Monday, July 7, 2008
onward and upward
i'm writing this from inside my new apartment with the keys of my new computer reporting that i start a gre course tomorrow and assuredly stating that making the 25 before i turn twenty-five list was the greatest decision i've ever made in my life. onward and upward!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
25 things to do before i turn twenty-five
i am making this list because i operate best with direction. i'm almost 25, there are a lot of things i want to do before then, not because i have to, but because i want to. i've got the resources so why not. so, therefore, i present, a list, of 25 things i want to do before i turn twenty-five.
1. apply to grad-school
2. live on my own
3. take a photography class
4. go to the pacific north west coast (oregon, or washington)
5. visit a new state
6. participate in a collective project or exchange
7. run a 5-k
8. visit another country
9. attend one cultural community event a month
10. buy a new computer
11. take one photo a day
12. perfect the skill of roasting chicken
13. teach myself to bind books
14. spend one day every two weeks entirely alone
15. say yes to the things i am interested in; say no to things I don't want to do
16. purchase produce at all of Seattle's farmers markets and make a dish from those ingredients
17. prepare, at least, four recipes from my gastronomic publications per month
18. go on a road trip without a specific destination
19. develop a green thumb by growing an amaryllis
20. write a letter to every person I admire letting them know why
21. draw a map of my favorite places in Seattle
22. amend my outlook; say one good thing about myself/my surroundings every day
23. conquer my fear of open water, start by swimming in lake Washington
24. improve my written communication
25. Vote.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
the progressive politics of possiblity
yesterday hillary clinton suspended her campaign for president and announced her endorsement of and support for barack obama. i admit, i'm elated about this. i'm definitely happy for many reasons, but mostly I'm relieved that the democratic party can finally begin to coalesce and campaign against the republican machine. i know the primary season was long, and that some argue it was bitter and spiteful, but i think it was remarkable in that it actually didn't resort to the mud-slinging, swift boating that we've experienced in campaigns past; instead, every american eligible and willing to vote had the opportunity and most importantly, barriers were broken and glass ceilings were shattered.
i want to address clinton, the senator, the candidate, the woman. i want to acknowledge the grace with which senator clinton spoke about senator obama yesterday, her expression of commitment to his candidacy, and mostly how her efforts over the course of her campaign have given me quite a bit of hope.
senator clinton gracefully suspended her campaign yesterday and threw her full support behind senator obama and his campaign. i know it took her a long time to step aside, but for some reason it feels right that she did it on her own accord. her speech made it obvious that she has a commitment to the united states that is no less great than that of sen. obama. they are both exceptional leaders who want nothing but the best for this country and for its people. yesterday, she was eloquent and graceful in her speech, acknowledging senator obama's abilities and and qualifications, “I have served in the Senate with him for four years...in this campaign with him for 16 months...stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. i’ve had a front-row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.” this is what i would expect from her, sen. clinton does not hate barack obama, she just ran a campaign the only way she knew how and her behavior was no less similar to that of any man who came before her.
i suppose, though, what really struck me about this was the time she took to acknowledge the remarkable feat she accomplished, she is a woman who ran for president of the united states of america, who won primary state victories, and engaged in the national political discourse as an equal of men. this is what i am proud of. she said,
"you can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States,” she said. “To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.”
i am the daughter and granddaughter of very strong women, who for much of their lives have fought against the patriarchy and misogyny that tries (has tried) to keep them from lofty aspirations or achieving their goals. i have heard about this from birth. i have been very confidently instructed in my own capacity and capability, often encountering surprise and resistance to my approach to the world. But, whatever. I am proud to see the endeavors of the feminist era finally manifest, opening doors and cracking open ceilings for me and the women and men older and younger than myself.
just because senator clinton didn't win the nomination does not mean she failed. she has successfully given me hope and proudly exclaimed that she has every right to make decisions on her own account (even the pesky decision of when she should step aside and let a man take center stage). and for that, i'm really very thankful.
i look forward to this campaign with hopefulness. i look forward to this campaign for the possibility it promises, for the hopefulness supporting its lofty, progressive platform of the politics of yes, we can! we, man and woman, finally, equally capable and committed to a new united states of america.
i want to address clinton, the senator, the candidate, the woman. i want to acknowledge the grace with which senator clinton spoke about senator obama yesterday, her expression of commitment to his candidacy, and mostly how her efforts over the course of her campaign have given me quite a bit of hope.
senator clinton gracefully suspended her campaign yesterday and threw her full support behind senator obama and his campaign. i know it took her a long time to step aside, but for some reason it feels right that she did it on her own accord. her speech made it obvious that she has a commitment to the united states that is no less great than that of sen. obama. they are both exceptional leaders who want nothing but the best for this country and for its people. yesterday, she was eloquent and graceful in her speech, acknowledging senator obama's abilities and and qualifications, “I have served in the Senate with him for four years...in this campaign with him for 16 months...stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. i’ve had a front-row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.” this is what i would expect from her, sen. clinton does not hate barack obama, she just ran a campaign the only way she knew how and her behavior was no less similar to that of any man who came before her.
i suppose, though, what really struck me about this was the time she took to acknowledge the remarkable feat she accomplished, she is a woman who ran for president of the united states of america, who won primary state victories, and engaged in the national political discourse as an equal of men. this is what i am proud of. she said,
"you can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States,” she said. “To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.”
i am the daughter and granddaughter of very strong women, who for much of their lives have fought against the patriarchy and misogyny that tries (has tried) to keep them from lofty aspirations or achieving their goals. i have heard about this from birth. i have been very confidently instructed in my own capacity and capability, often encountering surprise and resistance to my approach to the world. But, whatever. I am proud to see the endeavors of the feminist era finally manifest, opening doors and cracking open ceilings for me and the women and men older and younger than myself.
just because senator clinton didn't win the nomination does not mean she failed. she has successfully given me hope and proudly exclaimed that she has every right to make decisions on her own account (even the pesky decision of when she should step aside and let a man take center stage). and for that, i'm really very thankful.
i look forward to this campaign with hopefulness. i look forward to this campaign for the possibility it promises, for the hopefulness supporting its lofty, progressive platform of the politics of yes, we can! we, man and woman, finally, equally capable and committed to a new united states of america.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
windowsills
tonight i walked over to aaron's house to help him pack up his things for his impending move. the walk was calm, and definitely a welcome change of pace from my usual thursday evening. i'm always surprised by the things i notice when i walk from the very urban capitol hill to the more residential central district. there are fewer people to be aware of and it allows me to pay closer attention to the things surrounding me. i love how i quiet down and breathe more when i'm walking through neighborhoods' quiet side streets, and I think about how much i miss having that solitude around me. i tend to regain a proper sense of equilibrium simply by seeing flowers crawling up the sides of fences, spindly, hollow trees and the detailed paint-jobs of the houses lining the blocks. and, i also notices, I sort of love seeing the peculiar knicky-knacky things people keep in their windowsills. one house had ten to fifteen varieties of blue glass in their front window sill, framed from the outside by four perfectly periwinkle seats arranged on the porch—it was such a happy sight. And then I kept noticing more and more another house had a collection of birdcages, and there were others with flowers, glasses, boxes and picture frames.
I’ve been looking around for a good photo project, and you know what, I think I’ve found it!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
"i got memory-burned by a doughnut"
aaron and i spent last weekend in portland, oregon. in six years living in seattle, i've never made the short commute south. how pathetic, i've been missing out. portland is great. it is filled with ever unfolding mysteries, more than should be possible in a gridded city of its size. but my, it is a treasure!
i think portland is the type of city where you could potentially be very disappointed if you don't get around. the downtown is beautiful architecturally and the buildings lend the city a lot of visual interest. the surfaces and materials are varied, the facades different, the colors pronounced, and the architectural details--moldings, windows, bays, build-outs--keep your eye darting and dashing to see everything possible. but, if you stay close to downtown you may face the unfortunate fate of never really having a chance to see what I believe is particularly special about portland--its neighborhoods.
I love neighborhoods and the variety they offer and portland has plenty of them. people in this city must be busy all of the time. i had the pleasure of seeing two different business districts in the hawthorne district. i sampled biscuits at pine state biscuits and then took a long tour of the Powell's Books dedicated to my favorite of the published medium--cookbooks! On our way over to the original Powell's Books, aaron stopped at the impressive burnside skate park built by some renegade skaters underneath the burnside bridge. the spot was the perfect place to observe an awesome creative community that has sprouted from their common love for skateboarding. afterward, i had the pleasure of wandering and winding through powell's books, which really is a city of books, and finding absolutely nothing to buy except an ice tea. for some reason, powell's just really overwhelmed me. A hop, skip, and a jump from their door was a venture through the Pearl District.
The pearl district was one of my favorite neighborhoods. The neighborhoods is under vast redevelopment. And when I say redevelopment I feel like adaptive re-use is a better description. their are so many industrial buildings that are being transformed into awesome commercial and residential spaces. And their are tons of really awesome parks interspersed that really lend a sense of intimacy to a neighborhood that could be very intimidating for pedestrians or residents. the sidewalks and street-scapes made me want to continue walking rather than run the other way. plus this entire space is connected with lightrail. it was mighty impressive. i hope that seattle's south lake union does borrow this model and bring its better points to the area.
i ate a lot of really delicious food including the very infamous bacon maple bar at voodoo donuts and mind-blowing chicken wings at pok pok. who knew chicken wings marinated in fish sauce, tamarind and palm sugar would result in the most deliciously caramelized poultry i've ever consumed in my life. After a long day of walking and an extended evening of drinking our hosts dan and vanessa brought us to a neighborhood a short walk away from their apartment. what they produced was a street that made my entire trip.
When I got to Mississippi Street the first thing I saw was a trailer selling waffle sandwiches. This neighborhood also boasts portland's only free porch. if anyone knows me they understand that porches and sandwiches are two of my reasons for being, so i knew that around the corner lie a treat. Mississippi Street is half houses and half commercial store front. Everything we walked past was charming, interesting, and a true part of the neighborhood's fabric. Sidewalk restaurants and coffee shops, a brewery, and adorable boutiques. I could have spent an entire day there photographing the contrasts between each building's store front. But i couldn't, because we were on a short schedule. Vanessa brought me to her favorite store, Flutter, and after a brief look through the beautiful compendium of vintagey estate sale-esque goods, and the purchase of a bird cage music box, we ran back across the street to join the boys for breakfast at Gravy. After a stroll through the Japanese Garden, aaron and i said good bye to our generous hosts and headed home.
I wish i would have had more time. But something about wandering through this city and seeing so many new things I got very sad about the state of my passport and the absent checks on my list of american cities visited. i realized just how much i love observing my surroundings, i want to see more. not just of portland, but elsewhere, too! ideas?
i think portland is the type of city where you could potentially be very disappointed if you don't get around. the downtown is beautiful architecturally and the buildings lend the city a lot of visual interest. the surfaces and materials are varied, the facades different, the colors pronounced, and the architectural details--moldings, windows, bays, build-outs--keep your eye darting and dashing to see everything possible. but, if you stay close to downtown you may face the unfortunate fate of never really having a chance to see what I believe is particularly special about portland--its neighborhoods.
I love neighborhoods and the variety they offer and portland has plenty of them. people in this city must be busy all of the time. i had the pleasure of seeing two different business districts in the hawthorne district. i sampled biscuits at pine state biscuits and then took a long tour of the Powell's Books dedicated to my favorite of the published medium--cookbooks! On our way over to the original Powell's Books, aaron stopped at the impressive burnside skate park built by some renegade skaters underneath the burnside bridge. the spot was the perfect place to observe an awesome creative community that has sprouted from their common love for skateboarding. afterward, i had the pleasure of wandering and winding through powell's books, which really is a city of books, and finding absolutely nothing to buy except an ice tea. for some reason, powell's just really overwhelmed me. A hop, skip, and a jump from their door was a venture through the Pearl District.
The pearl district was one of my favorite neighborhoods. The neighborhoods is under vast redevelopment. And when I say redevelopment I feel like adaptive re-use is a better description. their are so many industrial buildings that are being transformed into awesome commercial and residential spaces. And their are tons of really awesome parks interspersed that really lend a sense of intimacy to a neighborhood that could be very intimidating for pedestrians or residents. the sidewalks and street-scapes made me want to continue walking rather than run the other way. plus this entire space is connected with lightrail. it was mighty impressive. i hope that seattle's south lake union does borrow this model and bring its better points to the area.
i ate a lot of really delicious food including the very infamous bacon maple bar at voodoo donuts and mind-blowing chicken wings at pok pok. who knew chicken wings marinated in fish sauce, tamarind and palm sugar would result in the most deliciously caramelized poultry i've ever consumed in my life. After a long day of walking and an extended evening of drinking our hosts dan and vanessa brought us to a neighborhood a short walk away from their apartment. what they produced was a street that made my entire trip.
When I got to Mississippi Street the first thing I saw was a trailer selling waffle sandwiches. This neighborhood also boasts portland's only free porch. if anyone knows me they understand that porches and sandwiches are two of my reasons for being, so i knew that around the corner lie a treat. Mississippi Street is half houses and half commercial store front. Everything we walked past was charming, interesting, and a true part of the neighborhood's fabric. Sidewalk restaurants and coffee shops, a brewery, and adorable boutiques. I could have spent an entire day there photographing the contrasts between each building's store front. But i couldn't, because we were on a short schedule. Vanessa brought me to her favorite store, Flutter, and after a brief look through the beautiful compendium of vintagey estate sale-esque goods, and the purchase of a bird cage music box, we ran back across the street to join the boys for breakfast at Gravy. After a stroll through the Japanese Garden, aaron and i said good bye to our generous hosts and headed home.
I wish i would have had more time. But something about wandering through this city and seeing so many new things I got very sad about the state of my passport and the absent checks on my list of american cities visited. i realized just how much i love observing my surroundings, i want to see more. not just of portland, but elsewhere, too! ideas?
Sunday, April 13, 2008
things
this weekend is seriously bi-polar. yesterday was the most beautiful day i've seen in six months. the temperature, the smell, the way the sun shined on my shoulders, goodness, it was so perfect. and today, rain. seriously, seattle, again, don't you get tired of this?despite the weather's decision to muck-it-up, i've had a pretty fulfilling string of days. friday after work i spent some quality time with the co-workers following a long week and to properly punctuate the evening aaron and i spent the remainder of the evening with his friends mike and eleanora. we shared delightful conversation, many bottles of wine, delicious food, and songs around a table fit for four. honestly one of the more memorable evenings i've had in quite a while.
saturday i went with megan to david's bridal for a bridesmaid gown fitting. david's bridal is a funny little franchise and it does funny little things to people who are normally of a joyful and positive demeanor. following the fitting, we decided on brunch, i'm glad i recommended megan take the mlk exit off of i-5 north because what we discovered was an entire part of seattle we didn't even know existed. following the lightrail path all the way to alaska junction where we turned right on rainier for a brunch of delicious herbed eggs and perfect cream biscuits at Geraldine's Counter. If you're the brunch type, you'd be a fool not to try this place out. it is perfection, complete with delightful bright fiesta-ware, sunny orange walls and lots of natural light. Yay for Geraldine's!
anne and i are in cahoots along with our cameras to launch a new web project to share our visionary perceptions of the world. we still do not have a theme except that we're not incorporating faces. so, i placed my order for a new cannon digital slr this morning and cannot wait to get started on the project, it's going to be fantastic. the address shall be released shortly. as for this week, i'm going to work incredibly hard on self-motivation during the work day, patient adherence to yoga instruction in the early evenings, and lots of adventurous vegetable cooking after that. I think i'm in the mood for another lentil soup creation. either that or some sort of recipe from my most recent gourmet magazine. also, i'm getting on the grad-school wagon by reaching out to the far reaches of the world for advice. if you have any please let me know!
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