to two parties this week already. Looks like I may have a job with the Survival Center as a co-coordinator (maybe). Heh.... I woke up this morning stressing about homework, and busted out the assignment, just to find out that it wasn't due until Monday. I foresee a great term.

9.27.99: Back to School
First day of school. Think I'm gonna like it. Got up early, even. Classes seem pretty cool.... had Morphology, Historical, and QiGong today. The bad news is that I may have to retire my coffee mug; John Conti has taken his revenge upon me. The mug has taken on the flavor of UK's Intermezzo coffee. Blegh. Oh yes.... new job development: I've been playing phone tag since Saturday with a lady from King Winery here in Eugene. She says she wants to interview me, and we keep leaving messages on one another's voice mail. I actually spoke to her once, for about ten seconds. We'll just have to see how things work out. New experiment from Randy's kitchen: dessert omelettes. I had a cherry- raspberry-cranberry one tonight, with limited success. I think I was just about a handful of raspberries and a sprinkling of almonds away from a culinary breakthrough. Well, maybe not a breakthrough. It was certainly interesting, though. Stupid, but interesting.

9.24.99
Still sick, but getting better. Handed out some copies of the Insurgent (I helped Willy with the table set up at EMU for a short time). Piddled around on campus until I was so woozy I had to go home and sleep. Feeling wretched. Hopefully kick this by the time I wake up tomorrow.

9.23.99
Registered for classes. Looks like I'm taking Morphology & Syntax, Historical Linguistics, Intro to Folklore, Karate I and QiGong. Cold gets worse, sore throat, snot rolling out of my head, the whole bit. Go to campus and help the OSPIRG kids clean the Survival Center office. Then I attend a little meeting on vegetarianism (I went for free food, but there wasn't much to be had). That was kind of amusing to me, as I hadn't been a vegetarian for five whole days. Heh. I'm going veggie again, though.... as soon as I get rid of (read: eat) those chicken egg rolls in the fridge. Yes, later that night (highly medicated, woozy, and nauseous though I was) I went to a meeting that Sara invited me to on the WTO. Only a few were there, but several groups were represented (Human Rights Alliance, Alliance for Democracy, Mobilization Against Globalization, a union, a couple others). I met some interesting people, and I'm getting a little excited about the Seattle protest. It looks like it's going to be BIG. That evening was mainly concerned with PR, target groups, info dissemination strategies, and the upcoming teach-in. More on that as it comes in.

9.22.99
I started the day off by going to the Craft Center to register for two classes, Coptic Bookbiding and Papermaking. Those should be fun. I also met a cute Jounalism major named Kate (She's Crafty!). Then I checked in with the Survival Center. I talked to Sara Jacobsen, the center coordinator, about a possible internship. That's right, I might actually get credit for doing shit I'd do anyway. Let's see..... went and had my transfer credits evaluated by a nice lady at academic advising (I came out 10.5 credits richer, too, as well as finagled a few credits into counting for group requirements). Then I went to the meeting for transfer students, shere I met another cute girl, named Autumn (which, incidentally, is my favorite season, and I told her so). If you're seeing a trend here, yes, Oregon is full of cute girls.So we attended the meeting and snickered a lot at stupid questions. Then I went to see my major adviser and met a few linguistics majors (some of whom were.... um, nevermind.... you can figure it out). Two of the guys were Japanese, Takeshi and Takashi (really, I'm not making this up). After advising (Malsch, my adviser, is a really nice guy, and very helpful), I go to CP and run into Takashi and his (girl-?)friend, Sanju. Sanju had apparently just decided to take linguistics as a major. We all discuss classes, Oregon, the weather, language, etc. They're great kids. Looks like it's gonna be one hell of a term.......Caught a cold this evening. Ach.

9.21.99
Here at the UO, there's a monthly leftist paper called The Student Insurgent. As I was waiting in the Survival Center (student activism central planning dept.), I hung around with the people that put it together. Fun people. They even trusted me to do some editing as I was hanging around waiting on the girl who runs the place to check about a (paid!) organizer position. She didn't show (I hung around for about four hours). I also applied for a lab tech job at the language lab, checked into being an English tutor, and sent a resume to a local winery to be a tour guide/wine tasting assistant. Man, Eugene rocks! Later, I came home, loaned some butter to my neighbor, and made creme anglaise and raspberry coulis (but they turn out a little runny).

9.20.99
Preloan interview this morning, 10:00am. I show up about fifteen minutes early to find a throng of other people waiting in front of the door. After ascertaining that this door was indeed the right one, I proceed to look for a spot by the wall to sit. In doing so, my eyes meet those of an extremely cute girl, who gives me an extremely cute little smile, and I return and sit down as close as possible to her extremely cute radiance. A few words are exchanged, and some smartass queries as to whether anyone has bother to check and see if the door is open. I told him not to bother to check it, as anyone who actually looks can tell that the door is not even closed. As I expected (indeed, hoped), this started an exodus of Freshmen-to-be into the room, clearing the hallway. Clear of everyone but me and the aforementioned extremely cute girl. We exchange a few more words, and she introduces herself to me (her name is Chris). Wow. We chat for a couple of minutes, then go inside, and find a couple of chairs next to each other. Twenty minutes of "Pay Uncle Sam back or else!" later, I look into my welcome packet and see that I have tentatively scheduled a Duckweb tutorial next, so I quickly throw that into my bag and ask Chris what she is doing next. She asks me what I'm doing next, and I say, "Um.....no plans for the rest of the day." "Well, I was going to go to this Duckweb thing...." "Well. Sounds interesting." So we mosey along, chat about this and that, go through the EMU, to the tutorial thingie, then find ourselves wandering down 13th Ave. We decide to go for Chinese, and I renege on veggie-ism for a third consecutive day. We chat some more, leave, and shortly thereafter part on the street, and I give her my phone number. I hope she calls.......(hint, hint, if you're reading this). Then I go home and see a message from Jo in my Inbox; it would appear my dear, dear friend Jo is a little frazzled. She asks me to send her a little cheer. "A challenge!" says I. So I draw a little picture and put together a little webpage in hopes of cheering her up. Did it work, Jo? Afterwards, I go buy Tom Waits' Blue Valentine, Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man, and a CD of a band called The Cocktails, an alterno-lounge music kinda thing I remember hearing at (blegh!) Lollapalooza '93. Good stuff. I get a complement on my musical taste from the sales-grrrl. Then I go for coffee, am warmly greeted by Coffee Persons Christine and Jessica, and park it with an iced chai until I get tired and go home for a nap. Later, I try to find the Cascadia Self-Defense class again with the map I got one of the anarchist kids to draw for me. I have found that anarchists are bad with directions. I give up after about thirty minutes of driving. Looks like I'll just be taking martial arts at UO. Damn..... this is the longest entry I've made.

9.19.99
Well, I have an admission to make: I faltered on my vegetarianism twice this weekend. It was bound to happen eventually, as I decided at the beginning I wasn't going to be a steadfast veggie-boy. That is, of course, not counting the sushi: fish doesn't count. Buddhist are considered veggie but they eat fish. And never expect to see me as a vegan. Milk, cheese and myself go way back; why break up a winning team?

9.18.99
Eugene Celebration: Day 2. Saw the Red Elvises today (they did the soundtrack to Six String Samurai); they rock. Followed a parade (mostly people from Unstuck In Time). Ran into Michael, Juanita, Marley, and Kaelin (M & K are Juanita's daughters). Juanita was blitzed! She did a pub crawl earlier, in a toga (she lost her toga at some point). It was a race through 7 bars, stopping to have a beer at each. Her daughters were "babysitting" her. She insisted we all needed more beer, but Marley and Kaelin insisted that we didn't need more beer, but they needed curly fries, soda, and candy. We finally negotiated a deal, beer for us, candy for them. Really funny to see, these two little girls (12 and 10) mother-henning their Mom! Juanita was all over me (what can I say-I'm so hot!). We all marched through downtown, going to music stages, bars, etc., holding hands (all of us, a big human chain) most of the way. Kaelin starts comparing us to Dorothy & Co. from The Wizard of Oz. I get assigned the role of Scarecrow.
Randy: So I don't have a brain, eh?
Marley: Wit, we decided you were nerdy, so you've gotta have a brain. You can be Tin Man.
Randy: Okay. "....if I only had a heart...."
Juanita: That doesn't fit, either.
Kaelin: Then you can be Dorothy.
Randy: I don't know about that. I take exception to playing the role of Dorothy. There's a certain stigma about guys emulating Judy Garland.....
So I get stuck with Scarecrow. Michael got the best role: Toto. We get to WOW Hall, and a couple of little kids use me for an amusement park ride. They were mauling several people, actually. Just jumping on people's backs, climbing up them..... it was weird. I parted ways with J., M., M. & K. shortly thereafter (they went home), and wandered a bit more until deciding it was getting close to beddy-bye  time. Eugene rocks out.

9.17.99
5:00am, I get up, brew a whole (12-cup) pot of coffee. I throw on some clothes, pour the coffee in a thermos, fill my coffee mug,  and proceed to get lost trying to find the Hult Center. I finally arrive at 6:30, after getting directions from a gas station attendant, and get in line. Three people there already (though I soon found there was a fourth sleeping on the side entrance steps. If anyone at this point doesn't know what I'm talking about, I'm there for  Tom Waits tickets. I met some people in line, etc., got my ticket (yes, that's ticket singular, because I decided that I want to eat next week). I'm so thrilled! After going home and taking a nap, I get up and go to the Eugene Celebration downtown. Big 3-day event, lots of music, etc. Iwandered aroud for a while, checked out some bands.My favorite was a band that wasn't featured, just playing there on the boardwalk called Unstuck in Time. It was kind of a cabaret-ish band, with (what I think was) a fluglehorn, a trombone, a tuba, drums, and a woman with a very operatic voice. After checking them out, I watched some kids breakdancing, then a jungle drum, belly dancing troup. At this point ( while I was watching atop a post), I am scouted out by Juanita and Michael (the Raindogs I met at the potry reading). They were there with their daughters (two each), and we all meandered to WOW Hall and checked out a band called Jesus Presley, who also were excellent (kinda swingy hard rockabilly). We stayed for about half an hour, but Michael's daughter Kris (I think it was Kris......mighta been Ashley) was tired so we left.Of course, we all talked about our Waits tickets. They took off, I meandered a bit more, then called it a night.

9.16.99 Field Trip
Went to bed at 4:16am, got up at 6:45. I had stayed up the night before writing a paper and an essay for my class. This was  the last day, and the final was writing down our observations during a field trip around Oregon. Went to Sisters, Bend, Salt Creek Falls. Sisters has this great bakery.... I forget the name of it. Salt Creek Falls are very pretty (I'll post the pictures if they turn out okay), and not too far from Eugene. During the trip, I got to know this girl I had talked to in class a little more. Her name is Meghan. She's a tall gorgeous sky-eyed sorta-hippyish artsy kind of girl, very level-headed (did I say gorgeous?) girl. Hope I can track her down on campus this Fall.... Arrived back on campus around 4:30, went for coffee, finished Crime and Punishment (damn good book), went home. I tried to nap a few times, but it just wasn't happening.... eventually I went to bed, set the alarm for 5:00am.....

9.12.99
Went to a poetry reading at a local bookstore: the theme was Tom Waits. Really fun. I met a couple of people on the Raindogs listserv (the Tom Waits mailing list). Cool people. S'about it for my weekend.....

9.10.99: 24 years old
Well, I turned 24 today. Yay. Treated myself to sushi.Crystal woke me up at 5:30 to wish me happy B-day.

9.9.99
All quiet on the western front. Woke up late. Emailed my congresspeople about intervention in East Timor. Spoke to the parents, the ex, the whole bit. Tomorrow......

9.8.99
Still in school. Today, I happened through the EMU (student center) here at UofO and by chance happened upon the local student activist organization office. Pretty neat, with pictures of Che on the wall and everything.... they produce a little newspaper there called The Insurgent. As luck would have it, they had "Help Wanted" signs out for an organizer position. I left a note for them indicating I would like to apply for a position. Exciting! Hope they call me back. This is so cool- a paid position for doing something I would be doing anyway. Kind of odd, though, a "wage slave" position for a group that I suppose dominately socialist/anarchist. More good news!  Tom Waits is coming to Eugene, OR!!! Tickets go on sale Sept. 18th. I don't know the concert date yet, though. Ahhh..... life is good.....  Two days 'til 24.

9.7.99: Back to School, the prequel
I started what is called the "September Experience" here at the UofO today. A whole class crammed into nine action-packed days. I'm taking The Geography of Oregon. I had to be there at 7:30am. Aaaagghh! Not really.... but that was when coffee was served, and I rarely turn down free coffee. I had slept about an hour or last night, and felt wretched. Class started at 8am. Until noon. Seems like a swift class. We get to go on a field trip instead of taking a final. My kind of teacher. Later, I went to CP (after a failed attempt at a nap). I was asked how I was doing.
Me: Foul. Just really tired, actually. I've probably slept maybe.....two hours since I saw you last.
Jessica: Well! I guess you really need some coffee now, don't ya?
Me: Absolutely not. Coffee is the last thing I need.
Jess: No? Then...
Me: But I'll have some anyway. A large iced house blend for here.
Lame, huh? I found it amusing, though.
 

9.6.99: On Display
Labor Day. I celebrated by drinking coffee and reading (what else?). At CP today, I gave them yet another little wire sculpture. This one was a bit more ambitious, though: a female nude (a pixie) with wings, holding a flower, kneeling, about 5" tall (I kind of imagine her as bowing her head in mourning as a funeral parade- for a tree, perhaps?- goes by). They absolutely fawned over it (yay!). As a matter of fact, they moved the "Crappy Randy Wire Art" section to a place on a prominent shelf behind the register. I was happy, but I told them it was a waste of space. I told them it only took six hours. "Only six hours?"
was the response. Let's see, news..... found out that the park where I was told the anarchists get together to beat each other up was the wrong one. A friendly (subversively so.... hmmmm....) lady returned a voice message I sent and told me the new location. As it turns out, I should have asked directions because it wasn't on the map. Damn. Maybe next time. Four more days till the big two-four. Woo. Gonna party like it's nineteen-ninet... oh, it is. Well, maybe I won't, then.

9.1.99
Woke up at 2pm, drank some coffee, loafed. Typical day. Did laundry, too. Nine days.....

8.31.99
Harrassed the financial aid people, pressed them for info and the like; I figure they'll be harrassing me soon enough, so I decided to make what the Pentagon would call a "pre-emptive counterattack," meaning I struck first. They really used that once. I'm not making this up. Well, anyway.... ten days and counting until my 24th birthday. Woo hoo.

8.30.99
Made some lemon-poppyseed toast (blegh!). They were supposed to be muffins...... gonna have to try that again sometine.....

8.29.99
Another wacky Sunday in Eugene, spent- guess!guess!- reading at C.P. Lately, I've been alternating between Crime and Punishment and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States 1492-present; in other words, I have a lot of time on my hands. Jessica, my favorite Coffee Person, gave me a free cup-o-joe today: I was SO thrilled. Really. It reminded me of the good ol' days,  in Lexington: I went for months without spending a dime on coffee. Free coffee everywhere. One of the perks of being in the 'In' crowd of the Lexington coffeehouse scene. As a return gesture of goodwill, I made one of those little paperclip daisies for her. She was all smiles. Isn't it nice.......? (sigh) Oh, yeah: expect new pics, new Chuck cartoons, and an updated links library soon.... and possibly a music link page, chock full o' Tom Waits, Fugazi, and more lame shit I listen to. I'll try to find MP3 links, too, but no promises. Is anyone reading this, or am I wasting my time?  Email me!

8.25.99
I went looking for those elusive Oregonian anarchists today. From what I understand, they're pretty organized here. They've brought together what they call The Cascadia Rising Free School- it's a bunch of people offering free classes, mostly meeting in parks. I've twice tried to attend their self defense class, but when I got to the park, nobody was there. Twice. They must see me coming and say, "Who's that little cracker weirdo? He looks subversive, so we'd better  wait till he laves before we start." Maybe better luck next week......

8.20.99
I have just stocked my cabinets, equipped my kitchen (food processor and everything!), and bought those little odds and ends that an apartment can't do without. My kitchen is now cranking out some damn good stuff: veggie stew, veggie and tofu stirfry in honey-soy-dijon sauce, mashed potatoes w/ wasabi, grilled portabellos, sundried tomato pesto, panna cotta w/ red wine syrup, smoothies, the whole bit (and if you were in doubt, I'm still a vegetarian). I am informed today by one of the Coffee People that I'm one of  their favorite regulars. Hell, they've even started a display of my crappy wire art. Go figure. I guess I'm just too darn lovable. All too easy....heh, heh, heh,....

8.15.99 A familiar face.....
I was woken up this morning by a call from my friend Jo: she and her boyfriend Tim are in Eugene! I knew they were in Oregon for a couple of weeks and planned on dropping in, but I was thoroughly surprised. I hurriedly showered and caught up with them at C.P. They bought me a cup of joe and we caught up on old times. Shortly thereafter, we went back to my place, had a chat, and, after explaining my poverty,  we work out a deal: lodging for food and beer. We proceed to hit the local brewpubs, get loopy, and afterwards go see The Blair Witch Project. They inform me of plans to move here (to Eugene!) this coming spring. I see them off shortly after noon the next day. Back to poverty......

8.12.99 Reinforcements Arrive!
Hah! Cash from the parents! Finally! I get a bank account , deposit my cash, and (aaarrrrghh!) there it stays for a week. I spend the little bit that I was able to get my hands on on kitchen supplies. Then back to being broke. Guess I shoulda had foresight......sigh.

7.31.99-8.10.99: Destitute!
Well, during this time, all I did was search for a job, sit around and read books at Coffee People,  and scrape buy. I really missed all the pots and pans I left in Lexington (yeah, yeah, Crystal-you told me so). I was living on peanut butter sandwiches, oriental salad mix, pasta, and cold sesame noodles. Oh yeah, and pastrami until about the eighth, when I became a vegetarian. Every now and then, I sold a few CDs or books to get money for coffee. Oh, and food, too.

7.30.99: Home, at last!
Moved in. The place kind of looks bare with only my meager possessions to fill it. I set up the computer and commence typing a resume. That done, I make a circuit of the local coffee houses, spreading my resumes far and wide. I've started hanging out at a place called Coffee People, where I spent many an hour when last I was in Eugene.

7.27.99-7.29.99: Apartment Search
The next few days, I search for apartments. Or, rather, the next day I searched for an apartment, found one, and tried to convince the guy to rent it to me. I got it. Two blocks from campus, even. Cost me an arm and a leg to move in; I had to pay prorated July rent, a $250 security deposit, the rent for the last month on the lease (?!?!?), a key deposit, and rent for August. There went most of my cash. But at least the place is furnished: it has kind of a 'retro' look.

7.26.99: Arrival
I woke up wretched and sore from driving at the airport Holiday Inn in Boise, ID., in a room I paid way too much for (I tried to stop in Mountain Home, ID, but everything was booked). I hopped in my car, dead-set on being in Eugene that night. I had decided the night before to avoid taking a big roundabout loop through Portland on US 84, opting instead for a smaller state highway going through Burns, Bend, Sisters, and, finally, Eugene. So off I went, crossing the Oregon border sometime around noon. Did you know the eastern half of Oregon is practically a desert wasteland? Well, it is. It can be pretty at times, but it gets really damn monotonous after a while. Around Bend, it gets greener, and at Sisters, lush. I arrive in Eugene about 7-ish, and check into the youth hostel.

7.22.99-7.25.99: On the Road
The title says it all. Flash through three days of interstate traffic, cheap motels, greasy roadside diners, etc. I guess I drove about 600 miles a day, on average. Want to know how to tell when you're really in the middle of nowhere? Hit the 'seek' button on your radio: if it doesn't stop, you're in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, just north of Denver, CO, I took a shortcut to avoid veering back eastward to go into Cheyenne, WY. It was a little secondary road, HWY 287. Beautiful scenery. I stopped and took several pictures, but the roll of film didn't turn out. I suppose that's the way the cookie crumbles, eh?

7.21.99: The (non-)Adventure Begins
Crystal (my girlfriend) helps me pack my car. I'm very intent on "travelling light;" Crystal, however, is  a realist and understands I'll need stuff to survive in my new habitat, and keeps trying to convince me to take more stuff. I remain somewhat stubborn, and leave a lot of stuff that would have been really helpful. Oh well- live and learn. After lunch and a tearful goodbye, I climb into my car and begin my journey at 6pm (only eight hours behind schedule!). I drove 260 miles that day, making it to Mt. Vernon, Ill., where I spent the night.