Three Beautiful Things 04-03-2025: Thinking About Eugene, The *Deadish* Variety Show, I Figured Out the Rebus!

1.  After attending the Northwest Passage's program Wednesday evening featuring Leah Sottile and after listening to her discuss her newly published book, Blazing Eye Sees All, a sweeping historical and contemporary study of New Age spirituality, its origins, its popularity in the USA, and some of its prominent leaders (Sottile focuses primarily on women), I was compelled to start reading it today. 

New Age spirituality is not grounded in creeds, doctrines, a single authoratative book, and has no structures that look like, say, Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.

It's amorphous. People who practice New Age spirituality have commonalities, but within the New Age movement exists much variety, many different emphases, and any number of self-appointed, for lack of a better word, leaders. 

I referred to Eugene in an earlier blog post as a robust city. I hear or read people typify Eugene as a hippie town, a university town, a town of anarchists, and any number of other things. The longer I lived in Eugene and the more years I taught at Lane Community College, the more variety I experienced in Eugene. It's a business center. A medical center. It has deep roots in logging and blue collar work. I saw close up how the police work as well as the DA's office when I spent a month of grand jury -- nothing hippy dippy about these pros. 

So, a lot was, and is, in the air in Eugene -- including New Age spirituality. 

Reading Sottile's book, so far, has kindled many memories, many conversations, many fragrances, many images, many visits to Saturday Market and a few visits to the Oregon Country Fair and I'm learning more about what might have lain behind the way many people  I encountered, taught, talked with, and was friends with over the years saw the world and their place in it. I couldn't and didn't buy in, but I listened and did my best to sort out the virtues from the wackiness of what these people had to say about their spiritual lives. 

2. I listened to Jeff's radio program Deadish tonight live. He arranged tonight's show chronologically,  playing cuts from live shows that were performed on April 3 many different years. He played Miles Davis, Santana, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Jerry Garcia Band, and treated us listeners to another good dose of the Dead. 

Variety. 

That's what I like. 

Tonight Jeff played a great variety of music, all connected to the Grateful Dead some (like Miles Davis) by improvisation, some by style (like bluegrass), some were  musicians who played with Jerry Garcia in projects like Old and in the Way or the Jerry Garcia Band, and some were musicians like, say, Carlos Santana, who were vital contributors to the the San Francisco/Bay Area sound over fifty years ago.

3. I was very happy to complete the NYTimes crossword puzzle I worked today. I figured out that the puzzle featured some rebus squares and I figured out the puzzle's rebus almost right away, a very rare feat for me. 

If you wonder what a rebus is, here's help from the NYTimes: "Rebuses are crossword elements where solvers are asked to write multiple letters in the same square."

Or in a single square. 

The rebus I figured out today appeared in six different squares. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-02-2025: Pre-Pandemic Cultural Safaris, I Meet Leah Sottile, I Listen to Leah Sottile and Walk and Think

1.  Back in the fall of 2018, Debbie started a school year long substituting job at Charlamagne, the French Immersion elementary school she taught at in Eugene for several years before we moved to Greenbelt, MD. 

In the fall of 2018, we'd been living in Kellogg for a year.

I was enjoying many of the aspects of Kellogg life I've written about over the last several years: living so close to Christy and Carol, family dinners, living close to life long friends, hanging out at The Lounge, hiking, exploring the area, and more.

But, after living near Washington, D.C., going to the New York City metropolitan area to visit Adrienne and Jack and coupling those visits with forays into Manhattan, and after leaving a robust smaller city like Eugene, the one thing I missed in Kellogg was living where a culture of arts and letters thrived, where such a culture is routine.  

So, I began making cultural trips to Spokane. I also made one such trip to Missoula in 2019 (to see Jerry Douglas and Tommy Emmanuel) and I drove to Billings when it was Hiram's turn to be a part of the President's Own Marine Corps Band touring group and attended their performance there. Billings was the closest the 2018 tour came to Kellogg.  

I had decided, by 2019, to lean on what was happening in downtown Spokane and through Whitworth University to fulfill my desire for attending lectures, plays, art exhibits, movies, live concerts, and anything else that captured my interest. 

I expanded this cultural safari in the fall of 2019 when I joined Mary Chase, Kathy Brainard, Linda Lavigne, and others to play trivia at different venues around Spokane. 

By mid-March of 2020, soon after I'd gone to hear tribute bands at the Bing play music by Cream one night and Pink Floyd the next night, the pandemic was upon us. 

No more trivia.

No more concerts.

No more cultural safaris. 

I would begin learning how to culturally satisfy myself at home with movies, live streaming content on the World Wide Web, and reading. 

It worked. 

2. I bring this all up because this evening I returned to my Spokane cultural safari. 

Between March 2020 and last night, I approached public events very cautiously because of my trust in medical observations that the caronavirus attacked diminished kidneys.

In addition, I didn't attend most public events after my May 11, 2024 kidney transplant because my immune system had to be shut down significantly to keep my body from rejecting my new organ and I didn't want to complicate my recovery by adding illness to it. 

But, a couple of months ago, when I read that Leah Sottile would be in Spokane on April 2 as she promotes her latest book, Blazing Eye Sees All, I bought a VIP ticket so that I would receive a signed copy of her book, get a complimentary (for me, non-alcoholic) drink, and have a chance to meet and chat a bit with Leah Sottile. 

When I introduced myself to Sottile, she let out a mild gasp, knowing from our brief bit of correspondence that I was the guy who set out to read the books on the list she published as a counter to the NYTimes' list of best books of the 21st century. She knew I had succeeded in reading every one of her listed books. 

She told me, as she had written to me, that she was honored that I had taken her book list so seriously.

Others were around to visit with Leah Sottile, so I didn't tell her how much that list of books expanded my horizons, both in terms of the world we live in and in terms of my world of reading. I'd say that, at most, only about two books on that list were books I would have read on my own -- most of them were books I'd never heard of. 

One author on her list, the only one with two books on it, and a writer who has helped Leah Sottile with her work, Spokane's Jess Walter, semi-interrupted my conversation with Leah Sottile (no problem) and then he and I accidentally sat side by side during the evening's program. 

I left him alone. 

While I might have wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed the three books of his I've read, I thought, no he's enjoying this evening with friends, talking about "civilian" stuff (like the upcoming Final Four). If I want to express my appreciation of what I've read, I can do so by other means or attend his June 10th program when he will promote his newest book. 

3. The Spokesman Review launched a project several years ago called Northwest Passages. Its mission is journalism and book focused. Among other activities, Northwest Passages hosts a far reaching online book club and hosts events like tonight in which an author presents a book of hers or his by being interviewed by a professional writer. 

This evening, Leah Sottile gladly submitted herself to the questioning of former Spokesman Review journalist Emma Epperly. Epperly asked a series of probing question about New Agism, the subject of Sottlie's newly published work, giving special attention to how Sottile, well-known and respected for her  journalistic integrity and stellar ethical standards, went about journalistically researching and conducting interviews about a subject that is as elusive and and, for some, a focus of derision, as New Age beliefs and practices. 

Leah Sottile answered these questions directly, intelligently, wittily, and humbly. She was humble in the face of such a huge subject, knowing that she can't tell the whole truth in a single book and aware that even has meticulously as she researched and sought out people's experiences and knowledge, she might not have gotten everything right. 

On her podcasts, I've listened to Leah Sottile conduct face to face interviews with a wide range of people, including police officers, Cliven Bundy family members, FBI agents, anarchists, extremists -- whether eco-terrorists or white supremacists--, and I'm always deeply impressed with how she gains the trust of those she interviews. 

This evening, she talked some about how she earns trust and I'll sum up what she said this way: she seeks truth, is genuinely and humbly eager to learn how those she talks with see the world, understand their experience, and want to discuss it. She doesn't rush those she interviews. She's not after soundbites. She's not what's known as a "gotcha" journalist. She invites those she talks with to tell their truth, however long it takes, and, with an exception here and there, these people then respond to Sottile's probing follow up questions. 

I parked down at the River Park Square and enjoyed my several blocks hike up to the Steam Plant's rooftop, where this event took place (indoors!), and back again. 

I love city walking. 

I miss the long walks I used to take in Seattle, DC, New York City, Portland, Spokane (when I lived there), and many, many years ago, London. 

I thought a lot as I walked and then drove back to Kellogg how I need to return to my cultural safari outlook of the fall of 2018-March of 2020.

With my immune system getting stronger, I need to pay more attention to what's playing, who's performing, who's reading, and what's happening through Whitworth and try to get back to leaning on Spokane and my alma mater, Whitworth, for cultural enjoyment again. 

 Here are a couple of links to conclude with. 

First of all, KHS Class of 1972 member, Kenton Bird was featured as the guest author of a Northwest Passages event on Sept. 6, 2024. He was interviewed by Spokesman Review reporter Jim Camden about the book he co-authored about Tom Foley.  You can watch and listen to them talk (and learn more about Northwest Passages) by clicking on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTf9-KbHN98&list=PLO4UFBdqq__l8zIlFs_cYD29m9-S3l19v&index=12 

Second of all, if you'd like to see other videotaped programs presented by Northwest Passages, here's the link to their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO4UFBdqq__l8zIlFs_cYD29m9-S3l19v

Leah Sottile's presentation hasn't been posted yet -- I hope to see it go up before too long. 

Three Beautiful Things 04-01-2025: I Finished *Bridge of Birds*, A Healthy Dose of the Dead on *Deadish*, Fun in the Kitchen

1. Today I finished reading Barry Hughart's fantasy novel, Bridge of Birds, set, quote Hughart, in "An Ancient China That Never Was". I am about 97.90826% positive that this is the first fantasy novel I've read to completion, unless, around fifty years ago, I read the entirety of The Hobbit.

Bridge of Birds challenged me. I had some trouble remembering what I should have known from earlier chapters about characters who returned to the story after some period of absence. I also had trouble keeping the several adventures of the central characters, Li Kao and Number Ten Ox, remembered and straight in my mind as to what happened in those earlier adventures. 

These challenges do not embody flaws in the book.

Like Li Kao himself, I am a character with a slight flaw. (Well, with many flaws.) But the one I have in mind at the moment is that my short term memory is weakening. 

I'd like to do two things: First of all, find a larger copy of Bridge of Birds with larger print.  Second, one day I hope I'll take the time to reread this book. I think a rereading would help me keep its details straighter in my mind and help me remember the riddles, songs, games, and other delights that season this story and lend wonder to its elegant and moving conclusion. 

2. Of all the odd parallels to have go through my mind, I experienced the newness and my unfamilarity with Bridge of Birds to my experience going to see and hear the Grateful Dead live in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

I was with Jeff and his great Grateful Dead loving friends who were intimately familiar with everything the band did and could discuss nuances, breakthroughs, surprises, and other pleasures (and some criticism) with great fluency.

Most of the time I was lost -- and unlike a book where I could go back a few chapters and re read passages for clarity, the Grateful Dead shows, of course, just kept moving forward! 

I remembered this experience tonight as I went to the archives and listened to Jeff's Thursday, March 27th Deadish show. 

Jeff opened his radio show (on KEPW-FM, streaming at kepw.org) with a superb tune played by the Steve Kimmock Band and then he launched into a huge dose of the Dead that lasted, thanks to the addition of the After Show, over two hours. 

For me, two deep pleasures stand out as I listen to the Grateful Dead over a a couple of hours any time and especially tonight. 

First of all, I always need (and want) to gain more familiarity with their songs and that happened tonight. It was a fun magic carpet ride.

Secondly, for me, any sustained amount of time listening to the Grateful Dead is a way of entering into the history of much American music. As the Grateful Dead moves within songs and from one song to the next, they play rock n roll, jazz, bluegrass, folk, psychedelic, world, country, blues, soul, rhythm and blues, and, well, did I miss anything? 

They play plenty of songs original to them and they play riveting covers of rock n roll classics, as well as Bob Dylan, and other artists. 

In the course of all of his weekly Deadish programs, Jeff plays a euphorically eclectic bunch of songs and artists largely because so much music, ranging from Billy Strings to Led Zeppelin is Deadish, and the possibilities of what he can play within his show's title seems bottomless. 

And if, like tonight, he plays cuts from live Grateful Dead shows for over two hours,  the eclecticism is very much alive because that's the nature of band itself. 

3. Monday night, I cooked a batch of jasmine rice with mushrooms and green onions in the rice pot and added in soy sauce and sesame oil. I combined this rice mixture with chicken stock and enjoyed a simple and tasty soup.

Tonight, I cut up some boneless pork chop meat into small pieces, cooked the meat in the wok, and added zucchini, cauliflower, celery, mushrooms, and red pepper to the meat. Then, instead of making a new batch of rice, I combined the now nearly brothless soup from last night with the pork and vegetables. 

It turned out to be a great idea! 

It worked!  

Three Beautiful Things 03-31-2025: Copper Wants More Assurance, Reading May Sarton Aloud in 1990, Chores and a Debi Mc Connection

1.  Our vet, usually Dr. Cook, and I have never been absolutely sure about Copper's age. I tried after taking Copper in to get a better understanding of both Copper and Luna's ages, but the best I could find out -- and Dr. Cook's examinations of the two cats confirmed it -- was that Luna was the older of the two. In early 2021, Dr. Cook estimated that Copper was probably about twelve years old. 

It's been just over four years since Copper and Luna moved in. 

It's been about fifteen months since Luna died. 

Let's say, without absolute certainty, that Copper is now about sixteen years old. 

He is communicating instinctive awareness to me that he is aging. 

At night, he sleeps next to me. I usually sleep on my side, either one. 

Recently, as the night progresses, if I turn over and try to go back to sleep with my back to Copper, he meows. Sometimes he bats me with a paw or tickles my face with his whiskers, letting me know he wants me to face him. Copper seems to have figured out that if I face him, I can more easily and readily pet him or rest a hand on his back or belly. 

This contact between us moves him to purr with deep contentment. 

Copper's insistence that I turn over is a significant change in his behavior. 

He wants a higher and more frequent level of comfort from me now than he ever has. 

I think he feels what many of us humans feel as we age. 

Time is slipping away, increasing our feelings of vulnerability. 

2. I needed time today to let yesterday's ZOOM discussion and my reunion with Debi Mc sink in. 

I enjoyed having memories of my early days of teaching at LCC come back and remembering what a welcome source of support and encouragement for me as her instructor Debi was in the classroom and in our conversations outside of class. 

I am all but certain that Debi was enrolled in an Intro to Fiction course I taught in the summer of 1990.

I think that class met for two hours, maybe three, per session --- I'm not sure how many days a week we met.

The class took a short break after the first half of class and, when the students returned, I turned off the lights, stood near a door where light came into the classroom through a small window from the hall, and read May Sarton's book, The Fur Person, aloud. 

I loved doing that. It was comforting and relaxing. It took us all back to when we were in elementary school and, if we were lucky, had a teacher who read aloud to us after lunch. (My 6th grade teacher, Miss Kero, read us A Wrinkle in Time and The Hobbit, both entrancing to listen to.)

I hope my students that summer found The Fur Person entrancing. 

Debi did, as I remember. 

So did I.

I don't know why I never did a read aloud at the break of one of my courses again. 

3. I let the happy intensity of Sunday sink in today by getting domestic chores completed. 

Copper and I have clean bedding after today and it's always good to spend time washing and drying my clothes. 

I would have gladly experienced today another day like Sunday. At the same time, I enjoyed a day of rest and letting awesome memories of the past stir up, wash over me, and sink in thanks to Bridgit, Diane, Bill, and Debi. Oh! And Roberta! She and I had a brief exchange online about Debi Mc -- Roberta doesn't know Debi personally, but is very aware of Debi's cat rescue efforts in and around Oakridge, OR -- the town they both live in or near.