Here we are now... entertain us.

Flightus interruptus
 
When we got to the airport in Portland, we discovered that our terminal was (of all things) downstairs from all the other terminals.  Franz was of the opinion that this was not a good thing.  "It means it is a little plane.", he said with trepidation.  I asked him to look on the ticket and see if the letters before the flight number were PJ.  He looked at me quizically and I added, "You know, for Puddle Jumper."  That got a smile. 
 
As it turns out, though, the little prop plane we took from PDX to Vancouver, BC was not the scary part of the trip.
 
We had been flying all night on a BP (Big Plane), and I was tired.  I can't sleep on planes.  Well, I slept for about a half an hour just as the sun was coming up.  That happens a lot faster when you are flying eastward, by the way.  We had heard all the bilingual announcements that we were going to be landing soon, give us your newspapers, leftover plastic cups, other garbage, your tired, your poor, your huddled masses... the usual.  It was about 7am local time, and we were on the final approach to the airport.  I noticed the plane was taking an unusually large vectored course, in short, we did a HUGE circle to come into the airport.  We were about 300 feet from the ground, flaps down, slowest air speed possible... and then the pilot pulled up sharply and cut hard right.  That will get your heart going no matter how tired you are.  Franz and I were wearing equal "WTF" faces as we looked at each other.  We gained altitude quickly and the pilot came on.... sounding to my ears at once preternaturally calm and perturbed.  He said that the plane that landed in front of us was taxi-ing to the terminal too slowly... in other words "in the freaking way" of us landing.  We had to pull up or crash into the butt end of the plane in front of us.  I was thankful he was paying such close attention.  He apologized for the inconvenience.  I thought to myself, you should apologize not for the inconvenience but for scaring the Bejuzus out of us.  And then we would all say, 'It's o.k. Mr Pilot... thanks for not crashing into the idiot in front of us... we don't mind the inconvenience or the scaredy-ness."
 
Both airports were neat.  I went through customs in Vancouver for the first time of my young life.  They didn't stamp my passport, though.  Dammit... maybe next time.  I didn't have to go through customs in Montreal.
 
The baggage carousel was cool in Montreal.  It makes this little rhythmical noise that is fun to dance to, especially if you are tired and punchy.  Franz was just watching me being all hyper and smiling... happy that I was happy.
 
We got Canadian money from the ATM in the airport and went out to find our Taxi to the hotel.
 
Mr Toad's Wild Ride
 
We found a cab driver right in front of the terminal.  He spoke both English and French, and had Islamc religious icons all over his cab.  Stickers with what I can only assume were prayers to the patron saints of crazy drivers everywhere.  Is that heresy to say that an Islamic man prays to saints?  Probably.
 
Anyway, we swerved in and out of traffic at a minimum of 10 KPH over the speed limit most of the time.  He was a good driver though and cut through traffic snarls (and there were surprisingly few for 8am on a weekday) with the greatest of ease.  We got to the hotel and between the cabbie and a nice black man (bellhop, I think), I learned how to say "How do you say..." en Francais.  It's "Como c'est va?" in case you were wondering.  So, now if I don't know the name of something and I see someone who speaks both English and French, I can ask them "How do you say... (fill in the blank)" and point to whatever it is.  Then they can tell me what it is in French.  I haven't used it yet, but I plan to when I get the chance.

Crabbiness, Tiredness and Hungriness Ensue

Up until now, I have been in good spirits.  Something about reaching the hotel made me really want to sleep.  Maybe it was the fact I had been awake for about 30 hours at that point... who knows?  As it was, we couldn't check in until 11am.  So we went to find a place to eat.  We ate at a restaurant called "Eggspectations".  It was good, if you are Franz.  He likes pulpy orange juice and herby fried potatos and stuff like that.  I was not as happy.  I hate pulp in orange juice, and although this was a lovely fresh squeezed juice, it was chokingly thick with pulp.  Think Vitamin C packed sludge.  And the pancakes tasted like they were made with sawdust.  The bacon was very smoky and very droopy.  The eggs were okay, though.  But the toast was the best... they have very flavorful (yet simple) bread there.

I called my Mom (Hi Mom!!!) to say that I was oaky, and Franz and I decided to walk around to kill time.  It started to rain, and I was getting cold and more tired.  We found a place like Portland's OMSI... it has IMAX movies and all that.  It was neat to see all of these French summer school/ tour group children wandering around, ignoring their adult group leaders just the same way American kids do... horsing around and getting into trouble.  We wandered around, and eventually it all started to wear on me.  The exhaustion, the PMS (yeah, that's right, I said it!), the rain, the food, the lack of immediate accomodations... I couldn't remember the last time I had been so tired.  Franz was kind and understanding, though.  We sat and talked.  The time passed and we returned to the hotel to find our room ready as expected.  I showered and we were in bed by noon.

The Francofolies

We woke up around 6pm local time.  We both felt better, but I knew I would get tired again quickly. We ventured out to find dinner.  There was a huge concert setting up behind the hotel.  The Francofolies.  It is a music festival with something like 200 French speaking bands that will be playing over the next few days.  It was cool.  We walked around trying to find a place to have pizza.  I should know by now not to set out with a particular type of food in mind when I am visiting a new city.  The last time this happened we were in Seattle and I wanted apple cobbler.  We walked around for hours and finally found it, but we were cranky and tired by the time we did.  Same thing happened this time, only I was the cranky one.  I like to have an idea where I am going, some knowledge of what signs mean, etc.  That is pretty difficult here unless you speak French.  Plus, I made the mistake of wearing lip gloss out for dinner.  There were hundreds of these little gnats flying around, which routinely got stuck to my mouth.  Up until then, I had been dealing with everything okay.  But that was the last straw.  I had just had it.  I was lost, I was starving, I was getting tired again, I had cramps and there were bugs crawling on my mouth.  I sort of blew up and said I didn't care if we ate pizza, but that I just wanted to eat, period.  We found a mall which had exceedingly filthy bathrooms, and I washed my face after having a good cry.  I tried to disguise all of this from Franz, but he is pretty perceptive for a so called "stoic german".  When I came out, he asked me if I felt better.  I said yes, and we ended up having a very nice dinner at a restaurant just behind our hotel. 
 
I fell asleep easily after dinner when we got back to the hotel.  All in all, for our first time together in another country, I can honestly say that a good time was had by all.
 
Day Two
 
Today was Franz's turn to be Mr Cranky Pants.  We were both hot and tired trying to find a cheap place to eat.  Eventually, we found a place close to the waterfront.  I had a personal pizza and Franz had a burger.  We took tons of pictures as we wandered around the waterfront.  Unfortunately, these will have to be posted after we get back to PDX... we forgot the cable to get the pics from the camera to the computer. (Doh!!)
 
We made reservations on the hydrofoil to go to Quebec City on Saturday.  We found the subway and rode around on it, looking for the fabled underground city.  We haven't found it yet, but we found the internet cafe I am sitting in right now.  So, dear reader, that brings us up to now.
 
Montreal is beautiful.  It is an interesting mix of old and new, with amazing parks and beautiful vistas overlooking gorgeous scenery.  All in all, life is pretty damn good right now.  I will try to update this blog again in two days.  It will have to be in Quebec City, though.  And I am not exactly sure how accessible the Internet will be there.  We will find out, though.
 
I love you all, and I hope that things are good back in the old US of A.
 
Love to all,
 
Sherry

Canuckistan Ho!

(Which is not to be confused with a Canadian prostitute.)
 
Well, this is it!  :)
 
I am leaving on a jet plane in about 3 hours.  I am all packed and ready to go.  Buddy is safely at his boarding kennel.  I miss him like crazy, and have called the place once just to check on him already. I haven't even left the state yet. 
 
Franz is just about finished packing.  He assures me he has the digital camera, so we should (between the two of us) be able to figure out how to post pictures to the blog in the coming days.
 
I love all of you who are reading this, and I hope I can do my first trip out of the country justice. 
 
Love to all,
 
Sherry

Onwards and Upwards...

Well, Northwards, anyways.
 
Yep, that's right, folks... I am currently preparing for my "out of country" experience.  Canada, or "Canuckistan" as my darling Franz so lovingly calls it, is in my sights.  Over the horizon.  On my radar.  Whatever. 
 
I'll be there on Wednesday.

Buddy will be going to have his temperament tested tomorrow at the place that I hope will take him as a boarder for the next week or so.  If she doesn't accept him, I don't know what I will do.  The place I was originally going to take him was a dump upon "closer than internet" inspection.  In short, it stunk.  Pretty much literally.  I have much higher hopes for the place I will be taking him tomorrow.

Ah, life with a doggie.  Right now he just brought a mouthful of food into the computer room from the kitchen to make sure that I know he is eating.  He came in and crunched really loudly... looking at me all the while.  God, I love the furball.  He has a way of soothing me that I just can't describe.

We just finished up a nice walk, which - to my amazement- I actually managed to get to at a time when the park sprinklers were NOT actually on, or in a state of being ready to come on.  I can't tell you how many times we have been surprised by the hiss and spray of the damn things.  Well, that's not quite true, I can tell you... three for me, and at least one or two for Franz.  It's funny how you can be surprised by something you have been surprised by before.
 
I have been reading another Al Franken book today.  It's called "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot."  It's pretty funny.... as one might imagine from the title.  I read it the whole time I was eating tonight.  I don't even mind when I laugh out loud in public when I am alone anymore.  You know, I figure anyone who thinks I might be crazy should have the intelligence to see I am reading a funny book.  And anyone who doesn't have that much intelligence isn't worth worrying about, anyway.  God, it's great being 30.  You just basically don't give as much of a damn about what people think as you did when you were say, oh, about 21 or so.
 
Did I mention the "Street of Dreams" will be happening when I get back from Canada?  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!  I love going and touring around insanely expensive homes.  Alternately coveting and deriding the excess.  It's an exercise in balancing American capitalism and sane humanity to go to this thing.  Does anyone really need 17 TV's in their home?  No, of course not.... but is it neat to see where all the designers find places to put them?  Absolutely!

The moon is about 3/4 tonight.  It is high in the sky and beautiful as always.  Of course, the downtown lights are brighter.  But certainly not more awe-inspiring.  Today was a welcome relief from the heat of the two days preceding it.  We had two whole days at 100+ degrees.  It was awful... draining and tiring on a scale I haven't had words for since I left Florida.  But tonight I am back to being able to open my windows at night and feel a cool breeze rush through my home... at once invigorating and soothing with its susuration. 
 
Why is it I can only remember words like that when I have had a Cosmo or two?  There is a writer in here somewhere... honest, I just saw her a minute ago.
 
Hopefully she will show up for the trip to Canada so I can do it justice.
 
Love to you all,
 
Sherry

Doing my part for a safer America...

Yesterday I was on the MAX, coming back from picking up the dry cleaned curtain that Buddy took a whiz on last month and the library books/DVDs that they had on hold for me, when I noticed a Japanese couple reading a tourist book about Seattle and Portland.  It was neat because they had probably brought it from home... it said "Seattle and Portland" on it in English, but under that, everything else was in Japanese.  I had never thought about people buying travel books in other countries to come here.  Weird how you don't think of things like that.
 
Anyway, I normally get off at the NE 7th stop, but this time I was near the front of a short Red Line train ("puertas a mi derecha"), so I decided at the last minute to hop off at the Convention Center.  And there was the little Japanese couple, huddled over their book in the too bright sunlight, looking for all the world like confused tourists.  Well, next week I will be in Montreal, and I probably will be wearing the exact same face, so I decided to ask them if they were lost. 
 
The Japanese man, who had at least four American flag decals on his backpack, looked up at me about the same time I was about to say, "Are you lost?"  When he saw me, he walked up very close to me... about 10 inches away from my face.  If he were American, I would perceive that as a threat.  But, I figured since he was from somewhere else it was just a cultural difference and it didn't bother me.  He said, very loudly, "Do you know where Lloyd Center?"  Funny how people do that when they don't speak the language very well... they say it louder.  I thought we Americans were the only ones to do that.  I guess some stereotypes are universal.
 
I thought of the movie "Romancing the Stone" where the guy says, "Honey, you are hell and gone from Cartahena."  I thought of saying that just to be smart.  Then I realized they might not get a pop culture joke.  So I decided not to, and instead I said, "Lloyd Center is two more stops."  They both looked sad... the wife, not surprisingly I suppose, stood a few paces behind her husband the entire time I was with them.  I guess some sterotypes are true. 
 
Then he said, "I want buy an American flag."  I said, "I don't think you can get an American flag at the Lloyd Center."  They both looked sadder.  I thought about the junk I was carrying, and where I was headed.  I decided to just take them someplace they could buy an American flag.  So, I explained to them- in words I thought they could understand- that I would take them through the mall to a place where they could buy a flag.  They were confused, but seemed to be happier.
 
And off we went.  I stopped quickly at my building to drop off my stuff.  I asked them to "wait" and to "stay"... using my hands to pat down the air in front of me.  They nodded and started to walk away.  I said, "No, no!  Wait. I take my things upstairs and I be back to show you to the flags."  Yes, I "are" a college graduate.  Nonetheless, I got my point across and when I came back downstairs, there they were.  We walked past the two stops that they should have stayed on the train for, then I showed them the mall.  They were surprised by how long it was.  I think it takes up something like three blocks or something.  I showed them the ice skating rink, and they thought that was neat.  I told them I knew how to say "thank you" in Japanese, but that was about it.  The wife kept stopping as we went through the stores to get out of the mall.  I heard the word "sale" used in conversation with her husband several times.  I guess some other things are universal, too.
 
Then we came out the other side of the mall, and I pointed to the place we were going to - just two more blocks away... just in case they thought I was leading them on a wild goose chase.  It's a big store called Elmer's that just sells flags.  Flags of all kinds, but mainly American flags.  It just so happens that I had noticed it for the first time only a day earlier, as I was walking to Franz's work to go with him to lunch.  The Japanese man and his wife both looked very happy.  We kept on going and I told them that there was a Japanese restaurant right across the street from the flag place, in case they got hungry.  They seemed to be very happy about that, too.  Although, I think the name of the place, "Yuki", might mean something funny in Japanese.  Because they both looked at me like they thought it was not a good name for a restaurant. 
 
I brought them into the store and explained to the sales guy that I found them and they had been lost looking for a place to buy American flags.  I told him that they were from Japan and they spoke some English, but that he may have to be patient.  He said, "We'll help them. Thanks."  It occured to me after I left that I may have just given the guy at the store a license to gouge them, but it was already too late at that point.  I said, "Bye bye" to the nice couple and wished them a good trip.  They shook my hand and said "Arrigato" A LOT.  I bowed my head back to them a whole bunch of times and then left them to their shopping.  I was across the street when I heard, "Hey! Hey!"  There was the little Japanese man and his wife motioning furiously for me to come back.  So I did. 
 
The man wanted to take a picture of me with his wife in front of the store.  I laughed and agreed. They took their snapshot of the goofy American that led them to the place where (I assume) they bought their spiffy new flag.  I guess some other stereotypes are true, too.

So, now, there are two pictures of me floating around Japan somewhere. 
 
The first was a picture that some Japanese tourists took of me and my sister when we were pre-teens in The Hall of Presidents at Disney World.  It was the last showing of the night showcasing the animatronic Presidents flopping their robot arms around, in a way one hopes would be perceived as being a dignified manner by tourists from around the world.  After the show was over and the lights came up, for some reason (probably the air conditioning) no one wanted to leave.  Me and Sheila being kids, we took this opportunity to run up on the stage and run around in front of the big curtain after it had come down.  We must have looked like we were having a ton of fun, because some Japanese tourists (grown ups, even!) joined us on stage for what turned out to be a spot-on imitation of the Moulin Rouge high kicking girls.  All of us joined arms and did high kicks for the cameras.  And there were more than a few of them.  These Japanese grown ups, weighted down by their cameras and bags, hats and sunglasses; me and Sheila in our shorts and tee shirts... all of us kicking as high as we could and laughing as hard as was possible while doing it.  I remember being happy.  I remember being surprised, because up until then I had thought people from other places were scary.  You know, the whole "not talking to strangers thing" was fairly well beat into my head by then. 
 
But these folks were just happy to be there and excited to be meeting real Americans... even though we were just kids.  Maybe it was the magic of Disney, or the magic of America- the kind of America that you see in the Hall of Presidents, anyway.  But, for one brief moment we weren't people from different countries, who spoke different languages.  We were just all children of the world, having fun and sharing the best parts of our world culture with each other. 
 
I wish every day could be like that.
 
Love to all,
 
Sherry

Living for the clouds...

Well, today it is supposed to be cloudy with a high of 73 degrees. You guys have no idea how happy this makes me.  It has been hot here.  I mean REALLY hot for the last few weeks.  Eighties and nineties hot.  With humidity.  Annoyingly, several showers per day, sweaty, yucky HOT.
 
Enough said.
 
But, today... today is going to be more like the Portland I know and love.  It is going to be cloudy!! Yaaaa!  And cool!!  YAAAAA!!  I am so happy just thinking about the rest of today, I don't even want to go back to bed and it's not even 6am yet!
 
Franz and I have been continuing the Buffy-a-Thon.  We are up to the fourth episode of Season Three.  He watched two and three last night, and a good time was had by all.  He is so smart, though.  He knew Faith was coming before the episode "Faith, Hope and Trick" even got to the opening credits!! Franz is often scary smart.  Yet another in the long list of things I love about the boy.
 
Anyway, I have read a bunch of books since the last time I posted.  Let's see... I finished "Fight Club".  I read "Choke" by the same author as "Fight Club".  I read a book about the life of Buffy the Vampire Slayer series creator/ writer/ director/ executive producer Joss Whedon.  The thing that I didn't know was that he also wrote the screenplay for "Toy Story"... and got nominated for an Oscar for it.  He also was a writer on the show "Roseanne".  He even wrote for the movie Aliens 4... even though he says they destroyed his script after he gave it to them.  I learned alot about the back and forth behind the scenes with this book.  In movies, screenwriters basically have no control over what they wrote.  But television is a great deal better for a writer.  I guess if I ever decide to write screenplays, I will write for TV.  Don't hold your breath, though.
 
I also read another book about Buffy the Vampire Slayer... about the cast, and the history and a synopsis of each episode.  It was pretty good, but not very well researched.  Also, my studies of travel books about Canada continue and I have listened to a few of my French tapes.
 
Hmmm... what else?  I watched a movie the other day called "Secretary".  It was strange and interesting all at the same time.  And this is the second time I have seen it!  It is about a woman who is a "cutter" (meaning she grew up with a psychological disorder that causes her to cut herself to avoid the internal numbness she feels when she is under mental and emotional pain and/or stress) who grows up, gets out of the mental institution- that she was put in after inadvertantly cutting herself too deeply- and gets a job as a secretary. The woman is played by Maggie Gyllenhall.  And the boss is played by James Spader.  Anyway, the boss turns out to be a barely held-together domination fetishist.  And, gradually, she becomes his submissive.  Relax, it's not like I was watching porn or anything like that... well, at least not hard core porn.  Really, very soft core porn if I am understanding the distinctions correctly, I suppose. 
 
Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about that movie these last few days.  I can't understand it.  I can see some parts of it.  Granted, she doesn't mind being spanked because she is used to using pain as a means of gaining pleasure (or at least, of escaping numbness).  That part, I get.  But how do you go from that, to needing to be controlled by someone else?  Everytime I think I almost have a handle on it, the concept floats away from me- ephemeral and lost.  Like a mirage... the closer you get, the farther away it gets. And the funny thing about it is, in the end, I feel like she was in control of him.  The way she sort of poked and prodded him into loving her, needing her.  She had such a bare understanding of what he needed, and she gave it to him relentlessly. 
 
And I guess that is one of the things that fascinates me about her.  How she understood the whacked out things he needed so easily... almost as second nature.  How many of us, in our supposedly "normal" relationships, intuitively understand what our partners need on a day to day basis without asking?  Without error?  How many of us bother to pay that close of attention?  You know, not relying on the old fallback, "Well, I'm not a mind reader!"  She never would have had to say this.  Now, granted, she was obsessed with pleasing him.  And you can't always spend your life like that.  In fact, it is probably not healthy.
 
But there is a certain clarity in it that you have to admire. 
 
And an unbelievable amount of trust. 
 
You have to trust that if you give yourself over 100% to meeting the needs of this other person, that they will be there to meet your needs in exactly the same way.  Because if you really give yourself over 100%, you don't have any room left to take care of yourself.  You have to trust the other person to do that part for you in return. 
 
How often does that ever happen?  Us, with our normal relationships... we have to have this internal dialogue "does he or doesn't he?"  Protect ourselves from heartache by not expecting too much, or giving too much without getting an equal amount back in return, keeping a constant eye to the balance of power and the politics of love. 
 
Them, with the simplicity of their desire only to please each other. Without reservation. 
 
I know it's whacked out... but isn't there something to be learned here?
 
 
Well, that's all for now.  I hope everyone is happy and healthy.
 
Love to all,
 
Sherry

The dog has me trained...

I am finding now that even when I put Buddy out of the bedroom for the night- even when I take 2 Tylenol PM's and even when I am really tired- I still wake up at 4:30am to take the dog out.

He doesn't have to try to get my attention. He doesn't have to breathe on me, or rest his head on the side of the bed to wake me up.

No... the dog has me trained.

It's 5am now and I am hungry. So I will have to eat something before I can go back to bed. So, good morning, everybody! Hope you all are doing well!

Love to all,

Sherry

You know what I am thinking?

I think that they are all going to be long posts from here on out. I am a wordy person. It's who I am. It's what I do. I think a lot and I talk a lot. So what?

So, we have been doing a Buffy-a-Thon to get Franz caught up on my all time favorite TV show. We just finished Season 2. Only five more seasons to go! I forgot how much I loved the first two seasons of Buffy. Joss Whedon (the creator/writer/director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is a god. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much watching TV.

It's good to laugh. Sometimes it is the only thing that makes you feel like you have a place on the planet. Like you aren't just taking up air that someone else could be breathing.

I finished the Al Franken book and "Fight Club". Both were good, but "Fight Club" was better than the Franken book. It was a little different from the movie. But I think the movie made things clearer where the book left them muddled... or took easy ways out. All in all, though, the movie was a good representation of the book, right down to the type of shots the director got. The lighting, the darkness, the jerkiness and half-awake reality of it all. Totally on target. I love things that work like that... perfectly. An exact representation of the original. I hate weak counterfeits. Or close approximations. Close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades... isn't that what they say?

Maybe it's just a tribute to Chuck Palahniuk's strong voice that the movie turned out so well. I may very well read his book "Choke" next.

An English teacher once told me that I had the strongest voice he had ever seen in my writing. I think that was a nice way of saying "what you see is what you get". I can't help it, whatever is in my head is what you get on the page- or, in this case, the screen. Now, that might not always be the most comforting thought, but it is the truth. I can't imagine being any other way. What would the point be?

Well, that's about all for now. Be sure and look for another brain dump on this web page- coming to a computer near you soon!

Love to all,

Sherry

A good weekend, followed by a hot, frustrating day...

Hi everybody!

I had a very social weekend, saw lots of people and threw my first ever party at the condo. Well, Franz and I threw it. Mostly Franz. It was kind of a Franz-centric thing. Here is how the last few days went down...

We went to go see the Timbers soccer game on the 8th, as planned. It was really interesting. I am afraid I don't understand the rules much better than I did before, but it was all very exciting to watch. And besides, as long as you know which goal is your teams, you can always tell when to cheer. Anyway, they have a man dressed like a lumberjack (hence the "Tiiim-berrrrs") who runs up and down the field getting people to spell out the word T-I-M-B-E-R-S. And when the team makes a goal, he goes over to a large log with a chainsaw and cuts a slice off. Then he carries the slice around so the audience can touch it, presumably for good luck in attempting the next goal. He also goes up into the rafters of the stadium and hangs down from a rope revving his chainsaw over the heads of the fans. It is exciting if you aren't sitting directly below him. I imagine it is scary if you are. He's no spring chicken. But the Timbers beat Edmunton 6-1 I think it was, so everyone was happy.

On the 9th, I was walking Buddy over to the dog area outside the condo when a silver Subaru pulled up with a guy hanging out of the side window. "Hey, Sherry! It's Christian!" Christian and Sean had arrived. Amazingly, they didn't look half bad for having driven 10 hours the day (and most of the night) before. We went out with them and a large group of people that night. Everyone had a bunch of drinks and food. I myself had 5 Cosmopolitans... which I was not aware of until the bill came. I thought I was at about number 3!! Needless to say, I spent most of the next day recuperating. We had a lot of fun talking over old TV shows that we all used to love, though... like the A-Team, Misfits of Science, Knight Rider, Wonder Woman, etc. In case you were wondering, the B.A. in B.A. Baracus (of "I pity the fool" fame) stands for "Bad Attitude". Just a little bit of Moon and Sixpence Restaurant trivia for you!

On the 10th, in the afternoon (thankfully), we went to a Foursquare tournament at Franz's friend's house. Her name is Carrie, but everyone just calls her Coleman. She was very nice and threw a great party. I was drinking water in an effort to banish the ickiness of that morning. I watched folks play foursquare, then had a weird fit of antisocialism. I just felt like being alone. I went and sat on the couch inside the house for a bit. After Franz had played foursquare for a while, he came and joined me. Which was nice. Then, amazingly enough, the party moved into the house. Franz and I ended up being surrounded by his friends (both new and old) on the comfy couches and talking for hours about their times in college together. It was really nice to hear all these old friends talking about their lives then and their lives now. People who have gotten married, had kids, adopted dogs, gotten jobs and bought their first homes. It was all beautiful. I wish there was a way to publish a book about every person's life. They are all truly fascinating.

The 11th was the party at the condo. It started out as a few couples coming to the condo for a potluck lunch. It ended up being a party for 11 and two very young children. Needless to say, Buddy spent most of the party tucked safely away in our bedroom!! We had cold cut sandwiches, tons of chips and salsa, two types of salad, wonderful brownies and ice cream. With lots of beer and soda to wash it all down with. Amazingly, I wasn't stressed at all. People brought most of the fixings themselves. And even helped clean up! A good time was had by all, and there was still more catching up with old friends.

Later that night we went to see the Finn Brothers, from Crowded House, play in concert at the Crystal Ballroom. It was wonderful. I can't say enough good about it, so I won't even try. I know now what the voices of angels must sound like. I loved it.

Yesterday it was hot. Very hot. 93 degrees hot. Buddy and I went out for a walk at noon and after about a minute and a half outside he just laid down in the grass and stopped. It was as if he was saying, "Screw this walking crap, it's too hot out here." I had to rub his tummy and head for a few minutes before he got up the strength to go on. Spoiled rotten doggie, that one.

I worked out again yesterday. I am not quite as sore as usual today, so I am happy about that. I can feel that my body is getting stronger, and I have officially lost four whole pounds so far. Woo hoo! Later, I had lunch with Franz and then went to the library. I managed to find a new water bottle to replace the one he accidentally lost at the soccer center. And the man at Copeland's was nice enough to let me have the caribbeaner (sp?) for free! That was the nicest part of my day. The rest of the time was spent wandering around aimlessly in the heat, thinking of all the things I need to do. Get a printer cartridge for the printer, make up more resumes, send them out, get more stamps, etc. I am trying hard not to get discouraged, but it is frustrating when you don't get even one phone call on the resumes you have already sent out.

Today I went and got Buddy some new food. He was completely out... there is nothing like waiting until the last minute. I am washing dishes and laundry right now. It's still hot outside, but not as bad as yesterday. I think I am going to finish up the other Al Franken book today and maybe start on "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk. And, of course, send out more resumes. Wish me luck!

Love to all,

Sherry

A brief accounting....

Good morning everybody!

Forgive me for I have sinned. It has been five whole days since my last blog. Sorry, guys. Believe it or not, I did get some complaints about my absence... even if they were secondhand through Franz. Anyway, on with the show.

So, here is a brief accounting of the last few days...

On the 4th Franz and I were lucky enough to be able to watch the downtown fireworks display from our windows here at the condo. It was really amazing, and totally neat to be able to do that. This is the first house I have lived in that I could watch a large fireworks show from my window. Of course, you can watch your next door neighbor set off bottle rockets until the cows come home... especially if you live in Banks. But this was way cooler.

The 5th saw Franz and I happily winding our way downtown to the waterfront to see Jonny Lang play in the big Blues Festival. You bring $5.00 and two cans of food and you get to watch blues greats from all over the world play. It was fantastic. I made a slight wardrobe faux pas and dressed a little too warmly. But, after the music started it didn't matter. Also, note to self (and anyone else who is interested), always eat before going to see a show with 20,000 of your closest friends. Because if you get dizzy and lightheaded in a crowd that large, it isn't always easy to get out, grab a bite and come back to find your spot still available. Luckily, Franz and I were able to find seats! This was even better than the “standing room only” area we spent the first part of the show in. Franz leads a charmed life... and luckily I get to go along for the ride.

The 6th saw me working out at the gym again with my trainer, Brandon. He decided to do a new routine for me with some different machines thrown in. And they, of course, are significantly harder than the old machines. "You can take it, you are getting stronger." he says. "Yeah," I am thinking, "Tell that to my aching body tomorrow." It's funny, now when I work out I can tell which things are going to hurt the next day. It's not all that hard, really. Pretty much if it is a muscle group I am working out, it is going to hurt the next day. (Grin) Come on; don't tell me you didn't see that joke coming.

Yesterday I woke up with a killer nosebleed. Franz and I figured it is because we/I have been sleeping with the AC on and the windows closed up at night. In fact, when it gets warm, I sometimes leave the windows closed all day too. Either way, I had a king sized nosebleed to show for my efforts at sleep Wednesday morning. This in turn led to a whopper of a headache for most of the day. I did finally get up a little before noon, but I am afraid I didn't get much done. Just a few loads of laundry and some dishes. I need to find a new primary care physician. I can't go back to the people at Student Health any more, because I am no longer a student. Duh. But I don't want to pay to get started with a new PCP, and then find out that he isn't covered under the health insurance I get at my new job. (Note the optimism about getting a job.) See how much of your life hinges on whether or not you have a job? God, this is frustrating.

But, when you have nosebleeds and bad headaches, it *is* fun to sit around the house and imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger in your mind saying, "It's not a tumor." I just love doing that.

Today will find me hanging out, trying to find a job online, and maybe eating some Cheerios. I finished Hillary Clinton's biography, as well as Chuck Palahniuk's book, "Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon." Both are highly recommended. Chuck's book if for no other reason than it is essentially a "weirdness history" of Portland. And what city dweller wouldn't like to know the history behind the weirdness of her city? Next I will be reading, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken. It is hilarious so far.

Franz and I have a Timbers game to go to tonight in order to celebrate one of his coworker's birthdays. It will be my first attendance at a professional soccer league game. Should be neat. I am going to try to learn the rules of the game so I will know what the hell is going on. As it stands right now, whenever I watch soccer it just looks like a lot of people running around after the ball. I know it has to be more complicated than that!

And I am looking forward to tomorrow when Franz's friends Christian and Sean will be in town. They are both hilarious and fun people to be around, so I am excited about where we might go and what we might do. I hope it involves pizza!

I also hope that everyone out there that I know and care about is happy and healthy!

And remember, "It's not a tumor."

Love to all,

Sherry

I'm feeling expressive tonight, folks...

I will share some of my old (and some new) writing with you.

Hope you like the happy stuff, and don't understand the sad stuff.

Christian- This is a VERY long post. And there will be no Cliff notes. Just warning you ahead of time, man.

_____________________________

The Storm

At first, the sky was a simple, clear blue,
Punctuated by windswept clouds; pure
White.
The breeze whispered by then, caressing
Lovingly a delicate leaf or a sturdy
Branch.
It rose and became a wind,
Touching, searching, yearning to be in
Motion.
The white of the clouds darkened
Under their load, to the point of
Satiation.
Advancing on the horizon, hurried and
Anxious.
The eager wind made itself known
Then, pushing the tremulous clouds
Forward.
The first few rain drops struggled to
The Earth, the bare blades of grass
Yielding.
And sighing under their weight.
Rows of clouds shifted, changing
Position
In the sky. And the torrent began.
Water and Earth refamiliarized themselves
In
A timeless cycle of rhythm and growth.
The wind thrashed the branches to and fro
As
Droves of rain bombarded the leaves,
Making them shiver and twist
Wildly.
Lightening crashed and thunder rolled.
Trees creaked and moaned as they became, again,
Pliant.
At long last, the rage of the wind
And water was sated. The harshness of the
Torrent
Subsided. Occasionally, though, thunder
Still labored across the sky after lightening
Flashed,
Momentarily. Droplets of water clung
Tightly to blades of grass and to
Leaves.
Once again, the sky became blue, punctuated
By white clouds. Once again, the breeze fell
Silent.


_________________________________

Broken Girl

He says, “I’m sorry.”
He says, “I never meant to hurt you.”
He says, “I never meant for you to find out.”
He says, “I would never hurt you.”
He says, “I think we should take a break.”
He says, “I can’t explain why. It’s just, well, you’re no fun anymore.”
He says, “I need some space. I feel smothered.”
He says, “It’s just internet porn. It doesn’t mean anything.”
He says, “How do you feel about not being invited?”
He says, “I won’t go if you don’t want me to.”
He says, “It will just be a few people from work.”
He says, “I am just going to go for a few drinks.”
He says, “It was just a blow job. It didn’t mean anything.”
He says, “You know I love you, right?”
He says, “I never cheated on your mother.”
He says, “I don’t know why I did it, alright?”
He says, “I guess I just needed to blow off some steam.”
He says, “I got remarried. I’m sending you the photos.”
He says, “I don’t know why I lied to you.”
He says, “You know I would never do anything to hurt you.”
He says, “You know I love you.”
He says, “You fucking bitch… you better run.”
He says, “Fucking bitch, can’t keep a man.”
He says, “You act like such a cunt sometimes.”
He says, “I was always honest with you.”
He says, “You always knew that this thing between us was temporary.”
He says, “I can’t believe how much you trust me sometimes.”
He says, “I love you, but…”

He says, “I talked to someone after you moved back, and he said he thought it sounded like you had been abused.”

I say, “I’m lonely.”
I say, “I’m scared.”
I say, “I hate feeling this way.”
I say, “It must be my fault.”
I say, “I’m angry.”
I say, “Please don’t do this. Please don’t end it this way.”
I say, “I can’t help it.”
I say, “But I still love you. And I want to try again.”
I say, “I forgive you.”
I say, “Maybe I should get the restraining order.”
I say, “I don’t understand.”
I say, “You better go, or you will be late.”
I say, “Please. Stop it. Get off of me.”

I say, “I don’t think I was.”

______________________________


The Race

"I crawled further." said the brown snake.
"I slithered faster." said the black snake.
"I found a shortcut." said the beige snake.
"I ate the most mice." said the brown snake.
"I ate the biggest mice." said the black snake.
"I ate a cat." said the beige snake.

The snakes all decided to ask
The next animal they saw to
Wait at the finish line for
Them.
They wanted to see who was
The fastest,
The strongest,
The most clever,
And
The Baddest
Snake in the Land.

The Mother Hawk heard them and
Flew down to say,
"I'll wait, but my eyesight isn't so
Good. Can I bring two friends to help
Me?"
"Fine, old hawk. Fly and go find your eyes."

She returned with her two hawk sons,
And as they touched the gravel of the
Ground with their talons, she screeched
Her "Go!" signal.

And the snakes
Were off!

After a few minutes,
Three dark streaks crossed between
Three dark hawks.

"Who is the fastest?" said the brown snake.
"Who is the strongest?" said the black snake.
"Who is the most clever?" said the beige snake.

"I cannot answer those questions." said
The Mother Hawk.

"But I can tell you who is the smartest."

"Who?"
"Who?"
"Who?"

"The ones who wait at the finish line."
SLURP!
SLURP!
SLURP!

_________________________________


No Greater Fury Than A Woman Scorned

The winds of change
Chase hot and heavy
On our heels tonight.
We run fearfully
Struggling over the dunes
Creeping through the valley of the shadow.
No defenses, no more petty firepower.
Confronted by the wrathful fury
Of an angry god- or the mocking play
Of a delighted demon-
Who could tell at this late date?
A rising cry pierces the night- is it for mercy?
We scream as if we were the ones betrayed.
By the air, by the land, by the sea.
Hast thou slain us
Or is it we who have slain thee?
Far, far above the universe prepares
To observe the destruction of a troublesome bit of
Dust.
Far, far below Mother Earth gathers anger
And prepares to avenge herself.
No other race,
Commits suicide so well.
No other race can name a madness as such.
And still we run
Fearfully
Destination unknown.
Warnings unheeded.
Oh, believe it!
Hell's moon is rising
Just over the next dune.
Lying in wait for the
Downfall of man.

_______________________

I think that's about all for now. I suppose I should stop before you are all hopelessly convinced I am schizophrenic. Seriously, this is stuff that has been just sitting, unread, on my hard drive... some of it for years. I hope that you all liked it.

Love to all,

Sherry

This is Franz last year when his hair was still VERY short. 

This is a closeup of Buddy trying to talk. You can see that he and Shadow were playing upstairs before someone tried to interrupt to take a picture. Seems like everyone hates the paparazzi. 

This is Buddy last year with his best doggie friend, Shadow. Shadow has since moved to Colorado. 

It's been a little while...

Since I posted to my blog. Still nothing new on the job front. I am excited about going to Montreal. I have about 7 books on Canada and 3 sets of French language tapes and/or discs checks out of the library right now. I am still trying to finish Hillary Clinton's biography. I have gotten to the part where she discovered that Bill was lying about Monica. It is so sad. For me, having been through what she was going through, I can only say that I think she handled it much better than I did. But she also had a tremendous amount of support from friends, family and-to hear her tell it-women all over the world. I am glad that she didn't have to go through it alone. But that has to be sheer hell, having *literally* everyone in the world know the gory details of your husband's affair. Unimaginable.

I went to the salon/ day spa yesterday and had a wonderful time. I have a new short haircut, nicely curved eyebrows and pretty pink fingernails and toenails. Thanks again to Bob and Dianne for the lovely gift certificate... you guys rock!! I feel like a brand new woman. I hope I get a job soon so my co-workers will see me looking all spiffy.

Franz and I went to a new restaurant called Park Kitchen last night. It was pretty good- interesting cocktails, interesting food, and interesting wine. The venue was nicely decorated. The only problem was how many tables that they had managed to cram into the place. That and the fact we were right up against the kitchen, which- of course- was hot. My rum infused Cosmo and later my glass of white wine were both sweating under the heat. Luckily, the heat and the breathing helped the white wine. It only became better as the night went on, and it was good to begin with.

We were seated uncomfortably close to others all night. Especially these two big oafish morons who were getting drunk at light speed behind us, in front of their increasingly embarrassed dates for the evening. Franz wanted to turn around and smack them.... something he would have been able to do without getting up from his seat, I might add. We ended up taking bets on what they did for a living for most of the night. Oafish, inappropriately loud, intense lack of social graces and profuse swearing in public, all while getting hammered on multiple bottles of wine priced at a minimum of $35.00 a pop... I was thinking nouveau riche. I was thinking investment banker, or upper crust auto salesmen- or something else in sales along those lines. A glorified hustler. The kind of man who makes his money by selling other’s goods or services to men like himself… ex-frat/jock boys who have, by the grace of God, been born into this country heterosexual, white and male at a time in history when these were all still good things to be. There was an air of entitlement and a sense that they thought they belonged in a restaurant like that in spite of their behavior. Perhaps, they even thought, because of it. I can picture a guy like this spouting the party line as to why he is so successful… you know, something along the lines of having “made his own destiny” because of how “hard he pushes the envelope,” or some crap like that.

I mainly felt sorry for their dates. These poor women. It seemed as though they were feigning interest and trying to hide their embarrassment for the first part of the evening. Then, as the booze wore on, they stopped trying to shush the men and starting trying to assert themselves and tell their own inappropriately loud stories. They began trying to play the game on the men’s field, as it were. All in all, pretty damn sad.

I left the restaurant feeling lucky that I am with a man who is quiet, kind and not at all overbearing. And also very glad not to be out there dating in a world with men like that in it. So, I ended the night happy, thankful, in love, increasingly appreciative of my world and gastronomically sated. Not a bad way to cap off an evening.

Love to all,

Sherry