laurelhurst snaps, crime solving in a wig

SICKNESS UPDATE: hee hee. Because of the photos the type starts in the middle of the page so it looks like a news crawl as I write it. The most boring news crawl of all time! Let me try again.

WEATHER UPDATE: barely raining and dark skies as befits the middle of the night in Oregon in October. 

SICKNESS UPDATE: the update above was really more of a typing update, wouldn't you agree? I'm now picturing these words at the bottom of a news program. That's a job a person could get creative with (once, for the number of seconds it would take for someone to catch me and fire me. But then I would go rogue! I would hack into the news crawl technosomething and continue!) (note: in reality I could hack my way into a barn with an axe, but that's about it. No need to worry, Northwest Newschannel 8.)  

VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE UPDATE: I know it's late days to be talking about this, but I was watching the debate while IMing with my pal Martina and we came up with this whole ENDEAVOR that seems like the kind of thing I would like to read as a news scroll at the bottom of a traffic report for example. (btw, I keep typing an 'e' at the end of bottome, like so. ye olde bottome - i don't even know.) Anyway - it started with how everyone keeps referring to Paul Ryan as being so young - since we are near the same age as he is, she suggested we become elected representatives and move to Washington DC so we, too, could be young again. I reminded her that as women, the 'young in your early 40s' thing probably wouldn't work. The Man would find a way to render us hags or harpies or whathaveyou - Paul Ryan has probably already introduced a bill that makes it so. From there it evolved into an elaborate story about how we would be Senators by day but play in a rock band at night - nobody would know who we were - yes, like Hannah Montana, but obviously different since we would also solve crimes, which maybe she did, but did she solve National Treasure-style MASONIC MYSTERIES while wearing a pink wig and carrying a guitar? while being a Senator? DID SHE? If so, I will totally track down her show and watch it. If not, keep your antennae up for news of Senators who are never available for state dinners with foreign dignitaries because they are actually in secret tunnels under the city setting traps with guitar strings and clanging bad guys with cymbals and I'm working on the rest. Anyway. It distracted me from how much I wanted to punch Paul Ryan. (I'm not proud of this violent impulse, but I'm not going to deny it, either.) 

SO, THE PARK UPDATE: My sister had the very good sense to insist on going out somewhere yesterday since it was nice. I'm still feeling sketchy, so it was a pleasant stroll around Laurelhurst park. I forgot my camera despite saying "I should get my camera" before we left. I did have my ipod, so I snapped these and I like them! The top picture is of the cedar tree and water at the northeast end of the duck pond. The bottom picture is looking up at some leaves that were half green, half yellow. I can't remember the name of the tree, but they cast the most beautiful dappled shade. 

plan activation

I activated my Walking Plan today. (note to self: need catchier name.)  It's been in the works for a while, but sometimes (most times) I have to work things out in my head first. Basically the plan comes down to this: for 21 days from the first day (TODAY), I have to get outside and walk every single day. On days I'm working, it can be shorter, but I still have to do it. I even built in two days where I can skip without guilt if it's absolutely necessary, but my hope is that I can get through it without using either of them. I used to walk almost every day without fail - not only did my jeans fit better, but I felt better all around.  The 21 days part is just to get myself accustomed to doing it again - once I get going I want to do it so here's hoping it goes to plan.

THINGS I LEARNED while out on my walk today:

1) I will have to re-toughen my feet!

2) I need to freshen my ipod, make new playlist, something something something. I've got a lot of great music, I just need to get it where I can get to it.

3) I missed seeing the dogs! Now I don't have to miss seeing them anymore.

4) The Garden Gnome ran by me today and it was fine, not weird. It was weird for a while when I'd see him in the library for two reasons: one was because I don't like people to know more about me than I tell them, and two because I felt so guilty about not walking.  Now neither one are an issue since he knows what he knows (which isn't much) and I'm not not walking anymore.

5) Crows, man. There was a whole flock, no wait - MURDER - of crows at the park today. They were hanging around the horseshoe pit like a gang of surly bad seed teens, but flew up into a tree when I walked by (squawking all the while).

6) the crocus are starting to come through the mud - just the leaves so far, but the purple won't be far behind. Camellias are also getting ready. Woo!

if only we had a wheelbarrow

Hello again. It seems to me that it has been a huge yawning chasm of time since I last posted -- echoing canyons of LONG TIME GONE. However, the calendar informs me it has been less than a week, so there's that. Thank god for calendars. (I guess.) You know what? Scratch that. I'm not going to thank god for a calendar. Thank god for seasonal stone fruit! YEAH! That's one I can get behind. I ate the most delicious peach today, a black apricot yesterday, and the plums are really good right now.

Speaking of nature's calendar -- I can tell that summer is starting to get restless. I always try to turn a blind eye, but after a certain point it's just embarrassing for both of us. I'm all hopeful in flip flops and a sleeveless top and she's all distracted and raining or blowing unusually cold wind. First it was the tiny half-formed acorns falling from the trees: half-formed, so I could talk my way around it --obviously some delinquent squirrel teenagers are vandalizing the tree! But now there are early trees getting yellow leaves (nooooo!!), larger acorns, the squirrels getting fat and sassy, spiders EVERYWHERE (don't ask), and of course the days getting shorter (sigh), and the moon has shifted. Let's face it -- summer's still here and having a pretty good time (although raining at the moment), but she's dreaming of Australia. I've tried begging, but it doesn't work. You get that stink of desperation and not only will summer stay away, but autumn will be saying "oh, god! do I have to?" and what you end up with is 5 months of nothing but rain.


this photo is of the actual screen with my actual camera.

BUT, speaking of summer and fun things to do -- Saturday night Bec, Martina and I went to Lents park to watch The Princess Bride as part of the Movies in the Park program the city is doing. I had to work during the day, but Martina arranged everything -- my sister and I just rolled up to a convenient parking spot and sat down on a provided lawn chair and blanket and ate a provided picnic. (Provisions by: Martina picnic provisions.) WOO! Not only did I get to visit a park I'd never been to before, but I also learned that Woody Guthrie lived in the Lents neighborhood when he was in the area writing songs for the Bonneville Power Administration. (26 songs in 30 days! so I doubt he was doing a lot of wandering around the neighborhood, but EVEN SO it's interesting.)

The Princess Bride holds up. It was very popular with the crowd (which ranged from pirates to republicans to stoners to goths to hippies to those dudes who work in offices, to families with very small children to teenaged boys covered in axe body spray (why, god, WHY?) to fencers to vegan strippers to the typical granola liberal. and their dogs) -- lots of people were quoting dialogue (I'll admit I found this moderately annoying, especially when they were ahead or behind the movie) -- the kids behind us were very concerned about the "monsters!" (R.O.U.S.'s), the biggest cheer came from "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die." (I suspect the pirates as they looked sort of bleary and bloodthirsty.) (not really bleary. They were mostly respectable suburban pirates, a confounding subspecies that deserves a post of its own.)

The weather was perfect. It's such a satisfying movie, but it's hard going, really hard going for everyone in the whole damned thing. I noticed especially quotes like "get used to disappointment," and "life is pain, Princess" and of course the glorious offhand lunacy of "if only we had a wheelbarrow." It's all just so perfect. P.S. I love Wallace Shawn as Vizzini.

The truth serum I took earlier today compels me to admit that I did fall asleep for about two minutes during the wedding, but woke up in time for lots of sword fights and running down castle corridors and inspired insults. It was a lovely venue and a fine way to revisit an old movie favorite.

it's very green right now

I am tired and road-weary (STILL) from my mom's crazy-ass marathon courthouse birthday road trip. (details to follow after I upload my pictures. it was fun!)

Since I don't have those pictures ready, I thought I'd post some photos of what's blooming right here in the neighborhood right now.(Actually, these pictures are from last week and we just had a "heat wave" -- that means it got up into the 90's for more than one day -- so some things (like the rhododendron) are maybe not as fresh as they look here. But it's close.)


oooh! But first, picnic vision: I had a rooftop picnic with Leslie on Wednesday. The weather had just turned nice that afternoon (it was v. cloudy in the morning), and it's always fun to look out across the city from a fresh vantage point. Double extra fun to do so with a friend!


this is one of the pink hawthorns I walk by every day. (I also walk by white ones, but the pink one was prettier.) Here's what the druids have to say about it. (apparently, Hawthorn is popular with the faeries!)


Dogwood are blooming everywhere. Most are pink or white, but I really like this green one.


This gigantic rhododendron is across the street from the park. It is old and HUGE, as you can see. Rhododendrons do really well here as they like the rain and whatnot.


...and because I just can't stop, another tree silhouette! Don't worry, I'll have to stop taking these once they've fully leafed out since there will be a lot less light available.

announcements and notes

general announcement: sleep is awesome! I remain a committed fan.

park note: the squirrels are getting so fat! I know a lot of it is just winter fur, but some of it has got to be because they are eating so damn much of the corn someone is leaving at the base of the trees. These hefty rodents can still climb a tree faster than a dog, so I guess they're doing okay. (and they are so cute! They're mostly red squirrels, but I've been noticing some grey/red combo ones as well. all very adorable, even as they give me the beady stink-eye for daring to walk past the squirrel buffet. I don't want your corn, okay?)

earth tilted on its axis note: I hate that it is dark at 4:15 pm. It's just not right.

Second Weirdest Coincidence of the Week: some establishing information -- when a patron puts something on hold in our library system, the default is that the "copy returned soonest" will fill that hold. So if you put the new Murakami on hold and you've finally waited your turn and are #1 out of however many, whichever copy comes back into the system first will start wending its way to you. If the copy gets turned in at a library across town, your information comes up on the screen, your hold is triggered and the item gets sent to your home library for you to pick up. Stuff is constantly moving all across the city. SO, imagine my surprise when last Friday I was working at the Belmont library for only the second time ever, and a patron came up to the counter and handed me a movie that would turn out to be for me. He was returning some stuff and paying some fines. He handed me Fritz Lang's Metropolis and I thought "hey! I have this movie on hold," only to scan it and see MY NAME come up on the screen! It's so bizarre! It may not seem weird, but it so is. As an on-call substitute, the odds of me being at that branch at that counter at that time were slim (I only worked on the desk 3 of 8 hours that day, Belmont is one of 17 library locations), the odds of him coming to my station instead of the other were 50/50, the odds of me BEING THERE on that exact day at that exact time... well, it just seems so unlikely! He could have taken it to the book drop! he could have come an hour sooner or an hour later and I would have never been the wiser. It would be one thing if Belmont was my home library and I was checking in materials that were sent to fulfill holds -- I've had that happen before -- but to snag one in the wild like that was SUPER FREAKY. What's even freakier is that this was only the second weirdest coincidence of the week! (the first one was so strange I can't even write it out.)

Christmas note: I am woefully unprepared for Christmas. I don't think I'm making cards this year unless desperately simple inspiration strikes in the next three days. I've done no shopping, I've done no decorating. I'm not feeling particularly grinchy, but I'm not feeling particularly jolly either. I think the remedy to this might be cookies, but I'm not sure. Tests may be required.

Monday's post-it note bounty: Here's what caught my eye while I was processing materials on Monday. I usually write this stuff down on a post-it or scrap paper so that I can place the hold from home (where I am more used to managing my Hold List Empire):
Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series -- I don't know why, but I always have this picture in my head that bootlegs, particularly Bob Dylan bootlegs, should come either on reel to reel tapes or possibly as a microchip that is implanted directly in the brain. This is a CD set and I guess I am okay with that as it will be easier for me to listen to than reel to reel or brain chip.

Joseph Cornell: Master of dreams by Diane Waldman -- I could actually list Cornell in my series of weird coincidences, but in a week that featured the other stuff, he hardly rates. (I'll just say that he's been EVERYWHERE and that I finally got my hands back on a book (out of print, library only has one copy) that someone with an educator's card (check out period: 6 weeks instead of 3) had cruelly stolen from me (by placing a hold) 6 weeks ago.)

Field Guide to Dreams by Kelly Regan -- this looks to be slightly different than the typical dream dictionary and I've been having weird dreams lately so we'll see.

The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta -- I glanced at the back and flipped through the book -- it seemed like it could be fun and interesting, so why the hell not? This is the beauty of the library!

Of course all of this took some juggling in order to have this many spaces to place this many holds. The system only allows you 15 holds at a time. These are troubles I can live with, however.

Well, it is time for me to get back to my new BFF, sleep! Last time I said I would try to be more timely with updates was followed by taking even LONGER to update, so I'll just say that I hope to find some balance here pretty soon. I think I'm getting closer.

parklife

you know that blur song Parklife? It often pops up in my head (or on my ipod) when I am walking around the park. It's mostly about being unemployed and hanging around the park/dogtrack all day, but there is a sense of true enjoyment and appreciation for the small pleasures of this lifestyle: "I sometimes feed the sparrows too, it gives me an enormous sense of well being/ then I'm happy for the rest of the day," which I take as a kind of reminder to try and really see the things you look at every day. My parklife is not exactly the same -- no offtrack dog betting for one. (although now that I think of it, maybe I should set it up! it could be a lucrative sideline if I can figure out how to get anyone to give me money when the squirrels ALWAYS win. But I am enjoying the notion of arcane hand signals, stubby pencils and the sneakiness required to conduct my imaginary bookmaking empire right under the nose of the dogcatcher. I'll have to check my yearbook, but I believe I was voted Least Likely To Conduct an Imaginary Bookmaking Empire Right Under the Nose of the Dogcatcher, so there would be a bit of personal vindication as well.)

+toddlers in outerwear look like tiny drunken old men with a sartorial preference for dinosaurs and hello kitty.

+yesterday I heard a crow flying right over my head. He wasn't squawking at me (for once -- crows give me the business all the time), just the sound of wings against air.

+whoever it was that was leaving chestnuts on the dog-area boundary markers hasn't been to the park in a while. (or I suppose it is equally likely that they have been there, but are just not in a chestnut-leaving mood.) I really missed it at first, but then I started constructing my own surprises. At first I would collect feathers and acorns and tuck them into this spot in a tree right by the path -- not obtrusive, but obviously not accidental. I've escalated recently with collected leaves (they are so beautiful right now!) and since they were still looking good in the original spot, I had to branch out to a second location on the other side of the park. It satisfies my need to pick up interesting things and solves the problem of what to do with them after I've picked them up. (I always feel bad just throwing something back onto the ground.) Anyway, it brings me joy and it might make someone else smile so it's all good. It isn't hurting anything, anyway.

invisible circles

I returned to the park today after an extended break -- the break wasn't really my idea; first, I got a lot busier, then I got sick. The bathroom scale informed me that not only was it time to get back out there, but maybe, just MAYBE I should double check and see if Marie Callendar's Key Lime Pie was actually considered medicine like I have been assuming. My fat ass and the scale say otherwise, but personally I think that's all circumstantial evidence that wouldn't hold up Dessert Court. (Pie always wins in Dessert Court. The fix is in!)

I was delighted to see that my favorite park prankster has returned (or the Love Vandals as I like to think of them -- he, she, they, it -- I honestly have no idea). I was listening to the Raveonettes for a while during the last Love Vandal outbreak and I tried to mentally recast them as the Love Gang, but it just didn't take, even though it's probably a better name. Today's exhibit was subtle. The end of the park that I enter is down by the off-leash dog area (although honestly dogs race all over the dingdang park since the irresistible squirrels do not feel so confined). The official area is demarcated by small pillars that say "off leash area, blah blah blah." They are about 3 feet tall and painted park-service green. There was one brilliant brown-red chestnut (sans outer shell) sitting right on top of the first marker I came across. It was so shiny and such a beautiful color I took a picture (it's still on my camera and therefore not right here illustrating my point, so you'll have to take my word for it). It wasn't until I had looped all the way around again that I noticed every single pillar had a chestnut on it. There are no chestnut trees in the park, these were imported for the express purpose of who knows what! I do know that it made me happy.

I believe this to be the work of the Love Vandals (whom I first noticed around valentine's day with I Love You stickers on every lamppost) -- the repetition, the encircling and the fact that it coincided within a few weeks of me finally noticing the Love Vandal masterpiece (more stickers!) lead me to this conclusion. It could be someone else, I suppose; these stickers are not hand written, they were not stuck in the same places... but at the same time, the very ways the method has changed feels more like a natural evolution than a whole new person. (although if there are that many people who want to share the love at Wilshire park, more power to them!) Anyway, back in February I had the experience of seeing all of the I Love You lamppost stickers in their cheerful glory, only to return the next day to find them all removed, but for two that had been missed. One of these I walked by every day (and picked it up the day it fell off the lamppost. I'm looking at it right now, in fact), the second one was slightly out of the way, but held on for weeks after the first one fell until one day it just wasn't there. I only ever checked on it when I was feeling particularly gloomy, so it was not a great day when I realized it was Gone. (cue rain and a solitary and therefore extra sad tear.)

I soldiered on, as one does when the delicate city park love-sticker ecosystem has been damaged. BUT THEN, two days after the last of the old stickers fell, I noticed a new one on an easterly lamppost. This one was different than the old sticker -- it was typed, and instead of just "I Love You!" it said "I Love You With All My Heart And I Always Will." !!! It cheered me up tremendously, as silly as that sounds. I know it's technically vandalism of some sort, but I just love the idea that there is someone out there who not only thinks this up, but carries it out. Who are they? Who is it for? What's the story? It gets even BETTER, because all this time I'm thinking that the Love Vandal has retrenched to a literal lone lamppost outpost on the corner (I always look for it when I'm there to make sure no one has peeled it off), until one day I happened to notice it was on one of the metal poles that hold up parking signs around the periphery of the park. Then I noticed it was on every single one of them! Love, love, love. I especially love that they were there all along and I never knew it because I wasn't paying attention. Moral of the story: pay more attention!

I have assorted awesome links to share, but they will have to wait for their own new post as I have to get up early AND have a great book that isn't going to read itself.

trees, forest. forest, trees.

Spring is coming!! I know this because the snowdrops are blooming, the violets are blooming, the crocus are blooming, and the daffodils are getting close. Last night I had a dream with daffodils as tall as sunflowers, which was weird but cool. Oh, let us not forget the rain, of course, with its attendant slugs and earthworms which the cat brings in on his fur. Delightful.

Tuesday was raining and snowy, but I really wanted to get outside because I was going to lose my freaking mind if I didn't. (this mind-losing seems to be a recurrent theme. perhaps I need a safety deposit box and then I won't have to worry with it any longer.) I was irritated by the relentless rain, but decided to take my camera because the camera sometimes helps. It totally worked! By the time I got back (soaked but somewhat exhilarated -- probably hypothermia) I was cracking myself up (again, probably hypothermia) with the thought that there was none more wet than me at that moment. (Spinal Tap was on my mind because I had been listening to the White Stripes, and the song Expecting always makes me think of Spinal Tap's Big Bottom (sorry, Jack White) -- there's just a certain ponderous quality that I can't quite put my finger on -- they don't really sound that much alike, but there is some connection in my head. It always makes me laugh so I guess I'm not really very sorry after all.)

The trees are getting that red haze that they get before they start blooming. Some of the early cherries and plums have already begun to bloom, but most trees (that are not evergreen) are just starting to get that LOOK. One day they were the same old dead sticks I've been looking at all winter, and then suddenly the world turns upside down (or on its axis, if you want to be all pedantic about it) and they're glowing red like they've been in the fire. It's all so beautiful in simultaneously subtle and obvious ways. The world is waking up again, which is a good reminder for me (I need lots of freaking reminders, okay?!) to take pleasure in the small things and to try to appreciate the beauty of RIGHT NOW instead of remembering or fantasizing about the beauty of some past or future moment. (The camellias are starting to bloom which makes it easier.)

I had this obvious but necessary "a-ha!" moment even before I read my Free Will Astrology horoscope (he writes the best ones) for this week, which said, in part: "On the one hand, they [cancerians] idealize the past, imagining it to be better or happier than the present time. On the other hand, they ache for an idealized future that will be better or happier than today. Does that describe you? If so, this your wake-up call. Right here and right now is where all the interesting stuff is happening. " Right Here and Right Now often seems boring and stressful, but I'm intrigued by the notion that I'm just approaching it from the wrong angle. If it IS where all the interesting stuff is happening, I don't want to miss out!

(I promise less weather-related navel-gazing and more other stuff SOON.)

my coffin doesn't have a phone

I took my camera to the park today in search of vandalism. Yesterday (probably wednesday night) Love Vandals put little stickers on each and every one of the 40+ lampposts at the park that said "I love you!" I didn't notice them at first, but when I did it made my whole day! Perhaps I am too easily charmed. The Love Vandals had even taken the trouble of putting it on two sides of the post if the path forked; so if you were running or walking or riding your bike, it was visible no matter which way you went. (if you noticed it at all, of course.) I was so disappointed today to find that they had been removed. I understood why, but I'd hoped that they would last a little longer.

Due to runners, mud, a not very wide path, etc. I decided to divert a little from my usual route and take some pictures of the crocus that are just starting to bloom. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the anti-iloveyou crowd missed two lampposts!! I would have never found them if not for my diversion. I got the picture after all, which made my day today! Simple pleasures, I tell you. It was a good lesson for me: Keep eyes open, make alternate plans, be AWAKE. Maybe you find the thing you were looking for, or maybe you find something even better!

and now, some television:
The OC: man, that episode was not good. I know they want to tie everything up all nice and tidy before they go off the air, but I can't stand Frank and everything was just so pat. There were a couple of funny lines, but that was about it.

Lost: Woo! I thought the Desmond episode was v. interesting, although not particularly sensible. I have to admit I'm getting a little bored with Jack and Sawyer and Kate every ding dang time, so this freaky time-trippin' episode was nice. Powell's blog is running a cool feature where Lost references are explained.

Gilmore Girls: This show has been so weird all season! I can't tell what they're heading toward, although they've been foreshadowing the Lorelei/Chris thing since forever. I hope they don't decide they're not coming back at the last minute and waste an hour with a slappy-happy montage-heavy penultimate episode like certain other shows :::coughTheOCcough::. An earthquake in Stars Hollow! The Gazebo is destroyed! Lane gives birth in the diner! Emily Gilmore stops an avalanche with the power of her withering glare! (okay, that last one would be cool..)

Here are some of the iPod on random songs that accompanied me on my Vandals of Love Quest:

Corrina, Corrina -- Bob Dylan: Oh, I love this version! I always have to listen to it when it comes up, even if it's in the middle of crazy other things.

Hello Operator -- The White Stripes: this is the song that has the "my coffin doesn't have a phone" lyric. I always get caught up wondering about these enigmatic Jack White phrases. I had to figure out how to get a working phone in a coffin before I could stop thinking about it. (see, cellular won't work because I'm sure you're not going to get reception under six feet of dirt, no matter what all those serial-killer kidnapping shows want you to think...) I was able to mentally move on only after I imagined a giant telephone pole right next to the headstone. There's a phone on the pole, and a phone in the coffin (although I only got it partway worked out how you could use a handheld phone unless you had an XL coffin... maybe speakerphone is the way to go...) This is how the time passes so quickly when I'm walking! As long as nobody asks me what I'm thinking about, it's fine.

Land of a Million Drums -- Outkast: I confess!! This is from the Scooby Doo soundtrack. I am not ashamed. I like the way Andre 3000 sings "I woulda got away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling kids, oh no"

Crown of Love/ Rebellion (lies) -- Arcade Fire: Between this post at Living the Romantic Comedy, and this post at Fluxblog, I am about coming out of my skin with anticipation for the new Arcade Fire album. Like I've said recently, waiting is itchy! Fortunately, the wait won't be too much longer. In order to help soothe the itch, I've been listening to Funeral. It's been several months since I last heard it, and I am reminded of that Stanley Kubrick via Mark Romanek quote I was so taken with a couple months ago... it is daring and sincere. Actually, turn the dial way up on daring and sincere -- it's fearless, fierce, honest and passionate. These songs are ones I've listened to several times today, and I get that weird tingling sensation almost every time -- you know the one where it's not goosebumps, but you can feel all the nerves in your legs at once, or up and down one side of the body? I used to think I was having a medical emergency, but I've come to realize it's what happens to me when I hear or read or think something that arrests my attention at some sub or super (I like to leave my options open) level of recognition. I'm hopeful that it's just that weird art/biology thing again and not aurally triggered Restless Leg Syndrome or something that will require me to test my new telecoffincommunication system.

I looked under the mats and I asked all the cats

Good news: I got a genuine piece of non-bill/ non-junk mail today! Woo! It was from an old friend (from 4th grade through high school) with whom I recently reconnected. It was very sweet and quite welcome. It reminds me that I like SENDING mail too, so I should get back on that. Maybe it can be one of my sub-resolution categories -- send at least one piece of fun mail per month to someone. It doesn't have to be complicated; even postcards are nice!

Park Update: creepy weird guy is now hiding behind trees. Or maybe I am just hallucinating/dreaming that he is doing so -- I'm not sure which is worse.

Speaking of worse, Open Letter to Runners Who Wear Too Much Cologne:
Dear Fitness Enthusiast Who Has Obviously Lost All Sense of Smell,
Why must you torment me with your headache-inducing cologne? If you are so concerned with your odor while in pursuit of cardio-vascular health, might I suggest a little something called A SHOWER??? Try it. I'm begging you.
signed,
I Can Smell You From 1/4 Mile Away

Coming soon: some book stuff, because I don't want to fall as behind as I did last year! Until then, some songs I heard today:

Billy Liar -- The Decemberists: If I were the president of the North American Vowel Sound Association (NAVSA), I would award Colin Meloy some sort of medal on a ribbon to be worn about the neck. The lyrics "will you stay here, for a while dear/ 'til the radio plays something familiar, (plays something familiar/ plays something familiar)" become an exercise in torturing extra syllables out of normal english words. I love it. He tortures, so that I might enjoy. (familiar is pronounced about eight different ways, all plausible.) The title character is a compelling yet unsavory window peeping pervert -- the likes of which are to be found throughout the Decemberists' catalogue. (bless their deviant, black, dictionary-loving hearts.)

My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found -- Fiery Furnaces: so appropriate to hear at the park, since it is always full of dogs. I love this crazy song, especially the thrilling conclusion alluded to in the title!

Everybody's Happy Nowadays -- The Buzzcocks: Hee hee. This would be great on a stealth "sorry for myself" mix -- except it's not strictly sorry... Some days it's about growing as a human being, on others it's about realizing the whole world is conspiring to make things sound better than they are. How I take it depends entirely on my mood (which makes the case for a great song, I would say). Ah, snotty english teenagers, how I love the sound of your angst!

Art Snob Solutions -- Of Montreal: hee hee hee. This is double snotty, but sung in a such a sweetly beatle-melodic way I can't help but love it. (It's January in Oregon. Snotty but sweet songs are helping me to survive the low-light.) I was just going to put a couple of lines in, but it's all so good. (esp. "that's right mascara snake!!!") The lyrics come from their website:

What’s up directors? Grab your knives!
It’s time to take all all of the lives
Of the people who cannot see the somnolent genius of Tarkovsky

Come on authors grab your guns!
It’s time to murder everyone who has never heard of Apollinaire
Send them all to hell it’s only fair

Cast them all into the flames if they don’t know any names
Of the principles of Arte Povera
Or are unfamiliar with le serpent mascara
That’s right mascara snake!!!

Come on painters alive or dead
Give all the cretins a boot to the head
If they don’t extoll convincingly
Tempered Elan era Kandinsky

Throw them all into a well if they cannot tell
An Arto Parv feast of repitition from a Schoenburg 12 tone composition

Come on artists the day is here
And your mission is very clear
Put an end to the bourgoussie
And death to everyone who’s never heard of me

friday never hesitates

(television aside: Am I crazy, or was The O.C. actually funny last night? I have hopes for it in a way I haven't for about a season and a half! Although the Very Special Dickens O.C. next week looks like it could be painful... What if Ryan never came to Newport?)

I go walking just about every day in the park near my house. One of the side effects is that I see a lot of the same people daily. There are two Very Odd men who are there most days -- one of them I like and say good morning to, and one of them gives me the creepy wiggins at 100 yards. Likable Weirdo is probably in his 60's, with a style I would best describe as "bedroom floor." His hair is mostly white and mostly standing on end except for where it's flat in the back. He walks three little teacup dogs on long, long expandable leashes and they are always twined around his legs or blocking the path. He often has 12oz cans of soda stuffed in the pockets of his sweatpants. I suspect he sleeps in a recliner with the television on.

The other guy, Creepy Weirdo, is always pressed and polished with creased trousers, a hat, and in this weather a trench coat. He wears overlarge glasses and has a Groucho mustache. It looks like he's wearing a disguise. For all I know he's the expatriate Swiss chief of a brain trust, but he gives me the heebie jeebies. He never speaks to me (hallelujah!) and will often cut across in a weird jagged pattern if anyone is walking toward him. Today, though he was walking in the same direction as me (usually he's going the opposite way) and just stopped in his tracks and let me walk past. So creepy! Not that people can't walk whatever way they want to, but... it was just weird. I know that he probably has some sort of social anxiety or something, but he just radiates off-ness to me. I'm sure he's perfectly fine, and mr. soda in his pockets probably has a shower curtain made from the pinkie fingers of his victims, but still...

and now, here are some songs from my ipod today:

Friday I'm in Love -- The Cure: some days I skip this when it comes up because I love the song and don't want to overplay, but I figure if you get a day of the week song on the right day of the week, you should listen.

Do You Want To -- Franz Ferdinand: I discovered this past week that I have an actual physical reaction to certain of franz ferdinand's songs. I stand up straigher, walk faster (if I am indeed walking), and narrow my eyes, but not in a mean way. There's something about it that makes me feel more confident and a little more aggressive. It's weird, but I'm sure explained by some science of sound. (I also realized that I look at my hands when I'm embarrassed or remember something that embarrasses me. I could understand it if I were trying to break eye contact, but why do I do it when I'm alone??)

Take Off Your Clothes -- Morningwood: okay, this song is RIDICULOUSLY raunchy and completely infectious. (but not in ways that require ointment or medication of any kind.) I think it's the handclaps that do me in.

Spring Released -- Grant Lee Philips: I have been skipping this song lately. I put it on so many mix cds a few years ago I think I got burned out on it. But today (because I was wearing gloves and it is a pain in the ass to take off my glove to skip a song -- my ipod rejects gloved commands!), I listened to it. I still like it very much, but think I may have to take it off this playlist for a while so when I do hear it again I am 100% hooray about it. Actually, I should probably take about 40 songs off of this playlist and freshen it up.

Sinking Game -- Marit Larsen: I'm still liking this song! Spoons and singing saw and banjo and all.