The Pennells after opening presents on Christmas morning

The sorcerer tree is looking frightening again

Peno does not care for snow.

More snow pictures

Snowed In

I got the bus to Portland yesterday morning, made it 2 hours late but just in time before all the busses and trains got canceled due to the snow. Alison met me at the station and we made our way on the bus to her place, where we made a day spa!

I've never seen it so snowy here, its gorgeous. Not a bad place to be snowed in.

These were taken at the park across from Alison's house, so pretty!

I'm famous!

I took part in Day Without a Gay and volunteered at a Eugene gathering for International Human Rights Day with Basic Rights Oregon. Becky Flynn, the leader of the local chapter, was interviewed by KVAL, the local CBS station, and she told them about Call in Gay day and that I was participating, so they asked to interview me too! Of course I said yes- anything to further my career as a professional lesbian. Alas, since I thought I was going to be helping move tables and chairs around I was not dressed to impress but thats ok. You can read the transcript and watch the video here, though they misquoted me a bit, I didn't say that people were being fired for the protest, but said that in some states you can still be fired for being gay. Anyway, I'm excited! I got to be on TV for being gay and participating in this cool cause, and they said my name a lot and even pronounced it correctly. So now anyone looking to hire a professional homo, give me a call.

Tegan visits Eugene

Tegan came to visit for a few days, and it was action packed! We went to the white trash gateway mall, to the Team Folklore Christmas Extravaganza, watched Pride & Prejudice, went to Florence, took our own fantasy photography shots, went to my gamelan practice where she got to hit a few kenongs, bingo at Sam Bonds (that's right Tom), and had dessert at Sweet Life. Fun times! We don't normally get to see each other so often, but I'll be in Seattle right after Christmas so the adventures can continue.


I wore the same dress from last year, just with more accessories. Later this evening we clogged at a bar- we were the life of the party for sure.


Christmas party in the folklore lounge


The lovely coast at Florence- sand beaches are unusual in Oregon so the dunes are a novelty here




Can you see the tree-like pattern in the sand?


It's pretty where the Siuslaw River feeds into the ocean


Just north of Florence there's a tiny site with these cool carnivorous plants


I was so excited to win at bingo! Now I'm the proud owner of a rotato!