Titanic Role-play, painting Kanye West and Geminis

Eugene is a place of multiple wonders.

While visiting the lovely Heidi Dobratz in Eugene, I succeeded in doing a multitude of things I'd never done before, in the span of three days.  This is because IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO DO NEW, EXCITING THINGS WHEN YOU HAVE A FRIEND WITH YOU!  To quote my math teacher: "a circle is round, it has no end.  That's how long I want to be your friend."

Heidi and I hosted a party, and the theme was fictional characters and Kanye West.  This means, guests had the option of either dressing as a 1. fictional character, or 2. Kanye West.  To commemorate the occasion, Heidi and I decided to paint the latter option on a giant piece of cardboard.  We found the cardboard in a dumpster outside.  Yeah, we're thrifty.  

The finished product is posted on the home page, and it is also the inspiration for my url.  The painting may be beautiful now, but it hardly expresses the  anguish and struggle experienced by the two artists as they pursued completion of their work (fleeting switch to third person, literary note).  First of all, Heidi and I slaved over the painting without help from our two roommates, Danielle and Brenna.  We pleaded, cried and even threatened to jump off the balcony (Heidi lives on the third floor of her apartment complex), but sadly, they showed no concern.  Heidi and I were left to paint Kanye by ourselves, making painstakingly precise polo stripes for hours on end.  

Meanwhile, time was ticking away for the party.  It was scheduled at nine, but we didn't expect many guests until at least 10:00.  Still, we expected at least someone to show up around the scheduled hour, but by 9:15, there was no one in the apartment except for Pan the cat, Heidi, myself, and our two neglectful roommates.  Heidi and I were beginning to become disheartened.  Our brushstrokes were languid and filled with angst; our heads hung low over the cardboard canvas.  Even the music, mostly Kanye and Kid Cudi, began to sound distant and dejected. 

I invited two of my favorite people to the party, Sam and Morgan.  Both of them live in the Ashland area, about three hours away from Eugene.  When I invited them Morgan thought they could make it, but the last time I talked to her it sounded doubtful.  By 9:30, I doubted the arrival of anyone, let alone Sam and Morgan.  

Completely discouraged, Heidi and I threw our paintbrushes down, declared that we were going to drown ourselves in paint, and stormed out of the living area to put our pajamas on.  Just as we were about to go to bed, however, we heard a knock at the door.  It was Sam and Morgan!

Needless to say, I didn't go to sleep right away.  I woke up the next morning on a mattress on the floor, still in costume and cuddling with a stuffed camel.  It was a good night.

The next day, Heidi, Danielle, Sam, Morgan and I trekked to Voodoo Doughnuts.  Oregon is known for being a pretty hip state, with its ample supply of indie bands, vegan food, and teenagers in cardigans and skinny jeans, but Voodoo is one of the hippest locations.  In fact, many of the customers at Voodoo are those same teenagers, complete with black-rimmed glasses.  The doughnuts are delicious and named after celebrities and body parts:  i.e, the Marshall Mathers, the Old Dirty Bastard, and the Cock & Balls.  Some people even get married at Voodoo.  

Voodoo Doughnuts had two locations in Portland; in May, they opened a third in Eugene.  I had yet to experience the magic of a Eugene Voodoo Doughnuts, so we went.  Little did I know, this would be the place where I would meet my bestie.  

The man behind the counter was wearing the aforementioned black-rimmed glasses, so I liked him already.  I asked him for the selection of maple doughnuts.  He pointed each of them out to me in a rotating display.  The bacon maple bar was a big turn-off (I am vegetarian), so when it came time to order I changed my tune and copied my roommates order, the Old Dirty Bastard.  This was a wise choice for two reasons: 1. The doughnut included peanut butter and oreos 2. I wanted to pay my respects to ODB. 

When I asked for the Old Dirty Bastard, the man behind the counter chuckled, and mocked me for inquiring about maple doughnuts, then turning around and ordering a peanut butter one.  The rest of the conversation is best expressed as a dialogue:

Mackenzie: I'm kind of bi-polar.

Man behind counter: Me too! Because I'm a Gemini.

Mackenzie: Oh my gosh!  I'm a Gemini too!

Man behind counter: Wow!  Let's be besties!

Mackenzie: Ok!

So that's how I met my best friend.  I left Voodoo with a warm doughnut and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you made a life-long friend.

That day, Heidi, Danielle, Sam, Morgan and I watched Titanic.  This was something I'd already done before, but it was new to Danielle so I was sufficiently pleased.  The film had made such an impression on us, however, that later that night we role-played Titanic in the pool.  I was the iceberg, Heidi was the Titanic, and Danielle was Jack (Leo DiCaprio).  I hung out in the deep-end, spiky point up, while Heidi swam towards me, crashed, and "sank."  Meanwhile, Danielle begrudgingly jumped into the pool fully clothed, and clung to the edge muttering "It's so co-co-cold."  

Ever since, I've attempted to re-enact Titanic whenever I'm in the water, and succeeded once with a canoe crashing into me as the Titanic.  I highly recommend it.