traveling...again

why is it that i am finding myself on the road more than at home lately? it's an exciting way to live (out of a backpack...my favorite) except for the poor dog who is hanging out at home with her surrogate family. come to think of it, she's probably just fine. she has cleo and the chickens and lots of people to take care of her...all without an annoying mom to nag here. what could be better. i guess i just miss her! but at least i can get excited about the jumping, excited greeting i'll get upon my return home next week. that's what's so great about dogs...they are good at making you feel loved when you come home from a long day at work (or a long trip out of town). if only dogs could fly more easily (if only dogs had wings?).

i am in the denver airport. procrastinating a some grant writing and enjoying all the flight crews in halloween costume. thank goodness for wireless internet and computers. would i have to sit still and actually deal with myself if not for these wonderful distractions?

maybe it's time for some airport yoga. handstands anyone?

happy halloween & happy almost november.

upside down dogs

tonight liz sent me a link to upside down dogs. fierce has found her people! fierce is the ultimate upside down dog. infact, the second picture on the link could be fierce...except that she's not really known for holding round items in her mouth like that. who knew there were a whole slew of upside down dogs out there? and they are all so cute.

here is a recent picture of fierce drying off after a late night willamette river paddle. she stayed in the boat, but was really really curious about the black stuff we were floating on. such a cute dog!

new york city

last weekend i had the pleasure of joining my family and my extended family on a journey to new york to discover our family lineage. it was so much fun! fun to visit ellis island and the tenament museum. ok, fun might not be the best word. we had a fun time with each other...but those places and the stories they tell are quite somber. it was a moving experience. it was also great to see my dad and brother...who i don't get to see often enough. (portland sort of does that to people). this is a picture of kirk and i on ellis island. we were aiming for 'christmas card picture' quality...but i think mom is going to be disappointed again.

and this is the whole clan. i was so glad to find the roots of my liberal blood (kirk's height and my voting record don't match anything else in our four-person family).
and this is my dad's picture of st. patrick's cathedral. he is proud of it, so i thought i might as well post it here. kirk and i each lit a candle for grandma, how could you not?!

as promised...birthday pictures

fierce knows where to find the frosting

ooops, this isn't rotated the right way. however, that wouldn't help this picture look any better. thank goodness all the faces are obscured.

jana flies shannon. that's a good takeoff. the landing wasn't so smooth.

28. a respctable age. a respctable spelling.

i voted! i voted!

ok, ok i know the photo is blurry. however, the filled in bubble is not blurry and this vote is going to count! what i love about being an oregon voter is our vote by mail system. it means that i can sit at the kitchen table, drink some ginseng peppermint tea and vote while i listen to the dog snore and heater kick on. what could be better than that?

this was a pretty easy ballot to fill out. the only one that gave me trouble was east multnomah soil and water conservation district, director, at large 2. it doesn't help when one of the candidates isn't in the voter guide. i resorted to the weekly's description. anyhow, it's done! i will drop it off at the library tomorrow. make sure it gets tucked into that special box real careful.

i can't wait for election night! or election day for that matter! yay yay yay!

birthday thank yous

thank you friends and family for all the birthday wishes last week. it was so nice to have so many lovely e-mails and phone calls. it was a lovely birthday and i am so excited to be 28! i am convinced that 28 is going to be the best year of my life. so far, so good. i had a little birthday shindig on friday and as soon as i get the photos back (from the disposable cameras we all used) i will post some pictures (gasp, something other than dogs and chickens?). so, thank you friends near and far...you all make life worth living.

yay!

can someone explain?

i am coming down with something. by something i mean the gauze and cotton monster that has decided to crawl inside my head and nest in my sinuses. i am sure it has to do with the change of weather and the onset of rain and the slight craziness in my belly and the running around lately...but now?! come on! i am self-medicating with thai food and love actually and hopefully acupuncture. and tomorrow i am going to see the western doctor...because desperate times call for desperate measures.

i will be well by wednesday night! i will make my body cooperate. i will, i will!

we're not even in the canoe yet...

...and she's already a very unhappy dog.

bike the what?

well friends, it looks like the documentary of the bike the vote will be coming out around election time this year. let me just do my duty and ask...are you registered to vote? at your current address? if not, visit this link, this one right here! and register yourself...or else i might just bike to your house and make you vote (unless you are voting for mccain, then i'll just stay put - how nice that i don't have to be non-partisan any more).

anyhow, the trailer is back up at the bikethevotemovie.com website. click here to see what it's all about. you'll see it open with our press conference in chicago which was the largest of the trip...and the one of the grannies biking for marriage equality...and so many things that i haven't thought of in a long time. and you'll also get to see me with no hair, my favorite part of the trip. i am really, really curious to see the documentary, partly because the ride took place over four years ago and now seems really far away and partly because i am easily embarrassed.

chris is looking to schedule screenings across the country. if you are interested in hosting a screening at your local theater or school or church or whatever you got in your town...drop me a line.

check it out. if you want a good laugh and maybe a little election inspiration.
(and leave comments! jana, i'm so glad you get that!)

a love letter to garlic

i'm taking a writing class. apparently everything that i write sounds like a love letter, according to the feedback of my peers. i guess that's a reasonable thing, considering that i've been writing them for the past three months now. if i'm going to have a genre, i might as well master it, right?

in class on thursday we were each given a fresh herb as inspiration, a jumping off point for a three minute free write. here is my garlic writing (which no one from last night will remember asking me to post...i'm not sure anyone will remember anything...except joyful dancing, french fries, tattoo looking, losing $20 and hilarity.

spicy, pungent, moist.
cleaning out the stuck-ness in my lungs from these last few days. burning in my sinus cavities, i want your smell to be your taste to be my breakfast lunch and dinner. i can smell the earth on you. maybe even the rot of your next door neighbor, had she not been eaten for lunch instead of saved for february potato leek soup.
deep and powerfu, will you embrace me with your warm arms, climb up my nostrils and kiss the inside of my head, the back of my tongue? i love the way your smell lingers on my hands, stubbornly, for days after eating you.
--
(maybe i'm just waiting for wednesday)
i might start posting more of my writing here. the next one was about cumin and it made
so hungry.

back to duct taping...clearly this is procrastiblogging.