Having celebrated our anniversary during quarantine, we knew how to make things work for Matt’s birthday. Takeout from Canard! Those fries were quite good, as was everything.
And then a peanut butter icebox pie with 4 and 2 candles for dessert!
We also played board games.
Matt and I took a drive to check out Battleground Lake, which a coworker had recommended as a potential summer swimming hole.
After a pleasant drive we found a small little lake with some nice hiking trails.
We walked around the inner hiking path and then longer the longer path that doesn’t have lakeside views.
The lake didn’t seem to have a lot of places to hang out when not swimming, but did seem like a fun place to swim, once swimming season happens. Until then, these birds reign supreme.
It was a fun excursion and I look forward to coming back when it’s swimming weather.
Matt introduced me to Watergate, where one of us worked to expose the scandal, while the other was Nixon trying to stay in office and avoid resignation.
I enjoyed the historical connection and the game didn’t take very long to explain, which is always a good sign.
More blurry pictures from the person who needs glasses!
However, this night was too good to not include.
The Hollywood Theatre has a Cage on Cage series where they’ve been screening Nicolas Cage movies. The crown jewel in the series (in my opinion) was the showing of Red Rock West followed by a talkback with director John Dahl.
Aside from getting to watch Red Rock West for the first time since the 1990s, (review here) it was fun to listen to the troubles of distribution (it’s a movie that doesn’t fit in to a solid genre—Noir-Western not really being a thing) and when Dennis Hopper adlibbed.
Here’s this year’s retrospective.
Jim and Eileen waiting around before the Pride parade.
Sentinel reminding me that one of my duties is to feed him.
My seven a.m. trek to the Max. Only two other people had come before me.
Original hardware and glimpse of staircase at the AirBnB I stayed in when visiting Minneapolis. (Currently winning the award: City with the largest number of houses that leave me weak in the knees.)
Some chit-chat after SKS’s dissertation, with Barbie finding a nook to overlook the proceedings.
My favorite example of the mish-mash of change in Minneapolis. Foreground: 1950s-era basic building; middle ground, front: original house that makes me weak in the knees; middle ground back: newer office building; background: the prow of the new stadium.
The best picture I have of the hard work paying off, plus a reminder of how very good those cakes were.
My favorite People Taking Pictures photo of the year.
Sentinel enjoying the sun and fresh air on the back catio.
Our first visit to the Oregon Country Fair
My favorite representation of fair goers.
Baseball magic.
Redwoods magic.
My favorite performance this year: the Ukel Aliens at the Humboldt County Fair.
Best capture of how much fun making music together is.
4-H pig competition.
The best thing to come out of the endless building construction project of 2019.
My favorite Halloween costumes this year.
Friends Heidi and Kevin had their annual White Elephant Gift party and Matt came home with a toilet paper air gun.
He took to it right away.
It was satisfying having wads of wet toilet paper hit the fence, or recycling bins.
Huzzah for dumb present fun. (The present was an actual gift from one of the party goer’s mother.)
Thanks to passes from excellent Youth Services Librarian Danielle, Matt and I got a free trip to the Roseway Theater. It was our first time visiting.
I really enjoyed this single-screen theater. It felt very much like people had wandered in from the neighborhood.
And holy cow the stained glass! There was this, with the theater name.
And then four panels featuring movie studios.
I recommend checking out the Roseway Theater yourself.
Because it happens near Halloween, there’s a costume contest on the Saturday night of our square dancing event. It’s fun to see what people come up with.
Jim and Eileen had great fun dressing up as a gangster and a moll.
Tiffany and Rebecca’s costumes showed off their great gams.
And Tara and Leslie’s turn as Mormon Missionaries won a prize.
I volunteered for the After Hours event at the Hollywood Library this year. This year’s theme: Stranger Things
There were a lot of themed activities (which I didn’t get because I haven’t watched the series, but which Matt assures me were on point) and the usual After Hours things.
This included pizza delivered and exclaiming over costumes.
Plus button making, and this waffle station.
And everyone’s favorite: the running and screaming tag game that happens after the library closes.
As usual, it was a fun night at the Hollywood Library.
Among the things in Matt’s mother’s storage space: a framed poster of the crew team at Matt’s college.
There he is in all his glory.
The inspiring words on the poster say: The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. —Vince Lombardi
