BBQ PDQ

The directions to The BBQ in LFP have been sent via electronic mail. Let us hear from you if we haven't already.

Another one bites the dust

Well, I heard from the OC, and it looks like she doesn't want to go steady, although she is going to keep me on her Xmas card list. Two outta two - not quite the trend we are looking for!

A new season record was set yesterday - Otis and I biked 27.6 miles on the Burke-Gilman. Easy class ride - we hauled the bikes down to Ballard, so all the pedaling was on the trail - but good distance nonetheless. I need a bike rack.

Although we rode in mostly gray yesterday, today is dawning bright and sunny. If Saturday is anything like this, we will have a great time at the BBQ in LFP just on climatic terms. We were up there last night and everything looks swell. I'll prolly send out the directions tonight - if you haven't sent an email RSVPing, please do so forthwith!

I guess this is later

I turned out to get busier than I thought I would yesterday, so I apologize for the somewhat pro forma post yesterday. Here's the world-wide-calvalcade of news:

The BBQ in LFP: The RSVPs are coming in - get your email in today! I'd like to send out the directions to everybody at once. It's this Saturday, from 1:00 pm to whenever. Let us know!

The Great Brit Move: Jon-brit and I picked up his 24-foot U-Haul at 7:00 am Monday. He and I and Otis (with "help" from Jon's two sons, 5 and 7) then worked steadily until 5:00 pm moving the contents of a four-bedroom house from Vancouver, WA to the Salem, OR area. It was an amusing day: my muscles really got a workout, we did a great job of packing the truck and doing that visio-spatial skills thing, I remembered how much fun it is to drive a big truck, we drove in convoy with three vehicles down to the Willamette Valley, and we got to watch Jon try to fit everything into a three-bedroom apartment (where he is until his new house is finished). And we got to see Chloe, when we dumped delivered some of the stuff at her place. On the way back, Otis and I had some truly horrible teriyaki (never, never eat at a Samurai Sam's). All in all, a great day, even if it did rain most of the time.

The job thing: In a validation of the principle of non-emuneration of poultry during the period of egg incubation, NSCC is no-go. I did get a very nice personal letter from my old boss, for what that is worth, and I think it's a bit. I went up to B-ham yesterday afternoon to do the interview thing at WCC, and it went well; still no word either way from OC; and, of course, HCC is still waiting in August and SCCC is out in the aether somewhere.

Knitting the net: here's a blog post from Ned from a while ago. And here's a news article I just saw via FARK. (Why a trend in London makes the newspaper in Fort Wayne, I don't know.) I just wanted to point out a benefit of this blog community: you get news of meaningless popular culture developments almost three weeks ahead of the general public! That's worth something, innit?

Off for a long ride on the B-G today, me hopes!

(Oh my achin') back in town

The move was a success.

It was a long day.

Jon has a lot of stuff.

More later.

If you're within the sound of my voice (I loved it when radio announcers used to say that) you should have received your invitation to The BBQ at LFP. Please RSVP.

We got so busy yesterday making sure everything (classes, mine to teach, Otis's to attend, as well as teaching demo for a job interview) was set for Tuesday since we won't be here tomorrow that we had to miss Scotty's show last night. Color us blue today. Sorry, Scotty!

We have to go down to The Couv to be a moving crew, so I will be away from the Internets for a while. Maybe Wheylona will have a farewell post (after her open house) you can look forward to.

Party Hearty = Tardy Sa'rday

Well, the Game Night was a great big heaping plate of fun! In addition to yours truly and Otis, we had (newly-promoted and heavily laden) Magnum Force, Soapy, Johnbai, Dingo, Wheylona, and, fresh from her IRA cell meeting, Melvin O'Melvin. We balderdashed and craniumated and pinned txapels, viz.:

Johnbai got the beret closest to the correct spot on Wheylona's bean, so he won!

Participants all got some of Wheylona's leftover junk great prizes to take home, such as old Xmas lights, nail polish remover, and games in other languages!

It was a great night and a late night; this morning was filled with the task of fixing a flat on my car (luckily it could be plugged, and I don't need new tires, nor do I need brake work yet) and cleaning up the detritus of the party, so we're just getting going on other stuff now, and still need to bike today.

We're going to try to get to Scotty's show tonight, and we'll be squeezing the Pride parade in before we have to head south tomorrow. Maybe we'll see some of you at either place.

And if you are reading this, you have received or are about to receive an email invitation to the BBQ in LFP in a week, on Saturday July 2, at 1:00 pm. Put it in your daytimer now!

Sand through the hourglass

The other day, our neighbor Sunny wanted to celebrate after finishing her first set of boards (she's in medical school). We all walked over to Sully's to have a few beers (I only had half a pint - damn you, LDL!) and shoot the breeze and stuff. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that I had moved to the PNW in 1978; Sunny commented that I must have been just a kid. When I told her how old I am, she was surprised and went on about how she thought I was so much younger. I do not have more than my share of vanity, I think, but it pleased me.

Thirteen years ago right now - when I was the age Sunny thinks I am now - I was in the middle of a bicycle trip across Europe with Diane. I was pedaling a heavy Schwinn ten-speed, with two front panniers and two rear panniers and a tent and sleeping bag and tarp and usually groceries to boot, maybe about fifty pounds of gear. And while we didn't set any speed records, I pedalled all over, up and down hills in France and Belgium and England (there are no hills in the Netherlands) without even dropping out of top gear.

Today, Otis and I went for a ride on the Burke-Gilman. We got off the trail at NE 70th and 58th NE, near Magnusson Park, to come home through the neighborhoods. We hit that first hill westbound on 70th and it was like hitting a wall. We walked it. We hit more hills, and I started gearing my 21-speed down to keep going: 3-7, 3-6, 3-5, 3-4... 2-4, 2-3. What is this? I have no heavy gear, I have a great bike, I'm just out for a neighborhood ride (we would up doing 20 miles), and I feel like I could never make a trip though Europe again.

I don't know if this is a gee-I-feel-old story, or a gee-I-need-to-work-out-more story, or a youthful-personality-doesn't-equal-young-body story. I do know I'm getting back on the bike tomorrow.

I think I've had enough, he said with a sigh...

I don't know if anyone wanted a monorail for Seattle more than I did. I am a big fan of mass transit -- the masser the better -- in the first place, and monorails are just totally cool in the second place. I always felt that Seattle had cheated itself by not doing a real monorail in '63, the way that Vancouver, BC did in '87. I was happy to hear that a monorail initiative was growing in Seattle a few years back.

When I came back to Seattle after my sojourn to SW and then Eastern Washington, I did not blink or complain a bit when the car tabs for my Metro cost more than twice the "mandated" thirty bucks. The money was going to the monorail! Cool - let's get 'er built!

Great pal JJ was expressing hesitancy over the project, and she had some standing, since a station was going in right between her balcony and Elliott Bay. I supported the plan even in the face of her quality of life and property values concerns.

Well, I just can't do it anymore. The whole project seems to be sinking under its own weight. I don't know if it's political wrangling, or incompetence of the SMP board or staff, or bad karma, or what, but I think it's time to turn Mother's picture to the wall, cut our losses, and get out of this.

The Seattle Times reported that we may see a monorail by the end of 2010 - and that we are going to be paying for it until at least 2050. The current construction costs are estimated to be $2.1 billion, despite the $1.75 billion cap on the project from the voters.

But it gets worse. According to yesterday's Seattle P-I:

This week it was revealed it will cost more than $11 billion to pay for the 14-mile monorail Green Line project and the debt to finance it. That's more than three times what Sound Transit will pay for construction and debt service for its 14-mile light rail line from downtown Seattle to Tukwila.

That is to say, because so much of the project has to be financed, the actual costs to the taxpayers will be $11 billion. $785 million per mile.

(The Weekly has an article by Rick Anderson breaking it all down.)

So, all I can say is I have had enough. As much as I have tried to support this project, it just keeps getting worse and worse. I am going to contact the mayor and the city council, as well as SMP, and let them know that I think they should pull the plug.

It would have been so cool, though.

Three on a match

One

Game night is tonight! Come for the games, stay for the goodbyes. Lotsa details below.

Two

Scotty-Magic is playing at Kenyon Hall in West Seattle this weekend. Here's the blurb:

This Friday and Saturday, June 24th and 25th, at 8 p.m., we're celebrating summer with Music, Magic, Movies, and Juggling. Bob Bailey III hosts and performs with fellow juggler Matt Swope, and sleight-of-hand artist Scotty Walsh. Andy Crow presides at the Mighty Wurlitzer, accompanying the Laurel and Hardy silent classic, Double Whoopee.

And don't forget those Root Beer Floats!

Scotty says that his bit will inlcude accordion-playing-drunken-pirate-root-beer-float-singing!

If you identify yourself as part of "Walter's party" when you go, you'll get $2 off admission. Otis and plan on going Saturday night; let me know if you want to join/carpool/whatever.

Three

Next Saturday, July 2, is the Barbecue in LFP, at the beautiful Putnam residence. Plan on leaving the mean streets of the city for an an afternoon and enjoying the best of the exurbs: backyard, grass, garden, grilling, games (water balloon tossing contests?), and who knows what-all else. Details coming to an email mailbox near you soon!

Cheaters never prosper

... but I am cheating this post by writing it on Wednesday night and saving it as a draft before adding to it and publishing it on Thursday morning. What a sneak!

Just another reminder about the Name of the Game is Goodbye Wheylona party. Come on down! Or up, as the case may be. Details below, natch.

I also wanted to make a comment on the cross-pollinating bloggish community that is developing here, what with Neds's and Wheylona's and Johnbai's and this little effort, plus the links outward from them. It's really fun to see the communication channels opening and the connections being made. I had brunch with Scott-Flowers the other day, and he mentioned that he was planning on getting some books he had read about in a discussion on Wheylona's blog. That kind of stuff is cool.

So, if you have something you want to share with this growing virtual village, please let me know - I'd be happy to create a post for you, or link to a site or a picture, or whatever. Or, you can just leave a comment - heck, leave a comment anyway! There's nothing a blogger likes better than to get responses. And who knows who will respond to your post, and so on, and so on, and so on. If you're not all wired in, all you have to do is click that little "anonymous" button - then just sign your posts.

So, here's today's link: an intelligent humor site that someone turned me on to, called Blue Donut.

Tailings...

Di has graciously posted links to some photo albums of the latest Soltice Parade in the comments, and herewith I graciously move them to the front page:

Somebody's PBase album

Somebody's Flickr Album

Hours of enjoyment, including Melvin's "Well-hung magenta guy on bicyle," in there.

Speaking of the parade, an old pal and longtime Fremontian offered this assessment:

I have to say though, either I'm getting crankier or the parade is getting seedier, but it seemed like there were a lot of exhibitionists enjoying being seen naked, and there was a bit too much sauntering slowly down the street to keep me amused. I liked it better when the cops were chasing a couple of naked guys on Stingrays.

I, too, thought there was a lot of "look-I'm-naked-ain't-it-cool" but not in any seedy way. I just wanted more music!

More biking of the not-naked kind is on the agenda today, even if the weather has gone back to normal after Monday's summer swelter and yesterday's summer storms. I would like to bike 1000 miles this season (arbitrarily set from April's Fools Day to my birthday - pretty good bookends, eh?). After a slow start (96.8 miles so far), I have 103 days left and need to to 8.8 miles per day. Sounds right in line with LDL Church guidelines. Expect more PB&J announcements soon!

I've been really good at this skipping laundry business, but I think today might be the day...

For a day or a lifetime

I am coming to you from my shared-adjunct office at CCC in beautiful Bothell, having just taught the first session of my summer English class. It is an exceedingly small group - only seven students! - so I hope to have a bit of fun and try out some new stuff this quarter.

Busy day ahead of me today: Now that I have a sense of this class, I need to finalize the syllabus. I also need to finish doing my Phil grading and post those. I also need to do laundry (we did blow it off yesterday!)

But even more significantly, I have a 2:30 pm telephone interview with the president of OC. This should be the final step for that one. I also heard yesterday (while Otis and I were laying in the sun at Carkeek Beach) that I have an interview next Tuesday up in Bellingham. Talk about abundance!

But enough of that. Please note the game party announcement one post down - hope to see you Friday!

And have you seen these kiteboarders? Man, they are something else.

This is more like it/plus party details

General

Here's the weather we have been waiting for! Otis and I went up to LFP for Father's Day stuff yesterday, and sitting in the sun in the backyard was sure a treat. Today has dawned clear and lovely and I will be back out on the bike in just a little while, trying to make the streak longer than "one in a row." Today is the last day of my three-day spring-summer break, so I have to make the most of it, right? Maybe I'll even skip doing laundry!

Here's another picture from Solstice. I guess this is what I look like if you say "Look over there" to me during a parade and I say "What? Where?"

Specific

So, here's the lowdown on the Game Night/Wheylona Farewell Party:

Time: This Friday, June 24, at 7:00 pm until the wee small hours
Where: My place, Casa con la Puerta Roja: you know where it is by now, or drop me a line for directions
Comestibles: We will have cheap beer, good pop, leftover champagne, and organic crunchy things; bring anything you want to share or not-share that isn't in these categories.
Featured Attractions:

Jen Forceful has promised an armload of stimulating board(ish) games from which we can choose our poison

A rousing round of Pin the Txapel on the Wheylona! Winner receives a free txapel and an autographed picture of Wheylona!

RSVP with a comment or email, just for fun, or just show up if the spirit moves you.

Church of the LDL

What a beautiful morning to begin a new regimen. The lipoprotein issues recently raised by my doctor (reinforcing my thought once again that you are fine until you go in for a visit) have been sufficient to get me back in the bike saddle after the weather/broken toe/inertia-induced hiatus. So while it was sunny and quiet, Otis and I slid down the hill to Fremont (breezy!) and then went out the Burke-Gilman towards the lake (easy!) until we got to an arbitrary point that looked like the place to turn around. We came back to Stone Way and gamely made our way up the hill to Bunnyville near Green Lake and Aurora (kneesy-squeezy!). We did not attempt to ride up the side of the ridge (queasy!). I think I could have done that in 1992, My Best Year for Biking, but certainly not now. Anyway, a nice 14-mile ride.

Here's a couple of bonus pictures from Di of the Solstice Security Officer. (Cropping and any poor composition all mine.) Click for biggie goodness:

Send along any additional photos of the parade and I'll post 'em.

Late in the day

I was going to post something this morning but then I realized that most of the people who follow the blog were already on their way over. Well, maybe not most, but many. (If you did the read the blog this morning but did not come over, drop a comment and tell me how much you missed it.) (Boy, that's sure asking for it, isn't it?)

Today started wonderfully with the expected mimosas and Kona coffee. What was not expected was the terrific turnout: Sunny-V showed up firsts, followed closely by Otis's pal Kris-10 (no relation to Gary Seven). In close succession we were joined by Rhymes-with-Theresa and her pal Ja Nell; Rhymes-with-Gloria and her pal Other Jay; Melvin and Melvin Junior; Dar-Dar Binks with a delegation from the Italian embassy, comprising Frankie and Nicky; and Lady Di. We made with the mimosas and klatched with the cawfee, got sweet with Hawaiian rolls and cross with croissants, and generally made a lot of joyful noise.

At the appointed time, we made the stroll down the hill, except for Kris-10, whose foot hurt. We picked up the K-men (JKK, CK, and AK) along the way. We got an acceptable spot right on the corner of Phinney and were there in plenty of time to see the first naked bicyclists whiz by. Soapy joined us shortly after the marching began.The parade was a good one: the weather cooperated, the costumes were great, the crowd was cool, and the energy was mostly positive. Highlights included the bicycling bumblebee chasing and kissing his running girl-flower (RwT's favorite); our tutu-ed security officer (Di's favorite); the giant anime-ish robots (Soapy's favorite); the Green Men (my favorite); and her ex-husband naked on a bike (Otis's favorite). (Hopefully someone will send me any pics captured of these guys or anything else you want to share.)

After the parade, Dar-Dar and her ragazzi went to the fair; the rest of us slogged back up the hill, losing the K-men and the Melvins along the way (not to anime robots, but to other engagements). We were rewarded with more mimosas, Otis's pasta salad, and, for Soapy at least, three or four creme-filled doughnuts. And we got to meet Snickers, Other Jay's little beagle-basset hound-something-or-other dog who was a real sweetheart.

Some of us went over to Cap Hill to purchase items from the Wheylona Emigration Thrift Store and the rest scattered to rollerblading and ball games and Ganesh knows what else.

Here are some pics from today, click for bigger:

Otis

Vic

Melvins

RwG and Other Jay

RwT and Ja Nell (back turned)

K-men


Frankie and Nicky


Shutterbug Di


Dar-Dar

Not pictured:

Walaka (Duh!)
Krist-10
Soapy
Snickers

Lots more stuff coming up, but I'll save it for the next post. Just keep next Friday, June 24, free for The Name of the Game is Goodbye Wheylona Party and keep Saturday, July 2 free for the Bar-B-Q up at the Putnam Resort in LFP!

And Johnbai, I wasn't meaning to lead you around on so many wild goose chases today. Sorry, man.

Tuning in by remote

Good morning! Once again, I am coming to you from the console in my phil classroom. It is finals hand-in period, so I will be conferencing with students as they come and go for the next hour and a half or so.

I sure hope this rain lets up for the Solstice Parade, but regardless of the weather, there will be a warm and festive time at brekkies on the ridge as well as at the parade itself! If there is any inclemency, it just makes it that much more important for all of us to dress festively, even garishly. And we must all insist that Otis wear her coconut bikini regardless! Scroll down and you'll find all the details, if you haven't already.

Our great and good friend Wheylona has posted details of her garage sale. It definitely sounds like something to check out: there's lots of good stuff to be had, even if you can't have the industrial stapler, because I already called dibs on it.

So, howcum, in light of how much geekishness as runs through group, there has been no mention of Batman Begins? Do we just not care about Batman movies any more? Does any want to go see this?

If we do, it can't be next Friday, because that's The Name-of-the-Game-is-Goodbye-Wheylona Party! More on that soon.

Unleaded this morning

I went for a physical the other day and my doctor decided that he wanted a cholesterol test from me. I am going to do it today, and it is only done after a fast, so last night there was no late night snack or anything - no big deal. But now this morning I can't have anything until I go in at 9:00, so that means no coffee, so that means I am typing this with a water bottle next to me. It's just not the same.

The Solstice In-Blog-Vitation is four posts down, or here.

Don't forget Haiku:
Seven slots down is the post
Or you can go here.

Oh, and I read a post on some blog recently that reminded me of this poem, which I guess is worth looking at for its own sake, especially if you are at all familiar with the original work.

Not my fault

The Solstice In-Blog-Vitation is three posts down.

As we were listening to music last night, somehow the subject came up of the musical career of Leonard Nimoy. (Otis has an old cassette with some stuff by him.) I showed her this, and she insisted that I share it with y'all. Without giving anything anyway, let's just say it is a striking confluence of popular culture, cult literature, and zeitgeist. Consider yourself warned; it is not for the timid.

Here it is.

Gimme a break

The Solstice In-Blog-Vitation is two posts down.

Just some odds and ends today:

I found out yesterday that I will indeed be teaching at Cascadia over the summer. Since their schedule and that of Edmonds CC are offset, I won't get any real break; my philosophy class has a final on Friday, and Cascadia will start up on Monday (well, Tuesday for me). Not that I am complaining or anything: I'm only working part-time, after all. (I am also going to be teaching a class at Antioch, but their summer doesn't start until July 5th.)

Otis has been a massagin' fool the past few days and has tons more coming up. I am going to get a headset phone and start doing David Spade's sarcastic receptionist schtick, or perhaps a take on Marcia Wallace's classic Carol Kester.

In honor of all the people I know with insomnia, chronic or current, I thought I would post this clip. Mad props to anyone who can identify the source.

Since it is a Jewish holiday, I had a chance to have breakfast with Di. We were two of the few people awake on Capitol Hill, I think. (And I'm not sure about Di - see above.)

Is anyone having trouble seeing the sidebar to the right, there? There should be a long panel with a picture of me, and other pictures a little less goofy, and some links, and archives and stuff? I think some browsers are not seeing all of it.

Speaking of sidebars, Wheylona comes from behind in bloggish goodness with her totally cool San Sebastian time/temp blinker. Now if Johnbai or Jon or Ned or I do it, we'll just be copycats.

Mysterious missive

The Solstice In-Blog-Vitation is one post down.

Hey, I got a call this morning from Golda in the security office back at Clark College in Vancouver (where I used to work). It seems they have received a Notice of Unclaimed Property for me at that address. It is an "Accounts Payable" from Pacific Lutheran University for "over $75" from 2004.

Any guesses as to what it might be? I will "pursue the claim," as the lingo has it, and let you know.

If you want to know if you have any unclaimed property, go here and check.

Solstice In-Blog-Vitation

Okay, it's time for the official invitation to the

Solstice Parade Day
Morning Get-Together
and Group Walk 'n' Watch

Date: Saturday, June 18, 2005
Times:

• Get-together 9:30 am - 11:15 am
• Walk: 11:15 am - 11:45 am
• Watch: 12:00 noon - 1:30 pm

Here's the deal: C'mon up to our place for morning mimosas, Kona coffee, and anything exotic-ish that we can rustle up or you feel like bringing. We will then all walk the mile or so down the hill on Fremont Avenue to get a spot from which to watch the Fremont Solstice Parade. After the parade, we can, jointly or severally, hang out to enjoy the Fremont Fair, or wander over to Gasworks Park, or just head back up the hill for more fun.

Click on comments to leave your RSVP. If you need more info, drop me an email.

See you at solstice!

Lazy boy, reclining

Yesterday was one of those days when circumstances conspired with weakness of will to ensure that nothing of note would be accomplished, at least by me. First of all, there is some serious radio-listening to get done. Hey, that lady cop from Law and Order who used to be on Pee-Wee's Playhouse is the guest on Wait, Wait. Then, after a nice, long, hot shower, maybe I'll clean up the house a bit before taking a walk. Oh, but I should have some lunch first. And do the dishes. Oh, now it's raining too hard to go out. Maybe I'll do some work. But first I'll make a list of all the things to accomplish this weekend. No, make that this week, before the solstice do. And make a grocery list. And update some spreadsheets. And catch up on some emails. And organize the shoes.

Man, you would think I was back writing my thesis again.

Anyway, in all my rambling around, I found this on the Internets. From the blurbs, I imagine it is totally lame. I am afraid to look at it for fear that I would be compelled to write a better one.

The aisle overfloweth

Past

Well, some of y'all did indeed join in the Crest outing last night. Dar-Dar Binks showed up, fresh from filing court papers; Sailor Sue brought along a new friend, a mysterious figure who for now will be known by the nom d'ecran Sailor Carol; JKK was there with not one but two offspring (fine, strapping young men the both of them, btw); there was FOL Catherine, another moovie noobie; and there was an appearance by special guest star Rhymes-with-Theresa! Swell!

If you haven't seen Millions yet, you have a treat waiting for you. It is a wonderful movie. RwT said that it was a very brave film, navigating as it did among themes and situations that presented so many opportunities to fail miserably. But it succeeds - it is well-crafted, engaging, fantastical, real, and very worthwhile. And as much as I hate to agree with Johnbai, Alexander Nathan Etel is just great.

After the movie, a quorum moved over to Sunni's Pizza (which did not appear to adhere to strict Islamic dietary practices) and had a great time. Otis and I had to make a handover rendez-vous with Melvin on the way home, and I expect there will be at least one bleary-eyed massage student in class today.

Present

I am sure some Haiku are percolating in the backs of minds; share, share!

Future

Regarding the Solstice Parade, Di (who should know) has suggested that we need to set up mega-early to claim a "prime" spot for parade viewing (whatever that might be) or just get there when we get there and, as she put it, "crane our necks and have a good time"; there's no middle-ground, as it were - no benefit to getting there a little early. That being the case, I would submit that coffee, mimosas, and whatever other treats we wind up with here on the ridge would be best enjoyed at leisure, followed by a walk down the hill just in time for the parade. So, Casa Phinney will be receiving from 9:30 on next Saturday, with a walk down the hill planned for 11:15. How does that sound?

Rebus-ish

Here are some more "clues" to the kinda big deal, for those who were not at Millions:

This place This thing

Art: film and poetry

So, hope to see some of y'all tonight at the Crest for Millions. (See below.)

I tripped over some stuff on the internets that made me think of a post, so I was scouting around looking for some additional info, but then this bubbled to the surface, so this is here first, and the other will come later. Okay?

This is a haiku solicitation, inspired partly by Otis's recent tasking of Johnbai with the writing of a haiku on a bar napkin, or more precisely on the subsequent discovery that we none of us were really that tight with the haiku form.

So, herewith is an invitation to submit your best haiku written in accordance with Masaoka Shiki's 1892 reform, extended with Kawahigashi Hekigoto's precepts:

Hekigoto's principles:

• Haiku would be truer to reality if there were no center of interest in it.
• There is importance to the poet's first impression, just as it was, of subjects taken from daily life, and of local color to create freshness.

Subject: Haiku-poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for immediate recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.

Structure: Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units; in English, this is three lines.

Cutting: The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections must remain, to a degree, independent of each other. Both sections must enrich the understanding of the other. To make this cutting in English, either the first or the second line ends normally with a colon (:), long dash (–) or ellipsis (...).

Season word: Each Haiku must contain a season word (kigo), which indicates in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicates winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word isn't always that obvious.

In order to participate evenly, I will post after some thought and perhaps even anonymously in the comments. if we get some stuff we like, I will make a permanent link to a web page for them.

PS (we none of us is a colloquialism, not a typo.)

Friday nite is moovie nite!

We're gonna go see Millions at the Crest on Friday 6/10 at the 7:00 pm show. Wanna come?

Give me a call or drop an email if you want dinner or coffee-an' before; we'll likely not go out for too long afterwards as the massage types have weekend clsss.

Blogotronic! metacommentary and more...

Wow, with the incredible propagation of blogs in my little community of friends, I am being whipsawed between posting here and commenting there. I wonder if someday this won't evolve into a LiveJournal(ish) joint online endeavor? In the meantime, it's really fun to watch how different sites are developing their own personalities and specialties and looks. As Otis often says, it's all in the Intention - and trying to suss out the intention from the different sites is an interesting exercise.

I got word a day or so ago that my latest grant application got approved - yay Children's Hospital! My success total at this point stands at $370,000, and I think I am about ready to start some marketing, so (A) What do y'all think of this? and (B) if you have any leads on anyone that needs ad hoc grant-writing work done, let me know!

Don't forget the Solstice celebration next week! Scroll down for preliminary details; more to come during the week.

Home again, home again

Great day in Bummertown! We went over for the interview after my morning class and I spent three hours or so talking about me. Such a chore! I think it went well. I should hear something in a week or two.

So, now NSCC and OC are both in the pipeline. And so is another one: here's a clue. Shhh! Don't say it out loud! Still waiting on SCCC and WCC.

When we returned on the boat, we met Liz and Missy, who were playing hooky in Seattle, on the waterfront for dinner. Veggie burgers galore!

But enough of me, please now go to the blog of whiny attention whore my good friend Johnbai and vote in his art contest.

Nothing to lose but your chains

A so totally great thing happened this morning: After my usual early-morning philosophy class, four of the students stayed after to continue a conversation about Karl Marx! They were just plain interested in the ideas, and wanted more clarification/discussion. It was all kinds of validating, and today I certainly don't feel alienated from my labor.

It was great to see Soapy and the gang and some new friends at the Sunset last night. Sorry we couldn't stay longer, but you know about hay and sunshine and all that. Besides, the glow from Soapy's shirt was beginning to affect my vision. I hope Johnbai got some snaps of that.

Tomorrow is the Bremerton interview, so I may not be posting until afterwards.

Great day in the morning!

It's amazing what a difference a few miles can make. I got up this morning and it was sunny warm. I drove to Edmonds to teach and it was cloudy and cold! I followed the traffic back down Aurora to Phinney and here I am in summertime again. I'll take it where I can get it.

Yesterday I got it in Fremont: Otis, Wheylona, and I passed a pleasant afternoon doing our respective teachery and/or consultanty work in Caffe Ladro and Mad Pizza (consecutively, not concurrently). One of my favorite aspects of this teaching stuff is the work environment: classrooms sometimes and anywhere else the rest of the time. They were playing really good tunes at Mad, so there were times it was hard to work with O & W busting moves in the booth to Prince.

The blog has been text-heavy for too long, so here are some pix from the Spokane trip. Click for enlargement goodness:

Otis, hanging with Mr. Davenport


Walaka, where all the cool kids go

Anyone up for a movie Friday? maybe Look at Me or Millions at the Crest, if they are still there?

Is there a musician in the house?

Last night, Otis and I went to a house concert at Linda & Mike's. (Here's an article from Wired on what house concerts are.)

The featured act was Bohemian Blue, which is the duo-format performance name for Jean Mann. (Jean also performs as a solo and fronts the Jean Mann Trio.) Her music was billed as "alternafolk" and she has been compared to Ani Di Franco, Norah Jones, and Joni Mitchell.

The evening was great. L&M did a great job setting up the place, and as usual there was a super group of people there. (Sunni-V showed up late, but JJ didn't show at all.) Jean and her partner Bill did about 18 numbers in two sets, about two-thirds original pieces and one-third obscure covers. (Has anyone heard of Hem?)

I thought Jean has a wonderful voice and I liked her compositions. Her stuff was generally folky, but she did some interesting things: one of her pieces is a waltz and another is a fun calliope-like tune using only some clinky beads and a melodica (that accordiony-thing you blow in) to accompany the vocal. Otis is a real Difrancophile (an Ani-maniac?) and she really liked the concert - so much so that she bought a CD. She said that it was a little more ephemeral and less intensely edgy than Ani. I'm sorry I don't have the vocabulary to better describe the music, but I am a bit of a musical stooge. I do know Jean and Bill had to re-tune their guitars a lot.

Anyway, it was good concert, and a good time, and we even got to feel a little morally superior since we walked there and back, so we were all alterna- and green and stuff.

Blasts from pasts and back to futures

So, as I was dropping off a timesheet at NSCC for my grant-writing work, I ran into (well, actually sought out and found) Wheylona! It was great to catch up, since she has been somewhat MIA lately and will soon depart the Pacific Nowthwest for the Atlantic Northeast (of Spain).

With that in mind, the previously announced Game Night will include the featured game "Pin the Basque Beret on the Wheylona" and will be the official g'wan-get-outtahere party of this particular gang of well-wishers. So, if you want to make sure that you get to see Wheylona before she heads out, keep Saturday, June 25 open.

And don't forget the Solstice Parade in two weeks - the parade begins at noon, so I'm thinking Kona Coffee and mimosas at our place around 9:30 - 10:00 and a walk down the hill to get a good place by 11:00. Sound good?

Today's agenda includes lunch with a guy who worked for me two or three lives ago in security and left to join the Jesuits. It'll be great to get back in touch. Then it's party-time at Linda's tonight - the work can wait until tomorrow.

Mad pixies!

Monday Night is Bowling Night in Seattle!

In honor of the birthday of one-a-da-gang Soapy (see here or here to place the face) there will be a Ballard Bowlarama on Monday June 6th. Here's the lowdown in Soapy's own inimitable and (inestimable) prose:

Greetings All! While I haven't organized a birthday party since 1989, I figure turning 30 (or "twenty-ten" as Drew Barrymore lamented in "Fever Pitch") warrants some kind of get-together. I can think of no better birthday activity ... than paintball!!!

However, since I don't want to get shot up on my birthday and limp around with quarter-sized welts on my arms and legs, I'm going with the #2 birthday activity ... of bowling!!! Bigger balls, less physical contact, but just as many white things with red necks ricocheting around like mad pixies. Yes sir, bowling pins and paintball players - separated at birth?

If anyone's free next Monday, June 6th, and wouldn't mind tossing a few in the gutter, let me know. Sunset Lanes seems to be nearest to everyone. I'm off work at 7pm. Tell your friends, and some of your enemies. Because your enemies could turn out to be my new best friends, and then I can give you the inside scoop on their plans and whereabouts.

So, all the cool kids are going to be there - that would be you, too, right? See you Monday!

Oh, and I am sure Johnbai would have blogged this, but since he has just moved and is still waiting for the cable guy, he is offline, out of touch, and, I am sure, out of sorts.

A moving experience

So, helping with Johnbai's 150-ft. move was an easy way to earn some pizza and pilsener. Especially since neither he nor I (nor Otis or Di) broke any more phalanges.

Before the move, Otis and I went to an Indian lunch buffet. It made me wonder why certain cuisines seem to feature buffets and others don't. I mean, putting aside the Old-Family-Buffet-anything-goes places, you see a lot of Chinese buffets and Indian buffets, but has anyone seen a Thai buffet or Mexican buffet or Italian buffet (besides Izzy's pizza buffet: that doesn't count)? What about a Pho buffet - that would be weird, wouldn't it?

One more song about movin' on down the hallway...

Johnbai is moving. Come help today at 4:00 pm. I'm gonna.