I can haz new contract?

i guess technically
they pay me to vacation
just not on my terms

I love my friends.

hospitality
and true generosity
overwhelms at times

Not to mention the centerpiece beakers o'colored water.

red shoes, glitter shoes
never know what to expect
from the lovely bride

Enduring humanity during an hour delay.

Vegas-bound yahoos
mingle with spent businessmen:
airport unity

Don Henley wrote a lot of this haiku.

tryin' to get down
to the heart of the matter
forgiveness, indeed

Now, if you'll excuse me I have several episodes of Dexter to watch...

I equate Stephen King with R.E.M. - riveting early stuff followed by a long streak of disappointments, where the (rarely seen) optimist in me hopes against hope that the next output will be back on par with It or Eponymous and against my better judgment I begrudgingly endure every production only to be let down time after time.

And so I borrowed the latest Stephen King short story collection from the library.

It passed the time on the PDX-MCI-TPA-BWI leg of my last trip. So there was that.

All the plots were a bit elementary, even for him, but 1922 and Fair Extension were fairly well written and engaging enough. The latter was such a sad but honest commentary on human behavior that it left a bad taste in my mouth (which made me love it).

But the other two novellas made me... well, mad. I don't know how else to describe it. Both were written from a woman's perspective; I wish his wife would discourage this (or edit more) because he never gets it right. The theme of the book was retribution so I suppose these two stories were supposed to showcase strong women standing up for themselves after experiencing something horrific. But from my vantage point these women did really stupid things in the interest of saving face. Taking on serial killers to protect your own image? Risky, dumb and unlikely in real life.

But hey, January reading goal: check.

Finishing this on the plane meant I was left with Mom's collection of crap novels last week. A skim through A Wedding in December, a rambling tale about seven people who haven't seen each other in 20+ years who come together to expose their various mid-life crises and then go off never to see each other again, nailed the coffin shut on any notions of attending my 20-year high school reunion next year. I should write Anita Shreve a thank-you note.

At BWI I wandered into the bookstore and walked out with Atlas Shrugged. Dense and rich, fascinating characters, social commentary that holds true today. I can't wait to see how it ends... at the rate I'm going, I'll know sometime around March 2012.

Whereas I *actually* talk to myself in public.

still get weirded out
with hands-free phone devices
you talkin' to me?

Nowhere near Friday five.

Five airplane etiquette rules, in no particular order:

• The aisle is not a bar and this is not happy hour... particularly when it's a four hour flight. Please sit down and be quiet.
  
• Chatting loudly (while seated across from each other) about how rude it is for others to stand in the aisle and chat loudly like they're at happy hour, is just as rude.
• Don't start the sudoku game in the in-flight magazine unless you plan to finish it. (Attn: me.)
• Use your seat's arms to help you stand up, not the back of the seat in front of you. Your triceps will get a nice workout and the passenger in row ahead won't be rudely awakened whenever you have to pee.
• Every time you slam your tray table up or down, or type fervently on your laptop which is sitting on your tray table, a puppy dies. It's true. A CUTE LITTLE PUPPY. Be gentle, people.

(Now get off my lawn?)

Early Wednesday three.

Best three things about visiting the right coast, in order of importance (for once):

• Any self-respecting bar - and I mean BAR, not sports bar - has at least one TV showing the hockey game.
• Family and friends.
• Every visit further cements the fact that I belong in Portland.

(I'll let you guess whether this list goes from most->least important, or vice versa.)

Other people, yes, but...

is it unhealthy
to be codependent on
my chiropractor?

I did it, in the kitchen, with a little luck.

Never mind that I bought it for him for Christmas. Never mind that we were supposed to play with "3-6" people instead of just the two of us. Never mind that it required very little skill, talent, physical prowess, strategy or knowledge of the television show.

I beat my brother at this game! Twice in a row!

Crossing #18 off the list... which reminds me, I've got to replace #16.

Not even close to a Friday five.

Five Maryland cities I had no idea existed, in no particular order:

• Flintstone
• California
• Berlin
• Bridgetown
• (wait for it...) Crapo

I knew about Oakland, MD but not until I first moved to CA and scheduled a flight (two Oakland options came up, to my surprise).

Last week during my visit, I saw an Oakland Avenue and a street named after a SE Portland volcano.

I suddenly had no idea where I was.

And what's with all the guys with initials H.R.?

novels by Ayn Rand
make me very self conscious
about my writing

Actually, so '97 but that didn't work.

goodbye Maryland
bitter cold and bad coffee
are so '98

Even snake plants!*

so proud of my friends
raising kids with grace and ease
while I kill houseplants

* Oh yeah, I killed it.

18 x 2.

thirty five years down
hasn't gotten much easier
different hard, though

Home for the Holidays.

love visiting but
seven days in Maryland:
three days too many

Her actual words.

instructions for Dad:
"tape The Young and Resentful!"
my mom loves her soaps

I just wish they were a deep fried bloomin' ones.

through painful talks
layers of truth are revealed
like peeling onions

Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving.

quite sure Arcade Fire
wrote their album "The Suburbs"
about my hometown

Did I mention my parents have dial-up?

It took me twenty minutes today to get online and open the Facebook message with my friend's cell #. TWENTY. MINUTES.

Which is just to say...

still writing haikus
but posting is tiresome
(i've gone back in time)

But the digital camera with wifi is pretty cool.

from zombie heads to
dog genealogy kits
skymall has it all

Only I forgot half the presents.

luckily for me
done this trip so many times
can pack in 15

Another day at The Office.

pro-activity
much more gratifying than
reactivity

I see you're looking at my feet.

j d salinger
perfect for those preferring
abrupt, sad endings

About the only thing.

old man on the MAX
joked with me on the way home
kinda MMD

So would Joss. Especially the long ones.

sick day marathon
bones just mentioned firefly
nathan would be proud

interesting twist
the weekends are the hardest
used to not be so

But dammit, it will be done.

haikus are more fun
without the daily pressure
of producing one

Belated Friday five.

Five albums I hope you purchased in 2010, in no particular order:

• The Black Keys - Brothers. It has a gritty, bluesy, late '60s/early '70s feel to it... in other words, not at all my usual taste. But I really dig it, particularly this one.
  
• Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More. If you haven't yet downed the Kool Aid, this might change your mind.
  
• Menomena - Mines. For a band whose members allegedly hate each other, and who work individually and send pieces via email to their bandmates to build upon, they are pretty amazing.
  
• Rogue Wave - Permalight. I have loved this band ever since a Download Festival a few years ago where the lead singer had back issues, the guitarist had a pirate patch over his eye and the drummer needed a kidney transplant. Check out Stars and Stripes and buy all their albums to support their health care.
• Kassini - See the New Sun. An old friend's band - focused listening of this EP one morning on the bus resulted in me smiling a lot. Go here and listen to Made for Me, especially if you like The Helio Sequence.
  

This is not my "best albums of 2010" list by any means. For one thing, I didn't mention Arcade Fire but if you don't have The Suburbs yet, I am not sure we can still be friends. Also, I am still catching up on 2009 (Avett Brothers, where have you been all my life?), and then there's this 2010 list to cull through.

At this rate I expect to have a "best of 2010" list sometime around the end of 2012.

Oh January oh.

the warmth of your hands
doesn't really matter much
when your heart is cold

I don't want to know what this says about me.

ending bad week with
Dexter: season four: disc one
best five words EV-AH

File under: circular.

resolution one

stop doing such a good job

at tasks I despise

Wednesday three: come and see.

Three songs I love to hear on cold, rainy Portland winter days, in no particular order:

• "Dry the Rain" - The Beta Band
  
• "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free" - Elliott Smith
  
• "Company In My Back" - Wilco

There is a great YouTube video of the first one, without heads in the way or people talking over the sound or just a shot of an album cover with the song playing in the background or someone covering the song. The other two? Just trust me. They're good rain songs. I miss Elliott Smith.

Bonus Wednesday three... Three songs I love to hear when the rain is blowing sideways in sheets and you can't feel your fingers or toes, in no particular order:

• "The Island" - The Decemberists
• "Waiting for the Bus" - Violent Femmes
• "Engwish Bwudd" - Man Man
  

And you?

Trust me.

riddle me this, sir

if you are so sure you're right

why the look of doubt?

Coldpocalypse just doesn't have the same ring.

what good is freezing
if skies are clear and there is
no chance of snow day?

One down, one to go.

At a friend's recommendation I got a copy of Vida from my local library. Short stories and pulp fiction are right up my attention-shorted alley these days, and I finished half of these in a 45 minute sitting and the rest in brief stints over the next 2 days. (See 1Q11 goals - score!)

I was quite impressed with her style and the approach of having a novel of short stories featuring the same character at different points in her young life. It seemed to go in chronological order and then it didn't. The character seemed to sort of have it together and then she didn't. (But then she did.) (But then she didn't.) (But then she was 7... and who has it together when you're 7?)

The character was all over the map (literally) but in every story, you felt the pulse of the locale, you could envision the people there, you could even sense the temperature and humidity of the air. She threw in Spanish words and Spanish jargon that would've driven those PDX soccer mom book club people nuts.* But I loved it and drank up every word.

Oh - Junot Dίaz loves it too, if that's any incentive.

________________
* It's a long story.

The 2011 "to do" list starts here.

I was wandering around before a movie Saturday (Tiny Furniture, I still don't know whether I liked it or not) and walked by a kitschy little art store in the NW. I'd never run across it open and it had always intrigued me from the outside, so in I went.

It was small and the proprietor was just what I would expect: older and weird. She sold art made within the past year by local artists, and while it was all very interesting it was also expensive. I did find a great card in my price range featuring a chimp playing a guitar.

While I was wandering she chatted at me, which I normally would not have liked but it was New Year's Day and I'd been holed up for a few days so I welcomed the conversation. At one point she asked if I'd made any resolutions.

"No, I generally try to do the right thing all year round," I replied. She agreed, but mentioned that she'd lost close friends this year and had so resolved to reach out to people more often. I had recently resolved to do the same for different reasons (this technology stuff is so isolating at times). And apparently we weren't the only ones, as I learned when I read a friend's blog post welcoming Twenty Eleven.

As a result of this reaching out, getting by with a little help from my friends, and what have you, I'm feeling better in general and I'm ready to tackle 2011, starting with a resurrection of the quarterly goals. So here we go:

1. A haiku a day. Easy, creative, fun, and a step closer to actually writing than I've been in a while. Don't expect brilliance or even anything that counts as funny. Just expect one a day.
2. Read two books a month. Lately I've let reading go in favor of music, especially since it's been so cold at the bus stop and I rarely get a seat on the bus anymore (very hard to read and hold the oh-so-important mug of coffee and hold on for dear life!), but I do miss it. To go easy on myself I've decided that cookbooks count... but only if I make at least one recipe from the book that month.
3. Shamrock Run 2011! Good motivation to get back into the gym routine.

In general I also want to keep up with the personal reach-outs and cut down on the multitasking, facebooking, twittering, etc. But it's winter in Portland so we'll see how that goes over.

Besides, I have to plan the 2011 Adventure, which will probably require some research... Alaska is looking mighty fine these days.

Happy 365-4 to you and yours!

Spring ain't so bad either.

cold, clear sunny days
salmon, purple, pink sunsets
love portland winters

Ode to kitteh.

juniper plays fetch
and then flops onto the floor
lather, rinse, repeat

And this is it.

twenty eleven
I have no resolutions
well, maybe just one