:(

[edit at 11:46]

Dev: “What? Don’t put a sad face… you had no fun and just can’t wait to get out of here, huh?”
Me: “That’s NOT WHAT IT MEANS and you KNOW IT, noob!”

Thank you to Dev and Sander and Dev’s mom “Betsy” for putting me up for a week in their endearingly creaky and ever-so-cozy home. I know Dev worries that we didn’t do enough stuff, but I’m not a tourist junkie, so what we did was the perfect balance of laziness and ooh-what’s-that. <3

The fifty-cent summary

• Dev’s cats, Henry and Stewart, are so friendly… and needy… and they shed a lot. I was allergic to fur and the like as a kid, but grew out of it… but I was still getting overwhelmed by the sheer hairfest at times… mostly when I sat on the floor and one of them would flood me with rubs. ;_; (<— me and my watering eyes) THEY WERE CUTE THOUGH. I WANT A FELINE GOD DAMMIT.
• EMP = Experience Music Project. Was only minorly interesting, but I was treated to one of Dev’s impromptu piano concerts as a result, so that made up for it. :x
• Seeing Dev’s old high school, Stadium! Holy crap, it’s so neat looking… and they did a film there (and Heath Ledger was in it… ::lol::) I’ve wanted to see it for a long time, not just because it looked unusual, but also to indulge my curiosity about Dev’s environs earlier on in our friendship. Hahaha.
  • Teh reverberation Spot. >_>
• Met Josie. Yayz.
• Seeing Dev’s former university… this was surprisingly entertaining as well, thanks to the fact that Dev still has a key to his old work facilities… and it Still Works. So we were totally not breaking and entering into the psychology department’s rat lab at 10pm at night and totally not snooping around the experimentation chambers (or whatever they’re called, nur)…
• Point Defiance Zoo, which Dev felt was “less depressing” than the SF Zoo and I guess I would have to agree. The enclosures are nicer (not to mention… more secure? haha) and their animals seemed to be less bored.
  • Polar bearz are huge! I would’ve taken video (with my crappy camera phone), but there were too many other people in the way. Bleh.
  • Hokey animal theatre show.
• Visiting Dev’s dad and his house… another remnant of Dev’s history! They has a sweet dog named Ginger too… another major shedder, but very affectionate.
  • Hmm… you never did find your multitap, did you, Dev… ::lol::
• Fireworks at the park across the street! Purdy.
• Lots of games and movies, thanks to Netflix… (my) Wii, Grimm 2, Alice, Spore Creature Creater, a taste of Bioshock, Amplitude, Bladerunner, Star Trek II, The Brave Little Toaster (O.o), Amelie. No WoW, though. :x
• Camping the Blizzard Store website for BlizzCon tickets. x_X
• Camping… uh, real camping. :X At … Dungeness… something. >_>
  • I totally can’t remember much of backpacking, so this was still pretty new… helping/watching them set up camp and all. They had a huge three-room tent, though, which was surprisingly spiffy (to a city-girl like me! ::cough::) after it was set up and staked properly… had “walls” and everything. :x
  • We were camped out on a bluff above the previously pictured beach/spit, so I guess it was chilly… but I didn’t feel it until morning. >_>
  • Plus those bathrooms were impressively clean, considering. O.o
  • We did the whole campfire and s’mores thing. I had too many. Wii Fit complained the next day. ;_;
  • Hours of “Who Am I?” … curse you, Mrs. White!
• In the morning, packed up and drove back… so that I could pack my own bags and get taken to the airport for departure. :(
  • Finally cleared enough to see Mount Rainier on the way to the airport.

As ever, after one of these extended visits — and it doesn’t seem to matter who is hosting — after the goodbyes, I always feel just a little empty inside. I visited the bookstore in the airport and bought something small to distract myself with… and it ended up being a somewhat poor selection, but it was only $8 and I wasn’t being very careful. It lasted me the pre-boarding time and the flight itself, so whatever…

No matter how much I tout the internet as a communication/bonding device… I dunno. There’s still something about real life, I guess. Well, I guess I’ll look on the bright side… at least I won’t have to put up with Dev’s questioning/correcting me about my pronounciation every now and then. >_> Cursed son of an English teacher… he’s always right about them, too. x_x

Hmm. Now I remember the other thing I remembered that I meant to look up. How odd is this? I had a dream a couple years ago about a special door in Dev’s house that led to anywhere. Naturally I had this dream waaaay before it was even a possibility that I might visit him… and, even more funnily, I ended up naming that weblog entry… Portals? ::lol:: Very strange.

Highlights

• Television’s “first interracial kiss” … Star Trek! XD
• Definitely breaking and entering into the rat lab. I mean… NOT… breaking and entering. We would never do such a thing…
• Getting owned in Amplitude… with the occasional opportunity for short-lived vengeance.
• One of Dev’s cats, think it was Stewie, coming to sit in my lap during Disney Trivia and not knowing how to knead with his claws sheathed. X_x
• Being staked out in Dev’s room with my laptop, the two of us staring at our respective monitors at WoW forums and the Blizzard Store’s website, either at a murloc bearing an “OOPS” flag or an equally unwelcome yellow SVC unit, refreshing like crazy. Oh so sad/pathetic.
• Getting chauffeured around! Even if it was in Dev’s stick-shift car which has to rev a lot before it can go … well, anywhere. ^_^;
• Finding out that Dev’s computer Miles (is a behemoth and) has a custom sound scheme made up of entirely Portal soundbytes. So when it shuts down, it goes “Remember when you were sliding into the fire pit and I said ‘goodbye!’ and you said ‘NO WAY’“… etc. (geeeeeeek…)
• Getting to go overlook the water and the waves first thing in the morning and the wasn’t-really-a-walk.