Day 27: Beloved Books Rediscovered, Men in Trees & A Wacky Half-Centurian

Friday, October 12
11:49 p.m.

After work I was feeling icky from this drawn-out cold that my co-workers and a couple of friends had been also suffering from.  I was supposed to meet friends out for a concert at the Doug Fir, but I wasn’t up for it.  So, I headed to Target and bought some office supplies for my desk.  After a dinner of left over chicken soup, I commenced putting together my IKEA bookshelf.  I had been so sick of putting together furniture.  But, it was time.  I decided to open a box of my books, which had been in storage for the past year because I didn’t have room for them in my apartment in Redmond.  It was a joy to rediscover my books.  I actually got a lump in my already sore throat as I pulled some of them out, touched the spines and remembered the joy of reading each one of them.   How I love my books!  Each one a memory, each a treasure. Titles like: The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan; The Consolation of Philosophy by Boetheus; Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë; Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton; Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino; Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and then my poetry books of Edna St. Vincent Milay, Pablo Neruda, Hafiz, Mary Oliver, Jane Hirshfield.  Stacks of brilliant books to be shelved for my view, for my easy picking, for my pleasure.

I tuned into a real guilty pleasure on t.v. – the season premiere for Men in Trees.  I’m pretty annoyed that the network decided to place M.I.T. on Friday nights.  The main demographic that watches this program is not sitting on the sofa on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m.., unless they’re home sick or the weather is insane outside.  I watched it since I was home, all the while thinking it should come on on Thursday nights after Grey’s Anatomy, instead.  It deserved that spot over Big Shots.  The fact that I was concerning myself with this makes me want to poke my eye out, again.I don’t feel guilty for watching M.I.T., though.  It’s actually a well-written, engaging program.  It definitely fills my Sex & The City void.  Marin, portrayed by a vivacious and luminous Anne Heche, is as likeable and deserving of loyalty as Carrie Bradshaw.  I think the Alaskan men on the show, especially Jack, are sexy and desirable.  The show has its share of quirky characters, much like the original great Alaskan-based program, Northern Exposure.

Finally, it needs to be stated that I decided today that I’d like to be Saturday Night Live’s Sally O’Malley character, portrayed by Molly Shannon, for Halloween.  Sally is the half-centurian former dancer who prances around in tight pants that she pulls up to her boobs, creating a frightening camel-toe in her crotch, followed by a series of kicks and stretches and her signature chant, “I’m Sally O’Malley and I’m Fifty Years Old!”  Followed by “I love it, I love it, I love it,” in a weird, high-pitched guttural voice.  Dang hilarious.  I just need a big brown wig and a tight pair of polyester pants.  That’s hot.

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Day 26: Chicken Soup for the Soul

Thursday, October 11
10:29 p.m.

So, it’s not a day of profound observations or extraordinary experiences.    After work I headed to the gym and split my cardio into 15 minutes of running on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the cycle.  After a good, refreshing workout, I made my homemade free-range, organic chicken broth soup with organic carrots, celery and chard.  I boiled my gluten-free, whole grain brown rice pasta separately, strained it, then placed it in a generous bowl and filled it with the vegetable and chicken broth.  It’s pretty fantastic.  I love soup, it’s my favorite food.  And this chicken soup is really food for my soul.

So, after the comforts of a warm bowl of soup I got cozy on the sofa with my kitties and watched television.  That show Big Shots came on.  Vartan time again.  Last observations of this show I said it’s like Sex & The City and Desperate Housewives, but the male version.  Only, after this episode I decided it’s less like the tales of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte, and more like the desperate lifestyles of Susan, Lynette, Brie, Edie and Gabriella.  I could almost poke my eye out for even making the comparison or wasting my time in front of the television.  However, sometimes you need brainless entertainment, time to not think but just veg out. I felt a little guilty, but it’s not even near being a guilty pleasure.  The one thing I could say is that Vartan’s character is the only one who I find most engaging and likable.  I wondered if I would allow myself to continue with this!  Even if Vartan, in his own right, was a guilty pleasure to watch.  Nah, I didn’t even feel guilty for that.  That’s just chicken soup for the hormones.

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Day 25: A Cookbook Signing & Two Versions of the Hot Toddie

Wednesday, October 10
11:22 p.m.

I met Kerry at Isabel Cruz’s new cookbook signing at her soon-to-be-opening restaurant, Isabel, in the Pearl District (10^th and Flanders).  I got there late, because I had to work late, so the crowds were low.  We got to chat with Isabel, who is a very warm, friendly, sassy restauranteur from San Diego.  Her food is tantalizing, a fusion of Latin and Asian.  We chatted about gluten-free options and she told me that most of her cooking is gluten-free, minus some recipes with soy sauce.  She acknowledged how unhealthy gluten-based foods are and how difficult they are to adjust.  I like Isabel.  I will support her restaurant and become a regular patron.

We left and walked over to Park Kitchen.  I hadn’t been there since our friend and longtime crush, Kevin the bartender, left to start his own place.  Kevin used to spoil us with a very sexy glass of bubbly topped with pear brandy, locally distilled at Clear Creek Distillery.   Ah, I miss those lovely sparkling gems.  I’ve ordered this beverage elsewhere, but no one mixes it like Kevin.  And very few restaurants and bars carry pear brandy, even though it’s the trendy flavor of the season.  Pomegranates and apples are so passé. 

While at Park Kitchen, we nibbled on chick pea fries with pumpkin ketchup and I had a salad of roasted beets with oranges, goat cheese and toasted almond tahini.  I had a glass of Austrian rose made with Zweigelt.  It was the first Zweigelt rose I’ve ever tasted.  It was dry, fresh and fruity – perfect with food.  Bartender Jamie made me a comforting hot toddie, as I was getting congested – some kind of allergic reaction.  What else is new??  Plus, I was certain I ingested gluten this evening.  Jamie’s knack for hot toddies, blended with a tantalizing, local golden honey, and an un-definable hint of clove, was almost as winning as Kevin’s glorious pear-bubbly.  Almost, but not quite.

After Park Kitchen, we walked over to Tear Drop to meet one of Kerry’s soccer friends, his wife, and a friend visiting from out of town.  I had another hot toddie.  It wasn’t nearly as good as Jamie’s.  Very lemony and acidic, it actually reminded me of hot Theraflu!

It was a nice evening of Portland gems – good food, good libations.  What more could a foodie ask for in the middle of the week?

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Day 24: Coming Attractions

Tuesday, October 9
10:48 p.m.

There has been a fall season Old Navy commercial running that features this very catchy old-school sounding song with the lines:  “If you are chilly, here take my sweater.  Cause I love the way you call me baby; and you take me as I am.”  I’ve been sitting in my chair at work singing aloud, to my fellow “hens” in the hen pen (we are four 30-something women sharing a room, hence the “pen”) to their dismay, repeating the lines “If you are chilly, here take my sweater” over and over.  Finally, my co-worker went online to find out the rest of the song and learned the singer songwriter is Ingrid Michaelson, and she’s coming to Portland on October 31.  I mark my calendar.  I really like this song.  Turns out, another one of her beautiful songs was on last year’s season finale of Grey’s Anatomy.

Then I learn that two of my other favorite performers, Brett Dennen and The John Butler Trio, are playing together at the Crystal Ballroom in December. Again, I mark my calendar.  Brett’s a soulful young songwriter who blends folk, funk and reggae beats.  He writes incredible poetic lines.  His songs are sexy, upbeat and full of emotion.  The John Butler trio also mixes folk and reggae sounds.  He has a very lovely song that I imagine myself walking down the aisle to the lines “There you are, right in front of me, a brand new day, sunrise over sea, no longer my cup half empty, cause there you are, right in front on me,” romantic words to his lovely song Peaches & Cream, words that sound like they’re coming from a man facing his bride at the altar, looking each other passionately in the eyes, as if no one else were there witnessing their love, just the brand new day and the sunrise over sea.  Aahhhhh – the hopeless romantic girl’s sigh.

Finally, I learned my brief mentor in college, Pulitzer-Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver, is coming to Portland in February to do a reading with the Literary Arts Council.  I contact the Director to see if there’s any way I can catch some time with Mary, and I was invited to her VIP-invite-only reception.  I am thrilled because this is the first time I’ll see Mary since my days at Sweet Briar.  I have followed her career and bought all of her lovely books.  She still inspires me.  And I can’t wait to tell her how much of an influence she has had in my life, for over a decade.  She is the one person who seriously had me believing I could write.  I want her to know I still write poetry and that I just finished my first novel.  And that if I hadn’t taken her workshop at Sweet Briar, I would have majored in Chemistry toward pre-med, not English Literature & Creative Writing.  Meeting Mary Oliver had changed the course of my life, an extraordinary thing, like just a handful of cosmic chances that have propelled me on this wondrous journey. 

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