An Engineer's Guide to Cats
And it was why I did not document my action filled day yesterday. I got so sidetracked by watching this guy's cat videos, and then somehow went from there to a video of a cat with 2 faces, and from there, videos of deformed babies.
Both today and yesterday were mostly computer work. Updated fingerstothebone.com with new photos; updated the paintings section with the new format (now same as the prints and books section). Put the new issue of Pudding up, put the new painting up. I'm thinking that I'm too wordy on the home page, so I'll probably change that sometime.
And on the good news front, 2008 is shaping up to be the Year of Long Lost Friends! Earlier this year, I heard from a college friend who googled me after the NYT article came out. This morning, I heard from a very dear friend from graduate school (and we lost contact after a couple of moves). Needless to say, I'm thrilled!
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The guest bedroom gets inaugurated
Our visitors from Ireland have arrived, and as I type, they're taking the new guest bed out for a test drive. They're pretty exhausted, having been up for a full 24 hours. So this was the typical Sunday of chores, plus welcoming our guests. There probably won't be much studio work to report in the next few days, either.
I suddenly have a craving for hot & sour soup...
I suddenly have a craving for hot & sour soup...
Sunday, December 16, 2007
'Tis the season
It's that time of the year again. Beyond the usual Sunday chores, it was the Cookie Exchange (20th anniversary!) at Carolyn's. I didn't bring cookies (and didn't take any), but I did bring a big box of persimmons. After that, it was off to see A Christmas Carol at Portland Center Stage. We used to always decline the Christmas play (whatever it was) when it was easy to do so when buying the season tickets. Now they've made it much harder to skip the Christmas plays, and so we go.
Another day without any studio time. Tomorrow, I'm off to order the plexi for the screens I'll be making as part of the grant project, and then it's off to the mall to do some pillow research!
Another day without any studio time. Tomorrow, I'm off to order the plexi for the screens I'll be making as part of the grant project, and then it's off to the mall to do some pillow research!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Rosario's memorial
It's amazing how long it can take to put together a couple of bouquets sometimes. It doesn't normally take so long, I don't think, but it took me 3 hours to put these 2 together today. I had to redo them each a couple of times; things were just not going my way. I also wanted them to be somewhat different.
So this first one -- mallow, clematis, 2 types of hydrangeas, hypericum berries, chrysanthemums. I was pleased that both the mallow and the clematis lasted well into the evening and still looked pretty good around 11pm. I was afraid that they wouldn't make good cut flowers (because I never see them as cut flowers), but they surprised me.
This one -- hydrangeas, oregano, 2 types of lilies, mallow, nandina, and a different type of hypericum berries than above. I really liked the hypericum berries in the arrangements. I'l use them more often now.
Then it was off to the memorial. 325+ people came, the line to sign the guest book went around the block outside the Chinese Garden. Lots and lots of people came to help. The staff and volunteers at the Chinese Garden, the board and volunteers of the China Council. When I finally left at around 11pm, people were still cleaning up.
There were lots of good stories tonight, and many talked about his connection to Dunhuang, how he's probably out there walking in the desert now. I almost talked about that too, but decided to tell another story, something a little more recent. So this was my story (more or less):
Last November, while Mike and I were at the movies, we saw an ad for the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of The First Emperor, Tan Dun's opera about Chin Shih Huang Di. The simulcast would be at Lloyd Cinemas at 10:30am on a Saturday morning.
I emailed Rosario and a few other friends to see if anyone would be interested in joining us. And I said to Rosario, "Mike suggested that we should meet for Chinese breakfast before the show."
I envisioned a Saturday morning with a few friends.
On Jan 13, the day of the simulcast, Mandarin House opened bright and early at 8 in the morning for a delicious Chinese breakfast for 60 people. Rosario was busy chatting with everyone; I don't know that he had a chance to have any breakfast at all. A few people came in from the street, mistakenly thinking that the restaurant was open, and they too enjoyed a special Chinese breakfast. My Chinese isn't the best, but I think, In Chinese, you would say that these people tuo le Rosario de fu -- that they owed their good fortunes to Rosario.
Rosario also prepared a program for the event -- a synopsis of the opera and some information about the composer -- which he handed out once we arrived at the theater. The theater was packed, and our group was the envy of everyone, they all wanted to know where we got our programs; nobody else had them. I had so many strangers tell me how lucky we were that somebody had gone to the trouble to prepare a program for us. So here, there's no doubt that we owed our good fortunes to Rosario.
This is just my little story about how Rosario thinks -- it's about the community and it's about sharing. He didn't want us to just go off by ourselves to enjoy something when 60 people, and more, could be invited to participate. He wasn't satisfied with just learning all that he could about the performance, but he shared what he learned with us.
It was our good fortunes to have known him.
So this first one -- mallow, clematis, 2 types of hydrangeas, hypericum berries, chrysanthemums. I was pleased that both the mallow and the clematis lasted well into the evening and still looked pretty good around 11pm. I was afraid that they wouldn't make good cut flowers (because I never see them as cut flowers), but they surprised me.
This one -- hydrangeas, oregano, 2 types of lilies, mallow, nandina, and a different type of hypericum berries than above. I really liked the hypericum berries in the arrangements. I'l use them more often now.
Then it was off to the memorial. 325+ people came, the line to sign the guest book went around the block outside the Chinese Garden. Lots and lots of people came to help. The staff and volunteers at the Chinese Garden, the board and volunteers of the China Council. When I finally left at around 11pm, people were still cleaning up.
There were lots of good stories tonight, and many talked about his connection to Dunhuang, how he's probably out there walking in the desert now. I almost talked about that too, but decided to tell another story, something a little more recent. So this was my story (more or less):
Last November, while Mike and I were at the movies, we saw an ad for the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of The First Emperor, Tan Dun's opera about Chin Shih Huang Di. The simulcast would be at Lloyd Cinemas at 10:30am on a Saturday morning.
I emailed Rosario and a few other friends to see if anyone would be interested in joining us. And I said to Rosario, "Mike suggested that we should meet for Chinese breakfast before the show."
I envisioned a Saturday morning with a few friends.
On Jan 13, the day of the simulcast, Mandarin House opened bright and early at 8 in the morning for a delicious Chinese breakfast for 60 people. Rosario was busy chatting with everyone; I don't know that he had a chance to have any breakfast at all. A few people came in from the street, mistakenly thinking that the restaurant was open, and they too enjoyed a special Chinese breakfast. My Chinese isn't the best, but I think, In Chinese, you would say that these people tuo le Rosario de fu -- that they owed their good fortunes to Rosario.
Rosario also prepared a program for the event -- a synopsis of the opera and some information about the composer -- which he handed out once we arrived at the theater. The theater was packed, and our group was the envy of everyone, they all wanted to know where we got our programs; nobody else had them. I had so many strangers tell me how lucky we were that somebody had gone to the trouble to prepare a program for us. So here, there's no doubt that we owed our good fortunes to Rosario.
This is just my little story about how Rosario thinks -- it's about the community and it's about sharing. He didn't want us to just go off by ourselves to enjoy something when 60 people, and more, could be invited to participate. He wasn't satisfied with just learning all that he could about the performance, but he shared what he learned with us.
It was our good fortunes to have known him.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A world of difference
When I think, in an abstract way, that I'll never see a friend again, I am saddened by it. But that's a whole world away from knowing that I'll never see them again because they've suddenly ceased to exist. And Rosario has ceased to exist; I find it very hard to wrap my mind around it.
The obit in the Oregonian came out today. I found it terribly disappointing -- it hardly touched on some of the more unique things that he had done. For example, for years he worked as a translator at various Dunhuang studies conferences out at Dunhuang, the oasis town on the edge of the Taklamakan desert where the northern and southern silk roads diverged/converged. He had access to the top scholars who studied the Buddhist caves, murals, and frescos at these oasis towns, and had been invited back year after year to translate for them.
When we went to China with him in 2000, his connection to the place and people got us into caves that were not open to the public. I am very sad that I couldn't go on that early morning hike out into the desert with him while we were there; I had gotten sick, and I was so disappointed that I couldn't go. He told me, "don't worry about it, we'll go back again someday." More than once, we fantasized about making the complete silk road trip from Xian to Venice.
I hadn't planned on speaking at his memorial service, which is tomorrow at the Chinese Garden. But Willow asked me specifically if I would, and I said yes. So I spent a bit of time preparing for it this afternoon -- it's pretty short, just a couple of minutes. I hope it will be sweet as well. He was one of those people who enriched the lives of those around him, in a very serious way. I don't just mean that he was fun to visit with, or have lunch with, but rather he made big efforts to have an impact on people's lives by making things happen. I will miss him.
On other happier, at least less sad, fronts -- Rebecca was finally ready for the changes for their tree house site, so I worked on that. Made more changes to my own site too, to add Portland Open Studios information, including a paypal button so people can buy the tour guides/calendar off the web site.
The obit in the Oregonian came out today. I found it terribly disappointing -- it hardly touched on some of the more unique things that he had done. For example, for years he worked as a translator at various Dunhuang studies conferences out at Dunhuang, the oasis town on the edge of the Taklamakan desert where the northern and southern silk roads diverged/converged. He had access to the top scholars who studied the Buddhist caves, murals, and frescos at these oasis towns, and had been invited back year after year to translate for them.
When we went to China with him in 2000, his connection to the place and people got us into caves that were not open to the public. I am very sad that I couldn't go on that early morning hike out into the desert with him while we were there; I had gotten sick, and I was so disappointed that I couldn't go. He told me, "don't worry about it, we'll go back again someday." More than once, we fantasized about making the complete silk road trip from Xian to Venice.
I hadn't planned on speaking at his memorial service, which is tomorrow at the Chinese Garden. But Willow asked me specifically if I would, and I said yes. So I spent a bit of time preparing for it this afternoon -- it's pretty short, just a couple of minutes. I hope it will be sweet as well. He was one of those people who enriched the lives of those around him, in a very serious way. I don't just mean that he was fun to visit with, or have lunch with, but rather he made big efforts to have an impact on people's lives by making things happen. I will miss him.
On other happier, at least less sad, fronts -- Rebecca was finally ready for the changes for their tree house site, so I worked on that. Made more changes to my own site too, to add Portland Open Studios information, including a paypal button so people can buy the tour guides/calendar off the web site.
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