OK gang, there’s now an itunes mix, for those with iTunes, that’s called 88 of the Hundred Best. If you’re interested in finding any of the music on my 100 Best Songs list, you might want to look there. Go to iTunes home page for music, click on iMix, then search for 88 of the Hundred Best. iTunes didn’t have all 100, but 88 out of a hundred isn’t bad. You’ll be able to listen to snippets of the songs and purchase any you feel the need to own. (did I really just type snippets back there?) Enjoy.
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All posts for the month October, 2006
Man… I just voted. What a mental work out that is. You sit there, ballot and pen in hand, flipping through the pages and pages of pros and cons in the voter’s pamphlet, trying to figure out what the heck these measures and the candidates are all about. It’s maddening really.
Though, I always feel good about voting. After all, voting gives me license to complain about the outcome, since I’ve participated in the system. I figure, if nothing else, I have that. It’s part of what still makes this country a great place to live, our constitutional right to complain. Though the pessimist in me says in today’s climate it seems disagreement, no matter with who or what, is looked on with contempt and suspicion. And to that I say… come on. Please. We’re supposed to disagree with each other. It makes the system better. When there are questions, answers are expected. It’s what keeps things from spinning out of control in any singular direction. But hey, those are just my thoughts.
So, I’ve voted. I’ve marked my ballot, made my choices, for good or bad (depending on who’s reading and with what eyes), and the deed is done. I only wish I wasn’t voting just so I have the right to complain. I wish I was voting FOR something. FOR someone. I want to feel excited about politics again. Like I did, way back, when I turned 18 and filled out my first registration card. I want to feel like I could make a difference, that the system makes sense, and that it works well. I want to feel, that at the end of the day, my selections work for me, and for those I love. I want it to be pure, and I know that makes me naive. But I do… I want it to be about a coming together, not a pulling apart… moving forward, not standing still.
One Big BeadSay the mantra with me… “You can have one big bead, and as many little beads as you’d like”. Ok, everyone got it? Those, my friends, are the words spoken over and over and over again at the recently held 15th annual Children’s Fair. Every year we have a booth, helping the little ones make bracelets with beads made by some of the kids at one of the alternative schools. Every year we do this, and every year the mantra is the same. This year was no different. 6 hours of the mantra. But, it was worth it. Those little kids sure do love it, and they sure are cute. What a great thing for the community to do, and what a great thing for us to get to be a part of. I don’t mind the need to use multiple lozenges when the smiles are so big and the costumes are so cute. All of that and a three dollar hot dog plate, what more could a girl want?
As you might have noticed, this blog of mine looks different than it did before the switch to and back from the other site. One obvious difference is the color scheme. The other, however, is that there is now a labels section on the right, which I have aptly named “The Card Catalogue”. Blogger added this when they updated their site, which just happened to coincide with my comings and goings from here. For those of you who want to know, and I’m sure most of you are just clammoring for it, the card catalogue is just a way to categorize posts. For instance… the “What I think About…” section is just my way to categorize review type posts on movies, music, food, etc. “Treks” refers to trips we’ve taken. “Out and About” refers to stuff we’ve done in and around Portland. “Family and Friends” is pretty self explanatory. “100 Things” is filled with some lists of a hundred things, also I guess pretty self explanatory. “Essays” again, self explanatory. And “Mixed Bag” is just filled with stuff that didn’t seem to fit in any of those other places and is filled with post that are pictures, or quotes, or off the wall thoughts. All of these different labels can be used to look for specific posts, or themes, etc. But, if you aren’t into that and just want to look by date, you can still do that. Other than the color and the label thing the blog is very much the same.
And there you have it… another post about posting and the look of the blog. The excitement never ends around here…. LOL
No, I didn’t misspell the title of this post. There’s a reason for the madness. Yesterday, with all the flair we could muster, we once again tried a new approach to getting rid of the moles or gophers that are plaguing our home and our flower beds.
We’ve tried other things before now… Most notably “the worm”. Advertised as a new cure all and invented by men who, I’m sure, don’t actually have moles, and probably never have. They are little flexible sticks of mole poison fashioned to look like actual worms… which if you think about it is a tad silly, since moles can’t see. Ah well, humans can, and stuff like that is always made for the buyer, not actually for the mole. You know what I mean? But, the guy at the feed store said they worked, so we bought them. A box of 10 for $20 big ones. We put them out and for a couple of days we thought we had success. No new mounds, no mole… right? Alas, it only lasted a few days. Because after a few days, yep, you guessed it… new mounds. Which, logically to us, meant new mole. We thought, OK, we must have killed one, it’s a new one that’s moved in. We were “in the moles head”, thinking like the mole. Trying to be one with the mole. We just knew there was a mole conspiracy out there. They had like a little mole party pad, and at that little mole gathering they would tell each other where the good spots were to set up residence. Kind of an underground mole network. We felt they must certainly be recommending our place, after all, it’s beautiful here. And, to make matters worse, they were spreading the word on the whole worm thing. So, when we tried the worms again, at a cost of another $20, the new mole was wise and cunning. He stayed away from the worms. They had no impact.
Which leads me back, in this sad and telling tale, to the title of this post. Last evening, after we returned from the Children’s fair, which I will post about in a moment, we took ourselves to the store and bought a couple of old fashioned road side flares. Yes, the kind you use when your car breaks down. We brought them home, found a couple of places we could dig in and get to the moles little underground habitrail, lit them, and put them in, covering them up so the smoke couldn’t escape. We don’t know if it worked, but, this morning at least, we are mole free. No new mounds. We’d heard this technique had worked for others, and so far, it’s worked for us. Though tomorrow is a new day and there seem to be either a lot of places for the little buggers to hide, or their network is mighty and vast. We shall see. If it doesn’t work this time, we are determined to go get more flares, a bushel of them if necessary, and try again. At only $2.79 a stick, it’s much cheaper than the worm, and at least a little more fun. At least you get something akin to fire works, with nearly the same amount of smoke.
I’ll report back and let ya’all know how it goes, since I’m sure at least some of you have been assailed by moles yourselves. Who knows, this flare thing could light the way toward a day when there are no more moles making tunnels, and we, citizens of the world, might be free of their tiny mole tyranny. I might sound a bit dramatic, but it’s been born out of the frustration of feeling like we’ve been under attack. They’ve singled us out. And now, we’re fighting back, and taking no prisoners. I have a good feeling about this. This time, we’ve won. I just know it….
OK, OK… I have heard my readers and am crying a big U-N-C-L-E. I am back to using the Think Tank as a venue for expressing myself and conveying to all ya’all the ins and outs of my every day inner and outer life. The other site, 360 wordsieve/ Ink Slinger is probably going to go by the wayside. I don’t see myself keeping up two sites, at least not yet.
So, here I am, back to Tam’s Think Tank, only I’ve changed it slightly. Not to worry though, it’s just a color scheme update, nothing major. It’s still the same ol’ site that’s pretty easy to navigate. If you look it over, I’ve added a few posts that I’d done over on the 360 site and have moved over here. The first of those, on Barack Obama, is a few posts down. You might want to scroll down to that and work your way up, just to get current.
Stay tuned, there is always more where this came from.
A Nice Shot of the Grand CanyonAs I made the 100 Best Songs list I had occasion to add and delete songs as I went along. In order to give those songs who were once on the list their due, I include them here in what I like to call the B sides.
Long Road Home – Patty Griffin
Galileo – Indigo Girls
Two Tickets to Paradise – Eddie Money
Weather With You – Crowded House
Vox – Sarah MacLachlan
Creep – Radiohead
Hollywood Nights – Bob Seger
Avalon – Roxy Music
Burning Down The House – Talking Heads
Right In Front Of You – Celine Dion
100 Years – Five For Fighting
Preface: I realize people won’t agree with all of these selections, and frankly, I might decide to change some of them up at some point, but for now, these are them. Take em or leave em… they’re the 100 best songs I could come up with. Let me know what you think and what you’d add, or remove. Music is personal… so without further ado, here’s a look into my musical psyche.
1. Under Pressure – David Bowie & Queen
2. Me & Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin
3. Sister Golden Hair – America
4. Tuesday Morning – Melissa Etheridge
5. She Says – Howie Day
6. I am… I Said – Neil Diamond
7. Never Been to Spain – Three Dog Night
8. Suspicious Minds – Elvis
9. Heroes and Villains – The Beach Boys
10. Yesterday – Beatles
11. Summer Highland Falls – Billy Joel
12. Slave to Love – Roxy Music w/Bryan Ferry
13. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills and Nash
14. Time to Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli
15. Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin
16. You’re Still You – Josh Groban
17. Come On Come On – Mary Chapin Carpenter
18. Anna Begins – Counting Crows
19. Stuck in the Middle With You – Steeler’s Wheel
20. Sail Away – David Gray
21. Arms of a Woman – Amos Lee
22. Hold You In My Arms – Ray Lamantagne
23. Nessun Dorma (from Turandot) – Puccini
24. Don’t Come Easy – Patty Griffin
25. Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
26. Rocket Man – Elton John
27. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – The Platters
28. Boogie Woogie – Tommy Dorsey
29. Maybe I – Five for Fighting
30. Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald and Louie Armstrong
31. All of Me – Billie Holliday
32. At Last – Etta James
33. Don’t Take Your Guns to Town – Johnny Cash
34. Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’ – Charlie Pride
35. Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich
36. For the Good Times – Ray Price
37. He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones
38. Let’s Stay Together – Tina Turner
39. When I Fall in Love – The Lettermen
40. Along Comes Mary – The Association
41. To Love Somebody – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
42. Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You – The Four Seasons
43. Let it Be Me – Everly Brothers
44. That’ll Be The Day – Buddy Holly
45. Soul and Inspiration – The Righteous Brothers
46. Candy Man – Roy Orbison
47. Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles
48. I Can’t Make You Love Me – Bonnie Raitt
49. Colour My World – Chicago
50. No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley
51. Fever – Michael Buble
52. Cecelia – Simon and Garfunkel
53. Honky Tonk Woman – Rolling Stones
54. Changes – David Bowie
55. The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice
56. Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight & the Pips
57. Closer – Better Than Ezra
58. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
59. Mercy Mercy Me – Marvin Gaye
60. Dance To The Music – Sly & The Family Stone
61. Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
62. Stormy Weather – Etta James
63. Come Rain or Come Shine – Ray Charles
64. This Side – Nickel Creek
65. Cold Day in July – Dixie Chicks
66. Secret Garden – Bruce Springsteen
67. Take Your Mama Out – Scissor Sisters
68. Everybody’s Changing – Keane
69. Angel – Sarah MacLachlan
70. Melt With You – Modern English
71. Let Me Down Easy – Chris Isaak
72. Daughters – John Mayer
73. Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World – Israel Kamadawiwo’ole
74. She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5
75. Sorta Fairytale – Tori Amos
76. These Are Days – 10,000 Maniacs
77. I Don’t Wanna Talk About It – Indigo Girls
78. Have a Little Faith In Me – John Hiatt
79. Red Light – Jonny Lang
80. No More, No Less – Collective Soul
81. Home – Dishwalla
82. I Fall to Pieces – Patsy Cline
83. Bright Lights – Matchbox Twenty
84. Doth I Protest Too Much – Alanis Morissette
85. Right to be Wrong – Joss Stone
86. Cannon in D – Pachelbel
87. Four Seasons – Vivaldi
88. Midnight Rider – The Allman Brothers
89. Home – Marc Broussard
90. On The Sea – Vertical Horizon
91. In the Mood – Glen Miller
92. My Funny Valentine – Frank Sinatra
93. Bleed To Love You – Fleetwood Mac
94. Something in the Way She Moves – James Taylor
95. Drift Away – Uncle Kracker
96. Big Yellow Taxi – Counting Crows
97. Let The River Run – Carly Simon
98. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters – Elton John
99. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
100. Behind Blue Eyes – The Who
I was watching Charlie Rose last night and he just happened to have Barack Obama as the guest. I’d heard a lot about the guy, as many have I’m sure, but I’d never seen him speak. All I can say is, the man is impressive. I don’t know enough about him yet, but am now going to do a bit of research. If his record is as stellar as he was on the show, Mr. Obama will have my vote for President. If, that is, he chooses to run.
Charlie asked him a few times, from different angles, about his intentions to run in 2008. He gracefully declined to comment other than to say that his focus right now was to get some Democrats elected in three weeks, and after that he will have to collect himself and make some decisions about how he feels he can be useful to the American people. I only hope, after given a time of introspection, he does indeed decide to run. I was impressed by him, and that hasn’t happened in a very long time. I’ve been one of those verging on apathetic people who’s been tired of voting against someone and has wanted to feel excited about voting FOR someone. He could be that someone, and that, finally, does have me at least a little jazzed again about politics in this country.
I’m auditioning a new site at http://360.yahoo.com/wordsieve . Let me know what ya’all think about the format, etc.
So, last weekend… what can I say? Eventful? Full? Yes, it was all of those things. Friday we accepted the help of a friend to get our newly fixed and serviced car home from the dealership, and then paid her back by buying her dinner at Acapulco Gold. Saturday we met the same friend down in NW for some early dinner at Tara Thai (mentioned before in this blog) before walking over to Cinema 21 where we attended a movie showing that was part of the Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. The Movie,The Gymnast was very good. Pretty good writing, nice story, and classy. Meaning, of course, that it wasn’t crude or campy. Afterward we moseyed on back to 23rd and a nearby Starbucks for a late cup of decaf before heading on home. It was a nice, and hilarious, way to spend some time.
The most amazing part of the day however, was the fact that I became a scavenger hunt item, and all I had to do was walk down the street. See, we were walking from Tara Thai, on 23rd, toward the cinema, on 21st, being all chatty, and having a good time. Suddenly we all hear this girl saying, miss, ma’am, miss… we turn and there is a young college kid walking towards me, not the other two, with what looked like a survey in her hand. I was all prepared to give her the I’m not really interested line, or whatever, when she started into her spiel. She said that they, there was a group of about 6 or 7 of them, were on a scavenger hunt and one of their items was to have their picture taken crossing the street with a gray haired person. She wanted to know if I would be OK with having them take their picture with me. I looked at her, smiled, and cracked up. Having just turned 41 you’d think I wouldn’t be as gray as I am, but… well… I am. When I was 30 I’d say it was premature, now I just say… hell, I’m over 40, it’s gray. No biggie. It’s never bothered me at all actually and this, well this was a sign to me that being gray is actually hip. I mean hey, I can now add to my resume… scavenger hunt item. Who else, really, can say that? So, there we all stood, mid crosswalk, in the middle of the street, hamming it up for the camera. Me and the college kids. It was a blast. I loved it.
So, back to the weekend… Sunday, though not as cosmically eventful, was still eventful. Mom and Don made their way to our house, Saturday night actually, and we all spent a few hours Sunday painting camel color paint over the blue paint that was still on a couple of walls in our garage/family room. Mom was a total sport and was able to contort herself into all manner of intersting positions to get those cubby areas painted. Only someone as small and limber as she could’ve pulled it off, and pulled it off so well. The walls look SO much better and the paint completely changes the feel of the room. We wouldn’t have gotten it done nearly as fast or as well without them, so Mom and Don… thank you. You guys are the best.
To sum up… It was a weekend full of dinners out, time spent with friends and family, a decent movie, some major paint application, and the discovery of a possible new line of work for me. I’m seriously thinking of hiring myself out… Scavenger Hunt Item, will work for laughs…. sounds good doesn’t it?
Once again, it’s been awhile since I supplied a post to this ongoing little missive of mine. I think, after getting back from the trip, and the emotional events of last weekend, I needed a bit of quiet time, which I’ve enjoyed immensely.
Last weekend was, in a word, peaceful. Or maybe the activity of last weekend gave me peace. I’m not sure. I only know that when Mom, Monte, Suzi, Kay, Kev and I all stood on the banks of the Metolious River in central Oregon, and Mom, one handful at a time, set Bill’s ashes free in the river, I felt an overwhelming sense of beauty, peace, and that everything was, in that moment, exactly as it should be. It was wonderful. And, he would’ve loved it. He would’ve loved the six of us getting together, just us, something we’ve never done before. He would’ve loved that we had such a good time just being with each other. He would’ve loved the laughter, the sense of honor we all felt at being there, and how much we all wanted to honor him. He would’ve loved the weather that day, which was perfect and beautiful. He would’ve loved the spot we picked, just up from the cabins we used to stay in. He would’ve loved all of it. And, I’m sure, he did.
Mom knelt on some grass. We all stood by, crying, but not speaking. It was quiet, with only the sound of the river over the rocks. When it was finished, and he was gone, we hugged each other, each in turn, until each of us had hugged and held all of the others. Still, no one spoke. We turned, all standing to look at the river, at what had now, and forever, become Bill’s place. We looked, we cried, and still… no one spoke. Until, finally, Mom said, “Well Bill, this is a beautiful spot”. It seemed to break the spell, as we all nodded and agreed. Afterward, as a group, we walked to a nearby bridge upriver, standing to look at the day, the place… feeling the moment. I think we were all a bit reluctant to leave him, but finally, we made our way back to our vehicles and drove to the cabin.
It’s tough saying goodbye. And yet, I feel as though we did indeed, as Mom said, set him free. He was an independent man. One who knew his own mind, and wasn’t afraid to speak it. He liked doing things his way, going his own way in the world. And now, I feel like we let him do just that. It was a beautiful day. A lovely spot. And I love to think of him there. He had a bit of a wild spirit, and so it’s fitting that we let him go his own way, in a wild place. A place he loved, surrounded by people he loved and who loved him. People who love him still.
