It now feels like it was all a crazy dream, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't, and I'm pretty sure I'm done with college and back in Missoula for an indefinite amount of time. So, if you're going to be in town for any amount of time, I'd like to know about it? yah?

Hi everyone!! ha ha ha! ho ho ho! and a couple of tra lah lahs to you all!

Hey crew. I'll be home Dec 15ish to Jan. 6ish. I am strongly in favor of the fondue and sledding notion, Chris. I also propose taking Missoula coffee shops by storm and ice skating.

I rearranged the blog, folks, hope you don't mind. Back in Parkland being trained to be a Sojourner Advocate (what's that, you might ask? Ya, everyone else does too - think peer advisor for students who study abroad). There was a "Pride of Parkland" fair down a block. As in, a fair that only filled one block filled with sad little booths and a christian band playing bad praise music. Made me miss Missoula something fierce. New (school) Year's resolution is to make it up to Seattle more than twice a semester. Also, Sarah (sister) is moving to Portland next weekend -- just a short train ride away -- HUZZAH.

My journey through europe is over. I might be a bit lucky to have survived unscathed; my money was dwindling towards the end, so sleeping was done in trains and bushes. It's excellent to know that I have a place to stay for the next six weeks. That place is near Woods Hole MA, relatively close to all you east-coasters who have been so far away for so long. Let's get together for a weekend or something! What's this about a play in NY? Now that the summer has reached it's end, will miss oulala come back alive?

all my love...

the place I'm at in greece is totally perfect for our Commune. Five small houses with one large central one, on four or five terraced acres overlooking the mediterranean. Plenty of fields for farming, and on its way to being self-sustaining. what do you say? I'll do my best to get in the will and then off the owners.

For those of you who weren't aware, I've spent the past 4 months studying in Copenhagen. Mostly I've been learning about the social welfare state and its effectiveness in Denmark and other Nordic countries. I've also had the opportunity to do some travelling, and was able to see lovely Lily and the ever vivacious Zach in Paris. It was a small slice of Missoula loving here in Europe. I loved that weekend.

I'll be going to Turkey for a few weeks soon, and then on to Chicago to work for the State's Attorney's Office of Cook County. I'll be back in Zoo town on August 20th for a week or so. I'd love to catch up with anyone who will be in the area. As always, anyone who finds themself in Chicago is always welcome to stay at my apartment. I hope all is well with everyone.

Love,
Caitlin

Last day of classes tomorrow. Think I might die from excitement or from stress. There will be a link to my new summer/fall blog on the left (I promise not to abandon this one, but that will be my main outlet for those times). I'll be in missoula on the 5th, and on to boston to catch a plane to Dublin in two weeks. I'd love it if you kids would keep in touch, or at least give me your summer/fall addresses so I can send you the postcards you deserve and at least have the illusion that I'm in touch. Miss you all.

(Chris and Hailey came to visit last weekend(!)):

(Riley on the 90Ft. Soap'n'Slide(!))

yip yip!
Just finishing up with the break of spring. smells are not so good in the immediate vicinity of my nose, but tasty from my window. being in missoula made me miss you all (not being there for long enough made me miss eliza). made me miss the summer I'm going to miss in that wonderful place with you wonderful people. made me un-miss my family and my dog... at least for now... Theres so much doing to do in the next four weeks that I fear I willn't even have any time to plan the where's and when's of my summer in europe, which makes it that much more scary and that much more exciting... btw, has anyone been in touch with moritz at all? maybe I should visit that kid, I wonder how he's doing.... right now I'm scoping a yogic massage center in Greece. maybe I will garden there and be massaged and learn to massage and all such good things... who knows, who knows? really would like news about you guys, even if its only as exciting as chris's papers and his pornographic commentators. (oh, and chris, I'm looking into traveling to eugene this weekend, will you be present?)... Until next time, much love.

Just bought tickets to Europe. Just got my shiny new passport in the mail (it has a nifty computer chip in it so they can track me by sattelite). The plan is to wwoof around from may10-Aug25. A giant excursion to prove myself to myself. As of right now, this adventure is looking rather solo, so if any of you were thinking of trying similar things, I want to know...

nearly had an eargasm at a metal show lastnight.
I feel like I've been tripping all week.

I think I want to be an artist when I grow up.
Is that different than what I wanted to be before?

Tacoma is sodden and cold. We had two days of sun and blue skies, but this morning it was back to wind and wet. Classes are fascinating (as they usually are at the beginning of the semester - before stress keeps me from being quite so thrilled) and the new roomate is pretty fun. My refridgerator functions more like a freezer than anything else, currently. I left the milk on the counter for two and a half hours before it melted enough to get a half-class to drink last night. The eggs froze and then burst a few days ago, and the cherry tomatoes will never be the same. La and I have planned a grocery shopping date later this week after the repair man comes. I am buying a pepper spray key chain online because there have been two muggings of students in the last two weeks a few blocks off campus - one at gun point and the other involving pocket knife wounds. Welcome back to parkland.

whoa, hell. more of the same crazy. can't do anything these days but daydream. I'm starting to do some recording, not much has come of it yet, but I'm getting farther and farther every time. it needs some sort of liberation... wish I could find a liberation that lasted. the good ones always come so wonderfully unexpectedly but after a while it seems I'm just running up against the walls of a bigger cage... I just spent some time browsing myspace (still holding out on joining) with arbitrary clickings. people people people people. this world is huge. it overwhelms me constantly. I can neither do it all, nor do just some... and that's BEAUTIFUL... I think...

Started this one not sure what to write, but set on not ranting... oops... In short: things are big right now. anyone else feel me?

just discovered Andrew Bird. Liking it lots... would love to know what you kids have your hands/heads/ears/feet into these days. seriously.

love-alan

I am back at school and it is surreal.
I always feel this way before classes start...
Let's give this thing a kick in the pants and get it moving on down the internet-y road.

Dude... my dad's quoted in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/science/10tree.html

wish I had something interesting to blog about. studying myself silly right now. can't wait to go home and freeze myself. see you soon!

leave nyc the 19th which means I can see you, zach, for like a day (which not doing is tottally not an option as I adore you and miss you), and then Msla from the 19th to the 15th.
there will be much debauchery.

I'm actually planning on being in Missoula for all of January (Chris, we're going to miss each other unless we can meet up around New Years) so for all of you who will be there at THAT time, we must sled and skate and such. I'll fly home to Missoula from Mexico on December 30th. Love to all.

hey everyone!
apoligies for not having written in a while. Its awesome that this seems to be picking up again. life is fabulously wonderful, still. I spent my non-missoula summer discovering what its like to live alone, but have hundreds of things to do just outside. rode my bike almost 1000 miles, sailed a bunch, got to know portland really well by talking to the crazies and the loonies and the over-normals. I have decided they're all here to keep each other in balance.

reading the blog makes me feel like my missoula summer was too short, and I hope we all will re-convene there during the next (and in a way, I've recently realized, the "last"...). This year is shaping up to be very cool. I seem to have developed a habit of starting semi-large "concerts" in random places, which is fun. I'm already starting to be plagued by wanting to be everywhere at once and it doesn't seem to be getting better, so I've decided I'll have to invent a way to actually be everywhere at once... I'm hoping quantum will help me out with this...

Love to all of you!
~Alan

Hi guys.
I'm in Minneapolis. Summer synopsis:
*Wind up living in Missoula instead of twin cities
*Rent room in house full of boys
*Try desperately to find work - basically fail
*Leave house because the mold growing in the bathroom has made us all horribly ill
*Move to Minneapolis
*Obtain job at NARAL, Pro-Choice Minnesota door-to-door canvassing
*Work 40 hours a week, swim in lakes, sit in coffee shops with lovely girl
*Get in car wreck with girl on Saturday; parents car totaled
*Get evicted from parents house the next day
*Am now couch hopping, return to Missoula on Thursday the 18th, back to school the 24th. Wheeeeeeee

This is Edvard.




Say Hello Edvard.

"Hello Miss GLaM."



Edvard came in a box from ME.


(It was very exciting)







Edvard has many talents. He punches...










And writes!





Edvard writes that "I approve that this blog has become Larke-Only. No one else has important thoughts."



Edvard and I are having a torrid affair. You could have had a torrid affair with Edvard if you had updated the blog before me. But you didn't.

So HA!

for your viewing pleasure. This is the background of my computer.

There are few things I love quite as much as when I know the definition of the word of the day. It makes me feel so smart!
I have a brood. Of 24 15-18 year olds that I need to keep out of trouble. For the next four weeks. As I read them out the rules and regulations and they roll their eyes I keep thinking about what Michael would say about how these rules are so “adultist” and I know if I was them I would be like “we cant walk ourselves to class? We need your supervision? Fuck that!” But then I think “no god damnit, I don’t care. None of my kiddies are gonna break the rules on my watch! I am NOT going to be the cool ra” so anyway. I have inner turmoil.
And trying to get them to class is like herding chickens.
There’s this one girl, Claire, who’s totally too cool for the program , who’s American but from London and when we explained to her that we take their ids every night she was like (upper crust British accent) “so, that’s so we cahn’t sneak out? Right?”
It should be cool though. Tonight we are seeing a documentary at the film forum and tomorrow we are going to ave Q and on Thursday light in the piazza.
And yesterday as we were moving kids into the dorms I saw nick on the street. Granted, I called him to see where he was but he was only a block away. Very weird.
Miss MT. I am gonna try to come back in august.

Everyone should come to my play on june 11th (at 8pm). its gonna be cool (or dramatic at the least). I am tired, otherwise I would write more but yeah, come, show you love me.
http://www.montanarep.org/pdf/colony10_events.pdf

All, I have two days of studying, four days of finals, and a day's worth of packing before I'll be home sweet home. Can we please have a barbeque in Bonner the last week in May? I muchly want to see everyone and I'm going to be heading up to Flathead Lake for the summer the first of June. If I don't get some Missoula air, climb a tree, and swim in a river soon, I may scream. un beso, Beth.

BACK in Missoula... home... in a weird way it feels like I never left. At the same time it's weird to think how much the world kept moving while I was in my LC bubble. and more change is on the way. but I won't trouble you all with the goings on in my head, I'm only here until June 15th or so, so lets DO things! much love. ~~Alan