over the edge in a barrel (part one)

I decided to split my Niagara Falls pictures into two posts - first the blurry and atmospheric instagram snaps. These are from my trip to western New York in the summer of 2011. This tall bronze gentleman is Nikola Tesla of SCIENCE FAME. . He is reading plans and making electricity with the power of his mind! (and a hydroelectric power plant.) 

Maid of the Mist boat tour, of course. I mean, we were THERE, it seemed like a waste of 3500 miles to be there and not get on the boat. 

Which isn't to say I didn't have second thoughts when we were all lined up in our cult-y blue rain jackets (more like blue garbage bags, really). Doesn't it look like we're standing in line to be sacrificed? If I hadn't been watching fellow tourists return on boats in their protective garbage bags, maybe I wouldn't have been so blithe about stepping on the boat. 

From above - I love this picture because it looks like an old postcard. Anyway! Part two of this brief Niagara series will involve photos taken ON THE BOAT. 

sincere transmissions from outer space

Beck's cover of The Flamingos classic "I Only Have Eyes For You" came out in the summer as part of a larger art project. I listened to it over and over in the warmer months and then it fell into an ipod black hole as these things (songs! meaningful experiences! good intentions!) do.  I'm so glad that my obsessive search for album art in iTunes 11 has brought the song back to me. I love that Beck's version  manages somehow to be lush and intimate while at the same time sounding like it's being broadcast from the galaxy's loneliest space station: is it the slow dance at prom in a time travel movie or an astronaut's hallucination?  Any story I try to assign gets the same result: achingly romantic. There's no ironic distance - this is sincere, straight-up, plainly stated, emotionally felt, and directly expressed in words, vibraphone, and shabop-shabops. And one assumes coordinated dance moves.

bigfoot thursday

Of course it's now FRIDAY but only just, so I'm going to pretend it's still Thursday - and not any old Thursday, but BIG FOOT THURSDAY. I was going to say you get a discount on giant flip flops or socks but decided that was not very sensitive to the barefoot Bigfoot ethos.

I've been uploading my backlog of pictures (including some from the giant New York roadtrip of 2011). One thing lead to another on Flickr (as it does) and I found myself looking at this beauty from 2005. hee hee hee.

Speaking of the middle aughts, the 28th of November marked EIGHT YEARS I've been keeping this blog. It doesn't seem possible, and yet here we are. Woo hoo! I remember when I did it - I was working on Nanowrimo and looking up something to do with magic in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. I'd been thinking about starting a blog, but didn't know what to call it - when I saw the phrase 'law of sympathy' I knew that was it. Things acting on each other through a secret link seemed internet apropos.

Tomorrow on Friday for real, I will post more pictures - either Niagara Falls from August 2011 or Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden from last weekend.

p.s. have you downloaded the new iTunes? What do you think? I tentatively like it.

view from Bonneville dam and a book recommendation

this is the view standing under one of the huge turbine blades on display at Bonneville Dam.




Are you reading anything good right now? Do you ever find yourself in a reading slump? I get caught in eddies where everything is either too heavy or too light and have to paddle back to the free flowing river of reading. (what? it's late and I know that's pretty dumb but I don't even care. I am so tired I DON'T EVEN CARE. I consider it a victory that I didn't type out my original mixed metaphor which involved a balanced diet.)

I just started reading something pretty fabulous, and perfectly perfect for in between reading quandaries: Sailor Twain or The Mermaid in the Hudson. This graphic novel was first serialized on the web, which is where I first read it.  (you can still read it that way if you follow the previous link.) I enjoyed that very much, but the book is even better! It's beautiful and mysterious and highly recommended (by me, but also by a bunch of other people so you know it's not JUST ME.)

cinderella pumpkins

They're also called French pumpkins - I think the idea is that these are the kind of pumpkins you want to have on hand if your fairy godmother happens by and you are in need of wheels.

In news unrelated to travel by pumpkin: it is raining so hard right now! Like, so hard that if you had a convertible Cinderella Pumpkin, you'd get wet even if you had everything snapped, zipped, and fastened closed. These pumpkin coaches ride pretty close to the ground and frankly are not that practical - you may think it a little conservative, but perhaps a Butternut squash would be a better all-weather choice.

dancing like we're dumb

Today I realized - AHA! style - that all of the work I’ve done on the story I’ve been writing (and have been writing, in tandem with another, for several years) is not really the story. What I’ve been doing is developing and discovering: pushing around the characters until they feel like themselves; developing the idea that started it all; discovering new characters and situations. This is not a story yet and I AM FINE WITH THAT.  It's a relief to see it as a dot on a line instead of a disappointing terminal point.

The story is coming - I see edges of it - the more I write the closer it gets. I’ve written a lot of words; most of them won’t make it to the end and THAT IS OKAY. I’ve been beating myself up for not being the kind of person who can just whip out an outline and go to town boom boom boom beginning middle end, even though I know this is a dumb, destructive attitude. (My expectations were dumb - if you're a go to town boom boom boom beginning middle end kind of writer, more power to you!) In the immortal words of Ke$ha, We R Who We R. Everyone has to find their own way and sometimes it seems stupid or counterintuitive or not right, but that’s fine. Keep going!

Zadie Smith on Libraries

"Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay. In the modern state there are very few sites where this is possible. The only others that come readily to my mind require belief in an omnipotent creator as a condition for membership. It would seem the most obvious thing in the world to say that the reason why the market is not an efficient solution to libraries is because the market has no use for a library. But it seems we need, right now, to keep re-stating the obvious. There aren’t many institutions left that fit so precisely Keynes’ definition of things that no one else but the state is willing to take on. Nor can the experience of library life be recreated online. It’s not just a matter of free books. A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal."

Zadie Smith, in the New York Review of Books. Via Bookshelf Porn

I love this quote and thought it was timely since our Library District here in Portland just passed - hooray! Our library is already good, the district gives more stability and with that the opportunity to be great. Despite the protestations of some, Amazon + Starbucks is not a replacement for the public library. I'm so glad voters in my city feel the same!

on the clock

hello, blog.

I put my timer on and I'm making myself write this post while my ipod updates its software.

THINGS:

Weather: NY/NJ/PA and all others who were hit by Sandy and now have SNOW - my heart goes out. It's so unfair. I hope services are restored soon.  RED CROSS

Election: whew, although I wasn't really worried since I had been taking multiple doses of "xanax for democrats" aka: Nate Silver's blog. He wasn't worried, so I wasn't worried. ALTHOUGH, like the good worrier I am I held some back in reserve and just about gnawed my arm off thinking about a potential President Ryan. But now I can spend that saved worry on...

Infection: what the ever loving what is going on here, self? Now my eye has a small case of the stuff again, not to mention my dizzy ear and ARGH. I need to stop sugar entirely and drink a lot of water and get a lot of sleep. This is all so annoying I might actually do it. (I know a speedier response would be to go to the doctor and let it be doctored, but I don't have insurance and I think Zoomcare actually made it worse. SO. I am monitoring things and if it keeps on hanging or gets any worse on I will go because I don't want to be that statistic, but STILL. What the hell, body?)

ooh! timer went off. Next time QUILTS and WRITING PROJECTS. Woo!

vote by mail

When Oregon first went to vote by mail, I was grouchy. I missed the nerdy thrill of standing in line and voting in the musty basement of a church with others from my neighborhood; I liked the sense of civic togetherness. But now that we're several years into it and I've seen the trouble other states are having I think everyone should switch to vote by mail. Nobody in Florida would have to wait SEVEN HOURS to cast an early ballot, only to have someone lock the door on them. Ballots could be cast from the couch! Or a desk or table, or anywhere but at the end of a line designed to make you give up and not vote after all.  Vote by mail means you never feel rushed, you've got the time to get it right. Here in Portland the mailing deadline has passed, but I can still vote in any library, the elections office, or other designated dropping off points.



It's pretty straightforward. First comes the voter's guide, then a few days later the ballot. All of these pictures are from 2008, but it's the same every time.



Instructions for filling in ovals, in case you need it. If you screw up, you can call the elections office and get a new one. If it's too close to the deadline for them to mail you one, you can go down to the office and pick one up.



The ballot goes in a secrecy envelope, which is separated from the envelope with the voter signature on it.



Then you put it in the mailing envelope.



Doesn't this look fancy? Like it should play a trumpet fanfare - Hail to the Chief, maybe? If every state switched to Vote by Mail, maybe the USPS would be saved!



the ballot is invalid without the signature of the voter, which goes on the back of the envelope. All the envelopes are color coded by district, I believe. (NERD ALERT: I think it would be fun volunteering to sort ballots or whatever they might let a properly vetted volunteer do.)



No offense McDonald's, but I don't want to vote with you. (The ballot box is actually a drive through secure drop that is not actually IN McDonald's, but right by their drive thru.)



Still, it's library voting all the way for me! Although I didn't get mine in today, the library is closed tomorrow and I don't want to wait until Tuesday. Maybe this year I'll drive it over to the election office and use their drive through. (somehow less sketchy than voting at McDonald's.) These boxes are picked up regularly by elections officials and taken to the main elections office.



SPOILER: this is how I voted in 2008, and it's how I voted in 2012.

You Don't Own Me PSA - AWESOME!

"You Don't Own Me" PSA -Official from You Don't Own Me on Vimeo.

love this.

what comes to mind

•It's 11:59 PM  and raining and this picture doesn't have anything to do with anything, other than I made a quick stop to flickr before I opened up the blogger page, noticed that this only had 2 views and thought "goddammit, that's a pretty flower" so here it is.

•I just set my itunes on random and it's playing My Mathematical Mind by Spoon. I love this record and  haven't listened to it in a long time. first video is a live version - man, Britt Daniel has such a great rock music voice. Second video is the album version, but with footage from old educational films. Pretty rad.







 • I'm finally feeling better enough to say I feel better. I'm like 92% there, which is good. This infection bullshit is some BULLSHIT. For a while there it felt like I was just putting out one fire after another but now everything feels like it's moving from the core to the surface on its way out. Although I do still have two perfectly round white spots on my left tonsil which anger me. They don't hurt, but they're lurking around like "aw yeah, we gots some more infectionsssss for you." Ha ha! I am going to drink a lot of water and go to bed shortly. Take THAT you little assholes.

• Halloween! I love it, but it stresses me out. Mostly because I think that I should plan a perfect costume and make myself go out and show it off, but I don't because I guess I don't really want to? I don't know.   In my mind Halloween should be one of the fun, slapdash shambley holidays - more costumes made out of tinfoil or cheesecloth and fewer 'sexy cookie monster' costumes. But seriously - why do I care what other people or doing, or that stores have had Halloween stuff up since Labor Day?! Ugh.  Probably because I have invented some dumb reason! (inventing some dumb reason is now my brain's originally part time but now shading into full time job. You need some dumb reason for something, just ask me and I will hook you up.)

•I returned an internet bought raincoat to the store today.  Store clerk asked if there was something wrong with it, I said "the color" (an unfortunate orange.) The clerk agreed, saying "it is rather barfy." Thank you for the radical honesty and the refund!

•I AM SO TIRED OF THIS ELECTION CYCLE. I can't even imagine how insane it is in a swing state.

sunday adorable

Young Otis, being cute.

This is one of the spots he likes to hang out in, right by the front door.

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. 

don't let the microbes get you down

SICK RIDIC.

It started with a sinus infection. Weeks of clues in my kleenex should have tipped me off, but it wasn't until I felt my EYEBALLS start to get snotty that I finally dragged myself to a health care provider. (ZoomCare, as I do not have health insurance. Get it together, America!) The nurse practitioner gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and a steroid nose spray sent me on my way. Next up: Target pharmacy, where the pharmacist told me that the nose spray was $70. Since breathing didn't hurt, I decided to forgo Flonase and let that $70 stay in my bank account.

Both the nurse practitioner and the pharmacist warned that a yeast infection was possible with the antibiotic. I noted it, but didn't worry too much since the last time I had antibiotics (4 years ago and they were heavy duty) I didn't get one.  Plus, I eat yogurt all the time FOR FUN. Well the joke's on me because I got one and it was horrible. If you're ever feeling masochistic, try reading internet message boards about yeast infections and how to treat them. It's almost gone, she said hopefully.

Remember the snotty eyeball at the beginning of this story?  As soon as everything else was calming down, this decided to flare up.  And by flare up, I mean ooze and crust. So gross! And then a spider bit me. What the hell, spider!  Sigh. Every morning I think it's a little better, and maybe it is.  I'm generally in good health (for which I am enormously grateful), and I know that patience (plus time, rest, and liquids) are what's called for, but WAAH.

Anyway - all this is by way of saying 'this is what I've been doing'  - on the plus side, I've gotten a lot of reading done.

p.s. it finally started raining!

beach feathers

hello, October! I'm uploading a backlog of photos (always a backlog) and liked these feathers from July.


I think they're splendid. They were found right in front of Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach - LOTS OF BIRDS on haystack rock.


This feather almost looks like hair, which sounds freaky when I type it out, but it's not freaky! I find it to be an elegant feather.