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Monday, July 9, 2007

Scott bends the Casio and interviews on 7/31

As this is my first posting I have to give some proper thanks to my better half for maintaining this blog all by herself. This week I have some exciting news so I decided it was time to finally contribute a posting on our blog.

I got a letter telling me I passed my aptitude test, despite running out of time and having to guess on the last few questions! Now I am scheduled for the next step which is an interview with the governing board. That will happen on July 31st, but I will have to wait 2-4 weeks after that to see where I rank.

In other news I finally finished a long-term circuit bending project. Check out the finished product:

The Casio SK-1 keyboard can do some AMAZING stuff when you add a few modifications. 23 various switches, dials and contacts are mounted in the light box and connect to the keyboard's circiut board through the cable. Here's what the inside of the light box looks like.

All of these switches and dials operate the keyboard in various ways. Different settings and combinations will make the keyboard create abstract sounds that it was never intended to make. Now I just have to learn how to play this frankenstein machine!

So far it has been a lot of fun and I'm glad I have the free time to work on things like this. It has been a blessing in disguise to not be employed right now, so I'm trying to make the best of it.

Our friends just had a baby girl so I'm going to cut this short and go see her.

Times of Transition

Our friend Katherine gave birth to a baby girl (Morgan) today at 12:30pm. Photos soon to come!

These high temperatures are a killer! We have been waiting until early evening to venture out on our bicycles. Last night we tried a southern cooking restaurant. The menu included friend catfish, collard greens and cornbread. Pretty fantastic. And a bike ride home to work it off:)

This has been such an interesting phase of transition for us. We have to work daily to remind ourselves to enjoy it and all the abundant possibilities before us. Scott passed the equivalency exam and has now been scheduled for an interview (ie: the last step) with the electrician's union. He is quite exicted and we both have our fingers crossed for him.

Today was another day of volunteering at the library. The kids were wonderful today and very excited to tell me what their favorite books have been this summer. One little girl told me that she liked my tattoo. The tattoo was finished a few days ago by a beautiful tattoo artist here who worked for massage trade. It's awfully nice now to have a skill with which to barter. Scott took this photo of me with my guitar and our blue wall:)


Things continue to roll gently forward here. We have a few escapes to the coast planned, including a dog friendly bungalow we are renting for our two year anniversary. It will be lovely to sit on the pacific ocean and read some cheesy fiction novel that doesn't hurt my brain. Ahhhhh, vacation. However short it is.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Just another hot day in the jungle

The last few days have been in the 90's which is pretty high for this area. Living in the Pacific Northwest has a way of lulling you with it's constant drizzle and damp cold nights. So when the heat hits it's like a very special slap in the face. Luckily we have our secret weapon......the basement apartment!


The Fourth of July was madness! We had never spent this holiday in Portland and were not aware that fireworks are legal within the city limits. As we rode our bikes home last night from a friends barbeque it was like being in a warzone. The air was thick with smoke creating an eerie orange glow from the street lamps. The smell of pungent fire and explosions quickened my heart beat. We could not find a single street where people were not dropping fire into tubes and dancing drunkenly at the resulting explosions in the sky. We finally decided to go for it and while riding our bike a firework exploded about seven feet in front of us as we spun towards it. I almost fell off my bike, I might have peed a little. After finally surviving the maze of brilliant insanity we were safe at home where the animals didn't seem at all disturbed by the sounds of the neighborhood. Of course Jelly always gets off easy on this holiday:)


Scott with Ashley our friend's son in the neighborhood.

We are winding down and enjoying our week off together before I go back to school. I am beginning to have nightmares about working with the public and I will be happy when it finally just starts and I no longer have to worry. The garden is going swimmingly. We have eaten all the snowpeas and begun enjoying the lettuce. The spinach harvest is gone and that was lovely as well. The strawberrys are working on their second blooming and the tomatoes are beginning to come in. Time to wash off the old canning pot and start stocking up on supplies. We've been taking the dogs on the occational morning walk to the corner coffee shop. The cafe has free dog biscuits, can you tell???



Olive continues to grow quickly. This week she learned how to leap and run quickly. She keeps running across the apartment at top speed only to arrive with a confused look at her destination. I think she doesn't understand how she got there that fast.



I have heard from a friend who has an extra spot in her car which is heading for Montana in late July. It looks like I will make it home in a very affordable fashion after all!!!! I am very excited over this as I have been missing Montana especially with the nice weather. Casey and Hollie and the nieces and nephew will be there as well and it is definately time to see them.

We have been taking advantage of the beautiful farmers markets. The bounty continues to weigh down the farmers tables and there are often musicians playing to offer a soundtrack to the lovely morning.
Scott with the morning sausage sandwich

Lovely musicians

We hope you are all well, in good health, and doing good work. We wish for a plane ticket to come lay a kiss on each and every one of you.