We need a maid.

I'm wondering why I get less done when I'm not employed. I have a LIST of things to do today to help the weekend roll smooth.

laundrydishesrecyclingsortingscrubbingsweeping lalala

Picking up some PT on call work at a greeting card co. in NW.
This is the outside.


This is the inside.


It's not a coal mine, but I wouldn't want to do it forever. It's tedious/zen work while listening to music and (mostly) getting sunshined on. I'm not complaining. Right around half an hour away no matter what mode of transport: foot, bike, bus. 2 are free. 1 costs.

Also finishing up the photos from last week.
Here's a couple more from what's done.

Concert Recap

What? Huh? Keith said, "...it was good. But they were too loud. Does this means I'm getting old?" I said, "We never remember to bring earplugs." (Not as bad as Black Flag in Lawrence, KS, though...paid for that for days.)

If you haven't been following along, last night was the much-anticipated Son Volt concert at the Crystal Ballroom (a mere 10-minute walk away). If you don't know Son Volt, "[their] music ranges from quiet folk/country ballads reminiscent of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding to barhouse rockers in the spirit of Neil Young with Crazy Horse" (wikipedia). We got turned on to them in Missoula (Keith thinks it was Ted Lowe) and we don't know a lot of their songs (made obvious last night), but we love their music in general (anything with Jay Farrar), so we knew it would be good.

We'd also never been to the Crystal Ballroom, so we didn't know if there were seats (not by the sound of the name--ballroom) or just a dance floor. But we scored probably the best seats in the house. In the (geezer) balcony we found seats that had easy-out access and a great view of the stage. The opening band, Magnolia Electric Co., had to play while the sound board girl worked on her technique, which was frustrating. But by the 4th song or so they were beginning to sound really good. The lead singer had a voice modulation problem and some of the words were harsher than others, but... I guess that's why you have an opening band.

Son Volt came on at 10p (we got there at 8p). They played one song right after another, sometimes not even completely stopping before starting again. I think Jay Farrar changed guitars at least once a song. They had a lot of energy, all the way to the end. Third show into the tour, I guess that's a good time to see any band. The crowd was so mixed: high school kids (all ages show) to people with gray hair ponytails to frat boys to accountant-types.

So here's a video from the concert--one of my favorite songs of theirs, Windfall.

Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away.

And some photos.



balcony seats

balcony view

Bikes!

Keith and I went to the Easyriders Bike Show Tour this morning.

But first we went to Walgreens to pick up my photos and only 25% of them came out; the rest were cropped all wrong. Apparently you have to go in and "edit" each one; i.e. tell the computer what not to crop. So, $5 down the drain. But I did get about 10 good ones and wrote my contact info on the back and dropped them off @ Kelly's booth. Wandered around trying to find Walgreen's (I knew the general direction!) and then it started raining and my pics hadn't turned out and I was bummed and my new (used) shoes/socks/feet/bones were soaked. But the show was pretty cool, if overpriced ($16 ea!). And I got a lot of contacts...Keith picked up business cards for me.

Kelly seemed to like the photos I did have (see below). I should have them all done early this week.

So here's some random photos from the bike show. Enjoy!

You know what I love?

Naps with the dogs.

The S spoon, with Mia curled up in front of me and Lazlo curled up behind my legs. That's Ideal Nap Posture. (Yesterday was my first nap since being unemployed again; I consider that fortitude---one week!) Also, time outside with the dogs is so much better for my mental health than getting sucked into the Internet Vortex. Really!

some office building for rent on 19th?

We've (I've) been getting lucky that when we've gone to Couch Park (see below) the past few mornings it's been empty. The school next to it must have all day rotating recess; there's always anklebiters running around. But these two jokers are only interested in two things: wrestling and sticks. Park conditions are still fairly muddy but it no longer stinks like manure.

Someone's been stocking the park with sticks.

Couch Park: pretty but muddy.

I've been giving the dogs carrots for treats lately. (Better for them (and cheaper) than rawhide. That stuff is nasty!) Lazlo's a hard sell; he spits out the chopped up ones and only eats them whole. Mia eats anything. She gets her rocket shoes on when the dinner bell rings.

Tonight Keith and I are going to SE Portland. I answered a craigslist ad to photograph a guy's art--made out of motorcycle parts. Should be pretty cool, the guy sounds nice. He and his 25-yr old son have been building a motorcycle and he wants some photos of it, too. It'll be interesting to see what we get. Yay for freelancing!

Doing the dishes sucks. Yes. It does. Ok fine, I'll do them. Gah!

National On-Hold Month

more March observances

Keith and I are debating whether or not to go to the Peace Rally. Yeah, we love peace and all. But we woke up late. And we still have to take the dogs out for a good long walk. And get dressed. Finishing our coffee now... I think we are going.

Encounters with Nature!!
A pigeon almost flew in our apartment today! I saw him swooping down like he was coming in for a landing on the table. Then he pulled up short and landed on the windowsill. He was shimmery and purple and green. I reached for my camera but he took off. Not that I have any great love of pigeons. It was just unexpected.
My sister showed me these books (Pigeon...) when we went to Powell's. Yesterday Keith and I went to our first Powell's event---we went to see Frank Warren speak. He is the guy who started Post Secret. He started it as a small art project. He had 3000 postcards printed, and handed them out telling people to write their secrets on them and mail them to him. He only got about 100 postcards back from that batch, but it has just grown since. He's received over 100,000 so far.

"Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before."

He said he feels that this project has become a community and that he is just the facilitator. I've become a little addicted to it. I check it (the website) every Sunday; that's when it gets updated. The themes each week vary, but there is always a good mix: funny, sad, shocking, familiar, sweet, mean. (Post Secret fans were also able to save the National Suicide Hotline by donating over $30,000.) They handed out postcards during the talk so Keith and I can choose to send in our secrets. Will we share them with each other? Frank Warren said that his mom called the (subsequently publised) books "diabolical" (she's from Kansas) and his dad shared a secret with him that prompted a conversation that they never would have had otherwise. He said, "That's the balance to art. Make sure it only deeply offends one parent."............Monday night is M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell.

We watched Zodiac last nigh---used our last pair of free movie tix. It was good. I brought some chocolate with me and about 2/3 of the movie I spent concentrating on how thirsty I was so I wasn't able to fully enjoy the movie. All because of chocolate. It drug out a little bit there at the end. And I didn't know how it ended in real life so I was pretty wrapped up in it (despite ravenous thirst.) Mark Ruffalo was much better than I expected. Looked a little but like Oliver Platt, though. I still don't like Chloe Sevigny. But I do like Brian Cox a lot. He was good in this, too.

Well, Keith's getting dressed. I guess that's my cue.

Rockin' the 5-day weekend...

Spending my mornings trolling Buzznet, Craigslist: Jobs, and other friends' blogs, plus local and national and world news. Listening to Mark & Brian; they're doing this ridiculous Springer-style Three Strangers & A Wedding. Downloading podcasts from DJTomdog. Hearing jackhammers etc @ The Civic across the street.

Thinking about all the people on their way to work right now. Suckers! Keith reminded me I was unemployed this time last year. I thought it felt familiar.

sunrise looking E down Burnside St.
15/03/2007
7:59:50-8:03:28

sunrise on the West Hills
15/03/2007
8:03:34-08:03:45

kb's

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Photo Dump

Keith's been snapping sneaky photos with his minicam left and right but not posting any so I'm posting a few of my favorites.

at the culdesac where the dogs play

Also, time for another thrilling installation of PanoramaRama.
Cases in point:

gearing up for St. Patrick's Day downtown
Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from the island, though post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes; one suggestion is that snakes referred to the serpent symbolism of the Druids of that time and place, as shown for instance on coins minted in Gaul, or that it could have referred to beliefs such as Pelagianism, symbolized as “serpents”. Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God'.
~Wikipedia~

U.S. Customs Building
couldn't find out what the heck it is

Old Meier & Frank building
one of my favorites

KB & Lazlo @ the North Park Blocks
check out Lazlomorph

Keith on Couch
notice the Keithmorph here

Getting ready for a shift

I started training my replacement--Nancy-- last week. I should be finishing up around Wednesday or so. Nothing new lined up for me yet. But that's ok. I have a phone interview on Monday: working for Netflix customer service: the kind of job I said I absolutely didn't want. This one pays well, has full benefits, and a Netflix subscription (which, seriously, would be cool as we just rejoined and updated our queue--why can't I learn to spell that word?? from when we lived in Grangeville). I could pay back some debts and start ratholing money for our List of Demands. So it's sell my soul for X amount of time in order to be happier later. Assuming that being debt-free and having some savings will result in happiness. Yet, if I am to believe what I'm reading right now, I'm overestimating my future happiness. A false dilemma. So I try not to overanalyze what jobs are available. All jobs are temporary. Everything is temporary.

So, I anticipate having a little gap between jobs, but Keith says, Hopefully not too long.

Took a good long walk today and found a nursery at the end of the road. (Just like all the other photos, click to see a larger size. Ok, that's the last time I'm going to say that. Really.)


Saturday consisted of: letting Keith sleep in and waking up nicely, eating toast & OJ, taking the dogs for aforementioned good long walk, watching the director's commentary of Donnie Darko (which makes me feel even stupider but also illuminates a lot of things) while eating lunch, taking a nap, waking up again, getting coffee, internets...well that's as far as I got. This means Sunday will be Limpie el Domingo.

I'll never look at rabbits the same again.
That's Frank and Donnie Darko.
Eeeeeeeeeeek.

Keith is shaking things up at work. And rec'd a gift cert to Starbucks for his stellar performance. I will tell him to get on here and write something. He has tons to say, I know.

Things are blooming here. Now with DST earlier, we'll be out and about in the daytime more. Bonus. Sun therapy.

We've been in the Apocalyptic Mood lately, fretting about the end of the world. FOX News is reporting on it, The New York Times, for Todd's sake even The Bend Weekly is cashing in on this global warming thing. Keith says we should move closer to my parents (Almost Heaven? just kidding) and learn to grow our own food. I think we should get a car that runs on water!

My sister's boyfriend is always telling her that he thinks the world will end in their lifetime.
Mia could teach us a thing or two about survival.
If only she could talk.

Yesterday I had a great experience: I had an eye exam. I had been wearing the same monthly disposable contacts since one year ago. So I have an allergic reaction under one of my eyelids. That makes sense.

So I'm test driving some daily disposables. They are more flimsy, so harder to put in, but they feel better, cleaner. Still scratchy, but better. Dr. Chan said one year in dailies and then we'll go from there. Also, I have large optical nerves. I wonder what evolutionary purpose that does (or doesn't) serve. Advantage? or Disadvantage?

Planning a trip to the coast just Keith and I (and the pups). And one in June for family. The weekend after our (6th) anniversary. (This May I am turning the same age Keith was when I met him. I think this is really weird in a space time continuum kind of way.) Maybe we will stop and see the Largest Sitka spruce in the United States again, before it's gone.

And some video of the dogs playing at the culdesac last weekend. This was after a 20+ block walk there and they played hard like this for about 20 minutes before our 20+ block walk home. Mia's a little rocket. And she likes to bite Lazlo's face.

A Job I Want: (seriously)

Job Description
The oldest and largest “first-call” service in Oregon, we specialize in the professional, dignified, and compassionate removal and transportation of decedents from place of death to a funeral home or other agency. Candidates must be available for 12-hour shifts and be capable of handling multiple detail-oriented tasks (check) oten times while dealing with grieving and highly upset family members (I could handle this). Applicants must have an excellent driving record (pretty good), must be able to lift heavy loads repeatedly (yes), and must wear professional business attire (I know where I can get some). Knowledgeable staff will train candidates for employment; there is no experience necessary for the position. Applicants should expect to deal with a multitude of difficult situations, including scenes that might be considered horrific to the general public (um, hmmm), with dignity and respect at all times. Only serious applicants should apply (I am serious).


Skill Requirements
Ideal applicant is a responsible (pretty much) and mature (generally speaking) high school graduate (I'll see your HS diploma and raise you a B.A.) with an excellent driving record, professional appearance, and ability to lift heavy loads routinely and safely. We are looking for someone with an affinity for detail, likes helping people (yes), and has exceptional report-writing skills (yes!). Good penmanship is a definite plus (oh yes). You need to be neat (ok), very organized (can be), confidential (what? I don't know what you're talking about...), and know your way around town (or at a minimum be able to show proficiency at map-reading) (check and check). In addition, you must possess superior inter-personal skills as you will be with a partner for extended periods of time (yes), and will be expected to work with different personnel on a daily basis. Applicants must also be willing to operate independently at times (sure), and can also be expected to make long trips transporting decedents (I'll play the radio really loud). Knowledge of, or familiarity with, cots (gurneys) is preferred (no), and experience being around deceased (some) is helpful, but neither is required. Experience with driving vans, especially backing up vans is also a plus (my newly acquired skill---not only can I back it up, I can parallel park Andy's van!).

I *heart* Craigslist.

Better than las piedras bola...

Sunday Adventure
Reminiscent of our twilight-zone-hike-that-never-ends to the elusive las piedras bola in Mexico last year, this morning Keith and I set off with the dogs to track down the Gleall Castle. The sun was out and it was great to get out and breathe some dry air. Dry out the gills.

I Google Mapped the address and got a general idea of where it is, but Google Maps is lacking a seriously useful feature: topography! We wandered up up up the West Hils and we could see it from Barbur Blvd., but we weren't sure which road to take to get there. Well, it was another good workout for the dogs...2+ hours, uphill and back. It turns out that we were only about 100 yards below it; if we would have kept going on the switchbacks we would have run into it.

But we had some great opportunities to bust out the PanoRama!
Click on the photos below for the larger sizes.




And now the dogs are TIRED.

Drying out

We got a break in the rain today after about 4 days of constant precipitation. Yesterday's mist rain was worse than regular rain---it gets in all the nooks and crannies, down to your underwear. The poor dogs were getting cabin fever. We walked them up to Wallace Park and then over to the culdesac where they played like maniacs (that's a video link) for 20 minutes and then we headed back home. A good 2-hour walk. It's really springing up around here. I guess we have the rain to thank for that. Things are really going to go nuts once the sun comes out.

We cleaned (most of) the apartment (plus the dog walk) and took a short nap and woke up to go see Hurricane on the Bayou @ the OMNIMAX. It's worth all those capital letters. We forgot that it was the dome screen. I've never seen a bad IMAX; they're all amazing. This was good in the IMAX way, flying over the Louisiana marshes, underwater with alligators, etc. But the message was sad and skewed. The whole time I was thinking about Mia and how scary that must have been for her and wondering where she stayed and what she saw and if she was alone or with other dogs... And my friend Amber, getting her MSW, was pissed that it basically glossed over the fact of all of the poor people that were left behind before Katrina hit. It was more environmentally-focused than humanitarian-. Anyway, impressive and exciting entertainment, but the topic got mixed reviews.

We're starting our new budget/savings that is one leg of our List of Demands. One of the largest black holes for our disposable income is Hollywood Video. We average maybe about $20/week there. Crap!! So we re-joined Netflix and pay $17.99/month and hopefully that save us money. Well, it will definitely save us money.

Tomorrow: laundry, clean the bathroom, menu planning/grocery shopping for the week, make CDs/pick photos for open art calls. Maybe a doughnut??

Our Anthem

Saul Williams--List of Demands
CLICK TO PLAY
It's catchy!