Month: February 2015

Postcard from Minnesota

This arrived today.  Each of these beautiful scenes are “wraps” for uility boxes in Sara’s neighborhood.  I hope to see them this summer in person.  My favorite in this series is the photo booth one.

Astute readers might have noticed that my Postcrossing postcards have not been coming from far-flung countries.  That’s because I took a haitus from Postcrossing and when I started up again, I was in a postcard deficit.  I had received more than I sent.  So I had to send a few without getting any in return.  I’ve evened everything up and new postcards from people I don’t know should be arriving soon.

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
 

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

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.