Oakland Images

Ferry from Oakland to SF - the Ferry Building



Ferry Building in SF - exterior



Ferry Building in SF - interior



Everett and Jones BBQ - Jack London Square



Everett and Jones BBQ - Jack London Square

Oakland trip

Well, I definitely stayed in a place closer to all the stuff. I haven't seen anything though, because one of the people from work invited me to dinner with her family, so I didn't have to scrounge for food. Haha. This time, there is all kinds of stuff around me.

On Sunday, we rode the ferry across to San Francisco and went to the Ferry Building. We didn't know it was going to be closing at 5pm or we might have planned better. We got a little shopping done and then waited for the Ferry to come back. It was a good chance to talk. Then a bit of dinner and then off for home.

I will post some pictures if I get a chance.

Music Meme (from Lost and Found Memes on the Daily Meme)

Instructions:

1. Grab the nearest CD
2. Put it in your CD player (or start your mp3 player, iTunes, etc.)
3. Skip to Song 3 (or load the 3rd song in your 3rd playlist)
4. Post the verse in your blog/journal along with these instructions. Don't name the band or the album title.


"Something in the way you love me won't let me be
I don't want to be your prisoner, so baby wont you set me free?
Stop playing with my heart,
finish what you start when you make my love come down.
If you want me, let me know.
Baby let it show -
Honey don't you fool around
Just try to understand
I've given all I can
Cause you've got the best of me..."

Going to Oakland again

Yes, I am on my way out of town again. This time, I actually had some warning. I will be down there for a week. This time, I decided to stay a little further away from the office I am working in so that I could have some entertainment and food. Turns out I picked a perfect place (assuming that the hotel isn't run down and horrible)...right near Jack London Square - shopping, farmer's market, cinema, Indian and other restaurants all nearby - and a Barnes and Noble.



I will be going in to see if I can purchase the book "Life is a Verb" by Patti Digh. I am VERY excited to get it and I might, in fact, buy it for my friends who will be meeting me tomorrow.



My good friends from California, whom I haven't seen in a LONG time, are driving up from the Sacramento area to visit with me tomorrow. I wish it was a longer stay, but alas, it is just for the day. Shari, Barbara and Carol will be meeting me at my hotel at around noon-ish. I can't wait to see them.


Barbara and Shari (Reno Christmas party)

Who knows if I will be able to use the business center in this place to keep you all updated. The first hotel I stayed in down there had a little computer in the lobby, but the @ key didn't work, so I couldn't post because I couldn't even log into my account. Sigh. The second place had a business center that was busy EVERY TIME I checked, so I finally gave up. Suffice to say, I may or may not be able to update my adventures before I come home next Friday.

I have a wicked schedule here for a couple of weeks...1 week in Oakland, signed performance "Phantom of the Opera" on Sept. 4, teaching a workshop Sept. 12, 13,14 (I think those are the right dates) and Region V Interpreting Conference in Sacramento September 24-28. I'm also supposed to start teaching that week. YIKES!!

Murphy's Law?

So all the computers in my work life have gone insane with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death...it is driving me crazy. And I ordered a pair of just white tennis shoes and when they came (I get what I deserve for ordering shoes off the internet), they were grandma tan - you know the kind. For about a nano-second, I thought, "Just keep it. It is less trouble than sending them back." I even looked at the box, sure that I had just pressed the wrong button and deserved the hideous looking things...but NO. The box said SPORT WHITE. Now, unless I am insane, SPORT WHITE was never the kind of tan that these shoes are...Seriously - orthopedic shoe tan. Now, if I needed an orthopedic shoe or if I had ordered a tan shoe, I would be fine with that. I didn't. I ordered white.

Pretty...

This is the best I can muster today...It has been a long week. Plus, I have been staying up late watching the Olympics! Fun, but tiring. And it is like 100+ degrees outside..

Olympic Fever - Confession

I LOVE the Olympics. I always think, "This time, I won't really care...I don't know any of the atheletes anyway...I will read about it..." then the reality. I LOVE watching the Olympics. I love that people are competing for their country, I love that 3 atheletes come from some tiny country we have never heard of and they probably won't win, but they are just proud to be there. I love the triumph of the spirit and the surprises because someone told them they couldn't win.

I remember seeing some of the 1976 Olympics when I was a little girl - we lived in Germany at the time and had visited the Olympic stadiums in Munich. We watched Nadia Comaneci - the first time I had ever watched gymnastics knowingly.

Anyway, I have just loved the whole Michael Phelps challenge to win 8 gold medals and the greatness of Dara Torres coming back to swimming for her 5th? Olympics at age 41. The US Men's Gymnastics team performing despite losing 2 of their team leaders. The women's Gymnastics team coming together to do good work despite injuries. Watching the Chinese Men's gynmastics team perform at home, the synchronized diving, etc.

Did I say I LOVE the Olympics?

Kind Deed or Manipulated?

I know I have been away...I think I have that reaction to Nablopomo - I enjoy it, but it is a lot of pressure to come up with something new every day. This week has been kind of crappy, so I just took a break from the blog.

So, here's a situation that happened yesterday that I was thinking about...

I went to Safeway during my lunch break and as I was approaching the entrance, I saw a man sitting in a wheelchair. He looked to be in his late 40s, just sitting in his wheelchair. He wasn't close to the door - he was over to the side in front of the soda machines there. When I walked by, I expected him to ask me for money or to be selling something (even though he didn't have a table or any items). Sometimes they have had veterans outside of the store selling lapel ribbons or something. He didn't say anything to me as I walked by and I breathed my usual sigh of relief. I know there are people out there - panhandlers - who are just looking to earn a fast buck, but there are also people out there who are so desperate for some drop of kindness and some help that they resort to begging. I have a hard time with that - how do I know which they are? If I'm downtown, I usually can spot the difference, but here in a suburban area...who knows? So, with relief, I entered the building.

When I came out of the store, he was still there, but my guard was down. I had forgotten to buy a drink inside for my lunch and I walked to the vending machine. I tried to go to one that was a little ways away from the guy. As soon as I stopped walking, he said, "I don't suppose you could spare some change? I've been turned down for disability and have refiled, but it takes a long time." I asked him to hold on just a minute and I would see what I could do. I bought my pop - with the only singles I had in my pocket...since when do sodas cost $1.50 from a vending machine for goodness sake? I knew I only had $20 in my pocket. I talked to the guy for a few minutes. I told him not to give up and that my friend had been in a similar situation - applying for disability and getting turned down. This guy was worried he might have to hire a lawyer who will then take 30%, but he had broken his back and was still recovering.

We talked for a few minutes and I tried to be encouraging - he seemed very sad and spoke in a soft voice. I took the $20 out of my pocket and handed it to him. I said, "I hope this helps a little. What's your name?" His name was Steve. I told him my name and I told him to hang in there and not give up. I wished him a good day and looked him in the eye as I shook his hand.

As I walked away, I hoped I did something kind for someone in need. If he was manipulating me, I don't ever need to know. He will know. I shook his hand and treated him with humanity. If he was lying, I hope he never forgets that sometimes people just try to do the right thing.

Places I've Lived...Nostalgia continued

This is where we lived in Florida

Panama City, Florida - 5230 Park Street. The marker is on the wrong house. We were the corner lot on the inside. We lived across the street from Nina Haanio (her father was Hawaiin), Thalia Smith, Julie (big hair), Debbie (Italian family), Sandy (mean girl lived down the street), Robert (Linda's big crush), Joe Pitt lived somewhere around (Robert's friend), Dee Dee Small lived on the opposite inside corner lot. We rode our bikes around doing the "what do you want to do?" "I don't know what do you what to do?" lament that kids do when they are 11 and 12. During the summer, we went swimming every day - either at the base pool or in the Tyndall Bay.


Here are some pictures of the beaches where we swam and the pool, too. My sister has all the pictures of our house and friends in Panama City, so I have to try and talk her into scanning them for me.

Panama City Beach


Mexico Beach




Tyndal AFB Swimming Pool



It is hard to find pictures of some of this stuff, even online. I was trying to find the schools I went to, but some schools don't even have pictures online. Some of the schools don't exist anymore, I think.

Anyway...just trying to record some of this so that I won't forget.

100 Posts on WILD RUMPUSING

This is my 100th post to Wild Rumpusing! I have two main blogs that I have been working on, and between the two have 173 posts (there are others from when I was dabbling, but these two are the ones I have focused on).

100 posts is a great place to stop and celebrate. As I said in an earlier post, it's not like I've been writing the blog of the year or the great American novel, but it is a starting place. When things happen, I think about what I will write here, so I think it has definitely turned my brain to a place of thinking and writing that it hasn't been in for a LONG TIME.

When I was in high school, I wrote something every day - a lot of it was useless dreck but some of it turned out all right and I worked my writing muscles, if you know what I mean. I guess that's what I'm doing with this whole blogging thing - working out my writing muscles. When my Dad died, I starting thinking about all the stories that are lost and all the things people will never know about us. I am reminded of this anew each time I lose someone close.

I have a lot of stories to tell and a lot of memories I don't want to fade into the background, not to mention all the things that happen in life and thoughts that we have about strange things. I guess I thought this was an interesting way to capture those things.

Anyway, Happy 100 posts!

Dissatisfied at the end of July

Ever have one of those days - not exactly a bad day...a day of realization that isn't permanent realization - maybe it is just existential angst, temporary but no less intense than if it was a permanent state of affairs - where nothing is GOOD?

I am getting ready to interpret the show and not feeling it like I should. I went downstairs to get ready and I looked at all my clothes and I realized I hate all my clothes today. I don't think I hate them everyday...just today. I like all the pink things but I can't wear pink to interpret. Each thing has some small flaw. And nothing sounds good to eat. And I don't want to do my job anymore.

What I really want is to go see movies and shows and read and clean my house...it sounds so adolescent. Mid-life crisis? Who knows? Just feeling antsy and dissatisfied.

But I am trying to break out of it. Instead of my usual "I'm staying in the house all day Saturday because I CAN", I have accepted an invitation to go see "The Dark Knight" - at Bridgeport no less - in the IMAX theatre...What was I thinking?

I think I have had like 5 social engagements in the last month. That has to be a world's record compared to the last 3 years. Dang...maybe things are looking up already...

And another post to make up for the lack this month. HA! Take that Nablopomo! (it really isn't their fault...it just sounded funny in my head)

"A Chorus Line" and Defeat

I gave up once I missed that stupid day after coming back from the beach. I can't believe Nablopomo about FOOD was such a challenge for me. I've been trying to find out what August's theme will be but I haven't had any luck. Oh well. I'm sure they will post it by tomorrow...right?

Anyway, I will be interpreting "A Chorus Line" tonight. Wish me luck...or "break a leg"...I'm gonna need it. Funny how the "easy" shows (due to dance or length or limited number of characters) are NEVER easy (topic, language, etc.).

Anyway, off to rehearse some more.

Nostalgia - Places I've Lived

For some reason, today I was feeling nostalgic for the places I have lived. I decided to look them up on Google Earth. We don't really have any photos of where we lived before moving to Panama City, Florida except for some slides from Colorado. All the photos from Germany were stolen, so most of the places live in my mind's eye. To see the places from Google Earth is wild - very little has changed since I was living in those places. This is really more for me than anything else, so bear with me.

Aurora, Colorado - the first house I lived in on Florence Street. Crawford Elementary school, where I attended Kindergarten and 1/2 of first grade is across the street. There is also the city park a few blocks away and the medical center behind the house where I hid some of my toys thinking I would come back and get them after going to "Germany" which I didn't know was a place (I was 6).



The Amelia Earhart Hotel in Wiesbaden, Germany was the next "home" I remember. We lived there for at least a month or two while waiting for housing. Eventually, we found a place in Medenbach, Wiesbaden, Germany and lived "off the base" otherwise known as "on the economy" for the rest of the year. I am still looking for that place - I don't remember the address. I know that we lived on the second floor and there was an orchard across the weird alley that was right next to our house. The landlady's daughter was named Sabina and they spoke no English. I used to walk to the school bus stop with my sister in the dark with a flashlight there.

In the Amelia Earhart hotel, where most of the USAF families lived in the early 1970s before getting into housing, there were all kinds of strange smells. Across the street was a stand that sold the most delicious rindwurst (my mother and I loved those) and bratwurst (my father and sister loved those). We could walk across the street and get a rindwurst, brochen and a triangular paper cone filled with pomme frites (which were always superior in my mind to french fries). I understand that the AE is no longer a hotel but is still under the US Armed Forces control. I have seen several blogs and other items on the internet where people are inquiring about the stand and the hotel.

The Amelia Earhart Hotel


Currently on Google Earth - AE Hotel (not a hotel anymore)


Crestview Housing Area on Bierstadter Hohe and Plutoweg

This shows the building we lived in. There were two stairwells (I always thought there were 3) per building. These have covers over the little patio we had (we just jumped over the rail from the first floor) but we didn't have covers then. As you move up Plutoweg, the last house on the lower right hand corner of the intersection of Plutoweg and Saturnstrasse was Uncle Paul's house. He was a kindly elderly German gentleman (we lived on the edge of the housing area) who gave us fruit (He gave me my first pear to eat) when we passed by. One time he invited my friend and I in to pick some fruit and gave us a glass of fresh lemonade. He spoke little English but we took German an hour a day.





To be continued...

Approaching 100 posts

This is my 96th published post this year on WildRumpusing! I haven't written anything particularly literary or too entertaining, however, I have been writing more and thinking more (even when I don't write stuff down).

I read a bunch of older posts at 37Days (I know, I know - I told you it was a blogaffair). Some of the posts made me cry. Made me want to live a different kind of life, made me want to explore more of the real stuff.

Funny, when I was younger, I was less afraid of looking at real stuff and now that I am more fully the real me, I don't take the time to examine my life much. I get distracted by the day-to-dayness of it all. I never thought that would happen to me.

I am struck by another 80s movie line from "The Breakfast Club" - Ally Sheedy's character says, "When you grow up, your heart dies." Now, I don't think my heart died. Nothing so dramatic. It just stopped paying attention to things. It's in there - the desire to look at life and to care about the little things. It is just a swimming-against-the-current scenario. I can do it.

"WarGames" 25th Anniversary

So, I went to the movies last night to see "WarGames" - 25th Anniversary edition. They showed a brief documentary before starting the film- like the ones on your DVD extras. It was interesting but I also thought it kind of ruins it for those few people who hadn't seen the movie yet (kids of Gen X people).

The movie was still compelling and unintentionally funny because of all the ancient computer equipment and 80s sensibility. People smoking anywhere they wanted, a smoking and non-smoking ticket to Paris, floppy disks, Pong-like games, Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy in their first starring roles.

Good clean fun. Makes me want to go back and watch other classics - "Red Dawn", "St. Elmo's Fire", "Breakfast Club", "Sixteen Candles", etc. I know they are hysterical in their innocence.

Anyway, a good time was had by all.

37Days book coming on Sept. 2

Here is a lovely post on 37days with an Oregon connection...
http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2008/07/be-the-leader-y.html

Behind on life...

I almost made it the whole month without missing a day...but then I took a vacation and I have been running to catch up...I was only gone one day from work but still...it makes a huge difference in the pile of "things to do".

At the Beach - Where I am Staying Part 2

I was saving the best part for last...hopefully I will get some photos of my own...

Where I am staying - Part 1

Ahhh...the beach. Finally!

I am going to the beach this weekend and I won't be back until Monday night. I have left a couple of posts so you can see what we are enjoying.

We are finally going to have some carrot cake and spaghetti tonight (I've been craving both).

"Les Miserables" - Delayed

This has been an incredibly busy week and I have a lot to say about my experience seeing "Les Miserables" the other night, but I am exhausted and am going to postpone. I think I will write it out by hand and bring my thoughts here when I come back from the coast.

Here's a preview - we are going to Depoe Bay, Oregon.

"Les Miserables" Memory

I remember the first time I saw "Les Miserables". Roby and I had been listening to it since 1985 or early 1986 - the London Cast recording, of course. We saw the performance on the 1987 Tony Awards and we knew that we were DYING to see the show. In December of 1987, we flew to New York with Ms. Coburn and Mr. Erikson and a group of AHS Theater studens as "chaperones" - we found the whole concept ironic.

Anyway, we arrived on a Sunday and saw "Starlight Express". Monday was dark and we ate out and dinked around in the cold, took tours, etc. On Tuesday, we went to see Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular (I will tell about that another time) in the morning and "Into the Woods" (Original Broadway Cast - Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, etc.). On Wednesday, we went to see "Les Miserables".

"Les Miserables" was still at the Broadway theatre (I later saw it at the Imperial months before it closed). It was bitter cold and snowing that evening, so we took a cab to the theatre. The Broadway theatre is BEAUTIFUL. I was overwhelmed - this night was the whole reason I had flown to NYC - to see THIS show. We had perfect seats...I still have the stubs somewhere, so I will have to check where we were seated someday. We were in the orchestra about 2/3 of the way back - we could see the entire stage and could see their facial expressions.

The instant the lights dimmed and the first words appeared on the scrim and the first notes sang from the orchestra, I began to weep silently. I couldn't stop the stream of tears running down my cheeks. Jean Valjean was released and is given redemtion from the bishop when he steals the silver...the scrim came down and the next scene location and time appeared, the orchestra was playing...and the house lights were coming up... I could see the conductor looking around as if to say, "Why are the lights going up? They aren't supposed to be going up..." There was an announcement on the PA stating that there would be a brief and unexpected intermission for 15 minutes. Everyone got up, went to the restroom, milled around, returned to their seats, milled some more and got a little restless. No one really knew what was going on.

It turns out that a gentleman in the balcony had had a heart attack and the paramedics had come to help him. After the show, we found out that the man had died. We went to a talk-back with Gary Morris (who was Valjean) and the actors said that kind of thing happened once a week or so...people eat too much, get too excited, etc. But usually the patron survived.

Anyway, when the show finally started back up again around 45 minutes later, the music started again and so did my uncontrollable tears. Honestly, I thought I would not be able to see any of the show because I cried the entire show, stopping only for intermission. When the show was over and we were waiting for the talk-back participants, I continued to cry for 15-20 minutes. Roby was laughing at me for being such a dork.

After we left, Roby snapped a picture of Gary Morris as he was walking away into the night. I wish I had a copy of that.

Anyway, that is my "Les Miserables" memory. I will tell you more about the show I saw this week when I return to the blog.

Going to see "Les Miserables"

The Broadway Rose Theatre is doing a limited engagement of "Les Miserables" - one of a handful of community theatres in the United States granted the rights to do the show. It has quite a cast and I am going to see the show tonight.

Luckily, I purchased tickets a while ago because I heard they had sold out all the performances and had even added one. I can't wait to see it. MOre later.

My Birthday at work

Above is a photo of the beautiful cupcakes made for me by my assistant, SL. She also took the picture. She is an excellent baker and seamstress and craftswoman. She is amazing. She spent all day Saturday making these and they looked absolutely beautiful. She also made me handmade pink linen hankerchiefs embroidered with my initials on some and my name on others.

It was a really nice birthday. And this weekend, I go to the beach. Excellent!

**Note: If she ever reads this, I hope she doesn't mind that I used her photo to show off her beautiful work.

I Heart Bookfest (to coin a phrase)

Kevin sent me an email that was titled "I Heart Bookfest" so I stole it. Thanks, Kevin!

We had Bookfest yesterday and it was GRAND. I don't have much time to discuss because I am on my way out to celebrate my BIRTHDAY!! 41 years on Earth.

More later!

Childhood food memories - Happy

Since I was a "picky eater" (what a label to carry all your life...), I had very few lunch options in elementary school. As my dad was in the Air Force, when we moved to Germany, there was no option for buying lunch. You HAD to bring lunch or go home for lunch. The school rooms I was in during second and third grade were in the basement of the base housing and used to be old maid's quarters with a little foyer and bathroom and a bigger living space and bedroom. The only foods I liked to take were fried bologna sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly (grape) sandwiches accompanied by snack pak fruit cups (I liked peaches mostly) and some potato chips and celery sticks.

When I went home, we usually had macaroni and tomato sauce (a family recipe). THAT is still one of my favorite foods and one of the only things my mother cooked that I can actually reproduce with some accuracy. We never really ate mac and cheese - my mother doesn't like cheese and she never ate it growing up, so we had this other alternative - cheap, healthy and easy to stretch the budget.

Food Memories...

So, since I have been struggling with this category, I thought I would change tactics a little bit.

When I was a kid, my father only liked "meat and potatoes" kinds of meals and "ethnic" food (food from other cultures) was not nearly as prevalent as it is now or as it is here in Portland. Even when we lived in Germany, we pretty much had American food or German food (sometimes Italian food with a German twist). My mother didn't really grow up eating food from other cultures, and spices were not at all what they are today.

My food experiences growing up were very plain - I don't like condiments, I don't really like many sauces, etc. So food was not that exciting for me. Unfortunately, it was also a source of conflict for me much of the time. If you ask my mom, she will say that when I was a baby I liked all kinds of things, but then as I grew older, I was influenced by textures. I have very specific textures that I don't like AT ALL and that really changed the kinds of food I would eat. This infuriated my father and fascinates other people. I find that regularly people STILL will ask me, "So, you don't like ketchup? mustard? mayo? relish? salad dressing? nothing? How can you live like that?" Ummm. Easily. I don't eat that. It is actually pretty healthy to not slather crap all over everything you eat. But it can also be boring. I remember my grandmother being frustrated that I didn't like chili and stuffing and pickles. Ew. In fact, my sister used to chase me with pickles and pickle juice on her hands because I hated them so much - the smell is VILE to me.

When we traveled to France for a day, I was about 7 years old. We just drove into France while we were on our way somewhere else and my dad tried to order sandwiches. His French was minimal so when the food came, I didn't want to eat it because it has some mayonaise looking kind of sauce on it. I didn't make a scene or scream or ask for something else, I just didn't want to eat it. This set my father off in a RAGE and he NEVER forgot that. Even a year before he died, whenever he would get mad at me for something, he would bring up that day. I know he was trying his best and was probably frustrated that his French abilities limited what he could order or ask for. I felt bad that he was so mad, but at the same time, I was just a little kid. It was always something that he used as a weapon against me.

Also, as a life-long migraine sufferer, I have some foods I don't eat any longer. When I was little, anything that seemed to have triggered a migraine was off the menu...the most recent off the list is Diet Coke. After 3 migraines hit in less than 2 months immediately after taking a drink of Diet Coke, I decided that was one thing I could eliminate. I have been migraine free for a year now, so I don't know if it was stress or the Diet Coke or a combination, but I'm not willing to take the chance. The best part of that decision was the increase in my water intake. Now, I can tell when I haven't had enough water in a day. It is only hard when I go on trips to places like Oakland (smile) where it is hard to even FIND water.

Anyway, just a few memories about food which may be slightly more interesting than stories about what I had for lunch.

Early Birthday Gift

I have been the interim manager for another worksite (hence my trips to Oakland). Somehow, they found out my birthday was coming and sent me a lovely and edible bouquet of pineapple, strawberries, grapes and some chocolate as a birthday/thank you gift. What a nice group of people!!

BookFest, Birthdays and Carrot Cake

So, the big news is that BookFest is this Sunday!!!! I'm stoked! Books, books, books! There are never enough books. We started in 1995 and now it is year 13 and we are celebrating on 7/13 (lucky 13) which is also the day before my birthday!!

Speaking of birthdays, I don't really even know why I still get all giddy about my birthday. It isn't like I'm anticipating getting a bicycle or a toy or a stereo or any of the things I was hoping for when I was a kid. Now, when people ask me what I want, I think of things like a trip to the beach, a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, game night with friends. But I still get excited that it is my birthday. In fact, at work, we have what is called a "Floating Holiday" which can be used any day of the year, so I take my birthday as my holiday. I love that.

The one thing I know I want for my birthday is a piece of carrot cake. I have been craving carrot cake for a while now. Without raisins.

I don't know why these themes are so hard...

You would think that food would be an easy topic to cover, but nobody REALLY cares what you eat for lunch everyday. I think I imagined that I would start whipping up fabulous dishes with perfect pictures of the culinary delights.

Bah ahahahahahahahah!!!!

Mundane food stuff

I am such a creature of habit. Here is my non-exciting daily breakfast.

2 slices of Western Hazelnut bread toast, 3 sausage links, one glass of Calorie Countdown milk (although I was really resistant, I actually think this is much better than regular milk - colder and thinner...). Occasionally, I have a mocha frappucino. :)

Here's some pics (to add interest to this lame post):

Not feeling well

I worked a really long day today and came home to eat dinner at 9:30pm. I had some chicken which was ok, but I think I was just too tired to eat.

I wish I was a brilliant chef so that I could put fabulous recipes in my July Nablopomo, but alas, I am not.

Since I'm not really feeling that well, I'm going to call it a night. More tomorrow.

Back to the food...

It is really hard to find pictures of favorite foods that adequately represent the food you are actually talking about and it is also hard to think of foods that you love that actually have pictures of it...

I could not find things like "Turkey dinner" or "Mussamun curry with Chicken". They had the Thai with beef, but I don't like that. I think food is hard to photograph. I also didn't do a picture of peanut butter or corn, or greeen apples...I was trying to pick from a lot of different categories to see what it would look like to have favorite foods in a mosaic.

Enjoy.


1. Lemon Love_Affair, 2. Sweet Tasty Fruit, 3. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 4. Buster's TEXAS STYLE BARBEQUE, 5. moroccan mint tea 1415.jpg, 6. Rindwurst mit Senf., 7. Weiner Schnitzel, 8. Whole wheat pancakes, 9. Spice World, 10. I have defeated General Tso, 11. little_delhi_papadam, 12. fried wonton, 13. Turkey Noodle Soup, 14. itty bitty wedding cheesecake, 15. Indian Spices #3, 16. Pot Stickers, 17. Avgolemono, 18. chicken vindaloo, 19. spaghetti and meatballs, 20. thai barbeque plate, 21. [ side street inn ], 22. Wienerschnitzel, 23. Untitled, 24. plain and chocolate overload peanut butter cookies, 25. My first strawberries of this season...

Purple Haze Mosaic

I know, I know. I'm at it again. I just love this process of putting photos together. I wish I could take beautiful photos but I never really learned how. But my mind is like a movie or a mosaic, putting shapes and colors and images together, so for right now, this suits me very well.



1. Purple Rain, 2. The Purple Moment (Part 3), 3. what's with the purple bags????, 4. purple haze, 5. a1510 Purple on Orange, 6. Purple Finches by Scott Evans, 7. APRIL SWAP purple n gween, 8. Purple Haze all in my Brain, 9. Deep Purple..., 10. Minimal purple, 11. Purple Lightning, 12. Bench_Purple, 13. Pink Party Balloons on Purple, 14. purple bangle, 15. deep purple, 16. i enviolet you, 17. The Purple Frog, 18. my purple doll shoes., 19. Untitled, 20. Purple Patch(work) , 21. Yellow,Purple & Blue, 22. Purple Eyes, 23. Purple rain, 24. Old chair, 25. one little punky monkey, 26. Purple pencils, 27. blueberry and milk, 28. What purple is all about, 29. choc mud with purple and mauve hues, 30. 28/30 "Purple tights," she said after some consideration "are rather more then just tights. I mean, tights in themselves are nothing out of the ordinary, but when they're purple, they say something. they seem to have their own opinion., 31. Purple M&Ms, 32. Wet eggplant, 33. purple button, 34. Violet Red?, 35. Purple, 36. Little Purple Flower Petal on a Fuzzy Green Leaf

Fourth of July Dinner - Not exactly Independence Day Fare

We decided to have Chinese food for dinner tonight - back home after my trip from Oakland. Ironically, I have not had any other kind of food in days...Chinese, Thai...oh, wait, Italian (if you can call it that) at the Oakland airport. I had bow tie pasta, marinara and meatballs. It wasn't bad. The pasta was cooked well, the sauce was tasty, the meatballs were good. It was better than the overcooked chicken strips, the shriveled french fries...you get the picture. I rounded it off with a banana and a green apple for dessert while I was on the plane.

I digress (I've been doing that a lot). So tonight, our choices are:

Mongolian Beef

General Tso's Chicken

Other favorites we didn't get (we are stuck in a rut...)

Kung Pao Chicken

Sesame Chicken

But the real star of the night will be a version of Strawberry Shortcake.

Strawberry shortcake is definitely an American staple. I don't think it is about food or fireworks or Blues music or going to picnic all day with jillions of other people. Patriotism is in the heart and in our beliefs.

Admission: I still tear up at a really good version of the National Anthem. Or "Taps". Or a dozen other patriotic songs. I can't help it. When I was in elementary school, we sang all the patriotic songs every day and we stood when the National Anthem was sung, hands on hearts. My dad was in the Air Force and it wasn't something I questioned as a young person.

As an adult, I don't always agree with our military actions (not going there right now, sorry), but I still believe that we are lucky to be in a country where I can say that and not get put in jail. I don't always know how to reconcile some of my experiences growing up and the beliefs that were instilled in me with the beliefs I have as an adult...they are often in direct opposition. I try to just accept that not everything makes sense. Some things just are.

I can say that I'm proud to be an American - I hope we can make up for some of what we have done in the name of "freedom". Regardless, we should celebrate the ideals of our nation and hope that we can regain our "beacon of hope" status someday.

Happy Fourth of July!

After a spate of visitors to this page from a google image search, I pulled the photos. My apologies for misusing them.

Missing my lemons

I love lemons - bright, fresh flavor. On salads, just plain...doesn't matter. That's what I have been missing on my trip. Weird, huh?

All Thai food is not created equal

Well, as I have already said, I am in Oakland this week.  I'm staying downtown and it is so odd to find that there aren't really any restaurants to note that are open past 7pm.  The last time I was here, I walked about a mile down to Jack London Square and had BBQ when I was looking for an Indian place.  There was an Indian restaurant right by my hotel last time, but when I went there, after 5pm mind you, the employees were there and sitting around eating and talking and when I tried to open the door, it was locked.  So, I looked for hours of operation and it said that they opened at 5:00pm, but it was 5:30pm and finally one of the guys came over, tapped his watch and shrugged.  I left.  I wasn't going to stand around and wait for them to open up whenever they felt like it.   Anyway, last night, I wandered in a different direction round about 7pm (the hotel I'm in only has a "breakfast restaurant"...I've never heard of that in a hotel, really. ) and I passed tons of little Chinese restaurants but all closed. Tons of little stores, all closed.  Finally, I went back to my hotel and ordered delivery Chinese.  It was totally random, out of the phone book.  Food was not bad, but not great.  What I was really missing, though was a beverage.  Everywhere I go, they have coke and pepsi and dr. pepper, but nothing without caffeine..   Anyway, I digress.  Tonight, after not having lunch, I decided that I would eat dinner at 5:30pm and come back to work afterwards.  One of the people where I work said there was a good Thai place about 3 blocks away.  I walked down there and had yellow curry chicken (they didn't have mussaman chicken...my favorite.  They had mussaman beef, but I didn't like that the last time I tried it.)  The sauce was tasty, but like soup and not very spicy.  The chicken was a mix of meat - not all breast.  The servers were very attentive and nice and the atmosphere and the decor was very nice.  I didn't love the food, though.   My first Thai love is in Vancouver, WA of all places.  It is the first place I ever had Thai food and LIKED it.  The first place I had Thai was a chain restaurant and the food was awful.  This little place in Vancouver is really good.  It is family owned by a great couple who are very kind and attentive.  The restaurant is simple but beautifully colored.  They know me by name and voice on the phone as we often order takeout from work.  This little gem is called Thai Terrace (when I get back on Blogger official, I will link them up).   There are a couple of other great Thai restaurants around Portland - my other favorite is in Downtown, near the MAX tracks on like 3rd and something..The first Thai food restaurant in Oregon, The House of Lapthong is pretty good, too, although, nothing can beat Thai Terrace's Massmun Curry with Chicken or their fabulous fried wontons.   Anyway, I am obviously missing home and my standby Thai place.  Will be back in Oregon on Thursday (very late). Looking forward to being home again.

Nablopomo badge

I'm still waiting for the Nablopomo badge for July. I'm sure it will be pretty cool.


Visit NaBloPoMo

July Nablopomo - FOOD

Food is going to be an interesting theme this month. I think a lot of people will be doing recipes and showing off their culinary skills, of which I have none.

I interpreted in a very renowned culinary school for at least 6 months and I learned A TON. It was quite an experience, really. I didn't think I would like it - when I started I kept thinking, "Why am I doing this? I don't cook. I barely like any of the foods they will cook in a school with a French cuisine focus..." But it was an incredible experience. I would interpret in cooking school again any day. The hardest part was that there were few signs for the concepts we were discussing, so we had to be creative and stay on our toes to remember all the signs we had set up with the person we worked with.

Anyway, I digress.

I'm not sure how food will really play into my Nablopomo experience this time. I'm excited to do it on Wild Rumpusing because I really want to get back into the habit of writing daily. I also really want to participate in the theme, so I'm gonna give it a whirl and try to really keep to the theme.

Wish me luck!

Another Brilliant 37Days Post...

I just fall in love everytime I go to this site...I love that she is willing to suspend disbelief and really allow her child to be creative and individual...

Go there and check it out..

http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2008/06/catalog-your-fa.html

I just wanted to remember this posting.

Remote posting from email

I read that I can post remotely from an email account, which would make life a lot easier when I'm travelling.  I'm going to Oakland this week, so I wanted to have a contingency plan in place before I leave. Oakland is a strange place.  The office is right downtown, so there is nothing really to do or see for about a mile.  Last time I was there, I walked down to a movie theatre and caught a viewing of "Iron Man" the day before it came out in Portland.  That was fun.  It was good to see a movie  with lots of other people reacting.  I really enjoyed that.  But the walk back home wasn't so fun...it was like 10:30pm and there were just a few places that I didn't really feel I wanted to be after dark when I wasn't really sure what was around.  Normally, I don't worry about that stuff.  It isn't like Oakland is that much scarier than NYC or even downtown Portland in the evening, except for the quality of the unknown.  Anyway, I'm going to stay at a different hotel this time because the place I stayed at last time had crappy AC and if its going to be hot, I won't get any sleep at all.  I hate the heat.  Plus, I know the air quality isn't great right now because of the fires that got started by electrical lightning last week.  So, I don't really want to sleep with the windows open like I did last time. So, let's see if this works or if it will be radio silence until I get back.  Every time I start Nablopomo, I have to go out of town like the next day.  Weird.

Flickr Exploration - color and stuff...

1. "And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!", 2. 2 elephants bathing, crystal clear sea, white sand, wild jungle..., 3. Pink Sherbet Ultimate Colors Mosaic, 4. my favourite pink doll shoes, 5. My pink shoes, 6. Pink Candy Buffet, 7. New Pink Shoes, 8. special brownies, 9. Picture Frame, 10. Faith's birthday pink cupcakes!, 11. Making Mess Part Two, 12. wall of books, 13. Montreal Colors Pink, 14. Kathmandu Colors, 15. Orders Sorted, 16. Lilly, 17. Taj Mahal at sunset, 18. "The Price Of Freedom", 19. Young sâdhu, Allahabad. India 2007, 20. Rangoli, 21. PINK CANDIES, 22. Pink Shoe Cake, 23. Toji, 24. Padmanabhan - the king, 25. Giraffes at Sunset, Etosha Pan #3, 26. ganesha, remover of obstacles, 27. Taj Mahal, 28. Pink ~ suesue2, this is for you :), 29. Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Perfect Pink Cupcake, 30. Craft Room, 31. Pink Riding Shoes, 32. the rest of the pink doll shoes, 33. Hindu colours, 34. I can see you!, 35. "Timemachines", 36. a cupcake for Jan

I just liked the process of the photo meme from yesterday, so I continued on my exploration of colors and photos that caught my eye...It's funny how you just fall into a rabbit hole with these things. One thing leads to another and another. Fun. Enjoy the images.

Photo Meme - Flickr

1. Day 119 : SOTTS : I Will Be Your Ambulance If You Will Be My Accident, 2. Vindaloo, 3. IMG_3754, 4. vintage tea set with cupcake, 5. Gordon Ramsey, 6. lemon drop, 7. extraordinary symbols, 8. Two-toned chocolate peanut butter fudge, 9. Day 106 - I am a librarian, 10. Each war is different, each war is the same, 11. Confidence, Strength, Integrity…., 12. sunset

I didn't get tagged (I don't leave comments on blogs or anything so it's pretty hard to get tagged), but I like this meme, so I thought I would do it.

Here’s how it works . . .
• Answer each of the questions below.
• Surf over to Flickr (set up an account if you don’t have one–it’s quick and easy) and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.
• From the choice of pictures shown only on the front page, click on the one that moves you.
• Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.
• Surf over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste your URLs.
• Click “Create!”

1. What is your first name? Jean
2. What is your favorite food? Indian (vindaloo)
3. What High School did you attend? Aloha High School
4. What is your favorite color? Pink
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Gordon Ramsey
6. What is your favorite drink? Lemon Drop
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation? San Torini Island
8. What is your favorite desert? peanut butter fudge
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Author
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. Choose one word to describe yourself. Integrity
12. What is your Flickr name? Wild Rumpus (I had to remove the ING because nothing matched at first).

Wild Rumpusing does Nablopomo for July

I haven't done Nablopomo (National Blog Posting Month) on Wild Rumpusing before. I did it on the other blog as an experiment for a couple of months. I'm not very good with the themes sometimes, but it is a motivator to write something every day.

The July theme for Nablopomo is FOOD. Should be interesting... I went to get the badge and it is not ready yet, but I will post it as soon as I can.

Food...hmmm.

And on a completely different note: Interpreted "Avenue Q" last night. We actually had some folks in the audience using the interpreters, which was really nice. Had a great time - the show is still really fresh for the actors, it seems, which always makes a difference. The audience was HOWLING at some of the antics. It was nice to do a show that was enjoyed so thoroughly and it was fun to do something light and funny.

MIA from Blogland

I keep thinking that I will have something brilliant to share if I just give myself some time, but I actually think that the more time I take away, the less I have to talk about. I know that I think about all kinds of stuff all day long and when I was blogging every day, at least I took the time to kind of simmer down and put something out there...It didn't always make sense, but I think it helped me gather my thoughts.

I know that Nablopomo was too much pressure to do a third month in a row. It wasn't the daily thing so much as the theme and how I never managed to keep to the theme everyday. I'm looking to see what the July theme is...my birthday month, so it might be cool to do another one for that...depends on the theme, though.

Anyway, not much to share. I saw a good movie called, "The Namesake" which I really liked. I love East Indian information, color schemes, people, etc. I liked it a lot. Made me miss my Dad.

"Avenue Q" Interpreted Show

Tomorrow night I get to see "Avenue Q" to prepare for the interpreted performance. I'm excited to do a show that is light and fun. There's some stuff that I don't love interpreting - I'm not great with graphic stuff sometimes, but it should be a good time.

Here's a YouTube clip from the 58th Tony Awards:

Working on the Weekend

I would like to have a job where I don't have to work on the weekends at someone else's will.

I would also like a job where I am only responsible for myself. I'm sure it is a little like an addiction - taking care of other people...I'm pretty sure I could kick the habit though.

"RENT" reprieve

I went online to see what I could see about the closing of "RENT" - who was there, how the show was, what the celebration was like...Lo and behold, they have extended the run. I should have known... They did the same thing when they were getting ready to close "Les Miserables". So, the new possible closing date is September 7, 2008. Now I have to go through the whole, "Should I go to see it one more time" angst all over again. I think I'm ok if I don't go, but I have to think about it.

The OBC will be on the Tony Awards tonight, in addition to the cast of "The Lion King". I don't know what the significance of that is - maybe just honoring some of the longer running shows? I can't wait to see the show, although "Xanadu" is up for best musical...since it got panned by the critics when it opened, I'm a little skeptical.

Anyway, that's where I am this Sunday. Father's Day. And I miss my dad.

BookFest 2008

HA!! We have planned BookFest 2008! I haven't really talked about it here before but I started a little blog specifically devoted to BookFest. I kind of petered out on it for some reason...I wanted to list all the books I have purchased by year, but I don't know that I can manage it. I definitely can list all of my BookFest Books, but I'm not always clear which year they are from. Hopefully, I will get back to it. I've been distracted...

So what is BookFest? You can read a little more about it here: http://jkbookfest.blogspot.com/

Basically, in 1995, just before I went back to school (and thus became a poor college student again), my friend Kevin and I went to Powell's and bemoaned the fact that we couldn't just live in Powell's (the greatest bookstore on the planet, really). We then hatched a plan to save $10 a month for a year and come back the following year and blow it all on books - guilt-free. We increased the amount incrementally until our 10 year anniversary's all time high of $50/month.

It is a nice way to reconnect every year. No matter what we are doing the rest of the year, we both know that we will meet for BookFest in June/July to wallow in books and enjoy each other's company. It's a great tradition.

"Blood Diamond", "RENT" Closing, etc.

First off, "RENT" closed on Broadway today. I haven't really taken that in at this point. I will take a look around the blogosphere tomorrow to see how it all went. I wish I could have been there.

Secondly, I just finished watching "Blood Diamond". Amazing movie - great actors. Heartbreaking. It makes me ashamed to be human, to be American, to be white, to be clueless. How can we live in a world where this is happening and we don't know about it while it is happening? I just don't understand how people can be so inhumane. But I liked that it talked about the fact that good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Are we what we do or are we more than that? Sigh. I have to think about this more.

I'm not doing well in the Blog365 situation...I'm going to cut myself a break since I started that practically the day I started blogging. I am doing pretty well, but I won't make the 365. Maybe next year...

Anyway, hello again.

What Kind of Soul am I?

You Are a Peacemaker Soul

You strive to please others and compromise anyway you can. War or conflict bothers you, and you would do anything to keep the peace. You are a good mediator and a true negotiator. Sometimes you do too much, trying so hard to make people happy. While you keep the peace, you tend to be secretly judgmental. You lose respect for people who don't like to both give and take. On the flip side, you've got a great sense of humor and wit. You're always diplomatic and able to give good advice. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul, Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

One of my all-time favorite music videos

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations

My favorite Carrie Underwood song...

I'll Stand by You - Carrie Underwood (Idol Gives Back 2007)

Dead Poet's Society - part II

This is my other favorite part...you can see quotes from it on one of the other links I made on homestead.com...I'm not sure which...

carpe diem

Dead Poet's Society

I saw a clip of this on 37days.com and it made me remember how much I loved the movie and in particular the ending.

Dead Poet’s society – ending (inspired by 37 days)


I will be watching the movie in its entirety soon.

Holiday - from the Blond Ambition Tour

holiday – blonde ambition




I loved "Truth or Dare" so much. I loved seeing a strong woman - even if everyone called her a bitch. I thought it was amazing and bold and brilliant.