Garden

Botanicals

The Church Band

The Church.
I've loved them for years.
Perhaps I should clarify.
I've loved the band called The Church for years.
I've hated the church for even more years.
I've been listening to The Church for about 25 years.
I've been not listening to the church since before I can remember.
The Church played in Portland last night.
It was a great show.
They did a number of songs that I've been listening to for more than half my life, which pleased me....
Hotel Womb
Reptile
and of course
Under the Milky Way.

New album -Untitled #23 - is great.

Steve Kilbey



Marty Wilson Piper





What stood out most about the show...
Steve Kilbey's voice is unbelievable.
Marty Wilson Piper is the most amazing guitar player I've ever seen.
MWP clearly loves to play. Seeing the joy he was experiencing made me joyous.
MWP's appearance has changed so much.
SK and MWP interacted with the audience quite a bit, which is always a bonus.

Must try the veggie burger at The Lamp.
Pass on the fries.

In just a little less than a year, she'll be a teen

We celebrated G's birthday at my parent's house yesterday. G wants to buy a marimba and so she told everyone she wanted money for her birthday.

The beginning....


The middle....


The end...


She started counting her money, which of course was interrupted and had to be restarted thanks to her grandpa...


So then her dad sat with her and made sure grandpa wasn't able to pull off another one of his shenanigans ....


She didn't get quite enough money for a marimba, but she'll get one soon because her dad is going to cover the rest.

It was a good day. I'm sure I'd have different thoughts if it was a drum set she wanted.

Noodly boy loves the camera....

Dogs and goslings

Today, Trudy is half the dog she was yesterday.

On the way to the groomer:




While she was being groomed, Gus and I went for a long walk.

I kept my distance, but the two standing geese... they were so mad at me. They hissed and hissed and when I stopped to take this photo, I thought one of them was going to attack me. From the photo, it looks like I was close, but it was zoomed in and I cropped it. Seriously, I was not close. The goslings are so cute!


Later in the walk, I came accross this caterpillar. I have no idea where this thought came from, but I thought, "Hmmm, he looks tasty!" WTH? I've been a vegetarian for 13+ years. Even when I wasn't a vegetarian, you couldn't have paid me to eat a caterpillar. I think I'm losing my mind. This getting old crap is scaring me.


Then I picked up my new, smaller, happier dog.

Will Vinton

I don't know exactly when the California Raisins ads came out. I think I was maybe 13. I was immediately entralled. I got an 8mm camera and started to do my own claymation. I did it for fun for a few years and I loved it, but I never thought I'd be good enough to actually do it for a living. So I let it go, and started devoting my time to achieving more realistic goals (or so I thought at the time).

When I was 22 I moved from Minneapolis to Portland. Shortly after moving here, I found out that the Will Vinton studio was here in town. I wanted nothing more than to get a job with them, but I was too intimidated. I never followed through with my dream.

I sort of met Will Vinton last night. I didn't actually shake his hand or say hello to him. I even avoiding making eye contact with him. I've admired this guy's work for years... the last thing I wanted to do was open my mouth and say something stupid. I got to listen to him speak though and I was briefly physcially close enough to him that I could have actually touched him, but you know, I was doing the whole avoiding eye contact thing, plus he had other people hanging all over him. I did notice him checking out my butt. Er, I mean iBOT.

There is currently a Will Vinton exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society. It opens today. Last night was a private invite only opening. I only had about 1/2 hour to look at the exhibit, but I plan on returning someday soon.

Easter at the parent's house

Decorating eggs is my favorite part of Easter.


I liked this one best. It was done by Miss Gillian.


We ate Easter dinner, and then played games.



We watched ships pass.




I'm not so sure "Sank" is a good name for a ship.



My mom's birthday, my brother-in-law's birthday, and my birthday are all in April, so we celebrated Easter and birthdays together. We opened presents. I got books!


But mostly, we were entertained by my parent's new kitten.














Unfortunately, new kitten has ringworm. He's got a little bald patch under his lower lip, and he was meowing when I took this picture. I think it's hilarious.

The above picture was not altered in any way. My sister said that he was doing his impression of OctoMom. :D

Notice how the floor matches the kitten? My parents HAD beautiful carpets, but then they got this new kitten and put plywood down to match the new cat. Weird, huh?

I'm kidding! They are building their house, and much like the majority of my childhood, they live in a home under construction.