Stymied

I just wanted an excuse to write the word "stymie." Really, it's a great word. Plus, I've been trying unsuccessfully to write a decent blog post for two days. So far I've gone through about five titles and managed to write "Dogs are cool. And I'm going to write about them later." That's all. I even stole the above photo from someone else's blog (I couldn't find her name, but it was taken in a rainforest somewhere in British Columbia. I promise not to publish it or pretend it's mine)

Rough times for my intellect, apparently. I've been very busy lately taking great care of my physical health, but it appears that I haven't mastered the art of improving my mental self simultaneously with the bodily self. I just can't write! I have, however, been yoga-ing diligently, I've been to the gym several times, and until I came up here to Seattle, I was eating ridiculously healthy meals (the last two days I've slipped into a routine of hash browns, cups of melted dark chocolate, and Belgian open-faced sandwiches smothered in Gruyere cheese). Even now, up here in the grand Northwest on my mini-vacation, I just finished a grueling 6-mile ride on the stationary bike with an epilogue of several yoga poses and stretches. And right this second I am dutifully puffing away on my nebulizer medication.

So, I got the health part down. Why can't I write anything interesting? I'm in a beautiful city full of brick buildings, racing clouds, happy dogs, coffee shops and huge trees. I should be inspired as hell.

Perhaps I'm not drinking enough good beer. I've only had one since I got up here. Hmmmmm....I do believe that I just identified the root of the problem...

Happy Car, Happy Kathryn

What a goddamn great day I'm having!! And what a change from my last post, eh? It turns out that the antibiotic I was taking for my sinus infection was a major part of my crabbiness of the past week or so. I was not only spectacularly irritable, but I was also experiencing bouts of moderate anxiety, and feeling horribly exhausted to boot. I decided to read the info sheet that came with the medicine (I'd taken it before which is why I didn't do this sooner) and discovered that not only are these all known side effects, but they are listed in the serious side effects category. I stopped taking it that night. My mood is so much improved now it's kinda shocking. I hadn't realized how awful I felt until I stopped taking it--the contrast is truly astounding. I was alternately amusing/annoying people at work on Monday because I was so spazzy-happy and hyper. I'm free!

Today I'm also verging on euphoric, but for non drug-related reasons: I had an awesome workout this morning, I took care of some maintenance on my car, I've gotten a fair amount of chores done already, had a super delicious healthy lunch, and got some quality play time with my adorable cat.

After my morning workout, I took my car in to get an oil change that was desperately needed. The last time I did this was cough9thousandcough cough miles ago. Yipes! So now my car sounds a lot better and I can stop stressing about getting it in to be changed. Plus, the guy who owns the shop I went to was super super friendly and honestly more interested in keeping me as what he called a "customer for life" than making a little more money. I have known for a few months that my tires are getting badly worn, and he noticed it too. The great part is that I had told him that I'm in a tough place financially, so he offered to change my tires for $160--that's $90 less than their usual price. He also assured me that I could drive safely on the ones I have now for another two months or so, which made me feel a lot better. I had been worrying about my tires blowing up on the road, compounded by the fact that I didn't have enough money to do anything about it. I ended up having a good 10-minute chat with him and left feeling really happy: happy that my car is taken car of and happy that there are still small business owners out there who care more about the quality of human interaction and doing honest work than the fleeting joy of a badly earned dollar.

While I was waiting for my car, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood--it's fairly close to where I live, but far enough away that I haven't walked through this part in a long while. I had a great time. I saw lots of beautiful old houses. I petted a friendly white roly-poly cat. I rescued a bee. I played a game with myself to find the oldest section of sidewalk in that area (1914!). I watched the clouds changing shape as they rushed across the sky. I annoyed a grumpy old lady. I saw a dilapidated grey house that looked like it was being eaten alive by a huge mound of morning glory vines. My favorite part was when I found a wild happy yard that had no lawn but was totally overgrown with clover, sourgrass, and various crazy wildflowers. It was green and voluptuous and gorgeous and I just couldn't resist stepping gently to the center of the yard to pick some sourgrass flowers to munch on (you don't want to eat the ones next to the sidewalk unless you like your flowers glazed with a fine essence of dog pee).

To top off all the fun, I made some of the best homemade burritos I've had in a while. They were so amazingly tasty that I'm going to write down the recipe for you:

I sauteed one half a large organic carrot (diced) in olive oil till it was just past crunchy. Then I added one can of organic black beans, a can of organic diced tomatoes, half a can of corn, some oregano, a little cumin, a little salt, about a tablespoon of salsa, and a splash of liquid aminos. I let this simmer for a while, and then added about 16 quartered kalamata olives.

Holy crap it was good! And so easy! Seriously, you won't believe how yummy it is. SO yummy that you won't even need cheese (I haven't had cheese in my house for over two months in an effort to be healthier and more vegan-like). Ahhhhhhh...happy full tummy, happy exercised and tired muscles, happy car filled with clean oil, happy satiated kitty stretched out in the sunny windowsill. Happy.

I am Crabby

I apologize in advance for what you are about to read; normally I pride myself in NOT having the kind of blog where I rant endlessly about my pet peeves and write about what I had for breakfast. I strive to keep it positive and avoid making a laundry list of tedious daily details. While I know a few other people (at least four now!) find this blog enjoyable, I do it mostly for me: it provides a means to flex my synapses a bit, and I usually end up entertaining the heck out of myself in the process.

However, I have been beset by grumpiness and negative emotions all day. Allow me to elaborate on two things that really cranked up the annoyance factor while I was out running errands. The first thing I noticed is that people are really, really lazy. Even to the point where it negatively impacts their own comfort levels. Isn’t that a paradox? I went to Target earlier to pick up some prescriptions and parked at the far end of the lot--the very end--because there were trees there and I wanted to park in the shade. It’s a warm day out. But 98% of all the other cars in the lot were parked right up next to the building’s entrance. Some folks were even circling around to get the closest spot possible rather than leave their cars a little further down and walk. I find this hard to believe--most people evidently would rather come back to a baking hot car that’s been sitting in the sun than walk an extra 1/8 mile and park in the shade. Baffling.

The other thing that’s been bouncing around in my head like a ferret on coke is this: a lot of new music these days bites. I feel a bit like an old codger shaking my fist at the sky and yelling, “Kids these days!” But honestly, so much of what’s popular on the radio today all sounds the same (one exception being the Fleet Foxes, of whom I am recently much enamored). Today, I was thinking in particular that Franz Ferdinand, Louie the 14th, and Kings of Leon all sound like the same repetitive whiny band. They shall henceforth be referred to collectively as “Kings of Ferdinand the 14th.” End of discussion.

To ameliorate all the vitriol I’ve been spewing, here’s a visual treat. The one thing that brightened my day was the girl I saw crossing the street on my way home. She was wearing a funky blue plaid top and had vivid orange and yellow shaggy hair made even brighter in the sunlight, and it just made me smile. Kids these days.

Robots Made Me Break the Law

Last week I got a traffic ticket for the first time in 17 years–and that one was for going the wrong way down a poorly marked, deserted, very dark one-way alley, hardly a premeditated felonious offense. This time, I was speeding. I was going very fast. Normally I don’t do this (much); I prefer to set my cruise control at 65 or 70, both to curb any unintended bursts of speed and to keep my MPGs high and therefore costs and pollution low. However, that day I forgot all about cruise control, moderation, and saving the planet. I was insanely happy. I was flying high on a post-inspiration glow and feeling giddy and invincible...plus I was going downhill. Add to that the fact that I was blasting “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” on my radio and gleefully shouting along, and you have a pretty solid recipe for speed violations. The cop who stopped me asked me what my speedometer said and I had to admit that I honestly didn’t know. I was much too busy singing about karate chicks kicking evil mechanical ass to notice a trivial thing like how fast I was going...

I was extremely contrite, in actuality. To be more precise, I was horror-stricken–both by the fact that I had been zooming along so cluelessly and gotten pulled over, and also because my financial situation is in a state of flux and I’m pretty sure that the fine for going 80-plus mph in a 65 zone isn’t small change these days. In fact, I started crying my eyes out while he was at his car running my license and noting that I have a spotless record. Once he deduced that I was not a cracked-out moral reprobate in a stolen vehicle (initially, he had actually asked me if it was my car), Mr. Policeman was kinder to me than I had expected. He told me that I may be able to mitigate my fine by going to see a particular judge-type person in the county building and asking him very nicely to lower my fine since I’m a good citizen. As soon as I figure out who he meant exactly, I’m goin'!

So, kids, the moral to be gleaned from my harrowing brush with the law is this: Don’t sing songs about robots while you drive.

Notes: 1) According to the University of Birmingham Computer Science page: The word "robot" was first used in the 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by the Czech writer Karel Capek (pronounced "chop'ek"). "Robot" comes from the Czech word robota, meaning "forced labor."
2) The photo is from the movie Devil Girl from Mars (1954). Nice cape! I think she looks more like a Space Dominatrix than a devil girl, if you ask me...

Zen Pizza

I know you've heard me say it before: I love my neighborhood. I love that I can walk to so many colorful, friendly, locally owned businesses. I love the fare at the gourmet pizza shop right around the corner from me--it's so un-freakin-believably yummy it can't be described. But most of all, at this particular moment, I love what is printed on the pizza box that contained my dinner tonight. The illustration is a standard scene with two portly mustached Italian stereotypes, happily rolling out dough and tending the oven. Nothing unexpected there. But the words at the bottom are special:

"Enjoy your delicious moments!"

Now that's just poetry.
Think about it...whoever designed this box may have merely been talking about the pizza, but if you wanted to (and I do), you could certainly take those words and run with them. Turn them into a savory metaphor for living mindfully and joyfully. Ain't life wonderful? Just when I thought I was getting too tired and emotionally worn down, I find spiritual guidance on a pizza box.

MMMmmmmmmmmm....

A Literary Breakthrough

photo ©2006 eric hart

I was standing in the bathroom this morning getting ready for work, reminiscing about how prolific my writing was when I was younger, and lamenting the loss of my muse. I've been a bit stressed lately wondering how in the hell I'm going to live up to my goal to write two poems per month. I know two is not very many, but I've never been the kind of person who can force myself to write. I can't just pick a subject and go. Every time in the past that I sat myself down saying, "I'm going to write a poem!" it just fell flat. What came of my efforts was universally trite and awful. I can try to encourage something to develop by reading more and by editing some of my old work, but typically it's the poetry that finds me, not the other way around.

When I was much younger, my muse was not only active, she was a downright pest who made me have to carry pads of paper wherever I went in case she suddenly grabbed hold of me. This morning, no sooner had I finished lamenting her loss all these years when she popped back into my life and bit me so hard I had to drop everything I was doing and run to the computer before the words disappeared from my mind. I finished the first draft of the poem, the first original one I’ve written in over four years, in about twelve minutes. I swear it was like sex. Afterwards, I was grinning and breathless and so full of joy I just can’t properly describe it. I wrote a poem! I was so happy I was quite literally jumping up and down hugging my hands to my chest. It's no masterpiece, but it's something, and that's a lot more than what I've turned out these past many years...

I know you probably would like to see it, but it's still too new and too personal, and I'd be uncomf0rtable sharing it here. As a consolation, I will post something I wrote ten years ago--one of the three or so solidly decent poems I've ever penned (or keyboarded, rather). Even so, this is a milestone occasion: I have never before publicly posted any of my writing. Ever. I am usually highly selective about who reads my poetry, so this is a big scary step for me. I hope it's at least a little entertaining for you.

Spring

On the playground, jackets flung
from small bodies lay on the ground
like the remains of
dissolved children.
Lured away by the sun’s Hamelin,
the heated slopes on the other side of the world,
they scrabbled through rock and soil
disturbing the blind traffic of worms.
I could still hear their
singing, muffled by layers of earth
as they burrowed like hungry tubers
seeking a warmer place.
Left behind--their snakeskin
and feathers in shrapnel heaps,
casualties of the season’s advance.

1-27-99

Scream Real Loud!

Hey Kids! It's that time again! I haven't posted a word of the day in ages. Have you ever woken up in the morning and inexplicably had a song stuck in your head that you hadn't heard for months or longer? I do that sometimes with words. For instance, the other day, I woke up with the word "plangent" running through my brain incessantly. I hadn't read it recently, and I certainly hadn't heard it in conversation with anyone--when was the last time you used that in a sentence? So, in the interest of broadening your semantic horizons, I offer you plangent as your word of the day (screaming is optional).

The OED defines plangent thusly:
Especially of the sound of waves, the sea, etc.: reverberating, mournfully resonant.

I think I must have used it in a poem years ago and since forgotten its meaning (I could only remember that it had something to do with sound), so this is a learning exercise for me as well. As I get older I have noticed that my vocabulary is dwindling rather than expanding. Last year I was reading through some old research papers from my undergrad work and noticed at least three words I had used that I no longer have any inkling of what they mean. I wish I could afford to go back to school and flex my brain a bit more. I miss being smart.

Recycling Madness, Fat, and Yoga

Sylvie has her own version of yoga.

I am so spastically happy right now it's just unbelievable. I love the rain. I absolutely adore rainy cloudy windy wet weather--I feel so invigorated! I've also accomplished a lot of things today that are good for me. You may remember reading that one of my New Year's resolutions was to go to yoga once per week. Well, I just got home from my third class in one week! I feel so good I can't put it into words properly. I feel like hugging the whole country. I feel like kissing strangers. I feel like the whole world is going to be all right after all.

There is one small glitch, however. I've discovered that fat and yoga don't mix gracefully. Granted, my tummy fat isn't that big, but that one little roll really gets in the way when I'm trying to contort myself into one of the really twisty poses. It actually hurts. Yes, you heard me: yoga makes my fat hurt. It's a little hard to describe, but I've never had this problem before. It feels as if I could just reach down somehow and slide that little pansa out of the way I could more fully sink into the pose. Ah well, the other resolutions should take care of this problem soon. And I've already noticed in just three classes that my stretchiness is really coming back. I'm overjoyed! Nothing feels as good as being able to rest your torso on the ground as you stretch out your legs...just relaxing into the floor....aaahhh.

And to top off the maniacal glee-fest, I spent a good portion of the day divesting my garage of the numerous electronic junky things that I've accumulated over the years and didn't quite know how to get rid of. I'm dead-set against just chucking everything in the garbage and sending it off to the overflowing landfill. Aside from space issues, it's a particularly bad idea when you consider the fact that electronic appliances tend to be full of toxins that you really don't want leached into the ground. So, my friend Jen found a guy that will take used and broken electronics to recycle, including CDs, floppy disks, and cords. Even better is the Freecycle group on Yahoo. It's a group that allows you to post messages about stuff you need to get rid of but don't want to throw away. Then someone else emails you and says, "Wow, boy did I need one of those! Thanks! I'll pick it up tomorrow." I got rid of four garage parasites in under 30 minutes using it. It's truly a beautiful thing. I even found someone who wants a bunch of freezer gel packs that I don't need. Freecycle rocks my world!!

A Historic Job

Some of you know how extraordinarily busy I’ve been the past few months--I was working seven days a week at two different jobs. One of those is, of course, my tour guide gig at Stone, and the other was a temporary project downtown. I haven’t had a downtown job in years, and I reveled in the vibrant craziness that inhabits the heart of our sprawling city. I enjoyed taking the bus downtown, and I loved the diverse thrumming street life that I witnessed every day. I will really miss those parts of the job. I will miss buying tea from the little coffee cart owned by Ryan, the friendliest human on earth. I will miss looking up at the scrolls and brickwork of the early 20th Century architecture. I will miss watching the pigeons nesting in the now-defunct Spreckels sign on the side of the building next to our office window. I may even miss the disturbing ventriloquist lady who parked her wheelchair on the corner every day hoping to garner change with her scary puppet-child...

The job was part II of the archaeology project I was working on last July--the first phase was the excavation of a significant site next the Mexican border, and in the office we had the monumental task before us of sorting and cataloguing our way through hundreds of boxes of artifacts; particularly a lot of shell. What I did nearly every day was sit at a large table cleaning the dirt off thousands of pieces of marine shell and sorting them according to species. This was a daunting task due to the sheer volume of shell, but also because many of the pieces were smaller than my pinkie fingernail--and I have small hands!

The company I was working for has made a temporary lab space out of an office in the Spreckels building on Broadway. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to view this fine edifice that graces our downtown landscape, here’s a very brief history of the building: it was built in 1912 to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal, as well as the Panama-California Exposition that took place in San Diego in 1915. It houses a grandiose theater and four floors of office spaces. My favorite historical tidbit is that the theater contains exactly 1,915 seats in honor of above-mentioned year. The building is a lavish cacophony of marble, gilded moldings, Deco light fixtures, numerous marble staircases, intricate tilework, and ornate iron banisters.

I absolutely loved working there. Every day I got to walk into the sprawling marble and tile lobby with its over-the-top baroque moldings I just had to smile and sigh in awe. As far as I can tell, almost 100 % of the interior is still original. The office doors still have their original doorknobs and mail slots and those neat glass transom windows above the top lintel. Even the bathrooms are havens of bright and airy marble and tile. The office windows are huge double hung wooden windows with no screens, and they take up almost the entire wall, beginning only a foot off the floor and nearly touching the ceiling. Truthfully, I’m amazed that in this age of litigation madness and catering to stupidity, these windows haven't been bolted shut to prevent people from falling out. I’m so very glad that they haven’t been; during much-needed breaks to rest my eyes, I loved going to the window and leaning as far out as I safely could and watching the activity six floors below.

There is one secret wing of this building that spooks me, however. Check out the disturbing resemblance between this remodeled hallway on the 6th floor of the Spreckels building and one of the creepy hallways from the hotel in The Shining. The first one is the Spreckels; the pic with Danny in it is from the movie. Different carpeting, but dang!! Makes you shiver, doesn’t it? It looks a million times more spooky in person, too. I have gotten in the habit of averting my eyes every time I have to use the womens’ room--which is located at the other end of that very hallway, of course.

What Do You Mean It's Almost February?!

(photo taken in Vermont last October. If you click on it you can see little bitty water droplets hiding amongst the fluff. Click on all the links for that matter! Do it! I spend a lot of time messing with the html codes, so you better click on all the links and pictures, dammit!)

What???!!!! Wasn't it just, um, New Year's Eve? Wasn't it just Christmas? Wasn't it just Halloween, for that matter? Gaaaahhh!! Well, before I launch into a full-blown rant about the insidious sped-up march of time as one ages, I've got some good news for you.

This is going to be a very good year. Yes, I know I've said that a few times before and was proven wrong, but that was when Bush was president. Honestly, I have a very good feeling about the months to come. In addition to the glowing promise represented by our country's new national leader, I have had some recent personal mini-triumphs. Very mini, but it's a good beginning. Instead of continuing to float aimlessly down life's fast-moving stream, I've broken out a couple of paddles and started pushing off in my own direction. I have goals! It's amazing what a renewed thirst for life I've developed simply by making some concrete goals for myself.

And I owe it all to my employers at the brewery. Amazing, huh? If you folks didn't already know that beer is gong to save the world, consider this your first piece of evidence. Stone brought back the New Beer's Resolution this year. What this means is that all employees are not only encouraged to keep their new Year's Resolution, but given a monitored system to help accomplish them. Augmented, of course, by the possibility of winning a whole heap of cash if you keep your goals better than anyone else.

To qualify for the program, we have to make significant resolutions pertaining to a specific triad: physical health, intellectual health, and community building.

I'm posting mine here so I can get a little boost from my friends. I need your support! So here's what I need from all three of my devoted readers: if you see me or talk to me on the phone, ask me how my resolutions are going. Ask me if I've been to yoga class lately, or if I ate a healthy dinner tonight...speak to me sternly if you sense some resistance or slipping on my end. Don't be afraid to use expletives.

To help you be more specific in with your encouragement, and to help my own self by having it here staring me in the face, this is the full list of what I resolve to do:

Physical:

• Get my body fat down from its currently inflated icky 26% to 21- or 22% (can I do that in three months?)
• Go to yoga at least once per week
• Do my nebulized medication at least 5 times per week
• Eat a healthy home cooked meal at least twice per week. Lots of veggies!

Intellectual:

• Write at least two blog posts per week
• Write at least two poems per month (this is a lot harder than it looks, people. GOOD poems.)
• Attend each and every gamelan practice every Friday and participate in the concert in April

Community:

• Only buy produce from the local farmer's market, and only organic if possible
• Buy only used clothing, or if it's new, it must be organic/recycled or fairly made/traded
• Walk, ride my bike, or take the bus for short errands
• Get political again. As in become active on a committee or in an organization

I'm serious folks. It's a lot, but I can do it. As of today, I've already gotten off to a good start. I've nebulized two days in a row, I've just written blog post #1 for this week, and I had a very tasty dinner tonight of pasta with 100% organic homemade sauce (even the spices!) made with spinach and tempeh. For dessert I had frozen organic blueberries and soy milk. I feel good! Tomorrow I have a yoga date with two friends. Oh, and I bought some new sneakers last week made with recycled tire rubber and organic cotton and water-based glue and they came in a 100% recycled cardboard box. BOO YA!!

So there you have it! New improved Kathryn on the horizon. Wish me luck! And good luck to all of you in this shiny, happy new year!!

Seattle Snow

I finally got to go back to Seattle last weekend. I adore that city; it’s really grabbed hold of my psyche in a way I can’t quite put words to. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a special place in my heart for big trees and mountains and water and real seasons, but there’s something more than that going on for me concerning this particular corner of the country.

I was lucky enough to be in the city (all of my northwest friends have relocated to the city proper) during the season’s first snowfall. It was absolutely magical, it really was. The snowflakes were huge and fluffy and because there was almost no wind they were just gently sifting down though the sky in a thick flurry. We first got to see it when we were leaving Brouwer’s--a truly phenomenal beer establishment that definitely prepped us for a magical evening of snowfall. When we walked outside, the snow was coming down thick and fast, and the most beautiful part was that there were searchlights fanning the sky right next door. I cannot describe accurately how gorgeous it was to see these shafts of light weaving through the snowfall; it was like a glittering shower of cosmic space dust all lit up and magnified. Gorgeous!

Then we drove back to S & P’s place and alerted the rest of the household and within minutes most of us were standing outside with big dumb grins on our faces. Since there was still no wind, the snow was piling up in huge fluffy mounds on the branches of the trees. The three-story Victorian house across the street was draped in thousands of Christmas lights that glowed mistily in the snowfall, the streetlight on the corner lit up another show of cosmic dust falling to earth, and the whole neighborhood slowly and quietly turned to smooth white. Magic, I tell you!

The next morning I ran to the front window to see if the magic was still there--it was, but the very first thing I saw was a little dog in mid-crouch on the front lawn, pooping all over our winter wonderland. Ugh. I walked away, waited for dog and owner to clean up and depart, then approached the window again for a fresh look. Much better! Everything was still covered in pure white, and the air was clear and sharp; I just had to go for walk in it. Steve and I took a leisurely but frigid stroll around the neighborhood a little while later. It was like a community exercise--the entire neighborhood seemed to have the same idea. Couples, friends, and families were all out and about, smiling at each other and trying not to slip on the icy sidewalks. Dogs were out in droves, puffing big happy dog breaths into the air. The snow next to the sidewalks was perforated by hundreds of tiny human footprints, kids were toddling around in their snowsuits like colorful midget Michelin men, and as we neared the park, we saw three pre-adolescent girls gleefully running down the street hauling toboggans.

On the way home, we stopped at 5-Spot, my new favorite breakfast place ever. Their hash browns are so good they are just indecent. Honestly. I told Steve the first day we ate there that I didn’t know whether I should have sex with my breakfast or eat it. It was that good. The bathrooms there are also an adventure in artsy-fartsy fun--there are pages torn from a poetry anthology taped all over the walls, including a liberal sprinkling of Allen Ginsberg. A recorded performance of some of the restaurant’s employees reading their poetry plays while you’re in there. I spent way too long in the bathroom reading everything and adding my two cents to the pad of paper on the wall. The final stop on our outing was another of my new favorite places ever: Chocolopolis. They have, in addition to a huge selection of regional chocolates and a very knowledgeable staff, some of the best hot cocoa known to humankind. The first day I tried the Spicy Dark hot chocolate, and on Sunday, the day of our snowy walkabout, I took home a cup of 72% dark chocolate. It kept my hands warm and made my soul sing all at the same time.

Ice and Snowfests

I know that it's easier for me to say this living in Southern California as I do, but I absolutely love winter. I love ice. I love snow. I love how beautiful and transformed ordinary landscapes can become during this season. To celebrate my snow-smittenness, I've collected some unusual icy pics for you. Enjoy.
**special note**if you click on the pictures, they will be more bigger and more prettier

This photo was taken at an ice festival in Finland. Below are some shots from one of my dream destinations: the Icehotel in Sweden.





There is a spectacular Ice and Snow Festival held annually in Harbin, China. One of these decades I'd love to make it there. They build an entire replica city of ice, as well as having ice and snow sculpture contests. You can read more about it and see more photos on R Todd King's excellent blog. Absolutely everything in the photos below, with the exception of people and animals, is ice. Yes, even that big beautiful church, there. It's ice.

Early Christmas Present

My omnipresent medical care issues really came to a head this month. Well, last month, to be precise. My 36 months of COBRA health insurance coverage finally sputtered to an ominous end on November first. Thankfully, because of a federal health insurance law called HIPAA (please don't ask me to elaborate on the acronym), as long as I don't let my coverage lapse for more than 63--yes, 63!--days, they are required to give me insurance even though I have scads of "pre-existing" conditions and most insurers would rather stick their tongue in a light socket than have to cover my medical expenses. Unfortunately, the law does not require that they charge me a reasonable fee...they can charge whatever the hell they feel like, and believe me, they do.

The condensed version of all this nonsense is that I am getting [expensive and kinda lousy] health coverage effective December 15th. But I have been feeling really nasty for almost two weeks now. Nasty as in if-I-don't-take-care-of-this-now-it-could-turn-into-hospitalization kind of nasty. So I finally had to resign myself to the potentially crushing expense and go see the doctor today without insurance. Two wonderful things came of this: one, I'm NOT headed for the hospital (merely getting pumped up on steroids, gack), and two, my doctor, knowing about my health insurance woes and being a staunch liberal pro-socialized-medicine yahoo, told me that he wasn't going to charge me for my exam today. Yes, FREE medical care. He's a pulmonary specialist, you know; it would cost me something like $200 if I had to pay for it myself. Wow. I had to look the other way so that I didn't start crying when he told me that he didn't want me to pay.

To top off all the "It's a Wonderful Life" style feel-goodyness, when I left the doctor's office precisely at 5:05 p.m., just in time for crushing Hillcrest traffic jams, a very considerate driver in the looooooong line of cars in front of me actually stopped to let me out into the queue. So there you have it. Doctors who really DO care, and the plain simple fact that there are nice folks in the world. Merry Christmas.

Video Happyfest

Remember in my election night post that I said that I couldn't recall the last time I cried for being happy? Well, I've been reminded. The last time I cried and smiled at the same time was watching this video. Even though I've seen it several times, it never ceases to make me get all weepy and joyful and convinced that the human race might not just be a bunch of jerks after all. It makes me hope without cynicism or doubt. It just makes me smile in a big sappy goofy way. Watch! (Make sure you click on the high quality button--it's a million times better)

Now THIS is just pure silly cat-rubby happy goodness. You know how cats sometimes are so giddy with affection and excited to see you that they start rubbing all over everything next to them before you can even reach them? This cat takes that and multiplies it by 11. With some stairs.

階段で遊ぶ猫

Devil Corgi Takes No Prisoners

Yesterday, approaching dusk, I took Ken the Dog for a walk. I have really missed walking around my neighborhood--I haven’t done much of that in the past 3 months because I’ve been so busy, or just out of town. I got to see all my neighbors’ lawns still proudly adorned with Obama signs--one with “HOORAY!” scrawled across the top in big Sharpie letters. I got to walk through the Carmelite Monastery’s public yard with its gorgeous sculpted rose gardens and hedges. And I got to see my favorite bumper sticker that reads, “I am Pro-Accordion and I vote!”

Best of all was the brief but fierce encounter with a wee belligerent Corgi. Ken and I were headed up the street when I noticed a woman walking two very stout little Corgis. For those of you not acquainted with the breed, they are extremely short, very stubby, tail-less little dogs with big fox ears. They can be quite cute given the proper context and level of fitness. These two were rather overweight, which just made them comical and sad. One in particular was so round and tubby that it made his abbreviated little legs look even MORE stubbular; they were just tiny furry nubbins poking out valiantly from underneath his fat tummy. Totally ridiculous.

I was just enjoying the spectacle when the particularly stubby tubby one suddenly pulled his leash from his owner's hand and came barreling straight at us. Actually, with his extra girth he couldn't run very fast at all; it was more of a highly accelerated waddle. It was hilarious, watching his floppy galumphing progress toward us. He seemed friendly enough when he reached us; he just stood there staring and seemingly waiting for something. It of course never occurred to me to be frightened of this little tub-dog. But when his owner caught up with him, the moment she took hold of his leash he instantly sprang into action, snarling and growling with his little leg-stubs splayed wide in a stance of angry Corgi intimidation. The woman began earnestly apologizing for his fierce protectiveness while yanking him away, but honestly, I was trying desperately to choke back my laughter the whole time. It was simply the most ridiculous sight ever--this pudgy little stub-dog quivering with indignation and protective rage and having no idea that he looked like a silly caricature of a dog and wasn’t scaring anybody.

Seattle Celebrates our New Leader

President Obama

I am nearly speechless with emotion right now, but not...quite. I volunteered for the No on 8 campaign tonight and barely got over to a celebration party in time to hear our President Elect's speech. What beautiful words! I was overcome several times since the news broke; I am so excited, so hopeful, so filled with joy. I have tears in my eyes while I write this. I cannot remember the last time I cried because I was happy, and I did so several times tonight. I am trying to etch these moments into my memory so I can remember this night forever as a pivotal point in my life in and American history. I was there. I helped make it happen.

Superfun Dress-Up Spookytime

Yay for costumes! I had a particularly fun Halloween this year--my costume turned out pretty nifty, all things considered (like the fact that I couldn’t keep my arm bandages up to save my life), and I got to go bowling. Bowling IN costume. What could be better? What was also great fun was the fact that several people didn’t recognize me at first. In my mind, that means that my costume was really good. I got to dress up for three occasions: bowling on the 30th with other crazed Team Stone folks, to work at the beer factory on Halloween itself, and to my friends’ party later that night. At N & B’s party, my favorite costume was Kiki’s husband, dressed as Joe the Plumber, complete with a tax lien sticking out of his jumpsuit pocket. Awesome.

For a full display of Bride of Frankenstein-y goodness and other silly outfits, check out the 2 photo albums on the Stone website. Make sure you look at the ones from Bowling Night first, and then the Halloween gallery. That way you see things in chronological order, and as far as I’m concerned, my costume was better on Halloween. Bowling was just the dress rehearsal. Be on the lookout for these other really fun pics: Tinkerbell hanging from a tree, a rapper with a super-blingin’ grill, Amy Winehouse, a barely-clothed Olympian swimmer, a giant bottle of beer, and Howard Hughes, complete with facial tissue footwear. Have fun!

Iceland Music Festivus Part the First

As may be expected, way too much stuff has happened in the past 7 days to cram into one easily readable blog post. In the interest of making your reading experience (and my writing experience) less tedious, I'm going to break down my Iceland adventures into several posts roughly according to subject. Please bear with me; since I am not at home yet (I am currently decompressing in the verdant splendor of Vermont) I am currently using a strange computer and things could take a while to get up and running. Don't begin your marathon mope session just yet, kids, a riveting summary of the Icelandic music scene is coming up in mere seconds! Seconds, I tell you! Well, depending upon how fast you read...

As I mentioned in my earlier teaser post, I was in Iceland mainly for the big splendiferous Airwaves music festival. My friend Joe lived in Iceland for a few years a couple of decades ago, and has several good friends there. He has attended Airwaves annually for several years as most of his Icelandic pals are musicians and perform there with happy regularity. We were lucky enough to get to stay in the studio that his friend Valgeir owns--lucky in the sense that it's typically full of other musicians who are there to record--there was one spare room left.

I feel compelled to describe this studio in some detail because it is a thing of beauty. While I haven't spent too much time in recording studios in my lifetime, I do know that they tend to be structures of streamlined functionality. This one, however, is a work of art; a space that is a joy to be in. The main recording space itself (there are two) is an architectural masterpiece of natural light, high sloped ceilings, lots of wood and dynamic angles. The astounding number of cables and wiring are cleverly hidden away, so you are surrounded by nothing but windows and wood and instruments. I wasn't able to take any photographs because people were, well, using it! But if you click on that "studio" link above and then go to "studio tour" you can see some fine pictures of both recording rooms. I also feel compelled to mention that this exact space was where Bjork recorded two of her albums (Vespertine and Medulla). I felt even more elated at being in that space once I found that out. Can you imagine?!

Evenings in Reykjavik were spent running from one venue to another, seeing lots of hot Icelandic musicians in intimate venues, being surrounded at times by crushing crowds, meeting new and interesting drunk Icelanders, and people watching. During the course of the festival I saw over 26 artists play in at least twelve different venues, three of which were bars full of noisy drunk folk, but this mostly didn't interfere with my appreciation of the music. Daytimes were spent rushing up and down Laugavegur (rushing necessitated by the wind and frigid temperatures), the main happenin' street downtown, punctuated by small leisurely interludes at Sandholt, our favorite pastry shop, and watching musicians from Bedroom Community perform "off venue" in small cafes.

Some of my favorite experiences were at the smaller venues--the unofficial performances. These were often in very small coffee houses, bars, music shops, and bookstores, and I was sometimes inches away from the musicians themselves. At one performance I was sitting on the floor and had serious concerns about getting my eye poked out by the lead singer/cellist's bow. These casual shows were less polished but more revealing of the artists' personalities and therefore more fun for me.

My very favorite performance was one in a tiny room next to a bar, crammed with about 25 people sitting on floors, couches, and unused amps, where people were passing around astounding amounts of canned beer to anyone who walked in the door. Sam Amidon was playing (one of the artists from the studio) and he was just crazy silly fun. Sam sings folk songs and shares amusing anecdotes as part of his act, but this particular venue encouraged him to really cut loose. He ended up running around the studio during one of his songs, rolling on the floor and doing push ups while he was singing. At one point his good friend Shazhad rushed in out of nowhere and started playing wild percussion to his antics; it was all spontaneous joyful goofiness. We ended the performance by playing a game where we all had to stand up, and using one hand only, tried to "kill" everyone else in the room around us by poking them in the back. You had to lie on the floor once you were dead...a lot of jumping and shouting and dramatic death throes ensued.

Another highlight was the communal dinner we all had at the studio--about 14 people or so were there; musicians, friends, studio manager-types, and one press guy. It was like when you sit down to eat a big holiday dinner with family only a lot better because everyone got along so well. I was particularly happy because nearly everyone there welcomed me as a friend, instead of a non-musician nobody they didn't want to give the time of day. The press guy at one point remarked at how much like a community this studio was, and how unusual he felt that is in the industry. I can appreciate that, and I found it to be true as well. The main performance of the Bedroom Community folks on Friday night embodied this element of camaraderie and musical fellowship--at a few points during the show everyone from the studio was on stage at the same time, playing and stomping and dancing, jumping up and down, making faces at each other, and the energy they created was this live vibrant thing throbbing in the air all around us.

Two Days in Iceland

Remember how I said that I was going to write a whole separate blog post about my impending trip to Iceland?  Wellllll, here it is!  I've been here for a day and a half so far, but it feels like much longer, and in a very good way.  I was originally saddened and concerned that I was only going to be here for 5 or 6 days, but now I think it will be enough to help me really feel that I've been in another country and experienced a significant slice of it.

I am here as the guest of my good friend Joe, who knows lots of musically-oriented people.  There is an annual music festival called Airwaves that happens here in Reykjavik (the capital) that attracts folks from all over the world.  Most of the featured artists are Icelandic, but there's a good mix of people from many other countries as well.  The best part is that the whole thing is staged in multiple venues around downtown, the majority of which are very small bars or music stores--really great intimate settings to get up close and appreciate the music.  

Some fast facts about Iceland: the total population is about 300,000.  That's it.  Here in Reykjavik, they don't typically use water heaters.  Instead, the city water is piped in from local hot springs--there's tons of geothermal activity here; it's a big volcano, you know.  Sidewalks are constructed from loose concrete squares, underneath which is a lot of sand and the hot water pipes.  This way, the sidewalks stay warm and never get icy in winter.  These loose "tiles" are unmortared so that they can make repairs easily without having to jackhammer a bunch of mortar and concrete out of the way.  Pretty damn nifty engineering.  All the women here are ridiculously good looking, which is very bad for my self-esteem, but I'll get over it.  Also, the national uniform for women under the age of 60 is black leggings and skirts.  I don't blend well at all.

Oops.  Well, I have to run; we're off to downtown on the bus to watch some more shows.  I'll post more soon!!