For all of you who may be lamenting the fact Halloween is over, I hope this little song by the Sippy Cups brings a smile to your face.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
New Post at Hypatia Speaks...
Hey all, we've got alot going on this fall - so visit Hypatia Speaks for the latest interesting tidbits!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Time...Is an Illusion...
Today is Sunday...even though it is Tuesday.
Last Saturday was Day One of Ye Olde Academy's annual Foundation Festival, so it wound up turning into Monday. But it wasn't really Monday. There were no classes. We were at the school, we were at work, but we were at play. We were playing all day. We were working by playing, and we played late, so we worked late. That meant it couldn't be Saturday, therefore it was Monday...a strangely un-Monday-like Monday, but Monday nonetheless.
The next day was Day Two of the Festival and therefore a work day. The calendar insisted it was Sunday, but it couldn't be. Sundays aren't for working. Moreover, it was the day after Monday. It was a working day coming after Monday. Therefore, Day Two had to be Tuesday. Tuesdays are work days, and we were working even while we were playing, and it was the day after Monday, so it was Tuesday. The calendar didn't agree, but it was so.
The day after that naturally had to complicate things. Being the day after Tuesday, normally it would be Wednesday, but the Festival was done. The calendar frothily argued that it was Monday, but that couldn't be; Monday had already happened. That left us with a temporal vacuum. But then it was remembered that Saturday had been lost in the shuffle and was still drifting around in calenderic hyperspace. It was called upon to fill the void. Saturdays are usually half work days. However, the Powers That Be (ah-AH) had decided there would be no classes. It was the power down and clean up time after the Festival, so there were no classes. But still there had to be a half day of work, and that meant four hours. Four hours that had no schedule, so they could appear anywhere. I spent my four hours there...four hours appearing where I wanted them to be...and there was almost no one there. Most of the faculty had taken the day off. That made it feel like Sunday...Sunday that was Saturday where Monday was supposed to be.
The calendar displacement had one day left to go. Once again, the calendar jumped up on its soapbox and started screaming rabidly that it was Tuesday. But Tuesday, like Monday before it, had also already happened, so we had yet another void to fill. This time the only candidate was Sunday. Sunday, the day of rest. Sunday, the day of staying home. And so I remained at home on Sunday while everyone else languished through Tuesday. Two separate days, and yet together. Time travel made possible by Ye Olde Academy's Foundation Festival. I wonder if the Powers That Be (ah-AH) are aware of just how much power they have.
Tomorrow things return to normal. Everyone comes together in the great NEXUS that is Wednesday. The day of Odin. The day of woe. The day my 7th grade students have so much trouble spelling right. The line must be drawn...here.
Now let's all sing along with The Cure's "Friday (I'm In Love)":
Monday, you can fall apart,
Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart,
Thursday doesn't even start.
It's Friday! I'm in love!
The trouble is...what if Friday winds up turning into Monday?
Last Saturday was Day One of Ye Olde Academy's annual Foundation Festival, so it wound up turning into Monday. But it wasn't really Monday. There were no classes. We were at the school, we were at work, but we were at play. We were playing all day. We were working by playing, and we played late, so we worked late. That meant it couldn't be Saturday, therefore it was Monday...a strangely un-Monday-like Monday, but Monday nonetheless.
The next day was Day Two of the Festival and therefore a work day. The calendar insisted it was Sunday, but it couldn't be. Sundays aren't for working. Moreover, it was the day after Monday. It was a working day coming after Monday. Therefore, Day Two had to be Tuesday. Tuesdays are work days, and we were working even while we were playing, and it was the day after Monday, so it was Tuesday. The calendar didn't agree, but it was so.
The day after that naturally had to complicate things. Being the day after Tuesday, normally it would be Wednesday, but the Festival was done. The calendar frothily argued that it was Monday, but that couldn't be; Monday had already happened. That left us with a temporal vacuum. But then it was remembered that Saturday had been lost in the shuffle and was still drifting around in calenderic hyperspace. It was called upon to fill the void. Saturdays are usually half work days. However, the Powers That Be (ah-AH) had decided there would be no classes. It was the power down and clean up time after the Festival, so there were no classes. But still there had to be a half day of work, and that meant four hours. Four hours that had no schedule, so they could appear anywhere. I spent my four hours there...four hours appearing where I wanted them to be...and there was almost no one there. Most of the faculty had taken the day off. That made it feel like Sunday...Sunday that was Saturday where Monday was supposed to be.
The calendar displacement had one day left to go. Once again, the calendar jumped up on its soapbox and started screaming rabidly that it was Tuesday. But Tuesday, like Monday before it, had also already happened, so we had yet another void to fill. This time the only candidate was Sunday. Sunday, the day of rest. Sunday, the day of staying home. And so I remained at home on Sunday while everyone else languished through Tuesday. Two separate days, and yet together. Time travel made possible by Ye Olde Academy's Foundation Festival. I wonder if the Powers That Be (ah-AH) are aware of just how much power they have.
Tomorrow things return to normal. Everyone comes together in the great NEXUS that is Wednesday. The day of Odin. The day of woe. The day my 7th grade students have so much trouble spelling right. The line must be drawn...here.
Now let's all sing along with The Cure's "Friday (I'm In Love)":
Monday, you can fall apart,
Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart,
Thursday doesn't even start.
It's Friday! I'm in love!
The trouble is...what if Friday winds up turning into Monday?
Monday, August 17, 2009
Skeeters, Olallie, and the Big Limp
At the time, it seemed like a smart idea. I was losing weight. I was able to ride on my "acoustic" (read non-electric) bike for pretty much everything and I felt ready to take the next step. It turned out to be a step backwards, but it was still worthwhile.
I've been Jonesing for a decent backtrip trip ever since I wrenched my knee 3 years ago on the Pacific Crest Trail. I decided a trip to Olallie Lake in the northern Oregon Cascades was a good choice. The slopes were mostly gentle and there were many possible camping spots owing to the plentiful lakes in the area.
It was the maiden voyage (for me, anyway) of a 1992 Honda Accord that was a birthday present for the MiniSnab (and she still didn't know about it). Even though the lake is not far as the crow flies from the Willamette Valley, I'd forgotten how far it was as the car flies (about 150 miles from our house). In addition, the last dozen or so miles were on gravel roads.
I pulled up to the trailhead, had some lunch and donned the backpack for this trip. Mosquitoes are a problem in July, but they didn't seem too terrible, so I didn't think much about it. I packed extremely light, but I recently purchased a new CPAP machine that runs on Li-ion batteries and 2 batteries etc. weighed about 8 pounds, so the backpack was a bit hefty. Since this was a solo outing, there would be no splitting of cook gear, tentage, etc. to save weight.
My first mile and a half (or so) held most of the climbing, about 700 feet. The trails were not well kept (when compared to the Pacific Crest trail). Much of the way resembled a dry creek bed. I suspect anyone with a mountain bike would be better off carrying it up a trail like this. The terrible truth is that, even with biking, I am out of shape. When I reached the top, I enjoyed a limited view of the mountain, then decided to find a lake to camp at.
Apparently, the trailmakers had never heard of a switchback because I basically walked straight down a hillside to the first lake. Young me wouldn't have cared, but old and banged up me had to pick my way slowly down the hill. Even so, I ended up turning my ankle and wincing in pain.
Fine, I thought. I will get down to the lake and take stock of the situation. I picked my way VERY slowly the rest of the way, noting a rather exponential increase in mosquitoes as I went. I finally found a stopping place by the lake and dropped my pack. I looked down and saw dozens of mosquitoes on each leg. I wiped one calf and left a black and red smear down my leg.
In a panic, I started throwing everything out of my pack and found the bottle of 100% DEET. That should help. I aimed straight at my calf and sprayed...right into my open mouth. Shit. I turned the nozzle 180 degrees and started spraying the rest of myself, spitting and trying not to swallow. My saliva turned gummy, but I had to staunch the attack. Finally, I coated myself in enough poison to be able to rinse my mouth out a dozen times or so with water.
I continued on to a possible camping spot. The DEET was effective. The skeeters were flying around me, but not biting. I sat there looking over the lake as my foot stiffened up. I realized it was not going to be better by tomorrow, so I made the decision to bag the trip. (mmhmm)
The way back avoided the mountain and was all downhill, but it was more stairsteps of dry creekbed, each of which had me muttering ouches and expletives. When Olallie Lake hove back in view, there was great relief. A quarter mile limp up the service road took me back to the car. I sat in the car, safe from mosquitoes and plotted my next move.
I made my way down the gravel road, then down to the Forest Service road between Estacada and Detroit. Even though Detroit led away from home, I decided to see if there was somewhere to stay and so there was.
My big packpack trip ended at a hotel in Detroit Lake. I went over and had a burger and enough wine to mask my foot pain and headed back to my room. The hotel had a nightly campfire, so I hung out and enjoyed the company of a number of people I didn't know. My CPAP performed admirably in the hotel room that evening. In the morning, I checked my legs. I started counting bites on my left calf and stopped at 42 exrapolating an easy triple digit figure overall. So far, no West Nile or malaria. Whew!
The drive home was relatively uneventful.
So here are the few pics I took...
The view from part way up the hill.
Olallie Lake and Mount Jefferson
The hotel I stayed at.
I've been Jonesing for a decent backtrip trip ever since I wrenched my knee 3 years ago on the Pacific Crest Trail. I decided a trip to Olallie Lake in the northern Oregon Cascades was a good choice. The slopes were mostly gentle and there were many possible camping spots owing to the plentiful lakes in the area.
It was the maiden voyage (for me, anyway) of a 1992 Honda Accord that was a birthday present for the MiniSnab (and she still didn't know about it). Even though the lake is not far as the crow flies from the Willamette Valley, I'd forgotten how far it was as the car flies (about 150 miles from our house). In addition, the last dozen or so miles were on gravel roads.
I pulled up to the trailhead, had some lunch and donned the backpack for this trip. Mosquitoes are a problem in July, but they didn't seem too terrible, so I didn't think much about it. I packed extremely light, but I recently purchased a new CPAP machine that runs on Li-ion batteries and 2 batteries etc. weighed about 8 pounds, so the backpack was a bit hefty. Since this was a solo outing, there would be no splitting of cook gear, tentage, etc. to save weight.
My first mile and a half (or so) held most of the climbing, about 700 feet. The trails were not well kept (when compared to the Pacific Crest trail). Much of the way resembled a dry creek bed. I suspect anyone with a mountain bike would be better off carrying it up a trail like this. The terrible truth is that, even with biking, I am out of shape. When I reached the top, I enjoyed a limited view of the mountain, then decided to find a lake to camp at.
Apparently, the trailmakers had never heard of a switchback because I basically walked straight down a hillside to the first lake. Young me wouldn't have cared, but old and banged up me had to pick my way slowly down the hill. Even so, I ended up turning my ankle and wincing in pain.
Fine, I thought. I will get down to the lake and take stock of the situation. I picked my way VERY slowly the rest of the way, noting a rather exponential increase in mosquitoes as I went. I finally found a stopping place by the lake and dropped my pack. I looked down and saw dozens of mosquitoes on each leg. I wiped one calf and left a black and red smear down my leg.
In a panic, I started throwing everything out of my pack and found the bottle of 100% DEET. That should help. I aimed straight at my calf and sprayed...right into my open mouth. Shit. I turned the nozzle 180 degrees and started spraying the rest of myself, spitting and trying not to swallow. My saliva turned gummy, but I had to staunch the attack. Finally, I coated myself in enough poison to be able to rinse my mouth out a dozen times or so with water.
I continued on to a possible camping spot. The DEET was effective. The skeeters were flying around me, but not biting. I sat there looking over the lake as my foot stiffened up. I realized it was not going to be better by tomorrow, so I made the decision to bag the trip. (mmhmm)
The way back avoided the mountain and was all downhill, but it was more stairsteps of dry creekbed, each of which had me muttering ouches and expletives. When Olallie Lake hove back in view, there was great relief. A quarter mile limp up the service road took me back to the car. I sat in the car, safe from mosquitoes and plotted my next move.
I made my way down the gravel road, then down to the Forest Service road between Estacada and Detroit. Even though Detroit led away from home, I decided to see if there was somewhere to stay and so there was.
My big packpack trip ended at a hotel in Detroit Lake. I went over and had a burger and enough wine to mask my foot pain and headed back to my room. The hotel had a nightly campfire, so I hung out and enjoyed the company of a number of people I didn't know. My CPAP performed admirably in the hotel room that evening. In the morning, I checked my legs. I started counting bites on my left calf and stopped at 42 exrapolating an easy triple digit figure overall. So far, no West Nile or malaria. Whew!
The drive home was relatively uneventful.
So here are the few pics I took...
The view from part way up the hill.
Olallie Lake and Mount Jefferson
The hotel I stayed at.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
2009 Country Fair
It was another trip to the Oregon Country Fair this year. This was the 40th anniversary and they celebrated by designing the worst button in their history. I don't have a picture, but they combined their symbol, a peach, with the Forrest Gump/Wal*Mart smily face logo which pretty much negated the kind of "street cred" they were looking for. Nonetheless...
The unique theme for ME this year was connecting with people. I connected with a person from the past and reminisced about old Boy Scout camp staff experiences from 20 years ago. In addition, I made my first ever in-person internet meetup with Ze Bulette (or Catpsi to some) on this trip. I was dropped off about 3 blocks from his home and caught him tending to his canine friends in the front yard. He let me thumb through his Labyrinth Lord rule book and a few other items including a nifty concept of his own, and he dropped me at the bus to catch up with my cohorts at the fair.
The Minisnab also invited a friend on this trip. I will call him Jundoug and he was a real hoot to have along. He also got a big kick out of the fair and we invited him back next year. Here are a few highlights:
While Jundoug and Minisnab toured the University of Oregon, I scaled Skinner Butte (using a really stupid route) and took this shot across downtown Eugene. Spencer Butte is in the background.
For those with gnomophobia, I apologize for this picture.
Ladybug had some beautiful henna work done at the fair. The colorful glitter added to the effect.
Ladybug, Jundoug, and I pose while Minisnab snaps a picture.
My themed parades marched continually through the fair...these look like yellowjackets.
Certainly Green was a theme...
Minisnab shows off her "blue steel" look while Jundoug dons his new horns.
A rhythm wall greeted us on the way out.
Jundoug, MiniSnab, and Ladybug pose near the entrance to The Labyrinth.
The unique theme for ME this year was connecting with people. I connected with a person from the past and reminisced about old Boy Scout camp staff experiences from 20 years ago. In addition, I made my first ever in-person internet meetup with Ze Bulette (or Catpsi to some) on this trip. I was dropped off about 3 blocks from his home and caught him tending to his canine friends in the front yard. He let me thumb through his Labyrinth Lord rule book and a few other items including a nifty concept of his own, and he dropped me at the bus to catch up with my cohorts at the fair.
The Minisnab also invited a friend on this trip. I will call him Jundoug and he was a real hoot to have along. He also got a big kick out of the fair and we invited him back next year. Here are a few highlights:
While Jundoug and Minisnab toured the University of Oregon, I scaled Skinner Butte (using a really stupid route) and took this shot across downtown Eugene. Spencer Butte is in the background.
For those with gnomophobia, I apologize for this picture.
Ladybug had some beautiful henna work done at the fair. The colorful glitter added to the effect.
Ladybug, Jundoug, and I pose while Minisnab snaps a picture.
My themed parades marched continually through the fair...these look like yellowjackets.
Certainly Green was a theme...
Minisnab shows off her "blue steel" look while Jundoug dons his new horns.
A rhythm wall greeted us on the way out.
Jundoug, MiniSnab, and Ladybug pose near the entrance to The Labyrinth.
Blog? What Blog?
Hi there...I guess I've been away for awhile. I've spent time camping, biking, immersing myself in the Facebook phenomenon, working, and hanging out but not blogging much. I've also been wondering what to blog about without too much new to cover, so I will hit the highlights of the summer over the next few posts.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Garden Musings....
Time to take stock of where we were, and what craziness is happening in the garden now:
So this was the garden some time in May?...In the farthest row you can see a couple pumpkins getting a good start, along w/a volunteer Hosta (the one w/the white & green bi-colored leaves). The next row has broccoli, a small yellow & green Hosta, and a "mystery" plant (the tallest one in the row). Then comes the spinach row, a so-far negligible cucumber row, and in the last row (off-screen) are onions.
Here's another pic from the front end:
You can see the Bleeding Heart's (Coeur de Marie in French), that are next to the garden, and a better view of the Hosta (which I had planted years ago and completely forgotten about). I think my decisions to fertilize the garden this time around, instead of just "letting nature" do it's work helped alot-especially with the "volunteer" plants! We also did amend the soil with some regular garden soil and some compost (which had probably been working for about 3 years...).
So this is what it looks like now!-
The spinach has actually already been harvested: we tried for a 2nd growth, like with lettuce, but it didn't really work out. The broccoli is finally starting to bloom, the cucumbers took off and our "mystery plant" is getting taller and weirder! What could it be??!!
(Our Liliac trees are in the background: I put down some weed barrier, and lots of barkdust to keep down the grasses/weeds that seem to pop up everywhere here!).
So what is that "mystery plant" you ask?
It is a Double-Bloom Hollyhock! You can also see down on the right some bright yellow Primrose (another volunteer), and the crazy pumpkin vines in the back blooming and twining around the Liliacs. For several years after we had a serious garden, we kind of gave up and I tried to make a flower garden...I planted some Foxglove, the Hostas, some mint, Chinese Lanterns, Daisies, and evidently some Primrose & Hollyhocks! This year we decided to try again, and Snabby rototilled the garden area quite well, so I'm surprised about all the plants that survived that!
Now I've got some crazy pumpkin vine pics:
The vine just keeps going, and going.....
This pic shows how it's reached the house, and then turned to go into the Daylilies. It's also a nice picture of the Pumpkin Blossoms, which close and wither very quickly over the course of just a day or so. So far we have just a couple pumpkins started, but I'm already exited for Halloween!
Finally, here is a pic of some of our bounty - a huge Cucumber (I try keeping up on harvesting them, but they get way from me, hiding under the leaves!), a growing Pumpkin and a Black Krim tomato.
So this was the garden some time in May?...In the farthest row you can see a couple pumpkins getting a good start, along w/a volunteer Hosta (the one w/the white & green bi-colored leaves). The next row has broccoli, a small yellow & green Hosta, and a "mystery" plant (the tallest one in the row). Then comes the spinach row, a so-far negligible cucumber row, and in the last row (off-screen) are onions.
Here's another pic from the front end:
You can see the Bleeding Heart's (Coeur de Marie in French), that are next to the garden, and a better view of the Hosta (which I had planted years ago and completely forgotten about). I think my decisions to fertilize the garden this time around, instead of just "letting nature" do it's work helped alot-especially with the "volunteer" plants! We also did amend the soil with some regular garden soil and some compost (which had probably been working for about 3 years...).
So this is what it looks like now!-
The spinach has actually already been harvested: we tried for a 2nd growth, like with lettuce, but it didn't really work out. The broccoli is finally starting to bloom, the cucumbers took off and our "mystery plant" is getting taller and weirder! What could it be??!!
(Our Liliac trees are in the background: I put down some weed barrier, and lots of barkdust to keep down the grasses/weeds that seem to pop up everywhere here!).
So what is that "mystery plant" you ask?
It is a Double-Bloom Hollyhock! You can also see down on the right some bright yellow Primrose (another volunteer), and the crazy pumpkin vines in the back blooming and twining around the Liliacs. For several years after we had a serious garden, we kind of gave up and I tried to make a flower garden...I planted some Foxglove, the Hostas, some mint, Chinese Lanterns, Daisies, and evidently some Primrose & Hollyhocks! This year we decided to try again, and Snabby rototilled the garden area quite well, so I'm surprised about all the plants that survived that!
Now I've got some crazy pumpkin vine pics:
The vine just keeps going, and going.....
This pic shows how it's reached the house, and then turned to go into the Daylilies. It's also a nice picture of the Pumpkin Blossoms, which close and wither very quickly over the course of just a day or so. So far we have just a couple pumpkins started, but I'm already exited for Halloween!
Finally, here is a pic of some of our bounty - a huge Cucumber (I try keeping up on harvesting them, but they get way from me, hiding under the leaves!), a growing Pumpkin and a Black Krim tomato.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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