I love...
The Seattle International Film Festival which started this week. I love volunteering for it. I love going through the schedule, both online and through the book, and picking out films I absolutely have to see. I love the crazies that show up year after year (true of just about everything I do). I love the opportunity to see a story that I would never have the chance in the "mainstream" cinemas.
Last year, Kelly Rae and I saw a film that might be one of the best films I have ever seen - Gravehopping- it came from Slovenia and it was hilarious, charming, tragic, horrible and brilliant. I managed to see 27 films last year (not all like Gravehopping) of the hundreds offered at the festival.
There are a million stories all over the world and some of them get to be told thru film. One of my favorite directors is from Mauritania (is that a country? um, yes. The Moors, you know, from Northern Africa... oh yea) and he has a new film this year that I'm sure is going to be as great as the one I saw at FESPACO (Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou) in 1998. I've been participating in and volunteering for festivals for a long time and I love every single part of it from loosing track of time because you've seen three films in a row, to loosing a sense of physical being because you've been volunteering and on your feet all day, to loosing your sense of self because you have been inspired, shocked, awed or moved by a story go you got to see.
I LOVE the film festival. And between roller derby, volunteering, roller derby, work (oh yeah), moving and a wedding in Mexico - that is where you'll find me.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sometimes....You forget to write about things that you spent the whole week talking about.... being exhausted, excited and thrilled about.
This past weekend, that occupied all of the chatter at my work, for so many of my coworkers had come out to participate, was the first Jet City Roller Girls expo (mini) bout. The four teams on the league played each other for a series of 15 minute "bouts"(games). It was one of those evenings that went off without a problem (besides not winning) and seemed to have a dash of luck everywhere. At 3 p.m. when we arrived, there was a tent set up for the skaters, our very own "greenroom" complete with very healthy and tasty snacks. There was a lot of hurry-up-and-wait as the Everett Skate Deck had their public skate going on. At 4:30 p.m. there were still 100 little kids skating around. We had to transform the rink into a entertaining venue that could seat 700 people (!) for we had sold out. And we did!
It went by so fast - as I expected that it would. CarnEvil lost both bouts but only by a jam or two (meaning if we had had 4 more minutes we could have come back.) Suffice it to say, it was great fun and below are links to photos taken from the bout.
Because I've been talking about it all week.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
While driving...
Starting July 1st, you can get a very expensive ticket in Washington for driving while talking on the phone. This annoys me for I drive up to Everett for practice and sometimes have my best conversations in the 25 minutes it takes to get up there. I'm always willing to hang up or put my phone down when I need both hands and I consider myself a really good driver. Today, on my way into work, I decided I would see what everyone else does in their car to distract them besides talking on the phone.
There was a woman behind me (then besides, in front and back behind me) who was putting on her make-up and it wasn't just a little lipstick and blush, she had a full makeover going in her car; a Comcast driver next to me was smoking; another man was eating his McMuffin and talking on the phone and another woman had her convertible top down clearly enjoying the morning sunshine in Seattle. There were very few other distracted drivers (besides the one watching everyone else who was possibly a bigger hazard.)
I turned off Broadway onto Pine, jogging through some other morning thoughts in my head (having decided that people weren't all that distracted) when out of the corner of my eye I saw someone running to my car - my heart started racing - were my doors locked? Who is the person trying to get into my car while I'm at a stop light (right by the police station!). As soon as I had addressed my safety in the situation I found myself trying to unlock my doors and move the CDs off the passenger's seat as it was my very good friend Louise. She hops in the car and in the same breath, "Sorry, Michelle. I knew this would freak you out. I missed my bus and was going to be late when I saw your car and thought, Go for it! But it's totally going to freak her out." Did it ever.
And adding to the theme this morning was the CNN article about road rage - Seattle being rated as one of the nicest (though we often call it passive/aggressive) drivers in the country.
Starting July 1st, you can get a very expensive ticket in Washington for driving while talking on the phone. This annoys me for I drive up to Everett for practice and sometimes have my best conversations in the 25 minutes it takes to get up there. I'm always willing to hang up or put my phone down when I need both hands and I consider myself a really good driver. Today, on my way into work, I decided I would see what everyone else does in their car to distract them besides talking on the phone.
There was a woman behind me (then besides, in front and back behind me) who was putting on her make-up and it wasn't just a little lipstick and blush, she had a full makeover going in her car; a Comcast driver next to me was smoking; another man was eating his McMuffin and talking on the phone and another woman had her convertible top down clearly enjoying the morning sunshine in Seattle. There were very few other distracted drivers (besides the one watching everyone else who was possibly a bigger hazard.)
I turned off Broadway onto Pine, jogging through some other morning thoughts in my head (having decided that people weren't all that distracted) when out of the corner of my eye I saw someone running to my car - my heart started racing - were my doors locked? Who is the person trying to get into my car while I'm at a stop light (right by the police station!). As soon as I had addressed my safety in the situation I found myself trying to unlock my doors and move the CDs off the passenger's seat as it was my very good friend Louise. She hops in the car and in the same breath, "Sorry, Michelle. I knew this would freak you out. I missed my bus and was going to be late when I saw your car and thought, Go for it! But it's totally going to freak her out." Did it ever.
And adding to the theme this morning was the CNN article about road rage - Seattle being rated as one of the nicest (though we often call it passive/aggressive) drivers in the country.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Dreaming in Spanish....
Actually I dreamt that I was thinking in French and translating it into Spanish because for some reason in my head it was easier to go from French to Spanish than English to Spanish. And it was a complicated conversation - not like "where is the bathroom" but more like "the state of the economy in southern Florida..." Oy. My subconscious was telling me I had better get that hotel room booked for Claudia's wedding in June - in Mexico City (actually north of the city.) And so I did - this morning - with the help of a colleague who most likely dreams in Spanish and enjoys any opportunity to speak it.
This evening, my team, CarnEvil met at Pounders to sell merch, promote our upcoming bout and just hang out. It was a great time with the band giving us plenty of shout-outs and the owner wanting us to come back (we will!) This Saturday is our league's "friends and family" mini-expo bout. It's an opportunity to get a sneak peak at who we are and give the community an idea of where we're going. And I would be so excited but there are a million details - ok, maybe only 200,000 but enough to keep one's mind focused on things like bleachers and programs. I'm sure I'll be psyched about it at like 5:35 p.m. on Saturday - after the doors have opened at 5:30 p.m. I'm sure I'll be super excited then.
Actually I dreamt that I was thinking in French and translating it into Spanish because for some reason in my head it was easier to go from French to Spanish than English to Spanish. And it was a complicated conversation - not like "where is the bathroom" but more like "the state of the economy in southern Florida..." Oy. My subconscious was telling me I had better get that hotel room booked for Claudia's wedding in June - in Mexico City (actually north of the city.) And so I did - this morning - with the help of a colleague who most likely dreams in Spanish and enjoys any opportunity to speak it.
This evening, my team, CarnEvil met at Pounders to sell merch, promote our upcoming bout and just hang out. It was a great time with the band giving us plenty of shout-outs and the owner wanting us to come back (we will!) This Saturday is our league's "friends and family" mini-expo bout. It's an opportunity to get a sneak peak at who we are and give the community an idea of where we're going. And I would be so excited but there are a million details - ok, maybe only 200,000 but enough to keep one's mind focused on things like bleachers and programs. I'm sure I'll be psyched about it at like 5:35 p.m. on Saturday - after the doors have opened at 5:30 p.m. I'm sure I'll be super excited then.
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Full Moon is the mother of all children
is how the saying went in Cote d'Ivoire when there was a full moon hanging in the sky. Kids would stay out all night and play – you could hear their laughter until well after midnight. Everyone generally stayed up just a little later – it wasn’t quite so dark – casting all kinds of shadows. In the retail/service world, when “the public” would start to get slightly crazy it would only take a second before someone would run to the back office to check the calendar – sure enough it was a full moon.
The full moon last week wreaked havoc - permeating many relationships– many break ups, separations, sick children, (even a natural disaster) and a general sadness that came in more bunches than 3’s. (There were a couple of humorous incidents that could also have been blamed on the “fool” moon.). At the end of some of these sad evenings, you had to wonder if there wasn’t something to all the mythology about the moon.
Luckily, it’s just a phase.
is how the saying went in Cote d'Ivoire when there was a full moon hanging in the sky. Kids would stay out all night and play – you could hear their laughter until well after midnight. Everyone generally stayed up just a little later – it wasn’t quite so dark – casting all kinds of shadows. In the retail/service world, when “the public” would start to get slightly crazy it would only take a second before someone would run to the back office to check the calendar – sure enough it was a full moon.
The full moon last week wreaked havoc - permeating many relationships– many break ups, separations, sick children, (even a natural disaster) and a general sadness that came in more bunches than 3’s. (There were a couple of humorous incidents that could also have been blamed on the “fool” moon.). At the end of some of these sad evenings, you had to wonder if there wasn’t something to all the mythology about the moon.
Luckily, it’s just a phase.
Monday, April 30, 2007
A quiet month for writing...
of course that doesn't mean I don't have anything to say as I generally have an opinion about everything - whether or not you want to know about it. Lately my late nights have been filled with derby doings and conversations about other things - enough that they haven't made their way to my blog. But that will change soon enough...
I can keep that promise.
of course that doesn't mean I don't have anything to say as I generally have an opinion about everything - whether or not you want to know about it. Lately my late nights have been filled with derby doings and conversations about other things - enough that they haven't made their way to my blog. But that will change soon enough...
I can keep that promise.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A whirlwind tour home, a p-patch and helmet panties...
I went home on Friday, April 13th for the peanuts' 2nd birthday! I arrived at my brother's house around midnight - just in time to play wii bowling with brother-in-laws and stay up until 5 a.m. engrossed in conversation about a lot of nothing-important but important just the same. Saturday was running errands and actually throwing a party for two very fabulous tw0-year olds. With utter bias, they have to be two of the most well behaved toddlers I know... when you tell them they have to open their presents later, they actually listen... Sunday evening I zoomed up to Cleveland to meet some friends out for dinner and later some more friends for drinks. Everyone on Monday, was seriously, scheduled for two-hour visits starting at 10 a.m. It was kind of crazy, kind of fun and the easiest way to see a gazillion people. Tuesday morning I was zooming back down to Cinci to catch my 1 p.m. plane back to Seattle - 8 hours of driving for 20 hours of Cleveland... totally worth it.
This Sunday I was introduced to my P-Patch. We were having a P-Patch meeting and it was very easy to tell which one was mine - the one growing very robust dandelions and grass. A fellow p-patcher helped me weed it down to a reasonable brown dirt as I volunteer to figure out a way to properly get the water barrel system set up. This weekend are plans for mint, cilantro, basil, carrots and other delicious starters to find their way into my patch.
But tonight I am sewing helmet panties for my team. Yes, they're called helmet panties - which might be the funniest word to say - even. They're the covers used in roller derby to denote who is the pivot (with a stripe) and who is the jammer (with a star). I made a bunch for our league for scrimmaging but now we need them in team colors, etc. I'm making them for my team and the Honeys. (The photo indicates that JoJo Stiletto's helmet is the jammer - photo by Jules from this past weekend's RCRG bout.) The thing about sewing it that it taps into that incredible creative energy. I could easily stay up the entire night and sew - without ever getting tired. I love it.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Pho Revolution
I have finally joined the pho revolution - the phase where people decide that they are completely in love with soup containing beef and noodles originally from Vietnam. My friends tell me at work how they were addicted to it at first - or that's all they ate in college - or they know the 5 top pho places in Seattle. The first time I tried pho was at #1 Pho in Cleveland's "Chinatown". And I couldn't stand it. I am barely a meat eater and ordering one of the most popular dishes meant raw meat. I looked at it in my soup, poked at it and decided I couldn't eat it. I tried to drink the broth and in the end, decided this was not the food for me. No thanks. I barely like soup (my dislike of salt is at the root of this problem.) Pho is not for me.
Fast forward 4 years or so and I find myself in Seattle, where like lots of west coast cities I can find more pho varieties than I imagined possible (but I'll be damned if I can find a good Lebanese deli!) I wasn't interested. If we went to a pho place for a meeting, I had anything but pho. Not raw beef, gross noodle soup for me. A friend convinced me to try Pho Cycle in Capitol Hill and I tried a non-soup dish and tried some of hers. She told me the point to the raw meat was to let it cook in the steaming hot soup (oh!). Finally, early in December, at the beginning of my getting sick, I decided I would drink up some soup to avert my illness and tired pho - veggie pho and it was fantastic! I created my own special designs with the hot sauce and oyster sauce (I makes stars in my soup with each one.) I'm sure to add the lime and lots of basil and now I rather enjoy it - the veggie one that is.
Friday night, that beautiful evening, I had pho. I had it again on Sunday when it was cold and rainy and last night (starting to feel under the weather again.) Three times in one week. I've joined the pho revolution!
I have finally joined the pho revolution - the phase where people decide that they are completely in love with soup containing beef and noodles originally from Vietnam. My friends tell me at work how they were addicted to it at first - or that's all they ate in college - or they know the 5 top pho places in Seattle. The first time I tried pho was at #1 Pho in Cleveland's "Chinatown". And I couldn't stand it. I am barely a meat eater and ordering one of the most popular dishes meant raw meat. I looked at it in my soup, poked at it and decided I couldn't eat it. I tried to drink the broth and in the end, decided this was not the food for me. No thanks. I barely like soup (my dislike of salt is at the root of this problem.) Pho is not for me.
Fast forward 4 years or so and I find myself in Seattle, where like lots of west coast cities I can find more pho varieties than I imagined possible (but I'll be damned if I can find a good Lebanese deli!) I wasn't interested. If we went to a pho place for a meeting, I had anything but pho. Not raw beef, gross noodle soup for me. A friend convinced me to try Pho Cycle in Capitol Hill and I tried a non-soup dish and tried some of hers. She told me the point to the raw meat was to let it cook in the steaming hot soup (oh!). Finally, early in December, at the beginning of my getting sick, I decided I would drink up some soup to avert my illness and tired pho - veggie pho and it was fantastic! I created my own special designs with the hot sauce and oyster sauce (I makes stars in my soup with each one.) I'm sure to add the lime and lots of basil and now I rather enjoy it - the veggie one that is.
Friday night, that beautiful evening, I had pho. I had it again on Sunday when it was cold and rainy and last night (starting to feel under the weather again.) Three times in one week. I've joined the pho revolution!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Easter...Happy Easter! Or happy sunny Sunday (morning at least) or if you're sittin' miserable in the Midwest, brrrrrr. I heard on Friday that the Cleveland Indian's Home Opener was snowed out. The double header then scheduled for Saturday was snowed into a triple header for Sunday when in the end, Cleveland just has to invite the Seattle Mariners back another day. So while I was enjoying an 80 degree Friday worth going home for, people where going home early to avoid snarled traffic.
A couple of my friends and I were talking about Easter and their rituals around it. A lot of hidden eggs and candy - mostly outside. This picture reminds me maybe of an Easter or two in my childhood where there was snow, but our candy was hidden throughout the house and not outside so we were never scrounging around in snow, or wet grass. One of the best Easters ever was when we were driving home from visiting our grandparents in Denver to West Virgina over Easter. My brothers and I fell asleep in the car (it's like a 2 day drive so that happened often) and when we awoke the Easter Bunny had been to see us - in the car! We were shocked and amazed to see the candy he had left. When I asked my dad what happened, he said he saw the Easter Bunny hitchhiking on the side of the road so he gave him a lift. I couldn't believe it! And I couldn't believe he didn't wake any of us up for it.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Sunshine - we're all drunk.
Today was the third day of sunshine and the warmest by far. Today was a day that people left work early or were dismissed by their bosses because it was so beautiful out. Today was a day that native Seattleites said to transplants "this is the reason you're here - right?" Those same native Pacific Northwesterns say things like "You'd think after 46 years (his whole life) I would get use to never seeing the sun. But I just feel so much better. Don't you feel better?"
Today was a day, after leaving work early because my boss told me too (plus I'm working tomorrow), I skated at Myrtle Edwards Park (on the Sound - beautiful!) and skated and skated. I would have skated for hours looping up hills, around bikers and other wheeled people - if I wasn't completely starving after an hour (forgot snacks.) I couldn't get enough sun. I went and washed my car (amazingly popular Friday evening activity when it's 70 degrees.) I had a snack and on such a day, couldn't find a way to want to do laundry - just yet. I walked to my P-Patch. Kids were out playing, people were walking around everywhere. I ran into my friends Dani and Derika. I wanted to dig in the dirt (but I didn't know which patch was mine.) It was a beautiful day and became a beautiful evening... and for once I had nothing planned - except for enjoy the sunshine.
Today was the third day of sunshine and the warmest by far. Today was a day that people left work early or were dismissed by their bosses because it was so beautiful out. Today was a day that native Seattleites said to transplants "this is the reason you're here - right?" Those same native Pacific Northwesterns say things like "You'd think after 46 years (his whole life) I would get use to never seeing the sun. But I just feel so much better. Don't you feel better?"
Today was a day, after leaving work early because my boss told me too (plus I'm working tomorrow), I skated at Myrtle Edwards Park (on the Sound - beautiful!) and skated and skated. I would have skated for hours looping up hills, around bikers and other wheeled people - if I wasn't completely starving after an hour (forgot snacks.) I couldn't get enough sun. I went and washed my car (amazingly popular Friday evening activity when it's 70 degrees.) I had a snack and on such a day, couldn't find a way to want to do laundry - just yet. I walked to my P-Patch. Kids were out playing, people were walking around everywhere. I ran into my friends Dani and Derika. I wanted to dig in the dirt (but I didn't know which patch was mine.) It was a beautiful day and became a beautiful evening... and for once I had nothing planned - except for enjoy the sunshine.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
AIDS Trails, Pea Patches and things we can do.
I was allotted a P-Patch today! It's 10'x10' only 8 blocks from my apartment! For those of you who don't know, a P-Patch is an urban/community garden plot. There are all of these community gardens all across the city and I signed up for one last spring/summer. Of course I was too late to get in on it last year and I barely made the registration deadline this fall (I called in on Friday at 5:30 p.m. after offices were closed) but I got in and today was awarded my very own spot! (I love dirt!) The funny thing is I don't come from a family of gardeners. My mother always assigned me to weeding the flowerbeds as one of my chores and after griping about it enough, I eventually found great peace and quiet in weeding. (It was funny, she asked me a few summer ago how I became so good with plants and I sighed - all of those summer you made me weed, I read the little tabs with the plants and learned about them.) So now I have my own patch, with community tools to share... I can't wait to plant basil, carrots, tomatoes, peas... yum!
A month ago a community educator from the HIV Vaccine Trails Unit spoke at the PPWW Young Professionals meeting. He was dynamic and passionate, hilarious and charming, in his enthusiastic speech about the HIV Vaccine Trail. I had seen a bus ad for it when I first moved to Seattle, read more about it at the AIDS Walk in the summer and it wasn't until I heard David talk about it that I remembered I was so interested in it. I decided a few weeks ago to volunteer for it. You are not given a live virus or even a dead one. Three (3) pieces of man-made DNA are spliced into another virus (common cold) and you are injected with it to see if your body builds any kind of response to it. It was a year long study and I thought, I am, sadly, NEVER going to be a research scientist and find a cure for this horrible disease that has seemingly impacted so much of my life from growing up in the 80's to its horrible effects on my communities in the Peace Corps. so I might as well volunteer for a possible vaccine - at the very least.
It turns out that I am short on Adenovirsus antibodies (which mainly cause respiratory infections) which mean NOTHING about my general health as anything 2/3 of Americans don't have them (but they wanted volunteers with these antibodies present for this study). So I'm going to have to wait until July to become a part of another study. In some respects, as a healthy young woman, its the very least I can do.
Some people find it courageous to do something like be a part of a vaccine study... but there are a million things we can do like eat tasty meals at our local restaurant and Dine Out for Darfur which in Seattle will be held on Tuesday, April 3rd. I don't have a scheduled skate practice that night so some friends and I are going to go out and eat... not from the P-Patch just yet, but for an even better cause.
I was allotted a P-Patch today! It's 10'x10' only 8 blocks from my apartment! For those of you who don't know, a P-Patch is an urban/community garden plot. There are all of these community gardens all across the city and I signed up for one last spring/summer. Of course I was too late to get in on it last year and I barely made the registration deadline this fall (I called in on Friday at 5:30 p.m. after offices were closed) but I got in and today was awarded my very own spot! (I love dirt!) The funny thing is I don't come from a family of gardeners. My mother always assigned me to weeding the flowerbeds as one of my chores and after griping about it enough, I eventually found great peace and quiet in weeding. (It was funny, she asked me a few summer ago how I became so good with plants and I sighed - all of those summer you made me weed, I read the little tabs with the plants and learned about them.) So now I have my own patch, with community tools to share... I can't wait to plant basil, carrots, tomatoes, peas... yum!
A month ago a community educator from the HIV Vaccine Trails Unit spoke at the PPWW Young Professionals meeting. He was dynamic and passionate, hilarious and charming, in his enthusiastic speech about the HIV Vaccine Trail. I had seen a bus ad for it when I first moved to Seattle, read more about it at the AIDS Walk in the summer and it wasn't until I heard David talk about it that I remembered I was so interested in it. I decided a few weeks ago to volunteer for it. You are not given a live virus or even a dead one. Three (3) pieces of man-made DNA are spliced into another virus (common cold) and you are injected with it to see if your body builds any kind of response to it. It was a year long study and I thought, I am, sadly, NEVER going to be a research scientist and find a cure for this horrible disease that has seemingly impacted so much of my life from growing up in the 80's to its horrible effects on my communities in the Peace Corps. so I might as well volunteer for a possible vaccine - at the very least.
It turns out that I am short on Adenovirsus antibodies (which mainly cause respiratory infections) which mean NOTHING about my general health as anything 2/3 of Americans don't have them (but they wanted volunteers with these antibodies present for this study). So I'm going to have to wait until July to become a part of another study. In some respects, as a healthy young woman, its the very least I can do.
Some people find it courageous to do something like be a part of a vaccine study... but there are a million things we can do like eat tasty meals at our local restaurant and Dine Out for Darfur which in Seattle will be held on Tuesday, April 3rd. I don't have a scheduled skate practice that night so some friends and I are going to go out and eat... not from the P-Patch just yet, but for an even better cause.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
B-I-N-G-O! On a quiet weekend...
Woo hoo! I was a bingo winner on Friday at the Grave Danger fundraiser for their Chicago trip. I was out to support my friends Skate Trooper, Sara Problem (always) and other GD members and play bingo. I love to play games (especially if there are prizes involved that I can win!) And I did win (promptly started screaming and forgot to yell bingo at first). It was great fun and great to hang out with some pals (Jeremy, Katie and Katie) that I hadn't seen in a while.
Saturday started with Internet problems that I tried to fix by "contacting your local administrator" who happens to be my brother. It turns out my provider was down which forced me down to one of my favorite coffee shops where I drank in my own brand of sunshine (Americanos) before going to the gym to start my new routine. (Before I had Internet at home, I spent many hours in coffee shops, writing emails, drinking coffee, being out and about.) Then it was off to another Kelly Rae Cunningham art opening followed by a birthday party and late dinner in Eastlake - the Eastlake Bar and Grill has revamped their late night happy hour menu. (It's sad that I know these things).
Sunday was sunny and spring. I grabbed Lara and headed over to Coffee at Bird on a Wire in West Seattle for coffee, breakfast and chatter with my skate coach Nate - then over to Discovery Park for a hike - which felt fantastic to be out in the sun. We went down to the ocean where it was low tide and looked for "reluctant creatures" and found a tiny dungess crab and a hermit crab. Two crabs and birds. No star fish or little fish in the tide pools. But it was nice to be reminded how small we are in the grand scheme of things.
And of course, to win at BINGO.
Woo hoo! I was a bingo winner on Friday at the Grave Danger fundraiser for their Chicago trip. I was out to support my friends Skate Trooper, Sara Problem (always) and other GD members and play bingo. I love to play games (especially if there are prizes involved that I can win!) And I did win (promptly started screaming and forgot to yell bingo at first). It was great fun and great to hang out with some pals (Jeremy, Katie and Katie) that I hadn't seen in a while.
Saturday started with Internet problems that I tried to fix by "contacting your local administrator" who happens to be my brother. It turns out my provider was down which forced me down to one of my favorite coffee shops where I drank in my own brand of sunshine (Americanos) before going to the gym to start my new routine. (Before I had Internet at home, I spent many hours in coffee shops, writing emails, drinking coffee, being out and about.) Then it was off to another Kelly Rae Cunningham art opening followed by a birthday party and late dinner in Eastlake - the Eastlake Bar and Grill has revamped their late night happy hour menu. (It's sad that I know these things).
Sunday was sunny and spring. I grabbed Lara and headed over to Coffee at Bird on a Wire in West Seattle for coffee, breakfast and chatter with my skate coach Nate - then over to Discovery Park for a hike - which felt fantastic to be out in the sun. We went down to the ocean where it was low tide and looked for "reluctant creatures" and found a tiny dungess crab and a hermit crab. Two crabs and birds. No star fish or little fish in the tide pools. But it was nice to be reminded how small we are in the grand scheme of things.
And of course, to win at BINGO.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Traffic, Thunder Storms, 4th Dimensions
I know I've griped about this before but I honestly don't understand the traffic patterns here in Seattle. It took me over an hour to get to Everett on Friday at 3 p.m. (not rush hour) and two hours later it took 25 minutes. It's hard to understand where everyone is going and why they all decide to go the same place at the same time. Sundays at 1 p.m. going into the city is nearly impossible but who knows when rush hour really starts on Friday. Today was an easy Monday drive into work (didn't get up in time for the bus) and other Monday's I've sat in traffic for 40 minutes. I truly, just don't understand it. Where is everyone going? And why?
I dreamt about thunderstorms the other night. I was flying in an airplane to Cleveland and could see the thunderstorm as we approached the city - fantastic lightening! I was slightly nervous (I've flown in one thunderstorm and it was incredibly rough) but so thrilled to see the lightening. There aren't thunderstorms out here. The temperatures aren't extreme enough to create the volatile reaction when a cold and warm front collide. They're missed.
I do have to add though, the 4th dimension, opened up by my landlord when he added a pipe to the bathroom has been an incredible source of entertainment for the kitty friends. I KID YOU NOT, they are in the bathroom when I come home from work, looking at the hole in the wall, receiving life instructions of some sort. Monkey jumps in the bathtub and then darts down the hall. Sometimes they sleep in the bathroom. It's hilarious. It's crazy. I wonder what the hole in the wall is telling them.
Clearly, my life is full of mystery right now.
I know I've griped about this before but I honestly don't understand the traffic patterns here in Seattle. It took me over an hour to get to Everett on Friday at 3 p.m. (not rush hour) and two hours later it took 25 minutes. It's hard to understand where everyone is going and why they all decide to go the same place at the same time. Sundays at 1 p.m. going into the city is nearly impossible but who knows when rush hour really starts on Friday. Today was an easy Monday drive into work (didn't get up in time for the bus) and other Monday's I've sat in traffic for 40 minutes. I truly, just don't understand it. Where is everyone going? And why?
I dreamt about thunderstorms the other night. I was flying in an airplane to Cleveland and could see the thunderstorm as we approached the city - fantastic lightening! I was slightly nervous (I've flown in one thunderstorm and it was incredibly rough) but so thrilled to see the lightening. There aren't thunderstorms out here. The temperatures aren't extreme enough to create the volatile reaction when a cold and warm front collide. They're missed.
I do have to add though, the 4th dimension, opened up by my landlord when he added a pipe to the bathroom has been an incredible source of entertainment for the kitty friends. I KID YOU NOT, they are in the bathroom when I come home from work, looking at the hole in the wall, receiving life instructions of some sort. Monkey jumps in the bathtub and then darts down the hall. Sometimes they sleep in the bathroom. It's hilarious. It's crazy. I wonder what the hole in the wall is telling them.
Clearly, my life is full of mystery right now.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Green Jello, Car bombs and SunshineGreen Jell-O, used in wrestling is a bitch to clean-up but it makes for a nice gentle medium for wrestling - which is what some of my league mates subjected themselves to in the name of derby on Friday. I did not (as I quit wrestling when my brother was one day suddenly able to beat me.) I sold Jell-O shots (from the fridge, not from the "pit"), t-shirts and other stuff. Talked up the league, hung out with friends and after clean up the bar, found myself eating Denny's at 4 a.m. - which is really the only time you need to eat Denny's.
Car bombs are truly evil though they makes for great St. Patty's day drinks - with your friends. A group of us decided to celebrate St. Patty's day - me - who use to do anti-St. Patty day events in Cleveland (the land of Irish Catholic)... had a great time at a non-Irish bar drinking cocktails with names that reminded us of Ireland's less joyful days.
Sunshine is delicious and it one of the great things about Spring in Se
attle - um yes - it's spring in Seattle. I skated on Myrtle Edwards in the sun with daffodils, cherry blossoms, magnolias, all of the wonderful things. I never thought I would love March.Monday, March 12, 2007
Contact Origami....
Every once in a while I get a message on my cell phone that goes:
Michelle, what is contact origami?
Michelle, am I missing out on a new phenomenon - what is this contact origami?
However most people leave their message without listening to the message on my cell (which changed when I was chastised for the lack of variety in language.) For those of you who want to know, here is where the idea came from... an essay I ran across while working for the literary magazine at the University of Iowa. It's brilliant:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cjacobso//appess.html
This is actually an essay written by a college applicant when applying to colleges/universities.
----------------
The author of this essay, Hugh Gallagher, now attends NYU
3A. ESSAY: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.
Every once in a while I get a message on my cell phone that goes:
Michelle, what is contact origami?
Michelle, am I missing out on a new phenomenon - what is this contact origami?
However most people leave their message without listening to the message on my cell (which changed when I was chastised for the lack of variety in language.) For those of you who want to know, here is where the idea came from... an essay I ran across while working for the literary magazine at the University of Iowa. It's brilliant:
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cjacobso//appess.html
This is actually an essay written by a college applicant when applying to colleges/universities.
----------------
The author of this essay, Hugh Gallagher, now attends NYU
3A. ESSAY: IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Dead mice...End up in the water bowl. Nearly every time I come home from work... there's a pink one, or green, yellow sometimes a ball or two. This is all Monkey's doing. She's really the only one who plays with these things.
Fez and I just watch her - curiously.
However, as I write this, both of my cats are in the bathroom staring at the portal to the Fourth Dimension that was revealed when the landlord put in a magic pipe.
Curious.
Indeed.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Voodoo, Volunteering and Dirt
Friday I succumb to my frustrating fatigued and on the advice of my friends and colleagues, I went to the witch doctor to get stuck with pins. Ok, I went to an acupuncturist - one that pretty much my whole department and then some have seen. I was lucky enough to get a visit in before he left for two weeks for China.
I not a skeptic - honestly. I'm a big fan of the "body is your temple" and you need good physical health to have good mental health and vise versa. He asked me if I had ever gone to an acupuncturist and I laughed "where I come from we call it Voodoo." He asked me where I was from - I told him Cleveland. He was from Louisville and we immediately had that Ohio connection (Louisville is right across the river from Cinici.) He told me about what the Chinese believed. We talked about how long I had been under the weather and what he thought it might be and then he stuck some pins in me. I barely noticed them. He massaged a few knots in my neck and talked to me about circulation (how the tension was blocking blood flow and consequently not allowing my sinuses to clear up.) He suggested that I eat a warm breakfast (oatmeal instead of yogurt) and how really we were looking at healing my organs (digestive, liver, respiratory). A few more pins, a few deeps breaths and an hour later I walked out feeling a little bit better with a bottle of dirt (ok, their herbs but it tastes like dirt tea) I headed out with high hopes for the next 48 hours.
I finished Friday off having beers (more than one) with friends I hadn't seen in a while and woke up this morning, tired. Not fatigued, not struggling to get out of bed. Just plain tired. It was different. I am hopeful the acupuncture is working... along with the dirt. And the beers too.
And just in time as today was a mega day of volunteering... or just a long day of volunteering. I picked up another skater in my league and we sped off to Monroe (north of Seattle, rural town) to help out with an auction for a kid who had Leukemia. There wasn't much to do early on, so I spent a lot of time getting to know my fellow skaters and explaining roller derby to those who knew nothing about it and laughing about it with those who remember it from their youth.
I sped back to Seattle, ran a few errands (kitty food, lipstick, apples - the important stuff), ate some lunch and then went to volunteer at Provail's and Parkview's auction. A new friend of mine works there and I was glad to be there - to help out with an organization I wouldn't have done anything with otherwise (and not for any reason, beside exposure). They had quite a diverse group of people volunteering and hopefully raised a lot of money for all of the work they do for those with speial needs.
All and all, it was a good day. Tiring. But a good tiring.
Finally.
Friday I succumb to my frustrating fatigued and on the advice of my friends and colleagues, I went to the witch doctor to get stuck with pins. Ok, I went to an acupuncturist - one that pretty much my whole department and then some have seen. I was lucky enough to get a visit in before he left for two weeks for China.
I not a skeptic - honestly. I'm a big fan of the "body is your temple" and you need good physical health to have good mental health and vise versa. He asked me if I had ever gone to an acupuncturist and I laughed "where I come from we call it Voodoo." He asked me where I was from - I told him Cleveland. He was from Louisville and we immediately had that Ohio connection (Louisville is right across the river from Cinici.) He told me about what the Chinese believed. We talked about how long I had been under the weather and what he thought it might be and then he stuck some pins in me. I barely noticed them. He massaged a few knots in my neck and talked to me about circulation (how the tension was blocking blood flow and consequently not allowing my sinuses to clear up.) He suggested that I eat a warm breakfast (oatmeal instead of yogurt) and how really we were looking at healing my organs (digestive, liver, respiratory). A few more pins, a few deeps breaths and an hour later I walked out feeling a little bit better with a bottle of dirt (ok, their herbs but it tastes like dirt tea) I headed out with high hopes for the next 48 hours.
I finished Friday off having beers (more than one) with friends I hadn't seen in a while and woke up this morning, tired. Not fatigued, not struggling to get out of bed. Just plain tired. It was different. I am hopeful the acupuncture is working... along with the dirt. And the beers too.
And just in time as today was a mega day of volunteering... or just a long day of volunteering. I picked up another skater in my league and we sped off to Monroe (north of Seattle, rural town) to help out with an auction for a kid who had Leukemia. There wasn't much to do early on, so I spent a lot of time getting to know my fellow skaters and explaining roller derby to those who knew nothing about it and laughing about it with those who remember it from their youth.
I sped back to Seattle, ran a few errands (kitty food, lipstick, apples - the important stuff), ate some lunch and then went to volunteer at Provail's and Parkview's auction. A new friend of mine works there and I was glad to be there - to help out with an organization I wouldn't have done anything with otherwise (and not for any reason, beside exposure). They had quite a diverse group of people volunteering and hopefully raised a lot of money for all of the work they do for those with speial needs.
All and all, it was a good day. Tiring. But a good tiring.
Finally.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Other Fourth Deminsion Kitty Stories...
My friend, upon reading my blog, sent me this "best of Craiglist" posting... click the link below. Holy cow, it's too funny. (I'm still laughing).
Crazy Kitty Story
My friend, upon reading my blog, sent me this "best of Craiglist" posting... click the link below. Holy cow, it's too funny. (I'm still laughing).
Crazy Kitty Story
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Fourth Dimension...
The kittie friends have been going all out on the "Kittie Olympics" lately - Monkey especially. It seems when my landlord did some plumbing work in the bathroom and added a new piece of piping under the toilet, it opened up a 4th dimension (we live in a three dimensional world. The 4th dimension, well, now that's hard to explain). Monkey and Fez both hang out in the bathroom staring at the new shiny piping. Monkey will sleep on the toilet seat, meow at the pipe. Her tail will poof out and she's start Kitty Olympic Relays at 11 p.m. at night. A colleague of mine once said about cats randomly staring at things "You know Michelle, they can see into the 4th Dimension. They will stare intensely at the wall or their tails will poof out over seemingly nothing. They see things we don't. Just accept it." I didn't know that at the time but I'm pretty convinced that they see something - and it might sometimes just freak them out.
With poofy tails and parties in the bathroom, the kittie friends have their own Olympics to train for and experience all the time. To that end, I am going to start training for the Danksin mini triathlon. Yes, I said it. I am going to be participating in a triathlon. And not as a spectator.
I had always said I wouldn't do a triathlon because I don't like to run. (If only there was one that involved all wheels - like skate boarding, rollerblading and biking. Or biking, driving and rollerskating. Yes - driving is a sport.) The mini is 1/2 mile swim (with thousands of people), 12 mile bike (cake!) and a 3 mile run (ugh). Pygmy and I had considering doing the Danskin last year but the Seattle Danskin is the only one that fills up and they actually have to close it. (Exercise freaks!) My friend Lara wanted to do it. She knew some people who had done it and since we had become roller derby girls (and athletic like no other time in my life) we decided we'd do it - together. The email came from my boss that the registration was open and we managed to get registered before it closed (the next morning).
Now, I'm in a triathlon. Hmmmm....
I still don't like to run but maybe if I could find a way to see into the 4th dimension like Monkey, I could more readily poof out my tail and run some serious laps.
The kittie friends have been going all out on the "Kittie Olympics" lately - Monkey especially. It seems when my landlord did some plumbing work in the bathroom and added a new piece of piping under the toilet, it opened up a 4th dimension (we live in a three dimensional world. The 4th dimension, well, now that's hard to explain). Monkey and Fez both hang out in the bathroom staring at the new shiny piping. Monkey will sleep on the toilet seat, meow at the pipe. Her tail will poof out and she's start Kitty Olympic Relays at 11 p.m. at night. A colleague of mine once said about cats randomly staring at things "You know Michelle, they can see into the 4th Dimension. They will stare intensely at the wall or their tails will poof out over seemingly nothing. They see things we don't. Just accept it." I didn't know that at the time but I'm pretty convinced that they see something - and it might sometimes just freak them out.
With poofy tails and parties in the bathroom, the kittie friends have their own Olympics to train for and experience all the time. To that end, I am going to start training for the Danksin mini triathlon. Yes, I said it. I am going to be participating in a triathlon. And not as a spectator.
I had always said I wouldn't do a triathlon because I don't like to run. (If only there was one that involved all wheels - like skate boarding, rollerblading and biking. Or biking, driving and rollerskating. Yes - driving is a sport.) The mini is 1/2 mile swim (with thousands of people), 12 mile bike (cake!) and a 3 mile run (ugh). Pygmy and I had considering doing the Danskin last year but the Seattle Danskin is the only one that fills up and they actually have to close it. (Exercise freaks!) My friend Lara wanted to do it. She knew some people who had done it and since we had become roller derby girls (and athletic like no other time in my life) we decided we'd do it - together. The email came from my boss that the registration was open and we managed to get registered before it closed (the next morning).
Now, I'm in a triathlon. Hmmmm....
I still don't like to run but maybe if I could find a way to see into the 4th dimension like Monkey, I could more readily poof out my tail and run some serious laps.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Run away! Run away! Hurricane Lily and Betty Ford Galaxy chasin' me down... (I had been trying to knock out Lily thoroghout the evening.)
more photos from LJ McAllister, click here.
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