she's just saying...

Top Ten Tuesday: Japanese Dollar Store edition

OMG. How could I have forgotten Top 10 Tues? I attribute it to the fact that since I was in Seattle yesterday and started work today, it's really Monday. Until I realized that it's garbage night, which makes it Tuesday, which means I broke my blogging pact of having fun fascinating top 10 lists for you weekly. Which ain't easy. I'm just saying.

OK: Top 10 cool things from the Japanese 100 Yen store:
1. Handheld sesame seed grinder. (Why do you need sesame seeds to be smaller?)
2. "Let's Baking!" We're not positive what these were, but they might be disposable baking pan liners. Susan just liked the name.
3. Mini Briefcase: tiny little plastic divided boxes -- very cute.
4. Sponges with their own terrycloth towel wraps. Apparently the Japanese have an obsession with sponges.
5. Chihuahua Kleenex.
6. This:

7. Egg slicer.
8. Insect Folding Paper.
9. Rubbing Propeller toy.
10. Vinyl-covered Wire String. (twist-ems by the meter)

Back in the saddle, and dreams

First (official) day on the job! Mostly I've been cleaning out my inherited office and trying to find the bathroom. So far I'm loving it. I have yet to get outside and see the critters, but I'm making it a priority for this week. More to come on the cool stuff.

Do you have recurrent dreams?

I tend to have two dream themes that recur: one involves planes and trains. I get on the wrong ones, miss them, go the wrong way, get lost in train stations, etc. (It used to involve packing problems as well, but I guess I've gotten over my "baggage" issues.) These aren't necessarily bad dreams, they're just tedious. (The details of traveling these days are bad enough - who needs to dream about them?) I never make it to my destination or even remember what it is when I awake.

 

The other one centers on missing class at some prestigious private school and panicking because we're getting tested (a classic). It's always calculus or physics or something I haven't done any work for and can't fake. I'm late for class or I haven't gone all semester or I haven't done the reading and so forth.

Very anxiety-producing, a feeling that stays with me through the next day. Not surprisingly, I had one of those last night.

Someday maybe I'll dream that I arrive at my destination or that I'm prepared and pass the test. Til then, I'll keep getting on the wrong train and walking into the classroom unprepared.

Spoilers (baseball post)

The Mariners beat the Yankees 2 out of 3! Unfortunately for my sister and Derek Jeter, the M's basically ended New York's (extremely slim) chance of making the wild card. But it's good for the Mariners to believe that they can be a successful team again heading into the postseason.

We had a great time at both games, great seats, perfect weather. Susan kept score obsessively faithfully throughout. For my sports-deficient readers, that means marking down what happened at every at-bat with little symbols on a scorecard. You hardly see it much anymore, but there was a mom in the row ahead of us who was using an actual pad of paper printed with a scoring chart. Susan immediately had scorecard envy, so we'll have to track down that paper supply.

Lots of other silly and unique adventures here, but time to pack up and hit the long road home.

Fellow Travelers

My older sister and I are close, relative to the rest of our family. That means we make an effort to see each other once a year in addition to the July 4 family get-together. We've traveled together quite a few times without killing each other, so I consider that a success. But we do have very different travel styles that I've learned over the years.

I'm kind of a hang-out, mosey-around, soak up the atmosphere, take a nap, have a drink kind of traveler. She's all about getting out and about, seeing key attractions (most often architectural landmarks), taking photos, packing it all in. I like a big leisurely breakfast, then snacking on stuff during the day and often appetizers and drinks at cool spots at night. She basically doesn't eat all day, then likes a late big dinner at a nice place. I like to stay in fancy hotels, she'd rather save the money and use it for dining. No right or wrong here, just very different.

Traveling with another person can be tough -- there is always a point when you get on each other's nerves. Or maybe it's just me. But Susan and I do pretty well given our differences in style. We both like to shop in unusual stores, something my last boyfriend really chafed at. We always have a good, easy conversation. And she gets me to see/do things I'd otherwise miss, I know.

For example, she's been very focused on finding this Japanese 100 yen store. Packed with bizarre, clever little things, many of which we couldn't identify. Everything was $1.50, with a few exceptions. There are a lot of things I'll buy if they only cost $1.50. Even things I don't quite recognize.

We hit a vintage pottery store, something NO boyfriend would have been able to tolerate. Then a mystery bookstore - we were on a roll. I did my part in contributing to the retail economy in Seattle, as these are certainly things we don't have in Bend. I miss the quirkiness of city life and casually finding amazing discoveries around every corner. Oh well, my mantra: you can't have everything.

Off to the game...

Ultra red

OK, I said it wouldn't become a travelogue, but the Seattle Public Library is pretty cool. I'll let the shots speak for themselves.

The library's red corridor level (one of the Nine Circles Of Hell according to Dante)

Here are the escalators:

That's Joyce above me, our new library friend. We had all kinds of fun taking each other's photos throughout the place, running down the up escalator, passing off cameras, all that crazy tourist wackiness. Really, it was fun. She was visiting from SF - we liked her. Hi, Joyce! if she's reading this.

Obligatory artsy architecture shot:

We hit the Pike Place market and bought weird stuff, spent way too much time and money in So Much Yarn in Belltown (really fun staff and knitted samples for sale for $20!), spent the longest hour in my life behind the wheel in Friday afternoon rush hour in the middle of downtown (fun!) the reason for which I can't divulge or my sister will kill me, and picnicked in the ballroom hotel room with wine, mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.  Now we're listening to the Mariners/Yankees - 3-nothing Seattle, no hitter, YES! Susan's irritated. I love it.

Lap of luxury in Seattle

Somehow we ended up in a luxury hotel right on 1st Avenue, in a room larger than my house in LA (700 sq. ft.). I had to confirm the price because we envisioned a final bill in the thousands. Yup, well under $200/night. Go Orbitz! Anyway, I'm content to simply go from the room to the baseball game to the sushi restaurant down the block all weekend, but my sister-the-architect has other ideas.

I'm not a fan of blogs that catalog people's trips with travel writing and photos, so you'll be spared. A few key highlights to come (A Rod's butt!).

OOO

(This is AT&T speak for out of the office.) I'm driving up to Seattle today to meet my big sister for a girls' weekend. We're going to catch some Mariners/Yankees games, which should be interesting as she's a die-hard Yankees fan and I cheer for the Mariners if they're not playing Boston. I'm looking for the Mariners to get it all together, be the team they should be and CRUSH NY. Or at least not embarrass themselves totally. Oh well. It'll be fun anyway.

More from the road...

First day photo

Fourth grade! How did that happen?

How soon can he start driving himself to school?

Lucinda show

Great show ultimately. The audience warmed up, she warmed up and got fired up eventually. It was probably a bit of an odd audience for her: the grass courtyard of an upscale athletic club, with fairly staid reserved seating up front, though she's been here in the same venue before.  Her band has broken out with their own identity and they opened the show with tight, infectious instrumental rock. They're now called Buick 6 and I'm definitely seeking out their CD.

At first we were told to move our dancing to the cheaper side of the fence, but toward the end they gave up and everyone came up front. There was even a chant started: "LU-CIN-DA!"

She was very Lucinda; vulnerable, prickly, insecure and defiant. She apologized for the "rocky start" at one point. (She was cranky that there was a section of empty reserved seats right up front and asked the venue to either fill them up or take them away, and surprisingly, they let a bunch of general admission folks in.) I loved that she confessed that she can't remember anything which is why she had to have the music stand. She said the really successful musicians had teleprompters, but she only had paper, and was kind of sheepish about the whole thing. Since I can't remember anything these days, I could relate.

Have I written about my memory problem? I can't recall. Anyway, another wonderful show.

Lucinda part 2

Alright, really unfortunate hair choice. Also she can't sing a line without looking at the lyrics on a music stand next to her. Security blanket? substance issues? I can sing these songs without looking at a cheat sheet - what's the deal?

Sharing Rod Stewart's hairdresser?

Lucinda!

My reg readers know I love love love Lucinda Williams. We're at her concert right now, 50 feet from her. She looks like she's had a couple of hard years, but haven't we all? Photos & more to come. I'm so happy, in the way only great music can bring.

Top Ten Tuesday: Back to School edition

For my four readers who don't live in Central Oregon, a weather update: we woke up to frost on the ground yesterday. I realize that Labor Day is the symbolic end of summer, but did we need such an obvious reminder?

I'm really not ready for fall and I resent it being thrust on us so quickly. But in an effort to get back to UPBEAT!, here are the top 10 reasons I welcome the end of summer:

1. Baseball playoffs (especially when the Bosox are involved)
2. Knitting in public doesn't seem as weird
3. No mosquitoes
4. Less temptation for the recovering tanaholic
5. Best tomatoes at the farmer's market
6. Foster kitten season is over til spring
7. Hot flashes are more tolerable (not that I'm having any)
8. Don't need to mow as often
9. I can wear the fingerless mitts I'm knitting
10. OK, scraping the barrel here: um, can't smell the compost bin from the hot tub?

Compost pile with Wonder Worman worms

What are yours? Give me something here, people!

Can I be done? and other questions

 How long does it take to get over a broken heart?  I've been trying to follow the recommendation from a great self-help book, which is not to have contact with your ex for 60 days. I've done pretty well with that, aside from some tipsy hugs during the concerts last weekend and a few text messages about baseball. It's good advice, but really hard to follow when you live three doors away. It doesn't seem to have helped, anyway.

Why does it still hurt as much as it has the last eight times we broke up? Shouldn't I be getting used to this? The heart's capacity for hope, denial and forgiveness is amazing - I keep testing the limits and not finding them. Self-preservation does kick in finally, thankfully. But the fact that it's the right thing to do doesn't make it any easier to take.

How do I get past this?  The most random things trigger a pang: a song, a trip to the farmer's market, an article I've read, turning down the wrong street, hearing a baseball score. But as Kathi says, there are things that help. Meditation, pets, friends, children, projects, compelling work; all contribute to getting through the day, and I'd even say that overall I'm happy. But the tears of a clown, etc.

Does love ever come without pain? Based on the empirical evidence I've gathered from the last thirty years, I'd have to say no. Maybe in the next thirty . . .

The Omnivore's Hundred

Thank god Jen provided the topic for a post just when we were about to be sucked into the Sticky Swamp of Cuteness forever.

Originally from www.verygoodtaste.co.uk: "...Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognize everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers."

"Here’s what you do:

1) Copy this list into your blog , including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating."

So here goes, my comments in parentheses:

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (girl scouts!)
3. Huevos rancheros (like every weekend)
4. Steak tartare (used to love this in NYC restaurants)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10.Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21.Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24.Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27.Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (covered in chocolate)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more (more NYC excess - it was the '80's)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (Montreal)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Kaopectate?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (um, all four?)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (Paris)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (my old advertising clients!)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Paris 1977, NYC in the '80's again)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake 

Hmm. I guess I'm quite the omnivore. Don't mean to sound like an obnoxious food snob, but this isn't a very ambitious list, IMHO. I probably had most of these 20 years ago (ok, that sounded snobby).

How about you guys? (Bloggers: Here's an easy post for Labor Day weekend!)

Stop me

before this blog is taken over by kitten cuteness!

Just two more, then I really will change the subject.

Oreo is fascinated with the dog, who's surprisingly tolerant of him. Now and then I hear dog jaws snapping at the empty air, but he's dealing pretty well.

This one's worthy of a lolcat:

Action shots

Smackdown action:

Suburbutopia

[I suppose Bend isn't really the suburbs, but life sure looks and feels like it.]

We did our annual ease-back-into-school mode with the "Meet the Teacher" event at Henry's school this afternoon. The kids see their new classrooms, check out their teachers and eat popsicles from the PTA. We  catch up from the summer and plan playdates and carpools for flag football practice.

I enjoy the rhythms of life in this town. They're very pleasant and comfortable; like living here in general. I feel vaguely embarrassed that life is so easy for us, though. Must be my liberal guilt. Enjoy the benefits, but feel kinda bad about it. 

But boy, we're a white bunch here. Another transracial adoptive mom and I were looking around to see if there were any new non-white kids, as we know every one of the other eight black kids there, including our own. (This is out of an 800-student public school.) We got very excited to see a black mom - the only one I've seen in Bend. We're progressing!

Yes, I know, race doesn't matter, blah blah, but I can't imagine being in the one percent minority in grade school. Doesn't seem to bother Henry though.

Not much bothers Henry, except when they run out of popsicles. Hope it stays that way.

Kitty Smackdown

My big-beautiful-Bob and the killer princess Muffin are not pleased with the presence of the little squirt Oreo in the house.

Bob stomps around growling deep in his throat and avoids the house except to eat and get a lil lovin' from the mistress (me). Muffin prefers the cold silent mean-girl stare. All the while, little happy-go-lucky Oreo continues to play, jump, and pounce, pretty much ignoring the cranky old folk.

Except when we have:

Every so often, the Bob'a'Muff team delivers a spanking to the little guy, who, like a good little kitten, rolls over and assumes the submissive "I'm just a tiny little baby" position. They raise their paws and give him a quick smack-smack-smack, then run away.

It seems to be a standard ritual and they all play their part. He doesn't seem very afraid, and someday I'm sure he'll smack them back. (That is, if we keep him, of course, which we're clearly not thinking of doing.)

Winding up the season

Yankees/Red Sox on! Don't tell me the score - I just got home so I TIVO'ed it.

Right about now everyone gets fired up about the football season starting when baseball is just getting good. Of course if you don't have a team in the running, the season is pretty much over anyway.

Do you enjoy watching a team sporting event if you have no personal interest in the outcome?

Taking a leak

And fixing it. Maybe.

Good news: I found the source of the leak in the pond, and it's fixable.

More good news: I found out where at least one of the tadpoles went, while I was looking for the leak: it turned into a baby frog. So clever!

Bad news: I have to move a bunch of the boulders and rocks from the pond perimeter to deal with the leak, which turns out to be from water siphoning up through some deep folds in the pond liner.

So it's back to mixing concrete, building up a little retaining wall at that edge, caulking up the folds and so forth. It's a damn good thing my job doesn't start for a week!

Who's sick of reading about my stupid water feature?

You don't need to vote. Really. Thanks.