Bungee Jump

Saturday, September 19, 1998
One year ago: Of Shoes and Ships

Today was one of the most fun Cacophony events we do all year: The Inanimate Object Bungee Jump and Donner Party Memorial "Tastes Like Chicken" Barbecue. We did this at the traditional location, the pedestrian bridge (formerly 20th Street) over Seattle's Ravenna Park. Last year's event report makes good reading!

The idea and actual execution of sending objects over the edge of the bridge and watching them bounce on the end of an elastic cord still makes me laugh, and I don't quite know why. We play safely, though (or as safely as possible) and always put caution tape where people might be walking, and check both sides of the bridge before giving objects a ride.

Since Cacophony is a collective endeavor, we needed group efforts (and special trips to a hardware store) to perform such tasks as getting the barbecue started, and attaching the hooks and carabiner rings to the ends of the bungee cord.

We had a good group of people, with some familiar faces and some new ones. Dave Volk, the event sponsor, is very diligent at getting the word out to his friends for events that he sponsors, which is a good source of recruitment for us. I did manage to hand off the camera some of the time, so I could be in some of the pictures. Sometimes I forget to do that!

Our first item to be bungee'd was my pepper grinder. Since I'd been pleased last year with the decorative flowers and slinky we'd attached to most of the items (so festive!), I brought some fancy mylar ribbon and tinsely stuff to use this year. My pepper grinder was a thrift store find a few years ago. It does work, and lends a touch of Italian Renaissance glamour to my high-tech stainless-steel-countered kitchen.

The very first item, and a crisis! I don't remember if I threw it over myself, but somehow the grinder got under the bridge and hooked itself in the girders there. Oops! Could this mean the premature end of our festivities? So various folks had to pull and tug on the cord, trying various angles to dislodge it. Finally Nick succeeded, and the afternoon was saved. This actually was a good thing, since we now had an element of suspense every time we bungee'd something! (I don't know if everyone else bought this theory, but I liked it!)

The picnic portion of the afternoon was going on concurrently, which is why I have plastic spoons in my hand in this shot. I was satisfied that my contributions (good polish-type sausages to grill, sturdy rolls, my favorite feta cheese spread, the Mint Milano cookies I bought the other night) were eaten and liked -- always one of my concerns at a potluck meal.

The baby (I forget her name, darn it!) was very cute and calm throughout the afternoon.

The typewriter went over successfully, as well as the kitchen sink. The pig was found on the way to the event by the lady in the red sweater, at a garage sale. It was by far our most popular item, and several of us took turns throwing it over. It was made of papier-mache, and actually had a slit in the top so it could literally be used as a piggy bank. We put some money in before bungee-ing it. A young boy came by on his bike, after our official festivities were done; his father had walked by earlier and went home and told him about it. He was so disappointed at having missed out that we gave him a turn on the pig, too!

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I stopped at the Broadway Market on my way home, and again did some shopping for sandlewood oil. The Body Scent, across the street from the Market on Broadway, had at least twenty different versions! But fate had it that the one I picked out, Tibetan Sandlewood, was one they were out of, darn it! So I made another selection. I did some further wandering around, all to take up time while my dance shoes were being repaired. I'd been concerned that the elastic that holds the buckle on the right shoe was wearing out (the left one is fine; it's the right one that I spin on the most). I should be so careful about my car! But if my car breaks down, I have alternate ways to get to work. If my dance shoes get messed up, I don't have another pair that I like as well. I need to go back to Nordstrom and buy more of this model!

I did some hand washing of dance clothes this evening. This is an ongoing thing, because I can't wear them more than once like I would office clothes. Dance is a workout! While I was doing this, I was listening to Prairie Home Companion. I was struck by a wish for a companion of my own! It would be so comfortable and nice to have someone to listen to the show with me while we fixed dinner, then eat together, then cuddle with me and watch a video. I remember some very comfortable times doing this with my family (though I wouldn't say we did much cuddling).

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Beyond my usual evening surfing (not much there since most folks don't post as much during weekends, and neither do I, so I can't really complain about it!), I went through my "fun favorites" and "reading material" favorites folders. I got rid of the links that were gone, or that I no longer had any idea why I saved them, and did some housekeeping by moving the ones that are really journals to the appropriate diary favorites folder.