17 March 2005

Home again, well, Omaha anyway

I'm back now, the flight yesterday was terribly uninteresting. Except of course for the security check. I was chosen for extra special attention and got my carry-on and person checked in detail. The TSA folks said that the airlines sometimes single people out for extra security checks but they did not know what criteria the airlines follow. When I was finally through (and thank goodness I'd come early), I asked a Delta representative who said that such decisions were the TSAs alone and Delta had nothing to do with it. One of the two organizations were lying, and since it was Delta's computers who printed the "SSSSS" on my boarding pass, I'm going to guess it's them. The more I think about it, I think what singled me out was my inability to understand the fellow at the desk when he asked for my ID. It's not my fault that the fellow mumbled and was generally sub-verbal. It's not like he even had an accent, I mean, I'm pretty good with variations in speech patterns. He just didn't enunciate. I need to write a nasty letter to Delta asking for an explanation of their system and if I don't get a satisfactory answer, I think I'll boycott them. Well, the service all day was so poor compared to any other airline I've ever been on (including Eastern European and South American airlines) that I'll probably avoid them at all costs. The letter really only will determine if I encourage other people to treat them like the plague as well. We'll see if I can make an airport poem out of it anyway, writing angry is easy. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after my more-than-two-hour lay-over in Salt Lake City that I found out about the free shuttles and tours to the historic part of the city that anyone with over two hours can take advantage of. Instead of seeing the Mormon Mecca, I sat in the airport and videoed myself yawning.

16 March 2005

A day with George

Sunday, Aunt Mary and I went hiking and got just a little lost. There were plenty of beautiful flowers, most of which we took pictures of too close for them to show up well. We did get to chase some Wood Ducks for a while, but also, pictures of them were impossible. Such is life. Here are a few pictures to give you a sense of the scene. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com Monday night, after picking Melinda up from the airport, I went to stay the night at her place in Newberg. I'm loath to call it an apartment since it's two stories and stands alone, but it's not a house or cabin either. The most accurate term would be stable or carriage house, but those imply too untoward things about Melinda (and Daisy, Simon, and Garfunkle). It certainly has some trappings of elegance, particularly the bathroom which has not one but two ways to flush the toilet. Luxury. She also has lots of storage space, but my kitchen is better (as if there ever were a contest). In the morning we listened to some of her music collection that would haunt us the rest of the day and I got Melinda to model for a couple pictures. Here she is as the spokeswoman for Quaker Instant Oatmeal. Image hosted by Photobucket.com And her she's selling that hairdryer. Image hosted by Photobucket.com I also got a couple pictures of the cats, but strangely enough the one that hid the most, Daisy, was the one I got the best photo of. Image hosted by Photobucket.com While Melinda did a little laundry, I got a tour of her land lady's home. Amazing. It dates back to the 1890s and is considered a historic site. She has decorated it with antiques that reinforce the history of the place. Plus, they have a servant's staircase, which I think is an enviable discussion piece. I want to get one for my apartment. Daniel and I have neither an upstairs nor a servant, but I still want one. I did not, however, think to take any pictures of the place, so you'll just have to trust me on it's pink and blue coolness. When the jeans finally dried, Melinda gave me a tour of two recycling facilities and the mail room at George Fox University. Now that I think of it, maybe the "tour" was actually running errands, but we did have fun. Herbert Hoover, about whom I recently wrote a poem, moved to Newberg after his parent's had finished dying in Iowa and attended George Fox. We drove by the Hoover/Minthorn house and saw a little display about Herbert and Lou. I really do love that old Quaker, despite my poetry. He still hasn't replaced Millard Fillmore as my favorite president though. I also have no photos from this part of the trip. However, when we stopped by the falls at Oregon City, I did take a few snapshots there. These falls once stretched all the way across the Willamette River, forcing anyone traveling by boat to portage here, but then they destroyed about half the falls and put in a loch system. Ah, progress. Image hosted by Photobucket.com The reason we were in Oregon City was to see the End of the Oregon Trail Museum. Since I don't live too far from the trail, I can now say I've made it all the way to the end. Melinda and I were the only visitors, so the tour guide was very informal and let us play with the pioneer's artifacts. Since Scott's Bluff was a major resting spot on the trail, they had the name in their steps and I had to get a picture with it. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Also, Melinda took a picture of our feet at the End of the Oregon Trail Museum, which is her favorite picture of the day, so I suppose it should be included. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Then we were off to Powell's, which is one of the largest book stores in the world. I couldn't help drooling just a little. I think if I were ever given three wishes, one would be the ability to consume (i.e. read and analyze) a book instantly simply by touching it. I would run through the isles of Powell's with both arms outstretched again and again, grazing every book on every shelf. Melinda may be even more of a bibliophile than me though, so this is a dangerous destination for the both of us. The rare book room and the foreign language sections captivated me the most. Both of us bought two books, mine were both poetry: a collection poems by Ахматова in both English and Russian and Hilda Raz's Trans. Hilda is one of my professors at UNL. And of course, I got Melinda to model again. Image hosted by Photobucket.com The next stop was Lebanese food. We picked up one of Melinda's classmates and met three more (plus Kaylie, the daughter of one who seems to have been adopted by all). The food was great and Melinda's friends all seem like pleasant and interesting people. Kaylie was the center of attention (NO, I was NOT jealous . . . ) as she was practicing her cursive and spelling. Apparently they're starting kids off with cursive rather than print these days. Half of us graduate students had forgotten the art of cursive writing, which leads me to wonder how much use the skill is anyway. There were also a few games of hangman, though Kaylie generally needed help remembering which letters were in her words. After saying good-bye to everyone, we went back to Vancouver so I could spend the night there since Melinda has class today and I have to get to the airport. I'll be home tonight at eight. It's been a good trip, but I could use some vegetative time. Oh, and one last thing. Uncle Bruce and I have a word. It's together with a lot of words that seem to make no sense as part of the narration at the end of a documentary (Gizmo). We've rather taken to the word, but are still not sure what it might, should, or could mean. So, if you have any suggestions for the proper usage of craminate, please, post comments on that subject. Of course, if you want to post comments on non-craminating topics, feel free as well.

14 March 2005

Oregon and Bust

Naturally, I'm quite capable of writing a thousand words on the subject of my Oregon trip, but I've been told a picture will do the same work. So here are a few, with context. When I arrived, Melinda met me at the airport, a lovely airport by the way, though we only had a couple hours before her own plane was to leave. Image hosted by Photobucket.com After lunch and getting Melinda back to the airport, Aunt Mary and I went along the Columbia Gorge looking at water falls. We found them. We saw them from the front: Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com From the rear: Image hosted by Photobucket.com And from above: Image hosted by Photobucket.com Then the next day, after a few rounds of darts with Uncle Bruce, Cherilyn picked me up, took me out for pizza, to an art gallery, and eventually to meet her new boyfriend, Todd, of whom I approve, despite his name's similarity to the German word for death. Here's out little Cherilynskiego all grown up: Image hosted by Photobucket.com Unfortunately, most of the pictures of her had horrible, nightmarish red-eye. Then Sabbath after church we drove down the coast to Newport, stopping along the way. We got to see the replica of the fort Lewis and Clark spent a miserable winter in. Image hosted by Photobucket.com And got a hug from Sacagawea. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Then we went to the coast, where we saw whales, which you can't actually see in this picture, but believe me, they were there. I think they were Gray Whales. Image hosted by Photobucket.com And here's Aunt Mary whale watching. Image hosted by Photobucket.com The sunset was almost as lovely as on the prairie. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com After the night in Newport, we went to the beach in the morning near low tide. The tide pools had beautiful creatures, mysterious monsters for those of us who spend out lives in the middle of the continent. Starfish Image hosted by Photobucket.com Anenomes Image hosted by Photobucket.com Chitons Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com Crabs (living crabs not pictured) Image hosted by Photobucket.com Sea urchins Image hosted by Photobucket.com Harlequin Ducks Image hosted by Photobucket.com Oyster Catchers Image hosted by Photobucket.com Harbor Seals Image hosted by Photobucket.com Relatives Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com and me. Image hosted by Photobucket.com Later, we went to the bay at Newport where the Steller's Sea Lions were making a racket. Image hosted by Photobucket.com And some Common Loons were acting surprisingly friendly. Image hosted by Photobucket.com There were also some shorebirds I haven't identified yet flocked around a fishy-smelling place. Image hosted by Photobucket.com We had also stopped at a completely different sort of beach, one of those broad, sandy ones. We found a lot of broken shells, but no agates (it was called "Agate Beach"). We found the remains of Sand Dollars, but actually none of them where whole, so we called them Sand 50 cent peices. Such is life. Here's Aunt Mary collecting them. Image hosted by Photobucket.com That concludes the photo essay for now. Melinda gets back tonight, so we'll be seeing more of her soon. Oh, and if anyone really, desperately needs larger versions of the pictures, they can e-mail me. Most of them are automatically resized by photobucket, my picture hosting service.

13 March 2005

The Infamous First Post

I'm trying to see how this works and therefore have nothing of great import to add to the world of blogging . . . yet.

About me

  • I'm Scott
  • From Lincoln, Nebraska, United States
  • Busily carving a niche somewhere between angels and apes since 1979.
My profile

    "... if you're not on videotape, or better yet, live on satellite hookup in front of the whole world watching, you don't exist. You're that tree falling in the forest that nobody gives a rat's ass about" (Palahnuik, Chuck. Survivor). This is my performative culture; I am your dancing monkey.