favorite time of year

this is my favorite time of year, when the leaves start to fall, the weather starts to feel crisp. i've switched to the down comforter. last weekend i made beef stew in the dutch oven and a lovely apple coffee cake. i started planning my standby battery of fall recipes -- spicy butternut squash and sweet potato soup, pumpkin bread, polentas with sauteed mushrooms and roasted red peppers, mugs of hot apple cider. the staple sauvignon blancs from the summer are getting moved to the bottom shelf of the wine rack to make way for bottles of thick, hearty red wines we need to pick up this coming weekend. this is the season for knitting, reading, savoring foods and drinks and unwinding.

i just finished re-reading one of the most brilliant, delicious books of all time on the plane yesterday. it's all about enjoying a simple life in france. i read it for the first time back when i was a freshman in college for an english class on writing memoirs, and gauging from the notes i made in the margins, i clearly wasn't in a stage in my life to appreciate it. it was such a crack-up to read how naive and unaware i was. "what's foie gras?" i wrote on one page. "all they do is eat!" i wrote on another. reading the notes, it was the first time i felt glad i've grown up. i'm not wise or cultured or worldly, but hallelujia that i now appreciate the finer points in life, like stinky cheese.

cheers to you, especially all my friends who i hear are working hard, and soul searching about their futures and their life choices. may we all slow down long enough to enjoy the moments of fall.

my man, he's the tops

with my new job's hectic schedule, and the stress of fitting into a new company and a new role, i've not been the easiest person to deal with lately. unfortunately mickey gets the back end of my bad attitude. no home cooked meals, the house isn't clean, and, oh yeah, i'm pretty crabby too.

to reward me for my stellar behavior, mickey gave me a surprise shopping spree with my good friend ljc and a new camera (just like semaphoria's new one, only not sexy orange). all i got him were four stinking chocolates from my trip to SF today.

who feels like a bit of a jackass? bad wife. BAD!

needless to say, the blog is also getting the back end of my attitude, so i have nothing fun to talk about. wait, one thing: i finished a square of my NZ blanket, so now i only have 6 to go. as the leaves start to change, and as the weather turns crisp, i'm getting back in the mood for knitting. good thing, because my stash of yarn grew this summer quite nicely, and did i mention i have 6 squares on my NZ blanket left? must get that done before the year is out.

and, one more thing: chili cookoff time is nigh. we're hoping to break the entry record, which last year hit 18. my jalapeno plants are aggressively keeping up with my pepper requirements for this year's entry. muy caliente!

maybe when i get the new fancy cammy all charged up, i'll take a photo or two of our test chili recipes or the blanket. or probably more likely, of me sitting on the couch vegetating.

babies

our cat ena has this bad habit of getting into my yarn stash and hauling the skeins around our house. we think she pretends these are her babies. she walks around with them in her mouth, making this crying noise -- very cute. one time she sorted all the grey wool yarn in a pile from the fuzzy orange yarn, which she hid behind the couch.

thursday i got home to find this:




four yarns and yarn-items strewn from living room to the upstairs bedroom.

PS

all i had to eat yesterday was pizza. 6 pieces of it. nothing else.

nothing to report

6 am: shut alarm off.

go to work.

maybe eat lunch.

come home at 7.

dinner.

work.

bed.

repeat ad yaddayaddaeum.

no time even to read wonkette. what a sad blog poster.

mental atrophy

i perhaps must eat my words from my last post. partially at least. while i was right about the workload, it turns out it's not so much easy. long hours, early mornings (relative to my previous job), and really smart people kept me on my toes for five days straight. next to me at this moment, my work laptop is turned on, logged on. and this is just the first week.

but: i love feeling like my brain is being stretched. i love feeling like there's so much to do that there's not a moment to lose. i love feeling like i have to prove myself all over again.

it's true that, if not used, a brain can atrophy. just so happens that mine is back on a regular exercise regimen. i'm exhausted, but the endorphins and adrenaline feel great.

new frontier

i started my new jobbie today. it was pleasantly easy, i'm happy to report. while there's mountains of work to be done, it's either manageable, or its scope and severity is beyond my sphere of comprehension. nevertheless, i'll live in blissful ignorance for now as i learn all about new clients and company policies.

it's delightful to work for a large company for the first time -- upon my arrival, my desk was set up, the computer configured properly, there was a nice stock of office supplies available to me. they had organized a thorough and helpful orientation for me. and, they had gathered an extensive library of info for me to study in advance of my upcoming client meetings.

i got home from work and told mickey all about how very organized, very professional the first day at my new company was. and, lo, the words were not barely out of my mouth when i realized i had been wearing my shirt inside out all day long.

sigh....

haus frau tasks

i moved all the furniture out of the living room and mickey's office yesterday, because today the carpet and air ducts are getting cleaned. thus, my dining room looks like this:
i've been informed by the cleaning man upstairs just now that the funk in my ducts has plugged up his system twice. that normally happens only once during a cleaning. at any rate, i've been banished to the basement whilst they work their magic. my allergies are miserable at the moment because of all the nastiness coming out of the ducts. guess this is long overdue.

in other news, we finally joined the ranks of most mainstream americans and had cable teevee installed yesterday. so, as i sneeze and blow my nose, at least i can watch giada de laurentiis make the most delicious looking strawberry trifle i've seen.

speaking of food, i made an antipasti platter last eve that giada herself would have been proud of.

hurrah, it's fig season!

i rode my little bike to the new seasons where i purchased a variety of cheese, some salami, and some veg to grill. paired with a washington sauvignon blanc, it was delicious.

have i mentioned i love being home during the day?

if only every week was like this

i'm into my second week of unemployment. lots of stuff in the works, many house visitors, lots of stories. in lieu of a narrative, i give you my photo montage of some memorable moments:

oregon beer fest, after 65 beers. rock n roll.

our denver-friends at the farmer's market

delicious dessert at pix

fricking mariners lost, whah whah (debbie downer sound here)

toots's blast from the past

more here at flickr. suffice to say, i love not being at work. but, i am excited (not ready, but excited) to start my new gig next monday.

rock n roll

last night mickey and i had the honor and privilege of attending A.R.T's production of "hedwig and the angry inch" with friends tom and judy. the performance features wade mccollum (of PCS's "batboy" fame) in a reprise of hedwig. he is, undoubtedly, the most dynamic, talented actor to grace this here rose city, and man, o man, does he do rock n roll right. i've seen the "hedwig" movie a handful of times, and listened to the soundtrack about a gajillion times, and still, last night's production blew my little, art-starved mind. the production was infintely better than the movie, and mccollum brought a whole new personality to hedwig.

show highlights: kick-ass, complex, beautiful vocals from mccollum, singing the finest lyrics from steven trask; witty, silly, often political ad-libbed banter from hedwig; audience lap dances; and did i mention, mccollum is the most physically fit actor i've ever seen on stage? as hedwig, he mentions he does ashtanga yoga. that must be true for mccollum himself. that guy is bendy and has got the finest legs this side of radio city music hall.

enough gushing, which i could do all day. please, please go see it between now and next saturday, when it closes forever. i may go back again, so perhaps i'll see you there.

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.