Cousins Weekend

The first all-grown-up Mathew Cousins Weekend was the first weekend in September.  The cousins (totalling 8, 9 if you count me, and they all do) convened on the unsuspecting town of Seaside.  In all truth, it was a pretty sober weekend full of smiles and laughter.  There may be some pictures on the internet of me holding a doorknob in my hand and a drink in the other, but I can explain pictures like that if pressed to do so.  

The first night most of us relaxed and then went to bed.  Kendall was a bit too excited though and went to the beach alone in the pitch dark, where the sea swallowed his eyeglasses and made him crawl the three blocks back to the house blind as a bat.

The next morning, after Kendall explained why he was wearing prescription sunglasses indoors and we'd all laughed a bit, the majority of us went to take our chances with the sea.  The Oregon coast was in fine form (overcast and windy) providing the perfect conditions for kite flying.  There were some beauties up that day, but most excitingly for me, mine successfully flew for the first time in two years since I bought it.  After tiring of the beach, we went into town and enjoyed the car show and had some coffee.

In the evening, after watching Ninja Warrior, we all cozied up and watched "Enchanted", a surprisingly entertaining flick about a cartoon princess that enters the real world.  Think "Who framed Rodger Rabbit" with all the plot devices running in reverse and with a good extra helping  of sweet innocense thrown in.

The final morning was primarily an excercise in cleaning and packing .  We all hopped in our various vehicles and exited as quickly as we had arrived and a bit too soon.

Since Cousins Weekend, at least one cousin has left the area, so who knows when we'll all be able to get together again.  It was a great opportunity that I'm sure we're all glad was taken.  Maybe if we're lucky, the next Cousins Weekend won't be more than a year away.

PAX 2008

PAX was August 29th through August 31st.  Every year since its inception, it's been a weekend to get away with friends and preview upcoming games.  The level of nerdiness at PAX is actually higher than my comfort threshold, but I always seem to manage.  Maybe it's the beer or the fact that we don't spend more than a few hours there on any one day that enables me to make it through.

This year I left a day early with Nate to head up to Kevin's.  Kevin made 10 dozen cookies for the cookie brigade (new this year).  The cookie brigade took donations (cookies) and sold them for charity.  Nate and I went to help (deliver supplies), game (Lumines), and sleep.  Staying with Kevin made the trek to Seattle, a little easier.

On the first day of PAX, we awoke and went to downtown Portland to collect Rachelle, the first woman to ever be invited to our men's only nerd weekend.  Rachelle had planned on earning her honorary Y chromosome over the weekend, but by the end, well Rachelle's own words put it best: "The more I learn about this [Y chromosome], the less I want [even an honorary] one."

From Portland we drove to fabulous La Center, Washington where Andy was getting his gambling fix in.  We shoved Nate into Andy's car to make more room, and our caravan continued toward Seattle.  Well, first we split up because I wanted to follow my Nuvi's directions and we ended up on a more scenic route.  Despite our delay, we beat Andy and Nate to Burgerville in Centralia by about the time it takes to order and sit.  Andy drives the speed limit as every good citizen should.

After lunch, it was a straight shot to downtown Seattle where we entered the geekiness and met up with Jon, our friend and couch host for the weekend.

PAX was great.  The bits of concerts that I heard were fantastic.  Among the finds I think will turn into a purchases, Rorschach Ink Blot Game looked like a great a new party game to purchase.  I played some games that made me wish my computer wasn't 5 years old.  The Political Machine would probably take up tons of my time if I could run it.  I found a free online card game, Alteil, that I've been having fun with too.  More than ever, I wished I had a 360 and Halo 3.  Some of the best memories involve shooting Andy.  Some of the worst memories involve Andy trouncing me.  Indeed, as is the case every year, it was being with friends and playing games back at base into the wee hours of the morning that made it fun and memorable.

At the end of the expo, we reloaded the carpools and went south.  Rachelle went with Andy.  Everyone else with me.  We stopped at J in the B in Olympia and then went back to Kevin's.  The final bit of drive home with Nate was long but in good company.  We used the iPhone to get star charts to try and figure out a particularly bright star in the sky.  Yes, I guess really, the geekiness never ends.

Hood to Coast 2008

Hood to Coast was August 22nd and 23rd.  It was the most physical activity I ever set myself to do.  I ran three legs (6, 18, and 30) totalling 15.72 miles.  I had a blast.  I'm actually starting to look forward to doing it next year.

I wore a Garmin Forerunner the entire time.  I had my data uploaded to Motionbased.com.  You can review my legs (1) (2) (3) from that site.  I ran sub-nine minute miles on all my legs, and I'm quite pleased about that.  Given my estimated time (slower), it meant that I took approximately 15 minutes off our total estimated time, making up for a few members that had even more difficult legs.

I slept about 2 hours during the run.  After meetin' the team at the finish line, Betsey picked me up, and we moseyed over to the "Love Shack" that our dear friends Pam & Mark allowed us to borrow for the weekend.

We took the scenic way home and stopped in at a home made sausage place and at the Flying Duthman winery.  It was a really grand weekend full of great memories and beautiful vistas.