And away we go...

Today is the first day that I haven't spoken with Robert in about two weeks and I didn't laugh as much as I could have. I gotta call him in the morning. Maybe he's knee deep in the new script.
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So today is Halloween and it is coooollldddd here. Last night when I went to bed I actually considered putting on a hat but I was too cold to walk down stairs to get it. So I put one of my big pillows at the top of my head. I swear it was like being in a tent in a blizzard. The wind just fucking pours through this house. And the heater? Forget it. It comes out like a tepid breeze. I told my Dad that today and he asked if the pipes were covered in insulation and they are not. So tomorrow, Irias is going to do that for me. He's been a bit of a pain lately rather than a joy. He had to plaster the side of the house but left his shit all over and didn't coil up the hose which all of which made me mad. And to top it off, I made a cd for him but his player is so old that it wouldn't work so he's been calling me everyday (no, I'm not exaggerating) for a new copy that he can play and the clincher is: he wants me to put "She's so cold" by the Stones on it! That has to be their worst song and he loves it. I keep telling him, "no way, it's the WORST song" and then he sings it and we laugh.
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Yesterday my neighbor Lewis was out working on his house and we got to talking and I gave him a dog collar for Rudy. He used to be a student coordinator a Reed college but now he's becoming a landlord with his cute friend Phil.
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I stayed up last night posessed to deal with Kimberly's website and I think I came up with an ok design. I was engrossed for about 6 hours last night and then today I got up at 6 and started at it again. I did get it all figured out. Cutting it into slices was hard but I think it looks good thanks for Ryan. He helped me with some coding and then I spoke with Kimberly tonight and am starting on her bio next. I need Martine to get the pictures to me.
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I was going to bathe the dogs today but I just didn't have the time. I ate an egg and a little bacon this morning so I could take the penicillin and then didn't eat until about 6 tonight when I ran to the market. Oh yeah, there were some dorritos from Target where I went to get candy for the trick or treaters. God those things taste terrible. I bought way too much candy. I only had 4 kids come to the door. So I pawned some off on Lawrence when he came over to return some painting supplies. I also ran to Michael's and got an embroidery ring and a little linen to start my project. Can't wait to get into that but it may be a bit because Dawn arrives tomorrow at 1. I will have to clean and wash the dogs before she comes. Busy day tomorrow. I spent a great deal of the day on google looking at the different stuff they have in the way of getting people to RememberWell.net. Got a lovely email from Mt. Shasta George that was amusing...he's got an interesting perspective on that small town. It sounds accurate and should be since he's lived there for about 15 years.
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Ran Darla in the field and when I threw the ball for her I thought my arm was going to come off. My elbow is so bad. It must be from the mouse. And my left knee is throbbing and my fucking tooth that had the ROOT CANAL still hurts like crazy. And I have another problem from the penicillin that I won't mention, so I am a bit of a physical mess right now! Oh well. Felt fine enough to walk Jency about 20 blocks. I use the retractable leash and she sniffs her little life away. She grabbed a burrito before I could get go her and she and I wrestled on the side walk for a while. I had worked my fingers into her slimy, stinky mouth to try to get her jaws open but she wouldn't budge. It was hilarious really. I made her stop at every street crossing until I said go. She's just so cute.
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Came home from the market with curried cauliflower coconut soup that didn't seem to have any cauliflower in it but it was delicious. Then I read the WW's food edition and got some ideas of where Dawn and I can eat. The Park Cafe for sure. There seem to be so many great restaurants here. Can't wait!
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Just concentrating, between all this busy stuff, on becoming the event coordinator at the Contemporary Crafts museum.

Waning Enthusiasm

I've lost a little blog enthusiasm...apparently.
Been mainly working on SEO on the sites.
Thursday I had my neighbors over for drinks and snacks. I made too much food as usual but we had a nice time chatting and drinking. Fawn is a doctor and Lawrence is a graphic designer. We had planned to go to the Last Thursday Alberta street deal but the flaked. So I walked around by myself. It was fantastic. I went into a house that looked like it had art and it did plus a quartet that was so great. Stand up bass and guitar player with the guitar player singing and two ladies singing back up. I loved it! Lots of stoned hippies in the house. Kinda fun. I headed down the street to a few galleries and met a guy called Craig Leaper who made these beautiful glass sculptures.
Friday, cleaned and did errands. Went to a library and got a book on interior design so I could get some of the language down for the Dewey & Rhodes site. I thought about sprucing up the design too. Went to bed early on friday...like 6:30. Watched a movie and caught up on sleep.
Saturday, I went to eat lunch at this place that was mentioned in the food section of the Portland monthly called the Everett Stree Bistro but the service was outrageously bad so I left. I stood for 15 minutes before I was approached and then I waited to be sat for about 15 more and then no one ever came to my table. It was a joke. I ate chinese nearby and it was good to hang out in the big booth on a saturday afternoon.
I came home and did some work and then went to the Hotel de Luxe where I met up with Laura and her friend Linda who turned out to be super cool. She's a travel agent but used to work at Hannna Anderson...! Laura had to run a half marathon the next day so she left early and Linda and I talked until midnight. She was so interesting and had been to so many places we could have kept talking but I got tired.
Today I went nuts and set up my studio in the basement. I took the patio table apart to get it down there and then reassembled it. I moved the flat files and went through all of that packing paper to find the mezuzzah which I couldn't find. But the place is now clean and organized and I can start working on my new ideas.
Made risotto for dinner with shallots, spinach, roasted squash, zucchini, chicken, shrimp and mushrooms. It was quite delicious and I brought two big bowls of it to my neighbors who were painting their living room. They had been working on it since saturday and I'm sure they didn't feel like cooking. I actually helped them tape around their trim on saturday morning. The room looks really beautiful and I hope they liked the food.
Martine called this afternoon and said that three serious buyers came by the house today! I hope the make an offer.
In the mean time the tooth I had a root canal on is still hurting.

This is between the seats of Todd's van.

Contemporary Craftiness

Spent a lot of time today thinking about relationships and control and sex and obsession. What happens in relationships when we merge? What happens to the individual? How does one remain autonomous and in relationship? How does one avoid dumping their baggage and unleashing their expectations upon someone. It occured to me because I have one friend divorcing, one friend separating and another just starting on a relationship. The starter is being controlled by the insecurity of the girlfriend and his autonomy is basically non-existent although he'd like to think otherwise. It's sad to see a great individual being manipulated through insecurity tactics which limit that person. And it's sex that does it. If they were just friends there would be no need to dictate who he is. Apparently I need to read some more psychology books to figure this one out. As I do not want to give up my freedom, I just avoid sex althogether. Then the choice between fun and obligation just doesn't come into play. But I see, more often than not, women actually not liking the guy they get together with as he is but seeing him as someone to change. And as Terry always tells me "the guy is who he is"...end of story. If you don't like him now, you never will.
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I went to the Contemporary Craft Museum of Portland today and I want that event coordinator job more than ever! What an amazing place filled with fantastic pieces. The show that is up now is all embroidery and some of the work was stunning. I'm hoping for that job!

Sated

Good weekend! Friday spent doing SEO to RememberWell.net. Put in my time on wordtracker .com and seemed to understand the strategy but we'll see. That was after I read my friend Robert's script that was HILARIOUS! I laughed out loud through the whole thing. Truely funny. There is an actor, who needs to remain nameless, attached to the project. I hope it gets made and that it's as funny as the script. I thought about it all weekend. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local rag in response to the most awful review of the play I saw last week.
Wow! I believe that James Walling crossed over the line from critic to savage. I could only gather that Mr. Walling has previous issues with Ms. Unger because I saw "An America Daughter" and it wasn't as awful as he claimed. I wouldn't put it in the category of brilliant but it was well acted and at times funny. I would agree that the set design - and to me, the costumes - were pretty laughable but to use the word "blame" in a review is just mean spirited and doesn't help to promote Portland's local theater; an apparent necessary evil of Mr. Walling's income. The casting may not have been ideal but there are so many factors involved in producing a play that perhaps Ms. Unger's first choices weren't available. And hypothetically, it's because there might not be the budget she would like to have access to due to vicious reviews like this one. How about reviewing local theater so it has a chance to grow? I would say that despite the flaws of this production of "An American Daughter" it is worth going if for no other reason than even a bad night at the theater is often better than a good night at home alone in front of your television, which is where Mr. Walling might consider staying.
Notice the "Wow"...it's really getting to be a theme. I wonder if they will print it.
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Saturday cold and I woke up around 7:15 and decided to get up and walk the dogs around the downtown area. I dressed in my down jacket, stopped for a super delicious latte and headed downtown. I forgot to close my sunroof and windows and my car was covered in dew. I could see my breath it was so cold. But the walk was lovely and so clear and crisp. The girls liked the outting. I ran into this massive whole foods to use the restroom and ended up getting a very yummy brioche. I drove to Target to return the pants I bought the few days before, picked up some hangers and came home to organize. On the way, after getting off of the freeway, I noticed a fenced in field at a school so I turned to get a better look at it. As I was trolling through the hood I ran across another field! Fenced totally except for about 20 feet...so I threw the ball for the dogs and they went wild smelling the grass and chasing the ball. I was so glad to see them run. Came home and tidied up my closets and did some work on Kimberely's site. Talked with her on the phone about the copy and wrote a little for her. Got ready for dinner with my friend from Nashville. Headed to his house and had a beer. My stomach had been upset from the doxycycline but the beer helped settle my stomach. And the music! He was playing this guy named James Hunter, this Sam Cooke sound alike from England that is my new fave! He's got great tone and they made the cd in one room. Recorded it all at once. It's just got a great mellow groove. It's the new soundtrack for this part of the Portland chapter. Bought my own copy on the way to this amazing mexican restaurant. Great drinks and food and laughed all night. Went to this weird but totally great people watching place called the Candle Light. Just a strange drunk crowd. Then back to the house for another drink and more music. Fun night. But late night. 3:30 call time and sunday was rough although I was happy to listen to James Hunter in the morning. Rode my bike to the market for coffee and a sandwich. Turkey on a kaiser roll with caramelized onions, cucumbers, lettuce, mayo and dijon. Where the hell else could you get such a delicious sand?
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Read the times, talked to Tina for a while, then Martine. And headed to Chris and Michele's where they transferred my dvd of info to my external drive. They saved me!
Came home and met up with my man from the Nashville/Portland bureau at Halilbuts Fish and Chips for THE BEST chowder and fish and chips I've ever had!!! I'm frightened that it's so close. The owners stopped by the table and said he's responsible for the fat asses on Alberta. It was seriously...nirvana!
All around good weekend.

No Title

Surprise! No blogging since Monday. Nuts. I guess it was a rather busy week. I got a call on monday from a temp agency that handles "creative". Met with them tuesday afternoon. Jen was awesome. She told me how to retool the old resume and I did. I scrambled to get it to her on wednesday but I spent too much time on the horn with Qwest because the fucking suck and I missed the deadline with her. Turned in my new resume and artwork on thursday. In trying to organize my art, I found that 2 dvd's I recorded won't play. So I'm going to Chris and Michele's on sunday night to see if I can recover the stuff.
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Spent two evening with Mona and Scott and had such fun with them. On tuesday night I met Laura and this hot dude named Fredrick. Kind of a Dartagnan looking guy who's an architect. I saw him on the street today walking his dog and he said he had emailed me an invite to a party on saturday. It's a parade down Mississippi and then a party. Sounds like fun. Laura is a fund raiser. She was so pretty though, at first, I thought she was in the "entertainment" industry. She's offered to send my resume to her friend at the museum which is so nice. I was sorry our evening was over. Scott and Mona are so much fun to be with. I met them on Wednesday night in my neighborhood with their friend Yasmine who was lovely as well. She just bought a house in my neighborhood and knew a lot about the internet business. I've been reading that SEO book that Mona suggested but Yasmine had a few extra good tips for me too.
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I was struck with a migraine yesterday that was fucking torture! It got worse as the day progressed despite the half of a percocet that I took. I went shopping before it got really bad for some "interview" clothes. I went down Alberta and found such cute things. This one store I went in was decorated in canary yellow and white lattice just like Palm Springs! It was awesome! I got a black skirt with embroidered flowers all over it that was made in this other store. The seamstress was in the shop with her baby and we discussed the way it fit. How cool is it that the dress maker is in the store! But I came home and had to sleep away the headache. It finally dispersed after a couple of advils and a phone call from Ann Corin. We talked for a while. She can be so sweet.
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Today cleaned up the basement and the whole house.
Did a few errands but came home and read Robert's script that made me laugh out loud! Soooo funny. I hope it gets made.

Pap

Susan woke me up this morning. But I couldn't answer the phone. It was 7:15...too early to talk. She left me a message that she went to a spa in the desert for her birthday with 7 women. And that she hiked in Zion for her birthday. Sounds like fun.
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I awoke with a little bit of a stress headache and ate a bowl of cereal after coffee so I could take asprin. Got a slow start and decided to straighten up the office and empty the last three boxes. I would kind of like my office in the basement but I'd bet my desk won't make it down there. So alas, I just moved my printer and set up the fax.
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Got a call from a temp agency and they set up an interview with me tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous to take the tests even though I know the programs. It's just nerve racking to be tested. I've got to get organized in the morning. The appointment is at 1.
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Took the dogs to this park I saw the other day that looked like there was a fenced in area. There was a partially fenced in area and I threw the ball about 4 times but got nervous. I put their leashes on and walked them around this awesome lake and through the colored trees. It was beautiful.
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Then ran to the market to buy bread and sos. Talked to Dawn and Martine. Then Robert called me and cheered me up. He's funny and he somehow made me feel better. He didn't even say anything brilliant but I guess all my worries seemed dumb when I said them to him. I PRAY that my house sells.
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Off to meet Scott and Mona for another interesting evening, I'm sure.

Mixed Bag

I want to start every posting with "Wow" for some reason. But I'm refraining. I can't seem to shake this headache. Maybe it's the dread of facing another day of sending out beautiful coverletters into the craigslist void. It's really annoying to put such effort into something and get no return...but apparently that bleeds into a lot of areas of life these days.
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I hit the ground running Sunday. Went immediately to New Seasons for a ham hock, which they were out of, and bread and a NY Times. Came home with some ham and started the split pea soup. It was cold and rainy so soup was perfect. Sat down to read the paper but checked my email first and saw a note from Michele regarding the farmers market so I called her. It was south of town so I picked her up and we braved the wind and rain for some beautiful dalias and chantrells and celery root and onions. I was saying how the weather may be bad, as it is in Nashville, but at least here you can get some beautiful food. And had I been dressed correctly instead of in my gym clothes, I would have been ok. I think it's time to wear boots.
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Came home and ate some soup and some filet of soul and read the SEO for Dummies that Mona suggested. I hopped right on to my web page and made some changes immediately. Kimberly called and we chatted for a while and she's going to send me the deposit for her project which is helpful. I took the dogs out for a walk and they were crazy. I also was slipping around in my boots with my angora socks so I felt really out of control.
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BradJones called me and we had a short conversation before Hags arrived at his place for Bossa Nova practice. It seems that Jamie has hired him at the Family Wash for a weekly bossa nova gig and he's enlisted Brad as a player. He also said that he had been out with Frank Goodman which is so weird because I knew him from Cafe Nuvo when I was 20.
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After ranting at Martine about my house, my headache began to take on new proportions so on the way to the Doug Fir, I stopped for asprin at wallgreens. Took three and then had a drink when I got there. It was crowded and they guy carded me at the door which was funny. I told him that I was old enough to be his mother but he didn't believe me until he was my id. Then he stamped my wrists and I had big black splotches on them. The show was in four parts and two sections of it were good. There were about 8 or nine cellos. I didn't realize it but the cello was the background of "Death and the Maiden" which I kept thinking about as they played. The classical stuff was good, the woman with the gloves and the wailing was lame and the woman in the red kolats (sp?) with the tan frye boots and the banjo was lame too. But this guy, newly arrived from New Hampshire, was great. He had some kind of recorder where he recorded for a minute or two and it repeated and he played over it. He was the star of the night. It was captivating and the place was silent. I left during the banjo deal. It wasn't worth waiting it out. Michele and Chris were a little bummed because they had put in an offer on a house and the people withdrew their counter offer and went with someone else. Seems kind of un-cool but that the real estate biz. Came home, had a little bread and cheese so I could take the doxycycline without getting an upset stomach and then went to bed.

Goals

Wow, I've been off the blog this week! So much going on.
The job hunt is on and I've been sending resumes into the craigslist void to no avail so far.
In a routine of searching for jobs and filling out resumes all morning.
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Wednesday night I mosied over to a street called Belmont to see a play at the theater where Howard works. It was a Wendy Wasserstein play called "An American Daughter". It was very good and the actors were great. It was such fun to be at a small theater. Howard is just so easy to be around. We sat in The Blue Monk afterwards and had a couple of drinks. The bartender rocked! She made us very delicious tangy vodka drinks with a little something unusual in them.
Thursday Eddy (Irais) came over and shored up the gate in the back and put in a new latch. What was there was pretty flimsy and I was concerned that the dogs would ditch out when I was at work. So he really fixed it all up and charged me a pittance, of course. But since I rarely have cash I had to dash out and get it. I decided to go to the library for more books for RememberWell.net and I forgot to go to the bank...of course. So he came by and I needed to run to the bank again but while he was packing up his stuff I saw an Earth, Wind and Fire cd case and commented on it. He opened it up and it had the Stax Greatest Hits in it and Rubber Soul. He played particular songs for me that he liked and his headphones were cranking. He loves music. It was so cute.

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Thursday night I met up with Todd Robinett...great name right? He's a friend of Dingo and a cool one at that. I met him at the Florida Room. A bar/restaurant not far from my place. It was a nice night and I was planning on riding my bike but I couldn't remember where I put my lock so I ended up driving. We sat at the bar and had a couple of drinks and he filled me in on Portland and his life. I thought he was going to look much different than he did. He sounded tall and lanky but he wasn't. He looks exactly like a young Jack Nicholson! But with longer hair. He was really engaging and interested in life. We talked about his travels and his family and how he met Jack. He also told me about the 'soup night' crowd and Jack hadn't done it justice. Sounds exceedingly interested. Hosted by two brothers, one an ex-chef, where gathered are up to 50 people who regularly come together. I can't wait. Unfortunately it will be at least three weeks because the chef is out of town in Italy.
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Friday, Kimberly and I hooked up by phone and she loves the web page design so I'm going to get right on it! Some money for rent. She also has a referral for me.
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My Dad is really wanting to rent Carr Street but after talking to the rental guy, I decided to drop the price again and just sell it. I am so hoping someone makes a damn offer this week. We're giving it away at this point. That is my wish for the day...an offer.
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Last night I met up with Scott and Mona at The Saffire Hotel up on Hawthorn. It was a dreamy room that felt like we could have been in Paris. We sat at the window seat and talked and ate delicious food and had a few drinks. Mona was so cute, she didn't get one she liked and stick with it, she tried three she liked! They are quite a lovely couple. If you met them apart, you would never imagine that they were a couple but then when they are together they work perfectly. They just had interesting things to say all night. We scuffeled off to this great hotel bar downtown that was really elegant and the bar stools were the most comfortable I've ever been on. They are internet sleuths and Mona suggest I get SEO for dummies which I am going to do today. I have got to get RememberWell.net going!
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Goals...

Nighty Night

Something has happened to my blog tools between firefox and safari. I must say, Qwest sucks! and for some reason, firefox stopped working on my computer when I arrived in Portland and I'm sure it has to do with qwest. So I can't link like I like to or add images very easily. It's like all the tools disappeared. Weird.
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Just finished redesigning my site in hopes of getting work. I just want to get out on the streets and start meeting people. Last night I went out with Michele and Chris. She came over and we met him down the street at this delicious beer place. The house they are looking to buy shares a back fence with mine! How insane is that? I mean what is the likelihood of that coincidence happening? I find this place via craigslist, they live way across town and neither of us could believe it. It was be so great if the moved there.
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Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache today and I'm not sure why. One beer? It was rather an unpleasant start to the day and I had to cancel my appointment at the temp place. I walked the dogs to a park far away in hopes of letting them run around but the fenced in ball field said not walking while the grass was seeded so no luck. But it was a perfect day and the dogs got some good exercise anyway. I had a big delicious salad when I got home and perused the craigslist want ads. I'm just applying for everything now and hoping something comes up. If I could only figure out what I want.
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I just found myself laughing out loud at the perezhilton.com site. That guy is a fucking nutter and sometimes just plain hilarious. Yesterday Robert Schwarts called and cracked me up too. I seriously can't believe the change in my mood since moving here. Netter told me tonight that he has to re-nickname me. Blissful Betty instead of Bitter Betty?

First Weekend

Saturday I got a call from David and Marah saying that they wanted to get the rest of the paperwork on sunday morning. I went to New Seasons and decided to actually buy some groceries instead of just an instant meal. Although it was 1pm and I was, by that time, starving. I had eaten some chicken the night before in order to have something in my stomach to take these damn pills without feeling sick and was still feeling full from it. I was just cranking on unpacking and finally got to the store...starving. Bought some delicious leek and potato soup and some tofu and shopped. While shopping I decided that I should ask David and Marah to breakfast. I bought ingredients to make fritatta: eggs, cream, gruyere, spinach, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, fresh oregano and these crispy sesame rolls. I decided to make a savory breakfast pudding. Plus I bought peaches to make crisp and honey dew melon. And this is just a pathetic statement on my pathetic life but I was so excited that they have Best Foods/Hellman's mayo and organic produce in the same place! I swear it's just paradise here.
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I was like a tornado with the cleaning. Totally organized the basement, unpacked all my clothes. Ran to HD and got a rug mat to put under my bedroom carpet. Got a longer dryer hose and washer drain extension. The people at the HD here are smart! and nice. It's weird. So I came back and hook up the washer and dryer but for some reason the washer isn't working. I couldn't deal with it so I just left it.
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Bunzow called and asked if I wanted to have dinner before his show. I only had about 2 hours. So I just hauled ass and basically got everything done but hang my pictures.
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I drove to a little town called Multnoma. Very 1950's. We drank beer and I ate a cajun shrimp salad that was pretty good and we split some very spicy ribs. The people were...friendly...it's just ridiculous, I know. So I stayed for the first set which was really good. He actually played covers of some great songs...Dylan, Merle, and some country classics. But knowing I had to get up and have breakfast ready at 9am and having NOT done the paperwork that they were picking up, I came home early.
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I had changed my bed position. I thought having it in the center of the room under the window was not only uncomfortable but bad feng shui. So I moved it the other direction and got the carpet all straightened out and slept really well. But I woke up early, 6am, because I didn't hear the dogs. And I went down stairs and caught Darla on the couch. I was pissed and reprimanded her. They I went back up and laid in bed thinking of making the breakfast. I was planning on getting up at 7 anyway, so I just laid in bed until just before 7. When I came back down stairs, Darla was on the couch again! I'm going to have to keep them with me upstairs or something.
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The kitchen was really difficult to cook in. There is NO counterspace. I ended up putting the microwave downstairs since I rarely use it. But I pulled off breakfast and it was really delicious! And they enjoyed it too. We sat at the table and chatted and they are both such nice people. David reminds me of Netter so much! The could be brothers.
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I laid down after they left for about an hour. I then called Howard and we chatted and then met for coffee. It was drizzly today but we walked to Peet's and sat and talked for like 2 hours or more. He's so interesting. I wasn't sure which side of the fence he was on at first but then it turns out that he's got 2 kids. So there. He took me to this fantastic Goodwill. I got "The book of household hints and dollar stretches". It's old and I think some of the advice is funny. I also got this red glass vase. He got a quilt and an inner tube for his son.
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I came home and fed the dogs and then hung all of my pictures. It was really hard and I wish Jerry Dale was here to help me. Plus the walls are lathe and plaster and the damn nails just bounce the hammer. But I think I got it worked of ok.

Let there be LIGHT!

The dogs woke me up early. They get so damn excited when I wake up. If they hear me roll over, they jump up and come sit right next to the bed. Darla got so excited she jumped in the bed and I didn't have the heart to tell her to get down so for a few minutes we hung out there. I started right in on unpacking and hung up these curtains that my mother had given me that I had no where to hang in SR. So they're like new. I put them in the "dining room".
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Ran to Walgreens to get that awful prescription and read the directions. Says to take it in an empty stomach so I did. Snyder called and then my Dad chimed in and said that he was going ahead to rent the SR house which is a nightmare for me. I needed the dough so seriously. Not sure how this will all pan out but I guess it will. I hang up and start to feel sick so I lay down. I was out for about an hour in bed trying not to throw up! It was awful. Never again. Then I recall my need to make sure I eat in order to take these pill and what a nightmare it is to try to regulate my meals. In theory one should take doxycyclene 12 hours apart, 2x a day. You are supposed to keep antibiotics in the system evenly.
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Anyway, when I awake, Eddy is here singing and plastering the sheet-rock he's replaced. He gives me directions to the plumbing store to get the adapter for the shower head and I head over there. Mississippi street is happening. Super cool stores and restaurants, only a few 5 blocks long. I remembered seeing a light bulb store! Yes, a light-bulb store. It was heavenly. Small and crowded like something you'd find in New York. A woman and a man were restocking on 2 of the 4 aisles and this big woman sat at the helm poured over her chair and as sweet at pie. I expressed my excitement for the Edison bulbs and mentioned that I was there to replace the flourescents that were, for some unknown, reason in my new house. She told me that lighting was really personal and that she had two clients who liked their lighting very different and what a problem it can be. She told me that usually though, the one who needs more light wins....interesting. I ended up buying this Edison bulb - a clear bulb with a loopy element and three mercury dipped light bulbs. I could have gone nuts but I kept it simple. The Edison light came in four shapes and it just beautiful. It's only 25 watts but perfect for my desk lamp. I put one of the mercury dipped above the kitchen sink and it's so much better.
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Came home and got ORGANIZED. Cleaned out the basement, the garage and all of Eddy's mess. He left for another job and called to say he'd come back tomorrow. That basement is divine and I love getting stuff in order! I put up the metro rack and put all of my backing pans and rags on it. There is just so much room.
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Walked to the ORGANIC market 2 blocks away and got some limeade for the tequila I had and made a little cocktail and guac. Relaxed and headed out to see Bunzow's band the XAngels. They were pretty zesty when I finally found them. It was a little late. Came home to two very happy dogs and hit the hay....more organizing to do.

Uneventful

Well, I'm finally feeling somewhat organized. Spent most of the day moving furniture and emptying boxes!
Nathan came by again to help me lug stuff up and down the stairs. He also gave me a ride from returning that massive rental. I had to put gas in it before returning it and I keep forgetting about the non-self-serve policy at the gas stations here. It's rather dreamy really. The two gas stations I went to today had Chinese ladies in baseball caps filling the tanks. I wondered if that was a trend. I can't believe it, but I went to New Seasons again today for lunch. I asked the men if they wanted me to get them a sandwich or something but Nathan was very firm in leaving for lunch on his own. And I made my first trip today to Home Depot in 2 1/2 years! I never went there in CA; there were so many alternatives. Had to get a washing machine electrical cord because I had a three prong and I need a 4. Eddy finished up the stairs, carpeting and sheet-rock. He is so damn funny. He kept making hilarious jokes in his cute accent. He actually made me laugh instead of just saying, "that's funny", which is a famous line of mine.
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Unfortunately, I have to take that horrid antibiotic again but fortunately, my doctor was able to call it into the pharmacy. That tooth that I had the root canal done on is really killing me so I called the dentist too. I think that this lyme's disease is making weird stuff happen.
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Unpacked from 4:30 until 9:30. It seemed so overwhelming that I just started in the closet, worked my way through the kitchen and unpacked all of my cocktail and champagne glasses. Lots of paper and boxes but made real headway. The whole time I was craving a tequila but have no mixer and didn't make it to the store for any. I did think about how I am not supposed to drink on that antibiotic. I think it's called doxycyclene. Anyway...will take picture of the house tomorrow when it looks better. Buenos noches

Style Maven and Cantor....Zen Koan

Tumult

Well, I sit in my new place in Portland after a long journey. The first sprinkles of fall are coming down.
This house is QUIET! So nice. But a bit smaller than I anticipated and I'm having to really use vulcan logic to figure out where everything goes.
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I packed up what was left of my house on sunday. This guy and his son helped me load the truck. They were nice people. As I was mopping the floor, the open house began and I ended up meeting a few of the lookers. But still, no one has made and offer yet. The house really looks good even empty.
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Drove this massive 26 foot truck up my parents 2 mile single lane, partially dirt, road and they helped me load the rest of my stuff. Can I just say, what a fuck fest. I have sooo much stuff! My Dad was amazing! He just could lift all of the heavy stuff and we got it all on there. It really looked like a huge mess. Lots of misshaped things: plants, dog beds, desk, bike...endless.
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My Dad picked up Martine around 7:30 and we hung out at the house drinking coffee and talking about my brother and we all hope that he's ok. This was the first departure from California (and it's been 4 now) where my parents were cool. I took that as a sign. Martine and I drove up 5 to Mt. Shasta calling each other on the phone every so often. We had gotten some delicious chicken curry from the Sonoma market and at it on the back of my RR in Redding. I was listening to this Gael Green book, Insatiable, that Michele Watkins had sent to me for the ride. It's awesome. She was so avant garde in the women's movements meaning that she was herself in a man's world. She actually had affairs and talked about all of the juicy details in between her dining experiences. I didn't make it to the end yet but I can't wait to hear the rest. Martine had such a different take. She thought it was depressing. Which reminds me of a phone call from Dawn today where she thought that the Forsythe saga was much different than my take. I loved Irene and thought her to be independent; Dawn thought her cold. I did not like Fleur and she did. We both agreed on Soames being a creep but still understandable and we both loved Jolyen. It's just so funny how we all find different things relevant or interesting or offensive in the same story.
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So...upon arriving in Mt. Shasta, we met up with Mt. Shasta George and sat on a sunny porch with the girls and drank some delicious beer. After returning to our cute hotel to feed the dogs, we went to a Mexican restaurant and sat in it's loungy bar and drank margaritas and shared fajitas and nachos. And laughed about the BLOG! I need to put our conversation in as best I can remember. I think a great deal of the night was spent debating life and buddhism and George named my living in the moment while projecting my future, "heatherism". I still think it's kind of buddhist though. Meditating and being present but visualizing goodness that will come to one. Isn't that buddhist? We ended though analyzing George's love life. I predicted that he'll meet a Davis grad who's moved to Mt. Shasta to study it's geography or something. It was a super fun night and we had a lot of laughs. Oh my god! Earlier in the evening we stopped at his office so Martine could use the computer and I stepped into the bathroom and stepped out with the t.p. I had put down on the seat stuck to my pants! It was so embarrassing and we all had a good laugh and decided it had to go into the blog because EVERYTHING must get blogged...even the embarrassing parts...especially the embarrassing parts!
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Tuesday's drive was long. 7 hours. But so beautiful. We took off about 7 am from Mt. Shasta after having coffee with George and the sun was just coming up and there were clouds and it was truly magical. Plus Oregon is just pretty. But the hills...jesus...the truck would only go about 45 mph so it took a long time. We had to stop for lunch although it put us two hours behind. But we split a veggie burger and this incredible fish sandwich at this diner. Martine told me all about her family history...she actually answered my questions about her family history.
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Our arrival in Portland was at 3pm and Dennis, Terry and Nathan unloaded the truck. It was a nightmare but we got it done in 3 hours! There was a bit of a hitch; my mattress wouldn't fit up the stairs. The landing is tiny and neither the mattress or the box spring would fit! It was unnerving. But I called the landlords and they said they'd come by at 7:30 to meet and figure out what to do. It kind of put a damper on my excitement. The guys left, I gave them a little extra cause the worked to damn hard. Terry told me that he also picks mushrooms and sells them to restaurants. I thought that was cool. The mushrooms I've seen at the farmer's markets here are picture perfect. John Bunzow came by to drive me to the airport. Martine need to leave on a 7:20 flight and I didn't want to deal with figuring out how to get there after such a long few days. We get here there in plenty of time and then went and had a couple of beers near my place. He actually lives only about 20 blocks from my house. While Bunzow was here, he suggested that we just take out some of the bottom stairs to solve the mattress problem. When I mentioned that to Marah and David, the were cool with it and called their Cuban handyman Eddy. He came by immediately and said no problem.
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I slept in the living room on my bed and realized I hadn't eaten since lunch but I was too tired to go out. I was really hungry when I woke up and ran to the market. Of course, the food was beautiful and delicious and the people who worked there seemed to cool. Came home and got the internet together and moved boxes and unpacked them. I made good progress.
Now, bath and bed.