I've even raped and killed a mountain panda in the hills of Shaanxi.

woah here comes octal! look out seattle!

All day long I kept looking out the window at the orange and yellow and red dotting the landscape around work, and then on my walk from the library home. what is it about fall that makes me feel like I've come back home? I suppose it's because I never felt home till I went away to school, the first place I saw a real autumn. And also Wuthering Heights, and all that rot.

Jeremy's photos of New Orleans are making me wistful. I can't really say homesick because I honestly never lived there, but my dad grew up there and his sisters and mom still do. In fact he kind of lives with his mom now, but let's not get into that bit.

But you can see the big bridge over the Old Man River, which we always drove over to get to Gretna in Jefferson Parish, where Grandma Virgie lived. We went at least once a year to see her. She was younger than my mom's mom (who lived 10 miles from us) and with her and my aunts around, you could see where I got my height, and my young looks (my aunt who's 23 years older than me, and has a daughter my age, looked like my sister). Since we were kids, we never hung out at the French Quarter at night, but we went to the riverside mall and Cafe Du Monde and the Audobon zoo.

In high school I dated someone who lived in the nicer suburb of Harahan, and stayed with him and his family for a week. We'd drive over the treacherous West Bank Expressway bridge to my grandma's and back, and toured Jackson Square and went on the moonwalk. I hate the guy now, but I still love the city. For east coasters "the city" is usually new york; for me it's New Orleans. Whenever we'd approach it at night I'd squeal with delight to see all the bright lights everywhere, and I did so with Dallas later in life. I still grin when I see the lights come on in Seattle.

at the end of college, I went with a few friends (non-drinkers actually) there, and we had a blast. I was so happy to show off the French Quarter to my best friends, it was almost like introducing two lovers. I truly can fall in love with cities at times, and while Seattle is my home now, New Orleans will always be my first love.

It is unofficially autumn. My book got wet in the rain. Not that wet, as this is Seattle, not a gulf state.

The best part about autumn is all the pussy SAD-sufferers begin their whining, whereas I'm like, BRING IT. Grey skies, hot cocoa, fires, popcorn, lasagna, snuggles, and the best part, my SEXY BLACK TURTLENECK. It makes me look so fucking intellectual I want to giggle and wear my glasses and pretend to read Sartre. Also, autumn makes me want to go Anywhere But Starbucks for coffee, b/c while I have to give them credit for summer tastiness, winter is all about European-style caffes.

CRAZY FACT: This will be the first winter since 2000 that I will have a decent-paying job, and therefore will probably not give everyone mix CDs.

We watched It Happened One Night yesterday. It's the movie that started the showing-the-gams-for-hitchiking trend. Clark Gable plays Cary Grant to perfection. Also it didn't feel dated at all, since we're going through our own little mini-depression now. Hahah.