December 21, 2004A new sense of shame has swept through Saturatedpratt, carrying with it previously unmatched levels of selfishness, but also a really good lunch. What does this mean? That’s right, Chris cashed in the last two years’ change!

You see, I’ve had two wooden boxes gradually fill with pocket change over the last couple of years… not a lot mind you, as I actually spend change quite often. However, enough to get seriously bulky. Last Sunday I was struck by inspiration, or rather, boredom, and decided to finally cash it in for paper money.

I spent about ten minutes gathering every last penny I could, then spent another twenty or so looking for a freezer bag large enough to make the trek to the coinstar-esque machine at Safeway. After that, all that stood before me and sweet change redemption was the short three mile ride through McMinnville. Then the realization: this is Christmas season.

I was suddenly wrought with guilt at the task that would stand before me. Surely, the place would be guarded by a phalanx of Salvation Army bell ringers. There were two entrances – it is not uncommon for them both to be manned. This caused me much distress, and I began to simply drive around… it was 8:30 PM, surely it was too late for bell ringers! I began to sweat (I think the defrost was on too high). I panicked… I was wearing only a t-shirt and khaki shorts… there was no way in hell I could conceal a gallon bag of pennies, nickels and dimes long enough to make it past the old man with the kettle without being spotted. Furthermore, if once seen, I conceded only a few coins, how would it look for me to dash past with a literal treasure trove, relinquishing only a tiny pittance? This was a dilemma like none I had ever faced.

I continued to delay… perhaps I’ll drive by my old house, I thought. That’ll surely kill some time. After all, there’s no way they’ll be outside past 9:00… how about that girl I knew once… I wonder if her folks still live here?

After circling the greater McMinnville area at least a time and a half, and realizing I had no place left to go, I decided to just swallow my pride, head to Safeway, and allow the chips to lay where they fall. Much to my relief, upon my arrival it was clear I would not have to forfeit any of my windfall, as the bell ringers had gone home. I was able to make it safely into the store, hoist my roughly ten pounds of change into the metal tray and wait the five minutes or so the machine took to sort out my $28.17… I hate it how I always end up with pennies.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here…

Before I arrived at Safeway, I had decided on a contingency plan. I am really not a selfish person, but I wasn’t about to be guilted out a pile of change I’d been collecting since my first senior year in college. So, I decided I would contribute a few Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollars I was saving in my car from the Pepsi machine at work. Normally I like to use them at stores (I enjoy the looks I get from people… call it a personality tic…). But in this case, I saw a few dollars in coins as a good way to sneak about thirty dollars in loose change past the canisters without looking or feeling too bad.

I know, the point is moot, but I found it a bit odd that I would be so wrought with guilt over such a small event. I mean, who really cares? I am a charitable person, I mean, come on – I’ve thought of starting a scholarship fund for God’s sake! And I like helping people… I suppose it was just the obligation of the moment, and I guess I felt like creating a crisis for myself. I guess that is the sort of thinking that spawns from the boredom of small town life. Which leads me to point two: finally, it looks like I will be moving soon. I have developed a list of apartment candidates, and will begin visiting them soon… I hope to have a decision in the next two weeks or so, with a move planned for early-mid January.

Lastly, I must mention (especially while living in McMinnville) the Linfield Wildcats football team, which won the 2004 NCAA Division III football national championship on Saturday. Derek and I went to the semi-final game last week at Maxwell Field, and I’ve got to admit, was kinda cool to watch a team that went on to win a championship. I wonder though if they kind feel like Mr. Burns’ softball team though… I mean, starting quarterback Brett Elliott (who threw for an all-divisions NCAA record 61 touchdowns this season) was the starter at Utah before getting hurt last season and being replaced by Alex Smith, who was this year a Heisman finalist. Elliott transferred from Division I-A Utah to D-III Linfield, a monumental step-down in opposition when it became clear he wasn’t going to get his starting job back.

While he was just looking for a chance to play, the numbers he put up this season not only solidified his status as a very good quarterback, but also exposed the vast differences in the quality of defenses as one goes through the various divisions of college football. In the end, he looks much like a pro compared to the battered and bewildered secondaries he faced throughout the season, most of whom had to feel like they were facing a ringer. Regardless, it was an amazing season for Linfield, one that at least left me with one team to cheer for as December rolled on.

Well, that’s it for tonight. I’ll really try to update sooner next time (but, as always) no promises. Happy Holidays everyone.

November 10, 2004 (part 1)Well, it’s taken me a while because frankly, I needed to formulate a response. I’m not going to be one of those people who’s jumping on the voting machines as the reason that the good guys once again ended up on the short end of the stick, but they likely did not help. After a lot of thinking, the only thing I can figure is either we are out of touch with the American people, or the American people are out of touch with reality. More likely though, this election was simply an example of the power of fear, closed mindedness, and good old American bigotry. What’s this you say? Well, once again the right chose to attack the easiest target in America: gays.

It’s not that I think the US is full of bigots, rather, I believe this election played on the fears of the unknown, and of the different. As a consequence, we saw eleven states pass bans on gay marriage (including here in Oregon). This was no surprise. Did anyone actually think that Mississippi would vote down a ban on gays marrying? The key point is that in Ohio, which essentially decided the presidential election, the gay marriage ban passed by a 2 to 1 margin. This of course is a good indication of why Ohio, and ultimately the election, was lost. After all, Oregon and Michigan were the only states to vote Kerry, and pass a gay marriage ban – and Kerry victories in both were far from comfortable. What does all this mean? It means that, as they promised, the right did a very good job of getting out the evangelical vote.

But it’s not only evangelicals who voted for these measures, and ultimately for Bush. In the end, Bush’s team did a great job of scaring the hell out of people. Osama made an appearance shortly before the election, and suddenly, Kerry could not protect us from him (never mind the fact that Bush has no clue where Osama is…). Bush convinced a lot of people that it just wouldn’t be prudent to change leaders in the middle of a war (although it is clear this war is being severely mismanaged). And, unfathomably, the Bush team convinced a good number of Americans that he actually shares their values.

So, what you have are scores of poor southerners voting against abortion and gays, and in effect supporting the fact that they have no health care. You have former factory workers in the rust belt supporting a heavy-handed, ultra-aggressive US foreign policy, and turning a blind eye to the fact that their former job just isn’t coming back. And in the mountain west, you have scores of Mormons voting for Jesus-incarnate. OK, so that’s not exactly true, but you get the point… Basically, we’ve got some ground to cover.

Sometime in the next two years, the left must reconnect with the rest of the US. We must come up with a way to show everyone that an economic model built by liberals, where taxes are assessed fairly, where everyone pays proportionally to what they can afford, and where fiscal responsibility reigns supreme works best for Americans. We must make all Americans feel shame when any American grows ill or dies as a result of inadequate access to health care, and in turn convey the importance of guaranteeing health insurance for all Americans. Finally, we must make social conservatives actually respect the virtues they used to hold so high – namely fiscal responsibility, (this does not mean running up record deficits and slashing taxes in the middle of a war) a person’s right to privacy from the government (who cares what anyone does in their bedroom, so long as it’s not with either a kid or an animal?), and finally, freedom of, and from, religion (Jesus may be your savior, but Ahmed is an American too).

How are we to do this? I believe it all starts at a local level. Sure, everyone would love to find a Bill Clinton type who can show those in middle America that the democratic party is concerned about their well-being, and has their well-being in mind in policy decisions. But I feel it is much more important for local leaders to rise up and show the people that our ideas and beliefs are best for them at the nearest levels – on their water boards, their fish and game commissions, their city councils, school boards. We need to stick up for the small farmer and entrepreneur in state legislatures, while continuing to fight for the poor, the elderly, and the otherwise underrepresented.

Everyone knows at least one capable speaker with ideas and passion – get that person to make a difference, talk them in to running for office, or in being a visible member of a campaign or local organization. It doesn’t take much to be a “dynamic” speaker – just passion, ideas, and the ability to understand people – the last part only comes from listening, and living. This is an achievable goal. It may be pie in the sky, but I believe if we can all do our part, we can begin to create islands of blue across the big, red electoral map of the US, and ultimately, make a positive difference in not only the future of the nation, but in the daily lives of our neighbors.

Now, on to part 2.

November 10, 2004 (part 2)

This week, post-election Pratt operated in much the same manner as pre-election Pratt. Shower, eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat… sure, depression was a little easier to come by, but really it was just more of the same old, bad news. So, what better to cure what ails you than a massive road trip?

Derek, Wells, and I took off on Friday for Berkley, where we all watched the Ducks come up short against Cal, making it a disappointing climax to a trip that started and finished with two eleven-hour car rides. At least it was sunny while we were there. We met up with Giovanni before the game, and afterwards, Wells and I got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Crotti for the first time. Gio ended up taking us to this place that he described as an adult Chuck E. Cheese’s (no, not adult as in strippers… although naked mechanical animals would be interesting…) Basically, it was half classy sports bar, half classy arcade bar… in other words, like nothing I’ve eve seen before. It was very fun, except for the stupid horse racing game… just ask Derek about it.

We didn’t really get to do much in San Francisco, or anything really, but that’s what return visits are al about. Hopefully, driving will not be part of the next trip, and again, hopefully Miller will be.

Really, that was the big event of the last week… this week will be filled with a few things- first, I’m still waiting to hear back from the mortgage lady to let me know what I can afford now that I’ve bought the new car… maybe then, I’ll be able to get serious about moving. In the meantime, it’s time for bed. Check back soon for more updates throughout Saturatedpratt.

November 2, 2004Ok, so another broken promise- no voter guide this year. But hey, if you were waiting on my say so on for whom to vote, I’ll save you the time: John Kerry. As evidenced by the photo on the left, I have made my choice. Today is election day, and as I write this, I have no idea who will come out on top. My heart says Kerry, my mind concedes there are a lot of ill-informed, self-interested people out there (apparently 50% of the American population…) who could tilt the scales of reason to Bush’s favor. I guess we’ll just have to see. I’m optimistic that we’ll have a president-elect tonight, but again, that remains to be seen. Nonetheless, I’ll be watching the results with the Wells family, having been invited to their election night shindig.

My money’s on the Russert white board making an appearance somewhere tonight.

In other news, as first reported here in the last update, the orange Bimmer is no more. Well, technically it still exists, just not in my world. Three weeks ago I traded it in on a 2005 (the future is now!) Scion tC. The folks at Mac Toyota gave me a full $500 for the Bimmer, which was sort of a slap at the venerable car, after all the times we’ve had together, but was time for a break. It was a great relationship, but would you be seen in public with a significant other who was constantly leaving pools of black liquid on the wherever it went? I didn’t think so. It also rattled, and the seats were ripped… not to mention the 196,000 miles, so she was past her prime. I must admit though, it was sad to see it sitting on the lot with an ‘84’ sticker in the front window, parked underneath some massive powerlines on the Mac Toyota “Budget Lot.” In the rain. At night. It was only there for a few days, and has since left bound for destinations unknown to me. Hopefully it’ll find a nice pasture somewhere… or at least will be made into a nice, symmetrical cube.

Well, on the cube note, I’m off to watch returns… my early prediction: Kerry wins with 272. Check here for the update tomorrow.

October 21, 2004Whatever happened to August and September? Is one update a month really too much to ask for? How can Bush and Kerry be polling neck and neck? These are all questions that have been batted around here at Saturatedpratt, and here are the answers: #1- Chicago and the hospital. #2- Yes. #3- Pollsters don’t have access to the scores of young people who use only cell phones (me, for instance) and who overwhelmingly support Kerry.

First Chicago. I went there in August- in part to see Kayla, and in part to blow a week of vacation, see Wrigley Field, and fulfill my wish to see the city in which ‘Perfect Strangers’ was set. Needless to say, it was a very good trip – though far too muggy. Never in my life have my glasses fogged up upon leaving a building at noon in August. Aside from the sweatiness, it was a beautiful town, and pretty much everything I expected. I wish I would have had more time to just play in the city, but as it was I did get to do a fair share of exploring. I saw Wrigley, which is now my favorite ballpark (then again, I’ve never been to Fenway), and I went up in the Sears Tower, which was equally awe-inspiring, though a little less so, as it was dark and really all you could see apart from the nearby buildings were rows of tiny lights. I was able to drive around through the various neighborhoods, and I even got lost in a few suburbs. Oh yeah, and I got to see Metallica again, this time with my old concert buddy. Overall, it was a great vacation which came at a time when it was desperately needed.

Now, for the hospital.

I cannot sum up the last two months without mentioning what has dominated my thoughts during that time – the death of my grandma. She was diagnosed with lung cancer early this summer, and went in for surgery to have the effected lung removed shortly before my departure for Chicago. While she at first showed signs of improvement, it gradually became clear upon her return home that she not only was not regaining her strength, but was in fact becoming weaker. She returned to the hospital on the day of her 70th birthday, and was shortly thereafter diagnosed with pneumonia. After battling for about two weeks, she finally lost her fight on September 29. While she was only a shadow of herself in the last days, what was evident throughout was her courage. I was able to speak with her, and have a real conversation only twice in her final week, but what was apparent in that time was her courage, and her love for her family. I am very happy that she got to spend her last week with the people she loved, and in the end, it seemed as though she was at peace. For the rest of us, it took a little more effort to find peace, but we’re getting there.

I think that’s going to be it for now. I’m already working on my next update, which will include (in no particular order) "Voter Guide ’04" and "Chris ditches the Bimmer" (yes, it’s true). In the meantime, see ya’ll soon.

August 6, 2004It all starts now – no, this isn’t a boxing promo or an allusion to the presidential campaign, rather it is the rather unceremonious start to what I like to call “Househunt ’04.” The event actually started about a month ago, when, fed up with the idea of paying rent for yet another year, coupled with the desire to resuscitate independent Chris, I decided to look in to buying a home.

I know, this is entirely too grown-up a foray into the American Dream for me, when my American Dream mostly consists of moving out of my parents’ house and painting my Mustang. However, it quickly became apparent that this whole homeowner thing could happen… however ghetto a place it may be that I can afford.

Regardless, I have now been pre-approved for a modest mortgage and begin the search for a new home. We’ll see what happens with the search… my hopes are not that high, and I have rather high standards, so it may be a short search. Who knows… For now though, I feel like the responsible young man I always thought I could be… or at least could pretend to be.

In other news, I will soon go out adventuring again. As some of you may remember, I made my first jaunt out of the United States earlier this year. It will be followed at the end of this month by my first trip east of the Rockies. I will be visiting the recently-relocated Kayla in her adopted home of Chicago, in the process living out my long-held dream of seeing the Cubs play at Wrigley Field. The only negative in the whole equation is the fact that Kayla will have to work two of the days that I’m there, but I will probably use those days to either explore the Windy city on my own, or to rent a car and venture deeper into the Midwest to see what exactly is in this bread basket. Now I just hope that I can upgrade to a better digital camera before my trip, that my Cubs tickets come in the mail, and that Kayla can come through on the Metallica tickets. Oh yes, my concert buddy is back… =)

Well, that’s about it for now. Stay tuned, as any news on the house front will be broadcast here first. Oh yeah – one more thing – I have officially changed my phone number back to the 503, so if you don’t have my new number, drop me a line and I’ll fill you in. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for a nice modern 2 bedroom condo with a garage, or an old 2 bedroom fixer with a garage and hardwoods throughout, preferably for as close to free as possible…

June 1, 2004 It’s the end of an era. My move this weekend of the rest of my belongings from Eugene to McMinnville - hopefully a brief stopover before finally reaching their home in Portland, has officially signified the end of college. From now on, when I visit for football games, weddings, and the occasional Ems game, I will truly just be visiting.

I thought that it might be a little more emotional than it was. Really, I was without emotion- save for the pain from my over-exerted back. Then again, I’m not sure pain is an emotion- at least not temporary, mild pain.

It might need to be a little stronger to really gain emotion status. Who knows… for now though, I am through with Eugene – for a while anyway.

It’s been a rather eventful couple of weeks for me – sandwiched between two weekends, three cars and a trailer filled with belongings making the trek 100 miles north was one vehicular disaster, a birthday, and a new job. First, the most important- the Mustang is injured.

My JFK complex has reared its ugly head again, this time in the form of a mysterious object striking my Mustang while I was moving it from Eugene to McMinnville. Whatever it was – thinking logically, I’m assuming it was a rock or a pipe or something flying up from the road, it hit my fender, taking with it a nice-sized gouge of metal and paint, before finding a final resting place on the road behind my car, after of course, destroying my windshield. Of course, this is what I told the insurance woman. I, however, know that there is something far more sinister afoot.

I am convinced someone was taking shots at me. I heard the crash of the impact on my fender, jerked my head back, and to the right, and then heard the shattering of the windshield just before being pelted by chunks of glass about my face and neck. There was no blood, but after I got off to the side of the road, I did have to check. I got out of the car, surveyed the damage, looked around, then quickly sought shelter within the confines of my car, then sped off… I guess the bastard didn’t have another round, or I would have been finished.

For those of you who were not aware, I have long thought that I was in fact John F. Kennedy. Not only am I a liberal, but I share a birthday (May 29), and an affinity for Marilyn Monroe. Oh yeah – and I have been haunted by dreams of being felled in a hail of gunfire since I was about 8. Then, of course, came the really spooky bits… The times when people were taking pictures of me from outside my house (this really did happen – if you can hunt Brian down, he could tell you…) and of course, the time I was eating lunch in the Bimmer, one window down, and the other simply up and shattered – surely a shot that missed only so slightly.

Some of you may view these as simple coincidences, but everything adds up to the fact that someone wants me gone. Perhaps this was the true reason I did not take Anne up on her offer to join Julie and her at the Safeco office in Dallas when the PD unit was “centralized” to Seattle… It was bad enough when I looked up from my Burger King lunch the other day to see that I was in fact eating lunch in front of the Oregon Textbook Depository – do I really need to tempt fate by going to Dallas?

But, I digress… I suppose we’ll all find out when I run for president in 2020.

Moving on, I turned 24 over the weekend - a rather unspectacular number, but a pretty good birthday, aside from the moving bit. The girls at work decorated my cube on Wednesday, took me out for drinks on Thursday, and served me hot wings, cheesecake, and salad Friday at lunch. Saturday, my actual birthday, kind of sucked, as I was moving all day, but Sunday was good, spent hanging out with Miller, Patrick, and Derek in Beaverton. Yesterday was a family get-together, combining barbeque, cake, and presents with the joy of a three day weekend. Technically, the tradition of “birthday,” started three years ago, is alive and well, as I am still receiving gifts. Only time will tell if there will be another May 66th update, as there was all those years ago…

Finally, last but not least, I got a job as a bodily injury adjuster at Safeco. This is good for a few reasons – first, it is a more challenging position and a step up from the bottom of the ladder (though a side-step financially), second, it is relative job security, which is always a good thing, given the developments of the last few months. Hopefully, this will lead to me feeling comfortable enough to actually get a place of my own in the Portland area very soon (I’m hoping by the end of the month.) Then again, I’ve been repeating that refrain since late December, so I’ll probably be saying the same thing this time next year – only then my words will be blurred by a few more tears.

April 15, 2004 Wednesday night the Los Angeles Lakers ended the Blazers’ season. This is nothing particularly new, nor is it all that unexpected- it has happened ten times before, and in six of the last eight seasons. However, this one stung. Portland was officially eliminated from the NBA playoffs sometime in the early minutes of Sunday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs, so any real chance of hope was lost long before Kobe Bryant’s improbable three pointer sank through the hoop to end regulation in a tie.

Hope was the last thing on anyone’s mind when Damon Stoudamire grabbed a Kobe Bryant miss in the waning seconds of the second overtime, then raced untouched down the length of the floor for a lay-up, giving the Blazers a 104-102 lead with a little over two seconds left. This was redemption. Not just for a season filled first with tumult, then roster moves, and ultimately the disappointment of missing the playoffs for the first time in a generation, but for twenty-seven years of missed opportunities and occasionally, just bad luck.

The crowd erupted, and it was 1991 again.

A little over two seconds stood between the Blazers and easing the memories of Lakers crimes of the past. In 1991, Magic Johnson ended the Blazers’ best charge toward a world title when he, in a move as sickening as it was strategically brilliant, simply tossed the basketball the length of the floor, allowing precious time to tick off the clock at the Great Western Forum without providing Drexler, Porter, and company the opportunity to foul. The pain of this play was allowed to live on for years in NBA promotional films and commercials. “I Love This Game,” was the inevitable exclamation spoken over the footage of Magic’s outstretched arms.

Two seconds stood between that, and an off-season of optimism, a winning record, and victorious team in front of a Rose Garden crowd that was reminiscent in sheer volume to Memorial Coliseum of the early Adelman era.

The Lakers impounded the ball, lost the ball, regained it, then lost it again as Derek Fisher collided with Kobe Bryant, all as the clock expired. Finally- the Lakers were felled. Never mind the fact that the Blazers had won the two of the previous three games from the Pacific Division rivals. Never mind the fact that Shaquille O’Neal had fouled out early in the first overtime. This time, it was our turn- a game that meant nothing to the then-fourth seeded Lakers, and everything to the home team, was ours.

In two seconds, the memories of the 2000 Western Conference Finals fourth quarter collapse were forgotten… no, rather, they were exercised. Steve Smith knocked down one more three- Rasheed Wallace hit a soft, short jumper over Robert Horry’s head, and Arvydas Sabonis sealed the deal with a little hook over Shaq. The Blazers had the five points (and two for insurance) it would have taken to reach the 2000 NBA finals, and we were feeling the joy of it all a short four years later.

Then the whistle blew.

Darius Miles, in the scuffle for the ball, was called for a foul. After a lengthy discussion, the Lakers were awarded the ball, and another second.

Gary Payton in bounded the ball to Bryant at the Lakers’ end of the floor, who turned, threw up a prayer, and reminded all in attendance which team won it all in 2000. Final score - Lakers 105, Blazers 104.

There really is no such thing as a moral victory- all in attendance at the Rose Garden Thursday night learned this first hand. All it takes is one second to change everything- a winning team, renewed hope, optimism at a youthful, energetic roster, and thoughts of what the next season could be are all in an instant replaced by the same old pain, haunted by the roar of the few thousand in purple and gold.

41-41 is essentially the same as 0-0. Even odds- as good a chance to win as to loose, and the expected outcome if one were to flip a coin 82 times. In the end, the result on paper reflects the season the same as it would have had it never happened. But for anyone who has followed this team over the course of their lifetime, as I have, there is much more to it than that.

There was a feeling in the arena Thursday night, one that was missing most of this season, and by and large, over the last several seasons. While there are no moral victories, there was a sense that this team was in fact close to turning the corner- a loss is a loss, but the overtime effort reflected the same clutch shooting from Stoudamire, fierce inside play from Zach Randolph, and tenacious defense from Theo Ratliff that has come to personify this team over the last two months. Add to that the explosiveness of Miles, and this team does have a bit of what that late 80s and early 90s team had- and this is coming from someone who as a kid named a cat Kiki, after former scoring machine Vandeweghe and saved newspaper clippings from almost every game from 1989 to 1993.

While there’s certainly long way to go before we see Ratliff on the floor under a pile of exuberant teammates, ala Buck Williams in 1990, the pieces to the puzzle don’t seem as scattered as they did even just a few months ago. Add two first round picks to having Ratliff, Randolph, and Miles together on the front line for an entire year, and one can’t help but feel a little optimistic. Yes- a loss is a loss, and at forty one there were more this year than in any since the 88-89 season, but no matter how heartbreaking the forty-first was, the thoughts and memories this last game evoked seems to have caused a familiar refrain in Portland to ring a little truer now than it has in a long time:

Just wait until next year.

March 31, 2004 Well, I needed a March update, so I guess you could say that I’ve been under the gun. It’s not that March has been uneventful, it’s just that it’s been tough to string together the time to make a truly good update. So, in lieu of a truly good update, I offer this: an update. (somewhere, someone just pressed the “back” button on their browser…)

March was, in spite of the lack of updates, really pretty good. Work has been going well, and I’m really beginning to feel as though I fit.

I’m getting the hang of my job, and I’m actually starting to feel pretty productive. On top of all that, I get along with my co-workers, despite the playful ribbing and continued “golden boy” taunts.

Life away from work has also been pretty good of late. In the last month we’ve had about ten days of legitimate sunshine, including a couple of days where the temperature was dangerously close to eighty degrees. With the sunshine, the trees have begun to blossom and it growing more and more apparent that we’re only about a week away from days packed with a full MLB schedule- yes, life is indeed good. (how’s that for a positive paragraph?)

Speaking of positive paragraphs, I’ve received some feedback lately critiquing the negativity on this site… in response to that, I guess I could promise to attempt to accentuate the positive a bit more, but I’m not sure that would be very honest. After all, I try to write what is currently on my mind. For instance, at the present time I’m pretty happy, despite a few unneeded developments at work and the continued transition from a comfortable, cozy existence in Eugene to one in my new (old) home where I suddenly know very few people. In all, everything is going well, and it is not lost on me. But at the same time, if something is really bothering me, or something is on my mind, I am likely to write about it whether it is euphoric or as depressing as anything that’s ever graced these pages. With that said, it’s sometimes a lot easier to write a narrative of recent events if I have the freedom to include some of the trials and tribulations of the daily life of pratt… not to the degree that it would be self-pity, but to just enough to make me laugh a little when I read it in a few months.

In other words, any negativity seen on the opening page of this site is there mostly to serve as comic fodder, and is not evidence of any deep-seeded malaise hiding just under my surface. No, my deep-seeded malaise is out there for all to see…

February 23, 2004 After four weeks, the reality of living as a regular working stiff is beginning to set in. Sure, I was going to work daily before I left for Seattle, but I wasn’t really working. Now, I am actually doing something- talking to people on the phone, listening to the various excuses people give in an attempt to let me know that it’s not really their fault for hitting that car that was parked and minding its own business on the side of the street… it’s gone quite well so far- I’ve only been cussed at a few times, been hung up on twice, and heard one lecture on Benny Hinn. Then again, I’m only getting a paltry three claims a day, so I still may crack when I’m upped to unlimited.

Normally I would have started a post with something non-work related, but really my life has been consumed with work of late. I leave the house in McMinnville at 6:40am, arrive in Lake Oswego at about 7:45, work until 4:30pm, hit the road immediately and arrive back at home in McMinnville anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30pm, depending on traffic. In other words, I don’t do a whole lot more than work during the week. As a testament to this, I have gone out precisely six times on weeknights since starting my job on December 15 (not counting the Seattle excursions). This must change- and to facilitate change, I must move out of McMinnville. This would free up the roughly three hours I spend in my car each day for fun stuff, like Blazer games, riding bikes, looking at stuff, and most importantly, NOT cursing at the jackass trying to merge into the right quarter panel of my car on highway 99w east of Dundee every night at 5:15pm. What a life it would be… hopefully it will be a reality by March 1.

Despite my commute, I have managed to have a pretty good time the last couple of weekends. Two weekends ago I traveled to Eugene with Derek and went out with Miller, Wells, Autumn, and last but certainly not least, Gio. We didn’t do too much- hit a few bars, talked a lot, and I lost my requisite three games of pool, but it was great to see Gio again. That Saturday was Valentine’s day, and the evening was spent by first going to ice cream with Vanessa, then picking up my honorary Valentine Leah and going to Sam Bond’s Garage to see one of her co-workers’ bands. It was pretty fun, but I didn’t know anyone so I was a little on the quiet side… but it was live music, and Leah, so I had fun nonetheless.

There have been a few adventures, I guess… traveling to Portland one Sunday with Miller to partake in “Sunday Sportsday,” for instance. We first saw the Blazers beat the Seattle Supersonics at the Rose Garden in what was to be Rasheed Wallace’s last game as a Blazer, then we walked over to Memorial Coliseum where we purchased tickets to the Portland Winterhawks game against Moose Jaw. In other words, we saw two sporting events in the span of six hours, interrupted only by the hour or so we had to kill by walking around the Oregon Convention Center and MLK Boulevard. It was a busy, full day that in turn led to a couple hundred miles of driving over the weekend, but it was really fun, and I got to buy my discounted Bonzi Wells #6 jersey at the Blazer team store.

Aside from that, I’ve really accomplished very little in the last month. I went out with Bambi on Saturday (nothing beats the McMinnville club scene… sigh.) and I saw Neil Young with Wells and Ma and Pa Wells on Friday, but aside from those outings, it’s really been a so-so couple of weeks in the northern Willamette Valley. I guess that’s the reason I’ve chosen the picture that I have for this update. I snapped it out the passenger side window of the Bimmer one morning on my way to work. Really, it’s not all the good of a picture- it’s all blurry, and the colors aren’t quite as brilliant as they were in person. However, it’s a good reminder of what it is to live here. However little a photo of Mt. Hood against a sunrise may mean in the scheme of things, it’s something that you just can’t see in Eugene, and it’s just one little reason why I’m glad to be back in the Portland area.

Sorry- no introspective diatribe on this round of Saturatedpratt… I guess I’ll save that for the next time, although I have appreciated the feedback from the last update. As for the things I am working on for this site- I’ve been gradually adding to three major projects, and I think I’m beginning another… the only question is whether or not I will actually progress far enough in any of them to put anything online. I suspect I will, at least with two of them. So in case you‘re at all interested, feel free to check the writings page for one short story, and possibly a longer story, or series of stories in the near future… I don’t know what it is really, it’s still taking shape. That’s it for now.

January 25, 2004 “I went to Canada and all I got was this headache...”

I’ve seen people wearing shirts with slogans very similar to this in the past. True, in these cases the subject of the slogan is usually the shirt itself, but in my case my shirt reads “Canucks” and has an orca stretched across its front. That has little to do with this post though, and more to do with the fact that I bought a hockey shirt in Canada, which really isn’t news. I also bought a sandwich at Arby’s in Canada, but you don’t see me writing about it. (oh, shut up.)

Back to the headache thing… it’s really only partially true, I suppose. While it cannot be denied that the overarching impression left by my recent jaunt to the great white north is that of incredible drama, there really was much more to the trip than watching the destruction of a beautiful two-week old friendship.

Really, it was a story of unrequited love, jealousy, adventure, monopoly money, illicit consumer goods, depression, alcohol, insurance, laughter, sadness, and an underlying sense of passion and romance known only to those who have truly experienced an entire evening culminating in one single moment of intimacy, the kind known only to those who have been fortunate enough to gaze into a pair of eyes so intently, but for only the briefest of moments, so as to catch a glimpse of a person’s very soul, stay long enough to recognize and absorb it, and then to simply walk away.

Of course, all this is in the eye of the beholder, and all of it is really quite subjective.

For the most part, this was a typical weekend away- atypical only in the detail that the overwhelming majority of those on the trip had never know the other parties before our adventure to Seattle, and after it was all done, it was nearly certain that we would see each other just about as often as before. The typical tourist behavior was experienced- picture taking, slack-jawed stares at architecture, Cuban cigar purchases, the awe experienced in getting an extra thirty cents for every dollar spent and the subsequent math involved in trying to find out if my New York steak was cheaper in British Columbia or New York. (verdict: inconclusive… I’ve never been to New York, though I imagine it costs more there.) Finally, what trip to a foreign land would be complete without copious amounts of alcohol?

In all, the trip to Canada was really a little surreal. In a little under a day, I was able to leave the US for the first time in my life, I made a bank teller laugh by exchanging the paltry sum of ten dollars for Canadian currency, I heard a British waiter speak Spanish with a Manchester accent, I was able to shed all self consciousness and go dancing (technically, I danced more in Seattle, but who’s counting?), and last but not least, I was able to save an entire vacation with the purchase of a hotdog and the reacquisition of a long lost coat. (Well, not really, but it’s nice to pretend.)

For some, the experience of 24 hours across the border was nowhere near what it was supposed to be. It was filled with fighting, awkwardness, and resentment- all on a weekend, on a vacation from a vacation.

For me however, it was a revelation. In one flashing moment, I was bowled over by a vision- not one of those lame-ass visions of Mary that always pop up in the exposed aluminum on the backs of street signs across the southwest, but rather the type that keeps an artist awake at night, wishing only to sleep so that he could dream the images he knows he cannot create.

In many ways, I think that I have always fancied myself as a bit of a romantic, whether hopeless or not. I have always believed that in life, the things most important are not measured in dollars earned or competitors bested, but rather relationships built, loves won and lost, and emotions, good and bad, known to each person throughout a lifetime. What is becoming abundantly clear is that in some ways the life of the romantic is built around disappointment. The victories are not what are measured and counted, rather it is the emotion- the thrill and wanderlust of a single moment, followed by the hope that it inspires. In the end, it is the belief that it all might happen again that reigns supreme, and the notion that if it does, it may even be better than before. If the moment doesn’t repeat itself, it is always remembered, and is appreciated like nothing else.

Any number of events can take place in a persons life, but these images and fleeting occurrences are what are truly remembered- a flash of a smile, the sound of her laughter, a lock of her brown hair, or the sweet awkwardness experienced just before a first kiss. These are the things in life that through all the years and relationships, are always easily recalled, and at the very least bring a smile to our faces and help us to remember how fortunate we are to be able to experience this life. In some cases they consist of a culmination of experiences with a person, and sometimes they are the result of a single moment in time.

Sometimes they are created by the most beautiful pair of eyes I have seen in years.

January 12, 2004 It’s been a little while since my last post, and really it’s been a rather eventful couple of weeks. First was the snowstorm, or rather, snowstorms. You see, it all begins with the simple fact that really, I’m not very smart. As a consequence, I decided that it would be nice to go down to Eugene for New Year’s Eve, seeing as I didn’t have to work the next day.

It had been cold for a couple days, but the freeze had for the most part passed, and it had been raining all day throughout the Willamette Valley. I picked up Wells, and we headed to Eugene to possibly go out with Leah and her friends. Upon arriving in Eugene at about 11:30, I decided that I was really too tired to out, and instead decided to go to bed. In actuality, I ended up talking to Kayla for about an hour and a half on the phone, but that doesn’t matter- I was still tired and that didn’t require much energy. Anyway, that’s beside the point. The real issue here is that I drove to Eugene to go out for the night, and I ended up staying in. That’s what I get for getting an office job with regular hours, I guess.

Any other time, this would have been fine- just a road trip that didn’t really have to happen- no big deal. This time, the sky opened and God himself decided to screw me… at least that’s how my version goes.

At some point between midnight and 7:00am, a typical misty 43 degree Oregon night turned in to eight inches of snow, at least at the elevation of my house in Eugene. As a consequence, Wells and I were stranded. In my infinite wisdom, I had turned down my dad’s offer of the use of his pickup for the trip and had instead made the trek in my Bimmer, which was now buried, with no chains, and absolutely no traction in my neighborhood. Attempt upon attempt was made to try to get the car out of the neighborhood, each one ending with the car threatening to slide perilously to the bottom of the hill in front of our house.

After a day and a half, and after missing my Friday at work, my dad finally came and towed us out using the pickup that I previously decided I wouldn’t need. There was more involved in the story, for example, a set of new chains that didn’t actually fit, a pizza delivery dude who wouldn’t actually deliver our pizza, and a fridge that was more or less empty, but writing in greater detail would simply anger me again, so I won’t. Besides, there’s more stuff to write about.

On Monday, I made the trip to Seattle for three weeks of claims school. Upon arriving in town, I went out to Pizza with Lauren, shared stories, and generally made her miss me… I think. Again, that’s just how my version goes. That night I returned home on what was now a 40 degree Seattle night. Of course, I awoke to find some four inches of snow the next morning. My hotel is located atop a big hill, and, you guessed it, I was again stranded. At least they cancelled the first day of claims school, so I didn’t miss work this time. Most of the snow was gone by the next day, and having no transportation to dinner forced me to get to know my fellow stranded classmates, which was probably a good thing anyway. In addition to making new friends, it’s good that I was in Seattle, as the thaw didn’t reach the Portland area until Friday morning.

The next day class started, and so far it has gone well. I have passed all of my tests, and I’ve had a really good time with the people. We go out as a group to dinner almost every night, and the week was capped by a trip out on the town Friday night. Today the same eight who went out on the town also went tubing on the nearby mountain pass (Snoqualmie?). It was very fun, though now I am sore in muscles I forgot I had. It’s really weird, but in many ways it’s like being back in the dorms, as the group of us all live in the same building and always eat and go do stuff together.

Well, that’s a fairly decent summary of the past week. As far as the coming week is concerned, I’ll be attending more classes, and hopefully passing more tests. On Tuesday I’ll be seeing LeBron James play against the Sonics, and on Saturday I may be going to Canada with the claims school people. That is if I can get a copy of my birth certificate up here.

December 27, 2003 Hey, what do you know? An update, and within a month of my last update- not too shabby considering that I have been without a sturdy internet connection since moving back home. So what’s new, you ask?

Two weeks in and everything seems to be going well. I still have a job anyway, so that’s good. Actually, I’m not all that sure that I could have done anything to get fired if I had wanted to- all I’ve really had to do is read and observe people doing my eventual job. And for someone who’s quite good at sitting, it isn’t too hard to look stellar doing just that.

The real show starts in about four weeks, but until then I’ve got one more week of reading and participating in conference call classes (ick) before taking off to Seattle (well, Redmond, actually) for three weeks of claims school.

Everyone seems to agree that claims school is typically fun, so that shouldn’t be too bad. Plus, I’ll be able to play in Seattle at night. The only downside is that the Sonics/Cavs game featuring Lebron James appears to be sold out. Guess I’ll have to buy scalped tickets.

My two weeks in McMinnville have actually been pretty good. I’ve gone out to play pool with Bambi and bugged her at work a few times (if I can’t get me fired, I can try to get someone fired) and I’ve seen two Blazer games with Wells. Derek was supposed to join us for both, but was unable due to unforeseen circumstances. As for other activities, I saw the Oregon men play the Portland Pilots at the Chiles Center with my mom and brother, and I enjoyed Christmas with the whole family.

Oh yes… Christmas. I received a book (Moneyball, by Michael Lewis), a bunch of clothes (which is great, since I hate clothes shopping), a Blazer ticket package, a new wallet, a piece of the Joey Harrington billboard, a picture of John Navarre being sacked by Igor Olshansky and several other Ducks, a DVD of all the Beatles’ appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, and I’m sure any number of things that at the moment I cannot recall. In other words, I did quite well in the area of gift receiving… after all, that’s what Christmas is about, right?

In other news, I probably ate mad-cow disease meat over Christmas break, which means I will die of a brain-wasting ailment in a few years, and I seem to have hit a creative stride of late, which means that eventually more things will be appearing on this site. I’m going to try to think of a way to update this site while I’m in Seattle, which will probably consist of intruding on Lauren’s life in order to commandeer her computer for an hour or so over a couple of days. I don’t know- we’ll see. For now, I’ll leave you all to try to figure out what “go eat a corndog” means.

December 11, 2003 Well, for only the third time in its seven-year existence, my web page has moved. That’s right, www.saturatedpratt.com has launched and left the University of Oregon and its Gladstone server behind with the other “Chris’ Magical Page of Self Indulgence” cast off servers (Geocities.com and Conk.com mainly…)

So, what prompted this move you may ask? Well, aside from the burning desire to spend money on something I can get for free (namely, web hosting), I am finally leaving the University of Oregon. That’s right, Mr. Pratt got a job.

This weekend I’ll be moving up north to begin working as a claims representative with Safeco Insurance. I know, it’s a corporation and seems to be contrary to my previous posts’ celebrity guest appearance, but they’re willing to pay me money to work, and do so during the daytime. So, for once and for all, goodbye Officer Pratt, hello Corporate Whore Pratt! (For brevity, you can call me C.W. Pratt, but not C.W- that’s taken.)

Over the next couple months I’ll probably be splitting my time between McMinnville, where I will live with my parents during the workweek, and Eugene, where I will attempt to preserve independent Chris on the weekends. We’ll see how it goes, but if I start asking for permission to drink a beer, I’ll know that it’s really time to get a place of my own. Really, it shouldn’t be too bad… for the short term anyway. It’s definitely going to be weird though.

For now, it looks like I’ll eventually be moving to the Portland area sometime after I get back from my training in Seattle in January or February. Hopefully Derek and I will be able to find some sort of nice, inexpensive shelter. I feel pretty bad for leaving Greg and Wells earlier than I thought I would, but I’m going to continue sending down rent and using the place as much as possible until either my lease runs out or they find a replacement. Then again, who could replace me?

As far as the what happened the rest of the time between now and my last update, the following events occurred in order: A drunk guy on his bike crashed in to my parked car and damaged the left front fender, Simon and Garfunkel were awesome live in Seattle, I met “Jesus” while patrolling the EMU one night, I had my first Krispy Kreme, the Ducks turned their season around, won the Civil War, and will play in the Sun Bowl, Thanksgiving came and brought with it cheesecake and stuffing, the Twins didn’t hire me, and Linfield lost to a team named the Johnnies. That’s about it.

Stay tuned for more frequent updates, as I now have most of the other pages on this site fully functioning, and of course, I now have more incentive in actually updating the page.

October 23, 2003 Yeah, I said that there wouldn't be an update until I move to the new domain name, but here I am, updating. I expect to move to a new server in about a week, at which time I will hopefully adopt the name listed above. In the meantime, a short update will suffice, a little farewell of sorts to the University of Oregon's Gladstone server... Really, I'm just looking for a way to be able to post the Meatwheels photo again.

Let's see- what's new? I'm still working at DPS, where I was moved to graveyard shift in September. Not surprisingly, I wasn't too happy about joining my fifth new watch in a year and the job search has intensified a bit. I guess there's nothing quite like genuine unhappiness to light a fire under my ass. Anyway, as I said, the job search has intensified, and as a consequence I've been looking at careers in nearly every field- from insurance to finance, from finance to public service, and on to baseball, I have literally sent out resumes and applications to nearly everyone I can imagine- hopefully I'll hear back from some people in the next few days.

As for other things, I spent most of October watching postseason baseball, and witnessed perhaps the greatest playoffs in baseball history. I was a bit disappointed that the Cubs or Sox didn't make it (of course, I was more disappointed that the A's again choked, but that's besides the point) but I was somewhat satisfied that the Yankees again collapsed. Speaking of collapse, I've gone to each Duck home game this year and have witnessed another round of historically bad defense, coupled at times with horrific offense. However, last week's shutout of Stanford brings back memories of the Michigan game, and will hopefully be a harbinger of successes to come.

My biggest news of October would probably have to be meeting Michael Moore last Thursday. As you can see, while passing through the book signing line, Mike grabbed and pulled me across a table where one of his handlers took our picture. Before another person asks, no, he was not wasted, he was just very excited at the prospect of seeing me. Actually, I was among the last people to go through an hour and a half long line to have stuff signed by Mike after his speech in Portland, and he looked absolutely beat by the time I got to him. All things considered, he was in very high spirits, thanked me for coming, and stuck out his hand for me to shake before he would pass back my copy of "Dude, Where's My Country?" In all, it was a successful brush with one of my heroes.

All of this will be covered in greater depth in the upcoming weeks as I get this site fully up and running, hopefully at its new web home. I plan on having the photo album and writings sections fully operable by then, and I will hopefully have more news on the employment front. Oh yeah, and I'll be able to fill ya'll in on how Simon & Garfunkel was...

May 1, 2003While a few months have gone by between updates, not a whole lot has really changed. This of course is not entirely true- for instance; I found out that I will officially be graduating in June, and that I was not accepted to the UO College of Education secondary ed program. This wasn't entirely unexpected- my GPA isn't the best in the world, and I have very little education experience (save for the 18+ years that I have spent in school) but this news was disappointing still. After all, my test scores were very good, and of all places to gain experience, aren't you supposed to do it while training to be a teacher? Oh well.

About ten minutes after the game, the good folks at Safeco field decided that it was time for us to leave, and instead of allowing the customary trip around the ballpark to look at stuff that so many people normally take, they began to shut off the stadium’s interior lights. It was really an odd experience, something similar to about 9:45 pm at K-Mart. While attempting to take photographs of the ballpark and essentially soak up the atmosphere of a Major League park, the stadium gradually grew darker, accompanied by announcements of the time and a message asking everyone to leave. After a brief group shot (pictured without flash to the right) we got the hint and left the 300 level. Apparently the city of Seattle also closes at about 10:00, as the gentleman on the concourse who I later dubbed the Sodo Asshole also forbade me to photograph the city skyline from the northwest corner of the ballpark.

We all eventually left, making our way south on I-5, (missing the Krispy Kreme in the process) and arrived back in Eugene at about 3:00 am. In all, it was a very successful trip, though next time, I will have someone else drive at least part of the way.

Beyond the trip to Seattle, Spring term has been occupied primarily by work and the search for a new house. In other words, most of my time is spent either chasing bad guys or looking for shelter. As far as the latter is concerned, the highlight of the quest to date may actually be the sign at the Abby’s Pizza on Barger Road, which is quite possibly the most patriotic thing I have ever seen, despite the curious wording. (so what, I’m immature)

As far as the future goes, I'm not really sure what is going to happen. Not getting in to the education program threw a bit of a wrench into my plans for the immediate future, but I still intend to eventually teach. For the time being, I suppose that I'll commence the great job search, as my job at DPS is still officially temporary, while also attempting to apply to a few other local schools (Pacific, WOU to name two.) As for this site, I'll probably be moving it to a new server sometime in the next few months, possibly even adopting a new domain name as well. For now, I think that I'll get back to work on my LIB 199 Baseball Research project. Who knows- if all goes well, this little project will turn in to a book earning me millions, and I’ll retire at 25.