I’m sorry, but this headline made me laugh.
It’s a class full of Pondexters! I love it. Though I wouldn’t mind if they were happier.
Changes afoot close in
Watch out, Burgerville, that those buildings don’t swallow you whole!
This is just south of the Rose Quarter. Construction has been going like gangbusters in this area, which makes sense because it’s so close-in and has very good access to public transportation. When I moved here in 2001, there was a new-construction condo for sale in this neighborhood for $84,000. Too bad I wasn’t in the market then. I’m quite sure units in that complex aren’t going for that amount anymore.
The building being constructed in the back of this picture is the other side of the building that is swallowing Burgerville. I love the old-school nature of the two buildings in the foreground. Both the architecture and the fact that both of them have signs telling you what they are. “Professional Building,” “Dental Building.” I’m quite certain neither of these is long for this world.
Three sentence movie reviews: Treme Season 1
I appreciate this series for being filmed in New Orleans not long after Hurricane Katrina, so as to provide a visual reminder of how it was. I also appreciate it because I so rarely come across television series that focus on both Black and White middle class characters. And aside from making clear all that we (as a country) and they (as people of New Orleans) lost, they also cast Steve Zahn (I delight in coming across him) in a lead role and also the music is tremendous.
Cost: Free (borrowed from a friend)
Where watched: at home, while knitting Hunger Games Sweater
City of Roses Motel. New fence and almost complete second floor.
There’s a new fence separating the new construction from the house next door. It looks quite nice.
The second floor has turned the corner.
And is nearly complete.
Three sentence movie review: Jupiter Ascending
I found myself asking “I wonder how they did that?” often while viewing this and eventually concluded I would have better enjoyed watching a “making of” feature about this feature, rather than the feature itself. It was stuffed full of intricate detail, so it was pretty to watch, and I thank Filmspotting for putting their finger on exactly why I wasn’t interested, namely that CT drained every ounce of charisma from his character, making him boringly flat. So this goes in the category of: I watched it so you don’t have to.
Cost: $7.50 (I broke my solemn vow to only spend movie money on movies and I bought a pizza. So add another $12.00 to my total. That’s 3 or 4 movies at the Laurelhurst.)
Where watched: Baghdad Theater, which I enjoy so much as a movie theater.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/jupiter_ascending.html
Kid apology.
Don’t worry kid. When I was called Patty, I couldn’t spell Patricia either.
As you can see, we did not have the best encounter during the previous day’s recess. Things have improved since then.
Gayle Forman at Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing
Powell’s has exiled the YA authors to the suburban enclave of Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing (once known as the Beaverton Mall). Still, it’s Gayle Forman, YA author extraordinaire! I had to go, and thankfully friend Sunita was up for the drive.
I thought the reading room in this Powell’s would be bigger, because suburbia and all, but it was actually smaller. And the folded chairs were very close together. And the podium wasn’t as cool. It wasn’t my favorite Powell’s experience. But again, Gayle Forman!
Gayle Forman was in conversation with Blake Nelson (author of, among other things, Paranoid Park). The conversation was great, but was on the same level as the people in the chairs which meant a lot of leaning from side to side. But again, Gayle Forman!
Gayle recruited someone for the audience to help with the reading from her new book I Was Here. A lovely young woman was happy to volunteer.
Blake Nelson was happy to read from the book.
The lovely young woman in question.
The audience was full of lovely young women, many holding books to be signed.
The lovely young women weren’t up to asking a lot of questions, so I got to ask two! After, Sunita and I stayed to have our books signed and chat with Gayle. It was a lovely evening.
(Which is not to say it wouldn’t have been lovelier at the downtown Powell’s. But again, Gayle Forman!)
New Timer
I purchased this great new timer to assist me with a project I’m working on. It’s fun because you turn it on and place the side with the amount of time you need facing up. Then, when the timer goes off, you move the cube to the side with zero on it and it stops. No buttons!
I was greatly amused by the first “caution” listed. Has someone actually done this?
City of Roses Motel. Kind of reminds me of 10th Grade PE class.
When I walk by in the morning, the construction crews are gathering. They’re all wearing versions of the same thing, like we had to be dressed in athletic clothing for PE. They all stand around and roll is called, which is exactly what happened, except we had to stand in a line. Then the roll-calling guy tells them what’s going to happen that day. Just like we got daily instruction of a new PE technique or were told to play the game we’d been taught.
Here’s a smiley-face for you to think about. When this building is ripped down someday in the future, will someone discover this smiley face under the siding and wonder who put it there? I like this the way I like messages painted on steel I-beams when tall buildings are constructed.
The second floor is marching across the north part of the construction site. And it’s getting lighter a little bit earlier every single day.
Books read in January 2015
Another good YA month. Maybe I always have so many good YA reading experiences because I read so much YA.
Top recommends:
Picture: Nothing blew me away
Chapter: Betsy & Tacy Go Over the Big Hill.
J-Graphic Novels: Lowriders in Space
Young Adult: Gabi, Girl in Pieces; My True Love Gave to Me; Like No Other; How it Went Down
Grownup Nonfiction: Anatomy of an Epidemic
Picture Books
Brother Hugo and the Bear
Beebe/Shindler
Read for Librarian Book Group
Another book I had trouble remembering two weeks later. I think the younger me would have enjoyed the illuminated manuscript aspect of this story though. And the current me enjoyed looking for the bear hiding in the illustrations.
My Grandfather’s Coat
Aylesworth/McClintock
Read for Librarian Book Group
Lovely illustrations. The story has been done a lot.
Chapter Books
Betsy & Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
Maud Hart Lovelace
The one where they visit Little Syria. Also has a great escalating fight between the sisters that feels very true-to-life.
J-Graphic Novels
Lowriders in Space
Cathy Camper
Read for Librarian Book Group
I loved both the lowrider and the art. Really fun use of both Spanish and English.
Young Adult
Papertowns
John Green
A re-read for the upcoming movie, was surprised to realize that what I remembered most about the book (the road trip) took up a very small amount of the story. On second reading, I still dislike Margo Roth-Spiegelman as a character, but loved the friendship between everyone who wasn’t Margo Roth-Spiegelman. I’m very much looking forward to the movie. Will it still be called the Omnictionary?
My True Love Gave to Me
ed. Stephanie Perkins
My favorite part of winter break 2014 was giving myself the present of one story per night from this book. All were different, but all centered on the thing I like most in stories: falling in love. I may put this into regular December rotation.
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces
Isabel Quintero
Read for Librarian Book Group
Quality YA written in diary format I found hard to put down. Incorporates poetry, zines, and great narration. I really loved this main character and this book.
How it Went Down
Kekla Magoon
Read for Librarian Book Group
Multiple perspectives of an event that has become familiar to us: white guy shoots black teenager and claims self-defense, gets off with no charges. Fascinating to see who thinks what and to piece together your own picture of the victim based on others accounts. Very well written and recommended.
Five Flavors of Dumb
Antony John
Solid YA about a deaf girl who becomes the manager of a band called Dumb. Unbelievable in places, (I never got on board with the idea that a band who couldn’t keep time would win the Seattle Battle of the Bands) but a nice story nevertheless.
Like No Other
Una LaMarche
Sheltered Hasidic Jewish girl meets nerdy Black boy when she is trapped in an elevator at the hospital. They fall in love, which is both delightful and worrying. I greatly enjoyed this novel both for glimpses into cultures I’m not part of, but also for the characters.
Nonfiction:
The Talent Code
Daniel Coyle
How can you develop a talent more quickly? Is it just in the genes? A music teacher I know recommended this as a short, fascinating book that has changed how he instructs students to practice. Very interesting to learn about why the Brazilian soccer teams are so good, why the Russians are producing tennis champions like mad and why South Korea has such good women golfers. (I know no sports knowledge, so I’m assuming all those things are true). How you can become a better musician, skateboarder and encourager of children? The answer lies in this book.
Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph
It’s interesting how Arbus managed to capture “normal” and “uncomfortable” in one frame. I’m sure many of her images were even more disturbing back in the 60s and 70s when we weren’t used to images of transvestites, nudists, etc.
Men Explain Things to Me
Rebecca Solait
Short book of essays, also a book of short essays. Solait makes good use of words and I especially appreciated her putting a fine point on maybe looking at rape as a cultural thing men do rather than a series of random isolated events.
Anatomy of an Epidemic
Robert Whitaker
Read for Kenton Library Book Group
I hate this book because me telling people what I’ve learned from it will make me sound like a crazy person. But so it goes with life-changing books.
The first three-quarters is a slog with each chapter following the format of: list a psychiatric disorder. Look at outcomes pre-psychiatric drugs. Look out outcomes post-psychiatric drugs. The drugs make things worse. Repeat that several times until you’ve covered all psychiatric disorders.
After that it really gets rolling. Medicating children, lack of long term studies, the pharmaceutical industry, psychiatrists rescuing their profession by tweaking the DSM. The book takes most of what we “know” about mental health conditions and exposes just how little research there is to support that “knowledge.”
It’s not the most gripping read, but an important one.