I had fun this weekend.

At:

Goth Prom

 

and

Octoberfest.

 (The "band" was called "The Bratwursts" for the evening)

I love it when Halloween time lasts forever.

Love, llamas, and oops-- no homework,

Banana

the sunset tree

this lovely indian summer we've been having 

has found the pillar house bunnies 

basking in the late summer sunlight on the lawn under the trees.

AllySnack warbles.

Kato reads us interesting facts on her iphone.

And I daydream about pumpkin pie and new running shoes.

But even though the weather has been amazing and good things keep hopping right into my life, the real magic of it all is that, 

well,

for fear of sounding overly sentimental (actually, I don't really care. Watch me), is these little angel people I have here. 

Seriously.

I am so so so lucky to have the friends I have. Friends that make me brush my teeth and share their closets, beds, and other-worldly cheering-up powers and speak with me in an accidentally-developed dialect incorporating baby talk, bunny speak, and overall incomprehensibly incorrect grammar. And they write songs with me and sing them and generally just make my life a happy thing to live.

I guess it can only be summed up thus?

"Oh wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there 

here!

How beauteous mankind is! o brave new

world

That has such people in't!"

-The Tempest,  Willie Shakespeare

Now how 'bout them fall leaves?

eh?

love love love,

Nan.

There are no birds in last year's nest (Or, I can't tell you my wish)

(major banana points if you can attribute the title quote.)  Tomorrow morning I'll be in the first French class of my super senior year of college. I suppose that's something of a big deal. (Then again, perhaps as a super senior, my opportunity to be a big deal has passed me by and I've finally broken the first day of school spell. I doubt it, though. I've never met anyone with my level of enthusiasm for office supplies) 

And I, being the ritualistic individual I am, thought this time of new beginnings, regenerations, and comings and goings (bye bye, my Brookie and Courtney Bunnies) called for some fire in the sky.

We celebrated the past and future (and most especially the present) by climbing up as high as our little house would let us go, and lighting some magical wish lanterns.

Mckay and me giving birth to our wishes.

 Here's the thing about magic: sometimes you don't wish hard enough the first time, and your lantern nearly catches your sweet elderly neighbors' house on fire.
But I wished so so sooo hard the second time, and even though I can't tell you my wish, I can tell you that it flew so high it looked just like a star.

And that I'm pretty sure it was.

And that after a few false starts (aka new years, new people, running away to Europe, etc.) I finally feel like a new beginning is in the air for me.

Which feels an awful lot like a wish come true. 

Here's to new things.

Here's to goals.

Here's to the beautiful fact that I'm not afraid anymore and I think I'm ready to start living.

cool.

Love, lanterns, and lightning,

Banana

Things I like

1. Sunday evening lawn-sitting with twice-baked potatoes, beans, and my favorite, most strikingly beautiful sister duo.

Mika and Elyse

Lambert the knee spot making a full summer appearance.

2. Monday afternoon Chattanooga Choo Choo dancing on the table with a giant bowl of cookie dough. 

3. How Brookie knows every word to the Chattanooga Choo Choo

(not to mention Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z).

4. Lovely, lovely school books that come every day in the mail.

They smell like learning and life. Today Chateaubriand and Milton surprised me in the mailbox. What's up, guys?

Things I don't like:

1. Bunn ran away. Have you seen an adorable rabbit with floppy ears? Probably faint with dehydration?

2. They razed the rose bushes. Plucked out the pear trees. And when we got Mika to ask them in Spanish, they said they hadn't even seen a bunny in the process.

No roses and no Bunn.

Is this an omen? 

Is this a breath of the end  of summer love?

Love, Ken Burns, and the end is near,

Banana 

Kate wrote me a haiku

and I liked it:

spritely musician

red lips and knitting needles

pour me some tea, please.

I love you, Kate.

My wonderful roommate.

Kate-o potato,

The lady so great-o.

Kate and Brookie and the Homecoming Parade.

 Love, oreo milkshakes, and groller bears,
Banana

The Sound of Silence

 'Twas the night before Halloween, and all through the house...
not a sound was heard
(Not even from Anna and Shea, who are normally the loudest people ever).

Talk about Spooky!

Anyway, I have a new confidence in last minute costumes. At about 7 or 8 in the evening, Shea and I realized we needed something to wear.
So we were mimes. And I loved it. Seriously.
Have I perhaps discovered a career path at last?

Um... know of any good mime academies?

 Not that we really even need the training.

 Roommate Christine (aka rocker chick) had a lovely party with amazing cheese balls.

 Annie was fragile.

 This dude was something very politically incorrect.

 Little cute-as-a-button Ally was a brainthirsty zombie.

 Clark was a double rainbow.

And Seth was... well... you know. Seth.

And we all lived Happily Ever After.

(And Shea still had eyeliner on two days later)

Love, candy, and falling asleep to Hitchcock with nasty cheap make-up cracking all over your face,

Banana (mime extraordinaire)

all about the girl who came to stay

Last weekend was magical for me, and I'll tell you why.

After living together in Hawaii, Jerusalem, and Utah,

Alyssa [aka Gracie] and I finally spent time together in the good ole' homeland: The Inland Northwest.

I'll admit it. I'm really lonely these days. Being home and earning money is good but, you know.. it's a little stagnant. And well...

...well, it was a wonderful relief to have a sleepover with a beautiful, darling friend and meet up with two other darling friends [Kali and Bryson] to go to an amazing concert [The Five Browns; website here ] at the Fox theatre:

beautiful stage. beautiful pianos [oh, those pianos!].

My favorite piece was probably "Claire de Lune." Six hands on one piano playing one of the most beautiful melodies of all time. Exquisite!

The five magical siblings themselves, complete with terrible red eye [yeah, it's kind of a creeper shot. What can I say?]. 

And then we frolicked through gardens of all kinds in Manito Park on the South Hill of Downtown Spokane. The lilac garden was in full bloom, and you could smell it before you could see it. We had a great time taking pictures (all the good ones are on her Nikon), had a gluten-free, dairy-free picnic lunch, went to Auntie's bookstore, got the lovely lady some new pointe shoes, and explored all day long.

It was such a beautifully sunny day [in so many ways].

the infamous MEOW! bench

please come back, Gracie. I had a lovely time.

love, flowers, and isn't it friday yet?

-Banana

Cut-up

So bestfriend Marybutton visited me this weekend and we did fun best friend things:
birthday party. IHOP. lots and lots of piano. books. hours of talking, deep and shallow. snuggling. sleeping in.

One of our favorite best friend things is to cut up things. And sometimes we write cut-up poems.

Here's how it happened: I took seven lines each from four random sources (Atonement, a New York Times article, my Jerusalem journal, and a collection of poems by Rilke) and attempted to compile them into a pleasant sounding, almost

coherent poem.

[Us at the Seattle Zoo, years ago]                                                                    The title was chosen at random by miss Mary.

Her Multitudes Await

She hovered on the peripheries.

The stitches were clumsy and irregular;

Gandhi, Monroe, Sinatra, Kennedy.

These indignant thoughts afflicted her.

Sitting on the summit, daylight creeping in

Endless ribbons, inventing new bows

How was she to know they meant nothing in fact?

They were the best of the best in their field.

I was so nervous, tracking every single second of the trip

But it’s something I can’t give up on.

I have been a stranger in a strange land,

And I never, never want to stop singing that.

I’m becoming something of a mosaic expert,

For beauty is nothing but the onset of terror we’re still just able to bear.

The man and the woman part

He speaks only the few words necessary.

Then both look fearfully at the piano,

Two ambulances were parked at the side of the road, their back doors open.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,

So I’m not certain who’s crying out.

You could see the handwriting on the wall

After a protest in East Jerusalem.

And in the end you still had the spirit to celebrate.

Yes, the springtimes needed you.

In the middle of December,

There was no time to ask them where they were being sent

I can feel direct deliverance,

For staying put is nowhere.

creativity, blueberry pancakes, and lots of giggles,

Banana

[Us at the Washington coast, years ago]

Bananarama and a belated adventure log

I just realized that I am, perhaps, more often called "Banana" than my actual name ["Anna"] by my intimate friends .
Does this make it an alias?
Does that make me a spy?
groovy.

Speaking of intimate friends... remember how I went on that little trip to Yellowstone the weekend before last?
I do! And here's the proof:

[note: these pictures were taken on something of a crappy camera, and I don't yet have pictures of the really gorgeous stuff. Don't you fret. I will deliver.)

best friend, Mary Button. She's like a sister, mother, therapist, publicist, and girlfriend. All in one.

Guess who showed up? [No, the answer is not Jesus.]

He's actually a very attractive person. He just has to look like a crazed lumberjack/ Hebrew prophet for a movie role.... so, really, it's not much different from dating Brad Pitt.

Love, thunder, and more Deet in the mouth than you could possibly comprehend as an outsider,
Banana