Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008.

Stunning, stunning set of pictures of Obama by a Time photographer over the last two years: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html Keep clicking "show more images" at the bottom.

Esther: [tasting neck] Ack! You taste greasy!
Jason: [glum] I had to make gefilte fish today.
Esther:

Today's new york times mistyped 'the Large Hadron Collider' as 'the Large Hardon Collider'. Page A10, bottom 2nd column.

Btw, it was totally snowing today and starting to stick in my hood.
Apparently we just beat the record for latest winter/spring snowfall, previous record was March 10, 1951.

KATU Meteorologist Rhonda Shleby said that the snow level will actually drop to 500 feet during the day Friday as colder air behind a front moving through the area begins to arrive.

The snow level is expected to remain low through Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued a Heavy Snow Warning for many Oregon counties, including parts of Multnomah County.

Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter! My friends are en route for brunch with Bloody Mary fixuns and I'm poaching eggs, frying leftover polenta and simmering leftover tomato sauce (I think it's a ragu, there appears to be lamb in it), and there's a fresh french press of delicious Seattle Lighthouse coffee on (thanks C!!) with a frothy mocha colored crema. Nina Simone's on the stereo. It's a very, very, very good life.

Back to the stove.

wtf??!!

Because Jason popped this CD in, I was just inspired to do a little Eric Dolphy research online. I knew he died young and tragically, but I didn't realize how tragic and untimely the cirumstances of his death (at age 36!!) were; Wikipedia claims:

The liner notes to the Complete Prestige Recordings say that on June 28, 1964 Dolphy "collapsed in his hotel room in Berlin and when brought to the hospital he was diagnosed as being in a diabetic coma. After being administered a shot of insulin (apparently a type stronger than what was then available in the US) he lapsed into insulin shock and died."

A later video documentary disputes this, saying Dolphy collapsed on stage in Berlin and was brought to a hospital. The attending hospital physicians had no idea that Dolphy was a diabetic and thought that he, like so many other jazz musicians, had overdosed on drugs, so he was left in a hospital bed until the drugs had run their course.[3]

Anyways, Youtube turned up a video of the Berlin recording of his cover of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child," on bass clarinet, an instrument it seems you don't see often.
There are only 3-4 recordings of him doing this cover, I think, and each one sends shivers up and down my entire body and often brings tears to my eyes to boot. My favorite is I think the 8 minute+ recording from Illinois, but this shorter and more straightforward version is also incredible and beyond my powers of description. If you have never heard this song...you should.

Me and Jasno registered for tickets to see Barack Obama Friday! I still haven't decided between him and Hillary (apparently that falls right in line with the Democratic party as a whole). I lean towards Clinton, Jasno leans towards Obama. So much for my "I'd register as Independent but I want to be able to vote in the primary" position. I'm not sure I'll take the time off work either but it might be neat-o to go.

He'll be at Memorial Coliseum at 9:30 on Friday, doors open at 7:30. Yes, that's ANTE MERIDIEM, my friends. getcher tickets while they're hot:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/portland

He'll also be in Eugenius that night...

OMG OUR PRIMARY ISN'T TILL MAY 20 AND WE STILL MATTER!! Sweeeet. Ok, I know that 'matter' in this instance means politicians want to curry our favor. Nevertheless...

I'm doing a presentation about Family for my Swahili class. When I looked up 'husband' on the Kamusi Project, I found this verb listed: -china, "fail to find a husband at the proper age". When I looked up -china, it also has the following definitions:

be delayed
be too mature (eg a marriageable girl)
be too ripe
stay on the shelf (merchandise)
find no takers (merchandise)


Still, there are equally etymologically-mock-horrifying words in English.
Well, like 'wife', which originates from a word for the female genitalia.

I am totally in love with my Swahili teacher.

I've been doing yardwork for an hour or so and I had to get out of the sun!! Because I was hot!!!!!!

I have so much to do in the next 12 hours. grrrrrrrrr.

Our Favre,

Who art in Lambeau,

Hallowed be thine arm.

Thy bowl will come,

It will be won.

In Phoenix as it is in Lambeau.

And give us this Sunday,

Our weekly win.

And give us many touchdown passes.

But do not let others pass against us.

Lead us not into frustration,

But deliver us to the valley of the sun.

For thine is the MVP, the best of the NFC,

and the glory of the Cheeseheads,

now and forever.

Go get'em.
Amen.

Now.....GO GIANTS!!!!

Gwen loves this photo she took. I love it too.

the national weather service has issued the first ever hurricane force wind warning for the Oregon coast.

the mind boggles.
things are much calmer at my house, where we ONLY have a flood watch and a wind advisory.

I'm 28 now.
I have successfully passed the Rockstar Death Age...cuz, yknow, I'm such a rock star

For those of you who were distraught as I was when the new programming director at KOPB made the decision to remove Beats & Pieces, that elegantly eclectic and amazingly entrancing weekend night show with Steven Cantor, KMHD Jazz 89.1 has picked it up for the Sunday night slot, 9pm-12am. Rejoice!!!

For those of you who never heard it...Mr. Cantor draws from an incredibly diverse breadth of music, usually around a central 'theme' on most shows. Most shows (like Eclecticity, which replaced it) that attempt to do that usually have abrupt and jarring transitions, or else not very eclectic, but Beats & Pieces has (usually) never been either.