Oh purple bowl! You came to me in an Easter care package my mother mailed me when I was living in Somerville, Massachusetts. I don’t recall the other things in that package, but I took to you immediately. You were a big bowl, but not very heavy and you got a lot of use. I planned to keep you with me for many more years. But no. You were in the oven, doing your job of proofing bread, and I forgot about you and preheated the oven to 400 degrees.
No bread for me. And worse, no more purple bowl. I’m sorry you didn’t get a longer life. And I’m also sorry I didn’t get to complete the last thing on my to-do list this weekend.
“Let me Roll It”
Paul McCartney
When Sir Paul visited in April, David Greenwald put together a list of 15 of McCartney’s best songs since the Beatles. I’d always thought of myself as a “Paul”, but as I listened my way through the list it became apparent that I’m actually a “John”. His counter-culture weirdness has always bugged me, but I think I like his music better.
The one Paul song on the list I felt compelled to buy, was described by Mr. Greenwald as “a very John Lennon song.” Huh.
“Unbelievers”
Vampire Weekend
I was thinking I didn’t have any songs for this month, and decided to go back to the unbought archive and add this one. Then I noticed I had already picked out the above song, but decided to buy this one anyway.
I love how this song came together. The hammond-style organ sound with the tom drum plus the lyrics are a winner. Also, I can play it on the piano!
Rolling around my head this month:
“Jamie All Over”
Mayday Parade
Years ago, someone who was briefly my friend on Facebook put up a post in June with a picture of evening sky and text that said, “Let’s put a 10 on the high card, and spend the summer on the West Coast.” Intrigued by the sentiment, I googled it to see just what it was. It turned out to be a line from this song. My wonderful library soon provided me with the album. It’s a great album, and the band has a habit of naming their songs not-obvious things. Sometimes they are funny, such as “I’d Hate to be You When People Find Out What This Song is About.”
But this song is my favorite on the album. I love that it’s a duet–which is rare in this genre–and that the band sounds like they are having an incredible time when they recorded it. I love that they lyrics aren’t entirely clear on first (or second, or even third) listen. I love that it captures that freedom of early adulthood and saves it for me, who has long left that stage behind me. It’s good I like it so much, because it’s terribly catchy and gets stuck in my head for days.
For some reason it’s taken me a long time to notice this carved piece of art. It’s kind of 60’s cool, in keeping with the decor. That’s a far-out Jesus.
Uncle Tom is still resting in peace. I missed taking a picture of the Great-great grandparents grave.
At the next cemetery, I apparently had my camera set to “poster” again. This is Aunt Pat getting started.
Once upon a time, a teacher told me to keep a notebook with all the information I would need to apply for a job. I believe this was my ninth grade reading teacher, and her name has fallen out of my memory, though I can picture her classroom, where it was located (in a school that has now been torn down) and the fact that Ryan Fitzgerald was in that class with me.
I thought this was good advice and I wanted a job, so I found a notebook and started my list. [And now I see that it can’t be my ninth grade reading teacher who told me, because the first entries were all put at the same time and I didn’t start working until tenth grade. So I’m not sure what happened there. Maybe I had a different notebook as a starter notebook?]
At any rate, I’ve kept it all these years, adding to it every time I started a job search again. In tidying last year, I set it in my inbox to transition to a Word document, because job hunting has changed and no longer do I need to fill out paper applications (thank god). I’ve finally made a word document called “Yellow Job Notebook”, but thought I would capture it one last time before I sent it on its way. Notice the addition of my typing speed and the type of printer I once owned.
Here’s the first page. Ah memories. Wild Waters doesn’t even exist anymore. Though someone has made a helpful Facebook page of Where Wild Waters Used to Be and some photos. And look at my rates of pay!
Back when I had the boring job (thankfully many, many years ago) I put together a table of when to reserve campsites (cabins/yurts/teepees/etc.) through the Oregon State Parks. The rules in Oregon are that you can reserve nine months and two weeks before your visit.
This table of dates has been posted on a bulliten board that was tidied away and then the table moved to the inbox, where I was going to make a blog post. And then another year passed. But here it is!
There seem to be no tables in WordPress, and I’m too lazy to make an illustration so here’s the stripped down format:
Holiday or “Holiday” (approximate date of holiday) when to reserve
New Years (1st week in January) reserve by April 1
MLK (3rd week in January) reserve by Mid-April
President’s Day (3rd week in February) reserve by Mid-May
Halfway between MLK & Memorial Day (Mid-march to end of March) June 15-30
Memorial Day (last weekend in May) August 30
Mid-July (Mid-July) October 15
First of August (First of August) November 1
Labor Day (First Monday in September) December 1
Veterans Day (11th of November) February 11
Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November) End of February
Christmas (25th of December) March 25
Due to calendar variations, you may have to adjust the reserve dates slightly. But you get the picture.
This year we performed a fetching number to “Steam Heat” from the 2006 revival of the Pajama Game. There were hats. We tossed them up and caught them. It was incredibly fun.
We were tasked with all wearing vests, but the closest I could find at my local Goodwill was a sweater vest. Which I washed to get rid of the Goodwill smell and it shrunk. Oh well! I still wore it.
Afterward, Matt presented me with flowers. They were beautiful and I loved that the florist wrapped them in pattern paper.
This is from Alla. She heard my call for pictures of libraries (it’s listed on my profile) and apologized that she didn’t have a picture of a library, but instead sent this girl reading. But I adore this card, so we’re good.
It’s a boy-centered story about skaters from the 70s directed by a rock star female director. Thus, a movie that could have been an action bro-fest is still captivating in its execution, but is also overlaid with a depth of feeling I was not at all expecting. When it was over, I wanted more, so I partook in the rare action of watching ALL of the DVD extras* which were also** fun.***
Cost: Free from Netflix
Where watched: at home.
*In which Catherine Hardiwicke was described as a “method director,” a description I loved. The person making the comment talked about how in shooting the surf scenes she was in her wet suit in the water with the actors the whole time.
**Just hearing about how even the skate instructor had to learn on the skinny 70s skateboards was interesting.
***I also spent some time feeling sad for the loss of Heath Ledger. Man, that guy could disappear into a character.
A perfectly fine illustration of a woman who bought a villa in Tuscany and all the interesting, funny and quirky things that happened there. Diane Lane was here usual solid self and everything just clipped along in a good and interesting fashion. Overall, it was the kind of solid Sunday afternoon movie you can watch with your mom and grandmother.
Cost: free from employer-funded Netflix
Where watched: at home.
