Writer's Block

Writing a band bio is hard.

Darn press kit expectations.

Everything I write sounds stupid.

Luke: 1995-2008

Why is it that human grief is so magnified when a dog dies? I don't know if I've ever felt this sad before.

((Yes, I probably have been this sad before. Yes, there are worse atrocities in this world. Still, I am very sad.))

Sleep well my friend.

--

Edit:

So, my sister-in-law's blog post inspired me to write a few good memories about my dog (rather than just wallowing in sadness):

• Having Luke "tuck me in" is also one of my favorite memories. He slept with me when I lived at home. He liked to sleep curled up in the curve behind my knees. When my feet would come outside of the blanket when I slept, he would get up and bury my feet by pushing the blankets around with his nose!

• When Luke was little, curious, and healthy we would play hide and seek with his bone. I would hide the bone in increasingly difficult spots and give him verbal clues and visual clues (I'm looking at the bone...) to find it. He was one smart cookie!

• Luke was my protector. For some reason he was very worried about me when my friend Dave Jacobs would come around. Once, Dave was leaning over to help me up and Luke attacked him and bit his nipple! Yikes! Yet...somehow Luke slept soundly the night that we had a real threat! A man broke into our house in the middle of the night and he didn't even stir until my dad chased the guy out of the house!

• As Luke got more old, blind, and deaf, it was tough to play. But, he still loved our favorite game "got your tail" I would say "Got your tail!" and grab his tail. He would wiggle and jump to get away, only to have me grab his ears and say "Got your ears!" This could go on forever with "got your other ear!" "got your foot!" "got your nose!" etc. I could almost hear him giggle when we played this game.

• After his baths--LOOKOUT!!!--Luke would run around the house at SUPER speed and rub his face on towels, the carpet, blankets, or laundry lying around until his face was dry.

• Luke's feet were ticklish!

• Luke loved to have a "doggy massage"

• Luke was sweet, smelly, loving, and loyal. He will be missed. I've been really sad today--but I have been remembering how playful and cute he was as a puppy. It makes me glad to know that he can run, jump, and play now without pain. I believe in doggy heaven. And I believe I'll get to see him again. Call me crazy--but it makes me feel better.

It's been tough living away from Luke in his elderly years. I would feel guilty every time I hear how bad he's doing. I know my family did their best to make him comfortable and feel loved in his last years. I always wished I could have been there more or done more--but I'm glad for people like Candice who cared about him as much as I did. He will be missed.

Joy, Aranea, and Nellie

It was 102 degrees today (in the shade)...and suddenly the whole world is full of baby bugs!

We had a family of baby spiders hatch in our apartment today. They are so cute on their little parachute webs. I hope that they don't mind living in the vacuum cleaner until they can be moved outside.

Psychedelic in Psalem

Last night Kalaloch tripped out with some woodland creatures from Philly and some Plants. A Gaelic time was had by all. Actually, it was probably one of our best shows ever. (The probably comes from Jen, who came in too early on one song and was a little off key on another. According to Alex it was our best show ever).

There was a cello and a harp and a Moog, and some e-bows. And a lot of long hair. A LOT of long hair. It was really fun. The touring bands were not the type of music we usually listen to (very folksy/trippy/Celtic), but they put on a really good show. Plants is one of our favorite northwest bands (husband/wife, somewhat droney/folksy/poppy...sound familiar?). Last night they just played acoustic (I've only ever seen a really droney plugged show)--but they sounded awesome of acoustic guitar and cello--all unplugged with raw vocals. It was great.

Plus also I think people genuinely enjoyed our set. But maybe that had something to do with the various plants or chemicals taken in before they arrived at the show.

p.s. Forgive me for being redundant (for those of you on facebook), but Kalaloch is trying to play a show Friday May 31st in Utah. We thought someone had booked a show for us...but they seem to have flaked out.

Anyone have any contacts? We're trying to cold call venues...but no bites yet. Know anyone who does house shows? Know anyone who books shows in Utah Valley or SLC? Know anyone who knows anyone who runs a music venue in Utah? Speak up (= We need help! We're also giving a ride to a one-man music project from Portland who was planning to play that show with us.

We could have a fun house show if anyone wanted to use their house!

Mother's Day Mad Lib

My brilliant husband came up with this Mother's Day Mad Lib card for his primary kids to make today. It was a hit! My siblings and siblings-in-law were all together for Mother's Day (& my brother Peter's birthday) tonight--so I had them help me come up with nouns, verbs, etc. over the speaker phone. I then read my mom her mother's day card. It was super fun.

I often go (verb ending in ing) in meadows of (noun) ,
And I (verb) armfuls of (plural noun) of (adjective) .
I (verb) the blossoms the whole (noun) over;
Dear mother, all (plural noun) remind me of you.

O mother, I (verb) you my (noun) with each (noun)
To (verb) forth (adjective) fragrance a whole lifetime through;
For if I love (plural noun) and (plural noun) and (plural noun) ,
I (verb) how to (verb) them, dear mother, from you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yikes! Bikes!

Alex and I have now been married for 6 years and 1 week...happy anniversary to us (=

For our anniversary gifts to each other, we went out and bought bikes last weekend. Our inner hippies made us do it. Alex read somewhere that 25% of Porlanders commute to work by bike. Wow. So...we went on down to the local cycling shop and picked some out.

I haven't really been bicycling since my days of group dating and riding bikes to Bridal Veil Falls. We did rent bikes on a trip to Whistler, Canada a few years ago--and I have this embarrassing recollection of being a complete wimp. I'm pretty sure I walked every uphill section of the trail. My 6 year-old niece could bike circles around me.

So, it was with trepidation and excitement that I decided to become a bicycler. I did teeter a bit on the first bike I tried...but mostly it was just like riding a bicycle! I chose the stouter mountain bike with wide stable tires. Alex chose the more commuter friendly streamlined hybrid bike with skinnier tires--skinnier than mountain bike wheels but not quite as skinny as a road bike. I tried out some hybrids...but those skinny tires stole my sense of security. I only regret my choice a bit: due to differences in bikes and differences in the size of our thigh muscles, Alex is MUCH faster than I am. Ah...but I won't be tipping over any time soon!

We bought the bikes on the eve of our anniversary, and then spent the day last Saturday trying out our new bikes and our new-found extra-hippieness. We rode a section of Portland's Spring Water Trail--a 40 mile section of old railway line through the city that has been converted into a bike/pedestrian only trail. We did a 12 mile loop through Sellwood (Portland's upscale hippie neighborhood) and down to Oak's Park on the Willamette River. It was so beautiful! And I got so saddle-sore!

But...I worked hard on the exercise bike at the gym this week with positive results: today we biked nearly 30 miles! Yikes! Our neighbor Brian dropped us and our bikes off at Silver Falls--a state park 25 miles up from Salem, and we biked back down through the backroads. It was amazing. It was mostly downhill--which really frightened me at first (Yikes! What if my brakes fail or lock and I get thrown off!?), but (as our 4-year-old neighbor David would say), "I biked very well."

I only walked my bike up 3 hills: the first one was a VERY steep 2 mile stretch at the beginning of our ride (why did we not have him drop us off 2 miles BEFORE the falls?), the second was in the middle of the trip--my legs felt like jelly, and the third was the last climb up to our house on the hill (and Alex walked that one too).

Otherwise, I was a regular Lance Armstrong (= Okay...maybe not. But I didn't whine and I rode hard! I'm even less sore than I was after our 12 miles last week!

I'm just sorry that we still haven't found our camera!

Pear Pancakes

YUM!!! Wow. I just made the most amazing pancakes ever (if I do say so myself).

Prepare your regular pancake mix (from scratch or a box

Slice a Bartlett (or other firm pear) into thin rounds.

Pour batter onto pan as normal

Once air bubbles begin to form, place pear slices onto the uncooked side of the pancake (I recommend covering the entire side with pear slice pieces).

Sprinkle with cinnamon (and/or cloves and/or nutmeg)

Flip and finish cooking.

ENJOY!!! (We ate ours with butter or peanut butter and maple syrup with a few pear slices as garnish)