good morning--yep it is 2:00 am

went to bed really early and now I am wide awake...oh well...the fun of aging and over working---my sleep schuedule is very different; so when I get sleepy again...I will go back to bed but for now...here I am. Watching "Is that skunk?" on opb..sure reminds me of flag and living at Ascona...yes, we had the trail for several skunks in flag...some funny and not so funny stories to tell about "living with skunks"--so, now I am getting sleepy...nite nite

A New America

Thank you Obama and Michelle for taking our country into your heart, hands. head, and soul. We have been waiting for you. 

MLK Day

A week------what a long time.  Working on an altered art project re my Portland activities to hang somewhere in my apartment. Finally made it to IKEA yesterday...what a place! Watching CNN re all the activities in DC. Since I am on Facebook now fun to see who else is on it and connecting with friends from my past...sent a message to cl who was a friend of rbh when I was in Phx in the mid 70's....about 35 years ago...my my...so Facebook is making us all connected or "we are all related"----the sun was out yesterday and today...can see Mt. Hood but very windy. We are praying for you President Elect Obama and your family. "Oh Obama is my Homie"--I have been looking for another place to live....sure love my view and the location so it will be hard if I do it..we will see; however...I was going to visit a person yesterday and see her home but I drove by her house and it is too far from where I do most of my stuff...but she contacted me later and said she has a movie group once a month at her house and she invited me to the next one..so I will be going there next Sat...so no new place but better a new friend from the lesbian community. A woman from UU invited me to early breakfast tomorrow to watch the inauguration at 7 am but I think I will be home and watch it from here. Very nice and UU is feeling like a community now. I have got to go do some work! 

Letting Go of a Dream

starting to let go of a sweet dream...oh well....my hp is taking care of me and I have faith and hope and know all will be well....I am happy to be making friends and meeting new people and this will continue. last night at the uu new members meeting there were three members and our minister, susan...she had questions we selected from a chalice; very profound and deep. "What was the most holy event I had witnesses/experienced"; "what will be my spiritual practices as a member of uu"; "what service will be give to both our uu and in the community in general to express my commitment to uu?"---each of us had about 4 questions...it was a wonderful way to get to know each other in a deeper more meaningful level...maybe we can have "spiritual circle suppers". Work was a day full of meetings and more meetings. CSWE site visitor will be here April 8-10...so the report is due to them by March 8th...I will be taking a short vacation via my trip to Phx for the BPD meeting...either before or after...still need to figure it out. I am happy to have a job but it is certainly a lot of work...nite nite

Walking Tour of Portland

Went on a walking tour of Portland with a new friend yesterday. Walked 14,500 steps! Learned a lot about buildings, fountains, historical sites, library, monuments, statutes, landmarks, stories and just had some fun and laughter all around. So basically today my feet hurt! Went to UU this am and the sermon was from a Jewish UU member who has been a UU minister for 45 years on "Black representation in the bible"; very interesting and stimulating. Glad I attended even if I did just get up at 9:40 am before the 10:30 service. Stayed for the veggie lunch and meet more people...I think this is the UU community I have been looking for. Now at the office trying to get prepared for a big week of meetings! hope u feel better, l1.

I think I need a break

I know the term just started but I am so frustrated with meetings...I am not very tolerant of others right now...those who are not around then decide to critic me (or that is how it feels); that is my own stuff but they are my feelings; have to be "on" lots of the time so I need to get more balance in my life...a theme that keeps appearing in my life; on another note...just bought a goLite which is a small computer driven 5 x 5 in cube which illuminates a "blue light" to assist those who live in the darkness in the winter...that is me. so i will see if it helps me at all...i have to have it face me for about 30 minutes in the evening or morning..so I am doing it right now. just saying thanks to all those who show their love for me...you know who you are...so "let there be light" is taking on a new meaning to me now. prayers for ck re her loss today. nite nite

My computer is fixed!

Thank goodness for professional computer geeks....I sure needed one! He worked on my home computer mess for 2 hours and finally took my computer with him re the hard drive stuff; so now I have my laptop re wireless and my netflix connected to my wireless....so, now I can watch movies to my heart content...now to fine the time...oh well! Maybe it will snow again in Portland!

Beauty Around Us

Candles lite this morning and the twingling lights outside with the gleaming river was so peaceful looking...praying for peace within and all around. Acceptance. Non-violence. Namise.

Acceptance of All

The UU Chalice is simple and profound. We are all related. I am grateful for all the beauty all around me; below me; above me; and in all four directions. Tomorrow is the beginning of the new term and I hope all the students and faculty get back safely. It is snowing now. Portland is certainly turning out to be an interesting place. Good nite Mt. Hood.

To pharaphrase my friend, l: yikes

well C you did it this time: connected my Kodak camera (zoom digital) to its docking station and connected to my computer---did have about 120 pix I am trying to download and I can't download them nor can I find them at all now...so presently i have several computer connection problems: 1. Kodak docking station; 2. my netflix to my tv; 3. my mac to the wireless; 4. my netflix to the wireless; 5. the router to the comcast! So the Geek rep will be here on Tuesday and they will have their hands full...oh I forgot: my wireless to the modem. I am grateful I still have my connection to the Internet however and my iPhone is working. What a complex world this is and this is only one individual and her desk top computer! I guess "patience" is still trying to teach me to be "patient". So, YIKES. One a brighter note I have tickets to see "The Color Purple" this afternoon. I am really happy about this one! So a balancing act for me today.

Sun--just a tiny bit this morning

Yes, the sun actually came out this morning for a few minutes...this is a big deal here and now I know why...

More Living in a Rural Environment

This is the same place. I have a story about my growing up in northern Phx when my parents and I lived in a canvas tent...context is everything! This looks a lot more fun.

Sure looks like a fun place to sleep

good morning...can't sleep so here i am...looking at the snow outside. Found this picture at the MaryJane's site in Idaho. She has a farm, cute cooking stuff, and very sweet rooms to rent. Floating dreams...just looks like fun.

A new adventure.

Spent the last day of 2008 touring the Chineese Garden in Portland. Magical place in the winter. Lovely day.

I heard a litte rumor that it is: NEW YEAR'S DAY

Good afternoon everyone...including c who is sitting at my desk. My dear friend e from pa called this am and we talked a long time....called another friend in flag, b and we talked and talked..it is raining outside (much better than raining inside I always say). this grey sky is more like a "hazel grey today"; like in the artic there are over 800 words for ice--well I think there over 100 shades of grey in Portland...not that I am missing BLUE SKIES. So, brought in the New Year very softly and gently...candles lit and sweet thougths. Listening to all the cd's l gave me for Christmas. Staying home today and really enjoying being with myself. So, hello 2009 and thank you to 2008. May everyone around the world walk in beauty, c

What A Night!

My dear friends/family; the n's invited me to see the Pink Martini's at the Crystal Ballroom last night. Here is an article about the band and the director....what a wonderful story about following your passion and then it becomes your life work...Portland is very lucky to have them..they are originally from Portland so everyone here is very proud of them. Thank you L, H, & D for the fun night. It was our way of celebrating New Year's early... by the way---she looked like she was going to deliver her baby on stage to address a question in the following article. That kid is going to sing that's for sure. From the Harvard Alumni News: CHINA FORBES ’92 AND THOMAS M. LAUDERDALE ’92. Musicians, Portland, Oregon. Pink Martini’s 1997 debut CD, Sympathique, is a quirky amalgam of sounds: rhumba beats thump alongside Edith Piaf-styled tunes, with a bucketful of jazz on the side. But just when listeners think they’ve "got it," the music turns and robust, orchestral elements sweep in. "It’s global music, but not ‘world music,’" says Thomas Lauderdale, 32, the classically trained pianist who founded the 11-piece band in 1994 and is its musical director. "It is generally urban, kind of old-fashioned, pop-y, and it draws a lot upon the atmosphere of Hollywood in the late 1940s." However described, the band has immense appeal: the group has toured worldwide and performed with various symphonies around the country for the past five years. Two new CDs are in the works, says the quick-talking Lauderdale, one based on the Japanese concept of ukiyo, or "the floating world," which "refers to an artistic and cultural renaissance in Japan brought about by urban culture’s newfound wealth." The other, shepherded by lead singer China Forbes (Lauderdale’s Adams Housemate) is more "groovy urban." Both are due out next spring. Lauderdale’s flamboyant, eclectic nature explains much of the band’s musical mystique—and his frustration with how time flies. A few current projects: teaching music with Forbes—pro bono—at a Portland high school that lost its music funding; writing a nonfiction book about a woman who disguised herself as a man for 45 years; developing an artistic scholarship fund; and creating a snow globe of the Portland skyline ("Every city should have one of its own"). Half Asian, Lauderdale grew up as one of four adopted children—his siblings are black and Iranian—on an Indiana plant nursery. The family moved to Oregon (deemed "greener and more liberal") after his father, a Church of the Brethren minister, came out of the closet. (Lauderdale is also gay.) This atypical background, he agrees, may also account for his emphasis on "inclusion" and artistic and personal freedom—trans-Atlantic style. "Pink Martini and everything it does is very much wrapped up in the way I want to live—to be an ambassador and have a dialogue with people around the world," he says. "And to be inclusive—writing songs that are as appealing to little kids and grandmothers as to Hollywood moguls and people growing up on a farm in Iowa." The "embassy" is a central downtown building he bought to house the band’s headquarters and, he hopes, to host language classes, parties, film festivals, art openings, and other artistic and political activities. Upon returning to Portland after graduation, he played solos with the Oregon and Seattle symphonies and involved himself in various causes, including the fight against Oregon’s anti-gay rights initiative, Measure 13. Finding the bands at political events bland, he threw together a new group: Pink Martini, which often featured Lauderdale in drag. The band was a huge success with its campy, lounge-style renditions of Big Band tunes, and themes from 1960s television shows like I Dream of Jeannie. Very soon, however, the music, though still fun and danceable, became more serious. "Camp," Lauderdale explains, referencing Susan Sontag, "can only go so far because there is a negative bitterness to camp that, hopefully, we don’t have. In a very pure way, this music pushes forward the idea of hope despite all the sadness in the world." Leading the band also brought major changes in personal responsibilities. "I couldn’t be as flitty. I had to be more seriously engaged, diplomatic, and become more like a benevolent dictator. Music, like everything else that is artistic, is a very sensitive area for each of us, very personal," he says of the band members, who range from garage-band to symphony-level players. "I have to keep things on track, keeping the music pure as we become bigger, and not be distracted by the applause." Despite his disparate projects, Lauderdale’s life mission is clear: "Ultimately, I’m just trying to be good," he says. "I have probably the same goals other people have for their lives—to do good things and to find a reason to like oneself at the end of the day." For Forbes, 32, joining Pink Martini made "perfect sense." She had been performing folk tunes on the New York City club circuit (she recorded a solo album, Love Handle, and the theme song for UPN’s sitcom Clueless) when Lauderdale called. "I never saw myself as Peggy Lee or Julie London—doing torch songs and jazzy, sultry standards in front of 17,000 people with a 11-piece band behind me," she says. "But it turns out that it combines my experience in acting, musical theater, and singing." She took voice lessons, experimented with a sassier persona, and unleashed a voluptuous range of sounds. Life has run interestingly since then. "On the road, we’re constantly going and it’s exhausting. Sometimes the show doesn’t end until 2 a.m. and we have to leave at 5 a.m. to get on another plane," she explains. "The band wants to go out and meet people and dance. But one Brazilian rum drink or cigarette and I wake up with a sore throat, guaranteed. I am the one who wants to go to bed right after the show." In between shows and hours at the recording studio, Forbes says, "there is no routine. It’s very random. I don’t think a lot of people would like that, but I’ve gotten used to it." She recently began recording her own songs at home ("That muse doesn’t come to me all the time") and takes care of her two dogs. Forbes is newly married, to an optometrist (they met when she bought sunglasses at his store), and wonders when to have children. "Do I do it at a convenient time for the band or do I just do it when I’m ready?" she asks. "Our dream is for him to take care of the kids with me while I’m on the road. But we’re not sure how that would work yet….I’ll figure that out when it happens. The way I function is to act without thinking—I’m the opposite of Hamlet. I’m good at problem-solving when problems do arise. It’s worked well for me so far."

Honey, Warm Milk and Dear Friends

If you want to give yourself a delicious treat...go to the DragonFly spa...take wine, cookies, cheese, tea, crackers, chocolate, and of course YOUR FEET WHICH YOU WALK ON ALL THE TIME. They will be rubbed and then placed into hot milk and honey with flowers and spices...yummy....went with 6 friends from psu and we all just loved it. I hope we can do it again at the end of the year! Dreamy...then some of us walked down 23rd street in the section of town known as the Northwest...looks like Georgetown, DC...quaint tiny stores with Christmas decorations and lights all twinkling...I loved it.

Belated Merry Christmas

Had a lovely Christmas eve, Day, and post Christmas day with the Nissen's...2 cats, 2 dogs, 1 youth, and 2 wonderful parents/couple/friends/relatives/sweetfamily...they gave me a beautiful stocking to open with them on Christ mas day....love the cozy green shawl...listening to fun music now....cooking in a new fancy pot (for making witches brew)...and many other loving gifts from them....I am so lucky to have them as my family in Portland. Thank you all! Blessed to you and all of your 4 legged and big young pre-teen...lov, charchar

Yes I Can: My internet is back!

yes, I am back online...what a mess it has been but I am so grateful to be "back online"; crazy how dependent I am on this technology...had a great day. Went to the new little UU; it was their Dec 12 service about "light" from all different world traditions; very sweet to see the children all dressed up as various cultures and religions. Went to the movies then went shopping for FOOD for the week. So happy I don't have to wait for next Friday for someone to come and "rescue" me from my internet blues.

Snowboundagainandagain

If you want to know what Portland looks like now...take a look at this site...I went downtown this am on the streetcar....ordel...the walk from the streetcar to my apartment was so hard; icy, slippery, hard..I got back and I was so tired I had to take a nap...I was carrying bags...decided to post phone our play to Friday night..more snow coming tonight..I am so happy we decided to post phone it for a couple of days. it is unreal...PSU closed again today...Portland basically has no snow ploys to do the back streets so everyone is being held hostage in their own homes; at least I have access to public transportation somewhat...at least I now have the book I want to start reading...The Golden Notebook...thanks to l who has been calling me daily to see how I am doing...bought myself some new soft slippers....very cute and WARM. They are a bit different than my regular "conservative" slippers...apparently this is the worst snow storm for 40+ years...what an ordeal this has been.