Eugene means more to me now

Señor Evergreen came to Eugene this weekend. I showed him the cool places on campus, and he showed me the places he used to go when he lived in Eugene when he was younger. I met his older brother and one of his old friends - they both live in town.

We went to a hip-hop show at a pizza place that his brother was in. Their sister accompanied him for a few songs, which I thought was really cool. Not only is she an incredibly talented singer (and the brother, a talented poet) but in the midst of endless twentysomething dudes, it was awesome to see a twelve-year-old girl go up and give a great performance.

I remember one time when I was a lot younger and I drew a picture with my mom and stepdad the same height, and I recall being unable to distinguish a significant difference even when they pointed out that they're not. Well, the height difference between them is similar to the difference now between Señor Evergreen and me, and he is way taller than me. When he was showing me where he used to live, he told me the field next to the apartment complex seems much smaller now that he remembers it. That reminded me of when I was in Fairbanks two summers ago and visited a park I used to go to. Same thing - it seemed tons smaller. It's funny how your body size affects your perception of size of everything else, even if you try to correct for it.

I just remembered today that my grandma moved to Portland. I missed her by just a few days when I visited a couple of weeks ago, so she must be there now. I'll see her when I go home next.

I want to make some more progress in learning how to drive.

A last note on my friend's visit. When I saw him in Portland a couple of weeks ago, I was taking time out of usual life to go somewhere else and do unusual things. Even when we both lived in Portland, I usually went to his house in the way south of town to hang out, and he almost never came to mine. So it felt different to have him at my house, and think about the fact that this is where I live. The same places we hung out this weekend, I go every day. Our friendship hasn't taken place "at home" from my perspective before, and I needed to readjust my mind to think: when he has to leave I don't need to go anywhere - I'm already where I'd be anyway.