Boundless
August 30, 2010
“Only four, no three and a half more hours, and we’ll have been awake a whole two days! 48 hours!” says Seth excitedly.
I peer at him through exhaustion-bleared eyes. “48 hours?” I manage. “What the heck have you been doing for the last 48 hours?” I’ve only been up maybe 16 hours, and I’m ready to drop.
Seth and Eric and I are the “banner team” at the Hood-to-Coast Relays, in charge of receiving hundreds of sponsor banners as they are taken down. We clean them thoroughly, roll them up and tie them, then sort them into bags for storage. They like this job because it’s close to the rock concert and they can dance while they work.
I like it because I get to sit down.
Hey, Chinni
August 29, 2010
Hope the peacock feathers and mice are not quite staying out of reach, and that there’s a soft sunny spot with your name on it. And lots of cherries and hard candies and other stuff with “handles” to play with.
Love you, my elegant little fellow. Still thinking about you.
4:15 pm, August 29, 2007
Animal cries
August 27, 2010
Given what happened yesterday, I feel this is an inappropriate post but unfortunately, it’s already been released. My practice of writing essays in advance, then scheduling them for a staggered release gets me into trouble sometimes. I normally would have waited a few days (at least) to give yesterday’s post some space, but I was upset and simply forgot. I apologize for the smug and supercilious tone of this post because today, backstory or no, I’m obviously part of the mob.
Lemme just preface this one with a reminder that I’m not exactly a cat hater.* I don’t want to use the cliche that some of my best friends have been cats but, well…that’s true. I fully expect my obituary headline to read “Old lady found eaten by her cats.”
I’ve been bemusedly watching another viral explosion over a video depicting animal cruelty in London.
In it, a woman walking along the street stops to pet a friendly cat named Lola, then opens the dumpster, picks up the cat by the scruff of the neck and drops it in, closing the lid. She’s obviously aware that this is not a nice thing to do–she furtively checks for observers–and her casual demeanor is chilling.
(For the guy living under a rock who didn’t catch this on TV, YouTube or anywhere else: The cat was rescued and is fine.) [Read more]
Hit and run
August 26, 2010
This afternoon I watched a boy die, then come back to life. The paramedics said he’ll probably die again.
And it was so stupid, and I’m so angry, that I’m not sure what to do. I just want to smash someone.
Driving home, I turned up my street and heard screaming. A teenager lay sprawled in the road, leg terribly bent, eyes staring, cyanotic. His sister stood over him, hands full of blood, screaming for help.
Hinting at life
August 25, 2010
So I’m registering for a web account, and after I’ve gone through the whole “gimme your email, pick a password” thing, I’m asked for the usual password retrieval hints.
And that’s where it gets weird.
Hints, as you undoubtedly know, are the personal questions that verify your identity in case you forget your user name or password. The computer asks one of the two questions you’ve chosen, matches your response to the one you stored when you registered; if they’re the same, it sends/reveals your password.
Usually hints are fairly innocuous, i.e., mother’s maiden name, first elementary school attended, name of your favorite pet. On this site, though, somebody got creative, and I was asked to choose two of the following as my hints:
Virtual librarians
August 22, 2010
Ever wonder what’s going on behind the eyes of your local librarian? Possibly more than you think.
I’ve always wondered what makes librarians tick. Certainly they must have a love of books, but I’ve always figured you had to be a frustrated writer to hang out in the stacks. Some of them are; Marian the Librarian-blogger frequently has a keen eye for the ironic and, occasionally, a wonderful writing style.
If I were to sum up many of the more prominent librarian blogs, though, I’d have to say that the sour, forbidding librarian of the movies isn’t that far off. These bloggers appear furious about being librarians, or at least about being librarians in a library that actually admits the public.
Wildwood
August 20, 2010
- Restaurant website
- Location: NW, 21st above the Pearl
- Cost to feed four for dinner: About $125 (plus wine)
My colleague was doing Atkins, the low carb thing, and however tasty the bread, she couldn’t eat it. So the chef at Wildwood braised some veggies, added a mild vinaigrette and served them as the classiest (and tastiest) crudites I’ve had in quite awhile.
So when my houseguests offered to take me to dinner, and asked for a “Portland local” place that had good veggies, I sent us to Wildwood.
Good choice.
Carol, Laurie and 9-year old Emelia know food. (Emelia’s favorites are mussels and tomatoes, so yes, this family KNOWS food) What they got at Wildwood tonight was impressive.
Service was exquisite–the waiter was as passionate about the food as he could be (and he clearly loved his job). Every one of his recommendations was spot on.
I had an absolutely fabulous chilled cucumber soup; Emelia and Carol had the roasted beet salad with blue cheese and walnuts while Laurie tried a slightly tamer salad. Delicious, all of them, though I think my soup had the edge.
We proceeded to lightly seared tuna on a fresh tomato risotto that was absolutely incredible. “I don’t know,” said Laurie, “I personally think the duck confit was exquisite.” And we all loved Emelia’s mussels.
(I love houseguests that believe in sharing plates in a nice restaurant.)
For dessert, we mixed up the chesterberry pie with honey-basil ice cream, the lemon tart and the Varlhona chocolate whatever. My top vote went to the pie.
Lovely, lovely meal. I haven’t been to Wildwood in awhile; this trip reminded me of why I need to go back.
Portlandia
August 18, 2010
Cable TV is about to put glassland on the map.
IFC, which owns the cable channels Sundance, AMC and WE, has just greenlighted a new comedy series, Portlandia. IFC’s blog says it “…lovingly skewers illustrates the people and values of Portland, Ore.”
Me and the god of adventure
August 16, 2010
“Your burglar alarm company just called; your house is on fire,” Mom said on my mobile phone…just as my flight was boarding.
Sigh. It’s been a busy week, and it’s only Monday.
Been doing my usual 72 things at once: Houseful of guests (the incredible glass artist and lovely person Carol Carson, with her equally lovely sister and daughter). My sister’s family is here from DC, staying with my folks. My plane lands back in Glassland four hours before the party I’m throwing for Carol on Wednesday (y’all come!). I’m getting ready for a sculpture show this weekend. The antmind decided that BigBoy, my ginormous old Dell desktop, was a perfect place to raise the kids.
You know, I think there’s a god of adventure sitting in an office somewhere, and everytime he gets bored he types my name, hits the send button…and here we go again.
Pomp and cucumberstance
August 14, 2010
On Saturday morning, the world met up with my weekly vegetable foray.
Got to Portland Farmers’ Market to pick up a few days’ dose of veggies and fruits and whatnot, and the place was jam-packed with people. For a moment I couldn’t even find the farmers’ tents.
PFM is a busy place on a warm summer morning, but it’s never been THIS busy. I tried oozing my way through the crowds to the market tents (all the way in the back, above), but–comparatively speaking–sardines have more room in the can. And curiously, these sardines were far too well-dressed for spending Saturday morning with the leeks. Instead of the usual bluerock folkabilly, a brass band was playing a passable version of Carmen. [Read more]