and my city was gone.

Not really. But it's impossible to think of going back to Ohio without thinking about the Pretenders song. Couldn't find it to post, so instead, I put on the saddest Ohio song I know, which makes me cry most times I hear it for a variety of little reasons and one big one.

Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio

But there were friends galore, babies to meet and hold, TWO thanksgiving dinners, many reunions, a little bit of shopping, a trip to my old YMCA and I'm glad I went.

Jason Brabbs took today's picture and I'm a fan.

Incoming....

In a time honored tradition, I haven't started packing yet, haven't called most of the people i need to call, and am generally unprepared. BUT I am getting on a plane tomorrow morning for Ohio and I can barely wait.

Looks like I'll be driving that rental car around in the snow, and what, with my excitement, i need to be extra careful and summon skills of the road heretofore untapped.

Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky - Claudia Lennear

Pictures

Canup, Daniela and I went shopping on Alberta yesterday afternoon and came across a new shop called Ampersand. Its a gallery and shop specializing in vintage photographs. The owner, Miles, has boxes of old snapshots, displays with the old stereoscopic viewers, books on photography, and many matted pictures ready for sale. He calls it "an organized mess of books, objects, ephemera, fine art, design & photography." I bought a small piece involving a very old black and white snapshot of the sky. You can rummage through his photos on line and buy one for yourself for five bucks.

favorite prop 8 poster

The Good Fight

There's a tradition at my office of hanging an old pair of boxing gloves on the door knob of the attorney who most recently did something awesome at work. And the gloves have been on my doorknob for a few days now on account of getting that guy out of the clink and another thing. YAY! I'm getting into my groove maybe. And then tonight I went to a "young lawyers" function put on by the local bar association and ended up meeting some interesting smarty people and they asked me to lunch. it's all coming together.

To Remake the Young Flyer - Guided by Voices

text message break up cross stitch

this is brilliant.

Anti Prop 8 Rally

Here's homo mayor-elect Sam Adams speaking at the anti-prop 8 rally yesterday. I heart Portland.

Beautiful

I took a great hike today up through Washington Park. Usually, I take the max to the top of the park and then meander up and down the trails until i get home. Today, because the sun was out and because I skipped the gym and felt like it, I walked from my place to the top of the park. My legs hurt now, but it was terribly fun and there was an amazing four-mountain view up there. Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, all stunning white in fresh snow. Not sure when the next day will come where they are going to glow in the sunset like that.

The Deals

Kim and Kelley were vibrant last night, having a grand old time playing their rock and roll with The Breeders. Last time I saw them was around memorial day, outside in the wind when they hadn't rehearsed in quite some time and didn't have their groove. But they sure as heck have it now. This was probably my sixth time to see them over the years and the best, at least in terms of their energy and musicianship. Happy band!


The Breeders - Walk it Off

The Breeders - Bang On

God Loves a Power Trio

As you may know, I go see a lot of live music. And tonight was something really special. Walk through walls and bribe public officials to get to the next Heartless Bastards show. The lead singer, Erika, has such an amazing voice and its a power trio and i just can't write anything that would be sufficient. it would just be dancing about architecture. All the better, it was at the Doug Fir, the bar with the best sound people in the known universe. it was a monday night, packed.

The Heartless Bastards - All This Time


The Heartless Bastards - Pass and Fail

The Heartless Bastards - Done Got Old

Sonoma

This weekend was a vineyard adventure with Kara. We went to Ledsen, St. Francis and Kaz. I bought a couple of bottles and had an all around good time. The weather was gorgeous today and we look a long walk through the vines and woods. Last night, we went and saw music at this little bar in the middle of nowhere called The Black Cat. There were bras stapled to the ceiling and the music was unexpectedly good, despite the inclusion of a french horn and a bagpipe. you just never know.

Opening Doors

Why yes, I do go to work in addition to my other adventures and tribulations, though I rarely write about the juicy parts. Confidentiality forbids it. But I think it is safe for me to report a big victory last week, getting a client out of custody by arguing that prison officials miscalculated his sentence by 15 months. The nature of a criminal law practice does not involve a lot of my clients walking out of their cells because of something I did, so when it happens, that's pretty exciting. YAY! He was released this morning and called with an estatic thank you.

Pinch me.

Voting Day

In Oregon, its not so much an election day, as a period of days. the county mails you a ballot and you fill it out at home and drop it off or mail it back in. I delivered my ballot to pioneer square yesterday morning. I sort of miss going to the polls on election day, but it sure makes voting easy. and it beats standing in the rain.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Izakaya

I learned something new tonight. A Japanese sake den with food is called an izakaya. It was the Rev. Shayla's birthday and we drove bravely beyond the city of Portland to Hillsboro. The ladies knew about an izakaya called Syun. It was so delicious. Lots of grilled fish, sushi, raw vegetables and sake. I didn't think I liked sake, but this must have been the good stuff.

Guy Fawkes and Scientology

I saw the funniest damn thing today. I was at the gym and out the window we could see about 20 odd protesters, standing in the rain in Guy Fawkes masks, holding signs protesting scientology. Apparently, one of the local scientology offices just moved into the building that also houses my gym. but it just happened this week so there's no sign or anything. And so, from my third floor perch, I watched the protesters go up and down the block in a confused fashion, trying to find the new scientology place so they could hate on it. First they protested across the street at a senior center. Then it was closer in, in front of a beauty school next door, but still the wrong building. They got frustrated and dispersed.