I'm so efficient. It's almost like I'm an adult.

Taxes filed. Refunds will arrive post-haste.
FAFSA filed.

For 4 colleges because I just want to see sumthin. I'm possibly possibly, if everything lines up (oh and if I am accepted--important), attending the Oregon College of Art & Craft this fall. They have a 2-year book arts program that makes my mouth water. Okay, how could a program with both book and arts in it not be great? Come on.

...aside...

One of the other colleges I listed on the FAFSA was Reed. It's just for laughs, though, because even if we could afford a $35,000/year!! tuition bill, I would be too intimidated by the other students:

Reed is a highly selective four-year college with a reputation for delivering a strong academic experience, for attracting a highly intellectual student body, and for generating an unusually high percentage of graduates who go on to earn Doctoral degrees. --Wikipedia

Still, I dream. In another life. That life where I earn my Ph.D.
Plus, their mascot is the griffin!!!! That's reason enough.

the majestic griffin

...back to regular programming...

So, maybe I can turn this book arts certificate (I don't need another degree and accompanying loans; see: Reed) into a way to escape the formal economy.
Photo skillz + book making skillz = ?

This plan, aka Operation Not Becoming a Working Stiff, has been the focus of our daydreaming lately. Both of us hating our jobs and all. We've concocted a 5-year plan henceforth referred to as Our List of Demands. Included on our LoD agenda is finding a new place to live, a new way to pay for things that require money, and a way to visit Mexico as often as possible. This is the More Mature & Responsible Plan which, Mom and Dad will be glad to hear, replaced our first plan of Total Expatriation.

The ease of going to Mexico often is (mostly) directly related to the distance we have to travel to get there. Plus we've come to a consensus (it takes two yes votes) that we need to live somewhere with more sunshine. I'm really liking the atmosphere of Portland (the city where everyone has a side project: the bartender-by-night/ artist-by-day schtick) and the proximity of nature-like settings, and the things that come with most larger cities as related to dietary concerns (Whole Paycheck, etc.), but the rain is the rain on our parade. It's not wrist-slitting bad (maybe because I'm medicated), but it does get old. And cold. And wet. And the dogs aren't big fans either.

So: more sunshine, closer to Mexico. We're not California types, despite being liberal vegetarian/vegan environmentalists---wow, why aren't we moving to CA?? No, no CA. I instantly thought of Arizona but I haven't been there other than our trip through Phoenix et al on our way down to Mexico last year and that was Less Than Pleasant to say the least. So I posted a plea for inspiration on the city-data forum and rec'd a list of places to check out including Flagstaff, AZ (eh), Bisbee, AZ (eh), Show Low, AZ (eh), and Silver City, NM (hmmm). The search continues.

On the job front, my replacement will begin training in the next couple of weeks so we're looking at March... Keith just got benefits @ his job and he's not digging it all that much, but I told him to at least take advantage of the insurance he's paying for. When I called and found out that my refill Rx was only going to be $10 because of the insurance Keith reminded me that we pay about $300/month to insure us both, so really--not saving money. But if he gets in there and racks up the dental/medical/acupuncture services we could make some progress. I think I will have to take the initiative and call some Dr.s for him. I do the legwork around here; he's The Closer.

On our dogwalk yesterday we saw this great car parked on the street north of Couch Park. Its rustiness was like a siren song.

It also reminded us of Fozzie's Studebaker (a bear in his natural habitat).

Weekend Wrap Up

My sister came to visit this weekend...

outside of our building
CLICK TO VIEW LARGE

waiting for the bus; going to The Bins!!
CLICK TO VIEW LARGE

The panorama wasn't used as much as promised. But I did get a couple good ones. (see above)

We did Voodoo Doughnut twice. Laughing Planet once (mmmmm burritos!). And The Bins!!!! Amanda is converted. She got about 30 small toys for her treasure chest in her classroom + 8 or 9 shirts for less than $10 all together. We hiked up to Washington Park/The Rose Garden. Another panorama opportunity. (see below)

a view of the city from Washington Park
CLICK TO VIEW LARGE

Lazlo and Mia got good workouts both days. But they're still wrassling around like eeeeediots.

The elevator is broken. Again. And there was a fire alarm at midnight last night. The ambiguously gay Asian? man on the second floor had an altar of fruit m candles, and incense burning an a table blocking his door in the hallway under the fire sprinkler. We've had a handful of false alarms since we've moved in and never a real fire. So many that we will likely burn to a crisp one night thinking it's another false alarm. This morning there a container of salt on either side of his doorway. And rice all over the main entry way downstairs.

Probably this rice that he left in the hallway in December.

Amanda's off back to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow morning and Keith and I go back to the salt mines.

We bought tickets for Son Volt at the very cozy Crystal Ballroom!!!!! So excited. 3/28

Other people cause me stress.

We decided to take the dogs on a good looooooong walk today. So we headed up to Forest Park/Lower Macleay Park. It's another large park (in addition to Washington Park) that is within walking distance and we'd never been there. It's at the end of Thurman, and with the blocks being named in alphabetic order Thurman-Burnside=18 blocks. Plus we serpentined. So it was even farther than that.

But I didn't know it's Forest Park's most used entrance. Everyone and their off leash dogs were there. Sprinkle in a few out of control toddlers and 2 dashes of (on leash) pit bull and you get Stress Soup. Mia is doing excellent with her Leave It training and only acted up a couple of times. It was close quarters on the trail and both of our dogs were the best behaved on the trail. Hello, people: Keep Your Dog On Leash means EVERYONE. It stresses our dogs out when they have to be on leash around dogs that aren't.

It was nice to be out in nature. We kind of took it for granite in Missoula where you could be in relative solitude within a few minutes. Here in the city it's not so easy.

We could hear water running and check out all the green lush plants. It was storybook Pacific Northwest up there. But it got a little congested so we turned around.

To the little boy running down the trail flapping your arms and then stopping right in front of our dogs: You look like a duck when you do that. Lazlo loves to chase ducks. If he could catch one he would probably break its neck. So don't do that. Okay, thanks.

Portland's Forest Park is the largest forested city park
in the United States covering 5,000 acres.

Our friend Bob (who we met in Mexico one year ago) just stopped by. He and his daughter Starlight are getting ready to spend 5 weeks in San Blas. We are so so jealous. He always shows up unannounced and he's always welcome.

Keith sent our old digital camera with Starlight to take photos. It's on its last leg, so if it makes it back GREAT, in not No Big Deal.

So our afternoon schedule was thrown a little off course. If we hurry we can still get a nap in.
Vámonos!

I missed Groundhog Day.

I thought it was at the end of February. Dang.

^^CLICK^^

The weather's been so nice lately. But today it is raining.

My sister found out she is going to Washington, D.C. for spring break. Chaperoning a bunch of "leadership" kids in middle school. Nerds. She gets a free trip, all the tours, etc. So exciting. It's through this People to People program that Eisenhower created. I said, "Like the Interstates." (The Google.) She said, "Um, sure." Hilarious. (Sidenote: Today I found out that Portland's Sister City is Guadalajara and that Sister Cities International was another Eisenhower project.)

We were supposed to get the Jeep ready to sell this weekend. But now it's raining. I'm not getting my backside wet in the rain vaccuuming out a car.

Can you believe how much canned air is???? $7+/can! Come on, it's AIR. We're cleaning our desktop. And will soon be buying more memory so we can use the webcam. In its current state we get drops in processing due to meltdown. That or sun flares.

~~~~Some Neat Photos I've Seen Lately~~~~

::· Beniliam ·::, Hidden Exposures, tbone805

massona, puja

There was a pit bull walk this afternoon. Don't know how many people are going to walk down the Eastbank Esplanade in the rain. Not us. We dropped out of the group, but we have an open invitation to participate in it. I'm not really that comfortable with it. After we had the biting incident(s) with Mia we had some very harsh comments from them. I don't need that.

AM/PM

this morning's sunrise--Click for full size

this evening's sunset--Click for full size

Still looking for a job.
Craigslist = tedium ad nauseam.

Saw Pan's Labyrith. It was good.
Found 2 free movie tickets on the ground Saturday. Now we have 4 freebies rat-holed.
Children of Men is supposed to be good.

We're on movie-renting hiatus.
It got out of hand there for a bit.
We're reeled back in now.

Slothy McSloths didn't get much done this weekend.

I asked.

I received several military recruitment offers after posting my resume on craigslist.

Please read.

From: "Velasco, Alejandro X SFC USAREC"
To:
Subject: I don't want to live for the weekend.
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:30:45 -0500

Hello
My name is SFC Velasco I am a recruiter with the U.S. Army
I would like to offer you a job as a soldier in the Army for full or
part-time positions. Yes this would require enlistment into the U.S. Army as
a soldier. We are not looking for people to work as civilians for the Army
we are looking for people ages 17 to 39 to serve their country as a soldier.
You do not need to have any prior training or experience; the U.S. Army will
pay you while you are being trained to perform your job. The U.S. Army
offers guarantied training of choice in over 150 different positions you can
enlist for.

Some of the most in demand jobs include: Health care specialist, pharmacy specialist, laboratory specialist, dental specialist, radiology specialist, respiratory specialist, Aircraft electrician, Air traffic control operator, Aircraft hydraulic repair, Crane operator, Heavy construction equipment operator, Interior electrician, Telecommunications operator, Paralegal, military police, Psychological operations, Administrative specialist, Human recourse specialist, Public affairs specialist, Journalist, Metal worker, machinist, light wheel mechanic, ammunition specialist, transportation management and human intelligence collector,

The U.S. Army is looking for people in all of the following career management fields:
Medical field, Flight, Paralegal, Aircraft maintenance, Psychological operations, Financial management, Special forces, Signal operations, Electronic maintenance and calibration, Mechanical maintenance, military intelligence, Engineering, Armor, Transportation, Adjutant General, Public affairs, Religious support, Military police, Electronic warfare, Ammunition,
Supply, Chemical, Field artillery, Infantry, Air defense artillery, Civil affairs, Band,

Benefits include
Up to $40,000 cash sign up bonus
Up to $70,000 for college
100% medical, dental and vision with zero co-pay ever
100% medical for your family with zero co-pay ever
30 days vacation with pay each year
Full time pay
Contact SFC Velasco
Email Alejandro.velasco@usarec.army.mil
Toll free 877 842 8583

-----Original Message-----
From: The Blankenships [mailto:letsgogetsometacos@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:59 PM
To: Velasco, Alejandro X SFC USAREC
Subject: RE: I don't want to live for the weekend.

Does that include life insurance? How much would my husband get if I am
killed?
Thanks,
April Blankenship



From: "Velasco, Alejandro X SFC USAREC"
To: "The Blankenships"
Subject: RE: I don't want to live for the weekend.
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:26:13 -0500

Yes we do Have life insurance. The beneficiary receives $400,000.00
If you are interested in taling with me more in depth over the Phone give me
a call

Alex velasco 877 842 8583

Last night

Senior Limpia doppelganger, on the bus, answering his annoying cell phone ring:
Hey, what's up?

Me:
Not much, just listening to some jerk on his cell phone.

Fan Dance by Dirty Martini

It was really loud, so make sure your volume is turned down before you play it.
But have it loud enough to hear the music, it's great.

Panorama-Rama!

I've wanted a Horizon for several years now. But I can't really justify shelling out $250-400+ for a camera that is not all that practical, especially since I have a problem with film, developing, etc.

Those crazy Russians...

So, I don't know why I've suddenly remembered the AutoStitch program and now I have panorama fever.

Now you have to click on these to see the larger versions and really appreciate the panoramaness.

this afternoon around 2pm, while on a dog walk

just a few minutes ago, leaning out the window
and trying not to SPLAT on the sidewalk

This is opening up a whole new world of possibilities for me, I tell ya. Be prepared to be inundated with panoramas. I've never heard of anyone complain of too much panorama. Perhaps I will test that.

Now if I can get somewhere to take a really great 360 panorama, I can try making a polar panorama! Oh yes.

Photography by

Jeremy Birn
© 2001-2002

Sunday Adventure! Aventura de el Domingo!

Keith said we should start doing mock magazine covers for our weekend adventure. Sounds time consuming.

But intriguing. I do need to beef up my PhotoShop chops. I've decided to manifest a creative job for myself. (I am quitting my personal asst job.) So far I've applied for only creative stuff--photog intern, typesetting, glass blowing shop helper... I can work for less if it means I actually want to get up and go to work. That's a benefit that does not translate to wages. So I've checked out some books on how to be better at what I feel I am moderately okay at: turning photographs into something more. I plan on incorporating some more complex PhotoShop tricks, design elements, etc. Plus textures. Anyway, as I look for a creative job, I am also brainstorming how to make money freelancing. A lot of good ideas out there. A lot of coffee shops wanting to show art. Etc.

Today's adventure:
We found a scanner on craigslist for only $60 and it does slides, too (not in violation of The Compact since it's used). Keith has a bunch of slides from his dad's childhood, traveling around the country (i.e. Disneyland, CA Redwoods, etc.)

The guy with the scanner was in Sellwood. He tried to sell us a futon, too, which we could have used. But it would have been hard to fit on the bus.

We took a couple of buses. We are really getting some good orientation around different parts of town.

Click on this for a larger version. Really worth it.

Tried a panorama on the fly while waiting for the 70. Used AutoStitch to put it together. Surprisingly simple. This was made with 5 photos I took leaning up against the bus stop sign for a stable POV.

Made some more paper and got some more Year in Review letters out. It's still January, right?

Keith made a score over by a market near us. This Sid & Nancy poster. Classic. Nothing like livening up a Portland winter by hanging two heroin junky co-dependents on your wall. Something to aspire to.

If I had $105,000

Does anyone want to float me a loan? I would like to buy this place near San Blas.

You know how to contact me. There are two houses; we could work something out.

Thinking HARD

Oregon Convention Center

Keith came home from the laundromat to find me poisoned by bathroom cleaner fumes (no kidding! that stuff is toxic) and suggested we go "out." My brain was atrophying and I tried to argue, but he dragged me out and as soon as I hit the cold fresh air I was feeling better. Hmm...

We threw caution to the wind and hopped on the MAX for Parts Unknown.
Or Gresham, whichever came first.
We saw a lot of new country and started planning on checking suburbs for rentals next spring/summer. (Yes, ugh, the suburbs. For the doggies. They need a yard. But also: usually cheaper.)

In between listening to random incoherent coversations (never a shortage of those on the MAX), I picked up a Tribune and read a review for a restaurant that had veggie sliders. We'd been talking about where/what to eat for about 45 minutes and this place sounded good so I talked Keith into adventuring some more and taking the Yellow Line up Interstate Ave.

We got off a couple of stops too early, but walking was nice, in the sun! And I got to take some photos I would have otherwise missed. Finally made it up to Pause (Alberta St., not Albina St.!)

Click on these for the HUMONGOUS versions.

Anyway, sliders went down realllll nice. Vegetarian for Keith (he gave up meat 01/01), vegan for me. Best hand-cut fries EVER. Salt! Also, the coke was a good washer-downer. 4 thumbs up.

We're in the midst of a Simpsons marathon. Watched Season 5, now on Season 6. These are good ones, smart. For those of you who don't live in Portland, you may not know that many of the characters are named with Portland names. Street names, etc. Ned Flanders, Montgomery Burns (from Montgomery Park), Revered Lovejoy, Sideshow Bob Terwilliger! Look at a map, I'm serious.

Last night laying in bed I was going to that place just before you fall asleep and I told Keith to manifest something in the mail this week.
I said (sarcastically), "You know, pray."
He said, "I don't pray. I just think real hard."

Dear U.S. Citizens,

from Graffiti Friday

What's it going to take?
Would you send your child to Iraq?
What makes someone else's child expendable?
Can we afford to let this happen again?

We can't afford to let this happen now:
$357,000,000,000 and counting for this war. That's three hundred seventy-five BILLION dollars.
In fact, the tab grows by at least $200 million each and every day.
Instead, we could have hired 6,192,177 additional public school teachers for one year.
Instead, we could have provided 17,321,474 students four-year scholarships at public universities. (So they wouldn't have to join the military...)

More than 50,000 Iraqis killed. Citizens.
Nearly that many of our military personnel wounded.
3,000+ soldiers killed in action to date. This does not account for the ones who die once they are home.

Americans authorized to torture other people.
"You don't defeat terrorism by becoming a terrorist." (Vic Blazier, Iraq war veteran)
Continued desecration of rights we are guaranteed. Like freedom from search and seizure! (Get your That's okay. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. sticker now.)

Wait, why are we there again?
WMDs? Osama who? Saddam is dead.
It's the Crude, Dude.
"...the idea that the U.S. invaded Iraq to secure this strategically important and highly valuable resource is strangely taboo in the mainstream media. It is practically shouted down whenever mentioned. Instead, we are asked to believe that the U.S. invaded Iraq for a variety of reasons, none of which has anything whatsoever to do with a desire to gain control over the most lucrative untapped oilfield on earth — even as dwindling worldwide reserves threaten to turn competition for crude into the major international battle of the future."

What do the insurgents say about Bush's new plan to send more troops?
Iraqi insurgents last night threatened to send President Bush’s 22,000 new troops home in body bags as details emerged of the new Baghdad crackdown at the core of his “surge” strategy.

Who runs this country?

One questionably-qualified, illegally-elected man?

A man who is "... ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.” (Al-Maliki may not even tolerate the presence of more US troops for long, although he spared Bush the humiliation this week of saying so outright.)

Or all of The People?
People, that's us.

2006 in photos

Since we've started documenting our lives in photographs, it's been interesting to go back through them and remember things I would have otherwise forgotten.

While we had many memorable experiences in 2006, sometimes it's the small beauties that we overlook when we scan our memories. For that, I am thankful for my camera.

Click for a larger size

Things to do in 2007

*I reserve the right to modify this list at any time.

(waiting for the bus, on the way to The Bins!)

• Get back to a strict vegan diet.
• Do not buy anything new (underwear/socks, food, and health supplies exempted).
• Spend less time on the internet.
• Check out fewer books from the library so I actually get them read before they're (over)due.
• Sell the Jeep and rely soley on public transportation (car rental for longer trips--seeing family, etc.)
• Take more photos (if this is even possible); carry my camera every day.
• New ink, of course.

(Keith cracks himself up)

Ativan, STAT!

What's worse than going to the mall? I'll give you a second to think about that.

I've never been a big fan of the American shopping mall. Growing up I lived more than 75 miles from the nearest structure posing as a shopping mall and I never ever had that feeling in my stomach compelling me to go and look at shiny things I don't need. I didn't cry myself to sleep thinking that my life would be complete if only I could saunter around in a building with 100s of of other people, buying things mass-produced in sweatshops and sold at ridiculously inflated or rediculously discounted prices. (Alright, so I didn't think about consumerism that way when I was 12 or 13, but I still really never got mall fever like the media tells us all teenagers do.) I still usually have to be hogtied and forced to buy new clothes. And Goodwill is my clothing store of choice (newest score: NorthFace fleece jacket, $6.99!! MSRP, $99!!).

Today my boss Andy didn't have any special plans for the afternoon. I called his mom to see what Zack (Andy's visiting 10 yr old nephew) wanted to do. She said "go to the mall and spend the money his dad sent him." Oh great, that sounds so awesome. see: sarcasm. So I get to take a 26 year old in a wheelchair and a 10 yr old with money burning a hole in his pocket to the most outrageous mall environment in the Portland metro area: Washington Square Mall. I've spoken of this devil before. Let's just say that the week after xmas, when all of the stores are trying to sell off the rest of their inventory AND school is out so the mall is overrun with emo teenagers, this is not the best time to go to the mall. If there's ever a good time. I kept seeing flashes of donkeys on Pleasure Island.

I couldn't decide if I was going to have a panic attack or a psychotic break. My day peaked just before I got out of bed, so this was right in line with the rest. Did you know that most stores in the mall aren't ADA accesible? What a shocker. Not to mention at any moment, through no fault of his own, Andy's arms and hands might whip out of control and crash a display of NASCAR calendars (not hypothetically). So Andy and I spend most of our time waiting, waiting, waiting. Waiting for a 10 year old to decide what he wants in Zumiez, what he wants in Spencer's, what he wants in Hot Topic. I was miserable, if you haven't figured that out.

[Let me also mention that Andy's mom has this week off. So instead of taking her nephew and son shopping, she sics me on it. Yeah, I'm getting paid for it, but that doesn't make it less tortureful. Tortureful: as in full of torture.]

Maybe I'm getting old. (No, I know I'm getting old. When Keith told me Katie was getting a Go Kart for xmas, I didn't respond, "Cool!" I said, "Oh, that sounds dangerous.")

Maybe it's that Keith and I are joining The Compact (stated mission: 1) to go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc. -- a step, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact; 2) to reduce clutter and waste in our homes, as in trash Compact-er; 3) to simplify our lives, as in Calm-pact) January 1st. I just don't buy into the mall craze. It's a scam. Sure I buy stuff I don't need. But I generally don't go to a place where that's their specific goal...to get you to buy things you don't need. It's all distraction and shiny things.

Gearing up for joining The Compact, Keith and I have been making a list of things we should buy before January 1st. After 1/1 we will restrict our purchases to the following categories: Socks/Underwear, Food/Health/Toiletries, Safety. Everything else we will get 2nd hand through thrift stores, craigslist, bartering with friends and family, etc. including clothing, furniture, books (which I don't really buy anymore thanks to a kickass library system), electronics, even gifts for other people. Luckily we have SCRAP and tons of other resources because this is a recycling kind of town. It just seems to us that so many people live disposable lives. We buy things new without thinking. We throw things away without thinking. Where does all of it go? Landfills. Especially electronic items. Tens of millions? A lot. So we are doing what we can to reduce the waste the United States produces. It's catching on.

Trash trivia:

• The average American throws away 3.5 pounds of trash per day.
• To give you an idea of how much trash we generate here in the United States, imagine a hole the size of a football field, including the end zones. If we bury all of the trash we produce in just one year, that hole would be 100 miles deep!
• Every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.

I was a little embarrassed carrying it down the street, after people had seen it sitting on the sidewalk out in the rain overnight, but Keith and I brough this treasure up to the apartment. He tried to play it off as a Christmas gift to me. Ha. But now I have somewhere to put my clothes. A little drying out, wiping down, good as new.

at 6:28 I've been up for almost 3 hours

(one of the side effects of Wellbutrin being I can't go back to sleep once I've been fully awake)

Lazlo was moaning and standing on Keith at 3:45 am so we took the doggies for a very short walk. By the time I get dressed, put on my coat/shoes/(new) hat! and walk outside (under 30°), I'm awake. I laid in bed for 45 minutes thinking about: the holiday shopping we have left, pros/cons of selling the Jeep, making paper, taking a nap later, making gnocchi for xmas... So I decided to just get up. Time for some chocolate milk= Nesquik + Silk soy milk. We scored some great stuff @ the market (+ The Internets) to ship out as gifts next week...very exciting to give things you think people will actually like as opposed to Last Minute 7-11 Gifts. We're going back to the market today to finish up.

it was cold @ the market

Keith just stumbled out of the bedroom to complain that I didn't tell him I was getting up and he's been cramped up in the bed while Mia & Lazlo monopolize whatever space they can. They are sweet babies. Seriously, Keith and I think they are falling in love.

I feel that nap coming on. First nap of the day before 7am. That's a start of a Good Sunday.

We're s-h-o-pp-i-n-g, we're shopping

Tomorrow a.m. we head down to the Saturday market to begin holiday gift shopping. Which I am kinda, surprisingly, looking forward to. I would 100.000x more like to buy arty things from local folks in the open air than spend $$ at a germ-filled, kids-screaming, shoving, panting, confined supermall (Andy's Personal Mecca). With only 4 or 5 people to buy for, it should be fun and quick. Will need fuel from Voodoo Doughnuts to get us started.

Keith just sat down next to me with a spanish rice-black bean-corn-avacado-cheese-tapatio quesadilla. My mouth is waaaaaaaaatering. And I wasn't/am not even hongry.

I put the idea of becoming vehicle-free on the table for discussion this eve. Put pencil to paper and it makes sense. Getting the addiction out of our systems will be the challenge. I figure we can rent a car anytime we need to go to, say, Idaho. And take the bus/MAX to Coscto and take a cab home. Cost effectiveness is paramount. This proposition will be voted on by all non-canine family members in the near future. Canines love cars, and traveling in them. We shall not be swayed by their input.

Saw Charlotte's Web this afternoon with Andy. It was really good. Not Oscar material, but very good. The only thing I missed (from the animated version) was Templeton's song (Paul Lynde!) at the fair. The animal-animation was very believeable, not distracting. And a good cast of voices including Robert Redford. ? Better than Unaccompanied Minors, which I was forced to view earlier this week. (Lewis Black you are dead to me.)

the elevator warped his head!

Keith's co. xmas party was last night. Most enjoyable "company" xmas party I've attended in a while. Ten cool people having dinner at a good restaurant. I had butterbut squash ravioli (vegan, yo) and a greyhound. Mmm good. Good people, Keith works for.

We will surveeeeeeve.

(That's some Tony Clifton for ya. You're welcome.)

Keith and I made it home from Kansas and we're still recuperating from jet lag and lack of sleep and stress, but other than that we're good. We flew Frontier and got live Mapquest® updates of our flight progress in the seat back in front of us: speed, altitude, all of that (also 20+ channels of DirectTV for $5!). Watching the altitude drop as we were approaching the Denver airport, it was going down....6000'....5500'....then all of a sudden: BAM. We've landed. So I guess it's actual sea level, not the plane's altitude... Another reason they won't let me fly planes.

"Can't you just drop us off???"

We had reserved an economy car from Enterprise because when you're driving across Kansas and paying with credit, let's face it...we didn't want to be giving blood to buy groceries when we got back. But when we got there all they had left in the lot were ginormous SUVs. So we picked the one that we were told would get the best gas mileage, and I suppose that 17.5 miles/gallon is considered good gas mileage somewhere...no, I don't think it is. On the upside, gas is only $2.20 in the Midwest, so we saved about $45 there. Driving a 2007 Jeep is quite a bit different than driving the 1992 Jeep we have. (And about $30,000 more. Eeek.) Also, a big shoutout to Rockstar for keeping a girl going driving across flat, coma-inducing Kansas in the middle of the night, staving off white-line fever.

Mia and Lazlo didn't kill each other at boarding/doggie day care, so that was a relief. They had to share a kennel and we weren't sure how that would go. But apparently they are getting along just fine, even unsupervised at night. The people at Virginia Woof were super nice and said they were sad to see Mia and Lazlo go home. I'm sure they tell that to everyone, but still.

Kansas City Here We Come

Searching for music for the trip to the Midwest next week.

powered by ODEO

We know from experience that there's nothing that tempers the monotony of driving across Kansas in the winter like good music. My Buzznet peep DJMark has been kind enough to give us several of his playlists from a radio show he does in Santa Barbara called Night Shift at the Thrill Factory, so we have a great mix there. Also got some stuff from Music for Maniacs. And this some from Odeo. Like this:

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I've been on a Radiohead kick lately. I'm a latecomer, but really getting into them. Especially Easy Star All-Stars reggae covers.

The Internet Hiatus didn't last long. Haven't been reading much. Developments around here have kept us preoccupied. Also doing this 72 hour project thing, which is going so-so. Both cameras had the wrong time/date stamp set so, um, yeah that's something I should have checked before I started!



Made a trip to Costco, bought some pants, tried them on (too big), lost the receipt, found the receipt, lost the receipt again. It may be in the Jeep but if not I'm stuck with (another pair of) pants I can't wear. Okay so why can't Costco have fitting rooms? Wouldn't that greatly decrease the amount of refunds/exchanges they have to process? Not to mention the Customer Annoyance Factor.

So instead of doing anything productive in preparation for the trip we're going to make, Keith is sorting slides and I'm interneting. Stalling. Something. It just feels like a day when you don't do anything and it's ok. We're existing in that world where time is wayyyyyyy slowed down and you know it will eventually catch up, like TiVo, but for now we're stuck.