she's just saying...

A post of the green-yellow persuasion

Henry was talking about colors the other day. What to mix together to make Crash Pink (pink and silver was his decision); the exact shades of Laser Lemon, Neon Lime, Racer Red, Quicksilver and so forth. These are the cool colors 10 year-olds talk about when talking about color, highly influenced by Crayola and anime.

Then he asked me, "What's your favorite exotic color?"

Oddly enough, I had an instant answer, because I'd been thinking about this myself.

"Chartreuse," I answered. He asked what it was and I held up my new handbag.

"Oh, you mean swamp green!" he replied.

No, I did not. But it had occurred to me recently that I have accumulated a lot of chartreuse. Which is odd because green is not one of my go-to colors. Black, definitely. Pale pink, white and cream, yes. Denim blue, brown, tan, occasionally a periwinkle; but green, purple, orange, yellow, red, not much. (I do have a weakness for garish floral designs that I indulge in summer skirts, but whatever.)

So I've been noticing all this "swamp green" around me. Maybe I'm branching out.

For your edification I looked up the color chartreuse (used the Google as my mom says) and learned entirely way too much on Wikipedia as usual.

I now know that the shade I like is yellow chartreuse or traditional chartreuse (versus web chartreuse), in the shade family of pistachio or pear. Also known as green-yellow (not yellow-green). The wiki entry is kind of funny (Chartreuse in human culture, anyone?) but now you know much more than you want to, so I won't copy it here.

So what's your favorite exotic color?

kitteh frylet

My kittehs, someone else's caption:

Batty cuteness

The Live Bat Encounter is at the High Desert Museum through Sunday 7/19.

Reading with your ears

I've been told that after my eye surgery, I can't read for at least a week. (I don't really get this because I'm just getting one eye done, so why can't I read with the other eye?) The prospect of not being able to read is freaking me out. Does that mean I can't knit either? What the heck am I going to do -- listen to talk radio?

So I'm exploring audiobooks again. I've read listened experienced a few audiobooks over the last couple years, as it solves the perennial problem that I can't knit and read at the same time. (I do know of people who claim they can, but I'm skeptical of the quality of either activity.) Of the eight or so books I've downloaded, I've really enjoyed three and never got beyond the first hour of the others. My problems with them have been:
1. annoying narrator
2. losing track of the story
3. falling asleep
None of which is a problem for me with actual reading. But I liked a few, so I'm trying to figure out what it was about them that worked and look for similar styles.

I usually download them from audible.com which has thousands of titles of all genres, including a lot of soft-core you-know-what, more than one might expect. (I can't type the word in my blog or I'll get interesting spam.) They can be pricey, about as much as a hardcover bestseller, so you have to look for the bargains and guaranteed winners. The library offers downloads, but it's pretty cumbersome and incompatible with iPods, so that's not very useful.

My biggest problem with audiobooks is that I'm an extremely fast reader. (I'm not saying this out of pride, but fact. It's actually not always great, as I'll buy a book while waiting for a flight and finish it before I land. It really ups the cost of buying books if you finish them in one sitting.) So audiobooks drag considerably versus my own reading speed. I just found that my iPod has a "faster" option which does help, even if the narrator sounds a little funny.

There's some controversy (of course) about whether hearing a book is equal to reading it. It's an interesting issue: just because we've traditionally read words on paper, does that make listening less intellectually pure? After all, civilization started with the verbal tradition of stories being told around the campfire, before they figured out how to make paper and get a global publicity tour for a multi-book deal. People rhapsodize about the heft of the book and the smell of the paper, but the speed I read and the poor quality of the used books I buy makes that kind of moot.

So I'm on the quest for some good audiobooks. If you have any favorites, let me know. Nothing that'll make me cry, and no self-help, please -- this is as good as I get.

Friday frylets: another flowchart

I'm getting a kick out of these. This one's pretty good, akshully. There's a program to build your own on the Graph Jam site. Go for it! Come on, you have plenty of time on your hands...

Torn cheese is feeling torn...

the long, dreary path to eye surgery

[If you weren't aware, I'm scheduled for trabeculectomy surgery for glaucoma in August. This is one of a series of posts about it. Not that it's that interesting, but it's good blog fodder.]

I started this journey at my local ophthalmologist's office. Bonus: I've now learned to spell ophthalmologist - there's a hidden H and L in there that can trip you up.

Jason (if a doctor is young enough to be my kid, I get to call him by his first name) is a great guy - funny, accessible, smart, and caring. (Plus, it turns out we both went to Middlebury College, a small liberal-arts school in Vermont. Odd coincidence. Of course, he says I was there the same time as his uncle, smart-ass whipper-snapper that he is.)

But anyway. Jason recommended I go up to Portland for surgery by one of the country's leading docs for this procedure. He (Jason) does this surgery, but says that for a patient as *YOUNG* as myself, he'd rather I get the best. He'll manage the extensive follow-up on the surgery here in Bend. I'm going with his recommendation, so had to first go to Portland for the pre-assessment.

The Devers Eye Institute is part of the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital system - confusing but impressive. I went up a few weeks ago, and four hours later, after they poked and prodded and measured and photographed and nearly blinded me it was agreed I should have the surgery.

But not so fast. First I'll have to get a complete medical here, including EKG, then go back up to Portland for the pre-surgery exam. I thought that's what I was doing there the first time, but I guess not. Following that, I'll fly up Sunday Aug. 2 for the procedure scheduled for Monday morning. I have to stay overnight for a follow-up exam on Tuesday, then back home. They want me to return again that Friday, but I'm going to push to have Jason do that exam here.

I've been told that I won't be able to bend down (head below chest) for four weeks afterward. This restriction has really struck me for some reason. I'm now practicing feeding the cats while deep-squatting, which I'm hoping will at least tighten up the thighs a bit.

Stay tuned for more fascinating detail to come.

Screwy

Back in the wonderful state of Oregon, but not much else to say. I can't face recounting our endless travel saga, and vacation was vacationy: eating, drinking, reading, family and hanging around the pool. Very pleasant -- too bad we have to travel two days to experience it.

The X-man dropped by for a visit yesterday and was pressed into fixing stuff. It's so nice to have a man around the house and all that. This photo is from that effort.

And the day got screwier from there.

Burning Butte (kind of like Burning Man but not naked)

OK, so the thing about the Butte catching fire:

Every year since I don't know when, the city of Bend puts on a fireworks show on the 4th of July, launching the rockets from the highest spot around, Pilot Butte. (From Wikopedia: Pilot Butte is an extinct volcano located in Bend, Oregon. It is a cinder cone which rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of the very few cities in the United States with volcanoes located within their boundaries.) [I did not know that. But shouldn't it be within its boundaries?]

Anyway.The sparks inevitably land on the dry sagebrush on the side of the Butte and "the sucker lights up with flames" as Jen put it in her last comment. The show is ended early and the firefighters do their thing.

And inevitably, the headline of the local paper the next day is:
Fireworks start blaze on Butte!



Thanks to the monkey, Chris K, for this photo that I stole from him.

Blogcation

(If trend-spotters can name the time-honored practice of staying home "staycation," I can coin the term "blogcation." I may not be the first but I'm laying claim.) That's why you haven't heard from me for a few days. I'm at our annual family reunion at my parents' house, before the rest of the family shows up.

I'm currently in the western hills of North Carolina (which sounds a lot more scenic than it is, IMO) after a disastrous journey that included an unplanned drive to Portland, an unplanned overnight in Atlanta (paid by me, not the airline) and a lot of chicken nuggets. Plus, the only way to return to Portland (and our car) is leaving the morning of the 4th. Whatever, we're here.

The weather here is much nicer than usual, i.e. my hair is only twice its normal size, not 4 times, and I'm not "glowing" with sweat. I've remembered the secret to hanging out with family in the South:  gin. So I'm cool. Henry is enjoying the pool and awaiting the cousins. I'm enjoying the quiet before the hordes. [Who I can't wait to get here, if you're one of my siblings. Really!]

What are your plans for the 4th? Are fireworks involved? As customary in Bend, we're waiting to see if the Butte catches fire again, but that's another post.

Busted with weed(s)

We take our weeds seriously in Oregon. My noxious garden and the kerfluffle around the dread orange hawkweed in our neighborhood made today's paper, front page above the fold.

I'm quoted a bit, ending with the phrase: "It's going to kill me [but] yeah, I'll spray. I'll be a good citizen." So I think I evaded the pokey this time.

Ask not what your county can do for you, ask what you can do for your county.

Never can say goodbye...

This one hit me hard.

Rest in peace, MJ.

They’ve got me located

Deschutes County

    1300 NW Wall Street, Ste. 200 Bend, OR 97701-1960

    Phone (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org

 

NEWS RELEASE                        MEDIA CONTACTS:

Dan Sherwin, 322-7135

        

Bend, Oregon                            June 25, 2009

 

Noxious Orange Hawkweed Found in Bend Landscapes

Immediate Eradication Necessary

 

Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum), an A-rated noxious weed on Deschutes County and Oregon State weed lists, was found in approximately 10 local home landscapes yesterday in Bend. Discovery of the noxious weed outcroppings prompted vegetation officials to ask residents to eradicate the weeds immediately.

 

A Forest Service employee reported the invasive weeds to County Vegetation Manager Dan Sherwin last week. An investigation conducted yesterday by Oregon Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Coordinator Dave Langland and Sherwin resulted in the discovery of the local infestations. One Hawkweed site is located at the corner of 16^th and Baltimore Avenue in Bend. Another site was discovered at the corner of Colorado Avenue and Broadway. Landscapers were notified and immediately removed the Hawkweed plants.

 

A noxious weed is any weed designated by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners or the Oregon Department of Agriculture that is injurious to public health, agriculture, range, recreation, wildlife or any public or private property; any weed that impacts and displaces desirable vegetation, such as threatened and endangered plant species, wildlife habitat, and livestock.

 

What is Orange Hawkweed?

A showy alpine native of Europe, … [deleted]

 

 

______________________________________________________________________________

Deschutes County Government provides for the safety, security and health of Deschutes County's 160,000 citizens through public safety, human services, adult and juvenile corrections and many other valuable public services. For more information, please go to www.deschutes.org

Noxious.

I've been identified as noxious. Or at least parts of my garden are.

While I was at work today, my home was visited by the Integrated Weed Management Coordinator for the Noxious Weed Control Program from the Plant Division of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. He left his card and a brochure on Orange Hawkweed, titled: BEAUTIFUL INVADER ALERT!

Apparently the lovely wildflower I was so pleased to see returning in various places in my gardens is an invader. I quote: "This is a priority noxious weed; report sites to the Oregon Department of Agriculture immediately... Document site locations using either local landmarks or GPS coordinates."

The description of the flower is not so pretty:

 Orange hawkweed is a perennial weed with above-ground runners (stolons) that root at the tips. Roots are shallow and fibrous. The plant grows up to 12 inches tall and contains milky juice. The vibrant orange-red colored flowers are clustered at the top of a leafless stem. Stiff, black, glandular hairs cover flower stalks. Leaves are hairy, lance shaped, up to five inches long, and exclusively basal.

Frankly, anything with stiff black glandular hairs covering it is not welcome in my garden, so I have to dig it all up. Or use Round-Up. (You know when the Ag Dept. is advocating Round-Up, it's a nasty plant.)

I actually should feel pretty special, as this plant is very limited in Oregon, in fact: "a few ornamental plantings have been reported and confirmed in Deschutes County." I guess they mean me.  "Infestations are subject to eradication" though I notice they didn't actually do the dirty work themselves.

So, if you see this plant, (a.k.a. Devil's Paintbrush) call 1-866-INVADER immediately. I am not kidding. That's the number. You've been warned.

photo courtesy of Jim Schultz

TTT: iTunes edition

Last night I re-synced my iPod to my iTunes library (yes I have an exciting life. You knew that.)

My iTunes library is now at 65 gigabytes of music. That's 200 days of music. All legal, of course. Fair use and all that. Don't report me.

I was sorting through it all and came up with a list of the top artists in the collection, by number of songs. So, not in order, here they are:

1. Lucinda Williams
2. Grateful Dead
3. Bob Dylan
4. Cowboy Junkies
5. Everything but the Girl
6. Miles Davis
7. Lyle Lovett
8. Los Lobos
9. Elvis Costello
10. Beck

That list pegs me squarely as a baby boomer with alt-country tendencies. Only Beck saves me from being really predictable, and not by much. However, no Billy Joel in all 65 gigs, so that's something.

What are your top ten artists by the numbers?

My arms are short, but long enough to pat myself on the back.

One of the nice things about having a blog is that you have a place to brag about yourself with impunity. I mean, if you can't strut a bit on your own blog, where can you?

So, it's just 4 pm now, and I've accomplished the following so far today:

1. Took 3 boys to the High Desert Museum while I worked
2. Wrote a radio commercial
3. Cleaned out and washed the fridge
4. Made gravlax
5. Made yeast bread (alright, I used the bread machine)
6. Entertained 3, then 4, now 2 boys without video
7. Got my winter tires changed (it's the Solstice: I think I'm safe)
8. Stopped at the library and paid my fines
9. Went grocery shopping
10. Did two loads of laundry

I think I'll relax now. Right after I mow the lawn.

No comments necessary: I think I praised myself enough here.

"I lost half my body weight!"

As told by Bonnie Badger

Get fit for summer with the Badger Diet! 
[Note: not a diet in which you eat badger, a diet for badgers.]

When we last checked in with Bonnie, she was a bit zaftig, tipping the scales at her winter weight of 23+ pounds. The summer show season was coming up, and she could barely fit into her skinny harness. What's a mustelid to do?

Seen today, she's a svelte 14 pounds and is looking sleek and toned. Or at least less like an ottoman with claws.

How did she do it? Let's hear her describe the process:

"I emerged from my winter torpor and got more active. I actually ate more than I did all winter and still lost the weight! I kept to a steady diet of fruits and vegetables, raw meat for protein and dead mice for variety. The pounds just melted away!"

"I upped my digging regimen with daily workouts with my trainer (as well as calisthenics with that popular video, 'Badger, mushroom, snake' ). If I can do it, anyone can!"

Let's hear it for Bonnie and her fabulous new figure. She's showing it off daily at the Desert Dwellers programs at the High Desert Museum.

Pressure-eyes'd

eyeball sundae

If you've been reading for awhile, you may remember that I was diagnosed with glaucoma a couple of years ago.  No reason, no cause, no family history - seemingly a random roll of the dice. 

It is progressing, so today I met with a new doc at Devers Eye Institute in Portland who recommended I have surgery in July to alleviate the pressure in my left eye. It's a nasty surgery with a catchy name: trabeculectomy. I mistakenly called it up on YouTube and almost fainted watching it. 'Nuff said there.

Given that I need to maintain vision for another 40+ years, they've decided to be pretty aggressive about it all. (I was the youngest patient in the waiting room by about 20 years. About the only pleasure involved in having glaucoma is that the doctors keep emphasizing how young I am. Of course, they're all about 15 years old, so what do they know?) It pretty much means the end of wearing contacts, which in my vanity was the main obstacle I had to accept. I also won't be able to scuba dive again, but since I've logged over 500 dives in my career I think I'm good there. 

I'll faithfully blog from the operating table when it comes around, 'cause I know you want to follow every gory detail. Meanwhile, go get your pressures checked. I had no symptoms, no vision loss, no pain - if they hadn't caught it by chance, I'd be blind in about 15-20 years. 

Tonight I'm staying with friends, drinking wine and relaxing. This weekend I'm attending SpecFest and spending mad money on trendy peepers.

Geeking out, suburban style

So, like any self-respecting homeowner, after I mowed the lawn yesterday I cracked open a bottle of Mikes Light Hard Pomegranate Lemonade and came in to watch the Red Sox obliterate the Phillies on my not-very-big-screen TV. "But the game wasn't televised!" you say? It is in my house.

Game on TV (in Hi-Def of course):

Source of video: MLB.TV on my laptop, hooked up with S cable and multiple monitor mode:

I'm so cool.

Friday frylets

I've decided that Fridays will be frylets day. You know, those little french fries that get lost in the bottom of the bag. One last little tasty treat. Salty, too.

So I ran across this site yesterday while producing endless PowerPoint graphs. By the way, PowerPoint 2007 SUCKS. And I don't use that word often. It is the least user-friendly, most complicated, incomprehensible, annoying and time-wasting program I've ever dealt with. Including Excel 2007, which ain't so hot itself.

But anyway, here's something very funny. This site posts readers' charts of random items. For example:

I may have to start putting my graphing skills to better use...