Tag: me

I watch most of my movies at home, but I would guess I see movies in theaters more often than the average person.  But not nearly as often as movie critics do.  Mostly my screenings are filled with well-behaved audiences.  Let’s go point-by-point.

1. Mostly people don’t talk.  Occasionally there will be a couple who talks now and then.  Writing from the future, I can report that the older couple at the end of the row during my screening of Bridge of Spies talked intermittently, but I found it kind of cute.  And then there was the guy during my screening of Wild who kept leaning over to his wife and telling her the names of the landmarks.  That was super cute.  If it’s intermittent and mostly quiet, I’m mostly okay.
2. I haven’t had texting, but every once in a while someone is looking something up on their phone.  Sometimes they are on IMDB. Apparently they can’t wait until the end of the movie to figure out who that person is.  They always shield the top of the phone, as if that will make any difference (it doesn’t).  I’ve always just informed them that I find their phone distracting and they’ve always put their phone away.
3. Nope.  Doesn’t happen to me.
4. Seriously?  People do this?
5. It’s been a while, but man do I hate it when people do this.  I don’t even like it when people bring their kids to a too-old-for-their-age-group kids movies.
6. I never put my feet up when people are sitting in front of me. I often do when they are not.  I’ve not had a problem with people doing it to me.
7. Also has never happened to me.
8. Jeff Baker seems to have a problem with popcorn.  Sometimes I smuggle carrot sticks into the theater and feel guilty I’m crunching so loudly.  Sorry Jeff Baker.  I hope you aren’t sitting near me when I do this.
9. Yes!  Just this weekend there was a couple who was taking their seats during the previews.  As far as I’m concerned, the show has started.  Find your seat and sit down quickly.  These two were standing and getting things adjusted, digging in pockets etc.  Although, again, when I yelled, “Would you please sit down?”  they did.  Portland people are so polite.  I also followed up my request with a “thank you!”
10. Again, rarely happens.  But I can remember going to a midnight movie at the 5 Mile Plaza during my teenage years and watching in astonishment at the couple a few rows in front of me making out for most of the movie. And there was the time I saw Notting Hill with the couple with the intellectual disability sitting next to me totally sucking face.  I was NOT enchanted with their shenanigans.

So, overall, I have few problems in Portland theaters.

I’ve loved not having to purchase a Trimet pass (currently $100.00/month) for nine years.  And I’ve also loved the fact that on evenings and weekends, I have a parking space waiting just for me in the North Park Blocks.  That ends this weekend.

The lovely Mary, an 80+-year-old volunteer at school, sent me off to my new job with a book and a handmade card made with her photographs.  I will miss Mary. And not just because she gives me things.

“I was eating my breakfast, and reading your letter in the Viewpoint…” began the Facebook message from Sue.
“I have a letter in the Viewpoint?” I wrote back.  Then immediately got out my as-yet unread copy of the Cottey College Alumni magazine and flipped through it.

And indeed, there was my letter.  Which I didn’t really intend to BE in the Viewpoint when I wrote it, I was just sending a friendly email chat to Steve Reed. But there it is.This is an edited version (which I’m fine with.) The original letter had another paragraph that talked about Viewpoint controversy my freshman year of college because it reported that an alumni and her female partner had adopted a baby and some of the PEOs (the organization that sponsors/is heavily involved with the college) didn’t really like that.  Now we see in the Viewpoint all sorts of marriages and births of alumni who choose women as partners. And isn’t that a great change.

That’s me, taking a picture with my new camera remotely by using my phone.  I can then upload any photos on my camera to my phone, (or computer or other device) wirelessly.  It’s pretty awesome.  Especially because it will eliminate the need to take a photo with my camera and then take another photo with my phone to post to social media. This normally isn’t an issue, but I did it more than I would like on my vacation and it was annoying.  I could just switch over to using my phone on my camera, but I don’t like it as much as actually using a camera.

Other features I’m excited about? It has a mode where I can hold down the shutter and it will capture multiple images, which is useful for Matt’s sporting events.  There’s a mode where I can take one photo and it can format it five different ways.  It has a zoom function that will stay focused on your zoomed subject, even if the subject moves.  And it continues the tradition of great zoom.  Also, it has a slimmer profile than my previous PowerShot.

I would have examples of all these things, but in getting to know the camera, I accidentally deleted all my example photos.  I’ve got it down now,though.  No need to worry.

Also, for the first time in my life, I bought an extended warrenty.  If I drop this one, I want to be able to get it repaired.

Well, thanks to the blog and the search function, I can tell you that I welcomed this camera into my life on October 10, 2013.  It replaced my PowerShot Digital Elph, which I had for six years.  Unfortunately for this dude, I dropped it within the first two months of owning it and it’s never quite been the same since.  It was too expensive to repair it, so I made do. If you look at the recent vacation photos, a lot of the corners are shaded black because I was constantly having to put the lens back together.

We had an okay time together, this camera and I, but it was a little bit bigger than I liked and I missed the slim profile of the Elph.  It still works (-ish), and has the same battery as my new camera, so I’ve tucked it away in a drawer just in case it needs to be pulled back into service. (Which is why this is not a requiem post.)  And I walked by the place where I lost the two lens pieces, and recovered them (it was after hours, so I didn’t feel so self conscious about fishing around under the fence).

Thank you for your service PowerShot SX170 IS. You had a good zoom and we took some good pictures together.

 

I spent the weekend at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville with other writers, discussing craft and learning a lot of things.

Richard Peck was our keynote speaker.  He gave us many pearls of wisdom from his long writing career.

My last dance recital was in 1990 and we performed two numbers.  One was “You’re the One that I Want” from Grease.  The other was to a contemporary piece, though I can’t recall which one.  Our performance took place at Boise High School’s Auditorium, which was a marvelous, creaking place with backstage filled with dozens of girls in costumes, shrieking, giggling, being all sorts of excited.  I did my best to ignore the dance teacher’s son, who was my age, but went to a different school and had started dance one year before me, so was in a different class.  He had a harem of girls around him at all times, so I didn’t think I stood a chance, but it was kind of thrilling to have him around. This one was much more low-key.  We did have outfits, black pants, colored shirts, jean jackets.  This time our recital was at a community center gymnasium.  We waited in the audience, and moved to the hallway when it came close to our time to perform.  Most of the audience chatted throughout the performances, which drove me crazy, but I tried to roll with it.  We were one of two adult groups to perform and our tap dance performance to Tracy Chapman’s “You’re the One” was well received.  When I came home, Matt had roses for me.