Three Beautiful Things 01/29/13: Jolly Writing Teacher, Relieving Positive Stress, Frying Ground Beef

1.  I am so much happier when I treat people with good cheer and resist feeling annoyance or express it.  In my retirement, as I was doing late in my teaching career, I'm continuing to experiment with being the jolly writing teacher who takes everything in stride and keeps reassuring students that everything will be all right.  I took this approach today with some students who were late with their essays after missing class last week and, if nothing else, the looks of appreciation on their faces arising from how I didn't get after them and read them the riot act led me to believe that their work will come in and that this approach might work.  The older I get the more I realize that when I've barked at students, Debbie's kids, Debbie, ex-wives, girlfriends, and others, it never did any good.  If I'm not going to effect change, which is highly likely, I may as well be jolly in my futility rather than grouchy and be encouraging and laughing rather than raising my voice and growling.

2.  The Deke's day was productive.  She served her students well.  She made things work in her classroom.  She was also fried at the end of the day.  It's positive stress, being worn out from doing what one loves and knowing one is doing the right thing.  I've experienced many many many times in my career as a teacher.  One way to relax after a (positively) stressful day is for me and the Deke to meet at Sixteen Tons, which we did, and talked a bit, laughed a bit, and sat in silence quite a bit over two pints of beer between us.  We both had some Laurelwood Organic Tree Hugger Porter.  The more the chill wore off it, the better it got.  I also tried a half a pint of Oakshire's Black Moon Rye-sin. It was just what I wanted as I stared each gulp, but its finish was a bit too biting or bitter for me. I wanted a smoother finish.  Oh well.....

3.  Out came the electric fry pan and I combined onion, red pepper, mushrooms, ground beef, and green beans into a dinner dish that pleased both the Deke and me. 

 

Three Beautiful Things 01/28/13: Picture Memories, 4th of July Heat Memories, Helpin' Pat

1.  I continued re-editing pictures all though the day and enjoyed the great memories of walking in Brooklyn and Manhattan, trying to make good pictures.  Luckily, even the pictures I took that aren't very good are full of good memories.

2.  I spent a ton of time with maps of Brooklyn trying to retrace my steps on July 4, 2012, under the duress of intense heat, as I walked around Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, and a little bit into Red Hook.  I enjoyed the pictures I took and remembered with some pain and some fondness the predicament I was in when I walked to the Smith/9th MTA station, only to have a guy I asked for help tell me it was closed.  Making my way to the closest operating station was hard work, but I did it.

3.  Pat and I worked out a good way for me to help him and Ellen with their upcoming trip to Stanford for Ellen's surgery.

Three Beautiful Things 01/27/13: Sunday NYT, More Editing, Organic Best Ale

1.  The Sunday NYT gave me pleasure today, say in the sports page and the arts section,  and it also upset me, with the magazine's cover story about exploited children, namely two girls, possibly guaranteeing a night of bad dreams and stomach tightness.

2.  I resumed my re-editing of pictures I lost on my external hard drive, but had saved on my memory cards.  I'm seeing many of my pictures from D.C. and NYC in new ways.  It's time consuming and exciting to not only re-edit these pictures, but to see them differently, almost always more positively.

3.  I drank the pint of Samuel Smith's Organic Best Ale late this afternoon and I loved it.  It was a medium-bodied beer, easy to drink, and had the English beer taste I enjoy so much...I don't know if it's the yeast or the English hops or the malt or what it is, but that distinct English beer taste really works for me. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/26/13: Manito Pictures, NYT, Hawaiian Time

1.  Since my return from my trip to Spokane, I hadn't had a chance to go through the pictures I took at Manito Park when my sisters and I went on our sibling outing.  I sorted them out as well as I could and posted a couple of albums.  Here are a couple of examples:

2.  I thought the Deke had only order the Sunday NYTs, but turns out she ordered the weekend package and I enjoyed reading today's paper.  Of particular interest were stories on crime reduction in NYC and the obituary of Dolours Price.  Without the Times, Price's death would have never come to my attention nor would I have taken some time to look back on the Troubles. 

3.  Cold and rain at Hendricks Park led Russell and me to end our photo stroll early, but we had a great time a Hawaiian Time talking about a bunch of stuff.  I enjoyed my plate of thin sliced teriyaki beef and sticky rice and macaroni salad.  It went especially well with our rambling conversations. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/25/13: Sweet Life Catch Up, Glad I Retired, MacRelaxation

1.  I had been without my computer for about six days while in Idaho and so I had some 3 BT catching up to do and I took a notebook and pen to Sweet Life and enjoyed a couple of toasted cinnamon raisin bagels and cream cheese and some dark roast coffee and got my memories jotted down of the great stuff that happened while I was away -- and a couple of days to follow.

2.  My friends in the English department are working out how to post a couple of jobs opening up and knowing they had a department meeting at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Friday made me happier than usual that I have retired from such work.  Even the brief conversation about it over coffee this afternoon fatigued me and I don't have anything to do with it all.  I also kept my mouth shut because I have no insight and no opinion about whatever it is my English faculty friends are working out.  I'm just happy not to be a part of it! (My friends are admirably restrained about discussing these matters when I'm present because they know that I retired, in part, to get away from such talk.  I'm very grateful for their restraint.)

3.  After some grocery shopping, I rang up the Deke to see about a possible stop together at Billy Mac's.  The Deke was into it and we had a hot shrimp and a hummus plate and relaxed.  Ideal.

Three Beautiful Things 01/24/13: Rested Teaching, Two Cocktails, Chillin at the Mac

1.  I really enjoy this two days a week teaching life free of governmental responsibilities at LCC.  I'm enjoying my students and feeling of being rested when I teach.  It's a great way to work -- being rested. 

2.  Remember that Seagram's 7 and ginger ale?  Two cocktails made from that modest reward were very relaxing upon my return home from school.

3.  The relaxation continued at Billy Mac's.  I shot the breeze with Mike, Pam, Karen, and Bob and enjoyed Chef Billy's scrumptious prime rib dip sandwich.

Three Beautiful Things 01/23/13: Car Work, Costco Kindness, Ginger Whiskey

1.  Every once in a while a car needs work done.  More extensive work.  It costs quite a bit.  But, it makes me feel secure to have it done.  Today was such a day.

2.  Honestly.  As I struggled a bit to get the picture process started at a self-serve machine at Costco, could the woman working the counter have been any more kind and helpful?  No!  I thanked her about 750 times.

3.  I left off the car to be maintained and repaired.  Got the pictures printed....I rewarded myself (sort of) with a bottle of Seagram's 7 and a bottle of ginger ale at the liquor store, came home, and enjoyed a few ginger whiskey cocktails.

Three Beautiful Things 01/22/13: Zizzag Portraits, Beers, Coma Sleep

1.  I zigzagged across campus, meeting each of my students where each wanted his/her portrait taken.  What a blast!

2.  The Deke and I met for a beer at Sixteen Tons and got ourselves caught up on things after being apart for nearly six days.

3.  It all wore me out.  The Monday flight.  The four hours of zigzagging.  Figuring out things with the Deke.  I was in bed before 8:30.  I fell into a coma sleep.

Three Beautiful Things 01/21/13: Where's Hiram?, Inauguration Day, Back to Eugene

1.  The NBC camera scanned the President's Own Marine Corps Band and I saw the euphonium section, but the camera was too far away -- and Mom's tv screen is too small (I think) -- for me to pick out my son-in-law, Hiram, as he played at the Inauguration.

2.  All these years -- ten inaugurations since I started voting in 1972 -- and this was just the first, but possibly second, inauguration I have ever watched and I enjoyed it thoroughly -- I'll have to try to plant myself in front of a tv or a computer screen and watch another one in 2015.

3.  The flights back to Eugene went well after some concern that we might not land in Eugene because of fog.  I loved my trip away and I loved being back in the house with the Deke, getting back to the familiar rhythms of life in Eugene. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/20/13: No Meet the Press, Big Dinner, HarBowl

1.  I was very grateful that Mom turned off the television this morning before the Sunday morning news talk shows came and I didn't have to listen to all the predictable chatter.  It kept my visit home blissfully pretty much absent of talk about Newtown, NRA, the 2nd amendment, and Manti T'eo. Thanks everyone in Kellogg!  There's nothing left to say on these subjects!  People who talk about them are on endless repeat, no matter what their stand.  I'd rather talk about relish trays and shopping at Yokes and the Kellogg Wildcats.

2.  Wow!  What a great 2nd Christmas/my birthday/Christy's birthday/Mom's birthday dinner we had today.  I cooked the prime rib medium and it pleased everyone (well, except me...clears throat....I like pink beef...no problem, though...a small matter).  I got to know Kai better, enjoyed having Jason at the table, and, as always, enjoyed my nieces.  Even Zoe made a Skype appearance.

3.  I didn't get to see the games while prepping for dinner, gabbing with family, shopping at Yokes, and eating dinner, but I loved learning that the Harbaughs will face each other in the Super Bowl. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/19/13: Happy Birthday Mom, Mall Reading, Good Times at the Jacobs' House

1.  Mom's 82nd birthday!

2.  I got to read even more of my Timothy Egan book in the Coeur d'Alene Mall while Mom and Christy shopped at J. C. Penney and Macy's.

3.  Lars, Stu, Jake, Ed, Joni, Carol Lee and I had a great party at the Jacobs' abode.....good drinks, lots of laughs, superb chili and clam chowder, and fantastic NCAA men's basketball.  I loved watching the Ducks defeat UCLA. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/18/13: Sibling Outing, Wanda Retired, Navy Bean Soup

1.  Sibling Outing!  No spouses!  No kids!  No Mom!  Just Christy, Carol, and I.  I enjoyed corned beef hash at the Garnet Cafe in Coeur d'Alene.  Then it was off to Barnes and Noble, T. J. Maxx, Trader Joe's, and 2nd Look Books before we spent an hour or so of picture taking at Manito Park.  We did it all in the spirit of YOLO!

2.  Wanda retired from Avista.  I got to go to Dirty Ernie's and help her celebrate this big change in her life.  I saw old friends, enjoyed a 7 and 7 and got in some serious gabbing.  It was my favorite kind of experience in Kellogg.  Congratulations Wanda!

3.  I missed out on Mom's Christmas ham on Christmas Day, but not today.  Mom took the leftover ham and made a navy bean soup that was not only physically delicious, but brought back delicious memories of Sunday dinners I ate in my youth.

Three Beautiful Things 01/17/13: Clot Controversy, Steak House, Awkward to Smooth

1.  Christy, Mom, and I lounged around Mom's house, laughing, talking, trying to figure out if I ever had that procedure done that discovers a blood clot in the leg.  I didn't.

2.  Ed and I went to the Cd'A Casino for the night.  The machines were Scroogy.  But, the 7 and 7, salad, rib eye steak, baked potato, bread, and pinot noir and the steak house helped me feel a lot better about my lousy luck. 

3.  Ed and I met Janet and David in the bar.  They are longtime friends of Ed's and I very much enjoyed making their acquaintance.  I got to reveal my gentlemanly side when our getting acquainted started off with an awkward and politicized moment.  I was able to slyly turn it inside out and what could have been a contentious social occasion became one we all enjoyed.  Whew.  I'm not really into contentious politicized cocktails with people I've just met...or, to be honest, anyone....

Three Beautiful Things 01/16/13: Tidying, Enlivening, Eating

1.  I decided to sort of 75% straighten up my room before leaving for Spokane/Kellogg so I could come home to a three quarters not messy place.

2.  The waiting, the flying, the airport dullness was very much enlivened by reading, "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" by Timothy Egan, a very readable biography of Edward Curtis.

3.  Christy and I stopped in at Thai Bamboo in Spokane Valley, WA for some good food and time to make plans for our time in Kellogg. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/15/13: Loose/Lose, Nostalgia on LTD, Out with the Deke

1.  I try to make things fun in WR 115, since I don't regard learning how to write as needing to be a source of high anxiety nor do I think it's a gravely serious undertaking.  My two classes and I had a lot of laughs today, especially as we looked at the difference between "loose" and "lose" as I drew upon a tweet from Venus to Serena Williams in which she congratulated her sister for not "loosing" a match after rolling her ankle.  By the way, Venus Williams is not unique in making this mistake.  It's everywhere.  I see it everyday...whoops! I mean every day. (We looked at that difference, too.) 

2.  For the first time in a long time, I rode LTD's LCC/UO bus route this afternoon.  It meanders down Harris, turns left on 19th, and crawls down Hilyard and I enjoy it a lot...it's kind of slow route, but I enjoy the neighborhoods it goes through, neighborhoods where I've had a number of pleasant experiences.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed this ride today.

3.  The Deke and I went out again last night.  I could get used to this!  We met at Sixteen Tons and enjoyed some beer together.  Abi was pouring and I hadn't seen her for a while and I enjoyed talking a little.  Then we ate some food at Cornucopia where the place was packed so we sat at the bar and gabbed and kind of enjoyed observing all the bustle around us.

Three Beautiful Things 01/14/13: Gratitude for the Dentist, Festival Committee, Beef and Breeze at Billy Mac's

1.  I am indescribably grateful that the world of dentistry has become so painless.  I go in every three months for a cleaning and my hygienist is friendly, mindful, efficient, and adroit, never causing me pain or discomfort, and my dentist, likewise, goes about his work in a relaxed, measured way, never forcing anything, politely letting me know what's happening and never causing me pain.  I had a cleaning and a small bit of filling work done and it was all so painless and comfortable, I found myself looking for a tip jar.

2.  This spring a group of us will again give a festival of feature films and a couple of documentaries from Israel, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and other Middle East countries.  We had a superb committee meeting today:  we decided quickly on films to show, got the logistics figured out in no time, and didn't fret over what order we should show them in.  We just decided.  It was the ideal meeting and it was fun to talk about the movies a bit, as well.

3.  I really like that prime rib French dip sandwich at Billy Mac's.  It tastes really good with a small Caesar salad.   I stopped in for sandwich and salad this evening and had a great time shooting the breeze with John and watching parts of a couple of basketball blow outs on the big screen. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/13/13: Nicene Creed, Back to the Electric Fry Pan, YouTube Laughs

1.  I have my own ways of reconciling my understanding of spiritual realities in the world with the whole of the Nicene Creed.  Therefore, during the Nicene Creed exercise when we were asked to sit when the creed stated something we were uncomfortable with or doubted or struggled with, I never sat.  I'm comfortable with how I have come to understand the creed, even if my understanding differs from traditional ways of understanding it.  A key to my understanding?  The hugeness, the breadth, the aliveness and the dynamic life of the words"one" and "catholic" and "resurrection".  Likewise, to my way of thinking, metaphor is the basis of most of my understanding of everything.  You will never hear me say something is "just a metaphor", as if a metaphor is an inferior means of knowing. 

2.  I got a couple of yams going in the electric fry pan with some onions and a pound of ground beef and put in some mushrooms and corn and sweet red pepper and sprinkled some grated cheese on top just before serving and, lo and behold, the Deke and I had a tasty dinner and lunches ready for Monday.

3.  I ended the day on YouTube watching clips from old Dean Martin roasts featuring the work of Don Rickles, Charlie Callas, and Paul Lynde -- and I watched some old Tonight show clips with Johnny Carson, David Brenner, Frank Sinatra, and Don Rickles.  I watched Don Rickles roast Don Adams on the occasion of Adams' seventy-fifth birthday.  It all got started when I watched a half hour interview with David Steinberg and looked at him as the psychiatrist in a riotously funny bit with Joe Flaherty.  I was in a very good mood when I went to sleep.

Three Beautiful Things 01/12/13: Chilly Photos, Won Ton Bliss, Out on the Town

1.  A chilly, but fun and successful photo stroll on the east side of campus with Russell this morning was really fun.

2.  Russell and I hadn't been to Yi Shen for a while and I nearly levitated -- I enjoyed my bowl of Won Ton soup that much.

3.  The Deke and I decided to have some snacks and a couple of drinks at Cornucopia.  The hot wings and sliders were terrific as was the Widmer Bros. Hefeweisen.  We had a jolly time, talking, having fun (and funny) talk with Justine.  And there's more!  We decided to see who was at Billy Mac's and while having a few 7 and 7s, while talkin' and laughin' it up with Cathy and Derrick and John and enjoying the Broncos and the Ravens, in walked the Danes!  Wow!  More great conversation and laughs!  And then Kathleen H. strolled in and said hello.  What a great outing for the Deke and me...good food, good drinks, great friends!  (Maybe we should leave the house more often.....)

Three Beautiful Things 01/11/13: Editing, Chicken Soup, Naps

1.  I returned to re-editing those pictures I have retrieved from my memory cards after losing them on the external drive I had that crashed and made some discoveries that pleased me.  In particular, I enjoyed rediscovering this picture and editing it:

2.  I finished cooking up that chicken soup I started the other day and with the simple addition of mushrooms, noodles, and celery, it turned out to be a really good soup.

3.  I have tried, in my retirement, to make productive use of the added free time in my life.  Today was the first day in my retirement when I took multiple naps...like about three.  It was the right thing to do.  Today. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/10/13: Secret to Writing, Computer Stuff, Ducks and Zags

1.  I was reading what my students wrote about themselves as writers.  One student asked:  "What is the secret to writing, Bill?"  I chuckled, approvingly.  I also decided to answer the question for the whole class:  relax and be awake.

2.  William came by and we talked about what we might do with my computers and I have new ideas.  It's fun to think about.

3.  After dinner at Billy Mac's, Bob and I hung around and watched the Ducks basketball team beat Arizona, a real pleasure, and then I hung around longer and watched all but about the three final minutes of the Zags knocking off St. Mary's.  I had a ton of fun.

Three Beautiful Things 01/09/13: Revising, Cooking, Talking

1.  It was crummy outside and warm inside and I worked on a revision of "Being a Liberal Arts Teacher" for the Community College Moment. 

2.  I stayed inside and cooked up some chicken soup broth, ground beef patties for lunches, and two boneless pork chops for dinner.

3.  I had a good talk with Christy on her birthday.  Her birthday sounded like a happy one and we discussed things going on in the world of our family with the hope our aunt's health improves.

Three Beautiful Things 01/08/13: Back to Work, Back to Shakespeare, Back to the Future

1.  Back to work today.  Once again, I'm teaching two sections of WR 115.  My opening words to the class?  "I'm on your side.  I'm your ally.  If you have any conflict with me, it will be because you initiated it."  If the student cheats, yammers during class, is chronically late, and so on, I confront these things and sometimes this causes conflict.  But it doesn't come from me.  I'm not the one who cheated or was disrespectful.  When I teach, I'm not looking for trouble, but, alas, sometimes it comes looking for me.

2.  Jay found a dictionary of passages from Shakespeare for 49 cents at Goodwill and gave it to me.  It was a welcomed surprise when I found it in my mailbox at school and gave me pleasure as I read passages from different plays about happiness, war, and other subjects while I waited for the bus.  I didn't find any passages related to mass transit.

3.  Deke called and suggested we meet at Cornucopia.  I got off the bus at Safeway and trudged the five or six blocks over to 'copia and ordered Ninkasi's American Pale Ale, El Dorado.  I was pleased with how light and refreshing it was and it didn't overwhelm me with bitterness.  I ordered a couple of (cheater) pints and enjoyed three sliders and some fries.  Deke and I discussed our ever elusive future.  What ARE we gonna do?  It was fun to come up with about 50 new scenarios. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/07/13: Good Lunch, Deke Appears, Flat Iron Steaks

1.  I arrived in Portland and had a good lunch and a fine talk with an old friend.

2.  I was hanging out in the baggage area at PDX and who should pop into my sight?  The Deke!

3.  At first, the Deke and I thought we'd go out for dinner, but then decided it would be a lot easier if I just cooked those two flat iron steaks on my new cast iron skillet.  We were right.  Simple, sweet dinner. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/06/13: Epiphany, Reunion, Beer Talk

1.  The solemn high Eucharist was a fitting way to celebrate the Epiphany this morning.

2.  At the Epiphany evening prayer service at St. Matthew's, I had a reunion with Rev. Doug Hales, whom I worked with over twenty years ago at Shakespeare Camp at Camp Latgawa.

3.  Tim was at the bar at the Bier Stein reading Thoreau when I sauntered in and he welcomed me to join him and we enjoyed a couple of beers together and had a wide-ranging conversation:  poetry, movies, NYC, publishing, teaching, and on and on.  It was a great time.  Oh!  What beer did I drink?  Two 10 oz glasses of Affligem Noel from Belgium and a half pint of 10 Barrel's Apocalypse IPA.  Both beers were delicious. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/05/13: Delete Ruthlessly, Sushi Cone, Corgi Talk at Albertson's

1.  "Delete Ruthlessly".  This is Peter West Carey's advice.  I'm trying to do this and today I reduced a folder of nearly 150 pictures at Delta Ponds to about 35.  I not only deleted shots out of focus, but also repetitive shots and pictures that I knew I wouldn't post or put in albums or ever print.  In general, in life, I like getting rid of things.  So, now I have another way to get rid of things:  delete ruthlessly.

2.  Russell and Allie and I went to Pure for lunch and I had a great bowl of chicken udon soup.  I also ordered a sushi roll that came to me wrapped in seaweed leaf and presented to me in such a way that it looked like an ice cream cone.  It's called hand roll(ed) sushi and I enjoyed how it tasted, but had a hell of a time deciding how to go about eating it. 

3.  I bought the corgis rawhide pieces at Albertson's and the cashier, who is always really nice, asked me about the dogs and their coloring and the girl bagging my groceries joined in.  It was a lot of fun.  I kept the fact that the corgis are dorks to myself.  At home, we know what that means. 

Three Beautiful Things 01/04/13: Brails, Benign Indifference, Man in Black

1.  I met with the Senior Warden and his Missus at Brails and it was definitely the Boyd's super ultra premium Ambrosia blend coffee that kept the Troxstar and me refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated as we enjoyed conversation and as the Missus enjoyed her apple butter and orange marmalade.  You kinda had to be there.

2. Taking pictures is a funny thing.  I had a good time wandering around the west side of the University of Oregon campus, taking mostly candids, but also taking some pictures of inanimate objects.  I took one picture that I decided to post in my Facebook album that I knew would get no response (and it didn't and and that's fine!).  But I really like it.  It's one of my favorites. To me it's a picture of an existential moment  with an anonymous individual in the bottom right corner faced with an Alder Street expanse of, really, nothingness...impersonal cars, a virtually empty sidewalk, populated only by a couple of indistinct, faceless figures, a row of businesses, some open, some closed, but little life.  The person had just rounded the corner and has stopped and I imagined this unknown person suddenly faced with a crisis of facing an absurd street, with no essential meaning, a place that is alive only if the person facing it makes it so.  Is this person facing the benign indifference of Alder Street?  I think so. 

Facing the Benign Indifference of Alder Street

3.  Here's another picture I really liked.  I shot it from the hip.  Had I composed it with the viewfinder, I would have included the guy's feet! What you see, and the only version I've posted, is the rough draft.  I keep thinking there's a better picture within this picture if I just cropped it right and if I adjusted the light, the contrast, and/or the shadow.  So far I haven't found this picture's sweet spot.  I'll probably come back to it on occasion and play with it some more.  But, maybe this is the best version...the 7-11 pay phone, the way the fragment of Redbox vending machine and the promise it holds and the promise of the ATM machine frame this man in black taking care of business.  I'm just not sure....oh well...another day and more pictures to take and enjoy.....

Three Beautiful Things 01/03/13: Candids, Dinner, SparkyTalk

1.  I enjoyed walking around the west University of Oregon campus area taking pictures, especially candids, mostly on 13th.

 

2.  Sparky invited me to dinner with her and Joe and Joe took the leftover turkey from New Year's Day and worked some Middle East magic upon it that was delicious and that tasted great with the couscous and steamed vegetables.  The smoothie was also awesome.

3.  It had been a while since Sparky and I just sat and talked and reminisced and chewed over ideas and it was most enjoyable to have a few hours this evening to do so.

Three Beautiful Things 01/02/13: Wordless at Delta Ponds, Brails Coffee, Errands

1.  It was chilly out at Delta Ponds.  I haven't looked at the pictures I took.  Inwardly, I failed to put into words why I love standing in the clear cold and staring at an egret for long minutes at a time.

2.  MB, JH, and I had an invigorating conversation about everything over hot drinks at Brails Coffee.

3.  Errands run:  prescriptions, postcards mailed, check deposited, groceries, toaster, hot pot, and a nice couple of 7 and 7s and a plate of hot wings at the 'Copia.

Three Beautiful Things 01/01/13: Poetry, Invigorating Ponds, Sparky's Party

1.  Over coffee and bagels, I began to get some poetry going.

2.  The sunlight and crisp temperature made strolling and taking some pictures at Delta Ponds invigorating.

3.  It was uplifting seeing friends I've known for years, but don't see very often, at Sparky's New Year's Day party. 

Three Beautiful Things 12/31/12: Russell and Sonette, Rogue Pre-function, Awesome Slips

1.  Russell and Sonette and I had a splendid three hours or so together eating breakfast at Brails and then wandering around the U of Oregon taking pictures. 

 

2.  The Senior Warden, Mrs. Senior Warden, and I had a tasty meal together at the Rogue Public House.  While neither the Troxstar nor I particularly enjoyed our respective half pints of White Elephant saison, damn it, my Honey Orange Wheat and Irish Lager were satisfying and I really liked my French dip sandwich and potato chips.  

3.  I don't really have the right words: I loved every second of the Floydian Slips New Year's Eve concert at the McDonald Theater.  The music was pure, the playlist was scrumptious, and the scene was mirthful.  I sure enjoy Al Toribio playing those emotionally soaring David Gilmour solos and riffs.  Closing the night with his great solo to round out "Comfortably Numb" left me ecstatically pumped.