for my 30th birthday seth took me to barcelona. on the way there and back we had to change trains at a french-spanish border town. portbou on the spanish side, this one on the french. i forget the name, but it was, like many mediterranian towns, build into a steep hill and surrounded by cliffs. it was lovely, almost abandoned at the end of january and we had the sea to ourselves. we think that we'd like to retire there someday. we'd have to remember where. -m

"haircut night." very early on. we were already great friends. for me (seth), it was the night i realized there might be more to it than that.

one halloween we decided to go as little bo peep and a lost sheep. i sewed up a sheep costume from a ratty bins'd mattress cover. that's a flask pocket on the breast. the tail was velcroed on for safety. miss fashioned a crook and found a cute frock and bonnet. the setup was that i was drunk and disgruntled, eager to escape my overbearing captor. during the party i would sneak into adjacent rooms and complain loudly about "that damned peep". she would sweetly and innocently enquire of the other guests as to my whereabouts. it kept us amused, at least.

as the title suggests, this is the first time that we went away together. we had been dating for one or three weeks (depends on who you ask :) and seth proposed taking me on an overnight camping trip. on his harley. how can a girl refuse? i had never been on a motorcycle before and was nervous. i hoped that if we got in an accident it would be on the way back. seth, his calm voice, told me to just lean into the turns and hold on. on the way there i remember driving through a whaft of what i think was alfalfa or some sweet rich green scent - i've never smelled it before, but it was intoxicatingly lovely, and i was holding on, staring at the back of seth's neck in front of me and the oregon farmland rolling past us and wanting to bottle that moment. this is a lovely brand newness time, and everything was perfect. at night there was a meteor shower like i had never seen. -m

us goofing off with the prototype of 6rady's new product "Indie Wig." works in tandem with my patented ass corset to turn normal guys into the skinny greasy heartthrobs that are all the rage. note obligatory Wallpaper magazine, disinterested look, and its stunning effectiveness on the females. thank you Indie Wig! *wink*

we like to dress up in period costumes when we argue. seth will accidentally spill my drink so i'll lunge at him and threaten him with a blue streak of nonsense. we'll usually get one of our friends to film it in washed out super eight. -m