I caught infectious mononucleosis from the dude who sits next to me in Intro to Film. It was really awful yesterday when everything hurt too much for me to get out of bed but I was sore all over and even lying down was painful. I had this pounding headache and like a 101.5°F fever.

It still hurts to do anything and my throat hurts but I’m feeling better today. I hope it doesn’t interfere with classes! I am treating myself to a strict Tillamook® Marionberry Pie ice cream regimen to soothe my sore, sore throat for now and maybe a doctor appointment on Monday.



It’s really weird, though, to have this strange disease I always heard about since I was a kid but never had. I remember the first time I heard about it. I think it was third grade and people were whispering about how this one girl hasn’t been in school for weeks because of mono. What’s mono? This terrible disease where you just feel like shit for a few weeks but ultimately it’s fairly inconsequential.

My girlfriend spread mono throughout the queer communities in San Francisco a while back including this girl who moved to Portland and married a man that I kissed once in midst of this whole mono scare. I remember touching his lips and then whispering “Oh crap!” and he, in his thick Fort Worth accent, said, “You shouldn’t have done that.” But the girl sent me a message a few days later telling me he tested negative in mono.

That was my “close call” with mono but now I have mono without even kissing anyone. I think.

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Originally posted by Joe

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Originally posted by Peardian

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Originally posted by Sofi

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Marionberry

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Is that a real berry? I can't say I've ever heard of it.

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It's a variety of blackberry, and it's absolutely delicious.

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It’s a blackberry cultivar from Oregon with this amazing complex flavor. It’s sweet in just the right ways and tart in just the right ways. They only grow in Oregon—mostly Marion county and along the Willamette Valley—where 28–36 million pounds of them are produced annually. Apparently it’s the most common blackberry cultivar.



There’s a lot of debate over whether they’re really distinguishable from “regular blackberries” or if Pacific Northwesterners are just being quirky/pretentious about a precious local crop. Personally, I have to side with the PNW-ers on this one. Them along with huckleberries make up a great deal of local flavor profiles, inspiring syrups, sauces, jams and even cocktails, pies, froyo and ice cream.

After my brief residence in Portland I was super-worried that I’d never get to have authentic marionberry again but I was relieved to find out that it’s commonly sold all over the Northwest in general! But when I am in Boston, I find myself craving the old marionberry.

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BMF came to visit for the weekend and we went to RE·PC, a groovy recycled computer and peripherals store based in Seattle (with a branch in Tukwila). We went to both locations in search of hardware we needed.

At the Seattle location, I picked up this frigging sweet NEC MultiSync LCD1765 monitor for $20 bucks. It’s got a layer of glass in the front making it really pretty and super easy to clean. It’s a really nice design! Now I have two monitors which has significantly altered my workflow allowing me to multitask more smoothly than ever. At the time of this writing, I’m writing this post and editing photos at the same time. Pretty groovy.



We also watched Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and went hiking in the woods. He also got to eat my famous cooking.



Thanks for coming to visit, BMF! Cool Jul-ers such as yourself are always welcome at my place!

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