AC's blog!

Hard at work in The Lab

2012-02-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Herr Choate

2012-01-30T17:00:00.001-08:00

A sketch by a German 202 student, January 2012.

Collaborative Father / Daughter Art

2012-01-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

"Collaborative" here means Sierra did most of the artistic work and I made sure she didn't smear paint, bzw markers on everything else nearby and then helped her write her name, the date, and the titles, the latter of which she picked out. Anyway, she loves to paint, and I think we may have a little artiste on our hands.

„Ein Pferd auf dem Bauernhof“
"A horse on the farm"
19 December, 2011

„Ein Land ohne Name“
"A country without a name"*
28 December, 2011

* In a nod to our mates Dan Under: it kinda looks like Australia!

Hope and Perserverance

2012-01-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a little ditty that surprised me in its poignancy and similarities to parts of Isaiah, Hebrews, and Romans, and I'm sure other Biblical spots:

"If you were going away somewhere--and you, and you--and the time was made ready, and the day drew near, and you knew in your heart that you would be happy--and this is an elder knowledge that has little to do with fact--wouldn't you cry out to the time of your going, and look forward toward it, with eagerness, to view the curve of the world at the place where the sky bends down?"

From Ben Hur Lampman's The Time of the Crows

It also is just one example of good things I've come across which to me prove the MO "test everything and hold on to what is good".

"Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." (Isaiah - NLT, 2007)

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews - ESV, 2001)

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." (Romans - NIV, 1984)

...typical of Chinese glonous history. and cultural

2011-12-31T22:22:00.000-08:00

Well, it's time for a 5.5 year review of the ever-entertaining chopsticks paper case. This time, the Chinese were not supplying Little Saigon with these sleek, stick-like dining utensils, as in our visit in 2006,

but SE Portland's Pok Pok, a fine Thai establishment not too far from our abode and lauded on travel television or whatever (so they've told us). 'twas perfect for a relaxing, cool, evening stroll. Clear, late-December skies, with sprinkled bright stars and some wisps of cloud here and yon.

We did go to Pok Pok with Darin & Suzanne last February or so, and it was delicious then as well: Thanks! ("Cuando se puede se puede, y cuando no se puede no se puede.")

The evening before Sierra's birth in aught eight, we ate somewhat spicy Chinese food with Great Grandma and at midnight Kirsten began labor, so we were sort of thinking a little spicy Thai might help things along this time. Anyway, amid some delicious soup, 3 kinds of rice (jasmine, coconut, sticky), dungness crab, organic delicata squash, and a tasty beverage, we enjoyed reading the text on the chopsticks case. At first glance the content seems essentially the same as it did that day in Little Saigon, though this time it's been given the ol' once-over by someone at least somewhat proficient in English (again, click to enlarge photograph) :

Sure, there are a few oddities, such as strange diction and no punctuation, but by and large things turned out alright! (What does "Tuck under thumb" really mean? Would we really know if it weren't for the image?) From this version, one can see where "positor" came from.

The other version is still hilarious though...

Another item of note is an "e" where a "c" belongs:

However, the true hilarity is found on the reverse side. First of all: "Welcome to Chinese Restaurant." (Uh, Thai?) Secondly: "Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks." Ah, yes, the famous NCFWC. Similar to the "Learn how to use your chopsticks" section, no attention was paid to punctuation save the end-of-line period (though not the last line), as in: "the traditional and typical of Chinese glonous history. / and cultural" Wait, "glonous"?

Good-bye 2011! Hello 2012!

My Heart Pizza

2011-12-24T00:28:00.000-08:00

I agreed to make the pizzas, even though I haven't yet mastered the art. Amidst some frustrating events of the day, I was surprised when I rolled out the herb dough after letting it rest in olive oil (a key point for a delicious pie, IMHO).

A heart came forth. The herb dough worked great at first, though I had problems with both later... I ended up with globs of dough splattered across two baking sheets, heaped some tomato sauce on, then some cheese, plus some piña here and there.

It wasn't pretty, though not only was it edible, it was also, if I do say so myself, delicious. And although heart dough never made it into a finished product, I'm glad that it came to me.

Aufklärung

2011-11-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

„Das Bedürfnis nach Aufklärung und Klarstellung ist immens."

"The need for elucidation (enlightenment) and clarification is immense."

Bastian Sick - Autor von: Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod (2004) und die Zwiebelfisch-Kolumnen online

Part of my Willamette River Story

2011-11-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

I did a video interview after completing the Bridge Pedal with Jim this summer and it was fun. They left out my favorite story (ask me about it sometime...), but this little snippet is pretty good (0:30)

http://portlandharborpartnership.com/dates-and-events/

Also: Hmm... "Conversation" (2:00)

Fall Sun Torture

2011-11-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

While I was inside all day yesterday, working and slaving away, outside it looked like this:

Oh yeah, I also wish I had circa 1920s waffles (transported through the space-time continuum to my breakfast plate immediately after cooking!)

Thanks Mom & Carrie!

Thankfulness

2011-10-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite songs, a waterdeep tune, claims, "a thankful heart prepares the way for you my God". I think that is right. These are photographs taken of kid contributions to a fall thankfulness binder in OMSI's children's area. I actually took these photos back in the summer, but now is a good time to post them as many trees are now exploding with the colors of fall!

While the show represented here seems to be interesting and i am still learning about it, i prefer to pretend that the child meant to write "Gabbo".

Bridgepedal 2011

2011-09-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

cookie cutters i want

2011-08-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

'twould be great to be able to eat this shape and other geographical cookies:

When used on flubber (?) The US comes out looking blobular, like this:

An ironic cookie shape, no?

Quotes found at OMSI on art & children

2011-08-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Abenddämmerliche Bewunderung des Gartens

2011-08-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

~ Dusky Garden Admiration

Our corn is getting huge!

2011-08-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

More of the story (added 22 August, 2011. WARNING: partially unpleasant):

I discovered the sign in a corner on the west side of the PAM, which i/we have been trying to frequent more often of late (<--redundant?
Also, your thoughts on "The PAM" vs. "PAM"?).

At the time I had missed a streetcar which would have made my journey to the PAM much shorter, though would likely have prevented me from encountering the sign. I added this second photograph because it captures a little more of the experience of the find. I noticed the sign from the sidewalk and was interested, and upon crutching over to investigate, my attention was immediately distracted by the strong smell of urine. It had been a long time since i had smelled the stale smell of urine, at least in that way, in a public space, and it was surprising because the area around the PAM is so well-kept and, possibly, somewhat high-nosed so that one does not necessarily expect that particular odor to happen upon the nose.

The stains on the concrete in the photograph are possibly urine stains, and it was quite clear to me in retrospect that this had been a convenient pee corner, somewhat protected due to the neighboring tree and the fact that traffic on that street is one-way and at an angle where from a vehicle you probably wouldn't see the inverted corner of the building. For whatever reason though, the smell remained with me for a while after i smelled it, though not in smell form, rather, as a strong experience memory capturing the FLUX/FIUX Capacitor moment. In other words, I knew I would clearly remember finding the sign. Perhaps this is because i've been talking so much about scent memory in the rose gardens lately. I think that with strong memories in general we earthlings tend to block out the unpleasant aspects of most experiences. Do you agree?

On a slightly less unpleasant note, that larger green leaf in the 2nd image, and probably some of the others there as well, are from the beautiful elms overhead there. When i finished photographing the FLUX/FIUX Capacitor sign, i crutched across the street westward to catch the streetcar back in the opposite direction I'd been going to eventually head back home. There is a funny sign there under that Elm Heritage that depicts a dog pooping, kind of like this one:

While funny, this sign is not as good as the actual one, so i will try to get a photograph of it next time i'm in that area.

Here's a little bit of a feel for the area and some other photographs of the elm at other times during the year.

Grandma & Papa Visit - August 2011

2011-08-12T02:18:00.000-07:00

Arrival:

Silliness on the way to Junior's for breakfast.

Getting some reprieve from the heat with the pool & some shade on the deck:

An Oregon book the boys & the little one read while the ladies were shopping 'til they were dropping:

Another:

S strikes a striking pose with a pink hat:

Enjoying the shade of Peninsula Park after a cancelled ballet lesson:

A Playground Monitor:

A delighter in slides:

Uhh... (Note both facial expressions--click image to view larger version)

*Whoosh!*

Artful refreshments for the playground goers. Though not as artful as Oba!, apparently. Probably also not as good as K's superbly sliced fruit-art spread earlier that morn:

The rose garden. A friend of mine recently mentioned these might be modeled after similar leisure gardens in France:

Enjoying a sit after an amazingly aromatic amble through the roses:

5th Quadrant coloring:

Did a crayon drop on the floor? What are you getting?

Exploring the inner workings of Pedalounge:

Grandma sure delights in watching otters eat! (And getting swooped upon by predator birds and other winged creatures!)

Someone does NOT like that goat.

Sitting in the grass enjoying the sunshine...wait, do you see that bald eagle in the background soaring toward you?!?

A typical backseat scene for the week:

Good-byes are never easy, but at least they can be smiley!

Hanging out at Broughton Beach on the Colombia River, waiting for the plane to pass overheard. Woody sez: "Roll on, Colombia, roll on! /
Roll on, Colombia, roll on! / Your power is turning our darkness to dawn! / Roll on, Colombia, roll on!"

Departure.
Up, up, over Mount Hood:

Past the Moon and the Kite:

Into the sunset:

Pedalounge

2011-08-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

Apparently the Beer Bike (the drinking or bar version of Pedalounge) is already a huge hit on The Continent. "The Germans (two links) can't buy them up fast enough and the Dutch [Belgians?] can't produce them fast enough." (paraphrase of Pedalounge owner/operator we met.)

Pedalounge seems to have run into legal and/or insurance problems here in Portland, at least in order to serve alcohol while riding, even though the operator remains sober, the designated driver. As of now, tourists pedal together to make stops at various places. Establishment hopping. I found some German Beer Bike websites which offer non-alcoholic tours and all-ages group bike parties as well, which is great. They also have the round BBQ Bike and the Oval BBQ Bike! Pedalounge (photos below) was sighted last Thursday the 4th of August in NoPo next to 5th Quadrant and Pix on Failing & Williams.

http://pedalounge.com/

http://sightseeingbike.com/

A Portion of the Harvest

2011-08-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

The first handful of green beans of the year. They were delicious!

Some stolen strawberries. I might be inclined to feel bad, but there were many other strawberries on the verge of being perfectly ripe (but not quite yet) so i figure i was lending the harvest a helping hand by helping these strawberries into Choate tummies. The plants are replete with flowers & green berries too, which are sure to "go like gangbusters" in the coming weeks.

Ein roter Baum im Hochsommer

2011-08-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

On SE Belmont St.

This summer beauty is shining a stunning red!

profile

2011-08-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

i've been profiled on the university website (click link)

2011-07-30T16:43:00.001-07:00

The Big Busk

2011-07-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to have heard about The Big Busk this year before it happened and got on board. Apparently this is the 3rd annual celebration of it in Portland. I later found out about a similar event in New Zealand this year, though it's unclear whether theirs was the 1st annual or not.

I have some great memories of playing on the streets of Salzburg, Munich with Dillon & Chris, the streets of Spain with Kyle, and I'm glad to finally get around to playing in the US. It's quite a different experience! One of my favorite parts of playing on the street are the interesting people you meet and the interactions that result. Each time it seems like fate has a hand in making something magical happen, or having someone toss a buck or some coins into your bag right when you're about to pack it in.

This time I was just about to call it a day and head home when I was approached by a gentleman who very rhythmically tossed five or so coins--one at a time--into my guitar bag. He had an offbeat manner about him, and was walking pretty slowly. Much more slowly than most of the other passersby who were often on their way to something else, or listening to something through their earbuds. He asked me a question, which I sort of nodded to, but I got the feeling it was sort of a rhetorical question, so I just kept listening. After we talked (well, he mostly talked) he reached into his pocket and handed me a dollar, I thanked him, and he went on his way. I don't know if his slower pace was what caused him to stop and listen, but he did listen for a bit and this is what he said:

I don't know if I'm wrong here, because I don't know that much about popular music, but has anyone ever told you you sound like James Taylor? Your music brings back memories. I had this girlfriend who suffered from bipolar disorder. Your music brings back memories of her. Yes, music has a strong way of bringing back memories. Whether it's of the 1960s, of Vietnam, or the memory of a loved one. Thank you for your music.

I had been playing Dishwalla's "Counting Blue Cars"...

Wie sagt man "Yee-haw!" auf deutsch?

2011-07-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Francesca the Biomechanical Kow

2011-07-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

note warning sign:

If you had to be stuck next to a vehicle in traffic...

2011-07-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

...or were to encounter an abandoned magic bus in the Alaskan wilderness in which to live, wouldn't you choose this one?

...and some squirrels make a guest appearance

2011-07-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

DSaP Stadttour 2011

2011-07-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Offensichtlich erzähle ich der Gruppe etwas sehr witziges und interessantes.

Jesus ist auch mitgekommen!

I recently watched some old video footage of our time in Europe & noticed the directional signposts all over London. Remembering this is just one thing to add to the list of thing that make me feel like a world citizen right here in Portland.

Spaß mit POD.

Im Riverview Friedhof, wo Henry Weinhard auch begraben ist. Ich muss irgendwann bald eine Tour machen. "Tichner" ist fast "Tischner" oder "Tischler" und ich frage mich ob der Typ die Rechtschreibung seines Names im 1. oder im 2. Weltkrieg geändert hat oder so. Konnte er wirklich Tische bauen oder war er kein tatsächlicher Schreiner?

Neighborhood Greenway Changes

2011-07-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Beautifying crews from the city's neighborhood greenways project added these types of things up & down Clinton:

These are in addition to traffic calming measures such as speed bumps, circular traffic islands in intersections, and lots of sharrows. The art looks great, though I'm still waiting for some TRUE neighborhood greenways, where several streets are closed to vehicle traffic entirely. These changes are a step in the right direction.

Meeting the 2nd Midwife

2011-07-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

The view of Mt. Tabor out of Vivante Midwifery's main meeting room window.

An intersection of life activities (A selection from Gustav Klimt's Die Drei Lebensalter der Frau):

Kirsten and ?

DSaP 1,35 oder so

2011-06-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Jetzt geht's wieder los!

Ort:

Inhalt:

Mehr oder weniger...

Just fine, thanks

2011-06-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have no bananas!

2011-06-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sighted in Orange, CA. I circulated this image among my co-workers because the text at the top essentially is a mirror-image of a dialogue in Kontext 14 on the 1st year German CD/Text. Plus it is just choc full of excellence.

Garden Antics

2011-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, this comic survived the Portland winter and is still taped to the side of the house near the garden where we've planted some more vegetables this year. This is our pest control plan.

Der Bohnentwist

2011-05-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Bean Twist

Click link to watch the video and then start dancing.

Ricky Point / Tomahawk Island

2011-05-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks Jim & Patricia for the great adventure leading to breathtaking views at RICKY POINT. I'll have to make a return trip and bring a camera along for some better photographs. Here is an idea of what it looks like, but doesn't even come close to comparing with how excellent the hidden spot is.

Blooms Around Town - Beauty Unfolding

2011-04-29T02:54:00.000-07:00

Our front yard

Next 5 images: Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

Gravitropism, of course!

The next three images were snapped on the way to April Fool's Day festivities ~30th & Division.

Japanese American Historical Plaza - Waterfront

Where it's at.

PSU, taken looking groundward from one of the many fabulous skybridges

Elementary school near Joe's house

Because being anything else is just no fun

2011-04-29T02:34:00.001-07:00

Musikalische Existenz - Portland via video & song

2011-04-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Lamb Roast & Vigil - Easter 2011

2011-04-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

[4/24/2011 10:31:38 PM] ac: Happy Easter!

[4/24/2011 10:32:11 PM] Aro: Happy Easter!

[12:43:18 AM] ac: still keepin' it real, Australia?

[12:45:07 AM] Aro: impossible to do anything but!

[12:45:41 AM] Aro: what is goin' on this Oregon Easter?

[12:46:10 AM] ac: lots man, it was probably the most eventful Easter of my life!

[12:46:22 AM] ac: And seeing as how i'm still up i suppose it's still goin'

[12:46:35 AM] Aro: wow! what was so eventful?

[12:49:53 AM] ac: a guy we know from church purchased an entire lamb and we seasoned, prepared, tied, & roasted it in his backyard on a spit beginning at 2am. Complete with scripture readings & other selections through dawn and alternating lamb watching/rotating shifts. Then church, errands, phone calls etc. etc. etc. then delicious Easter feast at their house etc. etc. etc.

[12:51:05 AM] Aro: wow! a whole lamb!
[12:51:15 AM] Aro: you've been up since 2 am???
...
[12:59:30 AM] Aro: p.s. why are you still up/awake?
...
[1:03:11 AM] Aro: I still can't believe you were roasting a lamb since 2 am this morning! That is hardcore manlyness

2am-ish. It starts:

First reading:

Empty cavity

Stuffed cavity

"Hey doc, could you give me a hand with this here?"

"Snipe-nose, stat!"

"Suture!"

John

Dorris

Choate

Galic clove-stuffed shoulder

Massage oils

Heintzman. "You guide me."

Yep.

Another reading:

"Our souls wait for the Lord more than sentries for the dawn. Indeed, more than watchmen yearn for the morning.
-Psalm 130

Our canvas was organic - delivered by Bald Hill Farm, Corvallis. 80 lbs hanging weight.

Dawn

Hendrix. An artist's work is never done:

Some curious on-lookers:

Post-fest fun:

Write around town - ¿por qué no?

2011-04-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

a short freewrite i did on a family date

Evergreen

2011-04-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is from a while back at the Japanese Gardens. Enjoy the zen of tall trees and wind chimes.

A bike part that found me

2011-03-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is the foil backing to a bike tire patch i had to use recently. A small, sharp stone punctured & embedded itself into my front tire and caused a very tiny hole in the tube. So instead of buying a tube i just put a patch on the existing tube. I'm a member of the PSU Bike Hub co-op now, which i'm excited about 'cause i can fix the bike at school if i need to, & it was certainly a Godsend that day!

Note country of origin. I have tire patches at home, but needed one there, so i ended up with the German-made glue patch. For the record, much more complicated than the patches i have at home, but probably more sturdy & will hold longer as well. The whole repair cost me a grand total of $0.40 as i was able to execute the repair myself!

I have also topped off my tires a few times at the Bike Hub, lubed the chain & gears (with soy-based lube they provide), and today attempted to fix my rear brake which came loose on the way to school. Unfortunately i will have to get a new brake cable & housing, and i didn't have time to execute much more than a few basic adjustments today, so i got it back into a semi-working state & will have to fix it for real perhaps Wednesday or so.

I also created some bike art which i am quite happy with! I submitted it to a contest today to win *hundreds of fabulous prizes*, so cross your fingers for me (bzw druck mir die Daumen). Hopefully it will win & get displayed, though either way i plan to post it here soon.

Eco Fashion, Eco Sports, Eco Film, Eco EXCELLENT

2011-03-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a photograph of me and a giant Salmon at this past weekend's (including Friday, when I went) Better Living Show. I had thought I'd also snapped a beautiful portrait with Woodsy Owl, icon of the US Forest Service, though i guess i just imagined how awesome it would have been and then made that imagination a reality in my mind. Looking at the actual photographs i have saved on the camera, there is no owl-mascot-with-Yours-Truly specimen to be found, sadly. I did get a Woodsy button though, which i plan to sport proudly in the near future as apt occasions arise.

Shockingly, i could not convince Kirsten at any point to join me for one of several Eco-fashion shows they held at the event, though i offered multiple times. (Ladies, when was the last time YOUR man asked you on a date to a fashion show?!?)

Also, though i wanted to badly, i was unable to meet the 2nd most green athlete in the US (?) who also happens to be the #1 most eco-friendly athlete in the NFL, at least according to some(one). Travis? Dad? Others? You heard of him before? That's your team, right?!

The films Deep Green & Bag It were also shown, which i caught good portions of. I got to meet the director/producer of the former (he added the title "janitor" in referencing himself :o) and i was impressed by both productions, though the latter is rather irreverent. Hopefully i'll get a copy of the former soon, though.

Lots of exciting stuff coming up in the coming weeks/months, so hopefully i'll have more good content to report!

eMG (not a Sprite?)

2011-03-26T02:52:00.001-07:00

This one's for you, Gregg. Had lots of fun helping restore the ol' Sprite w/you, man. Brought back lots of great memories of *negotiating* (with a hammer). It's even the right color!

eBugs

2011-03-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

These are for you, Ed. Saw them in the wild this afternoon (aka the Better Living Show). More reports to follow I hope.

El arte fino del apodo

2011-03-19T00:07:00.000-07:00

...and a few words to steel the wool.

Urban (Mega)fauna

2011-03-08T02:01:00.000-08:00

I found out where at least some of them are hiding out. Sasquatch is of course still as blurry as ever.

ME GUSTA BROOKLYN STREET

2011-03-08T01:59:00.000-08:00

It's been raining a lot lately

2011-03-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

but it hasn't stopped this guy* from enjoying his shower:

He's part of a cool rain catchment/bioswale system* at the Seven Corners New Seasons on SE Division. I actually went to the store at that particular location with a certain A. Humphrey on one of my earlier trips to Portland just before we moved here. In fact, we ate there right after he took me to an interview I had which eventually landed me my first job in Oregon (not counting tour guide/roadie extraordinaire during the Winter of 2004) Here is a potentially more zazzling shot of our showering friend:

(*As of publication time: unknown artist(s), bioswale designer(s), title)

"What more can you ask for in the Rose City?"

2011-03-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

Thus spake the Green Line MAX operator this morning on my one stop stretch between City Hall and the University up the little hill to campus. The question was preceded by the observations: ~ "It's sunny out [which it actually wasn't at the time he said this, though it had been sunny earlier in the morning] and the high today is 47 degrees."

Anyway, his mirthage/jollity was one blessing among many on the way to school this morning.

It also got me thinking: What more CAN we ask for in the Rose City? What more can we find? What more can we hope for? (Oh yeah, and note to self: be thankful for what you got!)

The Aaron Choate Collection

2011-03-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

This was an art exhibit in Portland in which some of my books and such were displayed (thanks, Grandma, for the Nixon era Presidential Poster!). A personal experience of the boundary (or lack thereof) between art and life, 'twas. Perhaps an alternate title could be "My Shelflife"! The project is explained by the text in the last photograph. It ran from March 1-7th at the Field Work gallery (www.fieldworkspace.org). There also exist some set up photos and other information. Here is an in progress link, which also includes my box o' stuff as well as someone else's "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein. Kirsten's blue birthday mug makes a guest appearance (i snuck it into the display for the photograph), and i had to wait to publish this until now 'cause it wasn't her birthday yet and thus i still hadn't given it to her!

Recently i sat in on a German philosophy course in which the professor outlined how existence (la exsitencia, Existenz, etc.) comes from the Greek "Ekstatika" (ουσ. ύπαρξη? Sorry, not sure if that's right - "it's all Greek to me!" :o), but anyway, it basically means "to see oneself outside of one's own body". Nice! I used this concept recently in my German class by taking photographs of students and then displaying them immediately as a slide show with the projector. A sort of out of body experience, and it was a success i think. Hopefully i'll have more chances like this to do art-type things in the near future!

Some Favorite Treefriends

2011-03-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

that accompany me on these cloudy days. As usual, photographs don't do justice, but something is better than nothing.

South Park Blocks

Near PAM, aka Portland Art Museum. Building on right part of museum. Note mossy ferniness. Treebeard.

Nearby. In the background, view of First Congregational Church--one of the older ones in Portland, plaque on the building says organized 1851, this edifice was the 3rd built in 1895.

Deer and such

2011-02-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

Today i saw three deer peacefully grazing in the marshy area near the river trail, which brings my current count of deer seen within the Portland city limits up to a total of 5. They were beautiful! The other two i saw each on separate mornings last July or August on my way to the Deutsche Sommerschule passing through the Riverview Cemetery. It's nice to see large wildlife in the city, even if it is in a protected area. Also, the ride through that portion of the trail along the river really does me good. One can really smell the trees, bushes, and marsh, which all have pure, rich earthy smells. It's nice to breathe deeply from what seems like a generous oxygen source. Breathing so heavily as a result of riding the bike feels very clean in that stretch, especially in comparison with the bus, train, and other vehicle exhaust i'm usually inhaling. A few portions of the trail are flooded right now, which are kind of fun to ride through on a bike, though one has to lift up one's feet so as not to get them completely soaked from the water that's churned up. It still feels very wintery with the wet and cold, though i know spring is lingering in the buds and in the branches just waiting for winter to give way. There are also a few flowers and trees already in bloom who got faked out by the sun and warmth a few weeks ago before this polar blast came to town. The tree right outside our front window has a few little pink blossoms on it as well, and as soon as the weather changes again the whole tree's going to explode with bright pink.

Saxomophone!

2011-02-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

As i was riding home last night (later than usual) i really thought i heard someone playing the saxophone at about 11th and Division, though looking all around in the direction I thought the music was coming from i found no such horn nor player. I am still not sure if i was just imagining the music or if there really was someone playing nearby, the former possibility being likely a result of too intense readings of 1960s Austrian explorations of apocalypse via the neutron bomb and subsequent sole survivor separation from civilization. (Marlen Haushofer - Die Wand) Either way, it made me think about when the last time i picked up that old friend, which was probably then:

That was a different time and i a different person, to be sure. However, all this plus a few conversations i've recently had with some family and good friends made me think i ought to pick it up again. Wail away even, if my fingers, lungs, and lips can remember their old gusto.

Back to Normal - Thanks, Kirk

2011-02-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

My daily ride over the bridge was back to normal this evening. "Working Kirk" aka, the guy with the white tuxedo and the Mickey Mouse hat, was at his usual post off to the SW side of the Hawthorne Bridge and was about his usual antics. Today he happened to be toying with the Flintstones' Theme Song on his trumpet as i rode by. His expanding ball, slide whistle, 3 toss juggling move, and a circle-turns-into-a-square magic trick are other favorites, some of which i've seen, others of which i guess i need to hang around for a bit to witness. Thanks for bringing smiles to people's faces and hopefully a little joy to their hearts, Kirk.

P.S. - I thought that some of the most interesting lines in the linked article above were the ones about how he's potentially saved people contemplating suicide and given nearby quartered prisoners a reason to keep living.

Gotta Love Portland - Valentine's Day Special

2011-02-14T21:54:00.000-08:00

Today in honor of Valentine's Day, or, more accurately, in honor of some special someones, i wore a pink shirt and some pants-sheared-shorts with a few sparse red threads worked into the pattern. K & i went on a Valentine's morning date before i had to go to class while the little one was being watched & entertained by a family friend & corresponding munchkin. The lady and the little lady each received a flower which now sit in vases (pronounced "VAHZ-ehz") on the dining table. (The table is not dining on things of course, but rather is FOR dining.) Later i donned my Valentine's-Day-red Wost Day of the Year Ride shirt, which is a little bittersweet 'cause i wasn't able to ride this year (last Sunday) due to still being in recovery mode from an illness which more or less wiped out the whole fam for about a week. At least the shirt is festive feeling and color appropriate. I put a Super Mario power-up mushroom button on to add a little more festiveness.

Anyway, let me get to the point: riding home today across the Hawthorne Bridge i saw a few guys out of the corner of my eye who were holding a cardboard sign which appeared to say "free eggs", though as i rode past the guy asked me (i think) "Hey, do you want any free range eggs?!" It would not seem so strange to me, especially in Portland or any large-ish city in general that some random people are just standing on the side of a bridge trying to peddle eggs, but the fact that they were out loudly peddling their wares to passersby in the dark and amidst what my wife described as hurricane-like dangerous winds and rain seemed a little...odd. Then again, i probably shouldn't be that surprised. I also didn't notice any eggs that they may have had, though i was going pretty fast and as I said it was dark, so maybe their egg stash was partially concealed or just plain out of sight. Anyway, that experience was "eggsellent" and as i continued across the bridge i came upon a walking guy who appeared to me at the time like a koopa troopa. More accurately stated, he looked like one of the koopalings that has spines on their shellback, but i did think that carefully at the time about what he should technically be called. All i thought was something like, ok, there is a koopa troopa walking across the bridge! After i passed him i looked back and from the front could see that he had spiky hair and several buttons or patches up and down the shoulder straps. Nice.

Here is a photo to set the mood (add your own wind and rain):

This is not the guy i saw, but the backpack looked quite similar to the one pictured here:

Happy Valentine's Day!

What happens when you study too much

2011-02-13T22:42:00.000-08:00

Hippo Hardware

2011-02-13T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hippo Hardware is a difficult concept to explain. The best way for you to understand would be for you to just come to Portland and see it. Which i hope you do so i can have an excuse to go there more often and show it off. I tend to explain it to people as a smaller, more eclectic version of The Rebuilding Center, except with a behind-the-scenes modern, new inventory in addition to antique fixtures and such. ...but then one has to know what The Rebuilding Center is, another Portland phenomenon, and so i just end up explaining the concept as a whole anyway. In short: reusable and reclaimed materials, often antique or vintage. Hippo Hardware has a large collection of Hippo paraphernalia, which i'm assuming has grown over the years due to donations or at least the owners/associates bringing in or donating hippo gear. I would love to go on a hippo hunt with you, not of the sort of hunt where hippopotami are in fact slain, but rather a scavenger hunt to see who can find the hippo in the store that is the most __________ (80s, sustainable, huge, toothy, crocheted, stuffed, useful, etc.). I went alone this time to Hippo Hardware in search of a replacement cartridge for the faucet in our bathroom which had been leaking (now fixed mostly: yay!) though Ed sort of accompanied me in a way. Actually he was present right before i showed up at HH for a longer period of time (via cellular telephone) on a visit to the Multnomah County Central Library, and was the beneficiary of many inane comments regarding that structure and related literary homage. By the time i ended up at Hippo Hardware it was time for him to eat breakfast and then watch the Super Bowl and time for me to stop yakking so much and fix a leak.

Here is a mural on one of the doors which either may not work anymore or only is in use during the summer. I did not examine the situation carefully enough to say one way or the other.

Note tattoo on first hippo in foreground's left arm:

Bike there!

Walk there!

Bike there while being a hippo!

Young love.

More hippos on bikes--including one with a child carrier seat much like ours:

Photo from last February for comparison (nearly a year ago now, wow):

There was even a place where my disciplines intersected: German, true love, hippopotamusology, and plumbing. Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day! (just HOURS till midnight--can you even wait?!)

Portland Hodgepodge

2011-02-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

Some of these or their lookalikes someone took the liberty of using on their blog, but i'm republishing a few here 'cause i like them and i want to show some of the scenes i've been seeing of late. Typically one would be able to see the span of the Morrison Bridge in this shot and probably some others in the background but for the thick, delicious fog:

Hawthorne Bridge. Go!

Hood (r) Tabor (l). Sorry about the highrise.

Die Festung Hohensalzburg??

(the real deal)

Note helicopter to right

Getting flown per Hubschrauber to pill hill. Love how the blade just floats there in photographs.

The only redeeming factor about that bridge is that it appears in Elizabethtown. Most everything else about it is atrocious (design, year, variety of transit options, i.e. one). It is kind of fun to ride over the top though. Building in center, Twelve West, has on-site wind generators and is purportedly a very energy efficient building. Haven't met Gus Van Sant yet so i can visit him, though i am rumored to have had a brief non-encounter with him at Laughing Planet Cafe on Belmont (i've heard it said he lives there?) but maybe i can get a tour some other way.

B EAST

2011-02-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

We recently took Sierra to a new doctor and let me tell you, the experience was something like the label we found in the parking structure for a particular section of the thing. Needless to say, we are still looking for a good doctor on this new plan. Hopefully we can find someone who is not a:

An Annoyance (a further foray into bathroom ponderings)

2011-02-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, i am all for water efficiency but allow me to take this opportunity to outline a little annoyance i've experienced in the stalls lately. Newcomers to this blog should please not be alarmed by bathroom scenes, while old-timers will appreciate the timely bathroom reference (where have they been hiding out all this while?).

You're familiar with those automatic toilet flushing devices? The ones with the sensors and probably a little black button so one can flush the thing in the event the sensor does not work? Probably a good invention because Joe Schmo and Josephina Schmosephina sometimes don't flush that #2 bomb which now lies in wait for you the next time you open the stall door.
But sometimes such well-intentioned technology can go awry. That little black button in case of emergencies for example: totally pointless! When has that button ever been necessary? I suppose we need to take a poll on this point. Also on the following situation: I was, you know, sitting on the commode, doing what needed to be done, and then gathered the necessary TP to clean up shop and did standard lean on the left cheek elevating the right and...*flusssh!*. Yes folks, that's right, NOT DONE WITH BUSINESS, UNPLEASANT SPLASHING, *flusssh!*. Not once, not twice, but at least three times before finishing up: *flusssh!*. *flusssh!* four times?
I couldn't help but thinking to myself: Are these things really saving water? But i guess that is not the point of such devices. The point of such devices is to protect you from the bomb, which i still experience on a regular basis at other less technologically equipped locations. Am i grateful about being protected from the bomb? Probably so. Especially when i think about the fact that i have probably been spared from more bombs than i realize, not to mention nuclear fallout.

Still, i prefer the two-button option where the #2 button option is rarely if ever needed. I also like the two-directional green handle, though think that the #1 option should be the down direction, not #2. It makes the water-conscious people do all the work and the uninformed unwittingly use more water than they need to or might otherwise.

This would be a good idea if it weren't for the noise pollution factor. I'd take it over triple or quadruple flush surprises that splash the tooshie:

Keep This In Mind

2011-01-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

Inspiration

(Morgan Freeman as) Mandela: "Tell me, Francois; What is your philosophy on leadership? How do you inspire your team to do their best?"

(Matt Damon as) François: "By example. I've always thought to lead by example, sir."

Mandela: "Well that is right, that is exactly right. But how to get them to be better than they think they can be? That is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do?

Bad Weather?

2011-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a proverb i've heard before, but really like how i was able to form it in Spanish:

No existe tiempo malo, solo vestido no apropriado.

(There's no such thing as bad weather, just improper attire)

Günter de Bruyn, an old East German author i'm reading for one of my courses this term, puts it this way: "Schlechtes und gutes [Wetter] gab es für sie nicht: nur Kleidung, die ihm nicht entsprach."

Here's to riding all winter!

Happy 2011

2010-12-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

Auld Lang Syne

Getting Beat at Scrabble

2010-12-29T11:08:00.001-08:00

is kind of annoying, but I'm also thankful for it because I know it means that I can try harder next time, or, more specifically, can rematch to avenge myself! At any rate, it can be humbling, and I'm grateful that many people I love and care about have beaten me.

Final Score: Aaron - 251, Dillon - 325.

OUCH.

Firstly, congratulations, sir.

Secondly, to justify myself a little, let me tell you all something amazing and/or entertaining that happened as a result. Toward the bitter end of the game I tried my darnedest to play a bingo on a triple word score to catch up, alas to no avail. I DID, however, end up coming up with some great near-words.

MIRTHAGE - this was the word I ended up playing as I thought it was the closest to a word (and therefore maybe a word) of the near-words I'd created. I did know that mirth was a word, though had misunderstood its definition to be something like muck or mire. Now I know that it means happiness or jollity (who knew?). Anyway, Dillon challenged me and we looked it up. Surprise! Not a word. But one can definitely add the suffix "age" to most words, whether they be nouns or verbs, and create one's own! For example, "CHURCHAGE" "RAINAGE" "BIKEAGE". Another stellar would-have-been-great-had-it-been-a-real-word Bingo I thought of was "GRIMATHE" which is, of course, poor math, said like grimace, except with a lisp. Too bad I didn't have an "S" instead of an "E" then I could have made "GRIMATHS" (the British version of the same). If I find the score sheet again I'll add my other brilliant inventions.*

Anyway, then we stayed up talking, as we're apt to do, until 3:45am. Good times, good times...

*Found 21 January, 2011 --> GOTHIMER, kind of like GOSSAMER, but with a lisp. THERMING, the art of keeping oneself at the proper temperature.

Leaping Lizards!

2010-12-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

Did your mom nonchalantly capture a tiny reptile this holiday season and store it in a hand-painted jewelry box for safe-keeping until she could show off the treasure of a creature to her granddaughter before releasing it into the wild? I didn't think so. But mine did.

Cafe date and a lil walk

2010-12-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

Stacking Functions: Deleted Clip from an Essay

2010-12-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

In order to fit a piece to a page limit I decided to ax this section, but wanted to give it new life here, à la deleted scenes on many DVD menus. Probably it was a little too pompous or perhaps not true enough to the prompt. In browsing deleted scenes, I am often struck by some element of the clip which makes it obvious why it would be cut from the film. Perhaps there is some insight shared or some tidbit worth saving, but by and large it's a part of the creative process which better serves society by being placed in the recycle bin rather than put on display as part of the finished product. It's a step up from just tossing it in the trash I reckon, as there must be something in there that can be recycled and repurposed.

"Stacking functions has also been important in my transportation choices. I know that the majority of the trips that I make to anywhere in the city are going to be by bicycle, and thus it is necessary for me to schedule tutoring appointments, work hours, and other events around the knowledge that it can take me up to 30 or 45 minutes to get from one location to the next. It makes the most sense for me to consolidate work within a certain distance, which not only saves me time, but also the energy and stress of having to travel across town multiple times per day. In a car I might not think twice about that wasted energy, but on a bicycle one gains greater respect for distances and the energy it really takes to power transportation from point A to point B."

Worst Day of the Year Ride - promo shots

2010-11-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

Thoughts via Charles Dickens on a hopefully forthcoming post

2010-11-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

If these were Dickens' observations in the early 1800s, I shudder to think of what he'd have to say about today. What the Dickens?!?!

I was led to this quote via a German etymological search for the word "ballast", which in addition to English and presumably elsewhere also appears in the German language. At the very bottom of this post I've included some ballast of the word's etymological info for your philosophizing enjoyment. :-)

"Dollars! All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues, and associations seemed to be melted down into dollars. Whatever the chance contributions that fell into the slow cauldron of their talk, they made the gruel thick and slab with dollars. Men were weighed by their dollars, measures were gauged by their dollars; life was auctioneered, appraised, put up, and knocked down for its dollars. The next respectable thing to dollars was any venture having their attainment for its end. The more of that worthless ballast, honour and fair-dealing, which any man cast overboard from the ship of his Good Nature and Good Intent, the more ample stowage-room he had for dollars. Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Deface the banner of the nation for an idle rag; pollute it star by star; and cut out stripe by stripe as from the arm of a degraded soldier. Do anything for dollars! What is a flag to them!"

-Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812–1870), British novelist. Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 16 (1844).

Remarking on a company of New Yorkers.

-------------------------------
more from dictionary [dot] com:
ballast
[C16: probably from Low German; related to Old Danish, Old Swedish barlast , literally: bare load (without commercial value), from bar bare, mere + last load, burden]

"heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.

Fall Series Part Two: Pedestrian Bridgeviews.

2010-11-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

A very brief panorama on the pedestrian bridge going over the train tracks. Of note: the colors, a few buildings downtown, Oregon Health and Science University (aka OHSU, aka Pill Hill, which I visited for the first time yesterday riding the Aerial Tram) and of course mode of transportation.

The copper building is the Koin Center, the white one is the tallest building in Portland/Oregon and sports the name of a stupid bank.

Trees, OHSU, and the tower up at Council Crest

View from pedestrian footbridge at PSU, south toward hills

same, north toward downtown

A gorgeous autumnal tree masking a not-so-much parking structure.

An October Hodgepodge

2010-11-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

Opa und seine Enkelin

A VERY delicious meal. Yet one of many things I am thankful for...

Those cupcakes happened to be very delicious as well. Danke Susan für das Geburtstagslied.

Some of the last sunflowers of the season from the garden. There *may* be a few more this week, we shall see. We actually have some carrots left and will be planting some garlic, shallots, and onions which can grow through the winter. The fava beans are taking off like crazy.

Some delicious figs courtesy of Mike Meyers and of course the Lord of the Harvest

Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde (Can you complete the phrase?! <-- Well, that is what happened.)

Zero Emissions Race Comes to the Choates! (oh, and Portland)

2010-11-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

The team arrives

zero-race.com
http://zero-race.com/en/teams/ (there is a team from Adelaide! I met a guy named Nick who talked about living in The City of Churches.)

Sven charging the Team Vectrix Elektroroller in our garage last night.

Here I am less than an hour ago with Louis Palmer, the first man to circumnavigate the world using 100% solar power (2008). Now he's at it again with a different tactic, the Zero Emissions Race teams, and has a bigger, fascinating plan for next year as well. Shaking his hand last night and hearing him speak to a(n embarrassingly) small group of about 15 EV enthusiasts and others in downtown Portland, I learned that I am now one degree separated from the likes of James Cameron, Ban Ki-moon, Jay Leno, and, among others, various princes, kings, & emirs from the Middle East.
http://www.zero-race.com/en/louis/
http://www.solartaxi.com/

The Transportwagen in front of our place. Meendert, who also stayed with us, can be seen to the right.

Same, but with my excited mug in the shot.

Fall Series Part One

2010-11-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

Mine and others' favorite stretch of canopy down ol' 99. Beatiful year round, including this time of year. Well planned planting, now forms huge mature trees and excellent leafy tunnel!

Frenbone Taurecord

2010-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

From an on-campus display. Cream of the crop meiner Meinung nach.
The Frenbone Taurecord:

Die Meistersinger, (Master Singer) by Victor Talking Machine Co. I'm not sure if "Prize Song" is a translation of "Die Meistersinger" or the name of the track.

I guess you could also just call it "Horn".

The "His Master's Voice" logo and the original painting by Francis Barraud has a very interesting backstory which I learned while teaching high school about 2 years ago now.

In the Treepot...

2010-11-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

...it is fall.

hopefully someday
a mighty tree
will you be

Smashing Movember

2010-11-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Meet Mo':

Rear view

Les artistes peek inside

K's clown o' lantern. Both Clown and Mo' yielded delicious seeds!

Mo' tries to steal the show as Mommy gets brushed up. Mo' keeps telling us about this Australian doctor he's met.

Ahhh! Eaten! (Someone else's art from halloween)

Non-flash view

Eater, Eaten, & Friends

Autumnal Night Shot!

2010-11-06T22:55:00.000-07:00

Snapped this beauty on the 31st and loved how it turned out. Enjoy, world!

Late Season Produce

2010-11-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Midweek harvest

Entwined carrots perspective I

Entwined carrots perspective II

Entwined carrots vertical view. Before:

After:

VOTE! (part II)

2010-11-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Ballot

The Delivery

The ballot box + mode of transportation

The scene plus "that lit'le flagger on it" (pronounced à la Nigel Tufnel). The Pioneer Courthouse stands in the background, yet another piece of the system. The courthouse is part of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in SF, and, as one can learn on a walking tour of Portland, it is the most overturned appeals court by the Supreme Court of these United States.

The time-stamp on my camera for the delivery snapshot reads November 2, 2010, 7:16:30pm (the 30 = seconds). Better late than never, they say. The deadline was 8 pm! A friend of mine said he loves to wait till the last minute to vote "to keep 'em guessing" (love it!). Another friend of mine said, "Ich liebe das System hier in Oregon. Es ist sehr benutzerfreundlich" (user-friendly). Definitely a true statement, but somehow much funnier in German. I suppose part of the hilarity is due to the personality who said it.

All in all, I would have to say that this has been my most pleasant and informed election experience thus far in my voting career. I also heard that a few local races are very close and that we may not know the results until late tonight since so many people voted late! Hooray democracy!

During the pre-election period, we got an enormous "VOTE!" note on our doorknob, which was generally annoying except that someone had handwritten in the blank: "_____ percent of voters in your neighborhood voted in the previous election cycle." Our neighborhood was 90.7%! Wow! Imagine how very differently things would turn out if the rest of the country voted like that. And if those who don't typically vote did.

Fahrrad fahren?!

2010-11-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of Sierra's favorite phrases is "Fahrrad fahren?!", which she says with vigor and a slight bit of nervousness, hoping each time she asks that we will go for a ride ASAP.

Here we are after our ride to Imago Dei yesterday:

VOTE!

2010-10-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

I went to a political rally for *some candidate* in Portland recently. I would have seen/heard the president speak live had I not had to leave for a tutoring appointment. Two and a half hours waiting is apparently not enough time for them to let you see the president. The discussions going on in various groups around me were quite interesting and I learned some things about the political process. Anyway, I snapped this shot which indicates what you ought to do, and very soon--by next Tuesday, November 2nd, in fact.

Some people from our home community also hosted an informal, open discussion about the local measures & candidates and such, and it was also a very enriching experience and is one major factor in inspiring me to take the vote more seriously than I sometimes have in the past. So there you go, go out, participate in democracy, and try your best to make good decisions for how you think things ought to change and grow.

Peace out!

2010-10-27T00:39:00.001-07:00

Got a nice little "hello" from someone, however indirectly. Made me smile and i hope you do too.

Hey wait, lemme just jump up and get this coin here...

2010-10-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

The coin and mushroom question mark boxes actually had been rigged to make their respective sounds when you jumped up hit them with your head.
Can anyone say *da-ding!* and also *dudalah-dudalah-dudalah!* ?!?

This guy definitely outdid my Luigi... Granted, he was part of the team and knew about the whole thing beforehand, unlike yours truly, who gleefully happened upon the exhibit/survey/experiment just before class.

I had been planning on taking the stairs back down, but of course took the pipe when I realized that was an option.

After completing a survey they were offering, one of the Marios asked if I wanted to be tested on Nintendo characters. Of course I did! I didn't get them all right, but scored better than anyone else she had tested so far. She was surprised that I got Lakitu (?). To the best of my ability, here are the characters that were quizzed. The 8-bit image was shown, and then I had to guess the exact name. Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool), Bowzer, Lakitu, one of the Hammer Bros., Blooper (they actually had it as Bloop , i think), Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Cheep-Cheep, Luigi, Mario, Toad, a Goomba, Buzzy Beetle, a Piranha Plant, and Spinny (I contest this one, I said "Spiny", and she marked me wrong :( perhaps she was right though :( ).
I also got some sweet buttons and a few stickers, so let me know if you want some swag and i'll try to send some your way.

The Good, The Bad, and The Green

2010-08-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

...meaning any or all of these, especially with the hijacked meaning of "bad" à la M.J. You decide!

But one portion of an ongoing bountiful harvest from the community garden in our friend's backyard. Tomatoes, green beans, kale, red leaf lettuce, carrots, snap peas, butter leaf lettuce. We also have corn on the way and LOTS of sunflowers. They are huge! The garden also includes strawberries (i've had a few delicious ones...), some zucchini, winter squash, & a few other goodies. Praise God!

Some of the delicious chocolate banana desserts made by Kirsten as described on her blog. Mmmmm!

Eine grüne Sierra. Foto im Spielplatztunnel bei der deutschen Spielgruppe:

Oh so true. The tag on my chair from a dance show I went to with work. They are called tree dancers and put on a rather impressive aerial/acrobatic show. The music and staging were high quality too! Photograph in front of the bushes outside the front door.

With special thanks to Ed and his bathroom. (Scientific advancement!)

2010-08-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

'In March the gypsies returned. This time they brought a telescope and a magnifying glass the size of a drum, which they exhibited as the latest discovery of the Jews of Amsterdam. They placed a gypsy woman at one end of the village and set up the telescope at the entrance to the tent. For the price of five reales, people could look into the telescope and see the gypsy woman an arm's length away. "Science has eliminated distance," Melquíades proclaimed. "In a short time, man will be able to see what is happening in any place in the world without leaving his own house." '

Excerpt from chapter 1 of Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez

-translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabussa
-originally published in Argentina in 1967, aka before the internet

Er stillt mein Verlangen

2010-07-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Die Schule geht schnell zu Ende: Schlusspapiere sind fällig, Vorträge müssen gemacht werden, und soziale Gelegenheiten steigen jetzt auf. Einerseits ist das Leben stressig, andererseits bin ich genau wo ich sein soll, glaube ich. Jeden Tag gibt es irgendeine Segnung oder andere Möglichkeit die Existenz auf eine andere Art und Weise zu verstehen und anders zu handeln. Zum Beispiel heute morgen als ich durch den Friedhof gefahren bin, ist es ziemlich nebelig gewesen, aber plötzlich schien die Sonne durch die Wolken hinter mir, und gleichseitig bewegten sie sich vor mir zur Seite, damit ich den Mond sehen konnte. Sonnenschein und Mondschein am Morgen. Zweimal habe ich unerwartet ein Reh gesehen: einmal morgens und einmal in der Dämmerung als ich die Hügel hinunter nach Hause fuhr. Die Bilder hier können nur arm zeigen, wie die Atmosphäre dort wircklich ist, aber die geben Euch eine Ahnung

Bloggerific

2010-07-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

My wife is outblogging me! Go there and check out her photos and stories!

besten Dank,

-ac-

P.S.
SURPRISE BLAST OF COOLNESS!

With thanks to Karana, and William Blake

2010-07-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

"To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour." -William Blake

Ein schöner Sonntag

2010-07-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Kirche, eine Fahrradfahrt, Caféeintritt.
Gute Konversation, ein leckeres Sandwich, Spirit Mint Eistee.
Frischgepflückte Erbsen vom Garten, kühle Kirschen, ein Platz im Schatten.
Baumkronendach, friedliche Brise, Schweigen und Tippen.
Familie zu Hause, Familie im Schlafzimmer, Familie kommt bald an.
Lächeln.

2010-07-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

My Little Nutritarian (click link! In English!)

Ein Date!

2010-07-19T23:41:00.000-07:00

Es ist leider eine Weile gewesen seitdem wir das letztes Mal ein Date gehabt haben. Aber Gott sei dank konnten wir uns heute beim Bagdad etwas unterhalten, Atmosphäre, und ein kleines Imbiß genießen. Danke Beth für die Mitarbeit!

Ich freue mich schon auf dem Besuch meiner Eltern nächste Woche und die kommende Reise in den Südland.

Alte Freunde

2010-07-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Heute bin ich mit einer alten Mitschülerin nach sieben Jahren wieder begegnet. Es ist für so einen jungen Typ wie ich seit lange her, aber trotzdem schien es wie gestern, sie wiederzusehen. Vieles hat sich geändert, aber auch nicht so sehr Vieles. Sie arbeitet nun als Bäckerin. Inzwischen habe ich geheiratet und ein Kind gekriegt. Ich war froh, alle miteinander bekannt zu machen. Ich bin froh, eine Bekannte wiederzukriegen, sozusagen . Einmal ein Löwe, immer ein Löwe. Nun, wann ziehen meine Kumpels hierher um?!

Die Nachtfahrt

2010-07-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hoffentlich werde ich Bilder von meiner Costume bald aufladen können, aber bis dann musst ihr mit dieser Kostprobe zufrieden sein.

Ich wünsche, wir hätten ein Jubiläumsjahr

2010-07-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Wir haben unser Schicksal selbst erledigt. Trotzdem können wir durch das Opfer Christis vergeben werden--ein Mysterium alle Fälle. Wenn wir also dann vergeben sind, heißt dass auch, das wir das Jubiläumjahr zurückkriegen, wie es in dem Gesetz heißt? Oder doch nicht? Alles ist bestimmt zu kompliziert für mich, zu schwer. Ich muss Gott vertrauen, dass sein Verständnis reicht. Aber ich wünsche trotzdem, wir hätten ein Jubiläumsjahr und bald. Vielleicht kommt das doch noch. Auch wenn nicht in diesem Leben.

Das letzte Wort übergebe ich dem HERRN:

„Wohl dem, der nicht wandelt im Rat der Gottlosen noch tritt auf den Weg Sünder noch sitzt, da die Spötter sitzen, sondern hat Lust zum Gesetz des Herrn und redet von seinem Gesetz Tag und Nacht! Der ist wie ein Baum, gepflanzt an den Wasserbächen, der seine Frucht bringt zu seiner Zeit, und seine Blätter verwelken nicht; und was er macht, das gerät wohl.“ - Psalm 1,1-3

Wortspiel

2010-07-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

„Wortspiele finden man nicht so oft im deutschen“ sagte sie, und kein Wunder. Manches, was man zu sagen hat ist knapp: zack, schluss. Normalerweise sind die Ausdrücke aber ziemlich lang. Als ich im Männerklo wärend der Pause war, kamen mir einige hervorragende Beispiele zum Vorschein. Und zwar auf Englisch, an dem Fugenkitt zwischen den Kacheln geschrieben, ganz klug:

-TWIST AND GROUT
-ANGELS IN THE GROUTFIELD
-THE GROUT GATSBY

Es gibt eine Menge mehr, vielleicht gucke ich morgen nach und addiere dann zur Liste. Auf jeden Fall, habe ich einige persönliche Wortspiele dabei eingetragen:
-ALEXANDER THE GROUT
und eins, auf den ich ziemlich stolz bin,
-GROUT OF SIGHT, GROUT OF MIND

Kirsten erzählte mir auch ihre Idee dazu:
-WILL YOU GO GROUT WITH ME?

Und mir fiel gerade noch eine ein:
-GROUT OF THIS WORLD

*Schon nachgeguckt*:
-THE GROUTFUL DEAD
-IT'S AGROUT TIME
-GROUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
-NO GROUT
-GROUT EXPECTATIONS
-THE GROUT ESCAPE
-BETTER NOT GROUT
-THE GROUTSIDERS
-WHAT AGROUT BOB?
-BEYOND A REASONABLE GROUT
*GROUT WHITE SHARK
*THE GROUT BARRIER REEF
*OSCAR THE GROUT
*PETER THE GROUT
*THE GROUT LAKES
*FORGET AGROUT IT

*Ich musste das hier nachschlagen: „KILGORE GROUT“ (anscheinend auf einem Charakter von Kurt Vonnegut basiert...)*

Vielleicht hast du auch eine Idee? Ahhhh, Kachelexistentialismus.

*später addiert

Lernen macht mich manchmal verrückt

2010-07-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

Als bewegliches Bild hier zu sehen

Der Grund warum Deutsch und Japanisch schwere Sprachen, aber auch nicht zu vergleichen sind

2010-07-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

La razón por qué el alemán y el japones idiomas difíciles son, pero a la vez no comparables:

Die Nase voll

2010-07-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

Wenn es so viele Hausaufgaben gibt, wünsch ich mir zum Teil, ich wäre ein Galaxy Ranger, oder sogar ein Charakter aus Scott Pilgrim. Wäre dann einfacher...

4. Juli

2010-07-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Zweite Stadttour auf Deutsch heute Morgen, einer Picnick im Park,

heute Abend Grillfest bei Dr. Fuller, nachher Feuerwerk. Jetzt zu der Familie!