weekend

i went to a party at todd's house on saturday night. i drank too much. i'm making bad decisions. it's like i showed up in portland two months ago and instantly reverted to the mindset of an 18 year old. i'm having fun, but i find myself looking back the following day and thinking, "was that me? did i really do that? am i that stupid??"

despite a pretty big hangover, i still managed to get up and participate in the race for the cure this morning. i'd done the one in raleigh several times, but this experience was far and away more overwhelming. there were 47,000 participants today -- portland's race is the 3rd largest in the country. i participated in the 5k coed walk, which had 30,000 people in it. it was insane. it took almost an hour to get everyone across the starting line. the sheer numbers made the whole event a little frustrating for me (though i'm certain the hangover didn't help my mood at all), but in the end it was just really cool to be able to walk the downtown streets and see more of the city.

then tonight todd & i (both of us still slightly reeling from the previous night's debauchery) went to watch the swifts enter the chimney. this is a huge event in portland every september, and something that is attended by hundreds of people every night. thousands upon thousands of tiny birds circle and spiral around this schoolhouse chimney at dusk, and all plunge down into the chimney as the sun sets. the sky teems with these birds, to the point where the sky looks almost liquid with the beating wings. i couldn't believe my eyes. the swifts will probably only be here for another week or so, but i just might try to go back to see it again. todd says that a big hawk will occasionally make an appearance, snatching a swift-dinner out of the sky. and tonight, just as he & i were wondering if any of the hundreds of people in attendance get pooped upon, *i* got pooped upon. the birds are so small, though, it wasn't terribly upsetting. :)