I had a really great weekend in Victoria with my mom!

We got a super deal through the Clipper website...about $300 for both of us to take the Clipper up and stay in a decent hotel.  While the hotel wasn't in the fanciest part of town (there were a ton of panhandlers and it was a bit dead at night), it had free bicycle rentals (which we never got around to using) and free pool passes for the local Y (hooray!  a nice pool, too). 

We did high tea twice, which was a bit of a mistake.  Lovely food and atmosphere, but way too decadent on the tummies.  Buchart Gardens was a long city bus ride (be careful to watch the schedule for leaving...we missed one by 5 minutes and had to wait almost an hour to get back to the city) and while very pretty...a little too groomed to "perfection" for my tastes.  Miniature World was kinda neat (especially the tiny circus exhibit).  But mostly we wandered around doing a bit of shopping and just checking things out. 

Plus, we went and saw two movies.  The Soloist was better than I had hoped, with some really great perspective on a person dealing with synesthesia and schizophrenia.  Plus I love movies where you feel like the place is a character in the story, and Los Angeles really came through in this one.  We also went to see Star Trek, which I found astonishingly delightful.  The casting was just great, and the movie was tremendously funny without being overly campy, and still very entertaining.  Plus some amazing action sequences.  Great stuff.

We ate a lot of good food over the weekend, too.  My favorite spot was a little neighborhood joint called John's Place, where I had lamb marinated in maple and discovered I really like Bloody Caesars.   We also had some awesome crepes at a place called True North Gelato.

Overall, very relaxing weekend and nice to hang with my mom.  Will post photos on flickr soon!

Last May (yikes!) I decided I needed to revise my 101 list. You can see the post where I decided what to eliminate here. Technically, the 1001 days expires in November, but I'm just going to ignore that and keep plugging away. But I can't believe it took me so long just to update. Sheesh.

New to the list (old item in parentheses...reasons for dropping in above blog link):

6. Go to a professional hockey game. (Go for a picnic at Bradner Gardens).
13. Go see a performance at The Columbia City Theater (Go see a performance at Lottie’s in Columbia City).
14. Take the Recover Your Chair class at Pacific Fabric. (Eat a meal at Seastar).
36. Do the Fat Salmon open water swim. (Go on a lazy tropical vacation).
37. Attend Slug Fest at Northwest Trek in Eatonville. (Picnic at the park at Bothell Landing).
39. Go summer river tubing. (Eat at the Roanoke Inn on Mercer Island).
40. Go to the Combine Derby in Lind, WA. (Get some pizza at Roberto's on Mercer Island).
48. Attend the Pacific Rim Whale Festival in BC. (Do the Tillicum Village tourist thing).
50. Go camping on Vancouver Island BC. (Eat at Bai-Tong Thai restaurant in SeaTac)
83. Visit Port Gamble and see The Museum of Shells, then eat chocolate at Tea Room. (Beat a video game).
90. Go to Carr's One of a Kind in the World Museum in Spokane. (Give blood - can't!).
94. Go watch movies at the six drive-ins still open in Western Washington (Valley 6 Drive-In - Auburn, Rodeo Triplex Drive-In - Port Orchard, Puget Park Drive-In - Everett, Wheel In Motor Movie - Port Townsend, Skyline Drive-In - Shelton, Blue Fox Drive-In - Oak Harbor). (Watch the movies I haven't seen from the book Never Coming to a Theater Near You).

I decided to leave this one on the list, after a coworker convinced me it was great people watching and a good trip to do with a girlfriend. Plus there are some cheap trips lately:

84. Go to Las Vegas for a weekend.

Things I've decided to change since then:

15. Take a fly fishing class through Patrick's Fly Shop. - I got lessons from a friend last summer. It was fun, but nothing I want to pursue further...too expensive a hobby, I think. Replacing with: Visit Butchart Gardens outside of Victoria.

Thanks to those of you who helped with great suggestions!

Holy cow! If you have not seen the documentary Man on Wire, I totally recommend reserving it immediately. I had already known the story of the man who tightrope walked between the towers of the World Trade Center, having read the children's book and watched an old documentary on it. But this movie is just amazing. You get to see old footage of the preparation, the planning, these crazy kids in the 70s coming up with what is essentially a heist. And the filmmakers do such a wonderful job of capturing the excitement, tension, and true beauty of the event! Plus, the soundtrack is just heaped with loveliness.

I just made this yummy lunch:

Curried Salmon Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1 cup dry pasta, such as macaroni or small shells
* 8 ounces cooked, skinned salmon
* 1/2 cup minced red or yellow onion
* 1 cup diced celery
* 1 medium red apple, diced
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
*
* Dressing:
* 1 (6 ounce) container fat-free yogurt
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon curry powder
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
* Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

* add to recipe box Add to Recipe Box
My folders:
* add to shopping list Add to Shopping List
* Customize Recipe
* add a personal note Add a Personal Note

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta per package directions; drain and rinse. In a large bowl, combine first six ingredients. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad; toss. Refrigerate, or serve at room temperature.

SUBMITTED BY: USA WEEKEND columnist Jean Carper

This weekend, I made few plans, I had been sick all week. And now everyone I made plans with is sick. I am feeling really nicely free. Puttering around the house. Washing the mountain of accumulated dishes (I knew I should have tackled those before I went to Portland last week). Cleaning out inboxes. Catching up on book reviews. Making a big effort to seriously reduce the number of books/cds/dvds I have checked out. Too much has piled up, and finally finally finally I am feeling the urges to do some spring cleaning. I actually took down the rack my pans hang from and washed it free of dust, cobwebs, and grease! Having a nice balance of housework and house rest. Feeling glad for my recovered health, nicely recovering shoulder, my lovely house, my nice cat, and life in general.

Feeling like if I can just whittle down the accumulated projects and stuff from around the house, I can put more energy into doing things I dream about doing, but am far too good about making excuses not to. Writing. Making music. Getting fit.

I've been missing LJ, but enjoying twitter so much I didn't care too much. But while it is a fun exercise it isn't a place I ponder and think.

Something stuck in my head this week is the idea that you can form a new habit in 20 days. So I am thinking I am going to try and do 3x10x20. 10 minutes of writing. 10 minutes of making music. 10 minutes towards getting fit. 30 minutes a day, in the home. More = good (still plan to swim/run/gym), but I just want to get to a point where instead of thinking about these things all the time, I just do a little everyday as a happy habit (not a chore) and then can move on to the rest of everything, or more of each/some. I'm going to try and write here about what I have done of each for the next 20 days, to try and make it more likely to happen.

How are you? What do you want to be doing more of? Wanna join me on a 3x10x20?

Monday, Jan 19th, 2009 -- You could reach creative heights today, but you'll need to channel your emotions in a positive direction, instead of allowing them to pull you into a swamp of complications. If you try to hold on to an old feeling or a worn-out habit, you'll only get bogged down in the mire. But if you are willing to let go of the past, then anything is possible. The choice is in your hands.

This is my favorite song of the moment. Perfect for the New Year!

Give up swearing? Hardly!

Friday night, I finally made it to an event at Open Books in Wallingford.  I pretty much randomly picked something out from their e-newsletter, and got a confirmation from a friend that it would be good.  Little did I know that Cody Walker is one of Seattle's most beloved poets...the official 2007-2008 Poet Populist of Seattle. The place was PACKED with his friends, fans, students, and well wishers. 

A good event overall, but if it was this crowded every time, I would hesitate to come back.  But at the same time, it made it more exciting, so maybe that is a good thing?  Poetry needs what buzz it can find.

Anyways, I enjoyed the poetry and picked up the book.  You might like it, too.

via holyoutlaw 

DIRECTIONS:
* reply to this post with the word MEME and I will pick a few of your icons.
* make a post (including this sort of info) and talk about the icons I chose.
* other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
* icon enthusiasm ensues


This photo was taken in the elevator of a hotel I was staying at in Boston a few winters ago.  I was mesmerized by the delightful reflective/refractive paneling and wanted to remember how pleased I felt to be there.


This icon I stole from somewhere on the internet when looking for a good umbrella image.  I was hoping to find something that would be good for rainy days, as we have so many of them here in Seattle...but found it was just a good, sad, out-of-sorts icon, too.


This was taken at the Queen Mary Tea House.  I like the photo as it is silly, faux-prim, slightly disguised, and a foodie shot all in one!
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I love that when you see photos of Obama, about 50% of the time, he is holding someone's hand.



What do you love about Obama?

It was pretty good up until the end. Ah well.