Progress.

I had a long talk with someone today about these quarterly goals and whether they are helpful or harmful. In the end I decided they were helpful, except for last year around this time when I had the exact same running goal and ended up not meeting it due to a dying cat and hating work and general world-weariness that did not put me in a good space to be running 13 miles, yet I got as far as 8 at one time, yet I beat myself up about not making that goal. This year, though? ALL OVER IT. Six miles down as of Monday, seven additional to go. In eight weeks. Eh, whatever, it's been done... and if it's not done again, this year I'm simply not going to care. (But it will be done. Mark my words.)

In other goal-related news... October's Fugitives & Refugees attempt was a bit of a bust. The Wilhelm's Portland Memorial, which would've been a great Octoberish activity, is now closed to the public except during specific, sporadic tour hours. (This is most likely due to the book. Thank you, Chuck.) Mount Gleall Castle, Portland's equivalent of the Winchester Mystery House and also good around Halloween time, isn't accessible to the public, it turns out. And I'd really intended to go to Powell's rare book room, where the ghost of the founder allegedly hangs out on Tuesday evenings, but there was yoga to be done. Much more important for my psyche this quarter.

But! The Sauvie Island corn maize was taken a step further - I went to the haunted version and it was ridiculously awesome. (Next year I am working there. How fun would it be to walk 4" behind people dressed as a zombie? Hell, I'd volunteer my time for that.) And I went to the Roloff farm, not featured in Chuck's book for many reasons, the main one being that it wasn't around when he wrote it. But this?

Spooooooky!

Besides. Not that I'm competitive or hold myself to stupidly high standards or anything (ahem) but I've done plenty in the book already. Wild Abandon, Fuller's? Check. (Yum and meh, respectively.) Hippo Hardware? I love their hippos. The underground tour? Yup. The "getting off" chapter? Ummmmmm... no thank you. When the vegan strip club closed before I even moved here, the sordid life left nothing of interest to me.

Anyway, never fear. October may have been only moderately successful, but there is plenty of F&R in store for November and December. I may not even have to plan November's, if all goes well. Have I mentioned lately that I love this town?

And as far as The Plan, well, it's coming along. More to figure out this weekend, and more conversational Spanish to learn. Stay tuned.

Thought o' the day.

There are worse things than bonding with your older male boss over the virtues of the Twilight series.

 

(There, are... right?)

Get over it.

If I can't tolerate maintenance guys outside my window every morning disrupting my morning routine for the third week straight with at least two more weeks to go (no, property management people, I am not a day sleeper no I am not home all day LOOK YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT they cause me to shut my windows and they make a lot of noise during my dark, quiet time and I don't like that!), how the heck am I going to tolerate not knowing where I'll be tomorrow or the next day or the next week? 

 

Time to stop whining, accept a little mold-breaking and spontaneously deal with the situation at hand. 

 

Any thoughts on how to make that easier?  This creature of habit is a little concerned.

A haiku for my new toy.

no spots when I zoom

vibrant hues, options a'plenty

{hearting} this camera

Eco-lazy.

It's become a personal challenge at this point. How high can I pile it before I need to take the 20 foot walk to the recycling bin outside?

Ahhhh, single living.

I am sure living in SPAIN had nothing to do with it...

... but still, a good reason to whip up some hummous or splurge on that feta cheese for the salad, especially as winter and the darkness starts to set in.

Rockumentaries.

First was The Devil and Daniel Johnston. This was recommended to me, though I can't remember by whom, and going into it I had no idea who he was. It was ironing day so it didn't really matter. Anyway, early on they identified Johnston as the guy who made the "Hi How Are You" tape, which was made into a t-shirt, which Kurt Cobain wore every waking second after that, apparently.

Johnston follows the path of Brian Wilson, writing a lot of really good music and making great art before declining into mental illness. Along the way he also finds religion and preaches to audiences about the devil in between songs about desire. Ironic or poetic, I'm not really sure. The people around him watch his decline and finally get him somewhat back on track, and that's good, because he really is talented. It seems that I just missed his Portland show in September but I'll keep an eye out for him in the future. You should too.

And in keeping with the religious, musical and "Daniel" themes I watched Danielson: A Family Movie. It was interesting, but there were only two things that stuck with me. One, their music was like no other "Christian rock" I've heard. Considering that along with their general attitudes and respect for each other and actually seeming to lead a "Christian" life, I ended up unexpectedly liking it, and them, a lot. Two, at the time of the documentary Daniel Smith was mentoring a then-unknown Sufjan Stevens. The mentee has surpassed the mentor in this case, but the mentor shows no resentment. Refreshing.

There, I just saved you three hours. Next time you can do my ironing, mmmmkay?

I must know.

Never mind that other question I want to ask Colin Meloy the next time he signs my poster. Now I just want to know if "that wretched girl Dawn" is an homage to Joss, in some way.

Inspired.

I watched Autism: the Musical last night. A big part of it was about the kids, and their stories, and their day-to-day life and interactions with each other in rehearsals for the musical. They each had different severities of the disease, and struggled with different things every day, but they all had ways of communicating their needs and fears and hopes. But the other side of the story was about the parents and how they coped with having children who weren't treated as equals to "normal" children (their air quotes, not mine).

It was heartbreaking and heartening all at the same time, and I laughed and cried (sometimes both at once) through the whole almost-two hours. Highly recommended.

October is here already? I suspect a conspiracy.

OK, so a wrap-up on last quarter's goals:

• At least 2 road trips - check, check.
  
• New restaurant every week - I'm pretty sure I was successful in this endeavor. My favorite new find is Sweet Basil, just a few blocks from my apartment, where they serve the best crab ranggoon appetizer and the vegetarian pad thai is so earthy and hearty. And? Happy hour drinks all day Sunday, how can you beat that?
  
• 5 new Portland bands - check, check, check, check, check. Favorite new PDX finds: Blind Pilot and Morning Teleportation. Lots of great stuff out of the overall PNW at the music fest though.
  
• Anything on The List - #10, check. (I knew it was on the list somewhere.)

And so, the goals for the next few months:

• Three things/month from Fugitives and Refugees.
• Run 13 miles by December 31. Yesterday I ran for the first time in months and it felt great (although it was a bit painful). If I increase a mile a week, 13 miles in as many weeks will be gravy.
• Figure out "the plan." Um, yeah. More to come on that.
• Anything on The List... although I'm two years ahead already, soon to be three. Perhaps I should enjoy the moment and slow down?