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Palmer Park

Views from a couple Palmer Park walks. We’ve lived here for nearly four years, and I have only become more enamored with the park and our close proximity to it. I do a lot of counting of my lucky stars, I tell you!

And yesterday’s bedroom view. The windows were open wide to the 70 degree day! We sipped cool drinks in the sun and watered trees with snow melt. Juniper romped and rolled herself into filth. Luckily it was bath day, so she is silky and shining again. Good girl.

And now, in perfect winter fashion, it is 40 degrees cooler, and snow is falling. I love this place!

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Maker

Aloha and happy Friday! How wonderful does Hawaii sound at the moment? An earful of crashing waves and the scent of plumeria on the breeze. A bit like heaven, indeed.

This post is not about Hawaii (but I’ve got a few from back in the day {and the hubster sans beard!!} if your eyes need that variety of candy.). Rather, it is about some of my makings and doings as of late, or not so late because one of the necklaces is more than a a year old. You know how time flies!

The most special of the necklaces are the second and third, as they are made with medals from my Great Aunt Mary’s collection. Only part of which I kept – there were hundreds! She’s been living it up in heaven for more years than I can remember now, but remains ever so close in spirit and via these gems. I love you, Aunt Mary!

The wooly creations are a result the acorn obsession I spoke of earlier, though still no acorn. Ha! For scale, that’s a quarter gleaming over to the side. These are such fun to make! I really don’t need a collection of them, however, so I am contemplating surreptitiously placing them among their kin at the grocery, as little smiles to the world. I’d label them with puns – “Popped up to say you’re great!” Or some such. I hope I’m not the only one who thinks it would be fun to stumble upon one.

And finally, I did not make the board (that came from Magnolia), but the hummus, pita, jelly, and crackers were all made by my hands, and the ensemble too lovely not to photograph. I enjoyed these treats with my dear friend Cori before we ventured to the Ent Center Wednesday evening to see Beyond Calligraphy by the Guangdong Modern Dance Company. If you are even slightly interested in modern dance and near a show, get yourself a ticket and go, go, go. It was the most magical, evocative, and beautiful performance I have ever seen. Wow, just wow!

Key

Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction.

E. O. Wilson

Film Notes

Time for some fabulous fil-ums, y’all. Starting with House of Tomorrow – a fine coming of age tale about an orphan boy living with his grandmother in a Buckminster Fuller House. Grandma has big plans for Sebastian, but he’s not so sure. When he meets a young rascal on a tour of the house, he’s exposed to junk food, the joys of the opposite sex, and punk rock. Teenage trickery and adventure ensues.

Notes on Blindness is pure MAGIC. Audio recordings from John Hull put seamlessly to film, with actors lip syncing to the dialog. A gorgeous meditation on the full body experience of going blind.

Dear Dictator – a mischievous teen becomes pen pals with a dictator after admiring his fashion sense. Things get crazy when he shows up on her doorstep, and they both learn a few lessons about kindness, loyalty, and power.

Thoroughbreds – I’ve typed and retyped my thoughts on this, as every bit has felt trite in comparison to this jaw dropper. An unsettling train wreck with a grab your heart sound track.

Tully – An exhausted mom hires an unbelievably kind, generous, and efficient nanny, gaining her life back yet losing something very dear.

Remembrance is based on the true story of a couple who escaped a Polish Prison Camp in 1944. They are separated and do not find each other until a chance hearing of his voice on a television program in 1976.

Shoplifters follows a “family” of misfits and small time thieves as they struggle to make it. A stunner on the exquisite bonds of love.

Under the Silver Lake – follows an aimless man recovering from a break-up. Rather that get a job or pay his rent, he watches television and roams the city. After the sudden disappearance of his neighbor, he is energized and determined to uncover the truth. Dark and funny.

Digging for Fire – A couple in a marital rut house sit for an actress on location. They find a bone and a gun in the yard, which sends the husband on an obsessive hunt while his wife flirts with a stranger on a night on the town.

Gringo – a whiz bang comedic thriller that follows a nice guy in charge of a marijuana pill deal in Mexico. He’s kidnapped by a drug cartel, and all goes bonkers.

Puzzle – A sheltered housewife’s life is transformed after receiving a jigsaw puzzle for her birthday. A sweet tale of a woman realizing she has agency over her life. Plus, Irrfan Khan – the eyes, that voice!!

Leave No Trace – A veteran with PTSD and his daughter live in Forest Park in Portland (!). Once discovered, each struggles to reconcile their desires with those of the other. A heartbreaker with a fabulous view of my favorite bridge in the world, the Saint John’s.

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Cadillac

The soul has no skin; the soul only has insides that want to sing, finally, can’t you hear it, brothers? Softly, can’t you hear it, brothers? A hot piece of ass and a new Cadillac ain’t going to solve a god-damned thing.

Charles Bukowski

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