Livewire, The Thermals

Most Fridays Carley and I are tired from a week's worth of activities and frivolity and don't feel like doing much. Usually we'll grab dinner at Chaba Thai and watch a movie or Tivo-fare. Last Friday Carley and I dragged ourselves out of the house to see Livewire. It's something we've talked about doing for some time but never found a convenient night when all of our stars have aligned. The show was great, very much a Portland-flavored Prairie Home Companion with a great house band, interviews with authors and creative-types, sketches, and a mix of ages and social castes (hipsters, parents and kids, freakfolk hippies, general public radio admirers). They tape a couple shows at a time so you get to see two musicial guests and two interviews. It was a lot of fun.

One of the musical guests was The Thermals. I'm happy to be able to finally jump on this bandwagon. Before Friday I had only heard them a couple times and hadn't formed an opinion. They played two songs from "The Body The Blood The Machine" a conceptish album about a dystopian Christian theocracy. (I would say that it is set in the future but I think that dystopian only applies to future-state scenarios. Otherwise it would be some historical fictive amalgam.) They were great live--so good that I bought the album. It is pretty grim, but rocking.

The show and Thermals performance were uplifting in a brain-filled-up-to-capacity, should-be-creating-art way. One more push to get off the couch and try new things, or practice old things that have been put aside.

Ohio Trip

We're back from Ohio where we had a great visit with Dave's parents and sis.
We started our trip with a fascinating trip through Ohio's Amish Country, the largest group of Amish in America. They are extremely insular and family oriented, living simple lives as farmers, craftsmen, and service-sector workers. We learned more at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Ohio, where the 265ft long Behalt cyclorama mural depicted the history of the Amish and Mennonite people of the US.
What I found someone ironic is that the Amish people's love of sweets and rich food (the are Swiss and German, so i guess it holds)! They are big on their pies, candies, chocolates, not to mention cheese, sausage, and gravy over everything! we enjoyed browsing and sampling at their bakeries and at the Cheese Chalet~ Mmmm...cheese~

And now, Dr.Carley

Here's a quick video of Carley getting her hood.

Carley gets ready to be hooded.

The hooding ceremony is tomorrow. The pomp, the circumstance. It will take no few than two ceremonies for it to happen. Here is a preview:

Garden update

The garden is coming along nicely this year, especially with all of this sunshine. We have a strawberry patch on the north side of the backyard, and more strawberries, flowers, rhubarb, herbs, zucchini, and several heirloom tomato plants in the backyard garden. I've harvested about 3 pints of strawberries so far, and it will be about 2-3 pints a week for the next month at least! Strawberries are my most favorite food, so Dave is luck if he gets to them before me! (i think i ate a pint today~)



In our raised beds, I made things easy by growing lots of greens (salad mix, arugula, lettuce, spinach, kale, bok choi), radishes, fennel, and zucchini from seed along side our 4 blueberry bushes. Now that everything is set and growing, it's all about keeping things watered, weeded, and thinned out.

Congrats, Jodi!

My good friend Jodi defended her thesis this week, and she did an awesome job!! Dr Jodi celebrated with friends Patrice and Wendy who came in from out-of-town for the special occasion. We had some great girlie time after her big day!