Deep Water
Note: I would have posted this way back on the 19th, but iPhone 3G won’t mount on Ubuntu any more. Then there were permissions problems with my WordPress installation on WebFaction.
“”"Instructions: Take a picture of yourself right now. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair - just take a picture. Post that picture with NO editing. Post these instructions with the picture.”"”
This is a giant post covering a lot of territory–a three-day period of hanging out, site/sight-seeing, and bike riding. There are several photos. If you get bored with one section, you can scroll down.
At the very least, I hope you will read the section about what’s left of Japanese culture in Portland.
Bike Lunch
This past weekend started on Friday (March 29th) with Bike Lunch. Bike Lunch is exactly what it sounds like. Bikey people get together and have lunch around noon every Friday at Backspace. Clever! I’m sure other people are welcome, too. I got there at about 12:30 and planned to stay for an hour or so. I brought my laptop. I ordered “The King,” a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. Mm mm mmmmm… I ended up staying till about 5, chatting with Daniel and some other people.
I got a few things done but not much really. I also updated my iPhone to version 1.1.4. w00t. The download for that was 162MB. Holy shit, that’s big. Apparently it has something to do with getting ready for the upcoming SDK, which will allow third parties to develop native apps for the iPhone. Won’t that be cool. Again I say: w00t.
So, I got home from Bike Lunch around 5. I figured I could work for a few hours and then hang out. Well, that sure didn’t work out. I didn’t accomplish anything. In fact, at the moment, I’m not even sure what I did during that time. Afterwards, I took a quick trip downtown, got there and asked myself what the hell I thought I was doing there, went back home, read for a bit, and went to bed. I didn’t sleep much, though.
Exchange Cycle Tours Field Trip - Nikkei Ride - Japanese Culture in Portland
On Saturday, I went to the Nikkei Field Trip Ride put on by Exchange Cycle Tours. The ride was an exploration of Japanese culture in Portland. There was once a vibrant Japanese community in the area that is now Old Town/Chinatown. Now, there is essentially no Japanese community there because Japanese Americans on the West Coast were all sent off to internment camps during WWII. And that, my friends, is a real tragedy.
After meeting at Madison Plaza on the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge, we rolled over to the Japanese-American Memorial at Waterfront Park on the west side of the Willamette River just south of the Steel Bridge. This is where all the Cherry Blossoms are. I’ve been by there at least a thousand times and never noticed what it was. There are inscriptions on the rocks and some cool sculptures. Go check it out.
Next we went to the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center in Old Town. There was a lot of interesting old stuff from that era.
Old school “watch your fingers” (AKA, slicer)
One thing that struck me was a model of that part of town showing a large percentage of Japanese owned businesses before internment. Now, there are no Japanese owned businesses there. Just imagine how much interesting Portland would be if we hadn’t lost that culture. Way to go, Uncle Sam.
We were going to head over to the Uwajimaya Asian superstore in Beaverton and then to the Japanese Garden, but there were only three of us (due to the cold and rain, I guess), so that part of the field trip was deferred to a “nicer” day. Hopefully some more people will make it out next time. There’s so much around us that we’re not always consciously aware of, that we need to remember.
Saturday Market
At the end of the Nikkei Ride, we were a few blocks from the Saturday Market, so I went to check that out. I know now why I don’t go there. I won’t get too critical; I’ll just say that I didn’t find it particularly interesting. I liked this part though:
This guy rocks the buckets… hard
Hang Out/Slumber Party
After the ride, I thought I might do some “real work,” but, once again, that didn’t work out. I’m really not into working on the weekends, so I’m not going to consider it as an option any more.
Philip and I met up at Blossoming Lotus for some juice, dinner, and good conversation. I had the raw hummus, which was tasty as usual, and a apple-lemon-ginger-greens juice. Philip met up with a friend to do some nighttime photography downtown. I had made plans to meet up with a new friend and play board games.
As it turned out, no board games were played. Instead we drank tea and engaged in interesting conversation. Since I was way over NE Portland and wicked tired, I crashed over there. Sleepovers are fun; I should endeavor to have or go to them more often. In the morning, we drank more tea. I rolled home at around 11am so I could get ready for a mountain bike ride.
PUMP 20th Anniversary Ride and Party
When I got home Sunday morning, I had a quick breakfast and a little water. I was in a hurry to get to the NW Lucky Lab Pub (which has indoor bike parking!) to meet up for the PUMP 20th anniversary mountain bike ride. This was billed as a “fun ride,” which I interpreted to mean a fairly easy ride. I’m in pretty very good shape these days, but I was expecting a short ride. It ended up being a 20-mile, 3-hour ride in muddy, rainy, hail/snowy, cold conditions. And I didn’t have any water with me.
We went from the Lucky Lab up Thurman to the Thurman Gate entrance to Forest Park. We stopped there for a group photo.
Thurman Gate–nice and sunny down here
From there, we rode up to the gate near Saltzman. It’s about seven miles from gate to gate. We took Firelane 5 down. That’s some fairly technical single track. The mud made it even more of a challenge.
Top of Firelane 5
It was fun, in spite of the weather. I imagine it felt somewhat like what riding in a cyclo-cross race feels like–wet, cold, muddy, and you can’t stop. I mean, you could–you could turn around or drop out–but you feel like you can’t. And you don’t want to. You want to make it through those conditions. Persevere and all that. Plus with a ride like this, making it to the top means you get to bomb all the way down.
This was nowhere near the worst of it
When we got to the bottom, I was wet, muddy, and practically frozen. I decided to head home and get cleaned up before the party. Eventually, I noticed the time and realized I wasn’t going to make it because I already had plans to meet some people for dinner.
When I went to put my bike in the garage, I noticed I’d gotten a flat in the rear. I’m so glad that didn’t happen up in the park. Trying to change a flat with frozen hands is no fun.
Raw Dinner
I rode (in the backseat) with Isaac and Rebbecca to the weekly raw dinner at the Presbyterian Church on Lake Road in Milwaukie. I was tired, dehydrated, and starving after the PUMP ride, so it was nice to have a tasty, catered raw dinner practically for free (sorry, I only had a buck on me). It was all good, but I really enjoyed the green smoothie and carob dessert thingies.
The discussion topic for the night was something along the lines of “What’s your highest priority in life?” I didn’t have a concrete answer. All I could say was that my priority was to figure out what my priorities and purpose should be. I was thinking about everything that I’m caught up in and overwhelmed by. I think connecting with people is important. I think cultivating a culture of community, true friendship, and love is important. I think addressing our deepest, darkest issues is important. I think embracing life beyond materialism is important. I think forgiveness and reconciliation is important.
After the dinner, there was an interesting group discussion about love and the meaning of loving god and loving your neighbors. I mostly spaced out during that discussion. I kept an ear open to what was being said, and at the same time, I was thinking through those meanings in my own terms. I was also thinking about my personal love situation–trying to understand it and trying to not cry.
One person said something that resonated. Echoed. It was something to the effect of “love means being there through someone’s darkest hour.” Commitment in the darkest hour. I could believe in that definition of friendship/love.
I was thinking a lot about “unconditional love” and what that really means in the “real world.” Love is such an overloaded term; it’s sometimes hard to understand any real meaning when someone uses it.
In my understanding, “love is not weakness.” Love is commitment in the darkest hour. Love is an open quest for truth, beauty, and spiritual perfection. Love is not lust. Sex is not a essential aspect of love. Love is strength, vulnerability, forgiveness, openness, humility, trust. Love is…
“If only I could put to words the way I feel…”
Philip got some good shots of Cake Party action. Here’s a sample:
That’s spelt flour, my favorite kind of flour. Click to see full size.
It’s late and I’m tired and need to take a bath. I’ll post more later.
I just got home from yet another Blazers game. Philip M got free tickets through work again. I met some of his coworkers, and there might even be a job opportunity that comes out of this. Cool.
This time we watched from a “sky box.” You can’t see the individual players and moves as well, but it’s a great vantage point to keep an eye on the whole game. It was a fairly uninteresting game, but it was a fun experience.
A dark & blurry view of the proceedings.
Philip and I spent most of the time chatting about relationships and love and meeting new people and what not. That was good. Very therapeutic, although we didn’t arrive at any definite answers to the harder questions/issues.
A semi-interesting photo of the view above our heads. It took me a while to notice this.
I rode the MAX across the river and then walked about two miles home in the rain. My outer garments were wet, but I stayed warm (layers, yo!). I love walking home in the rain at night. There’s no better time to think and feel.
The best thing about having a cake party at your house is that you get to eat all the leftover cake. Or maybe that’s the worst thing. I don’t know. Either way, the cake party was on Sunday and I had cake for breakfast, lunch, and before-bed snack on Monday. The only other thing I had Monday was Olives and Nuts at Holocene. That was pretty tasty but awfully salty.
Anyway. It was a relatively small party, but it was fun. We played a game of team Scrabble. Isaac and I whooped ass with a bunch of multi-word plays. (Not that I’m bragging, because that would be unseemly.)
And then there was the cake. Mmm mm mm. (Did I spell that right?) Originally, I thought there were going to be several cakes and that at least one of them would be “normal” (that is, non-vegan). As it turned out, there ended up being only two cakes and both were vegan. I hadn’t been planning to make one, but I did.
Jason W. made a chocolate cake. I made a vanilla cake using the recipe on this page[1]. Of course, I modified that a bit by using spelt flour and Sucanat instead of normal sugar. Philip M. made some really excellent raw frosting that we put on both cakes. Both cakes came out well (we used the convection bake option) and were very tasty, though I liked Jason’s better, especially with Philip’s frosting; it reminded me of the German chocolate cake I loved so much growing up.
Most of my pictures didn’t come out well. This is maybe the best one:
Philip and Isaac watching me make cake. Actually, I don’t know what they’re doing or why they’re making those faces, but I was making cake right there at the edge of the counter. Jason was working on his cake to my left.
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[1] Here’s the recipe, in case that page disappears:
“This sure to be a party pleaser!
Spray two round 8″ x 1-2/3″ pans with Pam, or lightly oil and flour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Mix Egg Replacer and 1/4 cup water and set aside. Mix soy milk and 1/2 cup water, and set aside.
In large bowl of electric mixer, beat soy margarine until it is creamy, about a minute. Gradually add sugar until well creamed. Beat in vanilla. Add mixed dry ingredients and mixed soy milk/water alternately to creamed margarine, sugar, and vanilla, beating after each addition. Begin and end with flour mixture. (Add flour in 4 steps, liquids in three.) Add mixed Ener-G along with the third addition of liquid. Turn evenly into pans.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until done (wooden pick inserted into cake comes out clean). Remove from oven and let cool on cake rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool on rack until cold. Frost as desired.
Here is the Shorts cuteness for today. The images are a little grainy due to (I guess) bad lighting.
Shorts on a dirty towel by my dirty clothes hamper:
Click for full size version.
Shorts on a pair of old school, nylon, rip-stop, hand-me-down, camo pants:
Click for full size version. That pink thing in the background is a candle. What did you think it was?!
In spite of pain from having my wisdom teeth removed and a secondary sinus infection, I decided to tough out a two hour, fast ramble this evening. I went to the oral surgeon for a checkup today and everything looked “pritty gud.” Sitting around the house was getting old, so I decided to go for it. I wasn’t sure I would make it, but since I’m such a badass*, you know I did. I pushed myself maybe just a tad harder than I “should” have, so I might be sitting out Thursday’s ramble (gotta “date” anyway, so… yeah, skippin’ it).
It was a stair ramble, my first. We climbed about two thousand stairs. We also climbed some pretty major hills. Blah blah blah. Here are some photos (as usual, taken with iPhone & edited with GIMP).
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*Yeah, I’m such a badass. You love it.
Last Thursday, my second to last day at EDI, I walked home. Instead of walking on the sidewalk along the road the whole way–which is a busy, noisy state highway in an industrial area with a lot of big trucks–I walked* along the tracks behind some industrial buildings. I came across this graffiti:
It’s not super artistic or anything, but it was unexpected. There was some other, more “professional” graffiti along the way. Here’s the view after turning left and heading home again:
It’s interesting to consider that most of the people that drive by here every day will never know this exists. Maybe it’s not important to them. It is to me.
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*Tangent: I have a lot (most?) of my best ideas/thoughts/feelings when I’m walking or biking alone to/from work. Or when I’m walking alone in Forest Park. Or when I’m on a ramble with other people but am caught up in my own thoughts. Or, in other words, when I’m active and alone (or effectively alone).
Yesterday morning, I had my wisdom teeth extracted. I think this is the most major medical treatment I’ve ever undergone, and my first surgery. I’ve had my share of stitches and broken bones, but I’ve never been anesthetized before. (Parents, please correct me if I’m wrong about this.)
I was a tiny bit nervous coming into it, especially about going under IV sedation, but the staff at Head & Neck Surgical Associates was great, very friendly and professional, answering my questions and chatting while I waited to go “under the knife.” I didn’t notice a thing while I was under, and had no adverse reaction to the sedative. I can highly recommend them, Dr. Bell in particular.
At home right after the operation
Kitties chillin’ with me in bed later in the afternoon
Mad props to Bonnie for taking time out of her day to bring me to the operation, wait while it was performed, and escort me home–especially on such short notice. She also had a good laugh about my post-operative condition, and I appreciate that too. 
The morning after
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All photos taken with iPhone; scaled with GIMP
Getting out into the yard today was good. I need to get out there more often. I keep thinking about gardening but get overwhelmed with the thought of it, partly because I’m also doing like 50 million other things (at least), but gardening and composting is really important to me. The compost pile is in full effect (yo), but the most I’ve done with gardening is daydream about luscious, home grown kale.
What I need to do is just start small and build up. There is a small bed next to the garage and also a small frame that our landlord dropped off for a raised bed. I’m going to start with one of these and just one or two “crops” then work my way up to other stuff. Also, on a related note, inspired by a recent blog post elsewhere, I plan to start sprouting.
What are they looking at? Photo taken with iPhone and scaled with GIMP.
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