It's not for girls!

This is a Yorkie candy bar that was on sale at the Scottish Highland Games. I have no idea what their marketing strategy is.

Soapy, Otis and I went down to Enumclaw for the games today. (RwT wound up not being able to join us after all.) It was a great day: a bit on the hot side, but loads of fun, although sometimes a little weird. Viz:

Upon my approaching the ticket booth alone:

Me: Hi! How much is it?
Cranky lady: Well, how many do you want?
Me: Um, I guess there will be three...
Cranky lady: Well, that's what I needed to know. $36.

(Why she couldn't tell me it was $12, I don't know.)

Upon being handed an ear of corn wrapped in a soggy paper plate literally dripping melted butter onto the ground:

Girl: If you want more butter, there's some at the end of the counter.

Over the P.A. system as we watched dancers get ready:

Announcer: and if you go down to the Kilted... um... the Tilted Kil... um... eff... (silence)

Over the P.A. system as we watched athletes get ready:

Different announcer: And the hammer throw has likely been with us as long as there have been hammers. I am sure that shortly after the hammer was invented, someone threw one.

And like that. Weird, but fun. Here's a bit of a photoblog (click for biggie goodness):

Here's the best picture of Soapy and me.

Here's a picture of Otis choking Soapy, or as Soapy called it, "a picture of me holding Otis's arm in the right place to look like she's choking me."


So you know we weren't just mean all day, here's an angelic Soapy modeling a tartan kilt.


A number of dance contestants were doing a jig that I called "the fisty dance" since it involved punching movements. Here it is demonstrated by Otis.


Here are some games competitors warming up.
Shortly after I took this picture, the guy in the front threw a 42-pound weight over a 17-foot bar.


Another competitor.



We thought this guy was interesting because (a) he kinda looks like a priest and (b) he has what appears to be an entire fox skin as a sporran. Ew. BTW, this year a large percentage of men we saw wore Utilikits and Neo Kilts as well as traditional tartans.


Here's Otis sneaking into frame with a giant highlander and his piratey girlfriend.
There were a lot of SCA/Renn Faire types in attendance.



Here are some cross-dressed musicians from (I think) the Malcolm pipe and drum band.
I just liked the color scheme a lot.



After we left the Games, Otis wanted to stop by water and take a dip to get cool.
From this shot, you wouldn't know we were in a debris-ridden section of the Green River under a roadway overpass in Kent, would you?

Good times.

This getting to be a habit

What a jam-packed summer day! KOMO says the high was only 82 today, but it felt like a lot more than that. We did a 17-mile ride this morning on the Burke-Gilman - it was nice and smooth, now that I re-centered my rear wheel so it's not rubbing the brake all the time. Otis had a Reiki client on Capitol Hill right after lunch, and when she got back we went out to Magnusson Park for the afternoon, combining fun in the sun and surf with reading papers (me) and studying A&P (Otis).

Then we headed up to LFP, so Otis could scour the storage areas of her folks' house for stuff to sell on eBay or Craig's List. (She only took her own stuff; she didn't just rummage around for saleable items, although that was tempting.) I'll let y'all know when it gets posted.

When we got back on the Ridge, we stopped for milk and fruit and wound up doing an actual eight-bag grocery shopping.

And now I'm dinking on the computer, still working on that web page. Life is good.

It looks like RhymeswithTheresa will be joining us for the Games in the morning. If anyone else decides to come along, give me a call.

Under the wire

Okay, so I went down and got vampired this morning, so I should have the lowdown on the LDL by Monday.

I spent a lot of the day working on a new web page. It isn't ready to unveil yet, but soon.

Otis and Soapy joined me in breaking my pizza fast tonight at Piecora's. (mmmmm, cheese...)

Afterwards, I also broke my personal movie drought as well: we all went up to the Metro to catch Sky High, the Disney-superhero-teen-comedy: which had, to my surprise, not just cameos but a heaping helping of Bruce Campbell, Cloris Leachman, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, AND Lynda Carter (still wonder-ful). It was fun, and played on a lot of comics and movies cliches pretty well.

Och, it's the highland games on Sunday! We should be leaving the Ridge by nine.

Moment of truth -and- the skirling of the pipes

Low Cholesterol

Tomorrow is D-Day, or more precisely, LDL-Day. It has been six weeks since my bad report card; we will see what effect biking 400 miles, eliminating most fats and all cheese, and drinking precious little beer will have on my cholesterol levels. NPO for the next 12 hours and I get drawn tomorrow morning. I should have a report on Monday.

Oh, and who's up for pizza and lager at Piecora's tomorrow night?

Highland Games

So, it looks like we'll be making an excursion down to Enumclaw for the Scottish Highland Games on Sunday morning, 7/31. The piping begins at 8:00, dancing at 8;30, and athletic competions at 8:45; I don't know that we have to get there at the crack, but early could be good. I figure that I would want to stay until about 1:00 or so, for the Massing of the Pipes. The schedule and such is here.

So, drop me an email if you're in, and we can carpool, or meet there, or something else.

A truly annoying gif

should be in the sidebar. Enjoy!

What a lovely day! I had a bike ride, and a scooter ride, and Otis and I are going to walk up the street to Gaspare's to have dinner with her folks tonight, and, all in all, it's all going pretty well.

I had a meeting today at Antioch - they are giving me another class: I will be teaching Introduction to Liberal Studies in the fall. This is a sort-of interdisciplinary foundation course for their B.A. completion program. They are rewriting the syllabus and restructuring the class, so it's a good time to be coming on board. It should be fun to teach. (My class at Antioch this summer has been a ball so far!)

Looks like it's shaping up for Sunday morning for the Highland games...

Blog crossover

Having read Johnbai's post on Di's intended marathon movie-watching, I feel compelled to respond. It seems a little koyaanisqatsi to me to be wagering on this like a horse race and winning or losing bragging rights based on someone else's actions. My initial wager was an off-hand remark intending to demonstrate my assessment of Di's singlemindedness. If such a wager ever held any operational validity, it would only be if Di was unaware of (or had forgotten) that the wager existed: her very knowledge of it -- not to mention the hoop-de-doodle a-forming around it -- completely changes the parameters of the wager, in a manner similar to the observer paradox. The race is now between Di and Johnbai, as it were.

So, Di, watch, don't watch; watch 1, or 10, or 20, or 29, or 30. Invite us over to watch with you, or don't. Just don't make it a point to watch videos on my account. And leave time to get out for a bike ride. Here's to a great break, when it gets here.

Technically, it's still today...

Drat and darn! I just now listened to a phone message from Soapy about bowling shenanigans going on this very evening at The Garage! Too bad I was out on a delightful 27-mile ride with Otis and then doing lesson planning for my class at 8:00 tomorrow morning: that would have been swell! And it would have been welcome, since most of today was filled with workish work, and we can't be having too much of that going on.

Go here and dig you some Superhero Radio. Now playing: a marching band version of the Superfriends Theme.

Mayhem in Mongolia

I just passed a couple of pleasant hours watching a bunch of (mostly) Irishmen whale on a little white ball - and each other - with sticks, while running up and down a playfield. At the end, somebody had won. Mel's preoccupation - personal and professional - with things Americo-celtic leads down some interesting paths. In that spirit, the Scottish Highland Games are in Enumclaw next week - anyone up for a field trip to watch men in kilts throwing a 62-pound weight over a nine-foot bar?

In the interest of full disclosure, I did ride to Magnolia Park, but it was on my scooter. I did 25 miles yesterday, and I plan to do a long trip tomorrow, so I gave myself the day off. Since I started the new regimen, I have done 360 miles in 36 days - and I have 570 left to go, in 70 days.

Action of a different sort was on the agenda last night: Otis and I made it up to Cap Hill in time to catch the last half of X-men 2 with Johnbai and Di on Bai's big screen. Fun stuff, and not just the movie. Maybe we should do Fantastic Four after all...

Links and Things

(I have deleted all the "technical difficulties" posts. I hope they didn't obscure the links from/about Jimbo.)

---

Here's a little European geography quiz. I got 39/45 correct, with an average miss of only 20 miles on the ones that I did not get. Try your hand at it!

---

Here's some info from Mel:

HURLING FINAL - The Final of the Seattle Gaels Hurling League is at 1:30 PM, this Sunday, July 24th at Magnolia Playfield, 32nd Ave and W Barrett, Seattle. This is a great chance to see the "fastest field game in the world." For more information on the Gaels Hurlers or Footballers, call 206-953-8460, visit their website.

If you haven't ever seen hurling, just imagine basketball played on a soccer field using hockey sticks and a baseball, with all the violence of both rugby and lacrosse, and a scoring system more complicated than football. Sort of like low-tech Irish Rollerball, or perhaps something a little more Mad Max/post-apocolyptic.

I'm going to ride over tomorrow; stop by if you have the afternoon free.

The magic of the internets

Huh - Sitemeter just told me that someone visited my blog after doing a Yahoo search for "info on Starbucks hoodies." I was the ninth result returned. That's, um, weird, innit?

Raindroppings

Okay, so is the header "kaploeey" or not? I wanted to move the kilt picture to the left, so all the graphical elements weren't stacked in one line, but then some folks didn't like that, so I moved it back, and now some folks say it's messed up. So?

Here is a new blink from pal Jimbo. And here is a link in re Jimbo, for those who have never seen it. (He's number five.)

The really sad thing is, I knew all this already.

I am mooning you

On this sunny morning, here are two lunar links:

The moon will be at a perigee tonight, and it will be full as well. It should look really big and pretty. It will likely be clear for us, so we might actually get to see some astronomical stuff for a change.

And from pal Mags in the Couv comes this timely little Google featurette. Be sure to zoom all the way in for surprising detail!

Yesterday was quite the full Wednesday! We did the West Seattle ride, which has a completely different energy than riding the B-G. I also managed to get ANOTHER flat, but this time I had my gear, and felt all self-sufficient and stuff. And we went up to LFP to see Otis's folks, who just got back from visiting her brother/their son in Thailand. Then we stayed up and did homework. Yowza! Good thing today is a lab day up at CCC!

Still underemployed

And the Dean was very gracious.

Just waiting for Hilo, now.

'nuff said.

Prose and cons

Yesterday was the first day in almost two months that I did not post. I did, however, update the template, for what that's worth.

Monday saw the shortest bike ride yet (I didn't even log it): 1.74 miles. That's what the odo was reading when I got the flat. And, of course, I hadn't yet replaced my patch kit / pump / etc. from when my saddle bag, which contained my old patch kit / pump / etc., got stolen along with my seat. I have since replaced everything (man, that barn door was heavy) and bought a new tube and will fix the bike back up today. Otis and I will take a long ride (to make up for my missed day), maybe heading south to the downtown waterfront and West Seattle for a change from the Burke-Gilman.

Past record does not predict future performance category: The has been NO activity on the comic book collections I have on offer on eBay. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Three days left.

I got offered a full-time job in Bellingham yesterday, as Director of the Learning Center at Whatcom Community College. I have to call them in an hour or so to give them my reply, which is likely to be a "no." I have tried to do an analysis and a pro/con list and all that, and it comes out so even that it's not terribly useful. The only thing left in the realm of non-rational consideration is the idea that to get where I want to be eventually, I just shouldn't take any non-faculty positions, even if they offer teaching as part of the job. But even writing that down makes it seem absolutist and unwise. Sigh. Anyway, I'll let y'all know.

Lucky beckoning cat

This is a maneki neko, or Japanese lucky beckoning cat:

They are a symbol of good luck and good fortune in Japan and Hawaii. It seems that according to a legend, a feudal lord saw a cat make this gesture, which apparently means something like "come here," and followed it; just then, lightning struck right where the guy had been standing. I guess that's pretty good luck.

Anyway, Otis found this particular little cat at Uwajimaya, and he is usually sitting near my abundance box (Otis made some abundance boxes for some of y'all) trying to help me get a tenure-track position. I have most often seen these cats in restaurants, where they are supposed to help bring in customers. (They also sometimes sell Kirin beer.)

Anyway, one website about nekos (nekki?) said they should be appropriate for websites or blogs, since they are beckoning in visitors. I thought this was a swell idea, so I've put a little version of this guy in my template. Maybe the rest of you bloggers out there in our solar system could do the same, and we could be the maneki neko blog-ring or something. If you do a GIS, there's a gazillion images of 'em; find one to match your online persona, on off we go!

Excessive use of interrobangs; 15 yard penalty

Ain't it great?! I just came back from a 2.5 mile walk in the sunshiney hotness and I love it! I have a diagonal sweat-stripe across my T-shirt where the strap for my shoulder pack was; I don't love that so much, but hey. And the comic book store I went to with the intent to purchase either Trinity or New Frontier or Hell and a Hard Place was closed, but okay. It's still great that it's summer!

Before I set out for B-ham this morning, I was flipping through the blogs, and I must say I am really loving out little bloggy group, at least from my perspective. I have major focal points in the same town as me (Johnbai), a state down (Jonbrit), another state down (Wheylona), and over in Europe (Ned). Each of these has links to other stuff that is often interesting, even if not totally connected, and so on, and so on, and so on. But even staying in my little solar system, look at the stuff: Ned is reviewing restaurants and sharing school assignments; Wheylona is reviewing movies and art shows; Jon is recommending books; and Johnbai is uploading comix and reviewing movies and internets. All that on top of the personal chit-chat. Ain't it great!?

So, the B-ham trip was wonderful, in terms of driving in the sunshine, and great, in terms of interviewing. Even though this is an administrative position instead of a faculty slot, the emphasis is apparently on pedagogy (I would definitely teach a class every quarter) and the initiative is for the development of new learning activities and stronger connections with subject departments. I am going to have to do a real pro/con analysis of this one; my gut isn't telling me anything useful.

JJ has suggested a combination bike/bite event this weekend: combining a bike rise with some time at the Bite of Seattle. I was thinking that we could bike in the later afternoon and hit the Bite at about 5:00 pm or so, so that our massage students and (anyone who didn't want to bike) could join in then. Anyone in?

The magic fan is working

What great summer weather! After Friday's rainy ride, it was nice to head out to Golden Gardens after an early dinner last night for a warm and sunny bike tour to the end of the Burke-Gilman -- and beyond! (The B-G stops at the Ballard Freddy's, picks up again at the locks, and then peters out again at Ray's. It doesn't seem like it would be hard to find a place for it along the unused railroad way in Ballard, but...) Today seems to be sustaining the loveliness, so I'll be out again soon, maybe to downtown.

Besides riding yesterday, I put the remaining four shortboxes of my comic collection for sale on eBay. It took a while to catalog all 400 or so of them, but I hope to entice people in with the good stuff and have them take the whole lot, so it needed to be done. The closet is starting to look less cluttered, and that's good.

Otis spent all day yesterday smelling stuff in Aromatherapy and is apparently going to be concocting more potions today. She mixed up a grapefruit-clove-ginger tincture yesterday that smelled surprising good and seemed to help her sore arm a little, too. Sweet!

Timing is everything...

After a mahvelous brekkies in Fremont with Di yesterday morning, I sprang onto my bike, ready for a ripping good ride to Ballard and maybe the locks before heading home... so, of course, that's when it started raining. I squished on for my minimum RDA anyway, but didn't make an expedition of it.

The forecast for yesterday was cloudy, so I was hoping that yesterday's rain was actually today's forecast rain, and that today would bring tomorrow's forecast clear skies instead, but it looks like today we have yesterday's cloudiness somehow. Anyway, the PB&J will be a dinner ride instead of a lunch ride, giving the day as much time to clear as possible.

Since I have successfully moved a lot of merchandise over the past week (breadmaker, melodeon, African Woman Lamp, polaroid camera) I am going to try to extend my streak by putting my remaining comics on eBay today. I have packed them sort-of by category, and each box has some gold among the dross, so I am hoping each will find a home with someone willing to take the lot for the prize.

Poll position

Without going anywhere near the level of my favorite awful site, I thought I'd drop a little animated gif in the sidebar in honor of the wonderful weather we've been having. It was originally from an Italian site, so I guess you can't argue its design pedigree...

So, I got rid of the summer outing poll (and replaced it with a little animated gif poll). Here are the results:

Looks like Johnbai managed to stuff GeekQuest II into first place, so we'll start researching costs on amusement parks and report back.

The melodeon is on its way to Holland! (Michigan, that is.) And a very nice fellow stopped by to pick up the African Woman Lamp last night. This guy really wanted the lamp - I mean, he had a $20 bill in his hand as he was walking up the stairs to the apartment. My batting average was pretty high this go-round on Craig's List -- maybe I'll get the rest of the comics onto eBay this weekend.

Long weekend for Otis: school today and this weekend. So, anyone up for

A PB&J Ride?

We can meet at GasWorks Park, maybe at 11:00 or so, and ride to Matthews Beach, 7.5 miles. (If we are feeling good we can go another few miles to Log Boom Park,) Then we can pull out our PB&J sammiches and whatever other goodies we have in our rucksacks or panniers and have a little picnic. Then we ride back. Yay, bicycling fun! Let me know, but I'll be going out no matter what. (If no one else is up for it, I'll prolly go earlier, though.)

Kibbles and bits

Curious: I noticed something the other day: Sully's, the tavern across the way from us, officially "Sully's Snowgoose Saloon," is flying a Union Jack. I had always thought (presumed) it was an Irish place... maybe Ulster? Hunh.

Forwarded: A note from Biker-Linda

I am trying to help my friend Camille ... find a DJ for her husband's bday party. I sure don't know any, but thought you folks were plugged in to "artier" circles than me. Got any suggestions I can pass along?

If you have any leads, please post 'em.

Commercial: The melodeon negotiations were concluded favorably; I will be at FedEx-Kinko's this afternoon packing and mailing. And it looks like the African Wioman Lamp may have found a new home as well...

Athletic: I am thinking about re-introducing the PB&J ride on this Saturday (while Otis is aromatherapizing). Anyone up for 20 miles or so?

Where are you, Hugo Quackenbush?

Here are the names of some of the people who want to sell me Cialis:

Potshots M. Curbs
Debility O. Fleshing
Accumulator E. Grindstones
Mouthful H. Gutsiest
Bracelets Q. Hannibal
Abstraction V. Kilter
Consciousness S. Manichean
Allergen V. Microcosms
Enhancer R. Molar
Birdhouse O. Probate
Acetaminophen O. Richter
Crafts L. Sportswear
Guatemalan V. Squire
Aquarius M. Turmeric
Overpay D. Vulgarized

Don't most of these sound like Grouch Marx characters? Or maybe W.C. Fields? Allergen V. Microcosms looks like some kind of sci-fi court case... and the first one would look better as Potshots McCurbs, maybe a boxer...

(Otis is doing a Reiki session, so I'm just hanging out right now; hence the posts.)

Ecclesiastes 1:9

So I was looking at the website of Carol Lay, a cartoonist whose work I admire both for its art and its writing (ah, shades of Will Eisner) and what did I come upon while looking through old strips in her "Story Minute" series but this. Look familiar?

Cantankery

Too muggy today.

Too noisy this morning. People talking outside, construction equipment equipment on the block, and so on.

Too smelly this morning. Above-referenced construction equipment idling outside, new shower curtain still off-gassing carcinogens or whatever.

Not enough milk this morning. No cereal.

And to top it all off, we were attacked by an Army of Giant Insects:

Well, that last part didn't actually happen, but things are still kind of pissy.

Mike Mailway style

Polaroid follows breadmaker out the door. Negotiations surrounding melodeon take a positive turn... Four out of five circus monkeys are male... Rode 20 miles to, and 17 miles back from, work yesterday. New math? Nah... Swivel chair invented by one Thos. Jefferson - you may have heard of him... Otis fares well in practical exam... Grapefruit juice inhibits effectiveness of cholesterol medicines. Not orange or tangerine or lemon, though. Docs have no answer.... New shower curtain installed. Looks great, smells vinyly...

Wheelman!

Well, I've got a meeting up in Bothell later today, so I am going to bike it. Wish me luck and hope the rain holds off (although my purple and orange togs are almost garish enough to physically drive off raindrops). I'll let y'all know later how it turns out.

The Adventures of domestic lad!

New shower curtain.

How is it that a single minutia can become the driving force of one's life? We've been messing about with getting a new curtain for a while and have narrowed it down to this one; it'll stick with the current theme but should require less maintenance to look spiffy for reiki/massage clients. Wow, exciting stuff in the blog, huh?

Other huge developments on the domestic front: Today was laundry day! I did the dishes, too! Can you stand the excitement?


I guess coincident with the beginning of three-weekends-in-a-row massage classes for Otis, we've slowed down on the fun stuff starting this weekend. Maybe we'll get back in the swing with a mid-week movie soon, but for now, we're just TCB, as the King would say. I sold Otis's breadmaker through Craig's List and am in the middle of negotiations to sell the melodeon to a woman in Michigan. I have a staff meeting this week up at Cascadia that will earn some extra money, and I have a second interview in B-ham a week from tomorrow for the LC Director job.

So, things move along into summer.

Wheeler -dealer

Past
Otis and I did manage to squeeze in a 16-mile ride yesterday, even in the rain. Yay, us!

The DVD nite extravaganza was a lot like the end of the BBQ, with me and Otis and Mel and Soapy sitting in the dark, except that Soapy wasn't there. We watched Bottle Rocket, which was a meh, maybe a meh-plus

Present
I just got back from spending the morning down at Interplay, Inc. as a playtester for a new game they are developing. (They do group activities/team-building stuff for corporations.) It was a great big sort of board game that players move along, doing stunts and things as directed by the squares they land on. (I won the first game and got robbed on the second.) It was a fun way to pass a Saturday morning and I got to meet some friendly folks. If you want in on this sort of stuff (there's no pay or anything, just free coffee and bagels), let me know.

Future
Today I am hoping to connect with some people who have responded to ads on Craig's List for some stuff I am selling. Here's to lightened loads and fattened wallets!

Fifty years and a day

My great and good friend, Jon-Brit, was



years old yesterday!

(He had a sort-of countdown going on his blog, but then stopped posting, so I sort-of lost track.)

Jon is starting his second half-century right smack in the middle of a transition/ cusp/ evolution/ change, and everything is aligning for it to be brilliant!

Here's Jon when I met him, over a decade ago:

Very much the hip, stylin' Brit, ain't he?

Here's Jon now, the mature father of two:

(He doesn't need that sign to remind himself, he teaches ESL.)

So please help me out! To make up for my belatedness, let's give Jon some mad b-day props! Leave a note in the comments here, or head over to Jon's own blog and fill it full of happy birthdays. Let's celebrate

with Jon-Brit!

Time check

I have been advised that I did not mention a time for DVD night - let's say 7:00 pm, mmkay?

Rainy rants

So, I didn't ride yesterday because my hamstrings really hurt, and I planned on an extra-long ride today to keep my miles up, but it's really raining this morning, so I am hoping it will lighten up a little bit, but I guess if you're going 25-30 miles it doesn't really matter, a little rain is the same as a lot. Anyway, I'm going to go anyway; whether Otis comes along might be another story.

Let me know if you want to come over for DVD nite tonight! (See below.)

I was re-reading Wheylona's political post and recalling a conversation with Melvin about how she regularly and routinely corresponds with our elected officials. All it takes is some email: most officials have click-to-send contact info on their websites, or even a feedback form. Sometimes it's just a matter of how many tick marks a staffer makes on a for/against sheet, but we need to let these people know how we feel about stuff, from the Iraq War to the Monorail. So here are some links; just click these and bookmark them, and you'll be all set to fire off your opinion the next time something sticks in your craw:

Contact Ron Sims, King County Executive

Contact the King County Council

Contact Greg Nickels, Seattle Mayor

Contact the Seattle City Council

To find out your representatives in Olympia (The state is divided into legislative districts; each district sends one Senator and two Representatives to the State Legislature. You can find them here and link to them. I am in the 36th LD: State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, State Representatives Helen Sommers and Mary Lou Dickerson.)

That page also lets you know your Congressional District and who your representative in the U.S. House is. (Most of Seattle is in the 7th CD, home of beloved Congressman "Baghdad Jim" McDermott.)

And, of course, our U.S. Senators are Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Contact the White House

I've already sent off a few this morning. It feels good.

Friday nite is DVD nite!

So, we're feeling cheap and don't want to pay full price for movies (JJ, did you know that the Big Picture is $11.75 now!) and there's nothing at the Crest that is terribly interesting (Linda, the Enron movie ends tonight, Thursday, drat the luck) so we're just inviting folks over to the house for a DVD nite.

We have Bottle Rocket and Get Christy Love and Amelie and I Eat Your Skin (which has no actual eating of skin) and a collection of four snake-themed B-movies (including Jack Palance in the lesbian-flavored Black Cobra Woman) and some other stuff, or you could bring one of your disks, or we could walk down the street and rent one.

We have a bunch of beer and pop left over from the barbecue and could make a whole lot of popcorn. You could bring a bag of chips.

Let me know if you wanna come. Send me an eletter if you need directions.

Making contact

Man, what a day.

Good luck, Neds. Good luck, Wheylona and Zalo. Good luck, all of us.

I think that tomorrow's movie will be a cheapie at the Crest instead of the Fantastapalooza somewhere else. I kinda lost interest in standing in line, etc. I'll send out an eletter* tonight.

So, do the poll (that big purple thing on the upper right). If you want to stuff the ballot box, you can vote once each day. We'll put together an expedition soon.

*I have decided to try to popularize "eletter" as the term for a singular communication, reserving "email" for the collective sense, as well as for the process or the system. After all, the postal carrier brings the mail, but we don't say "I got a mail from my mother," do we?

Good morning

The bee's knees: I feel great after biking consistently for the past few weeks (I have 761 miles left to do in the next 89 days) -- everywhere except my knees. When I do steep grades, it feels like some ligaments or tendons are going to pop loose and go flying like bolts from a cartoon jalopy. Actually, I think it might be a bursa issue - I'm going to try doing some research to see what I can do specifically, like stay hydrated better. Meanwhile, I just keep hitting them hills.

Trendy McTrend Department: Here's today's strip from another webcomic I read. All you need to know is that the girl is being held prisoner by a sort of minor-league Bond villian. Dig the punchline, though.

Still working on the Fantastic Four deal. Looks like it'll be opening at the Metro - how's the 7:10 show sound?

Better late

Well, I certainly feel all independent and stuff after yesterday, don't you?

Actually, our neighbor Sunny (not Sunni) spent most of yesterday in the hallway studying for her oral board for med school (she said her apartment was messy and it was easier to drag the futon out to the hall than to clean). She saw us leave to go biking, then come back, then leave to drive up to LFP to hang out in the backyard and do work, and then come back, and then leave on the scooter to go to Golden Gardens to not do work, and then come back, and then leave again on the scooter to go down to JJ's fireworks party. Sunny commented that we changed clothes an awful lot.

JJ's party was great - RwG and OJ were both there, but Sunni V did not make his promised appearance. We watched the Elliott Bay fireworks from the deck of JJ's condo building: it was a great view of the show, but that was not good enough for JJ, who let us know that they had moved south since last year and used to be right there, right there in front of us, dammit! It was a lot of fun, but the traffic coming back through Ballard wasn't, scooter or no.

Today is mostly a work day, although Otis's work means I got a massage after my ride today, so it's all good. I have to teach tonight: I have a 7:00 - 9:30 pm Antioch class on Tuesdays starting today.

To wrap up this late post, here is a late picture: the shot taken by Dar-Dar on the night of the carnivale celebration hosted by (so recently departed) Wheylona and Zalo back in February.

The Queen of the Fishies
and
Tangaroa, the Maori God of the Sea

Hey, I'm looking to go to see Fantastic Four on Friday, but can't find a published theatre schedule yet - I still plan on it, though.

Holiday incongruity

It's funny: this is Independence Day, the Great Patriotic Holiday, the holiday with the historical perspective, the grandaddy of national holidays. Yet, even though it is quite summery, I feel more Thanksgiving in my heart today. This morning, I have been reading emails and blog entries, and thinking about adventures and where I have been and where I am going, and I just feel lucky to have done so many cool things and to have met so many great people along the way.

So, to all of you, thank you for all the richness you have brought my life.

Now, let's have a great fawth-a-joo-lye!

1:23 to 12:34

Yesterday's BBQ in LFP was smacking wonderful, even if the weather was decidedly not like it currently is outside my window, which is wonderfully summer-like, but instead rather dull and gray, making it precisely the opposite of the guests, who were exciting and colorful (especially Soapy, in his bumblebee ensemble).

Melvin wins the longevity award, coming for about the time frame bracketed by the title of this entry. (Life is never so neatly symmetrical, so I cheated, but by undering the duration rather than overing.) Soapy also hung in until the very end, but had trouble getting there (Costcoed!) at the start.

Dar-Dar Binks and Wheylona took time out on the way to add to their positive karma by saving a spider, which somehow made them get lost, but they made it. Good to see Dar, who has been absent from events of late, and the last, last, last chance to hang with Wheylona was a treat (the girl has had more "final" appearances than the Judds, and we're glad.)

After that, crowds and crowds, just hordes of people came, so here are just some brief notes. (Feel free to post whatever you think I left out in the comments.)

Best misplaced athleticism: Soapy grrr-smashing the pickle ball deep into the ravine during a gentle game of paddles in the back yard.

Worst idea of the day: Replacing the lost pickle ball with golf balls.

Best performance art that would have been improved by blades or flames: Kris-10 and Otis - ninja baton-twirling!

Culinary affairs note: A totally meat-free barbecue!

Improvisation award: The trailer-trash bungee-cord volleyball net in the front yard. Runner-up: Rubber butterflies as replacement shuttlecocks.

Impossibly high standards: Dar's constructive criticism of the trailer-trash bungee-cord volley-ball net in the front yard.

Speed demon: CK (of the K-men) out-racing an errant tennis ball down the steep driveway.

Town without pity: "Helpful" guests throwing other tennis balls down the driveway to/at CK.

Class act: Scott-Flowers (the Hydrangea King of Western Washington) showing up with a house gift for the Putnams.

Most interesting interpretation of the concept of RSVP: RwT, now to be forever known as Snookerisa. (Glad you made it!)

Person who is not a lightweight who gets drunk after a pint, but who sometimes has a beer and then "chooses to go to a happy place" for a while: Otis.

Late-night giddiness: grown women in side ponytails.

Phrase whose utterance is now guaranteed to make me laugh: "Well, first of all..."

Missing in action: Toni-Tony-Tone, who apparently got lost and delayed and waylaid while heading north with Wondergirl, and Di, who must not have been able to get untangled from her massage sheets. We missed ya.

And Johnbai, you weren't there, but you shoulda been.

And because the consensus during the deep discussion phase was that I go to the comics well way too often for analogies and examples, here is your Sunday morning Bible lesson.

Yay, me!

I did something yesterday that I hadn't done in quite a while: I rode my bike over 15 mph for an hour.

I did it on the B-G, so while I did not have any hillclimbs, I also didn't have any high-speed coasts, so I think it is pretty fair. I drove down to the topiary dinosaur, got on the trail, and headed east. I rode for thirty minutes, made the next turnaround, and rode back, with no stops except for traffic. I hit the dinosaur at exactly one hour elapsed riding time and had done 15.9 miles according to the on-board computer.

I am hardly ready to fill Lance's shoes, and speed really isn't that important to me overall, but it is a nice milestone nonetheless.

It's rainy as I type this, but it's going to be great by this afternoon. See you at the BBQ!

Up and at 'em, Atom Ant!

Man, what happened this morning? Yesterday was, like, all summer and stuff, and today is, like, y'know, not all summer and stuff. Climatic whiplash! Who can I talk to about this?

Today is task-day (not to be confused with Tusk Day, a national holiday in the United States of Antarctica.*) First, we need to get the stuffs for the BBQ in LFP (in re Mel's desire for some order out of chaos: we'll have veggie-type grillables, condoms, condominiums, condiments, buns, etc., corn-on-da-cob, beans, chips, and some drinks, including blashy and wine. Y'all can bring some neato salads and more chips or desserts or stuff like that as well as any decent beer you might want or animal flesh to eat. Talk amongst yourselves.)

I also need to fix my bike. I went out for a ride yesterday and had to abort the mission after three miles or so because my rear pannier rack/fender assembly shook itself to pieces. A couple of screws unscrewed themselves and all heck broke loose. So, I have to dig out the bag o' screws-that-fit-the-bike and go torquing. While I am at it, I may make a big pile of Stuff to Make Go Away. The experience of moving Jon is still with me, and I feel a need to lighten my load.

We are also going to host Homeless Wheyloness for a bit, so she can check out the wireless capabilities of her new little tigerish laptop.

Plus all the other general sundry stuff, like getting the place in shape for Otis's afternoon Reiki client. I'm sure glad I don't work for a living.

Guest blog: Just so's the none of us start to feel to capable or fit, here's what JKK and the K-Men do on their days off:

From an email:

On our 3 day, 23 mile beach hike we once again cheated death by winning against the best nature could toss our way. We pushed against the wind, were soaked by the rain, and chased by the tide. All in all, a good 3 days of hiking. We danced on slippery rocks, climbed over logs twice our size, and made great progress towards man's attempt to fly with out wings. Flying was discouraged when I discovered flying more than 12 feet was impossible with your pack on. Tide pools make interesting landing sites; I don't recommend it. Although most of us were bloodied by barnacles we all made it out alive. Best of all we will never forget the beauty of the wild untouched coastal beaches between Ozette and Rialto.

He adds this in another email:

What image to you get when someone says "BEACH HIKE"? Flat? Sand? This photo is what a good share of the hike was like.... notice the size of sand pebbles.

Yeah, I think I'll go take another walk around Green Lake.

(*Of course, I can't wait for someone to check it out and tell me there are no tusked animals south of the equator or something.)