It's a new era.

I've transported everything to www.stenaros.com.

Come and join me there!

Postcards from Graceland (via Texas) and Minnesota

This is from Heather, who picked out this card because the back also had a picture of the Graceland Kitchen.  Which is fab, I agree.  I'm not eating one of those sandwiches, though.  Nuh-uh.  You can't make me.

This is from Sara, who got it while Christmas shopping at the Kate Spade store. It's pretty, especially for an advertisement postcard.

What to do when you spill kombucha all over your library book.

After you stop swearing and rushing about to move other things out of harm's way and wipe up the spill, of course.  

If you multitudes of pens handy (which we do thanks to Matt's absentminded kleptomania) you can space the pages out so they can dry.  It works pretty well.

Postcard from Graceland, by way of Texas.

This is from Heather, who bought it for me because she thought I would like the informational part and I did!  Graceland is at 3764 Elvis Presley Blvd in Memphis.  He bought 13.75 acres in 1957 for $102,500.  Amazing!  That might have been right after he got out of the army?

Three sentence movie reviews: Force Majeure

This is a quality movie in that it's pretty, the acting is quite good and the plot (husband runs away from family when he thinks an avalanche is going to sweep over them) very interesting.  However, it is a very slow and deliberate movie, giving the viewer a lot of time to take in all details in a scene.  Aside from multiple scenes of teeth being brushed, I had ample time to contemplate the many ways of transporting skiers at fancy Alpine resorts.

Cost:  $8.00
Where watched:  Living Room Theaters, with mom.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/misc/2014/turist.html

Why yes, I'm making six loaves of bread today.

But I only have two bread pans!  So staggered baking it is.

At the time of this picture, I had two loaves rising, and had prepped the wet ingredients for the other four. When it was time, I poured the milk/water combo into a pot and heated it, then poured some of the warm milk/water back into the jar to loosen the honey.  Then I stirred in the butter--melted in the microwave--and that made it easier to pour the liquid into the dry ingredients while the mixer was going.

The bread turned out great.  But alas,  no pictures.

Postcard from Singapore

This is from the lovely Kathleen, whose blog I enjoy so.  

She remembered that I loved the Vanishing Trades stamp and so she sent me a new one in the series.  Apparently the postage went up, so there are more vanishing trades for us.

This is a picture of the Garland Maker.

Santa comes early!

I've been longing for a piano for years and was very happy my co-worker lent me her keyboard. 

City of Roses Motel: Metal and Wood. (Plus wall going up.)

Hey, it's a picture in daylight!  You can see the bottom floor (I assume there will be additional stories) is almost totally framed up. (Is framed up a term?)

What interests me is that the second half of the lot is not being framed with wood, but instead these metal poles are appearing.  I think the wood-framed part will be two-story townhouses and the metal posts are the first part in a larger building, maybe four to six stories?  It's kind of fun not having a picture of the completed project posted on the fencing. This way the construction is a guessing game for me.

And here is a wall going up!  After I took these pictures I turned to walk the rest of the way to the Max stop and found that a flagger was watching me with an amused expression on her face.

Three sentence movie reviews: Sherlock Season 1

Gleefully delightful update with Sherlock cast as a mostly insufferable (but incredibly watchable) Asperger-y Consulting Detective* and Dr. Watson a recently invalided Army doctor home from Afghanistan.  The first episode, especially (there are three 90 minute episodes in the first season) is quite funny as our two main heroes meet and get to know each other.  All three mysteries were gripping and discussable and I look forward to catching up with all seasons of this drama.

Cost:  Free from library

Where watched: at home.  Then re-watched episodes 1 & 3 with Matt.

*He made it up.  He's the only one.

poster from the Wikipedia page.

This couch will forever be Jan's couch.

Waiting to exchange doors at Ikea, I slumped on this couch.  Which Jan had in (I believe) purple once upon a time.  Thus it will always be known as "Jan's couch" and not its offical name, whatever it is.

Random Song: Bold as Love

Crazy 60s lyrics, guitar that just builds and builds? We're all bold as love.

Gone from Burnside. Car lot.

When Matt lived in Southeast off of Sandy, and I lived downtown I used to walk to his house on a regular basis, mostly crossing the Burnside Bridge.  Today I had to run an errand after school and it was quicker to walk back.  So I noticed that the used car lot at the corner of Burnside and MLK has gone away.  I wonder when that happened?

Best Oregonian headline of the year?

I think so!

The movie review that went with it was pretty funny too.  I liked that the review was amusing, while still pointing out who would enjoy the film.

City of Roses Motel: More framing.

They've been making progress.  I'm not sure what will happen first. Will it be light in the morning when I walk to the train, or they will finish this building?

Not seen in other workplaces.

When was the last time you could sign up for Cave Deconstruction at your workplace?

Here's the cave before destruction.  One of the K/1 classes built it for their final representation of their "Rocks" project. 

One letter's journey to the wrong side of the country.

This arrived at work.  It was sent from New Jersey.  

Josias Campusano-Polanco?  Doesn't work at my school.

105 Clark St?  105 is the street number of my building, but we're not located on Clark Street.

Roselle, NJ 07203-2504?  None of those come close to matching the city, state and zip. (the 7,  2, & 0 match in that digit order, but nothing else)

So this letter traveled from New Jersey to my work in Portland, Oregon just because our street address is 105.  Weird.  I was so amused I wrote the recipient a note on the back of the envelope before sending it on its way.

City of Roses Motel: wood frames rising.

We have the beginnings of a wall.  You can see that the back side of the building wall is mostly framed.

Crazy Basketball Player and Crazy Statement

Ten years from now we will all be amused by this hair, (facial and otherwise).

This is from an article about Green Zebra Grocery Store. It's a tiny grocery store that has the aesthetic of a natural foods store and the size of a convenience store. The owner is looking to expand to other neighborhoods and is drumming up investors.

Here she says, "The Kenton neighborhood is part of an urban renewal neighborhood, and they didn't have a grocery store."

But the paragraph above says, "When the store opened in Kenton, the nearest full-service grocery store was the Interstate Avenue Fred Meyer, about a mile away." 

I live in the Kenton Neighborhood and I think Sedlar doesn't have a good grip on the Kenton geography.  The Interstate Fred Meyer is four blocks away from me.  And about six blocks past that is a New Seasons.  I feel very well served by grocery stores.  Also, even if the Fred Meyer is a mile away from the furthest reaches of the Kenton neighborhood, that's pretty darn close.  Walkable in 20 minutes.  I'm thinking of my friend who lives in Cully.  Now that's an undeserved neighborhood for grocery stores.  

I'm all for putting fancy convenience stores in food deserts, but I think maybe the neighborhood should be a food desert.

Can you read this?

What has this first grader chosen for his top three morning movement choices?

Did you read it?

It says:

1. Soccer Skills

2. Jump Rope

3. YogaFlow