Fidget

First, for a not-very-springlike picture:

This is Mount Shasta. It is 14,179 feet in elevation, and it stands alone. We get to see various perspectives on it during our travels to and from California - this shot was taken on our way back to Oregon. During winter it’s almost always got its head in the clouds, but this is a pretty clear view of the top. Shasta really has a presence to it - you have to keep staring at it and convincing yourself that it’s real, and it’s really that big. Wow.

We had a nice long spring break. BN didn’t have to take any finals this quarter, so after he got done giving his trig students their final, we were free to go. I had planned on taking the 2 weeks off from work completely, and I’m so glad I did. I did 6 loads of laundry on Tuesday… We drove down on Wednesday, March 21. We had lots of good family visits, and caught up with quite a few friends. I think this might have been our busiest visit yet - we had at least one event scheduled practically every day. I got to meet baby SI for the first time - he was born 2 months early and, since we didn’t come at Christmas, I was 3 months late meeting him! I got to go with TS and her kids to the park. They rode bikes almost the whole way - those kids are troopers! Lots of good sister time: Yarn shopping with MA, breakfast with SW, coffee with SS. The little sis’s had a little more free time - we painted with watercolors all afternoon one day and went to the San Jose art museum another.

When we first arrived in San Jose the weather was really nice. We figured we’d better head to the beach and take advantage.

Hey - there’s a stone with a hole in it. Oh, there’s another one!… Hm… What would Andy Goldsworthy do?

(Probably something much cooler than string them on a strand of seaweed. Oh, well.)

Here are the watercolor paintings we did:

I thought they looked cool all tiled together like this… They were actually done using my special trick: Make-your-own “Paint with Water” pictures. I have these watercolor markers, with a brush-style tip on one end and fine-point tip on the other. You draw a picture, as detailed or as random as you want, preferably using multiple colors of pen, and then you use a wet brush to blend the lines and “color in” your image. Two keys to success: use a bamboo brush; those things practically paint on their own - they can produce anything from a fine, sensitive line to broad strokes, and even both in one movement, since they hold water really well. (It’s no coincidence that those Asian brush paintings and calligraphy look so great!) The other easy trick to achieve watercolor excellence is leave strategic areas of white paper exposed. This creates a sparkling or glowing effect that’s a pleasure to the eye.

I eagerly welcome book recommendations - leave me a comment!

C.S. Lewis: Narnia series, the “Space” Trilogy, Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce

The Lord of the Rings + The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

The Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Mill on the Floss, George Eliot

Bleak House, Charles Dickens

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo (abridged version)

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Watership Down, Richard Adams

Momo, Michael Ende

The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, Tad Williams

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot

This Star Shall Abide, Sylvia Louise Engdahl

The Dark is Rising series, Susan Cooper

Winter Cottage, and Caddie Woodlawn, (unrelated), Carol Ryrie Brink

Mara, Daughter of the Nile + The Golden Goblet, Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Witch of Blackbird Pond, Calico Captive, The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare

The Wheel on the School, Meindert DeJong

Leave a comment if you want to recommend a movie to me!

All time favorites:

Lord of the Rings trilogy

Anna and the King

Pride and Prejudice (the newer one and the older miniseries)

Interesting concepts:

Terminal

Rain Man

Groundhog day

Forrest Gump

A Beautiful Mind

The Illusionist

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Literary:

Little Women (newer, with Winona Ryder & Christian Bale)

Emma

Babe (the Gallant Pig)

Romantic Comedy:

While You Were Sleeping

Runaway Bride

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Sleepless in Seattle

Sweet Home Alabama

Raising Helen

Funniest:

Haiku Tunnel

Groundhog day

Napoleon Dynamite

Animated:

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

Lion King

Emperor’s New Groove

Toy Story 1 & 2

Monsters, Inc.

Finding Nemo

The Incredibles

As in, the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray.

It’s a great movie. This was my second time seeing it which was nice because I knew what the basic premise of the plot was and it was long enough ago since I last saw it that I was still surprised at some of the scenes.

The basic idea is that Phil (a weatherman) is “cursed” to re-live the same day over and over. He starts out as a total jerk, but gradually he falls in love with his co-worker and even more gradually tries to win her over. He only has one day to accomplish this, and each day she forgets everything from his previous attempts. My theory, though, is that somehow she retains something from all of his efforts, because she has moments of deja vu and eventually she becomes the key to his escape from his curse. He has become an altruist, spending his whole day helping a laundry list of people, some in dire need and some who just need some fun in their life.

It’s fun to watch this movie with a deep-thinking friend - it leads to discussions about deja vu, intuition, and branching alternative universes. Entertaining AND food for thought? This is a must-see!

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

That Hideous Strength

by C.S. Lewis

I guess these books fall into the “Science Fiction” category, since they involve interplanetary travel. But it’s a misnomer to call it the Space Trilogy - the books are based on the idea that Space - what we think of as a cold vacuum - is a rich, vibrant, more-than-real world filled with life. And that’s just the start - there are so many other interesting concepts about the universe (spiritual and physical), explored in the series.

In the first two books you get to learn about the life on two other planets in our solar system - fantastical, personal journeys and full of suspense and discovery. And then the third volume, which is as long than the other two put together, is spent behind enemy lines, on the Silent Planet, known to us as Earth. A dark, disturbing and gripping tale.

This is the 3rd time I’ve read the series, and each time I get more out of it. I absolutely love reading Lewis. I gain so much from his approachable but deep writings - I grow in spiritual intelligence as a result of reading them.

I think what I most enjoyed about the books this time around was the thought processes of the characters. After being kidnapped to Mars, Ransom has lots of interesting thoughts about what it means to be human, since he meets new species that are human but not man - they are intelligent, moral, emotional beings with souls and spirits. Also, he learns about the super-human eldila. He experiences an amazing shift in perspective - an extra-terrestrial perspective. On his voyage to Venus, Ransom has to face a deadly enemy and work through isssues around his own fears, God’s power to work through him, and his role as the “protector” of the newly-created un-fallen humans. In That Hideous Strength, Mark and Jane discover spiritual dimensions of life that they never anticipated - they had been living such a superficial, empty life and the process of growing beyond that was perilous to say the least.

Even though these experiences are quite bizarre and probably won’t ever happen to me, I gain insight into life here on this planet from reading about the very imaginary but very believable universe that Lewis opens up for the reader to explore.

Yesterday, we had quite a full day of non-school and non-work activities. Yay!

We got up early enough to feel like we had time for a real breakfast. I made crepes - yum!!! The basic crepe recipe in Joy of Cooking is as simple, if not more so, than regular pancakes and they are so delicious in flavor and texture. Then I just throw a bag of frozen mixed berries in a saucepan for awhile to make a fruit sauce, and with whipped cream or even just yogurt, it beats a restaurant breakfast all hollow. (Except you have to clean up the mess. That’s the main reason I like eating out nowadays - my cooking is good, but I hate to clean.)

Next we headed off to the Craft Center to glaze our most recent ceramics pieces before the term’s last kiln firing early next week. I had a flower pot, 2 bowls, and a mug to work on, and I managed to get them all done while we were there. Glazing is such an involved process. First you have to sponge down the piece and dip the bottom in wax to leave a spot unglazed (which keeps the piece from fusing to the shelf inside the kiln.) You can paint on details using oxides, which react differently under or over the various glazes. Then you want to dip your piece, either completely or partially, in 2 to 5 coats of 1 or more glazes - the Craft Center stocks about a dozen or so. All of which turn out differently depending on how you layer and overlap them. I tried a drip-on effect with some of my items, using an eyedropper. And, between coats, you’re supposed to let the piece dry pretty thoroughly. So it’s good to plan at least 3 hours to glaze a batch of pots.

I survived the marathon glazing session by snacking on some nuts and dried fruit I had brought from home, but I’m a pretty cranky camper until I’ve had some lunch. We headed over to the Glenwood for a home-style burger. Whew, now I feel better.

It was another beautiful afternoon. I knitted outside on a bench while BN finished up some more glaze, and then we sat in a coffee shop (I knitted, B journaled) and people-watched the flip-flop clad folks strolling in the sun outside.

Back at home we ate Mac n Cheese and played Settlers of Catan. It’s really better for more than 2 players, but we’ve adapted some rules and it usually turns out to be a good game. BN won by a narrow margin - this time!

We stayed up way past our bedtime to go see a movie - a video recording of a U2 concert, 1987 in Los Angeles. It was a professional recording, not some bootleg … Rock ON!!! They played all our favorites. You may not know this about me but I actually love rock concerts. I can’t resist rockstars when they’re up there in their element. The long hair, the enthusiastic stage stunts. Takes me back to 1987… just kidding, I was 10. Actually, it takes me back to 1997, when I was actually somewhat in on the “scene.” I knew some guys in local bands and my cousin was Woody, (“the Woody?!”) guitarist for 2-Car. Those were the days, in the late 90’s when ska was the thing and going to a show meant a full cardiovascular workout, dancing and jumping around. Fun, fun, fun. I’m a fairly new U2 fan but they rock so hard. Bono - yeah, he’s the best ever. Gotta love that voice, which sounded great even (especially?) in the live recording.

So, yeah - it was nice to have such a stress-free weekend to kick off Spring Break. BN’s giving his trig class their final on Tuesday, and then we’re off to SJ for a 10-day visit with family and friends.

… it feels like years since you’ve been here. Here comes the sun…

Today was absolutely beautiful. Just a few days ago it was cold and rainy, and it will probably be cold and rainy again before spring is over. But it was the perfect weather (rather, lack of it) to celebrate my last day of work before Spring Break. And, I went for a walk at lunch time and I finished my last email at 3, so I got to go outside again and now I’m footloose and fancy free. Ahhhh.

Aren’t these beautiful? I took all these photos during a half-hour stroll around the neighborhood. It feels so, so good to have the sun shining down steadily all day… All my life I associated the sun with harmful rays, but now I feel sun-starved during the non-summer months and when I get a chance I go out for a little while and soak it up. Gotta get that vitamin D.

BN and I are avid tea-drinkers; we generally like loose-leaf black and green teas from Allann Bros. Coffee and Tea Co, our local Starbucks-alternative. But, I tried a tea bag “Cocoa Spice” at a friends house and recently picked up a box at the grocery store… now we are hooked. It’s a low-caffeine tea, perfect for cozy evenings at home, and it has chocolate overtones and coffee undertones. With spices, sort of like chai.

The brand is Yogi tea, and there’s lots of spiritually-themed text on the outside of the box. On the tea-tag itself, there is a pithy maxim, like a fortune from a cookie. When we discovered this, BN read his aloud: “Enjoy the warmth and love of your soul.” Mine? “Keep up!” (Yeah, slacker! Pull your weight or we’re ditchin’ ya!)

Well, it’s been awhile… Things have gotten a little overwhelming lately. After the ski trip, BN came down with a pretty bad cold, and I was getting busier and busier with my freelance projects. Then, I came down with the pretty bad cold, but I still had to work. So I dragged the futon over to the desk, like when we do when we watch movies, and scootched the monitor over to the edge of the desk so I could see it from my slouching position on the couch. And the keyboard on the lap. And I designed a decent user interface for the client, in spite of the headcold. I think we need to get a laptop… not that I like to work when I’m sick. But I think it would come in handy on many other occasions.

I have decided that I’m never doing any web development ever again. I got in way over my head, with help from my new “client” - I’ve been subcontracting for one of my graphic design classmates from SJSU. That’s been going really well, but there’s a teeny bit of the “operator” factor, because I talk to her and she talks to the clients. So I got 2-degrees-too-far-in to the “delivering stylesheet and code” thing, which I have done before, but not really for a fairly complex web application. Point taken, lesson learned!

So, I have a lot of stuff to post. Some from before Christmas, even… I’m going to post quite a bit of catch-up stuff in the next few days. So scroll on down and check out what I’ve been up to, or what I was up to before my work life spilled over into my real life (the boundaries aren’t very well defined since I work at home…)

Whenever I’m out of town visiting family or friends, I brag about the great grocery store in Eugene. It’s called Market of Choice, and it’s an Oregon-based chain, with about 4 locations in town, one is about 2 miles from us. I love it because they have bulk foods and great produce, but they also sell generic-brand basics for things where it’s OK to get the El Cheapo. They also have a great butcher counter, a sizeable deli and full bakery.

Last year, we started hearing about how they were going to tear down the cavernous old Rite-Aid, and re-build that section of the shopping center, with a new building for Rite-Aid and a huge new state-of-the-art Market of Choice. While that was in progress, they permanently messed up the parking lot, sadly. I know people that stopped going to MOC because the parking is so bad - the spaces and aisles are too tight for sure.

But, they had the grand opening of the store right before Christmas, and it was beyond our wildest dreams. It is truly like a palace. (I suspect they were going for an award in interior architecture? Did you know that a grocery store could have decor?) The butcher counter doubled, no tripled, in length. The deli is now a food court/coffee shop, and there’s the bakery, the wine cellar, and the cheese shop all nestled in amongst them. The bulk foods selection grew, too. It was a little overwhelming at first, and I am still working on re-learning where all my staples are located.

Who knew that grocery shopping could be such a high-class experience?