.: the orange chair :.

Staycation: Day 1

2009-07-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

I requested this weekend off a couple of months ago with the idea that I would get all those things done I've been wanting to do for months and months. Namely, purging my closets, rearranging my furniture, getting my car cleaned inside and out, and finishing some sewing projects.

Today I did none of those things.

Today, I:

1. got out of bed at 11am
2. met a friend for lunch
3. went shopping and bought a new dress
4. got coffee and pastries from the neighborhood French bakery, Honoré (perfect macarons above)
5. read old magazines
6. am going to a baseball game with my family tonight (Father's day gift for my dad and uncle)

It's 80 degrees in Seattle with a light breeze blowing off the Sound. Even though I got nothing done today, it's totally fine with me. Staycation Day 1, perfect day. Thanks Seattle!

Blind Pilot Trailer

2009-07-09T00:50:00.001-07:00

WE ARE THE TIDE: blind pilot's west coast bike tour (trailer) from IAVIDEO on Vimeo.

July

2009-07-08T23:53:00.000-07:00

Buffy vs. Twilight

2009-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

I think everyone knows how much I gag when it comes to Twilight now, especially after the movie came out, and especially after the final book came out and midway I threw it down on the ground and spat on it in frustration (not literally, because it was a library book, and I take very good care of library materials).

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the ~~trash~~ books up until the last one because it was so interesting to explore this new take on the vampire mythology, but the weakness of the characters finally took its toll on me. Teenagers everywhere now hate me and I don't really care. Because, to quote a friend, "Bella is such a pansy" and Buffy will always be the stronger (and wittier) character over both her and all the very stereotypical Twilight characters. Sure Buffy had her moments of cheese, but all in fun, and when it came down to it, she kicked ass. Rah Buffy!

ps: totally awesome mashup and fair use of filmage to make an opinionated statement. Check out his other work at rebelliouspixels.com

Portland Picks

2009-06-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law and her family (umm...also known as my brother and my nieces, BookFiend and G) are planning a trip to Portland, and she asked me to list my Portland to-do list. I realized I get asked this fairly often because somehow or other I tend to visit the Rose City more than any other place in the country and I tend to gush about all the great things I see and do (and eat) there. I like Portland because not only do I have friends who live there, but it's got both a small neighborhoody feel and a big city feel at the same time. It's like a better version of Seattle to me. And it's not that far away.

Anyhoot, here are my Portland picks, for posterity's sake. Feel free to comment and add your own favorite places to visit in the Rose City.

Downtown/Pearl/Central
Pastini Pastaria
Cupcake Jones
Pearl Bakery
Chinese Classical Garden (and teahouse)
Saturday Market
PSU Farmer's Market
Knit/Purl
Queen Bee Creations
Powell's
Mio Gelato
Fuller's
The Governor Hotel
Mother's Bistro
Waterfront Park
Pittock Mansion
Washington Park/Rose Garden
Oblation
NW 23rd./Nob Hill
And don't forget to find the ponies

Southeast
Petite Provence
Saint Cupcake
SE Hawthorne & Belmont Streets
Bread & Ink Cafe - they have a Waffle Window!
Tao of Tea
Bluebird Guesthouse
Stumptown Coffee
Mt. Tabor Park

Northeast
Alberta Street
Bolt
Close Knit
Kennedy School for food and/or a movie
Ramona Quimby statues at Grant Park

North Portland
N Mississippi Ave
The Meadow
Cathedral Park

Way out East
Fabric Depot - what Powell's is to books, Fabric Depot is to fabric...
Multnomah Falls
Fairy Falls (haven't been here yet, but it looks beautiful and would be a nice hike)

Other places for ideas:
Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy is the first source I turn to for inspired ideas for enjoying Portland. Her photos of the walks she takes from Laura O. Foster's Portland Hill Walks: Twenty Explorations in Parks and Neighborhoods are absolutely wonderful, and made me go out and purchase the book for myself. I did walk #2 through King's Heights and it was a doozy! But a great neighborhood up and down, and the Pittock Mansion at the top with some beautiful views.
More:
Travel Portland
Willamette Weekly
Portland Mercury (cousin to Seattle's The Stranger)

My PDX photos from Flickr...

Mmmmmm, DDL

2009-06-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Anything with DDL in it looking hot in an Italian suit has got my vote:

A lovely weekend at home

2009-05-31T16:13:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been away for so long. It's not that I haven't had anything to say, just hard time finding time to say it on the ol' blog. But I'm having what's turning out to be one of the most perfect weekends imaginable:

Bike ride from Ballard to Matthew's Beach: 20 miles, yay!
Hours reading in the sun (I am now so brown, all will turn around)
Hours of reading in shade of an apple tree
Sushi and a movie (Up, fantastic and sweet, go watch!; the beginning of the movie will remind locals of Edith Macefield's house next to Trader Joe's here in Ballard) with a friend
9 hours of uninterrupted sleep (I haven't been sleeping through the night the past few months, this seemed to be the first time in weeks)
Coffee and catching up on tv shows on Hulu (Jay Leno's last Tonight Show, Glee)
Talking on the phone with friends I haven't talked to in ages (because I suck)
Walking the neighborhood, and visiting the Ballard Corners Park
Buying dinner from the farmer's market (salad greens, bread, blueberry-almond chevre, pears, and cardamom ice cream -- whoa, am I eating well tonight!)
Welcoming summer in Seattle and feeling gloriously happy about it. I hope you had a great weekend too!

Matthew's Beach: check out that tan line, baby!

Vegetable Season

2009-05-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

It seems like vegetable gardens are especially popular this year. Everyone I know seems to be springing for homegrown vegetables. Even I am, with my orphan tomato plants that were left on my doorstep by the Veggie Fairy (also known as Neighbor C). I bought some marigolds and some herbs to keep them company this summer in the backyard.

I just wanted to share these totally awesome and cute (in my humble opinion) veggie bags that I made for my sister-in-law for Mother's Day. Because she is the Veggie Queen, I think. Although Dr. C gives her a run for her money, being vegan and all. But my sis-in-law was the one who taught us all that veggies could actually taste good and weren't always tasting like bitter melon and salted fish. For that, she deserves the title.

Isn't that little carrot adorable? I can't wait to make more of these for myself and friends. Yay for crafty projects and being green too.

The Portland Pony Project

2009-05-01T23:58:00.001-07:00

My niece G has this thing for horses. She's got all kinds of little ponies prancing around in her toy chest. When we went to Portland back in March (whoo, where'd the time go?), my sister told her to bring a couple of ponies with her so that we could hitch them up to the old hitching rings in the sidewalks and take pictures of them. So she did, and we did:

We had fun doing this for a couple of blocks, and then we were done with the photo shoot. For some reason though, we missed the whole part where there are ponies already hitched up to rings all over town...now that would have been lots more fun to spot, kind of like a treasure hunt. Oh well, I guess that's what we'll do on our next Portland trip.

Last Day!

2009-04-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's your last chance...

to get April's flavor, Honey Peanut Brittle...

get them before they're gone!

Blind Pilot

2009-04-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

My new obsession, Portland band, Blind Pilot:

I've been playing their album non-stop all week, perfect for this sunny and sometimes lazy weather. Heard them on NPR talking about their recent tour across the country via bicycle -- awesome! (more video/in-studio on the NPR site)

Heaven

2009-04-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling all holy around here lately...but today's heaven ain't the god kind, it's the cupcake kind.

Honey Peanut Brittle. Seriously. Good.

Cupcake Royale must have changed their cupcake recipe or something because that cake was WAY better than I remember it to be...maybe even giving Trophy a good run for their money. My special treat for getting out on my bicycle today at lunchtime (I know, totally defeated the purpose, but I don't really care). Now during the month of April - go get some.

Holy Moments

2009-04-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

What with one thing and another, weeks passed. Blog posts went unwritten. Lots of coughing and kleenex spent. Tea was drunk (Earl Grey, hot). The sun came and went.

And then we found ourselves suddenly staring at Easter week. Where'd that whole holy season go? The one where I apparently didn't go to church, not once. I don't usually talk much in public about religion or my personal beliefs, because well, I feel like those are personal things. I have great respect for the fact that everyone has their own personal beliefs, so I've never been much for evangelizing. But every once in awhile I feel the need to share the religious side of myself, because it is in fact an important aspect of who I am.

I went to Mass today, and I haven't been there in a really long time. I don't really have a good reason why, laziness in part, but also some questioning for myself about why I go in the first place. But it being that holy time of year, I felt called to come back and take it seriously once more. The church I go to is a somewhat non-traditional Catholic church, small and pretty close-knit, which is one reason why I like it, and also because in ways it feels like the exact opposite of the church I grew up in. But like all things Catholic, they've got the symbolism and ceremony aspects of the faith down really well. For example, today Holy Thursday, we had a foot washing ceremony. And let me tell you, nothing says "I love my community" like picking up a strangers' feet and washing them. If you're not Catholic, maybe that sounds weird, but anyway, what I wanted to say is that going to Mass today helped me remember why church and why my faith is important to me.

The Latin, the music, the candles, the incense all made it come rushing back. All those holy moments from my past, all those reverent, quiet moments from each year came back, going all the way back to when I was a little girl with bony knees, kneeling down in a gigantic, hushed church, not quite tall enough to actually get my elbows up on the pew in front of me, so I had to hold my clasped hands down near my heart instead. I remembered when I first started to feel like there was a greater something or other outside of myself in the world, this mighty connection that somehow made me feel more present within myself. There have been moments throughout my life when I felt really personally connected to the world, more deeply rooted somehow. To me, that's what it's like to feel spiritual. To be more wholly connected to the world by feeling your own space within it.

A lot of those moments I would feel in church, because those are the times I was most deliberately focused on my spirituality. But I remembered other times that I felt that same deep-seated oneness with myself that had nothing to do with church. I remember being 12 years old and finally learning to play Pachelbel's Canon in D on the piano. I remember sitting at the piano, the warm cherry wood, deep and dark, the piano lamp above my head casting this bright spotlight on the keys, the notes mellifluous and sinking into the soft dark brown of the living room behind me. I remember sitting at that piano, loving the sound that I was creating, really reveling in the idea that someone composed those notes to sound just so, breathing in the fact that there was beauty like that in the world.

I had that same feeling all those years ago, sitting alone in a garden cemetary at St. Martin's College watching the sun rise, bees buzzing at the newly sprung daffodils. And again last fall, sitting on a bench in Montmartre, a glass of wine in my hand, watching the sun set over a crowded and bustling Paris.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that feeling, because it felt so good to just feel rooted again after blowing wayward for awhile.

I have a cold (part 2)

2009-03-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm not sure what the chances are of getting sick twice in 1 week, but just when I thought I was getting better, I found myself in a slump again this afternoon as every bone in my body began to throb. Oh yes, oh yes, that bone-deep ache that usually accompanies the flu. Although, as I sit here swathed in blankets with a mug of tea and bottles of zinc, vitamin c, and ibuprofen, I feel a tad better than I did a few hours ago. I'm hoping a good night's sleep makes it pass in the night and awake fresh and ready to get all that stuff done I was going to get done this week at work.

I was going to blog more, but it's been busy around here, what with being out of town, and being sick, and being out of town, and being sick again. Maybe the two are related?

The Great Debate

2009-03-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Not much of a debate in my opinion, but cool to see people get all jazzied up (as Junie B. Jones would say) over books and especially cool to see this happening at the public library.

This Librarian Life

2009-03-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Guess who sat behind Ira Glass today? Oh yes, I was that close. Squeeee!!!

I got a chance to see Ira Glass about 9 years ago when he came and spoke at WWU in Bellingham when I was a student there. He still does pretty much the same thing, sits at a table with sound equipment. Starts with the lights off so all you can hear is his distinctive voice. Tells you a story. Plays Booker T and the MGs. Shows you exactly why we've loved his show, This American Life, for 12 years. Why storytelling is such a human thing, and why we enjoy it so much. Why we learn and feel from it. Why it hooks us so.

This time he also gave us a glimpse at the making of his television show, and why it's so much harder to produce than the radio shows. The radio shows, he tells us, are stories of what happened. It's easy to tell a story that happened. It's harder to bring show a story visually that's happened already -- the visual medium is more about capturing what's happening now. You have to be much more clever about putting that together than you have to be when producing radio.

I enjoyed hearing Ira speak, I always do. Every week, I feel more attached to the world around me through the stories I hear on TAL. It was especially exciting though, to have him come to Seattle especially to speak to librarians. Wheeeee, us!

Here's the end of his talk that I captured, describing the power of narrative to draw you in and hook you:

For the Good of the Whole

2009-03-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

I went home early after an exhausting day at the ACRL (Assoc. of College & Research Libraries) Conference here in Seattle, so I missed this evening's keynote speaker, Sherman Alexie, who apparently was fabulous (as he always is). So in his honor, I give you him going toe to toe with Colbert last fall:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Sherman Alexie

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
NASA Name Contest

Am presenting at the conference tomorrow at the "Cyber Zed Shed" about technology in libraries, and how to create a video channel on the web for your library. Wish me luck! I'm a little nervous, the conference is kind of huge, way bigger than I thought it was going to be, easily a couple thousand librarians. Really great so far, all learning, no business meetings, lots of enthusiasm about using technology in clever ways. More tomorrow! (And then on Sunday, my braincrush, Ira Glass, is our closing speaker! Rah!)

Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know

2009-03-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I like this video version better, but you can download the album version of this song from Amazon for free too.

Fresh Start

2009-03-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

My whole weekend was spent deep cleaning my apartment, and I've only just begun. First step, disinfect: de-mold, vacuum, dust, wash, mop and scrub every inch of my living area. I got pretty far, but didn't make it into the refrigerator. Will scrub the veggie bins later this week.

Second step, organize: put things away, put cds and dvds back in their cases, shelve books, store sewing materials in bins, declutter the mound that is currently called my desk.

Third step, purge: donate all the excess clothes (although instead of purging the sweaters I've decided to felt them all and reuse them for crafty things), chuck (or sell if I can) all the cds I don't listen to anymore, recycle all the old magazines I no longer read, recycle all the cardboard boxes I've been hoarding in my storage unit (old habit from moving so often). I'm debating whether or not I actually want to purge any books. I love my books, even though I hardly reread most of them. They're just comforting to have around, and I just love having a full bookcase.

Why the deep clean? I came home the other day and realized--while tripping over stacks of magazines, a pile of sewing fabric, packages, junk mail, and library books, then attempting to make dinner in a kitchen already full of dirty dishes--that I live in a pig sty. I wondered why I wasn't more ashamed of the state of my habitat, so I decided to clean up. Plus it was the perfect weekend to clean up, what with the cold and snow (although the sun was out for quite a bit today).

The next two weekends are busy (ACRL conference and another weekend in Portland with my sisters and nieces), but I'll be tackling step two of my deep cleaning project at the end of the month.

Hurrah for good habits!

In meantime, look what I made, ain't she cute?

And then...came that...samba.

2009-03-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

My sister and I started taking a ballroom dance aerobics class once a week. I'm really enjoying this class, it combines something I really enjoy (dancing to great music) with something I've not enjoyed so much (it's okay, just usually kind of boring). The funny thing though is that even though I absolutely love dancing, I've never taken any dance classes or have actually had to follow someone dancing and I have the *hardest* time coordinating myself to move like what I see. I can handle it when we're just moving our legs or feet a certain way, but throw in some arm movements and I get all off. I finally figured out that in that class it really doesn't matter as long as I keep moving, and that if I don't look in the mirror or think about it too hard, I'm fine. But sometimes I still fixate on "getting it right" and then I find myself stopping and trying to sync myself back up again. I like the cha-cha and salsa and waltz, but man that samba just throws me off--and I always think about that one part in Strictly Ballroom: "and then...came that...samba!"

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-03-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! Sorry it's been so hard for me to get here the last couple of months. For whatever reason, I've just felt all blogged out. Whatever online social tendencies I've had have been put towards updating my status on Facebook and trying to get into the whole Twitter sphere. All those 160-characters-or-less-updates have made it feel especially hard to actually put together whole entire sentences that make up logical paragraphs and narrative.

But no more! Or that is to say, there will be more! For Lent this year, rather than give up cold turkey those things that are bad for me--like coffee, ice cream, Scrabble on Facebook, sci-fi tv series on DVD, driving my car, sushi 3 times a week, and buying fabric--instead I'm focusing on more positive outcomes like exercising more, working on my writing skills and blogging, and cooking at home and enjoying it. I figure it's not that I need to deny myself the things I enjoy in life, but I need to do them in moderation and add more things that are good for me and learn to enjoy them.

Random Thoughts While Waiting for/Riding the Bus

2009-02-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

I hate waiting for the bus. I feel like it's a waste of time. However, if I think of it as time during which to cavort on Facebook, it doesn't feel so much like wasted time.
Does the Hamburgler actually talk? I don't ever recall that he does. He just does this babbly thing. Grimace, however does talk, but he doesn't have a mouth that moves. And he has stubs for arms. I think Birdie was really the only normal one. And that clown guy on uppers.
I have a really hard time making decisions. And sometimes this does not serve me very well professionally. Especially because I'm responsible for making a lot of decisions about website stuff.
Bus sign that says: "Help Metro Help You... Hold On!" -- is either demeaning, or just dumb, or just a waste of space. Or I don't get it.
I really really wish I had a magic wand that could make the mess in my apartment go away. Or enough money to hire people to clean it for me. That's how tired and lazy I'm feeling lately.

Can you tell it's been a glum day? Such a great word, glum. It feels the way it sounds, like something stuck in mud. Is it Friday yet?

All Dressed in White

2009-02-02T22:44:00.000-08:00

I stopped at the grocery on my way home from the library on Sunday and did a very unusual thing: I bought a head of cauliflower. Now when I was in 2nd grade, I had for the first time, cauliflower from the lunch counter -- raw little florets mixed with bitter raw broccoli. I preferred the white florets over the bitter raw green stalks and thus an obsession was born. My new favorite thing was cauliflower, and my mother, perfectly willing to take advantage of my new liking for an actual vegetable, supplied me with cauliflower for dinner night after night. Somehow, those few weeks in the 2nd grade killed my taste for cauliflower. Until yesterday when I saw the stuff on sale, and thought of cauliflower soup.

The result of Becks & Posh's Cauliflower Soup (with butter) was like creamy, pillowy heaven in a soup bowl. I can't believe how unbelievably simple the ingredients are, I suppose it's the long slow cook that brings it all together. All I can say is yum.

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away...

I got this idea for my niece, BookFiend, for her birthday: I was going to make her a softie. I wanted to make something fun with the sewing machine, to show her the cool stuff you could make. I got her this great book, Fun Dolls, to help her get started. I was going to make the stripey dog, but then I got an even better idea. BF is totally hooked on Star Wars right now. Why not turn Alicia's Nutcracker dolls into Princess Leia? And whilst that soup simmered, voila:

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!

ps: BookFiend got all kinds of Star Wars madness for her birthday today, including Legos, a trivia book, the whole rebel crew to hide in the cargo holds of the Millenium Falcon (which they got for Christmas), and a self-portrait with a Leia-inspired hairdo and R2 in the background -- totally awesome. Watching her face as she opened each and saw her Star Wars universe just get bigger and bigger, that was absolutely priceless. Happy Birthday BF!

Episode XLIV: A New Hope

2009-01-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

I watched President Obama make his pledge, this morning with my nieces, ages 6 and (almost) 11. Then I saw the kids from my church on the evening news talking about what this presidency means to them. And I can't help but think what a historic moment for all of us, but especially for these kids. These kids really have someone extraordinary to look up to. A fierce champion who will make a huge difference in the world we live in. And not just him--because he has motivated a whole nation to make change. And the work that I hope will happen in these next four years, the change we create, the doors that we open, will benefit these children. I'm so excited to see things happening, to see a country so incredibly motivated and actually very proud and patriotic. That's the wonder that our new president inspires, and it is so refreshing and energizing. Unyielding.

May the Force be with you, Barack!

(Did you get the little play on my title? Oh yes, I rock the galaxy!)

The Addict Resurfaces

2009-01-19T00:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Orange Chair Reader,

I apologize for my lack of presence of late. I've been busy doing nothing in particular:

1) Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer until the wee hours of the morning
2) Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer until the wee hours of the morning
3) Playing Scrabble on Facebook
4) Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer until the wee hours of the morning

I've returned to tell you that I finally watched all 7 seasons of Buffy (season 6 sucks, but overall wow, great show!), and have promptly now started watching Angel. It's like crack I tell you, and Joss Whedon is my supplier.

I've also become addicted to Facebook. With my BFF (iPhone), I can check it from everywhere. And it lets me play Scrabble with practically everyone I know. But I've become a little obsessive about updating and checking statuses that I've failed to live real life. It's like my life has become reduced to a short text message.

That and I have no real goals in my life right now. For the first time in years, quite literally years, I don't have any goals or anything concrete to look forward to. I have no master's degree to work toward, I have no trips planned, I have no constructive classes or projects or anything. Besides getting through all of the Joss Whedon canon and kicking some Scrabble butt. Oh and reading all the awesome books I got the past few months.

But I need something more constructive going in my life, maybe some classes or new projects. Or some goals I can stick to. So far I'm thinking guitar lessons, pottery (again), silversmithing, swim classes, kickboxing (inspired by Buffy, of course), or photography. I haven't looked into any of these yet...too busy watching Buffy. But will look into these this week: that's a goal.