In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

I’m writing this from Diamond Bar, CA, a burb to the far east of Los Angeles, out among the foothills and the valley of the dirt people and million-dollar homes with H3s out front.  It’s warm, and primarily beige-colored, which I suppose makes it a good place to clear my head of all the packing & moving & goodbyes before I head off into the Australian winter.  Most importantly, it’s home to Steffi & Wes, who’re letting me stay for the week against their better judgement.  I think I’ve just about managed to conquer their entire living room with my couch-surfing self and all my worldly possessions.

My final couple weeks in Seattle were pretty fun – had lots of great food, met up with tons of folks, and got my party on.  I did time my departure so as to be present for our house’s annual birthday/pride/etc extravaganza, and this year’s was certainly quite excellent.  Pre-party, a bunch of my friends came over & we held a powerpoint competition; everybody had 5 minutes and an assigned topic.  It sounds really nerdy (& probably is) but it was actually quite entertaining.  Enough alcohol was eventually consumed that the morning after the party, my brother woke up to find his stationery out and a stamp missing…

I also managed to see David Byrne again, this time at the Paramount – he clearly was informed about my trip and scheduled his latest Seattle tour stop for June 26th!  The show was great, and he even brought the Extra Action Marching Band up with him, which almost made up for the lack of encore-tutus.

DB and the Extra Action Marching Band, originally uploaded by lynnith.

I didn’t much enjoy packing & saying goodbye to everyone, not that those things are ever fun.  Goodbyes are not my strong suit – though I’m great at leaving!  It was particularly sad saying goodbye to Devo, who had been my unwitting funemployment BFF all month.  I have to say, though, it is an amazing feeling to look down and see all of your belongings for the next three years packed neatly into one rolling luggage, one backpack (not even half full), and one daypack.  It makes me never want to buy anything again – a feeling which will last as long as it takes me to find a camera shop and pick up a new circular polarizer!

Things I have done so far in LA: ordered food at a restaurant from a touch-screen, seen Public Enemies at a tiki-themed drive-in, gone swimming, shot hoops with a bouncy kickball, shopped at an American Tesco

This weekend it’s off to LA proper, where Leah is taking me to a stranger’s BBQ for the 4th, and then being awesome and letting me crash on her floor.  Sunday I’m gonna tool around the city with Joyce, where we will relive our London glory days and probably eat some awesome food in the process.  Monday, Steffi and I are taking an epic all-American roadtrip to celebrate my last day in the country.  We’re heading east, stopping in Palm Springs and at the Salton Sea but most importantly ending up at Salvation Mountain, a crazy technicolor man-made Jesus mountain in the middle of the desert.  I will report back on all that – certainly can’t imagine a better way to spend my last few days in the US!!

Before I sign off for the evening, I’d just like to point out that this post is about 1/5 the length of Sarah Palin’s resignation speech also.  Wink!

The sound of business

Hi!  I think I’m blogging again – theoretically about the crazy turmoil I’m introducing into my life after two years of relative stability.  Here is the plan thus far:

June 30-ish: Roadtrip down to LA
July 7th: Fly from LAX to Melbourne, Australia
July 9th: Arrive in Melbourne, find a job, perhaps as a professional dog glamour photographer
November 8th: Leave Melbourne for Wellington, New Zealand & a 1-year work visa

Last year in November, I wound up in Chile & Bolivia for 2 weeks; it was my first proper international trip since coming back to Seattle in early 2007.  I realized that while my job had the potential to be professionally rewarding, it wasn’t personally rewarding enough.  And if the trip was the highlight of my year, maybe it was time to refocus.  I don’t see much point in spending most of my life waiting until I have enough vacation time to take a break and live…

So, I gave notice at work on Friday.  I’m sending off the final stack of paperwork for my Australia visa tomorrow.  And I have already figured out who gets all my furniture!  Not bad for 2 months out.