I haven't been doing nothing...

I've been collecting items for a project I'm helping a friend with:

Random bits. Some are man bits. Some are tid bits.

Got an iPod touch. It's cool, a good little gadgety thing to mess about with and waste further time... I downloaded a few apps and can now entertain myself throwing virtual paper balls into a waste basket while listening to my new favorite music... (Have been listening to Amos Lee nonstop for about two weeks, thanks to TC.)

Speaking of Amos Lee, I picked up tickets to go see him at the Zoo this summer. I love the Oregon Zoo concerts, packing up the kids and an al fresco dinner, sitting in the breeze (lightly scented by the heffalump house) and kickin' it on the lawn Portland style. I'm hoping to get it together to do several of the Wednesday series, and there are a few on Friday nights that I'd also like to attend. Another thing I'd like to do is take a few days this summer to sit on one of the lawns up at Washington Park and read in the sunshine. One of my favorite days of all time was spent lazing about, reading, watching the world go by... It also involved a certain amount of bizarre behavior by a woman trying to catch squirrels, but that was pure entertainment from my vantage point...

Work's been getting me down lately - ever since my run-in with a client, I've been feeling less than gung-ho about helping a population that everyone else seems to have forgotten (or is just choosing not to attend to). I realize that there are limitations to what everyone can do, but it occurs to me that there is a slim shadow of helpers out there, with a dirth of resources to draw upon, in contrast to the growing numbers of disenfranchised and indigent people. What to do? Continue along, buoying the spirit with alternative distractions, like books and beer and friends and design work on the side? Throw up my hands and walk away before I get completely burnt out? It's a definite possibility, but I feel responsible to use the skills that I have to help people who can't help themselves. (Not in an enabler way - in a certifiably unable sort of way.)

*sigh* these are the kinds of things that keep me from sleeping.

Saw a great movie - Dear Frankie, with Emily Mortimer and Gerard Butler. T'was delightful. T'was just the right amount of tear jerker and Gerard Butler. Which is to say that any amount of Gerard Butler is the right amount.

Meanwhile, I've got a couple more books that I've been working on - Taras Grescoe (the same author who did The Devil's Picnic) has another one, called Bottomfeeder, that discusses the ethical aspect of eating seafood in a world of disappearing seafood. Should be interesting, given that I gave up meat after watching too many episodes of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs, and now eat like a pescatarian... It's been over a year now... And the return to semi-vegetarianism has been a good one. (I was veg for a while from high school until I became pregnant the first time around.) Fish and seafood, but no warm blooded mammal or bird critters for me. It puzzles me that I voluntarily eat items which may be construed as insects of the sea, like crab and lobster... But that's a discourse for another time.

The other book I'm reading is The Best of All Possible Worlds, by Steven Nadler. Did I say this in a previous post? It's the story of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Antoine Arnauld, and Nicolas Malebranche. Three philosophers in the late 1600's in Paris, France, and their vantage points on mathematics, science, the arts, and God. Philosophically speaking, of course. The other night while I was reading my four year old asked me to read to him. So I did. He made it through a few pages - but the historical layout of Paris as it changed during the mid 1600's and resulting development of architecture and city-scape were apparently not riveting enough to keep his attention. He was out cold in 10 minutes.

We're operating from our sattelite location this weekend. I packed my iMac up and took it with me, nestled between a pillow and some clothes, so that I could take advantage of it; developing a new poster/postcard/ad suite for the Lower Fremont set (their summer fest coincides with their 2nd Friday on July 10 & 11); work on the design suite for the 2010 Elementary school auction; continuing with the catalog for the Rifle team; and a new suite for Johnson Shore, an interior design firm...

Good thing we're going out to dinner tonight. I don't think I have the energy to cook!

Beers...

Ninkasi Tricerahops India Pale Ale****... Super hoppy, really great grapefruity flavors (I suspect there's Cascade hops in there), the aroma is reminiscent of marijuana, very green, fresh, and delicious. It's bright, has a nice depth of aroma and flavor, and all over, one of my favorites. I loved this beer, and even when it got a little on the warm side (we were sharing a 22 oz) it still tasted delightful. Great mouthfeel, good finish, nice carbonation.

Elysian Brewing The Immortal India Pale Ale**... This could have used a bit more carbonation - the mouthfeel was distracting, and a bit too chompy for a pale ale. I liked the flavors, nice and citrusy, but the flavors disappeared quickly with the swallow. It's a nice beer, but disappointing in how quickly the flavor evaporates off your palate.

Rogue Brewing Hazelnut Brown Nectar**... Was too sweet for me, a little flattish, and I'd like less hints of candy bar and more seriousness with the actual ale. I think the idea is there, and part of what I'd like to accomplish with the Hazelnut Ale that we do, but I'd leave the Hazelnuts as the roasty flavor and bring it up with some nice bittering hops. I don't like the way Rogue's is like drinking a chocolate hazelnut candy bar. Enh.

It's almost time...

Gathering up a bunch of books for the impending, annual, much-beloved trip to the coast... Can't wait to sit in the sun and read, read, read.

Picked up The Turtle Catcher by Nicole Helget, The Best of All Possible Worlds by Steven Nadler, a couple more home brewing books (plans are afoot with Christopher for the Vanilla-Jasmine Ale and Chesapeake Bay Revival Porter), and a Secret Portland book to help with some of the sightseeing planning for the Arg-Fest-o-Con 2009 happening in July.

Steeeeeeeeeeerrrrrike!

Picked up Seven Days in the Art World. Read about three pages of it. Nearly fell asleep into the book. Read a couple more pages. Was confused as to who, exactly, this person was writing to. Read another page. Looked at the cover. Pondered. Yawned. Decided that this book was beginning like someone wrote their thesis on "The Modern Art World" and then magically turned it into a "real" book.

Decided to turn it back into the library so someone else could be bored.

The Devil's Picnic... Outstanding! (#30)

This. Was. Fantastic. The Devil's Picnic: Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit by Taras Groscoe was captivating, informative, entertaining, and interesting. This was one of the best books I've ever read. A work of non-fiction, The Devil's Picnic details the history and cultural significance of several types of ingestibles - coca leaves, raw-milk cheeses, alcohol, poppy seeds, criadillas, coffee, and nicotine, to name a few... These items have all at one point or another been targets of prohibitions and illegalities. The way in which Groscoe outlines the reasoning behind the prohibitions and who is ultimately benefitting, while asking the question of whose job it is to "protect" private citizens is highly entertaining and illuminating. I LOVED this book, and would consider purchasing it to have as a reference. This makes book #30 read in 2009... I'm looking forward to time at the beach so I can really get rolling on my books!

Whew!

What a weekend! Starting with Thursday (technically not the weekend, but where the whilrwind began, both literally and figuratively) I went and visited a house that I love (where fun art abounds - it truly is a magic cottage...)

to pick up a friend that I love to go see another friend I love and her new baby...

That visit was cut short by the splitting in half of my old plum tree (which comes down tomorrow)...

New twin babies visited on Friday (so sweet, so pretty)...

And a solo-adult adventure to The Old Spaghetti Factory with four children under 11...

There was a dance competition,

visiting goats,

rabbits, chickens, and ponies at a friend's farm in Salem, home brews

that came to PDX from Seattle (the Rhuby Wit and Wit Gold that Chris and I brewed Mid-May, my first foray into home brewing!)... There were lagers and other beers tried at Gustav's (a flight of 6 beers [they were small.] shared with Mom and Cousin Tom), and 6 dozen cupcakes baked for my sister-in-law's thesis defense (if you bring them cupcakes, do they have to give you the Master's Degree?).

I am all worn out, but I wanted to get some of this up here so I didn't forget what a fun-tastic weekend this has been.