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?
  

Will probably need more than nature to get over this one.

I did something really stupid recently, so to temporarily take my mind off that move I decided to seek solace in nature. (But just some quick solace - I had other shit to do today.)

I ran across some information about Carver Park. Close by, and where some of Twilight was filmed. The movie was wretched but the scenery did exemplify Oregon, so I decided to check it out.

Not much to it. Also, empty. I sat by this stream for about an hour and didn't see a soul:

Walking out I was still kicking myself, but despite that I was able to appreciate the beauty of lush, green Oregon.

I could live there. Right there. It's hard to do stupid things to trees.

HA-ha!

(Was that mean?)

Friday five.

Five things I am excited about as a result of recent events, in no particular order:

• Watching east coast hockey face-offs at 4:30pm.
• A temporary halt in screenplay idea additions, but actually having time and energy to work on the damned screenplay. (And/or novel. Whatever.)
• Fall in the PNW.
• Testing the limits of my frugality.
• Getting my priorities straight, my shit together and my act figured out. (And/or having lots of fun. Whatever.)

It's gonna be the BEST. FALL. EVER.

Astrology shmastrology.

Monday's horoscope: You might get carried away with your feelings now and announce them at work before you consider the consequences of such an emotional disclosure. It's not that there is anything inherently wrong with sharing your inner process; it's just that you cannot take back what you say once it's out there. Today is one of those days when saying fewer words is surely better than talking too much.

Tuesday's: Although you are quite focused on your professional development now, you can also step back to take a longer view of your goals as the Sun enters your 9th House of Future Vision. However, balancing the fantasy of your ideal situation with your current responsibilities may not be all that easy. Pushing anything too far today will only make it more complicated.

Today's: Others might see you as less stable than usual, but that's just because they don't understand what's driving your decisions. You have an unorthodox approach to life and you are able to rationalize your eccentric ideas. Unfortunately, your co-workers might not share your perspective and the more you try to convince them you are right, the less they understand. Don't push so hard today; letting some things ride for a day or two may be your smartest strategy at this time.

Why is everything telling me not to push and to be cautious? That's how I've been my entire life. I think it's time for change. Change I can believe in.

Things that are free.

The Multnomah County Library system. Most trails in the PNW. The MAX to downtown Portland, conveniently located 10 blocks from my abode. The Portland Art Museum on the last Friday each month. (Lots of museums, actually, dates/times vary.) The occasional show at Mississippi Studios. Samples at the farmer's market. The wiener dog races. Shows and movies and food via Yelp for us "elite" folk.

Teh intarwebs, given the right equipment and location, can be free. iTunes has a free download each week. And if the "right location" is Starbucks, that's another free weekly download.

Writing. Watching, observing. Listening. Volunteering for worthy organizations. All free.

I'm just saying. I could live a good long while on free stuff. Might come in handy soon. (Note to self - maintain that Yelp elite status... will be interesting to do without spending money but I bet I can find a way.)

In other news, I found a new blog to follow religiously.

MusicFestNW, Day 5.

The only option tonight was the Crystal Ballroom for three bands leading up to the end of Musicfest NW 2009, Modest Mouse. I love their recorded stuff but as of yet, hadn't seen them, and figured I should at some point. I really wasn't feeling it - especially given all the negative feedback I'd heard about Isaac Brock's performances (drunk, unintelligible, a waste of time) and the fact that I rate the Crystal Ballroom as the worst venue to see a show in Portland.

So in case I decided to opt out, but to keep with the "musicfest" theme, I saw a matinee of It Might Get Loud. WOW. Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White talking about making music and playing each others' songs together? With rarely seen old footage of Page and Edge's early years? Fans of any of these three, or even just of the guitar, or music in general, should see this. It was quite entertaining to watch Jack attempt to be so nonchalant about the meetup even though it was clear when they were all talking and playing, that he was pretty stoked.

And so I was inspired, and the Crystal show would essentially be free (what with the pre-paid wristband, which had already paid for itself). I killed some time in a local record store, got a quick dinner and headed in.

OK. I'm a little concerned that all my MySpace links have left some kind of "virus disguised as an anti-virus" on my computer (how annoyingly clever!), so I will just say without links that Morning Teleportation was probably the most surprisingly entertaining band I saw all weekend. You can find them on YouTube. I think they hit almost every genre in their set, and they definitely had such a great time doing it all. Best set of the night, hands down.

This was followed by Mimicking Birds, who, in another venue after not following the aforementioned energetic-bordering-on-Riddlin-requiring band, might have been pretty enjoyable. They were quiet, and the sound at the Crystal is awful so I couldn't hear a single word he said, and it just seemed like an inappropriate booking given the other three acts of the evening. I need to give them a second chance at a more appropriate venue though.

Next up was Love As Laughter. If they were opening for another band I wanted to see, that would be OK, but I wouldn't seek them out specifically. Which is not to say that they were bad. I just wouldn't pay money to see only them again.

And finally, Modest Mouse. It was everything I hoped for... a couple of random songs followed by a brief, unintelligible rant by Brock, followed by several more songs...

Followed by a longer unintelligible Brock rant having to do with wanting to be paid in jet skis because then he could visit places he really wanted to visit, only they would have to flood first because that's the only way he could use his jet ski there... This went on for about 4 minutes and when someone(s) shouted "just play a song!" (I was not one of them but I was definitely in agreement) Brock then went on a 5 minute tirade about how he never felt comfortable talking in front of large groups of people and everyone should just respect the fact that he was talking because he felt like he should be talking even though he didn't really have anything to say... and so on and so forth and finally, the inevitable "Oh, fuck it, let's just play a song."

(At least I think this is what happened - between his mumbling, his possible/probable drunkeness, and the terrible sound at the Crystal, he could've been telling us a story about imaginary butterflies in the Amazon who led the ghost of a medicine man to the cure for cancer, and no one would've known what the hell he was talking about either.)

ANYWAY! At that point I was thinking, "just play Float On so I can go home, OK already?" and two songs later they did, and I felt fulfilled, and I went home. I'm sure I missed a great cover of a New Order song or something equally random, but I got what I needed out of that and won't need to pay to see that again.

Only regret this year: I didn't see Sunny Day Real Estate. But I saw Jeremy Enigk last summer, and seeing them Friday would've meant I didn't see Nurses at the Doug Fir, and that would've been sad. Otherwise, I'm OK with how this all went down. And now the wristband has been severed and I sleep. Back to real life tomorrow. Must work on that.

MusicFestNW, Day 4.

Tonight I opted to stay put at Mississippi Studios and see what happened. All the bands appealed to me for one reason or another, and Mississippi is not within walking distance of pretty much anything other than food and shopping (unlike the other venues from prior nights, all within a max 10 minute walk of each other) so staying put made sense. Besides, I'd never been and everyone raved about it, so I figured what the heck.

I liked it all. Other than the venue being a great place to see music, here's why.

All Smiles was just the singer/guitar guy, not the whole band, but other members of the band were there and he never explained why they weren't onstage with him. Good, I don't care, just keep playing those wonderfully lovely depressing songs.

The Lonely Forest were four spunky kids who chatted with the crowd and looked happy to be there. The main guy was clearly the alpha, but later I looked at the CD I'd purchased and saw that all the songs were pretty much his creation so I understood why. The drummer was a joy to watch - very concentrated (tongue sticking out in concentration at certain points), very intent on getting some limelight by rocking out. While the lyrics were youthful, they were also thoughtful - not just words strung together to rhyme, but words that told stories - and at one point it occurred to me that perhaps that was what Ben Gibbard's first set of songs had sounded like. Musically they were completely together... until the energetic alpha knocked his keyboard off the stage, anyway, which pretty much ended the show. (How exciting! I've never seen THAT happen before!) I'm listening to the CD as I type, and they sound much older than they actually appear to be.

Point Juncture, WA were fun to watch. I wasn't as into their music, but I want to give the recorded stuff a try because people seem to think I would dig it. The reason I liked them tonight was because every band member played at least two instruments. The bass player and drummer switched up throughout, the keyboard player also played a trumpet, and the guitarist banged out a few notes on the xylophone at one point, and a few beats on the drum at another point. (Not as impressive as the others, perhaps, but when you also consider that he played that six-string like Animal would've played a guitar... VERY fun to watch.) Also? Two of them played two instruments (drums/tambourine, keyboard/horn) at the same time! Also? It was quite clear that they liked each other a lot, and had a lot of fun playing together. And instead of being happy they got to play longer because the next band was going to be late they basically asked us all to cross our fingers that they arrived safely. And there's much to be said for all of that, so I will give them the old college try.

Cotton Jones was the band that was late. Their bus almost caught on fire, they said, but it didn't. Because of their shortened time, they opted for a very stripped down version of their songs - one acoustic and four voices, which takes a lot less time to set up and break down, and which, if you listen to their MySpace stuff, was quite different but still just as amazing. They're from Cumberland, MD, near my hometown. Buy their CD.

And finally, local faves Loch Lomond. Heard some new stuff and familiar old stuff. I just love these guys and gals. Um... that's a lame review. OK, "lead singer/multi-instrumentalist Ritchie" announced that he'd bought some new argyle socks today but one "had blown out" (it kept falling down). He had rolled up his pant legs to show off his new socks, and at one point he rolled his pant leg down - just the one - to hide the rumpled argyle because it was clearly distressing him so. It is this type of quirkiness that makes this band phenomenal. See them live. You won't regret it.

Today - well, at this point, yesterday - I slept until noon. I'm guessing my Sunday will fare similarly, but I'm old and OK with that. The biggest question: do I bother standing in line five hours early for Modest Mouse playing at the venue with the crappiest sound in Portland, or do I quit while I'm ahead and pay for a ticket next time they go to the Edgefield? Inquiring minds want to know.

And on it goes...

Click here for a cheap laugh.

(Source here.)

Well, duh.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings. Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you.

What Season Are You?

(OK, but this one was pretty funny...

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?)

MusicFestNW, Day 3.

Most of it was quite a bust. I sat through three bands @ Berbati's that seemed interesting this morning, but by the time the night rolled around... well, perhaps I was just ready for something a little more interesting.

I left halfway through the third act, after mentally composing a Facebook status having to do with instating a new rule: people who actually came to see the band, inside - people who came to talk (rather loudly and drunkenly), or Facebook/Tweet/play games*/otherwise wave their glowing neon device in my face, outside. One step ahead of you - NOW GET OFF MY LAWN.

Anyway, I wandered over to Backspace to see what was happening there. Last year I'd seen a plucky punk band from Dallas (which cheered me up) after just missing Matt and Kim (which bummed me out). Apparently, this gal and some friends were what was happening around 10:15 tonight. Lovely stuff, really - but not at all what I was in the mood for, and oh my god people were even talking loudly during THAT quiet set, so I headed back across Burnside to Dante's for a bit of The Soft Pack (good clean loud garage punk So Cal fun), and then over the river to the Doug Fir for one last show.

(No, Dante's, I am not staying for the Mudhoney show, for the same reason I am skipping the Chairlift show at the Holocene - I only know one of their songs and I don't really like it all that much. I suspect I will come to regret the Mudhoney decision, but... eh, whatever.)

But first, a digression. On the way to Doug Fir, I passed an interesting scene involving about five people dressed in colonial garb and one guy with a very large, convincing insect puppet over the upper half of his body. All told the guy + puppet may have reached 12' in height and the guy was maneuvering the insect puppet quite adeptly. I didn't see any video cameras or lights, which would've indicated a typical Portland scene of film school students working on a project.

Naturally, all I could think of this strange debacle in front of me was, "great, he'll probably be at the Doug Fir standing right in front of me for the next show." (Haha, actually, all I could think was "*&^% of all the days I leave my camera at home!!") End of digression.

Why do I doubt the Doug Fir? Why? It's such a silly notion to think they will ever let me down. It was crowded, sure, and after the set it took heroic efforts to procure a CD of the band I had just seen because the seller insisted on exact change of $12, but...

Oh, the set? By a trio of Nurses. It was great. They are unique, interesting, like nothing I've seen since maybe Xavier Rudd last year at MFNW. And from Portland - FTW!

________________
* Before the second act, a girl sat down next to me, pulled out her glowing neon device, and proceeded to play some sort of video game through the second act's entire set. Never looked up once. REALLY? That's just rude.