Wednesday three bordering on crazy cat lady post.

I've been catless for over two years. I have enjoyed my various local no-planning-required weekend jaunts (and that four-month-foreign-country foray) immensely. I also started Auntie Jen(n)'s Kitty Camp for friends while they are on extended vacation. Guaranteed unconditional love and no charge to parents other than the cost of food, litter and any other supplies - which they've already purchased so they just drop off along with Kitty. This summer features a newbie whose parents will be checking out Sweden in a few weeks and a camp regular (and let's be honest, a camp favorite) whose parents are getting married and going away for their honeymoon later this summer.

Anyway. I think that's the level of feline commitment I'm willing to make at this point. I considered volunteering with the Oregon Humane Society but they require 12 hours a month (and about $50) which amounts to about 20 hours a month just from figuring out how to manage 12 volunteer hours a month. Frankly, I'm just not ready to give up that much free time so if I want to pet cats without having to deal with potential adopters (aka PEOPLE), I'll just wander through my neighborhood. And donate the $50.

However, certain things still make me miss Her Maj. I have had lots of cats in my life but this gal really stuck with me. Three of these things in no particular order:

• I still wait for the yowl and leg weaving when I open a can of tuna. Still. Probably will until the day I die. It looked a lot like this.
  
• Friends are coming to visit this weekend. As I was cleaning over the last few days it occurred to me that I haven't vacuumed since the last time a friend visited... at Thanksgiving. The lint tray in the dryer is always pretty clean when I pull it out. And the bathroom (where I would normally store the litter box) just required a quick wipe-down. Anyone with a cat will grasp the significance of any of this.
  
• All this baking lately! Back in my cat lady days, when I would cook or bake for friends I would scrub counters, ensure preoccupation of the felines in other rooms, before/after run everything through the dishwasher religiously, and promptly store dishes and utensils safely away to ensure no cat hairs would encroach. Now? Eh. Wash my hands and hope for the best. Wash dishes by hand, air them dry - or not - and maybe, eventually, throw it all into the cabinet or drawer.

All that said, I miss that little cat. So to bring some good karma into the picture I bring you my favorite Her Maj posts:

• Like this one.
• And this one.
• Or perhaps this one.
  

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Also, why I don't own a house: cleaning took me about an hour. An HOUR!! I spread it out over three days just to reduce the agony. THE AGONY!! I actually spent more time cleaning my car than my apartment.

And! It's also likely that Kitty will go home with an exciting new toy that I can't resist from Pets on Broadway so really, I lose and the parents and Kitty make out on this deal. I reaaallllly need to figure out how to market this widely (and change up the model so that I can live off the income).

Belated Friday five.

I have never claimed to be a "foodie" but I do enjoy food. In honor of The Rapture(TM) or lack thereof, I bring you five things I would want at my last supper. In no particular order except perhaps the last, most important item:

• an Arizmendi cherry corn scone (or six)
  
• a slice (or six) of Zachary's spinach/mushroom stuffed pizza
  
• The Olive Garden's spinach artichoke dip customized my way - more spinach, more artichoke, more parmesan cheese, more black pepper plus a little red, and more oven time
  
• crab ranggoon from Sweet Basil
  
• a bottle of Suntory Yamazaki, preferably the 25 year - but any year will do, really

I have an entire photo gallery of foreign food over my dining room table, but aside from swapping bullets #1-4 with an authentic Ecuadorian empenada or ceviche, or a kilo of that fine Andean cheese, I'm opting to stay semi-local.

There is no dessert on this list either. Despite my recent cookie obsession I'm just not big on sweets. (I considered something involving peanut butter but really, I've eaten enough of it in this lifetime. Chocolate? Nah. Which is not to say I'm not about to enjoy a bowl of B&J's peanut butter cup ice cream...)

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Inspired by this, which I ran across via a pretty darned circuitous route. Local, low-key, overcast Sunday = waaaaaay too much time on ye olde www...

One down...

... four to go.

A haiku dedicated to the life in your years.

buffalo tom: old
average age of crowd: forty
great music: ageless

hey, kids, rock 'n roll, rock on

Last night I got to see a 25-year-old band I loved in college play a tiny show in a fantastic venue. As I hoped, "Taillights Fade" was the second song on the set list. This served to thin the crowd who was just there to see the opening band ("The Heavenly States," a Bay Area band I ended up liking a lot). The rest of us stuck around as Bill, Chris and namesake Tom* alternated between excellent old and new songs. Great show worth every penny of my $17. In a rare turn of events, I was kind of sad that it wasn't more crowded.

Everyone but me was sporting a plaid shirt. It felt like the 90's. Also? The crowd was at least my age or older - at one point Bill said something about how he knew it was getting late and people had to get home to pay their sitters, but he hoped we would stick around for a few more songs.

Anyway. Had a few beers at the show, got about six hours of sleep, put in a hard day's work... and still ran 10 miles this evening.

Hey, Rapture? BRING IT.

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* I hate referring to band member names because it's pretty rare that I actually know the band members. But after 25 years there are certain people I feel I know on some level. Bill/Chris/Tom, Ed/Stone/Mike/Jeff, Billy, Trent, Michael/Peter/Mike - these are all friends. Or, at least "friends."

This haiku brought to you by The Rapture(TM).

fix the transmission
or cage dive with great white sharks?
you're really asking?

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Actually, it's brought to you by Mark Morford's column.

PSA: Tuesday evening stroll in the Gorge - a bazillion times more therapeutic than a gym treadmill.

Working for the weekend.

It's no Iguazu Falls, but Central Oregon will do in a pinch...

Belated Friday five.

Next month will mark a year in my fine '70s apartment, so I figured it was about time to get some greenery in here. My pots have been taking up space in the closet for far too long and the fake flowers I bought as an interim step are beginning to wear out their welcome. I also haven't done much local shopping lately so it was a good excuse to hit the Portland Nursery...

Behold my overwhelmingly exciting Saturday. Later I might vacuum!

Anyway, five oxygen-generating, smile-inducing additions to the abode, in no particular order:

Nephtytis - I'm a sucker for multicolored leaves

two "2 Inch Tropical Plants" (that's really the
name on the tag) for the bathroom

New Guinea Impatiens - should bloom orange, to match the couch

peace lily now gracing the bedroom, in the hopes
that it will bring me more pleasant
dreams than the one I had last night

When it comes to houseplants I usually have three requirements: smallish, needing low light (I tend to keep the shades closed), hard to kill. Check, check and check.

I give them all about a month of survival.

Early Wednesday three.

To counteract three recent pieces of news that totally suck (two personal, one public), here are three things that absolutely don't suck. In no particular order...

• perspective
• endless volunteer opportunities like this one
  
• Z-Trip Presents: All Access Beastie Boys Megamix
  

Oh, and ice cream for dinner doesn't really suck all that much either.

Holy crap.

It's May tomorrow.

That is all.

Next year I'm giving up rain for Lent.

I left this morning at 6:45am on a quest for a long but easy, beautiful waterfall hike near Mount St. Helens. It was raining when I left, it continued to rain for an hour, and then I got lost and frustrated and decided to head back and do one of the favorite Gorge standbys.

It continued to rain. And rain, and rain.

So I ultimately skipped the hike, came home and went back to bed. Around 1pm (!) I finally got up. Got a really disappointing lunch at a joint the locals love, watched The Fountainhead (awfully disappointing, even worse than the Atlas Shrugged trailers make that one out to be) and did some depressing digital cleansing.

So much for Sunday Funday.

But! After 47 days* I am enjoying this...

... and covering up the gray, and then settling in for a Veronica Mars marathon to brush up on witty comebacks for the coming week. There may also be a pedicure and possibly some aforementioned Ben & Jerry's in the cards as well.

Given the four hour nap, I suspect I needed this zero day. Really hoping the raw local honey is working its magic against allergies this year but I suspect I'm in for another killer season. I'm far less mentally prepared for a full work week than in previous nature-weekend-filled weeks, and I think I might really need that perspective tomorrow, but my horoscope yesterday said I should slow down. Sometimes I think it knows me better than I know myself. And so here I sit, listening.

At least if this week sucks, I can go to happy hour!

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* A whole 47 days and no alcohol. Well, I failed once - but it was for a good cause and I confessed my sin. Not that this is a feat or a big deal, it's not like that. But while I haven't "figured it all out," I'm getting there, and it sure did get me out of a lot of mandatory fun. Thanks, Jesus!

Good thing I'm training for a half marathon.

"Like" CREDO on Facebook before April 30 and they will plant a tree in your honor.

That's nice and all, yay trees, but more importantly - members also get free pints of Ben & Jerry's. The new Peanut Brittle flavor? FAB. Throw some of your own peanut butter in for good measure? AH. MAY. ZING. (Holy cow, there are six pages of flavors! Who knew?!)

I hear you, Universe.

A month ago I was scheduled to go kayaking on the coast, but the trip was canceled because of the wind. It was also really rainy that day (and a 1.5 hour drive one-way) and I hadn't really been looking forward to it for those reasons despite valiant efforts to psych myself up for it.

I rescheduled at that time for a trip tomorrow. Every day this past week I considered rescheduling again - it's finally spring here, the wildflowers are coming out in waves, and my last three Sunday hikes have been really good mental prep for the long work weeks ahead. But I didn't, and I've been trying to psych myself up for it all day.

Just got an email from the guide saying he broke his foot and the trip was canceled tomorrow.

Really sorry about his foot, but also really glad I bought a new hiking book when I went to the Audubon Society the other night...

Gratitude.

Last night I had the fortune of hearing Noah Strycker speak about his 3-month experience researching Adelie penguins in the Antarctic. He wrote a book about it, and from what I've heard from him and read of it so far I highly recommend it. He's a great storyteller, and between the tales and the pictures I had a perma-grin for about 3 hours afterward.

He was only 22 when he did this excursion. When I was 22, I did my own excursion cross-country to the Bay Area, but I had no real goals (other than getting as far from the east coast without leaving the continental US) or skills or hobbies. Still don't, technically speaking. I look around at my coworkers 8-10 years younger than me and marvel at their expertise in certain subjects, at their career drive, at their ability to seemingly know what they want to do with their lives. On the other end of the spectrum, other friends had kids by the time they were 22 - an excursion of a whole other variety.

But do not despair, dear reader! This is not a "woe is me, what have I done with my life" post - quite the contrary, actually. I've done a hell of a lot with my life! I've seen states and countries most people have not. I've sustained employment when I wanted to, built some reasonably generic and widely transferable skills, and survived just fine without a job, too. I've got a ziplock bag stuffed so full of concert tickets that it's getting hard to close. I've managed to hold on to everyone who is dear to me, and cut loose everyone who is not. I've attempted (and failed) to learn guitar, pottery, acting, Spanish - but I had a whole lot of fun trying. I've loved and lost and I'm a better person for each of those experiences. I. Jumped. Out. Of. A. Plane.

I'm starting to think that 36 is the new 30. When I entered my third decade, everyone talked about how great it would be - I'd be comfortable with myself, I'd know what I wanted, I'd know how to make "it" happen, blah blah blah. It took me a bit longer than my friends, I guess, but I think I'm here. And I think it shows in how others see me, too.

And I'm loving every minute of it.

File under: damn, I'm old.

My attempt at local shopping was thwarted by Record Store Day. I wanted to check out used DVDs at Music Millennium (thank you, Chinook Book 20% off coupon) but between special release vinyls in honor of today and a possibly unrelated Deftones signing, it was a zoo. I bought The Naked and Famous CD (so technically, I did shop local), got the hell out of there and saved my coupon for another day.

But in keeping with today's (this month's?) music theme, I've been streaming Coachella all day. I was trying to find out the history of this festival and ran across this explanation: "Christians have retreats, we have Coachella. A lot less God and a lot more awesome."

Damn skippy. As far as I can tell, it's just a music and arts festival. But it's got worldwide draw. So far today I've watched Interpol, Mumford & Sons, The Swell Season and this little band called Two Door Cinema Club (who I now love), and all the bands seem to be in awe that they are playing this festival. It's been refreshing. Even Cage the Elephant was charming in their own wicked restless way.

You know what's amazing? Seeing these bands live, for free, without having to deal with that heat and fifty billion annoying people. The biggest problem I face is not wondering when/where I'm going to pee, or how to see over that six foot tall guy right in front of me, or what I'm missing on the other stages, or if my eardrums will ever forgive me. My biggest problem, sitting here in my pj's eating Ben & Jerry's, is how much of Arcade Fire do I watch before I switch over to Flogging Molly?

God bless the Internet.

Protein, exhibits A and B.

Last night's dinner: New Seasons curry chicken sausage hot off a friend's grill, salad.

Tonight's dinner: peanut butter out of the jar, milk.

And the winner is...

Eight miles round trip... one photo.

Really done with the rain, Portland. Really. Done.

Jen(n) shrugged.

I know I complained about it, but after seeing this I'm really glad I read the book.

Nobody said accountability was interesting.

BOGO socks at Next Adventure... (And also a replacement platypus for the hike tomorrow.) They have a pretty respectable online store, so if you're in need of any outdoor supplies you might consider them before shopping online at REI.

Up later - 20% off dinner with friends at Bamboo Sushi, the "first certified, sustainable sushi restaurant in the world."

I heart Portland. And the Chinook Book.

Belated Friday five.

Spring(ish) is here, and I'm finally feeling the music vibe again. Here are five bands including three I saw last night and two I will see Monday night, and why I liked/like them, in no particular order:

• Brainstorm - how in the world two people can make such noise - such coordinated, fun, funky, noise - is beyond me. Not something I would normally listen to, and not something I would probably listen to unless it was live, but I'm glad they were part of the show.
• And And And - definitely not a band I would pay money to see, but the show itself was a hot mess I wouldn't be sad to witness again. Something about... they made a tape, but the people who made their tape wouldn't give it to them so they had nothing to sell, which there was a synonym for ("I think it's 'bullshit'!"), which sent the lead singer into a "blackout rage" (his words, not mine). Many other amazing lines were uttered between mediocre indie pop songs, much like the Modest Mouse show except that I actually liked their songs. Anyway, AAA were rated top emerging Portland band by... someone. I can't say that I get it.
• Typhoon - these folks make beautiful indie chamber music (NPR's words, not mine) that makes me really, really happy. Normally I would say that eleven people in a band is borderline ridiculous, but in this case it really works. I am embarrassed to admit how many times I have watched this video.
• The Lonely Forest - I have already blah blah blah'ed about these guys. Still waiting for the new album to grow on me, which may happen Monday night, but for now I'll stick with what works.
  
• The Joy Formidable - I haven't seen them yet but sound clips indicate influences from Blondie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. That can't be a bad thing.
  

Unrelated but not really, I've developed a new fondness for bands with more than one drum set. Please pray for my eardrums and/or contribute to my hearing aid fund.