Author Archive for Trish

Blissfully moved

Published on February 26, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Blissfully Hooked, my wedding site, has officially moved to its own site rather than being kept as a subsidiary (or something like that…) of loadofcarp.

And while we’re at it, Fish never got around to posting about our trip to Nashville the weekend before last, so I suppose I get to! Valentine’s Day was approaching, and we had decided to make it a couple’s weekend in Tennessee, between Fish and myself, two of his frat brothers and their girlfriends — one of whom goes to school at Vanderbilt.

That Friday after classes and all we got together for a long car ride (five hours or so, but exacerbated by idiots and gridlock on the road) across the Appalachian foothills in the snow, the first time I’d gotten to see the mountains of the eastern US (nothing in size compared to the Cascades or the Rockies, but still very majestic) and tucked in at a Doubletree in a pillowtop king sized bed with a warm complimentary chocolate chip cookie. At the time we saw the footage of that luger at the Olympics who crashed head first into the steel bars beside the track at 80+ mph. Second time an Olympian has died, from what the News said, and plenty gory — showing the actual hit and then the effects of internal bleeding as paramedics attempted to resuscitate him. I can only assume the poor guy didn’t even see or feel it. Some folks said it was because at age 21, it was his first Olympics, but even veterans often get injured on that particular track. At least the nation of Georgia continued in the Olympics in his honor.

Speaking of all of this, it’s a shame I can’t be on the west side of the nation, as my friend Katie and her brother drove up to Vancouver to participate in the fandom. They were able to attend several events such as hockey and curling (which is apparently way more interesting than you’d ever suspect!), and both were interviewed by Portland’s KGW tv news.

Anyway, that Saturday we spent perusing the main strip of Nashville’s Broadway, packed with record stores, poster shops, places to buy custom cowboy boots and hats, and dozens of bars, saloons, clubs (Coyote Ugly, B.B. King’s Blues Club, etc…), and taverns out of which live music filtered out through the doors to beckon us. There was even a box on a street corner that from afar looked like it should control the street lights, until you got too close and realized it was pumping out country music.

We ate at Big River Brewery, Olive Garden, and Cheesecake Factory over the weekend, and despite the cold we kept ourselves moving and had a fantastic time. Happy Valentine’s Day for us, indeed!

Tinkering around…

Published on January 29, 2010 in Uncategorized. 4 Comments

As I’ve not had the greatest number of work hours at GameStop (hinthint, if anyone knows of any job openings decently within the Perimeter for someplace other than McDonalds…. ;_;), I’ve been tinkering with Loadofcarp via a new little tab you can see at the top of the page, titled “Blissfully Hooked.” Although there isn’t much to it yet, it’s my little personal project of creating a wedding website for Fish and I.

Right now I’m mostly creating the skeleton of it, including page titles as placeholders, general outlines of what will go on them, and links to related pages so it’s easy to get around. Sorry I don’t have buttons set up, though maybe I can create some by using Gimp, a free Photoshop-style picture editing program.

Of course, the only pages that have any meat to them yet are those for places to visit in Atlanta and eateries I thought of to mention. Because I obsess over being entertained and fed. Not sure if I have enough there yet to ask for constructive criticism…but I at least want visitors to be aware that it exists!

Vegetarian Paella

Published on August 29, 2009 in Hobbies and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I have a week until I move in with Fish, and it’s my day off. I could be packing, but honestly I feel more like being terribly lazy. So I’m posting for y’all my latest creation that I ate a couple nights ago. It turned out pretty well, though I’ve tweaked my recipe a bit to make it more efficient and delicious.

VEGETARIAN PAELLA

This is a really easy recipe that you can complete with very limited cooking experience: you really just cut the veggies included, throw the ingredients together, let it cook, and enjoy. As long as you keep an eye on the pot while it’s bubbling so that it doesn’t overflow, and stir often, little can go wrong! Add a couple cups of shrimp or chopped chicken if you want to make it a main dish with some meaty flavor, or eat it as a side dish on its’ own. If it’s as a side dish, definitely use less rice than is called for in this recipe or you’ll have lots of leftovers. It has plenty of protein and veggies so you need not worry about it lacking nutritionally, and it also has tons of flavor!

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 sliced cucumber
  • 1/3 lb green beans
  • 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 cup chopped artichoke (or canned, marinated artichoke)
  • 1 clove of garlic finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon canned minced garlic)
  • 1 can white or garbanzo beans
  • 1.5 cups dry rice (it should make about 3 to 4 cups cooked rice)
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Saffron, or turmeric (a little less than a teaspoon, as it has a stronger flavor)
  • Vegetable stock (double the volume of rice) or chicken stock
  • 5 teaspoons Olive oil
  • Salt (to taste)

Preparation

  1. First, pour the olive oil into a large pan (I myself use a dutch oven, the big two-handled pot, just in case because I don’t have a large skillet), making sure the pan is level.
  2. Add the green beans, cucumber, and garlic, and let cook for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Make a space in the middle of the pan and add the tomatoes. Cook for about five minutes, then add the paprika.
  4. Fill with broth and water and let boil for about ten minutes, then taste for salt.
  5. Add rice, white beans, half the artichoke, and saffron, (and meat if wished) spreading evenly around the pan. Let cook for about another 15-20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Keep covered if you want the rice to be softer OR keep uncovered and cook for shorter time if you’d like it al dente. Stir often to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  6. Let it rest for a few minutes, but keep stirring to prevent sticking. Add the remainder of the artichoke on top before serving to add both an individual flavor and a touch of flair to the appearance.

Enjoy!

Chicken Florentine

Published on August 13, 2009 in Hobbies and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I’ve decided again to make a fun meal at home, this time with an Italian flair. Meals with “Florentine” in the name are credited to Catherine de’ Medici, who brought spinach to France around 1550, and chose to name all subsequent creamy, spinachy dishes after her homeland of Florence, Italy. This makes for a fairly easy, delicious dish that can go well atop a bed of pasta or with a potato on the side.

Note: If you have never worked with chicken before, remember that it is a leading source of salmonella, so you will want to make sure that you’ve cooked your chicken thoroughly before serving, and that you wash your hands or any utensils between touching the raw chicken and any prepared items or dishware. The chicken in this recipe is cooked on the stove, not the oven, so if the very center just won’t quite cook through, move the chicken to the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Spread the love, not the germs!

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • All-purpose flour, for dredging
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1 1/2 cups dry white wine (or chicken broth: less bite but for a similar result)
  • 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed, drained
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Set flour aside to add to sauce later. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm. If using a cut that will not cook through, transfer to microwave for 2-3 minutes before setting in foil.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the green onions and garlic and saute until green onions are soft, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. Add the wine/broth and lemon juice. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cream and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often, about 3-5 minutes. If sauce will not thicken to your liking, add some flour, a teaspoonful at a time, stirring vigorously so it does not clump. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Do not allow sauce to boil for too long and remember to stir often, so the sauce stays smooth. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and saute until heated through. Season the spinach, to taste, with salt and pepper. Keep spinach on light heat to prevent it from cooling while you finish preparing the chicken, but do not allow it to dry out and stick to the pan. Arrange the spinach over a platter. Place the chicken atop the spinach. Pour the sauce over and serve.

The recipe that I took this from, with some very select alterations on my part:

Everyday Italian

Baklava

Published on August 12, 2009 in Hobbies. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

baklava

Since I decided to make baklava for my friend Alanna’s birthday, and both her mother and my friend Katie have requested the recipe, I’ve decided to post it on here! I had to compile the recipes of two different websites, plus add my own alterations based on my taste and various tidbits of comments and intuition gotten from the internet and the experiences I’ve had while making this tasty little treat.

Baklava is a sweet dessert of nuts, phyllo dough, and honey based from around the Ottoman Empire, popular from Greece through the Middle East. It’s been around for many centuries and in many variations, so the one I have written down is hardly a canon version — it’s just what happens to work best for me! I promise you that if you go through the effort of making it, you’ll find yourself with one of the most satisfyingly sweet and delicious desserts you’ve ever had, and it’s both easy and also great to show off to guests!

Baklava

You will want to start this recipe a couple days in advance, as the phyllo dough needs a day of refrigeration to thaw out, and the baked baklava is best after at least a day of setting to soak in its juices. Because of the fragility of the phyllo and the number of times you will have to layer it, expect the prep time before baking to be at least a half hour. I like to sit down at the kitchen table while putting it together, as it will take a little patience. Remember, working with a friend makes it much faster and easier!

Ingredients:

  • 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough (usually found in the freezer section of the grocery next to the frozen pie crusts
  • 1 pound finely chopped nuts: walnuts work best, though pistachios are also popular — go for whichever nut you like best! (Anywhere above a half pound is acceptable, depending on your preference)
  • 1.5 cups (three sticks) melted butter
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2.5 cups white sugar (half cup will be used separately in recipe from the two cups)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to your taste
  • 1 cup honey (12 ounces)
  • 1 cup water
  • (1 teaspoon of lemon juice if you’d like some extra zest)
  • (For more flavor, you may add a half pound or so of chopped dried fruit, like dates or apricots)

Note: Keep phyllo dough in fridge for at least one day to thaw from freezer, do NOT unroll it until ready to work with it, and always keep unrolled phyllo covered with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out as you work.

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan (I like to use a pastry brush for buttering throughout the project).

2) Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar**. Set aside. Cut stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo pile with damp cloth when not using it. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have at least 8 sheets layered (more if you would like a more solid bottom ‘crust’). Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, and nuts, layering as you go. You may need to stagger layers to fit the edges of the pan. The top layer should be 6-8 sheets deep. Do not have nuts on the top, only butter.

3) Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way tot he bottom of the pan. If done in diamonds, do NOT cut from corner to corner; the design is attached at the bottom of this recipe. Do this before baking, as after it is baked the crust will be flakey and fragile. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

4) Start making sauce about 20 minutes before baklava has finished baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar has melted, stirring occasionally. *** Add vanilla and honey and let simmer.

5) Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool in open air: Leave lightly covered so it will not become soggy, and DO NOT refrigerate.

6) Let sit for at least 24 hours so that the sauce can soak in. The more days it sets (up to a week), the better it tastes.

7) Serve! The pieces will fit nicely in partially flattened cupcake papers, and this freezes well.

** If you have chopped fruit to add to the recipe, add it to the walnut mix.

*** For zest, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the sugar and water.

How to diamond cut:

Baklava design

Credit from:

Gretchen’s Favorite Recipes

Allrecipes.com

This recipe can serve at least sixteen people (plus the end pieces that you can sneak for yourself!), and will never cease to amaze family or guests who think you’ve worked twice as hard on it. You don’t need to use a mixer, hardly any dishes, and most of the magic is done by letting the baklava sit and soak up the honey-sweet syrup. So sit back and enjoy!

Adventures in Trishland

Published on June 14, 2009 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Moving. It seems like the strangest thing in the world to me, although I’ve done it plenty of times before. Four times for college, each to a different place (once to Bend, OR, then three different rooms on the University of Oregon campus).

Those times, I brought minimal things (increasingly so each time as I decided that I really didn’t need much, and even if I had before…I certainly hadn’t the time for extracurricular reading material and the such now) with the expectation that I could always go back home to the rest. Now I’m trying to move for good, but not to bring everything I’ve ever had with me. Trust me, I’m a pack rat. I only recently threw away a ton of my school papers and reports from when I was in elementary school. I hardly plan on bringing my dolls from back when, or most of my books (my poor, poor books) to save on room and general expenses from shipping all that across the nation.

But still. When you find yourself starting your new life by wrapping up your good dishes in your baby blanket (some things I can’t get rid of), you just..think.

Sorry, Fish, but the big ‘ol rice cooker has GOT to come with. Me without perfectly steamed rice would be a sad thing indeed.

I’m heading into eight days straight of working at 4:30 in the morning at the deli, a shift I’m hardly used to and therefore terribly slow at, overall. Especially when greeted first thing by customers who order specialized sandwiches only to be told at the checkstand the obvious that they have known for years (and trust me, judging from these women they had been pulling from the government for a good long time) — you can’t buy hot food with food stamps. I was cranky enough before the very items that put me behind in my opening schedule were brought back to me to be thrown out. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the food stamp program like other forms of government assistance are great for people who just need an extra boost. But I also work at the only real grocery store in this little town, so I can see on a regular basis which people don’t have the will to help themselves and get full enjoyment out of handouts. Makes life harder for the people who are genuinely trying and get less assistance because money’s spread so thin. I’m grateful every day that I have a full-time job, even if it’s minimum wage and hard work. I have plenty of college loans to pay off, not to mention the cost of moving and getting settled into a new city. Scary as that is.

Alright, for anyone who’s not heard of it: Eureka. All of the first season and some of the third (they’re working on trying to get the rest) are available on Hulu, so give it a look see if you want some nerdy comedy. About an ordinary, good-hearted, fight-first-ask-questions-later U.S. Marshal who goes off a back road somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (hints indicate it’s actually supposed to be Oregon-ish) and finds himself in a podunk town where everyone knows each other, there’s only one diner, the town sheriff makes house calls to just about everyone on a first name basis, and the local mechanic also doubles as a coroner, priest, forensic analyst, radio show host (etc. etc. etc.) and inventor of memory manipulation devices and hovercraft. Oh, wait– I didn’t mention that little Eureka is home to the most brilliant thinkers and inventors in the world, all of whom work in a secret government testing center developed at the beginning of the Cold War? Or that this poor unfortunate man regularly finds himself battling (often after the populace themselves accidentally created them) atomic weapons, ghosts, alien menaces, superhumans, and the frustration of being a single parent to a delinquent teenager in a town where fitting in usually means opening your eyes to the impossible, each and every day? I mostly get a kick out of the little things, like the “Cafe Diem” where their chef can fix literally any meal you’d want on the planet, even if that means cheeseburgers with wild mushrooms and blowfish in ten minutes or less.

So, Sims 3 looks awfully fun, at least as far as the clothing designer and interior decorator in me is concerned. Don’t have the game myself, but that’s what stealing usage of your friends’ computers is for. Loving that you can change the colors and patterns of anything you wear or buy in the game, and choosing your Sim’s likes and dislikes has never been more precise. What their favorite food is, whether they’re a good kisser or afraid of water…hehe. Unfortunately, that makes killing them off through drowning in the backyard pool a little unavailable. Oh well, I’m sure they’ve created bigger and better ways of letting us be morbid cyber-gods.

One of my favorite pastimes when visiting restaurants or shops is slowly becoming photography– not of the food or goods themselves, but as a setting for my always-hungry and endlessly-curious toy naked mole rat to express his views of the world. I got the toy years ago when visiting the Oregon Zoo, mostly spiteful at the time that they did NOT have a toy lemming instead. This was long before Kim Possible aired with their mole rat Rufus, so don’t get the idea that I have some Disney cartoon pet fetish going on. I also tend to find it troublesome to bring a digital camera around in my already burdensome purse, plus turning it on, focusing it, making sure the picture’s perfect…blech. I’ll save that for more serious pictures, but my handy dandy iPhone does the trick for the mole rat adventures.

That, and I just have an impromptu thirst for showing the truth of the world through beady little eyes.

For instance:

Whether he’s eating Swedish meatballs…

Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce at Ikea

Or Thai curry…

Chicken yellow curry with white rice and Thai iced tea at Blue Ocean in Astoria.

Or just good old crab cakes, Mole Rat has a diverse palate and a love to try new foods.

With garlic bread and sweet potato fries at Doogers in Seaside.

…Just so long as they don’t look too much like someone put his relatives in the blender.

Soylent pinks is mole rat!

Mole Rat is always trying to stand out in the rat race…

Get me out of here!

And moonlights as a crusader, saving his kin from being tied to railroad tracks and other evil hijinks.

Why do you guys have comfy napkin beds, anyway?

In short, he’s a well-rounded, hip young rodent who plans to go places in life. But only if they’re a warm climate or he’s got a sweater on, cause being furless can only take you so far.

And that’s my update for the day!

Free To Dream

Published on January 19, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

What an amazing time we live in. In two days a mixed race man, bearing a middle name that echoes the the title of a former Iraqi dictator, whose father abandoned he and his mother as a baby, so that they could rely on her mother and foodstamps, only to grow up to make it to Columbia University and then Harvard…will become president of the United States in America. This is arguably the most powerful position in the world. This is also, as a woman of about ninety years of age told me, the most exciting election she’s lived to see.

The man tries not to let himself be ruled by his black past, at least not in the same sense that Rev. Jesse Jackson would be. It’s part of his identity, but only one part of many — that hasn’t stopped him from being compared to Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is in three weeks. And especially he’s currently being discussed in reference to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but that’s to be expected: the inauguration is, after all, a day after the holiday honoring the fallen civil rights leader.

However, it’s not his African-ness that excites me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad to think that anyone can reach the highest position in the land with no family background in politics and against a million odds. But that’s because I’ve never known wealth and generally felt that I was being told as I grew up that my lack of heritage equated to near worthlessness. I grew up in a small town where only the children of town leaders were expected to make something of themselves. Pretty sad, of course, but even more sad that many of those kids were so coddled to ensure good grades and therefore easy access to the colleges of their choice that as soon as they entered the real world, many dropped liked flies and were forced to return home. It happens to all schools, I’m sure. But I’m proud to be a college graduate with any number of amazing futures before me. Last I heard, the prom queen from my high school class lived in a trailer park. Not that I’d wish failure upon anyone, but I proved the fools and their popularity contests to be wrong. I’m halfway to my ten-year class reunion. We’ll see by then if I have anything to gloat about. If nothing else, I can say after tomorrow that I’ve seen two presidents of the United States speak live in front of me. Of course, it was while Obama rallied for himself whilst Clinton tried to gain support for his wife, but both were powerful orators that left us in awe. So worth skipping studying to see. And the night that Obama won the election? There was screaming, partying, fireworks in the streets. I’ll definitely miss my college campus for that.

Five presidents stand tall

 

Onto my future- I’m working at the local Safeway grocery at the moment because I was guaranteed a job back after graduating. I don’t want to get myself into a long-term career here when I plan to move down to Atlanta some time mid-to-late this year. I can only hope that I stand a chance in the big city.

Fish is excited both for the inauguration and also for the day after- his 21st birthday. The kid’ll finally be able to (legally) drink, so kudos to him. He’ll have to tell the bloggy world all about his adventures with that when they happen, and also perhaps this weekend with the fraternity. He has a new ‘little brother’ to teach the ropes of PKT life and he already seems excited by how much they potentially have in common.

My own birthday is on the 25th, and I’m ambivalent. I’m not even sure I have the day off from work — I’ve been getting weekends off regularly the last couple weeks, but I switched my schedule for this Sunday with another girl so that I could work and she could take my Tuesday shift, fortuitous for both of us (she wanted a weekend day to herself, whilst I was concerned about working a closing shift and then a 4:30am shift close together). My boss seems the type to generally copy down the last week’s schedule for the next in almost carbon-copy, but not as bad as some in the past. I put my b-day on the calendar but didn’t request it off, so hopefully this next Sunday I’ll catch a break. For that reason alone I’ve not made any plans with friends, but I’d be quite satisfied with just a quiet day of rest and maybe going out to eat with my dear grandmother. If I get to do more, that’s all the better. I’ll haveta mention if I get anything exciting for gifties, although I’ll admit I’m getting too old to let such things rule my life. I love to give more than to receive at this point, but only to those who show appreciation. Nothing sucks more than putting together a set of gifts over a couple months, giving them to their intended recipient, and getting not even an honest smile or thank you.

Maybe I just suck at picking out gifts. ;)

Just got to finally see the movie Children of Men. Just as good as I expected it to be, but with some added fun. By that I mean cinematographically: there are a few great scenes in which long takes are employed, and the director, who is famous for employing such film devices, was nominated for an academy award for Best Film Editing. Not giving away too much of the plot, except that as is shown in the trailer, the world has fallen to pieces and all of humanity has been infertile for over 18 years. England is a dystopian and xenophobic nation, attempting to keep out the rest of the world in their hopes of surviving the collapse of every other nation. Most scenes/shots focus on Clive Owen (I think the director meant for those excluding him to pop out as important for us to pay attention to), and there are a couple that involve British soldiers or anarchist militants attacking the main characters or one another in explosive (literally) power bids. They were filmed virtually without cutting the film even once. At one point there’s gunfire and the camera is splattered with blood (breaking the fourth wall but in a chilling way), and the camera continues to move on for several minutes without breaking the shot, still carrying the red droplets along on the adventure. In a way this made the adventure better, more real– like an actual human being, you can only see so much at any time, and are forced to exist only with what your vision allows. The camera jerks around when there’s gunfire, screaming, or anything else exceptional that the characters might see, showing it to you as though you’re part of the action, rather than trying to make us feel more comfortable with clipping back and forth to allow us the seat of gods watching from behind the protective wall of our television screens. As another individual’s review of the film describes, “Sometimes the setting is the story; the streets live and breathe as characters; the city is alive in these films, pulsing with an artificial intelligence that, in this case, is fetid, rotting at the core.” Turns out, some of these scenes were made possible by digitally created alterations and seamless transitions. You’ll find the camera angle positioned where someone was just sitting, and see a technoscape that was pasted over an actual city no more evasively or unnaturally than adding sprinkles to a cupcake. I can’t say that the story necessarily moved me as a masterpiece which makes me think about the world in a whole new light — I’ve at least seen/read too many dystopian pieces to come to such quick conclusions. However, if you want a refreshing movie experience that leaves you both sad and also genuinely hopeful for our future, give it a watch. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 92%. Disclaimer: Very, very rated R for graphic scenes, but only as far as you could expect to see in an actual war. I’d not call it gratuitous violence at all. 

Dirge

Published on May 20, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

There’s a display up at my campus right now as a memorial to the war, a multimedia event including army boots to represent each Oregonian killed in Iraq, hardhats (which I have not found; they may be indoors somewhere close) for Oregon contractors, an prayer flags for American service people. There were also poster stands telling facts about the war, such as what life would be like if America were in Iraq’s place- thousands killed daily, NYC would have four hours of electricity a day, etc. Somewhere they also are playing videos for the event.

As usual, I will let the pictures do the speaking for me.

104 pairs of boots in the EMU amphitheater surrounded by civilian shoes.
104 pairs of boots in the EMU amphitheater surrounded by civilian shoes

Many had photos, flowers, or other keepsakes around them.
Many had photos, flowers, or other keepsakes around them

These represented Iraqi civilians killed.
These represented Iraqi civilians killed, probably at a 1/1000 scale or higher

Although far from the youngest, this pair disturbed me the most.
Although far from the youngest, this pair disturbed me the most.

Also poignant. The youngest I saw was 18 months.
Also poignant. The youngest I saw was 18 months.

There were thousands of prayer flags, flapping wildly…
There were thousands of prayer flags, flapping wildly...

Each was personalized with dates, pictures, RIP, etc.
Each was personalized with dates, pictures, RIP, etc.

I don’t know why this one effected me so, but it did.
I don\'t know why this one effected me so, but it did.

Again, perhaps not special, but beautifully sad.
Again, perhaps not special, but beautifully sad.

Presidents Ahoy! And Other Campus Adventures…

Published on May 13, 2008 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

So I was in line for food on campus, and the two guys in front of me, obviously friends, were named Luke and Han. Not EVEN kidding. I thought that the sheets they filled out for their meals might have had aliases, but those were the names on their student ID cards.

By now you should have guessed that I’m at least politically aware enough to believe my vote counts and to pay attention to what the candidates are up to. If you read my last post, you could guess that I’m a pretty big Obama fan (much like the Fish himself). However, that wouldn’t stop me from going to a Hillary rally Monday night …or more specifically, a rally for the woman that has someone else speaking in her place. And who would be best at that? Why, her husband Bill, of course! So tonight myself and my friends Marie and Jess waited in line for about two and a half hours for the rally – it was supposed to be one, but he got caught up in traffic coming down from Corvallis (home of our rivals, the Beavers of Oregon State).

The crowd wasn’t quite as big as Obama’s, reaching between 2,300 and 3,200 attendees, but it was still so much larger than expecte that we had to forfeit the right for it to occur at the EMU Ballroom (largest room of the building in the center of campus) — instead when the line finally moved we snaked our way through the building and back out the other side, finding ourselves in the outside amphitheater, pushed together like we were ready to mosh. Not that it was a bad thing – it was getting pretty cold by then (around 9:40), so all the body heat was fantastic. Unfortunately, although I was only about 20-30 feet from the stage the tallest guys near the front were directly in front of us. So any pics that I have to offer are blurry for a number of reasons- limited chances to get a view above swaying, tall heads, twilight dark and bad stage lighting, a shifting crowd overall…and not necessarily the best shutter speed on my camera. Oh well, it worked well enough to make memories. <3

Crowd.
Re-Elect Bill!

Bill.


Terrible Youtube I made of him speaking for about 40 seconds about the environment- only clear thing about it is the sound. At least it tells you pretty well how ticked off I was getting at people Fish’s height or more (6-foot-something) who couldn’t stand still and couldn’t understand that 95% of the people behind them couldn’t see. XD That’s alright, I enjoyed the experience all the same. By seven seconds in you also realize that it’s not my fault that the man is completely dark- his secret service agent to the left side is lit up like a lightbulb. Someone even made a shout in the crowd for them to move the spotlight, heh.

For more about the event, read the coverage in my campus newspaper here.

Now I’ll get the rest of my two cents on politics for the time being out of the way. If anyone wants to read more about the Obama rally at UofO that I went to on Friday night, go here. l About 8,000 attended the rally, and an estimated 7,000 new individuals in Lane County (here) registered as democrats specifically to vote in the Primaries.

Among items mentioned in the article include that he attempted to appear more casual for the student population by appearing without a tie, the man visited a track meet unannounced beforehand, two Oregon super delegates already support him openly while shouting how “McCain’s four more years of Bush!” — I think that this has become one of the new slogans of the campaign season, as this is the second or third time I’ve heard it so far (the first was Michael Moore, not surprisingly).

He wants 25% of energy used in the USA to be solar by the year 2025, plans to expand AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps and establish a tax credit of $4,000 annually for students who perform 100 hours of public service a year.

As a folklore student, I get a kick out of discovering that there was a banner hanging from a window above that said “Folklorists 4 Change” (actually, the real text was Folklorists 4 Continuity and Change, but I guess the irony of that didn’t seem as pro-Obama to the newspaper). Speaking of, the head of the department is actually teaching a course on Tracktown traditions and running culture this summer. And on that note, the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials will be happening this June on my campus, and Eugene is going crazy preparing for it. The trials will only last ten days, but millions of bucks are being put into renovating bits of the town- hotels, touristy areas, etc. Hayward Field on campus has a nice new digital scoreboard, and has the occasional sign already of who they’ll be catering to….

Starting this last Friday and lasting through the weekend was the annual Pow Wow on campus, as I mentioned in the last post. To read more about the 40th annual event, go to the Daily Emerald’s article… Just too bad the Obama bit overshadowed the beginnings of it. Also unfortunate that there aren’t clearer representations of Native American culture in the area, as the campus used to be tribal territory not so long ago. We do have a Natural and Cultural History museum and a longhouse behind it, and I’ve heard that there’s a statue somewhere of a Native American girl with a deer, but it’s apparently a bit hidden in the bushes. Unlike the Pioneer statue and Pioneer mother, the former of which might look a little familiar to Simpsons fans….

Well, it’s University Day, the time we celebrate by planting trees and bark-dusting flowerbeds. I’ve got all my day’s errands run- including putting my ballot in the mail, so here’s to a relaxing day after a long and exciting weekend!

Baracking the Vote

Published on May 12, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

So Friday was fun. Come midnight an Indian pow-wow took place in Mac Court (MacArthur Basketball Court at UofO for those who aren’t in the know), Friday was also the last of our campus semi-annual Street Faire (which I’ll talk about more in my next post), and biggest of all- Obama was coming to town.

Here was the dilemma for me. I had to clock on for work at 5:30 (a three hour shift at one of the school cafeterias- not hard work and not long, but I get a free meal every shift and I like the people), and the Obama rally started seating at 5:45. I got off work at (the latest) 8:30, and he’d begun to speak at 7:30. There was no way I would get to see the candidate that I have every intention of voting for as my president.

The line was intense. The sign may say “Do not enter” for vehilcles, but there were hundreds of human bodies that I could see as I walked just to my dorm, and I knew that thousands more were behind them and heading toward the throng. They had blankets, books, and poker cards at the ready to entertain themselves for the next few hours- and they had definitely started gathering several hours ahead of time.
The line for Obama

The security was also fitting for a presidential candidate: a straight line of courthouse/airline worthy security checkpoints, each manned with the Secret Service Police and other officials. After the event had started, they penned all those who entered into a metal fenced area, after which there was a line of officers patrolling the flock, then another fence behind them. Those who came late had to watch from afar. Made sense, of course- couldn’t let knives/guns/bombs close to the stage.

So I had a terrible time at work, depressed that I’d missed Obama, and short of staff – myself and someone who had never done the work station before were together, and the language barrier of trying to explain things to a Hong Kong kid was…less than stellar. You know what it’s like when someone tries with all their might to help you, but they only make things more complicated. You just smile and thank them all the same. Anywho. Myself and another coworker rushed off as soon as we’d clocked out at about 8:15, hoping that it might still be going.

And was it. We were a few blocks still off the main campus when I heard the boom of loudspeakers, clear as day from hundreds of feet away. He was still going strong (later I heard that the last part of his performance was the best anyway). I took a while trying to get anything that even resembled a view, moving to the edge of the hundreds gated out to look into the main crowd…

…then I wandered like a hungry jackal to the other end, convinced that there was no way I was going to see the man. Finally I got up on a little bit of raised ground beneath a tree where the roots had pushed up the soil, and there he was- pacing on stage, laughing loud and joking. It was too dark and faaaaar too distant to get a good picture, but hey, at least I tried.
Barack!

He discussed fair trade agreements, the price of oil, being proud when he had refused to personally respond to his opponents and regretful of when he’d taken a swing, said we need to raise the salary of schoolteachers, and praised his mother for raising him well after at age two his father left them and she had to at times depend on Food Stamps. He felt like real America- certainly at least the type of person that Oregon wanted to hear from. And he wasn’t just coming to my campus- his website showed three or more other locations in the state that he was to visit in the next couple days. It was so big and so sudden that even one of my professors had to at the last minute send out an email saying she couldn’t come to her office on her day off to drop off our papers — because the campaign had been given her parking spot.

It was certainly a fun event- and Obama continued speaking until nearly 9pm, a full hour and a half after he’d begun. He was coughing from an obvious dry throat long before he stepped down from the stage. It was riveting. I hope the man wins, because he certainly knows how to make a girl swoon.