walking

this afternoon micah and i spent some time just walking around riverside. first was fairmount park, which neither of us have ever really spent any time walking around in.


and then we ended up downtown. we ate some dinner and then when it got dark we discovered that we really needed jackets, so it was just a quick walk past the mission inn and a stop for some kettle corn. (the kettle corn guy was very chatty, by the way. we learned about the science of popcorn. he was awesome.)

and that is the end of my polaroid film. i have none left. and it is getting really expensive. we'll have to see about my future with polaroid.

it isn't really christmas...

...until i've been reduced to a complete blubbering mess.






check.

the most wonderful time of the year

well its been about a month since i last blogged. or really did much of anything creative-like, for that matter.

i have an art piece that has been sitting in the garage for over a month in a half-done state.
i haven't really felt like knitting anything.
on my trip to victoria over thanksgiving, i came home with only two digital photos and half a roll of film photos from my AE-1. (those will probably get developed three months from now. just wait.)

i think i have what is commonly known as the wintertime blues. or i'm in a funk. take your pick.
i used to really like the holidays. christmas was my favorite time of year. and then over the past 5 years or so, things slowly changed. now i find the holidays to be completely depressing.
let's just say that christmastime is not really made for single folk. and at every turn it seems to be re-established that this is the time of year for loved ones and togetherness, while i once again have to slog through it all alone. completely alone. (not to diminish my parents and sister, but at 32 years old, the desire is for my own family.)
this is why i usually take road trips during the christmas season. maybe my reasoning is that if i leave my normal surroundings and visit with friends, i will be able to avoid the soul-crushing depression that normally descends along with the christmas tree and presents.
but this year i am staying home for christmas. i have looming in front of me two weeks of free time. i'm looking forward to the time off work, but am hoping that i come out the other end relatively emotionally unscathed. we'll see.

so i'll leave you with pretty much the only creative thing i've done in quite a while. here's a video i made at the beach in victoria. it was so peaceful and beautiful, and i loved the sound the waves made on the pebbles.


waves from elizabeth herrity on Vimeo.

thanks, but no thanks betty crocker. i've got this one covered.

this morning i felt like making blueberry muffins.
and no offense to betty crocker, but i think that taking a few extra minutes to make them from scratch makes a HUGE difference.

first, i start with buttering and flouring the muffin pan. i think that this is well worth the extra effort, because it gives the bottoms of the muffins a finer texture than just using a spray does.

next i mix up the batter with some organic butter, organic sugar, organic eggs, and organic milk.

then fold in the organic wild blueberries from Trader Joe's. yup, these puppies are 100% organic! (ok, the flour isn't organic. so maybe 90%)

drop the batter into the pan and sprinkle a little sugar on top to make them a little sweet and crunchy.

then bake and let them cool in the pan like this.
mmmmmmmmmmm.
as evan says, they taste like they were baked by Jesus.
yes. they are THAT good.

anatomy of an apple pie

monday night i made pies. apple and pumpkin.
there really is nothing to a pumpkin pie. a can of this, a can of that, some sugar and spices, and voila! an orange snot-pie. (yes, i hate pumpkin pie.)
but there is something elegant and beautiful about an apple pie. it is a lot of work, but the result is totally worth it.

step one: peel and slice apples.

step two: sugar and spice.

step three: make the crust.

step four: put it all together with some butter on top.

step five: make it pretty.

step six: bake to perfection. then enjoy. vanilla ice cream is optional.

persimmon cookies

the persimmon is an interesting fruit. if not familiar with it's qualities, it can be rather confusing. is it more like an apple, a tomato, an orange? what? do you eat it right off the tree or wait for it to soften? do you peel it? eat it whole? then when it is ripe, what the heck do i do with it? i think most people avoid the persimmon out of sheer confusion.
i had never really had any contact with this fruit until i was in college. i actually remember where i was at the time. i remember that alissa had arrived late to Dr. Baloian's 'Life and Teachings of Jesus' class, which was a HUGE no-no. the man usually locked the door at precisely 8am to keep out stragglers. but i guess this morning he made an exception, maybe because she was carrying a plate of persimmon cookies. the plate got passed around, and i remember thoroughly enjoying that strange little cookie.
a few weeks ago, alissa finally priveledged me to the recipe for those cookies. and then one of my bosses brought me a bag of persimmons from his tree. it was fate.
i had to wait a little while for them to ripen and soften, but yesterday i finally made my first batch of cookies.
they are SO good.
i have finally found respect for the persimmon.

service...again!

this time last year i wrote a post to tell you that i was going to lead a team of students on a trip to build houses in mexico over spring break.
i am excited to tell everyone that i have been chosen to lead a team again this year! only this year i will be gone for three weeks in june, and we will be spending our time at an orphanage.
and this time instead of just telling you where we are going, i'm leaving you to figure it out. below is pictured the country's coat of arms, and their currency is called the hryvnia. have fun!

what's the difference?

i am one of the first people to admit that the english language is completely retarded. i feel great compassion for anybody who is trying to learn it.
but for those of us who grew up speaking this language, there is something that i feel the need to point out...

as stated above, the english language is often confusing and frustrating. take the homonym. when two words are spelled the exact same way, but pronounced differently and with different meanings. example: sewer. did you see a person who sews or the conduit for waste?
or the infamous homophone: there, their, they're. don't get me started on this one...
and then throw in all the words that we get from other languages, and it becomes a complete nightmare.

but the one that i've been hearing used incorrectly a lot recently is the difference between cache and cachet. that little 't' makes a big difference.

cache is pronounced kash, like money cash.
definitions:

1.A hiding place used especially for storing provisions.
2.A place for concealment and safekeeping, as of valuables.
3.A store of goods or valuables concealed in a hiding place: maintained a cache of food in case of emergencies.
4.Computer Science A fast storage buffer in the central processing unit of a computer. Also called cache memory.

cachet is pronounced kashay, like sashay with a c.
definitions:

1.an official seal, as on a letter or document.
2.a distinguishing mark or feature; stamp: Courtesy is the cachet of good breeding.
3.a sign or expression of approval, esp. from a person who has a great deal of prestige.
4.superior status; prestige: The job has a certain cachet.

ok, i just had to get that one out there.
i hope you all learned something.

backyard beautification project, phase 1 - complete

it seems i haven't really done much blogging recently. i guess i haven't felt very 'bloggy'. it also doesn't help that i was sick all last week. bleh.

but i thought i would share one of the things i've been up to recently.
one of the many things i love to do is work out in the yard. i especially like to grow things i can eat. so since the roommates gave me free rein in the back yard, i decided to turn a weird little planter in the middle of the patio into a vegetable garden. i took out a bunch of annoying bricks, mixed in a bunch of amend (also known as manure, or cow poo, for the non-gardeners), and planted a bunch of winter vegetables. today i finished building a makeshift trellis for the peas and covering the bed in mulch.

i'm proud of my little garden, and can't wait until i can eat what grows.

apple butter

this morning the roommates and i got up bright and early, piled in the car, and headed out to Oak Glen. it was a beautiful morning, and we had fun at parrish ranch and riley's farms, buying apples and cider and other various apple products. it was hard to get up early on a sunday, but when we got in the car to come home and it became unbelievably crowded, we were certain that early morning was definitely the way to go.

we got home around noon, and i set out to make a batch of apple butter. i figured it would be an easy task to head over to the grocery store and pick up a dozen canning jars and begin the job. apparently i was deluded into thinking it would be easy. canning jars are not that easy to find anymore. i went to the two closest grocery stores and target, and ended up having to drive out to WinCo to get them. once again, WinCo saved the day.

so i've spent the past four hours making eight half-pint jars of apple butter. it really isn't hard. just time consuming.

so who wants some?

snack

a large slice of hommemade soda bread, slathered in a dense layer of nutella may very well be the best afternoon snack ever.

and by that i mean EVER.

camping

i have recently had a longing to go camping.
my parents started taking us camping when i was only a year or two old, and we went pretty much every summer of my childhood. even from trips as an adult, i have very fond memories of camping.
it dawned on me this summer that i have not been in a tent out in nature for almost six years. so i decided to do something about it.
i reserved a site at silverwood lake for the weekend, and seven of my people friends and three canine friends joined me.
it was cold and sometimes windy, and we didn't really do much, but i had a great time.



today i started thinking about where we should go camping next summer.

serenity now!

i now know what it feels like to be caught up in this...

wow.
i am exhausted.

again...maybe

i have traveled to places where on the plane ride home i was already planning my next trip. like ireland. but with ireland its more like trying to figure out how to move there.
when coming come from paris, the feeling was more like 'i enjoyed myself but i don't ever really have to go back'.
that has changed in the last five months.
i just can't stop thinking about paris. its one of those places that just gets under your skin.
i can't even really put my finger on why, but i just really want to go there again.
it won't be for a while, because there are other places i need to go first, but paris is now back on my list of places to go.

my friend carmen took these photos and gave them to me all taped together. its hanging on my wall. but today i started messing around with free photo stitching software. (since i have a really old version of photoshop that doesn't have that ability.) not the greatest result, but its still pretty neat.

bailout?

so it looks like our economy is teetering on the edge of the crapper. but if we've learned much of anything at all from history, we should know by now that there are things that we can do now to prevent a recurrence of the great depression.
it may not be a popular thing to say, but i support this $700 billion bailout-thingy that they're kicking around in washington. not as a 'here's a crapload of money, just let us know how you use it' blank check, but definitely with regulations and oversight and an attempt to fix the systems that got us into this mess.
and even though he can say some pretty kooky things sometimes, i believe that moby's rant on this subject pretty much sums up what i've been thinking.

ok, financial markets and bailout.
this might not make me very popular, but although i don't like it, i support the $700,000,000,000.00 bailout.
why?
because it will prop up our banks and investment houses long enough for real reform to implemented and it will keep the u.s and global economy from sliding into depression.
if more banks and investment houses fail you'll see a severe recession and possibly a depression.
and this effects everyone.
the reason that people start businesses and create jobs is because they have access to capital.
the reason that people buy houses or renovate houses is because they have access to capital.
if people close businesses or stop buying or renovating houses they will stop creating jobs.
people will be fired.
unemployment will skyrocket.
retirement accounts will dry up.
more mortgages will be foreclosed on.
and the world will head towards severe recession or depression.
this bailout isn't bailing out fat-cats on wall street, it's protecting local businesses in iowa and kansas and sacramento.
it's protecting shakey mortgages in idaho and florida.
it's protecting retirement accounts in alaska and maine.
it's protecting your job.
it's protecting your neighbors job.
wall st screwed up. seriously. the collusion between the different financial service providers has been disgraceful and dangerous.
and securitizing high-risk mortgages was, in hindsight, a disastrous idea.
wall street screwed up.
but to let the banks and investment houses fail and to let the dow and the nasdaq (and the ftseand the dax and nikkei, etc) plummet is to create a crisis that will effect every person onthe planet (the global depression of the 20's and 30's, resulting from protectionist trade practices, caused world war 2, for example).
the republicans (and some democrats) in the house of representatives (most of whom know nothing about global markets and finances) have made a huge mistake in not supporting the bailout.
to be clear, no one likes the bailout, and no one is happy at the thought of having to use taxpayers money to buy up crummy securities.
but it's a necessary evil, and to let the banks and investment houses continue to fail would have deleterious consequences that people can't even begin to imagine.
again, not just for bankers and brokers, but for you and your friends and your grandparents and your children.
the markets do not exist in a bubble, and to pretend that they do is to exhibit a dangerous lack of understanding of how the global economy actually works.
if the gop in the house don't pass the bailout they won't be punishing wall street, they'll be punishing you and your friends and your family.
moby

photos

i went to intellicolor yesterday and picked up my prints from my last two 120 rolls. i took this one last march. the rest are hanging out on flickr.

my life

i'll learn someday...

Dennys opened his eyes as the wind dropped, was silent. He raised his face to the stars, and their light fell against his cheeks like dew. They chimed at him softly. Do not seek to comprehend. All shall be well. Wait. Patience. Wait. You do not always have to do something. Wait.

Madeleine L'Engle - Many Waters

superpowers

3-D mail

not many people utilize the united states postal service anymore. but who doesn't love getting something fun in the mail?
my friend alissa and i try to send each other as much for-reals mail as we can. and i always get excited when something comes from her.
i received an extra-fun package from her on wednesday.
it contained...


two of my favorite candy bars in the whole world, purchased in canada. a poster from one of my favorite bands, of montreal. a sticker from this year's portland zine symposium. a polaroid from a coconut records album. a drawing alissa did of my cat newton. the latest clutch/invincible summer split zine. (i'm super-excited about this) one of alissa's gocco prints of a pregnant octopus riding a bicyle. the outside of the package has her grandmother's persimmon cookie recipe. (can't wait to try that one out.) and a circa 2000 photo of me with orange hair in front of the chicago museum of contemporary art.

equal parts random, delightful and delicious.
it pretty much made my day.

pastry tour

i spent some time this evening putting together some of the cities that will potentially be on my european pastry tour. as you can tell by the map, there are a few too many.
the next step is to research the regional cuisine of each of these cities and bring it down to a manageable number.

any thoughts or recommendations?

(yes, i am super type-A and color-coordinated the markers by country. red for germany, purple for austria, yellow for switzerland, blue for belgium and the netherlands, and green for france. i admit it. i'm a nerd.)


View Larger Map

(edit: i've whittled it down to the 22 cities pictured above, but at the rate of 1 city a day, not counting travel days, this would take 3 weeks. hmmmm. i may have to just limit this to france...)

reasons

i think i may have finally pinpointed why i despise summer so much.
yes, it is hot, but heat in itself isn't really enough to despise an entire season.

it is because the heat keeps me from the activities i enjoy most.

my garage art studio is like a sauna, therefore no art.
turning the oven on makes the kitchen waaaay too hot, therefore no baking.
working in the garden in 100 degree weather makes me feel like i'm going to die, therefore no gardening.
it just feels wrong to be knitting when it is hot outside, so very little knitting.

i am left with very little to satisfy my need to create. and summer drags on for months.
so by september i am extremely restless and anxious to really dig in and make something, even though i know the heat will last for at least another month.

in the meantime all i seem to have the energy for is watching movies and drinking beer.
on tonight's agenda...watching idiocracy and drinking a newcastle.
ahhhhhhhh

roommate

we have a new roommate...

who necessitates me keeping a baby gate on my bedroom door.
our kids don't play together very well.
everyone come by and say hi to newton. she'll be waiting for you.

pharmaceuticals

i usually get looks of pity when i tell people that i get my medical coverage from Kaiser. i can completely understand where these looks come from, but i've been going there my entire life, thus i know nothing different. sure, they sometimes leave you feeling like banging your head against the wall would be more productive, but you learn how to work their quirky system.

one of the benefits of being covered by Kaiser (under my current employer's coverage, at least) is that all immunizations are free and the copay on prescriptions is about $15 for a 3 month supply of whatever cures your ills.

this morning i went over to the medical offices to get the last in the series of Hepatitis A and B shots which i started before my Mexico adventure. in and out in 10 minutes, and not a penny spent. while i was there i decided to look at the pharmacy and see if i could get my new favorite drug at a better price than at the local Walgreens. i usually drop almost $30 a month to keep my allergies at bay. i figured, hey, i can get prescription drugs cheap here, maybe i can get an OTC medication for cheap too. turns out i was wrong.

this is how i discovered a pharmaceutical conspiracy. you think i would have learned this while working at a pharmaceutical company...

it had been at the back of my mind that zyrtec had gone from prescription to OTC much quicker than normal. now i know why. insurance providers (like mine) can lose a lot of money by giving out a 3 month supply of pills for a flat $15 copay. so they petition the pharmaceutical companies and FDA to move them to OTC quickly so they can up the price, since most insurance companies don't cover OTC products. so a product that would have cost me $5 a month now costs 6 times as much only because i now no longer have to go through my doctor to get it. is the convenience really worth it? i'm thinking no.

so i think i'm kind of screwed until zyrtec-d goes off patent....in 2016.

polaroid

business

anybody who has spent any length of time around me, or who has read this blog at all will know that i love to bake. cooking is alright, but if it involves flour and eggs and butter, i am in love.
what i love even more is to see my friends and family enjoy what i have created.

my friends have recently been harassing me about opening up a shop to start selling my tasty treats. i have a few rebuttals for them.
1. bakeries start working at about 3 am to make the day's edibles. that's about when i like to go to bed.
2. owning your own business is a 24/7 endeavor. i like to travel.
3. i would have no idea where to start, and riverside is notorious for demolishing small, creative, independent businesses.
4. the idea of owning my own business frankly scares the crap out of me.

that being said, i must admit that i've been toying with the idea for the past few days.
i've been thinking of where i would look for retail space, what the design would be like, what to call my little shop, what equipment i would need, how to advertise, and menu items.
jon can take care of the graphic design, and marissa will design me a sweet interior.

this isn't something i'm going to go out and try to do any time soon, but it is definitely somthing to think about when its time to come up with my next 2 year plan.
i think i'll spend the time until then experimenting with recipes.
i'm also thinking that doing research at european pastry shops would probably be a good idea, too.

(oh, steve and mike. you can keep trying, but i won't ever answer to cookie. you'll need to come up with something better than that.)

uh...maybe

me: so Cody Hudson seems like he would be fun to hang out with.

alissa: i think when you said 'hang out with', you really meant 'make out with'.

exactly

The Wart did not know what Merlyn was talking about, but he liked him to talk. He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him like a baby, but the ones who just went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.

The Sword in the Stone
T.H. White

PDX

some people think i'm crazy, but i love to fly. i love airplanes. i love being at airports.
maybe its because my parents took me on my first flight when i was a week old.
maybe its in my genes. my grandfather loved planes and when they lived in Seattle he used to take my mom and uncle to SEATAC every sunday afternoon to watch the planes.
my grandfather was a pilot.
he died when his plane crashed.
i was only 6.

anyways...

out of the innumerable airports i have been through in my lifetime, the portland international airport would have to be one of my favorites. it is fairly small, but doesn't feel small. it has a wonderfully friendly, unhurried feeling about it. even the TSA employees are friendly.

i would spend all day sitting watching planes at PDX if they would let me.

i guess this isn't really a road trip anymore

today i'm wrapping up my time here in portland.

yesterday alissa was done with work early, so we headed downtown to the fifty24PDX gallery to see the show by cody hudson. after a stop for boba tea, we headed out to sauvie island to pick blueberries and marionberries. and of course, it started to rain...again.

the rest of the evening was filled with a sewing party, a trip to fred meyer for ice cream and other assorted junk food, and watching a movie. i ate pretty much the entire pint of ice cream by myself. my body is not very happy with me right now.

tonight i say goodbye to portland and fly home to riverside.

it feels weird to be going home without micah.

portland adventures

yesterday began with a bang. or rather a series of booms as a substantial thunderstorm rolled through p-town. it was fantastical. i love weather.

so since alissa still has to work while i'm here, i was lazy all morning and occupied myself with the internet and reading while she was working in the other room. (as i am doing today.) when she was done we put on our hiking shoes and headed a few blocks south down to the river. she lives in north portland, which is very industrial down by the river. many docks and factories.
we walked down the hill to the railroad tracks and followed them around the bend, picking and eating wild blackberries as we went. (the university of portland is just up the hill at this point.) after a little bit of walking there is an abandoned factory that skate kids have turned into a skate park and it is filled with amazing graffiti. a little creepy, but very cool.
a bit farther on is a little beach where you can see the ships heading up towards the columbia river and where the railroad crosses the river. i felt like i was 12 years old off on an urban adventure.



but it eventually started getting dark and then the light portland spittle-rain began, so we started the walk back up the hill. we grabbed dinner at king burrito and then went back to alissa's house and watched a documentary on the flaming lips.
not a super-eventful day, but i had fun.

i have a bunch more photos from the trip so far on my flickr page.

my eyes are a little sweaty today

it's been raining in portland today, which is appropriate.
i've been having a hard time this morning. you see, i had to say goodbye to micah last night. it kind of sucked.

our road trip has been awesome, which is to be expected. after spending the night in ashland on friday night, we had breakfast at this little cafe, which i thoroughly enjoyed. then we hit the road and headed towards mcminneville to see the spruce goose. i love air museums, and i had seen the spruce goose as a kid, so of course i enjoyed myself. it would have been nice if i hadn't been sweating profusely, but what can you do about the weather?
we finally made it into portland and micah and i went up to alissa's house and hung out in the basement for a little while. (yes, the basement. it was about 10 degrees cooler in there.) then we headed out and got some food at monsoon thai and ate dinner with micah's folks at their hotel.
sunday morning we headed out for breakfast at cup & saucer. i was really excited about this, because the last time i was in portland i ate the best breakfast in my life at cup & saucer. it wasn't nearly as good this time. oh well. then we made a stop at the saturday market (yes, they're also open on sunday) to buy some organic soap from 'the soap guy'. then around the corner to stumptown to buy my coffee beans. then micah, alissa and i headed out to the coast for some cooler weather. we stopped for lunch in seaside, then headed out to oswald west state beach for some hiking. it was beautiful and amazing. then dinner in cannon beach and a drive back to p-town.

but then we dropped micah off at her hotel and it dawned on me that we were saying goodbye.
how is it really enough to give someone a hug and say goodbye in a parking lot when you're all dead-tired? i feel completely deflated.

i was so blessed when micah and i became friends. in the process of getting to know one another we realized that we would be perfect for one another - if either of us were into chicks. micah is the female version of my future spouse. for reals. i think that's why i'm having such a hard time with her moving away. i know i'll see her every couple months, and i'll talk on the phone and email her all the time, but the fact that she's now so far away kind of feels like i've broken up with yet another boyfriend. which sucks. i'm tired of feeling so much loss. the older i get, the harder it becomes and the more it hurts.

i know i sound like a real debbie-downer right now, but i felt like i just had to get it out.
so i'll leave you with one of my favorite flight of the conchords songs, which has been going through my head all morning. this one's for you, micah.



dying. that's right, dying.

roadtrip...again

this morning began my, uhm, i think 9th road trip to oregon. i think i like to drive to oregon.

micah is moving to victoria BC to attend a photo school, and i decided to go along for the ride and jump ship in portland and spend some time with alissa.

i am super-excited for micah to have this experience, but also sad that she will be so far away.

so i am trying to not think about how this trip is going to end and am concentrating on enjoying the journey.

we set out early this morning and made sure we stopped in redding to visit the lances and met new baby moses. we've also been taking a lot of video with the intent of making a collaborative road trip 'movie'. i'm excited to put it all together and show off our creation. it will be epic. or at least awesome.

stay tuned for more road trip updates.

a quick and dirty cliffs notes history/current events lesson, or what the hell is going on in russia?

some of you may have heard of a little skirmish going on currently between russia and georgia in a place called north ossetia. for the news-junkies out there, this is probably going to be nothing new. for those of you who are just learning that there is a place called georgia that is not in the american southeast, this may be educational.

a little background...
there is a little spit of land between the black sea and the caspian sea which is somewhere around 300 miles wide and contains a mountain range called the caucasus. (yes, this is where we get the term caucasian.) as far as researchers can tell, this region has been continuously inhabited since the stone age. this region is also quite rugged and at times impassable, so of course a number of distinct people-groups emerged over the centuries. as far as i can tell, this relatively small piece of real estate contains somewhere between 30 and a zillion distinct ethnolinguistic groups, as pictured in the map below. (ethnolinguistic = people who share a distinct culture and language.)

i traveled to this area (Kabardino-Balkaria to be specific) in the summer of 2002 and saw firsthand how each of these groups sees themselves as distinctly different from the others. and there is not a lot of love lost between them. each group has their own history, culture, traditions and language. and then you throw in a few different religions....and i think you all know what happens.

now for some history...
we all learned about the russian empire in school, and how czar after czar slowly conquered most of the eurasian continent, absorbing numerous countries and people groups. and like the roman empire before them, they kept order between these groups mostly by force. then the russian empire fell and was taken over by the USSR, which continued the expansion of borders and kept order with even more of an iron fist.
fast-forward to the early 1990's and the dissolution of the soviet union.
in the aftermath of the end of the USSR, there were a number of countries who were able to regain their sovereignty. (think latvia, estonia, lithuania, etc.) but what about the innumerable ethnolinguistic groups which were absorbed by the russian empire before the invention of the nation-state, so had never had the opportunity for sovereign rule the way we know it today? well, some of them were allowed to create their own countries. (think uzbekistan, khazakstan, azerbaijan, georgia, etc.) but wait, according to that map up there, there are still a lot of ethnolinguistic groups who never got their own country and are living in the country created for another ethnolinguistic group.

there's your problem.

the russian government had to put their foot down somewhere, because the area inhabited by ethnic russians is not very large, and if they let every people group form their own country, there really wouldn't be much of a russia left.
but that doesn't keep them from trying...
the ossetian people group claim an area which is partly in russia (north ossetia) and partly in georgia (south ossetia). and the ossetians don't much like georgians. the people of south ossetia - backed by the russian gonvernment - consider themselves to be an independent republic. yet the international community consider it to be a part of georgia.
so last week when the georgian army went into south ossetia to show them who was in charge, the russian government stepped in and backed the ossetians. now why the russian army is storming toward the georgian capital of tbilisi is another story...

i could say a lot more about this, but most of you probably stopped reading a long time ago.

but for those of you who got this far, i hope that it was at least somewhat educational.

now back to the michael phelps juggernaut and lip-syncing 9-year-olds...

nature

this afternoon i was looking through the california state parks website, trying to decide where i would like to reserve a campsite.
as i was looking at the details for the campground at silverwood lake, i noticed that they were very proud to say that they now offer wi-fi at their campground. upon further reading, somewhere around 49 state parks now offer this service.
i don't want to sound like a luddite here, but is this really necessary? what kind of vacation is it if you can whip out your laptop or other nifty portable gadget and check your email in the middle of the woods?
next thing you know, they will be offering flatscreen televisions in every site. or maybe even various product placements on the trees and wildlife.

i'll get off my soapbox now.

stuff

today my friend alissa sent me an email telling me i needed to check out http://storyofstuff.com/.
i just finished watching the video and now i'm telling you all to watch it. it is 20 minutes long, but the time goes fast and it has a lot of things that Americans need to hear.
the first half didn't really tell me anything i don't already know, but parts of the second half left my jaw on the floor.
i've always been interested in the sociology of consumption, so i found this to be enormously educational.
and the website has lots of great resources.

set some time aside and check it out.

plastic

i came across this article on the BBC news website. this journalist is on a one-month attempt to introduce no new plastic into her life. the current collection of storage containers and various other plastic products are ok, but any new purchases need to be free of plastic.
seems pretty straightforward, right?
far from it.
three days in, and there have been several stumbles.
that disposable paper coffee cup? wait, not just paper, but has a plastic insulating coating.
going shopping for fruit and veg? wait, everything is wrapped in plastic and it is impossible to buy berries packaged in anything but a plastic container.
i'm excited to follow the blog and see how this experiment plays out.

employment

it has been nearly a month in the making, but tomorrow i finally start my new job!

no, i'm not leaving my current job.
for the past two years i have only been working 30 hours a week, and i've made it work. but now with paying rent and such, it just wasn't enough any more.
my new job is another 10 hours a week. in a different position that is in the department i already work in.
convenient, eh?
i now get to spend 10 hours a week learning how to prepare and submit proposals and applications for federal grants.
it sounds rather dull, but i'm actually really excited to learn about this. i think it has a lot of potential to be useful to me in other areas in the future. can anyone say NEA?

well anyways, no more getting off work at 2 in the afternoon for me...

pain

there is nothing quite like back pain to make you instantly feel geriatric.

friday morning i rolled over to turn off the alarm, and everything fell into just the wrong place. you know that sharp pain that literally takes your breath away? yeah. like that. i spent most of this weekend flat on my back. yay. oh, and a surefire cure for insomnia would have to be muscle relaxers. i think i spent all of friday in a coma.

this happens to me every so often. as a result of the untreated 'marching band drum incident of 1992'.

i made it to work this morning, but still have a case of what i call 'batman neck'. (i have to turn my whole body to look around.)

i should start seeing a chiropractor.

beach

i spent the day yesterday at corona del mar.
i love the beach.
i'm not a big fan of sand.
especially when there is a 2-year-old who likes nothing better than to kick it all over you at every possible opportunity.
oh, and then dump shovel-fulls of it into your bag. which contains your cameras, ipod and phone....
he's lucky he's cute.

coldplay

last night micah took me out for my birthday present. not to brag or anything, but we went to see the coldplay show. oh, ok. i am bragging.
there really are no bad seats in the forum. and chris martin and his band of merry musicians put on quite a show. i was already of the opinion that it was a great show, and then near the end the four of them put down their instruments and (surrounded by a garrison of security guys) started running through the auditorium, up the stairs, and...

to a little media-booth stage area about 10 feet away from our seats.
wow.
us little people in the nosebleed section were treated to two songs up-close and personal. it was amazing.

i would have to rate last night as one of my top 3 concert experiences.
thank you micah!

restful?

ever have those eventful weekends, that when they end you feel more tired than when you started?
this was a long, fun, and tiring weekend.

started friday after work when i took micah out to the pantages for her birthday present. that's right, we saw wicked. and it lived up to all the hype. i would love to go see it again.

saturday morning jon, kathy and i gathered up heather and jonathan and his kids and trekked down to the santa ana river for some communing with nature. hot, sweaty nature.

saturday evening we convened at the riverside art museum for the sea no evil art show that was put on by jon's work.

and this morning micah and i drove up to big bear to attend the community church and then spent the rest of the day with aaron and emily foor and their kids. i haven't seen them in almost 2 years, and it was so wonderful to see them. and as we were driving down the hill we realized that neither of us had remembered to take any photos. genius.

it was a great weekend.
i need a nap.

small

i just finished watching you've got mail for the zillionth time while working on knitting micah's blanket. (slowly but surely, micah.)
ok, the movie.
i'm a sucker for a well-crafted chick flick, and you've got mail certainly fits the bill. i cry at the end every time.

and yet i digress...again.

there is a point where kathleen kelly is writing an email to joe fox where she says that she lives a small life. and she doesn't know if her life is small because she enjoys it or because she hasn't been brave enough.
i have heard this dialogue more times than i can count, but tonight was the first time that i felt like i really heard it. this is something i've really been struggling with recently.
i feel like i live a very small life.
i feel like i should have accomplished much more by this point in my life, and that i am more than capable of it, but that i just haven't been brave enough.
i feel like i really have nothing to show for how i have spent the past 32 years.

there really is no profound conclusion to this post. i just wanted to share what has been weighing on my mind recently.
shalom.

adventures

interesting fact about me...i love to spend time with people and i love to go exploring, but i am also retarded and almost never call people up to go do things. and my disdain for the telephone has seemed to keep the exploration at a minimum.
so i am excited to be living with friends who are always out finding new things to do and places to go and aren't phone-retarded like myself.

this afternoon i went with jon and kathy to the santa ana river and we went exploring. i had a lot of fun trekking through the brush and wading through the river. it was a lot more fun when i didn't think about all the bacteria that live in there. ick.
even though, it was good times.
and i look forward to many more adventures.

a moving experience

i thought this day would never come, but i did it.

i moved.

and not in a rhythmic kind of way.

in an 'i'm 32 and finally moved out of my parents' house' kind of way.
the planets have aligned and i am making enough money, along with good friends deciding that they needed another roommate.
i'm just glad that the actual moving part is mostly over, because the process makes me slightly anxious and very restless.

it feels like i have closed a chapter of my life and am starting a new and much more promising one. i'm excited to see what happens next.

dreams

i keep having dreams that i'm in the gardens and woods at versailles. they are very good dreams.
but then i have to wake up.

time for a random movie post

i know, i'm really on top of things when it comes to music and movies. here's my year-and-a-half late recommendation.

hot fuzz. what to say?

a brilliant and completely absurd British cop flick.

any movie that ends in an A-Team-esque shootout with octoganerian villagers is good stuff in my book. i laughed to the point of tears.

rent it.

or better yet, you can borrow mine.

i just got home...

...from my first MLS game.

i have three words.

fan. freaking. tastic.

the LA Galaxy vs. the Columbus Crew.
ending with a 3-3 tie. but only because the ref seemed to have selective vision. how you can miss seeing a player getting body-checked while running full speed, and then missing a goal because of it, i really don't know. sheesh.
seats in the front row, just off of the center line. i would have come home with some great photos if my camera battery hadn't died 2 minutes into the game.
i guess there's always next time.
oh yes, there will be a next time.

anyone else missing the office?

not too long ago i was listening to an interview with Steve Carell on NPR. for much of the interview they were discussing his character on The Office, Michael Scott.
at one point he quoted Ricky Gervais, the co-creator of the original BBC version of The Office as saying 'everyone knows a Michael Scott. and if you don't know one, you probably ARE him.'

ohboyohboyohboy

yet another one of my various quirks is that i can sit and read through cookbooks like they're the new john grisham novel. i will periodically make 'oohs' and 'ahhhs' and exclaim that i had never thought to put rosemary in a shortbread cookie. but it sounds fabulous! let's try it!!

today i bought the new cookie book by martha stewart. she may be crazy, but the woman knows how to put together a kick-ass cookbook. it is a page-turner of 175 cookie recipes, organized by texture. i may start at page one and work my way back. everyone prepare yourselves for the cookie onslaught.

it is on.

really?

just when i thought christians could not top themselves, they come up with yet another website that makes me shake my head and sigh incredulously.

6 hours later...

...and the amazing Pat Fish finished tattoo #4.

its really a good thing i don't plan on ever having kids, because that needs to be the last time in my life that i experience pain that intense. and neverending.

pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it turned out. so next time you see me, have me show you.
oh, and no bearhugs or backslaps for the next week or so. i will have to hurt you.