a personal plea on behalf of a friend

My dear and delightful friend, Neva, who does very sweet artwork with cut paper, as well as wee paintings and delicate PMC jewelry and meticulous beaded bracelets, is raising money by selling some of her creations at her Etsy shop. She rescues animals, you see, and devotes considerable time and personal resources to these efforts, as well as the ongoing care for a whole menagerie of animals she and her husband have rescued, all of them with special needs.

Since they moved into their house several years ago, they embarked on a mission to care for the feral cats in their neighborhood, feeding them all and systematically trapping as many as they could to have them spayed and neutered, and to provide care for those who were suffering. They've even managed to find loving, adoptive homes for those in the colony who were tame. In all, she and her husband have cared for and provided food and veterinary assistance to <em>dozens</em> of cats since they began this mission. And though she already had her hands and home full with animals, when one of the ferals, Deedee, was hit by a car, Neva took her and her companion, Leelee, to the vet and into her home for recovery afterward.

Deedee and Leelee (and another feral, Pookie) have received the same loving care that all of Neva's other animals do, and have flourished since they were taken in. But Deedee's lingering health problems, including those from the car accident, have necessitated expensive bloodwork tests and anesthesia for dental care. (And if you've ever had a cat, you know that problems with their teeth can quickly lead to dire health consequences, especially if they stop eating.) The really great news is that the bloodwork came back today and Deedee is suffering from an infection and not a horrible feline virus, which means that with some (expensive) antibiotics and lots of special food to coax her to eat, she'll be okay.

The bills add up fast, as you no doubt know if you have pets of your own. So I encourage you to stop by her Etsy shop and pick out a special little something for yourself and in the process, do something that will help out a very wonderful and amazing person who does the work of saints.

progress on this work in progress

one of the eave closet openings before the trim was up; there are FIVE of theseWe've gotten the quote on getting the doors done for the attic closets and it's...not too scary, actually. We'll have to hold off until after the first of the year since we have the Sooper Sekrit Project coming up in December, but it looks like we'll have doors on those damn eave closets by the end of January, just like a real house! If you had told me ten years ago that the prospect of having closet doors would fill me with the kind of excitement most women reserve for large expensive jewelry (or in my case, large gift cards to Powell's), I would have scoffed openly at such hilarity.

these built-in shelves in the kitchen are actually the back side of the built-in buffet in the dining roomThe estimate also includes cabinet doors for the open shelving in our kitchen. We think it originally had doors similar to the rest of the kitchen, and in fact we did find a cabinet door in the basement that seems to fit one of the openings, but they were removed at some point. It's a pretty nice use of an otherwise unusable space, and perfect for all of Sal's cookbooks, but because our kitchen doesn't have hood for the stove, it's hard to keep them clean. So we'd like to have doors with glass inset to protect the books, but still display. We'll paint the interior something rich and spicy -- the color of saffron or paprika, maybe. Should look pretty neat when it's all done. (Of course, it'll make the rest of the kitchen look even more in need of a makeover than it already does, but baby steps, baby steps....)

lunch, Laptop Lunch:

• PB&J, using peanut butter and red currant jam on buttermilk bread
• peas and carrots
• half a Fuji apple with a carrot shape garnish and a few raisins at the corner as gap fillers
• red grapes and a bit of ranch dip in the condiment container for the carrots

A kind of American-style lunch box theme today with the PB&J. (No chips or juice box, though!) I'm famished today so it was nicely filling lunch. But I must say that with the cooler weather, I'm craving soups and casseroles. And chili, lots and lots of chili.

Hmmm...we do have a ridiculous amount of peppers from the CSA to eat up, and some onions...oh, and nice bag of mixed greens from our latest share that would make a delicious salad with some cut up rainbow carrots that were also in our share...yes, I do believe a big batch of chili is in my future....

bento-versary!!

Today marks one year since I officially renewed my bento obsession with bento 2.0 baby!, resulting in about 130 bento lunches and breakfasts in the last year. It's safe to say, I think, that my plan has been a success. I've eaten out for lunch only a handful of times, stopped my (very bad) habit of not eating at all during the day, cut down on lunch expenses, eaten better, felt better, refined my bento routine, and converted a few people to the bento way of life along the way. I've even had a few pretty lunches here and there.

If it weren't the first of the month -- the busiest time of my very busy life -- and if I had my act more together, lunch today would have a bit more panache (and be a tad less monochromatic) to mark the day than simply using the same container as my lunch from a year ago. Then again, that wouldn't really be in keeping with my way of bento-ing, where pragmatic takes precedence over picturesque. Still...there's always room for a few carrot shapes!

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• garden vegetable soup, with a julienned carrot lattice" and heart and star carrot cutouts for garnish
• wraps: herb roasted turkey breast and cream cheese in a flour tortilla
• heart and start carrot shapes, grapes

1,600+ food items filling our lobbySpeaking of food and doing very good things, our office just completed a month-long canned food drive for the Oregon Food Bank and we were, as you can see, mightily successful.

pumpkins from the decorating contest that ProcrastiGirl handpainted with the company mascotOur office is divided into teams so to make things interesting, the food drive was actually a competition among the teams to see who could bring in the most items, with a prize for the winner at the end of the month for the winning team. We also challenged our vendors to try to beat us, and as a result, we ended up with over 1,600 food items.

And finally, just randomly...a week ago, I was on my way home late after an especially stressful day, rushing to pick up my CSA before the deadline and thinking about all the things I needed to take care of when I got home afterward. As I got onto the freeway, I remembered I needed to put gas in the car lest I be stranded on I-5 NB waiting for Comet in busy Tuesday evening traffic. So it was right back off the freeway at the next exit, wading through traffic to a gas station and waiting for the busy attendant to get to me, all the while thinking, "and miles to go before I sleep".

We'd had some impressive storms throughout that day and the three or days before, with dark, dark clouds and rain that came down in a torrent, relentless. But as I was sitting at the light waiting to get back on the freeway, the sun had come in under the the clouds as it was setting, lighting everything up -- including the array of trees in many colors in front of me -- against a backdrop of sky so dark blue gray that it was almost black. A reminder when I probably needed it to be mindful of the now and not to lose sight that life is happening in this moment, and this one, and this one.

high and low, it all evens out

Oh dear. I am deep into the planning on the Sooper Sekrit Projekt, happy as a pig in poo, as an old Australian coworker used to say. I'm like a kid fixated on a new toy -- all other thoughts have been swept from my brain. I am Ralphie and this is my Red Ryder BB gun. It won't stay secret much longer, I can tell you that much. I'm fit to bust with blabbing about it, but I don't want to start too soon for fear of burning you all out on it before we've even begun.

In other, less bouncy news, we decided to let our reservation for the Nissan Leaf go. That's a pretty big disappointment since we've invested a lot of time and a (refundable) deposit into being one of the first owners of this amazing car. Sal's been following the progress on the Leaf for years now, we saw the demo of it at OMSI, we were on the reservation list in the first 5 minutes it opened up, signed up for the pilot program that would allow an auditing agency to track usage and other vectors in exchange for a credit on the charging station installation, have researched all the various incentives and rebates we'd qualify for, and we've been talking to City departments about permits for getting the charging station installed on our sidewalk strip (since it's a right-of-way).

We had our on-site assessment a couple of weeks ago with a representative from the organization that has the grant for the pilot program and then with the contractor who would be installing our charging station. And although they were excited for our participation since we'd be representative of urban dwellers with no off-site parking, the fact that ours is an elevated lot presented a problem. (As we feared.) In order to run the line, they'd have to bore through the retaining wall and do a bunch of additional work to install the station.

So we've had a sinking feeling for the last couple of weeks while we waited for the boring contractor to give us an estimate on drilling through to run the line. We knew it wouldn't be cheap. Would, in all likelihood, be astronomical. And we were right, unfortunately. The estimate came in on Monday: $10,000. And that includes the $1,200 credit for the charging station installation.

Portland is one of six cities participating in a joint federal-manufacturer program to intall charging stations throughout the city. Which means we could take the car to a charging station instead, just like we take our cars to a gas station now. But even though the Leaf has a fast charge option (which is one of the many great things about the car) that only takes 30 minutes, it will only charge 80% on the fast charge (compared to the 6 hours it takes for the regular charge to 100%). Which means it's just not viable for us, at least not right now.

Pretty bummed about that. But we're hopeful that there'll be a solution that works for us in a few years and in the meantime, be glad that the cars we have run well despite being older (the Camry is 10 years old, the Prius is 9 years old), get good mileage, and that we're less car dependent than we've ever been. On the scale of problems to have, this isn't really one.

lunch, Paris slimline:

• quickie sweet & sour pork: jasmine rice and leftover roast pork drizzled with sweet and sour sauce
• kale sauteed with garlic
• molded egg
• gala apple slices
• dark chocolate covered raisins

This is a classic example of bento being kind of magic. I stood before my fridge last night, wondering what the heck I was going to pack for lunch today besides a hard boiled egg and some apple slices. I had a smidge of jasmine rice leftover from last week's lunch and figured, well, I could include that with some sweet and sour sauce for a bit of flavor. And then I remembered we had some pork roast leftover from this weekend, and ta da! Sweet and sour pork! With the tiny bit of leftover sauteed kale from last week, I soon had a nicely packed bento and good, well-rounded lunch.

the rain to the wind said

I took yesterday off to spend some time on writing and holy crap, did I ever pick a great weekend to do it. We've had the most terrific series of storms rolling through since Friday night, feeding my mood to be curled up at home and be all author-ly. Have we forgotten how much I love bad weather (as long as I'm not in it)? No? Okay, moving on.

Because this weather also makes me ridiculously nest-y, I also spent a hilarious amount of time working on plans for the project I alluded to last week. Which I wouldn't have thought possible, since autumn is already the time when I get downright Martha Stewart anyway, but with a fun and exciting house project on the horizon? Cranked up to eleven, you guys.

Don't worry, I'll spill the beans soon since I won't be able to keep it a secret. But first, I need to get some updates done on this here website about house projects we've completed. So look for more tales of home improvement gone ludicrously awry and pictorial evidence thereof to tide you over until the project gets underway and you'll have a whole new round of entertainment.

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• pork roast and root vegetable stew -- beets, parsnips, rutabaga, kale, rainbow chard, onions, and tomatoes (we had some produce to use up, in case that wasn't obvious)
• baked potato with a bit of sour cream and garlic-dill cheese curds
• orange sections; pears and bananas cooked with cinnamon and brown sugar (a sort of quickie pear-banana sauce) with walnuts for garnish

The rain to the wind said,
'You push and I'll pelt.'
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged--though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.
          — Robert Frost

know when to fold 'em

We had a guy come yesterday to take measurements for doors to the attic eave closets so he can give us an estimate. There comes a time during renovation when you just have to call in the professionals, whether it's because you don't have the time for a particular project or you don't have the expertise. In this case, it's a combination of both. It's been five years since we finished the attic and we simply aren't going to get those damn doors done ourselves.

Of course, the danger with calling in the professionals is if they do a good job, it's tempting to just hand over your entire To Do list and a blank check....

breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• oatmeal
• raisins
• pears cooked with brown sugar and cinnamon in the mini sidecar (to be mixed in with the oatmeal and raisins)

lunch, black strawberry:

• sushi using carrot and cucumber strips
• shrimp sauteed with a bit of butter, sea salt, and fresh garlic on a bed of wilted kale salad (After the shrimp was done, I deglazed the pan with a little clam juice and then tossed some fresh kale in there to soak up the flavors for a nice little wilted salad.)
• grapes and green string beans with a fan of leftover carrot strips for a little garnish
• half a molded (and purple dyed) egg -- it came out lopsided when I molded it, and it was a tad too small so it didn't mold very well...c'est la vie

point me at lost islands*

We're starting another project soon, so I'm all atwitter. Relative to our past projects, it's a small and quick one for us, involving little home improvement (a bit of painting, but not even full-on painting walls or ceiling) and a bunch of purchases in a range from small to biggish. I'm being all mysterious but only because I am such a dork about the big reveal.

Anyway, we're still in the preliminary stages, planning to tackle it over the course of a few days during our winter vacation. I'm so excited! I've actually been thinking about and planning this project for a while (and hence, collecting a few things for it that I've set aside), and then a variety of things coalesced today and bam! I knew that yep, time to start. Woe betide Sal if he were to ever disagree once I reach that event horizon from "thinking about a project" to "okay, so let's get started".

Very excited. I've been ready to get going on this for some time, and because this particular project represents a metaphorical transition (that I'll explain at a later time), being ready to start is representative of more than just being ready to do some painting and decorating. I know none of this makes any sense and I'm talking all around it and being all vague and mysterious, but I wanted to just say, you know, something kinda cool is about to happen and you heard it here first.

lunch, deli club:

• hazelnut-crusted chicken breast
• baked potato with butter and sour cream
• green and royal burgundy string beans
• rainbow carrots

snack, pink natural lunch:

• banana that's just a tad on the green side
• Gala apple
• green grapes

*yep, still obsessed with that Tired Pony album

each of us was created for it

No breakfast today so I was extra grateful to have such a pleasing and yummy lunch waiting for me.

lunch, blue bunny & moons:

• hazelnut-crusted chicken breast
• jasmine rice with peas, carrot flowers for garnish
• Cortland apple with carrot pieces as gap fillers
• walnuts and dark chocolate covered raisins

the view from the library to the back yard, through the back porch

I'm so in love with our home I can hardly contain myself some days. There's still a lot to be done, but we've reached a point where we can enjoy it as it is, even with the bathroom in its semi-demolished state and the kitchen looking like something right out of Good Housekeeping circa 1966. And in the fall, my favorite season, in my favorite city, it's like falling in love every day, this house. I took a few random pictures to remind me of that.

spider web on the front porch, with Sal's Japanese maple in the backgroundIt was another whirlwind of activity at Hall House this weekend, so it was nice to have the steadying comfort of home throughout. Saturday was another OCI graduation, which meant Chef Salvatore gave another graduation speech. He gives the same one each time so he's had time to refine it, but he changes it every time, too, so he stays fresh and funny when he gives it. I've decided I'm going to video it next time.

a close-up of the crape myrtle I posted about last weekThe ceremony takes place in the morning and then there's a reception for the students and family afterward, so it takes most of the day. Things finished up just in time for the arrival of our Smiley family, who were coming to spend the night. We had a roast and veggies going in the crockpot all day to keep dinner easy, they arrived bearing a loaf of sourdough and a pan full of chocolate chip bar cookies. This is the reason our family is awesome. Well, one of the many, anyway.

We spent some time with the Fabulous Miss M before her bedtime, then had a late dinner catching up with Sister and Guy. (Late, at least in part, because Miss M insisted there was a ghost in the guest room. We promised her it was friendly.)

Sal and the Fabulous Miss M watching a movie on the inflatable bedThey had come for a race in town they wanted to go to and we would watch Miss M while they were gone. It meant an early start Sunday, but Miss M and I snuggled under the blankets while we watched Finding Nemo and that's not such a bad way to start the day. The three of us played and colored and had a tea party and ate breakfast, and next thing we knew Sister and Guy were back and it was time to say goodbye. But it was okay...we have Thanksgiving to look forward to next month, and Christmas after that, and I'm sure some get togethers in between.

just looking at them makes you want to take a nap, doesn't it?After they left, Sunday was a lazy day to recharge before the week starts up. We spent the day on creative stuff and naps and not being as productive as we ought to be and taking ten million more pictures of the cats because we needed still more of those.

view from the front porchBut mostly, we spent the day watching all the ways the light turns Hall House into an illustration from a storybook and thinking there's magic in the world if you know where to look for it.

the corner of my desk (yes, the decoupaged table), which happened to be lighted very prettily; it's part of a map of the Oregon Coast, with an arrow pointed to Oceanside; the full Maya Angelou quote is here

Random Friday

A random bunch of links, two of which I'm stealing from my writing blog because they're too awesome not to spread far and wide. And then more stuff. Because I'm cool like that.

• April Henry posted earlier this week about a really fun and fascinating project called The Novel Live! in which 36 NW authors take turns writing an entire novel in six days, a kind of marathon-relay-writing adventure. It's wrapping up tomorrow, but you can still catch the live stream of the project in action. Like, actually watch the writer in action AND simultaneously see the words s/he is writing appear on the screen AND chat with the writer to offer suggestions, comments, etc. (LIVING IN THE FUTURE OMG STILL THE BESTEST). This has to be one of the cleverest things I've seen in awhile, and it's a fundraiser for a good cause, as well.
• The God of Cake, from one of my favorite blogs, Hyperbole and a Half. Just...go, click and read it. I promise, you will love me for making you.
• This updated map of online communities from xkcd, which has been sitting in my saved tabs for like, a week or however long it's been since he posted it. I spent a good 30 minutes poring over it at full size, giggling at all the in jokes. In other news, I spend WAY too much time on Teh Internets. It's also edifying (and kind of depressing) to compare it with the first one from 2007. lol, MySpace.
• From @katrinawheeler via Twitter, a nice little article about local/regional non-foodie restaurants and chains that are actually pretty good. (They don't mention Burgerville, I'm assuming because it's a given.) Some of these were a surprise that they're Oregon-based, as well as how many of them make their food on-site using fresh ingredients. Also a surprise: the connection between The Old Spaghetti Factory and a couple of the hottest restaurants in town. (Sal worked at Fenouil before he started teaching at OCI, btw.) And who knew Shari's was a leader in regional sourcing??

the glowing of such fire*

Is there anything better than autumn in the Pacific Northwest? NO THERE IS NOT. We have had days and days of the most beautiful, clear and warm days and cool, crisp nights, interspersed by dark, foggy, wet days that are perfect for curling up with a book and hot chocolate. The leaves are a riot of color everywhere you look-- greens, yellows, reds, purples, oranges, browns -- and the late summer and autumn roses are still blooming. The crape myrtle we planted last year next to the house went completely bonkers this summer (after I thought for sure it had died this winter and was just heartsick over it) and it's blooming this year. Just a few magenta flowers, but a hint of autumns to come.

I love that the season that eases us into the dark and cold and wet of winter is full of fire and beauty. There are many reasons autumn is my favorite of the seasons, but I think that may be the biggest.

lunch, Laptop Lunch:

• bagel sandwich: sesame seed bagel, egg omelet with Australian boxing cheddar
• cucumber shapes in apple cider vinegar; grapes and kiwi berries
• rainbow carrots (including a little deformed one that looks like a curly cue!) with honey peanut butter for dipping
• Spitzenberg apple

* from here

taste of fall

click to see the full gallerySal had a cooking demonstration to do at the annual Apple Tasting festival at Portland Nursery yesterday, so ProcrastiGirl and I spent some time there to show our support. Oh, and there might have been apples (and pears).

His demo involved making mini apple tarts (which are kind of pretty much the best thing ever), in which he sautees fresh apples with a bit of butter, spices, vanilla, and Grand Marnier and then pipes it into pretty little tart shells. The part where you gobble them up greedily while they're still hot and bubbly? Entirely optional. BUT I DEFY YOU NOT TO. (He also had samples of a pear coffee cake to try, which caused ProcrastiGirl's eyes to roll to the back of her head...so, yeah.)

click to see full galleryAfterward, we wandered around the various tents and displays, and we snacked on apple streudel and caramel apples, and took pictures with scarecrows, and filled bags with a variety of fresh apples and pears at $0.89/lb. Seriously, 50 varieties of apples and pears. I took some beautiful pics, which you can see here. It was a perfectly perfect Pacific Northwest kind of thing to do on a perfectly perfect Pacific Northwest kind of day.

So there's a bit of yesterday and fall in my bento today, in the form of a Spitzenberg apple, which was supposedly Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple and is the variety he grew at Monticello. Your fun apple fact for the day.

breakfast, pink natural lunch:

• half an herb & cheese bagel (w/foil as baran, which yes, breaks my rule about disposables, but it was necessary and since it's recyclable, I'm okay with it)
• cream cheese in the cup
• half a Spitzenberg apple

lunch, ms. bento:

• broccoli cheese soup Sal made Saturday night*; contains cheese, broccoli, potatoes, squash, onions, red pepper, and tumeric (hence the vivid yellow)
• sourdough bread; rainbow carrots, with carrot stars for garnish
• half a Spitzenberg apple; grapes, dark chocolate-covered raisins

*We had a series of downpours over the weekend (though it cleared nicely in time for Sal's demo on Sunday), the type of days when you have to turn on the lights during the day because it's so dark out there. In other words: perfect. So fo course I was craving soup to suit the cold and rainy weather, and Sal was very sweet to oblige.

freakin' hallelujah

OMG YOU GUYS WEB HOSTING IS HARD.

So. As you've probably experienced in the last month or so, the site has been intermittently inaccessible. It's been a frustrating troubleshooting problem, complicated by my insane schedule and the fact that I would start to make some progress, then have to leave it for a few days because I didn't have time, then have to come back and figure out where I left off. Two steps forward, yada yada.

But I'm (tentatively) excited that I may have finally FINALLY figured out the problem and solved it*. We'll see how the next week goes. If you get any kind of error when you access the site in the next few days (or ever, really), please let me know. But hopefully it won't be necessary!

*In other news, editing the DNS Zone with the correct configuration for MX, A, mail, and CNAME records for a site split across two hosting accounts with two permanent redirects and three domain-specific email addresses is WAY beyond my paygrade. God bless unbeatable tech support.

time keeps on ticking, but at least i have pretty lunches

Oy! How is the first week of October already over? Summer passed in a blur and I don't even remember what happened to September. And now it's October and pretty soon we'll be ringing in 2011. Holy crap.

lunch, Paris slimline:

• mini frittatas -- eggs, caramelized onion, broccoli, cheddar and Dubliner cheeses
• green and royal burgundy string bean pieces on skewers
• grapes
• mini rainbow carrots -- aren't they adorable??
• more beans (with a small container of sauce on the side for dipping)

breakfast/snack, pink natural lunch:

• banana
• grapes
• D'anjou pear

a day late, but hopefully i still have all my dollars

Yesterday's lunch, but I was having trouble accessing the site (still trying to figure out what's up with that...sorry, guys) and then just got too busy.

breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• half Bartlett pear
• Rainier apple
• grapes
• kiwi berries

lunch, blue bunny & moons:

• cucumber slices in apple cider vinegar (with a cucumber heart on top!) in the silicone cup
• star molded egg, cut in half and a wee baked potato with an itty sprig of rosemary, with mini smoked sausages underneath
• tiny squares of rosemary cheddar on the skewers
• Rainier apple slices, kiwi berries, grapes
• the other half of the Bartlett pear, with cashews as gap filler

and now you'll have that song in your head all day

So if you missed my squeeing yesterday, the new Tired Pony CD is now my favorite thing in the wide world. This morning when I first got in the car and the radio came on, I actually got impatient with whatever was playing because it wasn't Tired Pony, as one does. I might -- might -- have a tendency to be all OMG I LOVE THIS THE MOSTEST OF ALL THE THINGS when I have a new shiny thing. It does not, however, make me any less right.

I took a couple of days off so it's back to work after 4 days out of the office. Well 5, actually, since I worked from home Wednesday. My time off was to take some time for writing stuff, which has now morphed into a marathon of cutting 50,000 words from my word count. So check that out if you're interested. Meanwhile, Sal brewed yet another batch of beer this weekend, so we can now say we have 99 bottles of beer on the wall. I really need to get him to update the brewing section of this site so you can read all about his adventures in homemade alcohol...

Anyway, as I say, back to work today. I may have a new bento convert, so I should've actually gone to some effort with lunch today, but eh, I'm lazy. I now have two coworkers who are part of my daily lunch unveiling. It's like an art exhibit opening at a gallery! Hmm, perhaps I should start cultivating a bohemian lifestyle and a predilection for wearing household items as strange hats.

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• fajitas -- strip steak, green peppers, torpedo onions, saucy deliciousness
• flour tortilla, sharp cheddar
• coffee cake (which has a delicious mix of spices and a layer of pears) made by Sally
• Reliance grapes

Also, RIP: my pink strawberry sidecar, which broke when Sal accidentally dumped over one of my bento organizer bins. :(

tired pony: the place we ran from

You guys. Oh my god, I am so in love. (links below are 60 second clips of the songs on YouTube)

"Girl, you were beautiful before/ but in the cyclone I love you more/ there's a pause and the faintest smile/ as the storm rages on for miles"

"I have read your words a thousand times/ All inspired by smashed up love and crime"

"our shadows kiss before we do and right here in the dark/ I revel in the calm before the storm"

"everything is all at once with you, dear/ I can't see where the now starts and the next begins"

"all the troubles that I know/ look to me like great and heavy stones/ and all I want to do/ is slowly push and pull"

"you were saved by the good book/ I was saved by the half-full glass"

"when falling feels like flying there's a dangerous hope/ 'cause the ground comes at you faster than you think"


I had to restrain myself from just putting in all the lyrics to all the songs LOL I AM FIFTEEN YEARS OLD WHAT. I JUST YOU GUYS WHAT IS THIS I CAN'T EVEN.

I've had this CD on endless repeat for days now and I still hear something new every time. You have to listen to all the songs just to understand the flavor of it, because no single song sounds like any other song on the list. It was released across the pond in June and I was so bummed we'd have to wait 3 more months to get it here, and I wouldn't let myself listen to the tracks they'd released online because I wanted to wait until I could hear it all at once. So glad I did. I wasn't ready for this album in June. This is music for autumn.

(Also, check it: that image that cycles on their website of Greeley Ave? (Well, all the pics on the site, actually.) That's where the studio they recorded this at is located. I drive through there all the time, it's not far from the house. And they were there! Recording this kickass album! I could've, like, "happened" to be hanging out nearby and fangirled all over Gary Lightbody! And Peter Buck! And Tom Smith! And Iain Archer! And Gary Lightbody some more! Um, I mean, I could've...snuck in and listened in on their sessions? Yeah, that's it....)

bento catch up

Dad and Mo were here this weekend for a visit on their way to the coast, so it was nice to see them for a bit.  We had simply stunning weather while they were here, though it's been freakishly humid. But beautiful and warm so we can't complain, really.

I did pack a bento for yesterday but ended up staying home, so it became a sick-day-work-from-home bento instead of an office bento. So we have two days' of bentos here:

Monday lunch, blue bunny & moons box:

• carrot sticks and flowers, lemon drop and cherry tomatoes
• basil chicken sausage and Dubliner cheese (under the carrot flowers)
• Gala apple slices
• Reliance grapes
• macadamia nuts

Tuesday lunch, black strawberry box:

• green beans & caramelized onions (underneath)
• smoked sausages
• mashed potatoes
• Reliance grapes
• cheddar bunny crackers
• cashews

Even though we got our fruit bin delivery last week, we've already devoured it -- only some grapes left! So I'm a little low on fruit to add, and of course didn't think of the twenty billion pounds of fresh-picked blueberries and blackberries in our freezer. D'oh! Actually, I should make some pie....

little internet gifts for you. you're welcome

Okay, time to do a link dump so I can clear off some tabs in my browser. This is just a miscellany...a miscellany of AWESOME, that is!

Dalton Ghetti pencil lead carvings (with more here) -- Carvings out of pencil leads. Pencil leads. Like...how is that not the most awesome thing you ever saw?? I'd pick a favorite, but they're all amazing. The screw, the itty bitty hammer, the hand holding a goblet, the little key on the ring??? I just...like, how do you even...? You guys! There's a guy carving wee sculptures from used pencil stubs! That is proof of amazingness and wonder in this world!

James Hance, "Relentlessly Cheerful Art" -- Adorable, sweet, and hilarious art that makes my nerdy, geeky little heart go pitter pat. I'm particularly fond of the Star Wars/Winnie-the-Pooh crossovers, and if anyone wanted to buy me, like, all of them, I wouldn't say no.

Slacktivist, "Fortune Cookies" -- What fortunes in fortune cookies should say. The fourth from the last is my favorite. Oh, who am I kidding? I love them all.

lunch, Paris slimline:

• sourdough bread slices
• Niman Ranch ham and herb roasted turkey on the skewer, pepperoni slices underneath, cheeses tucked around: mahon, gouda, Cotswold, smoked mozzarella
• carrots
• Gala apple slices
• nectarine

Looking very monochromatic and orange-y today...better than gray, I suppose.

the sea sings to her in wind tossed whispers

Hello friends and internet denizens! We have returned from our Fall Getaway, our annual September-ish escape to our Oceanside hideaway for an extended weekend. For those following along at home, we make this trek at least four times a year -- extended weekends in spring and fall, longer vacations in the winter and summer. We try to make it to the coast at other times, too, even if only for the day, but having those four getaways proverbially circled in red in on our electronic calendars are our talismans against the humdrum of life that can wear a soul down with routine. Of course, returning to said routine can be a bit harder in those initial days, but it's a price worth paying.

From Friday night until Monday morning, we escaped to a cozy little cabin and holed up together while weather raged outside. It was a particularly -- awesomely -- stormy weekend, with buckets of rain and intermittent wind, yet freakishly warm. Especially for the coast.

We didn't bother taking a whole lot of pics since it was mostly gray, gray, and gray (though beautiful!). But the sun did peek out for a brief time near sunset, because even Nature isn't above showing off from time to time. So we did snag a few to memorialize yet another wonderful retreat to our beloved Oregon Coast.

It all made for the perfect atmosphere for curling up under blankets and watching movies and reading books and nibbling on many yummy things. Hence my lunch today....

breakfast, pink strawberry sidecar:

• Honeycrisp apple
• Bartlett pear
• Reliance grapes

lunch, laptop lunch:

• meats: Niman Ranch ham, herb roasted turkey breast, Applegate Farms pepperoni; cheeses: Mahon, Jarlsberg, gouda, smoked mozzarella, Cotswold, maple smoked cheddar, Dubliner
• French batard slices and carrot sticks
• more French batard
• Honeycrisp apple and Reliance grapes

ahoy, mateys!

Sunday be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the finest holiday o' the year!

If yer lookin' to buckle yer swashes, heave to the starboard side fer the 5th Annual Portland Pirate Festival! Ye olde festival be this weekend in me own port-of-call, Cathedral Park (under ye olde St. Johns Bridge). Bring all yer landlubbin' mateys fer a weekend o' singin' sea shanties, plunderin' fer treasure, and drinkin' down the best grog o' the Seven Seas. Thar be lots more swashbucklin fer the whole crew (even the littlest scalawags) and ye can even shiver yer timbers with an actual ship-to-shore cannon battle! Hope to see ye thar, ye scurvy dogs...ARRRR!

[BTW: Having trouble accessing our site the last few days? Have you been getting an error when you try it during the day, and then it'll work later in the day/evening? Yeah, I don't know what's up with that but I'm trying to sort it out. In the meantime, please bear with me and keep checking back...we're still here, I promise!]

I haven't been posting pictures of breakfasts lately since I've ended up eating them in meetings a lot recently, and get enough grief about my "fancy meals" as it is without snapping pics of my food with everyone sitting there at the conference table. (Well, grief isn't the right word. There sure is a lot of interest whenever I open my bento boxes, though. One coworker even comes into my office for the unveiling each day...I think she'll be purchasing her first box any day now. Muwhahahahahaha....)

breakfast, cute animals sidecar:

• heart molded egg -- well mangled egg, really...the shell broke while I was boiling it and I had trouble getting the shell off when I was peeling it, so
• apple slices -- no idea of the variety...Chris and Nolan picked apples at one of the old public apple trees on Sauvie Island and included them in this week's shares as a treat
• cashews and raisins

lunch, black strawberry:

• star molded egg
• smoked sausages
• rainbow carrots
• cherry and lemon drop tomatoes
• apple slices
• maple smoked cheddar
• cashews and dark chocolate raisins

Yesterday was overcast all day like it would be for rain, but there was none and the air was heavy and muggy. It finally started sprinkling a bit late in the afternoon, and by early evening, was steady. And then last night...oh, last night. Steady and heavy, but the air so incredibly temperate and fresh that I had every window in the house thrown open as far as it would go. This, this is the weather I love the best, in the season I love the best. I baked chocolate chip cookies and sat at the kitchen table with the door open to the back porch, listening to the sound of the rain in the trees while I worked on my art journal.

It should come as a surprise to no one that I'm a water sign.