Rubberneck

Rubberneck
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I was trying to get to Wallingford in my car and ended up on 4th Ave. As I am sure you know, our previous Mayor's major accomplishment during his tenure was not only hosting the WTO and the corresponding riots, but also synchronizing the lights on 4th Ave so once you hit a green light, the next 12 lights will be green too. That, I discovered, only really works if there are less than the average number of cars the road.

As the story continues...I was stopped at one of the lights I was supposed to have sailed through. I was watching pedestrians clutter the city. "God they are all so cute" I thought. Other than their cuteness, I noticed about a third of them were looking up. I was watching them look up and resisted the temptation to look up too. As looking up, when you are inside of a car, gets ya nothin' but the view of the ceiling of said car.

It was fun watching people notice other people looking up and how the lookin' up spread through the crowd. Some people quickly looked up, others surveyed the crowd and decided, "Yup, enough of them are looking up for me to join in." and others were curmudgeons and didn't look up at all.


PS. Photographer unknown

If you give Gays and Lesbians Civil Rights...Soon Everyone will want 'em

I went to church today. When asked, which is rare, if I am religious, unlike EVERYONE else in Seattle who answers that they are spiritual, I say I am an atheist who hopes she is wrong. Anyway, Jon Luopa, who is the minister of the Unitarian Church, has some radical ideas about marriage. He thinks, for some crazy unexplainable reason, that civil rights, those given in a civil society should not be barred to anyone. Even gays and lesbians. He is leading the members of our church to Olympia, our fine state capital, to suggest that people of religious affiliation could support the rights of gays and lesbians to have access the civil right of marriage.

He put it all more elegantly that I. If you want to hear it, Please visit: http://uuchurch.org and look for the sermon of today. Well worth the 20 minutes it will take to listen.

Ellie Painting Birds

DCP_0007
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Jealous

I am selling my car. Or at least I have an ad out to sell my car. I am curious to see what will occupy my thoughts at 4 am, if I am not worrying about if I have to sell my car or not.

Ellie and I were walking up to our neighbors, Jack and his parents, for breaky this morning. I told Ellie that I was going to sell the car. "And buy a new one?" I said, "No. I thought we would do more walking and taking of the bus."

"I Love the Bus!!" Ellie exclaimed. "We can take it to the Seattle Center." I told her we could take it nearly everywhere. She said, "I am not going to tell Jack, 'cause I don't want him to get jealous."

We are going to be the envy of the town.

Mugs

200412MugsFootedWood
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I like everything about these cups.

Teacups

200412TeacupsWood
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I like the one on the left

Teapot

200406TeapotSquareBlack
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

This fellow throws his stuff and then uses a paddle to make it square. Cool.

Bowl

200402BowlOvalServBlk
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I am trying to remember how to be a potter. So I have been looking at things I like to get inspired. I find this inspiring. Do you?

Me and My Human

NSAP364_large-1
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

This is from the NYT of a real live photograph of real live people skating in NY, NY.
Wow.

Fortune

Fortune
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I carry this in my wallet. I'd forgotten what it said, 'cause when I took it out I thought it was gonna say a bunch of money was coming my way. Oh well.

Brown Goldnut

Brown Goldnut
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

E. woke up this morning, climbed in my bed and said, "Let's draw birds." I was still lying motionless. Ellie drew three birds. The other day she made up a name for one. "Mama, don't you think the name, 'brown goldnut' is a good name for a bird." I told her I thought it was a great name.

As she was sitting in th bathroom this morning while I was writing, I asked her, "What was the name of that bird you made up"? She said, "Brown Goldnut" and said, "It is chestnut color on the bottom part with some silver bits on it." I hadn't realized she had seen the made-up bird.

Last night I went on the back porch to gather up the chickens in my arms and put them in the coop. I only grabbed two and left the other for a 2nd trip. Ellie was petting Hazel, the one left behind, and it pecked her nose. I had a hard time not laughing. I am such a bad mommy.

Thomas, the nearly perfect dog

Thomas's first trip to the Pacific Ocean
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

When I get in the car, he gets in the car and he doesn't try and sit on my lap when I drive. When I sing, he listens intently. When I dance, he jumps on his hind legs and dances with me. He likes dogs, kids and is never far from my side. He is not so big that I can't carry him, or so small that he is yappy. His breath needs some work.
All things considered, Thomas is a nearly perfect dog.

Miss Personality

E. asks good questions. Little things like, "Is Jesus the son of God?" and "How do shrimp swim?" and "What does Personality mean?" Oh.....how does one answer this? I told her I didn't think Jesus was the son of God. She said she did. I told her that that was fine. I don't really think it is fine, but it sounded like the right thing to say. I told her how shrimp swim.

I told her personality were all those things that make us different from other people.

Blank stare.

"It is what makes us like the stuff we like. Like, I'm out-going. I like having people around. And your other mother is quiet."

Ellie thought a minute and said, "I have a play-date personality. Is that right Mama?"

"Yes, sweatheart. You have a play-date personality"

Eating me out of House and Home

Apparently it is not common for a child to get scarlet feaver 3 times in succession. I kinda knew that was not common. But now, there are Dr.s saying, "They must not have given her the penicillin." Can I tell you how infuriating I find that? Well, for the record, Heather and I were religious about the meds, watched her take it, and didn't miss a single dose. Just because they have never seen a penicillin resistant Strep, does not mean that I have Munchausen’s by Proxy. I have ranted.

Now, Ellison is eating two dinners every night, this morning she ate a whole grown-up sized waffle, and a couple days ago, I was in bed and yelled, "What are you doing up?" Ellie yelled back, on her way to the kitchen, "I told you, I'm starving." She went in and convinced Kim to fix her a sandwich.

Need a Name

Tonight I went to the studio that my friend whom we will call Chieni, her husband and I built. Or assembled. It was a garage, now it is a garage with wiring, insulation, Tyvek walls, a kiln, wheel and implements to make things of clay. We have been thinking of names. None of them are great. I liked Bird by Bird after a book I liked. They didn't get it and thought it not nearly as witty as License to Kiln or Smoking Pot Pottery. We both suggested, the Shitty Potters at the same time. I suppose that could mean that is what we are fated to call it. But I hope not.

We are taking suggestions.

Braggart

Think back to August, or perhaps it was July? Well, it was summer and it was hot. Or at least it was warm enough for me to think of taking "The Triplets" to the beach at Seward Park in the van. The triplets consist of my daughter and A&E's twins, Aidan and Alec. They were in the back of the van chattering away. I was by my lonesome in the front as they always make me drive. While driving down Lake Washington Blvd, I was pleased to note an Osprey soaring parallel to the van over the lake. A minute or less later, I heard in the back to no one in particular, "I think I see and Osprey flying over the lake."

That's my girl.

The Underappreciated Attributes of R.A.T.s

I have been thinking of about this long and hard. What are the positive attributes of the R.A.T.?
When I yell, as I often do in the evening, "DID YOU HEAR THAT????"
The children insist on speaking only in a whisper for the next chunk of time. One hears them say, in a loud whisper, "Mama, quiet...I am trying to hear the rat!"
The End

Rain and Lots more of it

After a couple weeks of freezing weather, it is now warm and very soggy. The days are still crazy short. I was talking to my friend whom will be hereto known as Sylvia. She and I are sisters separated by a ghastly 12 day labor and about 500 miles. Any-ol-how, Sylvia and I were talking about what all Northwesterners obsess about. The weather. Even talking about talking about talking about talking about the weather seems to bring us back to talking about the weather. Again.
It does get mixed in there with an annual favorite conversation that goes like this:
Person: "Do you remember the days being this short last year?'
Other Person: "No. It is just amazing that it is dark at 4:30, when I know, I KNOW, I am sitting on the front porch at 10 PM in July and there is still light."
Person: "Do we talk about this every year?"
Other Person: "I think so, but it is just so amazing how dark it is. And how long the days are in the summer. The clouds did seem a bit thinner in the west today. Did you notice?"

I called my mother and asked her, "Mother, I just don't remember talking about the weather much. Did we have perfect weather growing up?."
Mother said, "Yes."

Horned Larks

I am taking a new prescription. I was having some nausea and headaches, so I thought I would look to see what common adverse effects there are for this drug. I shared them with my friends. Name one, it is listed. One friend is happy that the drug is having an effect and hope that the unusual ejaculations don't get out of hand. Jon said, when I told him that that was a potential side effect, maybe they mean ejaculations verbally or other parts of ones body. Or that I just blurt out some unusual thing. Hard to recognize that as an adverse effect verses my normal behavior.

I had called my younger brother while he was in the desert looking at horned larks. It was in the 50's and sunny. I was listening to Oliver Sacks on the radio in the truck. It was 34 and sleeting. For more information on the horned lark, please navigate your browser to:

http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesIMG.asp?imageID=17513

I saw one once, at the center for urban horticulture. An idyllic place to work, as an amature urban naturalist. They are more of an East of the Mt.s type bird. But I digress.

Jon and I were talking about how he has too little regard for money, to his future detriment, but values the environment. As opposed to my sister's nephew Jacob who moved to Arizona to make money in real estate and thinks paving the desert is a fine thing to do.

I wish I had been out with him this afternoon. Exploring the desert with him would be great fun. Exploring defined my childhood with him. He and I are closest in age and sensibility. My favorite childhood memories are hiking with him at Echo and up at my grandparents house in Nevada City.

While he was out of town looking at birds he came across two motels with garish colors that he described in detail. He stopped to take a photo of a Ford Fairmont. He has a series going of them. It lived at a hot pink mobile home with barbed wire. He thought his taking the picture would help the owners justify their apparent paranoia. "Yeah, I saw a government guy taking photos of our house...." Jon imagined them saying.

Winter Malaise

There has just got to be something funny about January. I have just not found it yet. Conservatives have been claiming that environmentalists blamed the tsunami on global warming. I did some research. NO one has made such an outrageous claim. But that won’t matter, since I also recently learned that only 20% of people rely on facts to form their opinion. Did I read that right, you ask? Yes, you did. 80% of Americans have decided that facts are a baseless reason to have an opinion. Why use facts when you can have the opinion of people who will protect your ideas of paranoia, fear, prejudice and the like? This will also help you in avoid having to think for yourself. A win-win situation.

E on log

E on log
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Both Thomas and Ellie seem to have Snow-dar. Thomas woke to bark at a snowy racoon eyeing the chickens. Ellie woke up to marvel at the orange sky and falling flakes.

Ellie told me, this morning at about 5:30 am, "I love you as long as the Snow is Falling" I told her I loved her to the top of Mt. Rainier and back. Ellie told me, "I love you to the moon and back." I liked that better than until the snow stops falling. Especially given Seattle's mild weather

Stranger in a Strange land

I was headed the great white north of Seattle this afternoon to fix some friends dinner. They live way out in the hither lands where they got a lovely blanket of snow last night. We, in the Tropics of Wallingford only got rain. Any-who...On my way, I headed to the Viet Wah for groceries, I was making Phad Thai and Tom Yum Goong. I wanted some sour shrimp paste. Doesn't it just sound yummy? Went to a young fellow and asked, "Do you speak English?" I was totally ignored. It was as though I did not exist at all. I often feel that way in Asian markets in Seattle. I didn't ever feel that way in Thailand though. People were always eager to help. Give me advise, and mention my massive height, hairy legs and or oversized nose. This was all before they realized that I could actually speak Thai.

Back at Viet Wah, having gotten a nowhere with English, I thought I would just give it a try, and asked, in Thai, "Do you speak Thai?" He suddenly became animated and said, "Yes!" But he didn't look Thai to me. He wasn't. He was Vietnamese. He just happened to have lived in Thailand for 6 years. We had a nice chat and he lead me right to the spiciest shrimp paste this side of Kruntep.

Girl Stuff

About 2 minutes after Elliot arrived, Ellie and Elliot immediatly changed clothes. I think that might be a girl thing. Elliot is now wearing "Stupid Girl" shorts.

We broke for cocoa. Elliot, Phoenix and Ellie were arguing about girl stuff and boy stuff. Powerpuff Girls, Elliot claimed, are a girl thing. Therefore inferior, I assumed by his tone of voice. Phoenix and Ellie argued that there was no such thing as girl things and boy things and that boys can like girl things and girls can like boy things. Elliot got animated in his argument that Powerpuff Girls were just for girls. This, coming from a boy with pink seersucker shorts.

Christmas Bird Count

j and e
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Though not official. We went to Grey Lodge, kinda close to the middle of no where in Northern CA. Lots of rice farms, tree fruit and birds. Lots and Lots of birds.

ellie hunting rocks

ellie hunting rocks
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I thought I would think about something other than the dismal day and think about hiking to lake Aloha with Ellie at just over 2 years of age. She was covered with literally dozens of misquito bites. Her stupid parents were too afraid of DEET at the time. Dispite that, she took off her cloths, dawned 'scunscreen' and explored the shores of Aloha while the rest of us went skinny dipping and sun bathing. Watching her explore her world is by far the most amazing thing ever.

Snap

And I ain't just talking about the Cold here, people. I heard a Snap last night. Above my head. But I am too chicken to go see if it caught any of the members of the troupe de rodentia.

Dog keeping toes warm. I have 4 layers on top, and a hat. I think it might be worth the investment for a space heater, as heating the whole house just for me seems kinda not good. Come to think of it, I do have a space heater, but it is right next to the trap in the attic and I am too afraid to go up there. Another conundrum.

Cabin: Banjo

Cabin: Banjo

***Cold***

Every R.A.T. in the city has found its way to either my house or the houses on the news last night. I am not sure I would volunteer to be on the News at 10 telling the Emerald City about the Cirque de Rodentia Training program. Instead...I put it on the internet. Apparently the R.A.T.'s (not the reporters) don't like the cold and come in everywhere they can. Gabin saw one in the basement yesterday. I asked if it were wearing a leotard by some chance.

Failed Tests

My brother was concerned about my mental health. He seems to be concerned about mental health generally. Mostly his own. But anyway, he thought it would be fun if I took an on-line diagostic test for some mental illness. I forgot which. I hope fogetting isn't one of the deal-breakers for the test. Elder brother told me to not feel any pressure just becasue he got 100% on the test. I took it, and am happy to report, I failed miserably.

Frozen Ground

Last night I listened while the R.A.T.'s practiced a new routine for Cirque de Rodentia. This required cat naps so I could stay alert at 1, 3 and 5 am.

I was well rested for a day of gardening in the tundra that is the West side of Phinney Ridge. It was cold last night. Ellie asked, when we were looking at all the frost, if frost was made out of snow. I told her no, and asked her if she knew what dew was. She said, "Yes. Dew is the wet little bits." I told her frost was frozen little wet bits.

The move of the Other Mother continues. Ellie was brought to the dr. today by her very capable other parent, lest one thinks I would ever imply otherwise, I am here to put on record, she is perfectly capable of taking Ellie to the doctor.

A Murder Gone Terribly Wrong

If there were an all night hardware store, I would be there. Last night I woke up at 4 am thinking there was a cat or a dog or a raccoon in my attic running the width of my house. I realized quickly, it is a R. A. T. I spelled it out, so as not to say the word aloud, even in my head. Tonight, it or they are doing some kind of Cirque thing that involves jumping, leaping and running. Several years ago, I was in my first apartment by myself. This was shortly after Peace Corps. I heard a R.A.T in the kitchen late at night. It made so much noise, I had fears that I was being invaded by a fleet of them. My landlord, Winton, hired a very nice lesbian exterminator. Imagine. She came around and set traps and the like. I was getting the house ready to pick up my college friend Janine. We were to have breakfast with another friend, Anne. The table in the kitchen was set for the early morning gathering. On the eve of the fancy breaky, as I was trying to sleep, I heard a very loud "Snap" and the piercing squealing scream of rodent. The following high pitched, but muffled scream was mine. I got up, looked in the kitchen, and without even turning on the light, I could see the contrasting ooze of R.A.T blood on the white floor and splatter of the same on the stove. (now there's a word: Splatter.) I called the nice exterminator's place of employment. They said they would come and remove the offending beast, but they did not clean up after them. I was not happy. I left a bucket of cleaning supplies out never-the-less. To my delight, I came back from the airport with my friends and kitchen was clean, the table legs cleared of splatter, no sign of the aforementioned violence. The exterminator young woman came by later. I asked if it had been she who had come around and disposed of the offending rodent and kindly cleaned up. It was. She had never seen anything like it. Apparently they usually just die in these traps, not flop about and spray blood. She said, "It was like there was a murder that had gone terribly wrong."

The Miracle of Children's Tylenol

Ellie showed up at my door to my great surprise. She walked in, kicked off her shoes and said her stomach hurt her all day and her throat hurt. I sat down in Nonnie's old rocker and we rocked with Meena the cat. Also called Meeno, by mistake. Meena tapped Ellie's and my nose with her wee paw. That pleased the owners of both noses. Some time later, the feverish child lay lethargic as the Other Mother continued her move, loading her belongings into the van we once shared. I took Ellie's temp and was impressed enough by it and Ellie to deliver the goods. Children's Tylenol. We sat together reading books, watching the cat, and being quiet.

When Suddenly, a new girl immerged. Eager she was to play a game, eat a bowl of cereal and complain about the skimpy portion. She lept to the other end of the house to play the piano with Kim. If only Tylenol had that effect on grown-ups.

Opera on New Years Day

New Years Day Opera with Kitten
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Ellie's other mother is moving out today. I have been feeding and entertaining the darling. She wanted to watch catoons. She knows how to tune into PBS. Since it was New Years Day, Gilbert and Sullivan's opera of some ilk was being broadcast. So, naturally, Ellie has been watching it. With Meeno, the kitten.