30.7.08

The House



So our little house is getting put together and all set up. This is what the living room looked like while I was trying to organize our books.

29.7.08

Remember?

Strong Bad and Co.? Well apparently they will be a video game soon. Sweet.

25.7.08

From Papers to Boxes

Allison is done with her papers! Hooraaay!
That means today (and henceforth) is free for packing and cleaning. No studying hanging overhead. (Though those library books really need to be returned...)

19.7.08

It's not easy being Green.

Seriously. Check this out. I'm not sure which would be worse...

A or B

Bibliotheque

Thursday morning, my Capstone class went to a special lecture in the Rare Book Room, hidden away in a mezzanine level at the Central Library. I found this room by myself once, about three years ago while doing research on the artist John Doyle (illustrator of many original Charles Dickens' works and contributor to the 19th century magazine "Puck"). This time, as my class walked into the cold, climate -controlled haven for book lovers, we were greeted by a Gutenberg Bible facsimile. It was quite impressive laying there on its foam stand, surrounded by awed students (who were probably not quite as used to looking at really old, famous books, or visiting libraries that hold actual copies of the Gutenberg Bible, as I).
Throughout the hour we were treated to a Commentary on the Psalms by St Augustine, the Digest of Justinian (dated to the 1470s), a 1473 manuscript of St Augustine's City of God, and a 1493 publication of the Nuremberg chronicles, complete with woodcut illustrations, some of which are likely to have been created by the publishers god son Albrecht Durer.
It was quite a fantastic start to an English and Art History major's birthday. The rest of the day kept up the pace, too, with hugs from friends, text messages, coffee with my sister (and free cookies from Costello's!), relaxing with Josh, dinner with the parents, and a movie with Mike and Lisa.
It was a lovely start to being 24.

14.7.08

Here is our King

From wherever spring arrives
To heal the ground
From wherever searching comes the look itself
A trace of what we’re looking for
So be quiet now and wait

The ocean is growing
The tide is coming in
Here it is

Here is our king, here is our love
Here is our God Who’s come
To bring us back to him
He is the one, he is Jesus, Jesus

And what was said to the rose
To make it unfold
Was said to me here in my chest
So be quiet now and rest

Majesty, finally
Majesty, finally here

Here is our king, here is our love
Here is our God Who’s come
To bring us back to him
He is the one, he is Jesus, Jesus

Majesty, finally

[David Crowder Band]

13.7.08

City Girl

I was reminded this weekend, oh so bluntly, that I grew up in a city and am a city girl. Now, this is a true statement, but a totally unfair judgment: I said a particular tree branch was too thick to cut with my hedge trimmer tool whereby Josh said "you just don't know how to use them right" and hacked the branch off. Whatever man - I just was not strong enough and at the wrong angle.
However.
A few hours later I found myself standing in a barn with three goats, watching two of them get sheared - something I've never witnessed before. Also, I learned that goats eat baking soda, get lice that people don't share, and like to stand up on their back hooves and fall over, bashing each other on the head, when they are happy. Between the goat experiences and making sure I kept a healthy distance from the chickens (I also learned how to tell if an egg is eatably fresh, and what duck eggs look like), I can readily admit that I am a city girl.
But I would like everyone to know that while I am a city girl, I can go to the country and have a good time, work hard, and come home covered in cuts and bug bites (aka I am not a wus). Of course it was fun.
Thank you.

9.7.08

Excerpt: Reading on Reading

Preface: I love books with very literary characters, or books about books, or on reading. Maybe it's because I so love reading, and books, and anything literary or paper, that I enjoy self-aware books. This is probably why I really enjoy post modern lit. Books from the Romantic era and whatnot that insert phrases like "dear reader" do not count, but books that are not overtly self-aware but contain lists of words simply because they are beautiful do.
This book does a lot of both.

...I know only that I was reading in a wild, disorderly fashion.
I did not read everything word for word. Some books and magazines I skimmed as though I were flying over a landscape, and as I did I was aware of already knowing what was written in them. As a single word could summon back a thousand others, or could blossom into a full-bodied summary, like those Japanese flowers that open in water. As though something were striking out on its own to settle in my memory, to keep Oedipus and Don Quixote company. At times the short circuit was caused by a drawing, three thousand words for one picture. At times I would read slowly, savoring a phrase, a passage, a chapter, experiencing perhaps the same emotions sparked by my first, forgotten reading."

-p.117, "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana", by Umberto Eco

8.7.08

Tuesday's With Tracy

[Or, Things I Love About Portland.]

-It can be hot in the sun and still cool in the shade.
-PSU feels much more crowded during summer session because it's actually nice out (so people actually interact and congregate outside).
-Cars stop for pedestrians at crosswalks.
-I saw a guy with a 3-ring binder talking to some girls in the park blocks about the difference between poverty and dire poverty.
-You might hear this said: "We used to care about the environment and stuff and then we were like 'give us some chemicals!!" (in other words, people here have been interested in the environment before it was popular to "go green", and also know where to draw the line).
-Hooters on Stark closed.
-Coffee shops have happy hour.
-I can go downtown wearing whatever I want, and no one will notice or really care (exception: tourists).
-Three white pickups in a row are noticeably out of the ordinary.
-I can hang out with my sister - not just over the phone.

4.7.08

"There will be showers of blessings!"

Bridal shower - yay!
A few things to note before moving on:
-I have so many loved ones.
-The 5 hostesses created a fantastic little party.
-All the guests were wonderful, encouraging and generous.
-Photos are compliments of Mary Fox - isn't she amazing? (They are in no particular order - it's entirely too much work.)

My ribbon bouquet. I only broke one, but it was sort of three in one and I had to cut it. Everyone decided that meant triplets.
The hostesses: Alyssa, Vera, MB, Jane, Lisa (they rock).
Me and my lovely assistant - all the way from Seattle - Rose, taking down the names and gifts.
Something tickled my mom's fancy.
Leanne did my devo - a hand made book!
My cute sister - this is one of my fave pics.
Roses from Vera's lovely garden.
The gifts! And they are all my colors! The hostesses even had all the table decor in metallics.
Faithy liked to come and say hi. PS- note the tiara. Someone brought that for me to wear. Very cool.
Vanessa and Danielle were my awesome helpers.
Leanne telling the story to Tracy, Rose, Me, Mom and Grandma.
Mmm... cake. There was so much cake. And fruit (they know me well).