Weather report at then end of the universe

People have been talking, and they're using the s-word, so I thought I'd check out Steve Poole's weather forecast for this weekend. Here's the Reader's Digest Condensed version:

We have three separate significant weather events this weekend.

There is now a WINTER STORM WARNING for the Cascades from 10 a.m. Saturday through 4 p.m. Monday for as much as 2-3 feet of snow. Snow will reach the coast by morning and perhaps metro area by midday, with accumulations beginning in the afternoon and lasting through late evening hours, maybe Trace-3" as a general rule, or perhaps 2-4" north of Seattle and on the higher hilltops by midnight; even the Downtown Seattle area could see a little accumulating snow. Highs Saturday will only be in the mid 30s.

A second storm comes in Sunday late morning-to-midday, a warm, wet storm with gusts of 40-50 mph in the Puget Sound area, perhaps 55 along the coast and North Interior.

The "Big Kahuna" of the storms comes in quickly behind Storm No. 2 late Sunday night through Monday: wind along the coast could reach up to 80 mph, with seas of 36 feet. The North Interior could see winds of 55-65 mph in gusts, while the Puget Sound area will be noticeably windy with gusts to 45-50 mph. We're looking at heavy rain: 6-10 inches of rain on the southern Olympic side, so Olympic-Mountain fed rivers could see some flooding, and we could see some local urban flooding problems as well.

Yeesh, what a mess! At least it looks like it will subside in time for my students to hand in their final papers -- I would hate to have to make special arrangement to collect those. But it looks like the snow will be in full force during the social hour on Saturday, when Otis and I are supposed to be in Ballard for not one but two different celebrations. Maybe we'll walk there.

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Otis was still too punked up to do much tonight, so we had to pass on a visit from Yoijimbo, drat the luck.

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We did watch THX-1138, the special edition. George Lucas's first major directorial effort is interesting more as a curiosity than a compelling work: it seems dated, simplistic, and curiously tentative. The art design is still wonderful to look at, but I don't know why Lucas feels compelled to retrofit all his movies with unnecessary CGI just because he can.

Rotogravuere

That last post was number 777, a kind of spooky number, so here's another one, all picturey and stuff.

I had occasion to get cleaned up today. Not bad, really:

Herr Doktor Walakus


Of course, it was soon back to Sweatpants Nation:

Some guy


We got the Brookstone Catalogue today, full of expensive doo-dads for people with more money than they need and not enough places to spend it:

Most egregiously useless appliance


This is mostly for Yojimbo, but wasn't this story made into a TV-movie for KCTS a long while back? by some guy from KIRO?

I think it was a Russian folk tale


A number of people asked about the pumcake recipe we used this year. I could have pointed you at the website, but I wanted to stick with the theme and post a picture of the index card actually used in the prep:

Yummy pumcake recipe


There are the pictures - I wish I could say that Otis was back to picture-perfect, but her cold is hanging on tighter than Eva Marie Saint to Cary Grant. We took a little excursion out here to World Cup, but only after she fortified herself with some Big Bowl Noodle House Clear Broth Tofu with Wide Noodles, 3*. I think she's turned the corner, though.

Brekkie blog

I got up early today to enjoy the pre-dawn chill and darkness, dispelling one with Sachet's heat-dish and the other with my bright disposition. Dishes are done and bag is packed and the day is ready to unfold itself before me.

It's the calm before the storm, or more like the pause before the clunk right now. Classes are in their final phases, so students are giving presentations and revising final drafts; there's not much performative demanded of me right now. But I know that by Tuesday evening, I will have amassed a pile of 90 portfolios that will require reading and assessing. It's a lighter load than I have had some quarters, but still formidable.

It appears that Neds had found digs - rumor puts her in the wilds of West Seattle, with the waters of Elliot Bay gently lapping at her apartment door. Can't wait to see it.*

Old pal JJ, long since relocated to the even wilder wilds of Wisconsin, has a blog! Looks like she'll be making a trip back for a visit soon.

Big weekend coming up, with a soiree, a launch, and a reading, and a meeting-packed Friday on the agenda, so I'd best get the day in gear.


*Rumor also says Dingo should get a finder's fee.

Scotty's a daddy!

Congratulations
to mother, father,
and the newest little vagabond

Isabella Raven!

In'valid but not inval'id

Otis is still a sicky mess. Whatever bug she caught just before Thanksgiving is still pounding at her system, so Sunday was a low-key day, featuring a short walk in the sunshine, a trip to Thanh Bros for some dinner-time Pho, and a lot of naps. I kept it on the dl, too - easy to do with little or no schoolwork to attend to! We watched Amelie again, and it was just as charming.

Today was my usual teaching day at the high school college, and I came home to make a nice salad/potatoes au gratin/field roast sausage dinner that seemed to fortify Otis pretty good.

Now were are just waiting (or hoping, depending on who you ask) for whatever snow the cold-cold weather is going to bring us. Here's the Zone Forecast from the National Weather Service: " TONIGHT...OCCASIONAL RAIN THIS EVENING TAPERING TO SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. A LITTLE SNOW POSSIBLE ON THE HIGHEST HILLS LATE. BREEZY. LOWS IN THE 30S..." Now, you or I might read that and think nothing more than "hmm." To Otis, there's clearly a strong chance of a White Tuesday tomorrow. It's sort of like the glass half empty/glass half full thing, only more like a maybe there's a few drops on the bottom/glass half full thing.*

The cats are still not using the cat-door. Mountie goes in and out without assistance occasionally; Selkie still needs a lot of encouragement, but he does go to the flap a lot, if not through it, so I guess that's something.

Hey - check it out: or pal Trots finished her first Seattle Marathon in 2:41! Pretty cool beans, eh? Congratulations! There's no pictures yet on the website, but we'll post when and if.



*To be fair, I think NatDog has a touch of this disorder as well...

The truth is a harsh mistress

So, last night at Cafe Vitta, we were discussing bus routes from the RD to upper Belltown, near Denny Park (like by Antioch and Brenneke). Dingo insisted that I could take a bus directly from Whole Foods to Belltown; Neds's dim memory supported this. I insisted that I had checked the map and could find no direct route.

Well, of course, I was wrong. The 66 runs right down Roosevelt almost directly to the target; the 72 gets me there from 15th and the 71 from University. Easy-peasy.

I had been working backwards from the Metro map itself; a check this morning revealed that the downtown insert does not highlight all routes traversing downtown, only the ones they consider "frequent" and suitable for moving around downtown itself. Some routes (like the 66) have little numbers but no colored lines and others (like the 72 and 71) are not shown at all.

So, my mistake, but good news as a result!

More exhaustin'

So, yesterday, after posting, I went down to Safeco Field and picked up Neds at the bus stop. She had trundled up from Burien for her first tasting of hangin' with her peeps since returning to USian soil.

For excellence in hangin', we could do no better than Pho Cyclo, so that's where we two headed, to meet Dingo. (The potential presence of other peeps was supposed to have been a surprise, but that got all messed up.) After a longish lunch, we three made a trip to the T-Mobile store so Neds could get a USian wireless and then had a relaxing cuppa tea at Dingo's.

Dingo had a date with a plumber an unhandyman, so I took Neds off to the RD; we picked up Sickbed Otis at home and brought her out for a Sunlite Cafe dinner and a shopping spree at Bartell's before carting a sleepy Neds back to Burien. Yahoo! We even had time for a Fugitive (Otis's new passion) before falling asleep ourselves.

Today was almost as socialistic. I did manage to have a nice relaxing morning with the radio, but right after lunch Otis and I headed back up to Cap Hill to meet Dingo and Stella at The Egyptian for the matinée of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. It was a compelling and disturbing film, with emotional weight and despair of Sophoclean proportions, detailing the self-destruction of family from greed, desperation, and violence. We loved it, even though it's not exactly the feel-good holiday movie of the year. Kudos to old man Sidney Lumet and the stellar cast - Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawk, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, and Rosemary Harris.

After the flick, we four stopped for a snack at Ballet and then made our way to the Value Village for a browse, meeting Neds in the process. We five then made our way to Cafe Vitta for coffee drink and convo until I had to bring the semi-invalid back home.

Man, I'm going to need a day off to recover from all these days off!

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PS: Here's a picture of Otis from Thanksgiving that I forgot to post yesterday:

Growing more synapses in the hive mind

Thanksgiving Day was exhausting but grrrrrrreat!

I got up early to prep for the Pumcake Party, but it turned out we didn't have any doorbusters and the action didn't kick in until nearly ten. Then it all seemed to explode doubleplus quick, and the house was full of revelers and carousers and and eaters and drinkers and talkers and laughers - just the way I like it. Volleyball players met volleyball players, cooks met cooks, travelers met tourists, and Connections were Made. We even tried to have Wheylona as a virtual guest, but neither Skype nor iChat were working properly. All the while, the flapjacks and soysages were flying fast and furious, with pumpkin and coconut tied in popularity this year. Coffee ran in rivers, while the champagne stood neglected for a long time - go figure!

Notable stats:

One toddler.
Two verified hangovers.
Three members of Sweatpants Nation.
Four English teachers (but never all at once).

Total body count: a score and a quarter:

Phyl
Dingo
Eryk
Sylvio
Ms. Matcha
Surfer-T
BabyKoa
NatDog
Tom-Tom
Trots
Yojimbo
Lon
Jules
Johnbai
O
Cal
Merry
JagGirl
Jimmy the K
A and C, The K-men
Stella
Yito

Gallery:


Only first-comer Phyl got to see it looking this neat...


Taking a few practice swings before the game - batter up! (Get it?)


The Full Belly Project got some press, and Johnbai finally got some confirmation from the blogosphere to bolster his foundering self-esteem.


Surfer-T had his hand full with BabyKoa.


O stitched a bit but never bitched.


Cute couple, part one: Tom-Tom and NatDog


Cute couple, part two: Eryk and Sylvio


They arrived late, but I saved Stella and Yito soysages, just as I had promised.


Shock and awe - something was troubling Yito and Otis during the event!

And the day wasn't over!

When the crowd was finally dissipated at about2:00 pm, Otis and I geared up to be guests, not hosts, up at the traditional Putnam Thanksgiving up in LFP. We packed Otis's double-yummy vegetarian gravy and dressing, some peach lambic, and assorted doo-dads, and got up there at about 3:30, after a nice empty-streets holiday drive. What followed was the Arrival of Kith and Kin (including BabyNick); the totally sweet Presentation of Thanks, from Otis, to and for everyone present; the Groaning Board, with all sorts of goodies in the Custom; the Plethora of Dessert, featuring the famous Tevanberry Pie; and, of course, the Drinking of Coffee.

It was a great gathering and great meal, and at the end of it, we packed all sorts of tupperware-like containers (the afore-mentioned doo-dadia) and trundled ourselves home for some black and white television and sleep, which knits the raveled care of woe.

I got up early this morning to re-assemble the house; our dishwasher picked a fine time to konk out (the service person is coming Monday), so I had a wonderful, old-fashioned, sudsy time of it. Unfortunately, Otis's cold/sore throat/whatever seems to have gotten a bit worse, or it's just revealing itself after she tanked up on drugs yesterday, but whatever the case, she was exempted from clean-up duty (yay!) but will prolly spend the day in bed (boo!). Me, I'm going out, even though it looks like I'll need my longies.

Thanksgiving Day

While I am here and now, being thankful for the early morning still before what will be a fun and festive day, my mind rolled back to Thanksgiving Days past, when I was a kid, and thought less about the wonder of my privileged (and problematic) life and more about turkey, toys, and a long weekend off from school.

Growing up back in The City, the (pre-VHS, pre-DVD, pre-Bitorrent, only-source-for-old-movies) local TV could be counted on to play the same two movies each Thanksgiving. I can't recall if they were aired on Thursday or Friday, but I do remember that they never interfered with The Dinner and that I always enjoyed watching them.



This little operetta was a surreal trip, although the presence of Laurel and hardy was a bit confusing. The climactic battle between toy soldiers and bogeymen was thrilling!



The one, the only, the classic. It even had some of the scenes that were later cut out.

Nice memories, although it was a little disorienting to realize that as ancient as these films are, less time had passed between their making and my watching than has passed from my watching them then to my remembering now. Le sigh.

Whatever your happy memories are, I hope they come back to you today. Enjoy the holiday, and let us be thankful for all we have had and well as what he have.

Quick jabs

I notice I have not been posting as frequently since the full-time job started. Go figure.

The season has changed: I wore the longjohns with the kilt yesterday.

Neither of the cats has yet accepted the new cat-door-window as a viable method of ingrses and egress. We remain patient and hopeful.

We've been busy with Pumcake planning - lotsa RSVPs!

I found an interesting gizmo.

Hey, Neds is back! I had completely messed up the date, but the universe gave Dingo a reminder! Welcome back, sweets!

Up too late

Man, I have conferences tomorrow and should be going to bed, but what the heck, it'll be a short week.

Today's highlight was what Johnbai referred to as mancrafts. Otis and went up to Cap Hill to meet Johnbai use the workshop in Cal's building to assemble the cat-door window-insert that will give Selkie and Mountie access to the balcony for pooping (and other) purposes. Working together in a surprisingly effective manner, Johnbai and I (supervised by Cal and Otis) took mere minutes to plan, trim, pre-assemble, drill, cut, insert, and screw all the various bits and bobs into a working unit. A little application of weatherstripping when we got home and voila, here 'tis:



So far, each cat has managed one solo trip through the door; neither is completely comfortable with the arrangement yet, but Mountie seems a little more at ease than his senior partner. I have every confidence that it won't take them too long to get with the program.

After that, it was all anti-climax. Johnbai had some movie plans, but I think they fell through; we didn't go, at any rate. Because of all the odd doings, our schedule was all off, so we wound up grazing all day instead of having any real meals. Otis worked on bidness and I (surprise) read papers, but we had some time to relax, too. (Check out my comix blog for a post of more general interest, I think.)

Widgets:

Check out this quiz. It doesn't have a cool blog-graphic, but my results say I am Winter - The Ox

Psycho-physio profile: The Strategist; endomorphic with strong musculature; systemic thinker, appears aloof

Intrinsic Motivator: Seeing the Big Picture

Compatible Workouts: Body building, Ashtanga / Vinyasa yoga, martial arts, cardio-kickboxing, tennis, golf, swimming, Chen style T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Why Try T'ai Chi Ch'uan: More vigorous styles like Chen help Winters ward off the tendency toward "hibernating"

Like Indian Summers, Winters see things from a holistic point of view. They take their time gathering information, and once they see the whole picture, then they act decisively. Winters are patient listeners —not necessarily to understand another's emotions like Indian Summers, but to gather information. Some may perceive the inwardly directed Winter as aloof, even cynical, but more likely Winter is simply processing information and creating strategies for setting and attaining goals.

Winters tend to be larger boned endomorphs, sturdy and muscular; but may tend toward a slower metabolism. Winter wants to know, "What will this workout do for me? How will it fit in with everything else I'm doing?" A logical approach to working out, with a systematic schedule, is very effective for them. Early mornings make the best times for them to exercise. Especially as they get older, they settle into themselves like bears getting ready for hibernation. They need constant, regular stimulation, change and challenge. Tennis, fencing, swimming or martial arts are all recommended, as well as the more vigorous Eastern styles like Chen T'ai Chi or Ashtanga yoga.

And here's a real widget:

Technical difficulties

Tonight was going to be a solo night for me, but Otis is still feeling the after-effects of her diphtheria shot and decided to pass on the Jack Straw event she was going to go to tonight in favor of a less stimulating evening, so she's hanging out with me. No, wait, that didn't come out right...

Yesterday was a classic Long Day®, so not much to report in the way of events or activities. Here are some quick hits:

Pumcakes are likely on there way again this year; expect an announcement.

J-Force has moved into new digs at the Green Lake Socialist Literary Collective. Best wishes for continued success in her new slot!

This is new pal NatDog's doggie pal Merlin up at Snow Lake. Woof!


For Wheylona: Coastal Kitchen is featuring some familiar food!

Photo credit: Yojimbo

Once more into the breach

It's just a few scant hours until I will be back at work, deep into student conferences. How'd this long weekend play itself out?

Sunday began, as usual, with a long stint at Tully's responding papers. This session was enlivened by a visit from Trots (Bonnie had to stay outside), so that was Good; the papers took me longer per each than I had thought they would, so that was Not So Good. But not so bad as all that either. After I cam home at lunchtime, I managed to squeeze in a bit more work and a little reading while Otis read and napped before heading out to dinner.

Dinner wasn't just a meal - it was a birthday celebration for Putnam Pater, so we joined la familia at Perche' No for a splendid evening.

Upon our return, we wasted an hour or so attempting to watch Formula 51, an overstylized, violent, crude, and ultimately uninteresting action flick that not even Samuel L. Jackson in a kilt could manage to save. We switched to a Fugitive rerun and were much happier.

Today was filled with more work; I finished off my responding, eating up most of the day, and Otis had a writing session and then some appointments. But we got all done in time to head down to the airport to pick up Dingo, who was coming back from a weekend in Cuhleefornya with her family. We took the occasion to mark her return with a bit of a do - Yojimbo, Cal, Merry, and Johnbai met us at Teapot Veggie for some dinner and convo; after supping, we moved the feast to Lladro (and moved the tables in Ladro) to continue the party. Welcome back!

Before calling an end to the weekend, here's a couple of links:

From the damn-I'm-old department: Winona Ryder to play Spock's mother.

From the even-an-eye-roll-won't-help department: Isn't this how you always pictured Grendel's mother?

From the hasn't-this-gone-too-far? department: Wasn't turkey and gravy enough?

Eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

Remember those who have served.

Promise never to squander their service in needless conflict.

Hope that their service is someday no longer needed, and work for that goal.

Veteran's Day 2007.

Consumption

We consumed culture: Last night, we watched an episode of The Fugitive with David Janssen, guest-starring Vera Miles and Brian Keith. This QM Production (some of us remember the read-aloud credits) reminded us how long ago Camelot actually was. The show originally aired in 1963 - over two generations ago. The settings and backgrounds are only somewhat recognizable, and the technology seems bizarrely backward: Tucson, Arizona is a small town, seeing a psychiatrist is for people who are sick, and police don't even have radios. As for the art, the acting is mannered, the pace slow, and the camerawork steady (one handheld sequence, in a crowded bar, is jarring and realistic rather than contrived and stylish). And yet, it was engrossing and compelling; I had forgotten how much Janssen could do with so little, conveying volumes with just a few muscles in his face and a cock of his head. I look forward to the rest of the DVD.

We joined the consumer culture: After breakfast today, Otis discovered that her list had reached critical mass and it was time for an expedition to Ikea. I wish I could say it was a breeze, but it was a struggle all the way through: crowds, overstimulation, and nimiety. In the end, Otis got a bunch of provisions for her business needs (art and massage), and we got some household necessaries as well, but no Swedish meatballs.

We consumed lunch: I gotta tell ya, I'm a sucker for a good old-fashioned salad bar, where I can put together a big, green garden salad. You can't find those much anymore; Sizzler used to have one of the better ones, but that was way back in the day. Today, we have Zuppa's, a salad bar cum pasta bar cum soup bar cum bread bar cum dessert bar. The food was just okay and the ambiance totally plastic without any redeeming kitsch or irony; I guess the meal served to sustain life, but it didn't bring much else to the experience.

We consumed time: Of course, our return from Ikea (and a couple of other stops along the way) necessitated Putting Stuff Away, which led to Cleaning Up A Bit and Moving This Stuff To The Shed, which turned into Reorganizing The Place, Just A Little. Oh, yeah.

We consumed dinner: MaryBee is back! Otis and I joined her and J-Force and T-Square at Chef Liao's for a delicious welcome-home meal. Mary regaled us with tales of the sultry south, and even though she is only here for a shy-week, we hope to get with her again for more catching up before she heads back to the Sunshine State.

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Random pictures:


Deer under a trampoline


Ummmmm...

OMG!

Man, why am I still busy? I should have this under control by now, but I don't. I've been gone from the blogosphere so long that Dingo called to make sure I was still alive. I am, but not kickin'.

Boring stuff: I've been mostly working. Blah-blah.

Fun stuff: Otis and I finished the first season of the George Reeves Superman series. Totally cool, even the documentary in the Special Features, which pointed out how noir-influenced the early series was. I particularly like the way Reeves-as-Superman is all businesslike until somebody does something stupid, like smack him. Then he seems to take it personally and proceeds to whomp the guy with this pissed-off look on his face.

Good stuff: I voted yesterday; in person, thank you. I just like going down to the polling place and exercising my franchise. Maybe next year I'll work the polling station. It'll make me feel young.

Dumb stuff: Apparently, the lottery is a tax on people too stupid to do math.

W

Crammin' it all in

So, shortly after yesterday's post, while I was prepping, Johnbai called to say he and Dingo were on their way back from the east side, having enjoyed The Darjeeling Limited and walked out on All Across the Universe. Of course, Otis and I joined them at 3PB/R for some coffee-an' and stayed out (and up) way too late.

I got up this morning and wondered why BBC was still on the radio after six. Surprise! Our outing had made us forget to turn the clocks back. Sleep-in time! (Sorta.)

Otis had morning appointments so I hied myself to a Tully's and worked from 8:30 until noon.

Then, Johnbai called again, and we met him and O at Bombay Grill for lunch (yummy buffet, but fewer veggie options this time around). After that, it was back to the house for more grading and prepping (interspersed with the latest Donald Westlake for me).

Then dinner and more of the same.

Almost done! But a busy week ahead. Sheesh.

I know that was all terribly exciting, and you are breathless, with the blood racing in your veins, so go ahead and click the picture to view a detailed history of British pedestrian crossings. It'll calm you down.

Blog break

Today has been a work 'n' play day, but it feels like mostly work. I’m just taking a dinner 'n' blog break before jumping back into school work.

Last night, when Otis got home from her writing group, we had dinner and then decided to hit a late movie. Although the bat-signal went out, no one joined us, but that was fine since we had a grand ol’ time at the Crest watching Ratatouille anyway. I gotta tell ya, so many people told me how great this movie was that I was prepared for a major disappointment, but it was hilarious. I swear, I almost fell out of the seat a few times I was laughing so hard. The voices were great and the visuals were fantastic. Of course, it was a little heavy-handed, but what are ya gonna do?

Otis and I took a nice walk this morning, partially around the lake and up to Urban Bakery for some brekkies. On the way back, we stopped at the Green Lake Library and saw J-Force, who was getting oriented to her new digs. It’ll be great to have her in the neighborhood!

Once home, I wrassled with the dishwasher and with one of the bathroom sinks, winning only one match of the two. (I guess it’s time to call in the professionals for the dishwasher.) We cleaned the house and did all that dull stuff before walking out to the U-district have a bodyworkers’ reunion (Otis) and respond papers (me).

I got a lot done before Otis met me to come home, but there’s still a lot more to do, so I’d better get to it.

Into the weekend!

Yesterday was teach-grade-prep-meeting-prep, with a nice lunch and a walk in the sunshine sandwiched in the middle. Today was meeting-meeting-meeting all day, with a total of ninety minutes between sessions. And I still have about twelve hours' worth of work to complete before Monday. Augh, as Charlie Brown would say.

Dawn's early light

For reasons that are barely interesting to me, much less anyone else, I found myself up at five ay em today to do some some stuff. Well, the stuff is done, and I'm still up, so here I am.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to pull out the work-is-busy-blah-blah-blah template, with a slight modification to substitute "meeting" for every other "responding" reference. Neepers! This feels like a full-time job or something.

Tuesday is still the Long Day, with daytime and evening classes, but yesterday was full with something else. After a merely normal-sized teaching day, I came home and helped Otis arrange the house for a little Spooktration. We drew the audience from all different directions: Kris-10 from the dim recesses of Otis's past, Trots from Antioch, b and c through the massage school door, and new pals NatDog and Tom-Tom from the Cascadia connection. We all munched on groovy snacks, enjoyed Otis's Bloody-tooth Punch (seltzer with pomegranate seeds - they float up and down!), ate the unneeded trick-or-treat candy (total visitors = zero), and watched Sleepy Hollow, the Johnny Depp version, which holds up surprising well. (Although it was a little heavy-handed.) There were no costumes as such, although b did take the opportunity to debut her new look. A ghoulish good time was had by all.

Oh, but I did wear a costume to work on Wednesday: slacks and a jacket and tie. People were shocked, if not horrified, so I guess it was a good choice.