The Best Fourth Of July

On the Fourth of July, I was so tired I thought I might crawl into bed at 9PM. I was inside working on the house when Carrie drove over to pick up Oatie. She noticed that there were fireworks going on all over Portland. Quite a lot across the street from my house and really going on in 360 degrees as we spun around. She walked back over and we sat outside with our chairs and the dogs, and then walked down the street to catch a phenomenal street show just a few blocks from our home. People were gathered all along the sidewalks watching. So we shared in the fireworks and took Bailey and Oatie. They both enjoyed it and people were amazed they weren't spooked by the noises. Bailey practically skipped home- I think he thought it was such a treat to be out so late. The next day he didn't get up til about 1PM after his late night.

Fireworks are illegal in Portland, but today I had a police officer in today and asked him about it. He said, "As long as they aren't doing anything stupid, we leave them alone." I think that is sort of the mantra of life in Portland. Like parking your cars on the wrong side of the road. Or driving a little fast. Or smoking weed.

It was a good Fourth.

(Art + Science) An Ocularist in Portland

Last night was Kaiser's annual ocular pathology forum. Every year we have education offered to all optometrists and any other people who'd like to attend. It was the first time I was back amidst the entire group (new and old docs). I used to be the person who planned these events, now I was just happy to be sitting in the audience.

One of the speakers, Fred Harwin, was a man who had a fine arts background and grew up to be a medical illustrator and was eventually recruited to make prosthetic eyes for Dever's Eye in Portland. He played for us this short artistic biographic documentary created by Vance Malone (of Portland also), which was entered into the 2003 Sundance film festival and received an honorable mention. It's a very interesting look into things that most of us are not aware of. It's a gorgeous marriage of art and science.

[Advice: Watch the film full screen size.]

Encaustic Saturday

Today we spent the entire day at a local art store learning a new technique, encaustic painting/collage. Only about twenty blocks away is a little place on Alberta Street called "Collage" where they sell art supplies and offer affordable classes (mostly all one time only) and where we did the felted gnome class last time. For Christmas, rather than a traditional gift, I got us an art class together.

This morning when I woke up, I thought, "We should have rescheduled this to a different date! I need a day of doing nothing." Turns out, we needed a day of doing encaustic. Last time I took a class with Carrie was right before Christmas and my sentiments were the same. I guess just because you think you need to sit on your butt all day and do nothing doesn't mean it's really what you need.

I don't have any pictures of the process, but Justin and I really enjoyed our six hour class. The classroom has a wall of windows so we didn't miss out on the nice sunny weather by being inside, which was another plus.

 Justin's up and down -- below is a tipi in the wave (kinda hard to see in my pic)

 

Mine up and down... below is sort of a commentary on leaving the traditional ways and above on travel and living

HUMP festival, Portland

Last night Justin and I had a double date with Carrie and Drazen. We met in northwest Portland outside of Cinema 21, to view the HUMP festival screening. HUMP has been going on since 2005 as a shared amateur porn festival among Seattle, Portland, Bellingham and Olympia. Every year there's a call for submissions from locals, and about twenty short films are selected for the screening. They vary across genres- some serious, some comical, some artistic, and others are just weird. Gay, lesbian, straight, bi, etc are all depicted.

We've still been unwinding from all the travels, and work and whatnot. I'd never been to HUMP before, but I'd told Justin about it (and that he had to get back into town before the festival). As we were driving home last night, he said how glad he was that we went, and the night of light-hearted laughter and naked people was just what we needed. Thanks to Carrie for helping us to get tickets and save us a place in the movie theater. It was really fun!

I have to say too, there were no fake boobs, or grossly altered bodies (no anorexia or the like). It was really nice to see a bunch of normal people doing fun things. I would recommend this to anyone who is in the area during the screenings. Maybe next year, we'll have an entry! Ha.

Kathy & Chuck's Seattle-Astoria Road Trip with regression to Portland before they arrived.

I found this in my recipe book- one that I used when I lived in Germany. I loved this poem. I think I mostly understand it. It's funny, because often now I wonder, "Did I really live in Germany?" "Did I really live in New Zealand?" "Did I really do all those things?" They seem like distant memories.

I've been working a ton of extra days- sometimes nine or ten in a row with only one off. I've been fortunate to work in different locations, which allows me to explore the city a bit. These few pictures reminded me of my first freedom, when I was freed from my relationship with my first boyfriend, who I had not so much in common with other than attending the same school. I bought myself a red paddington bear coat from JCrew shortly after he left. I normally don't even like red. I remember thinking I didn't even know what I liked, or who I was. I had just been doing what everyone else did or what he liked for so long. It was an interesting experience to realise I loved live music, and records, and hiking and the city.

Oatie is a treasure. I keep worrying that he is going to die. He turned eleven on September 16th. Every day, I feel grateful to have him around. So sweet and loving and in the moment.

How I spend lunch. At a coffee shop. Writing. And sipping something. Maybe a treat or an apple or a banana to accompany the coffee (which is often decaf).

 Oatie walking in the Pacific.

 Cannon Beach.

 The Shipwreck at Ft Stevens.

 I never knew that anyone drove on the beach but apparently it is free here in Oregon.

 My crappy camera wouldn't focus on the horses.

 Also at Ft Stevens.

 Running back to the car.

 Astoria Sunday Market

 Arrival in Seattle.

 Pike Place Market

 They had good stuff here.

 Beecher's Cheese

It was crazy sunny

 Beecher's Cheese

Glass sculptures at the Space Needle

 

My mom and Chuck left this morning about seven AM- the sun was rising and the car was loaded. It wasn't long enough for any of us, but at least I'm coming home soon, and Carrie will be there in December.We all had a pretty good time together. As well, we visited Mike and Tammy Larson in Seattle but somehow forgot to take a photo.

Hiking Ecola State Park & Free Vibrators in Portland!

Last weekend, I took off for the Oregon Coast with Oatie and our friend Matt. Originally the plan had been solo camping but Matt was in town from Seattle and I was lucky enough to have his company for a day. We arrived at Ecola State Park where we did a five mile hike, then had dinner and headed up to Astoria for the evening. 

Oatie the Hiker, Ecola State Park

Astoria 

 These ladies were in the coffee shop, and so nice. 

He was scared to have his picture taken.

Eagle Sanctuary on the way home. 

Science-pub night at the Baghdad Theater on Hawthorne 

What is this? Why it's free vibrators! I would say, only in Portland, but since it's Trojan, I think it's probably everywhere. 

 I sat and people watched. The goodies were in the purple bags.

The man nearest was a creeper and asked if I had a boyfriend. The guy with the hat on was nice, recently moved to PDX from Alaska.  

 Biking home.

 My favorite bridge, the Steel Bridge.

Oatie guarding Justin's place