day 4: freedom

here we are on day four of unemployment. so far i:

1. drank 70 or so beers at the oregon brew festival within five hours. ok, tasted 70ish beers, but it was a lot.
2. got my new library card and perused the downtown library bldg which is very nice.
3. went to the beach, got a sunburn.
4. stayed up too late and got up late.
5. bought canvas for my art projects.
6. had an MGD and nachos for lunch.
7. exercised once.

we're off to a good start!

busybot

tomorrow is a big day for me. it's my last day at my current job, which i've had for five years. it's been an up and down time, as all jobs are, but i have to say: i'm jumping out of my skin excited to be done. i have two weeks off before i start my next gig, and i have so many things i have planned.

i hope to listen to lots of splendid table -- i have months and months to catch up.

i want to make this every night. it was delicious tonight, and worth repeating many times.

french-style shrimp salad à l'becky

french-style shrimp salad à la cooking light

i will finally visit the multnomah county library with the sole intent of borrowing cookbooks and knitting books, specifically the mason dixon book, and julie and julia.

i have painting to do -- pictures of stuff that inspired me in new zealand, but that i haven't had inspiration to recreate since.

and speaking of new zealand, i still have that damn blanket i've been working on since our trip that i gotta get done. eight more blocks to knit, but the thought of having hot wool on my lap when it's 90+ degrees makes me gag.

and, did i mention sex in the city? i have the entire series to catch up on.

it'll be a busy two weeks, but i'm ready.

holy sweatbeads, batman

it's hot. it's africa hot. tarzan couldn't take this heat.

confederacy of dunces

stand up if you are proud of our president today. nobody?

what could possibly be more offensive: the fact that the guy's middle east foreign policy is based on playground rules; or that he chews with his mouth open; or that he discusses his playground politics with a major world leader while chewing with his mouth open and leaning back in his chair like he's judging the wet tee-shirt contest at the ATO frat house? had the microphone not been so smartly turned off by blair, i half suspect dub's next line would have been, "dude, did you check out the hotties at the next table? wanna get you some of that?"

lord. have. mercy. i'm going to bed now.

mandatory fun

yesterday at a company-sanctioned mandatory fun day, we visited a bowling alley, where a coworker bought socks out of a vending machine for just $2. i had no idea sock vending machines existed, and yet how brilliant is that for bowling alleys. i'd like to find out where a purse and handbag vending machine is located.

bird's eye view

my across-the-street neighbor just took her bike out for a spin. upon her arrival home, she bailed off the bike and landed on her head in the lawn. did she mean to do this? i don't think so, because she laid there for a good three minutes. was she hurt? don't know. did i laugh at the sight of someone falling on their head? yeah, i kinda did.

just call me the neighborhood spy...

new friends

i just had dinner with a relatively new friend we met through toots a couple years back. he's a college friend of hers, and we met him during one of his trips to portland. he has the best outlook on life, and it's a treat to talk with him, because he's so positive, optimistic and genuine. it's amazing that despite the fact i've met him on two very brief occasions, i feel i've known him forever.

had some dinner at south park, which was divine. i saw a good band at noon today, national flower. it's warm out, but not too warm. i'm going to bed early, which is unusual these days. all the makings for a terrific day.

celebrity look-alike

often times mickey and i will meet someone new, and during the course of the convo, they will pause and ask, "has anyone ever told you you look like ed norton?" mickey doesn't think so, and at first, i wasn't so sure either. but as the years have worn on, the more and more he looks like him. less "american history x" ed norton, and more "everyone says i love you" ed norton. regardless, it's flattering, because ed norton is a hotty, and it's funny to watch mickey's face when a woman in particular brings it up.

he stumbled upon this tonight, and decided to see if this look-alike is a coincidence or not. turns out, they think he looks like steve buscemi, anthony quinn, or fred ward. since when did ed norton and steve buscemi look alike? perplexing at best, insulting at worst. and entirely wrong, seeing that mickey resembles none of these people. perhaps now he'll be less annoyed when people call him ed.

it is worth noting, of course, that my photo was compared with my hero, meryl streep, plus sheryl crow, diane keaton, and jennifer beals. not that any of these women look alike either, but hey, it's way better than steve buscemi.

lavvy luv

today is my favorite day of the year in portland -- the portland lavender festival. since i moved here six years ago, moniqua and i have ventured out to the fields just north of hillsboro to cut big, beautiful, fragrant bunches of lavender. moniqua's mom and my new neighbor, plus a cutie baby joined us for a gorgeous day in the sun. when we got to our favorite spot, we found out the place is for sale! if only i had $750K to buy it. what an amazing life that would be to farm lavender.

the harvest

(most of) the group

in addition to hooking up with three bunches, i also bought 12 little Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence' plants for the lavender hedge i've been dreaming about replicating since our first visit to the black barn vineyard's rush cottage in new zealand.

if you've never been to the festival, it is still going on tomorrow, and i highly encourage you to make the drive. you won't regret it when you smell that intoxicating field of flowers!

great weekend, how 'bout you?

it's wednesday, and how great is it that i got to ask everyone today, how was your weekend? see, i had monday and tuesday off, which meant four day weekend.

big highlights:
1. fantastic two days at the gorgeous home of a friend's in-laws, right on the white salmon river. totally chill, got lots of soccer watched, cooked a little, and read a lot. so perfect.
2. took a nap. awesome.
3. spent tuesday with mickey on our seventh spamaversary. seven years, no itch yet. gotta love that.
4. watched a rugby match with the aid of a projector on the back wall of my house on tuesday night, with the neighbors, while listening to the fireworks. life size all blacks = cool.
5. brewed a new batch of porter, which should be ready in 6 weeks. potential names: heavy ho, in homage to black boss porter, or something perhaps more PC. i'll consult double-d for some suggestions.

soon, very soon, i will have more time to blog. i'm also going to try to train my ma on how to blog about her new house she's building. that should be an interesting process. until time frees up, i appreciate your patience.

happy trails

i had to say a tearful farewell to toots (and willy...again) today. it's a day i've been avoiding, ignoring, denying for six years. having known the reality that they'd stay in portland only a few years hasn't made this past weekend, and indeed today, any easier. i've been spoiled to have them in town and nearby for so many years. genuinely, it's been the best six years i can imagine.

in their honor, i offer:

top five reasons why it sucks that that toots and willy moved away:

1. no one will appreciate -- or even know! -- rod yee, let alone his song, and i'll bet i'm back to justifying my love of stevie nicks.
2. now i have to pay for medical advice, massages, magnaleuvres, and don't get me started on the 243.
3. sunday dinners will be spent alone, watching "HELLOW JOHNSON FAMILY!!".
4. people will think we're odd when we order a mee-mosa at brunch.
5. neither mickey nor i ever learned how to score pinochle.

here's to you two. the happiest of birthdays to willy. a huge, heartfelt congratulations to the new doctor. a joyful hug to your growing family. a fond adieu to our best friends. we love you.

comments from this weekend

"you're a shoe whore."

no, you're a "shoe-stitute."

delinquency

i've been holed up in my basement watching world cup on the weekends and working during the week, which basically means i've been a recluse. but, the best thing that's happened all week is that i got a free ticket on alaska airlines for volunteering off a flight to san diego for work. the story for getting bumped is a funny one, though, for professional reasons, not something i can mention here. email me and i'll tell you the story.

nevertheless, having a free pass on any flight i want is like being in a candy store with 20 dollars. so many options, where to go? mexico? very tempting. new york city? always top of my list. somewhere practical like back to visit parents or in-laws? not as glamorous, but it should be considered. such a dilemma. stay tuned for the verdict!

and finally, a shout-out to toots for her last day of med school, her last clinic shift ever, and to anticipating the day -- monday -- when we'll officially call her doctor toots, medicine woman. the dedication and sacrifice, the weekends when studying had to come before anything else, when the wine, sugar and bread intake was limited in the name of health...they were worth it. you made it! as you embark on your exciting summer, remember, this could be us:

you think you know someone

i found out tonight that a friend (who shall remain nameless, to protect her hard earned cool-factor) was a member of the biology club in college. biology club? really? this is a beautiful, smart, partying woman who i know was extremely cool in college. biology club? huh.

and since i'm going to hell anyway...

in the spirit of today's date, here's something that has been cracking me up for the past few days. every time i watch it i laugh until i cry.



enjoy!

slugs of a feather stick together

sunday night i couldn't sleep. i tossed and turned for a good hour or two before i decided to migrate to the spare room (newly painted that saturday, i might add, in anticipation of many visitors this summer). as i laid there at 1:30AM i remembered i'd forgotten to lock the back door. with my mind racing enough at that point, i was sure that if i left it unlocked, a stranger would come in, steal my stuff, eat my food, and other horrible things. so, i walked down the hall, down the stairs and turned the light on to check.

sadly, i was too late. an unexpected visitor had already found his way into our house.

i came face to face with...

a...

nasty, 2-inch, black slug, stuck to the inside of our back door.

how the heck did it get in the house?! to this day, i still can't figure it out. slugs don't have thumbs. they can't open doors. i hadn't left the door open long enough for one to waltz across the threshold. have you seen a slug move? they're slow.

why, you ask, am i still thinking about the slug? because i was too lazy (ok, scared out of my mind) to touch the damn thing on sunday night, so i left it there thinking i could make mickey take care of it in the morning. but, when i went back monday morning, the slug was gone. and i've not seen him since. which means, he's leaving nasty, 2-inch, black slug trails somewhere in my house. and that is SO not ok with me.

and speaking of slugs, did anyone see what ann coulter said on the "today" show today? apparently she's got a whole book on this insanity. was it a coincidence it was the devil's day today and she was out in full force? you decide....

i-want-itis

last night over beers with a coworker friend we decided that "it" all comes down to being independently wealthy. for example, i really want to own a cheese and wine shop with my coworker locall, and apparently i don't have enough capital to make this work. i also desperately want to go to germany in a month for the world cup (not that i'm a soccer fan per se, but how freaking fun would it be there during the middle of that party?!). sadly, tickets to frankfurt are $1500, well outside my budget. i'd like to go to china and hong kong this year. not gonna happen.

if anyone has any great ideas for how i can become independently wealthy, let me know. or, alternatively, if you know where i can pick up a nice cabin in the mountains for under $80K, that'd be ok too.

it's tuesday, but really it's monday

top five best things about my weekend:

1. sleeping in until 11:15 on monday morning rulz, 'specially 'cause i didn't have to be at work.
2. it was a good cooking weekend. making green curry from scratch isn't hard, with the help of hot, sour, salty, sweet. plus, pursuant to operation kitchen clean-out, i just HAD to make some peanut butter chocolate brownies. they were really bad. i might have three more tonight after dinner.
   
3. while miserably sad, the final hurrah for willy friday night got me good -n- inebriated. to ease the pain, of course.
   
4. i got some knitting done on my new zealand blanket, aka, the longest project in history.
5. toots and i had some good girlie time, complete with mimosas and craft projects. and, mickey had two hot dates to the davinci code on sunday. the only thing better than that to a guy, i assume, would be to have two hot dates who happened to be twins.
   

and now the weekend is over, and i'm back at work.

fiber crack

i just ordered a boatload of yarn for myself and a coworker/coknitter. included in my order is some fabulous debbie bliss cashmerino chunky in celery and baby blue, which i have been drooling over for many months. not that i have any specific projects in mind for it, or the five skeins of cascade 220 also in my order. that's a minor detail. at least i have a purpose for the lopi bulky ... more cutie felted bowls!

did i mention i just finished knitting my first one this weekend?

the pattern is out of "one skein," a pattern book by leigh radford, a local portland woman. i had difficulties getting the pattern to work as-is...undoubtedly my error. it called for a 24" long needle, size 15. i tried this three times using the correct gauge yarn, and couldn't get it to stretch long enough to work. i substituted #13, 16" needles, and added 20 stitches to the cast on row (the only way i could get the two ends to join). it's much bigger than the pattern calls for in finished form, but it worked.

nose candy

no, i don't have a cocaine habit. that's just me sitting in my office with the worst allergies ever. will someone please get me oven mitts so i stop scratching?

weekend was good. going away party had just the right amount of silliness and mayhem (quarters coming out of people's noses, my new/old polaroid camera got a workout, rough bocce rivalries were formed). i finished knitting and felting my first bowl, which turned out very cute. and i won my last round of pinochle. all in all, no complaints!