Category: All (-ish)

More Input about the North Portland Aquatic Center

I attended the next meeting about the future of the North Portland Aquatic Center. Unlike the first one, this included a presentation and then small group discussions with reporting out.

The groups ranked the five remaining sites (St. Johns Park, Northgate Park, Charles Jordan Community Center, Columbia Park, and Columbia Annex) using a variety of criteria and then ranked overall our top three sites. We also weighed in about what kind of features we would want in the play area, and what we want to prioritize in the fast water (a.k.a. swimming) and fun water (a.k.a. water for playing in)

The Pier Park site was knocked out due to grant funded reasons. I stayed to the end of the reporting out because I was curious how the St Johns Park location would rank. Aside from the table where a person insisted that the circle around the St. Johns Park location was drawn incorrectly, no one ranked the St Johns location in their top three.

I think that the St Johns location, while convenient for residents of St. Johns, is inconvenient for the rest of us in North Portland. It’s almost as far away from me as Dishman is.

My quibble with this process is that Columbia Park has been split into two sites. Columbia Annex is right across the street from Columbia Park. They are the same site. By splitting that vote, it’s much more likely that Northgate or Charles Jordan will be chosen. Those are fine sites, but the Columbia Park split annoys me.

I’ve got my fingers crossed it won’t end up in St. Johns. That site is too far for me to be a regular.

I Also Had This Magical Thinking

This is from the YNAB newsletter.

While I have never taken a loan from my 401k or withdrawn funds from my 401k, there were a few years where I saved less that 5% of my income. And wan savings (especially when you make less than the median income) does not make for a good chance of retiring before 65. It’s a bummer how much clearer the retirement thing becomes in one’s 40s.

#YearofStitch Sampler No. 9

It is finally finished! While I wish I would have stuck to one color of orange for the sun’s rays; overall, I’m very pleased at how this sampler turned out.

This sampler used these stitches:

  • Padded satin stitch (the middle of the sun)
  • Thorn stitch (yellow crisscross)
  • Laced herringbone (Xs with wavy line)
  • Cloud filling (tan wavy lines)
  • Half interlaced cross bar (orange diagonal)
  • Backstitch chain (the waves)

Backstitch chain took a lot longer than I wanted it to and ate up a lot of thread. I also kept losing the wave pattern and had to go in and put extra undulations so keep the waves going. About twelve rows in, I went back and looked at Shannon’s picture and she did not use nearly as many lines as I did. I think I was shoving them together.

I did five layers of padded satin stitch. I’m not sure that it looks very different than if I had done three layers, but I did get a lot of nice practice on my satin stitch.

My favorite was the half interlaced cross bar. Shannon modified it from a different stitch. I like how it fills the space and also looks woven in a cool way.

We have already begun the 2023 Year of Stitch! I’m excited to see what this year brings.

Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson Apt. 2B at PCS

Matt and I had a good time at Portland Center Stage’s play about a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Once the play started, those sheets were pulled down by the players and the games began.

Ashley Song and Kimberly Chatterjee were good as Holmes and Watson. I also really enjoyed Dana Green who played three very different roles. Darius Pierce also played several different roles.

Zentangles 2 and 3

Zentangle No. 2 builds on Static (wavy one), Tipple (circles), and Crescent Moon (the half moons) by adding Fescu (the plant-like one), Knights Bridge (checkerboard) and Nekton (hashmarks.)

Zentangle No. 3 includes Knights Bridge (checkboard), Festune (the blood-cell looking thing), Hollibaugh (the boards and darkness one), and Poke Root (the plant looking ones.)

I really enjoyed how shading Hollibaugh made the boards look layered.

Secret Message at PCS

The seat next to mine had an envelope tucked into it. I was super curious as to what was this theater note passing.

I managed to restrain myself from opening it, but I did give into nosy parker reading out of the corner of my eye when the couple claimed their seats and opened it. It seemed to be a thank you of some sort. Probably for subscribing or donating, is my guess.

Also! I didn’t realize the seats aren’t all the same color. That’s fun.