Posted inFamily

Making my baby granddaughter into an existentialist

I'm discovering one of the joys of becoming a grandfather: since I don't bear the responsibility for my granddaughter's ultimate development, I can play with her psyche as much as I want to. When she eventually seeks psychotherapy, Evelyn never will connect her existential angst with the children's book that I read to her over the weekend. Of course, she didn't grasp the deeper aspects of "Ned Goes to Bed" this time around. (When you're not quite a year old, pondering philosophy plays second fiddle to seeing if the pages rip out of a book.) But I intend to keep…
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Posted inFamily

A one-year old takes my house apart

My granddaughter is making her first visit to our south Salem home. It didn't take Evelyn long to figure out how to begin taking it apart. This southern California baby saw her first snow today. Thanks, Oregon. Here she is, a bundle of cuteness, up early with her dad on a chilly morning. I got to push her stroller most of the way around our neighborhood's two mile loop. Of such events are a new grandfather's dreams made of. Llamas aren't all that common in Evelyn's Hollywood environs. She took them in stride, with my daughter Celeste by her side.…
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Posted inSalem

Starbucks wants to be my new best friend

It's sort of touching, those signs that have popped up in every Starbucks store. "We're your neighborhood Starbucks." Well, actually you aren't. I live at least seven miles from the nearest Salem Starbucks. And that's the way this rural resident likes it. If I want a friend, I'll get a dog. In fact, I have a dog. Pretty much all I want from Starbucks is a skinny venti vanilla latte a couple of times a week. However, atmosphere does matter. When I have a latte choice, I head for a locally owned place like the Coffee House Café. I like…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Subdivision’s Measure 37 vested rights to be tested

I can't remember when I've looked at a front page headline in our local newspaper and seen better news. I was ecstatic, overjoyed, uplifted when I pulled the paper out of our box this morning. Whew! We looked fine in the picture a Salem Statesman Journal photographer had taken of us yesterday, standing in front of the proposed Measure 37 subdivision adjacent to our neighborhood. Mostly because the photo that made it into the paper was taken a fair distance from us, unlike the many close-ups that, thankfully, earned a "delete" button press. The "Land case may test 'vested rights'"…
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Posted inHumor

“Stuff White People Like” mostly right

Thanks to a friend, Randy, I now know that I'm white. He told me about "Stuff White People Like," pointing out to me #35 in the full list. The Daily Show/Colbert Report. Yes, I'm a habitual viewer. Thing is, I've watched so much of Stephen Colbert, like him I no longer see race. So I'd forgotten that my wife and I are white until I browsed through the ninety-one stuffs and realized that I liked a lot of them. Scoring high on half of the first ten pretty much proved that we're white. #1. Coffee#2. Religions their parents don't belong…
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Posted inSalem

A newbie Democrat sees Obama in Salem

Oh, yeah. Now I've really jumped into the Democratic deep waters, after a lifetime of swimming around as an independent. Today I made a pilgrimage to see the reason I became a Democrat: Barack Obama. He came to Salem this afternoon. An hour late, but he made it. Guess I can't complain (though I do on the video below), since it took me several decades to make myself into a Democrat – and someone who cares enough about a presidential candidate to go to quite a bit of trouble to hear him speak. It turned out that Laurel and I…
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Posted inMeasure 37

LUBA decision aids our Measure 37 subdivision fight

Our neighborhood got some good news today from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. A ruling was issued on the Keep Our Water Safe Committee appeal of Marion County's decision to approve a 43-lot Measure 37 subdivision on groundwater limited, high-value farmland. LUBA remanded the case back to the county. Meaning, the Board of Commissioners has to deal with an error they made in granting a Measure 37 waiver of land use regulations to the four owners of the property. Land use law junkies can pour over the first ten pages of LUBA's Final Opinion and Order to learn…
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Posted inSalem

Obama coming to Salem – I got tickets!

Below is some video of an enthusiastic crowd in downtown Salem today, waiting to snap up tickets to Barack Obama's appearance in our normally sleepy city on Friday. The Coffee House Café must have done some bang-up business. Proving that laid-back counter culture types also can have business sense, a nicely tattooed employee worked the line (which stretched most of the way down the block). As you'll see, I was desperate to cover up the corporate latte that I'd just bought at a nearby Starbucks. That's where I heard about the ticket giveaway, which led me to head down the…
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Posted inUncategorized

18th anniversary — Dr. Laura is even more wrong

Maybe it's the luck of the Irish, getting married on St. Patrick's Day way back in 1990. Whatever, here Laurel and I are, celebrating our 18th anniversary. Which is many years more than Dr. Laura Schlessinger would have predicted our marriage would last. As I observed in my earlier take that, Dr. Laura! post, she doesn't believe that someone can make sound decisions about a new relationship for at least a year after getting divorced. That's ridiculous. Laurel and I met in July 1989. I proposed to her in October. We got married the next March. There aren't any rules…
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Posted inNeighborhood

Images of Oregon’s Ides of March

It's yin and yang time in the Willamette Valley. Oregon is doing its changing thing. Rain most of the day, then a burst of late afternoon sunshine. The daffodils in our garden use it to show off. Look at me, so bloomin' beautiful! Down the path, Spring Creek is springing. New growth on winter's bare branches. Nearing the lake, a long shadow pointed the way to the sun. A first cherry blossom welcomed me to the lake shore. Aging oak. Aging bird house. Belonging together. Cattails, old. Willows, new. More yin and yang. Last year's cattails. This year's willows. Each…
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Posted inHome life

Remodeling – my path to enlightenment

In Buddhism and Hinduism there's always been a big debate about whether the life of the renuniciate or the householder is a surer road to enlightenment. Do you find truth in a bare cave or a richly furnished living room?After the past month of remodeling our bathroom and, now, kitchen, I can testify that the Buddha would have been a lot better off staying home with his wife rather than sitting under the Bodhi Tree. Sooner rather than later, Mrs. Buddha would have talked him into redoing their home. And that, for sure, would have provided him with all the…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Colbert nails Clinton on who’s more electable

I love it when Stephen Colbert humorously casts light on a serious topic. That makes all the hours I spend watching The Colbert Report, rather than, say, reading the New York Times, seem a lot more productive. Recently Colbert had a great riff on Hillary Clinton's claim that she should get the superdelegate vote because she's more electable – having won the big important states that are crucial to winning the presidency. Here's some of his right-on observations, as I recollect them (maybe mixed in with my own notions): --Clinton says she can win the presidency because she won California,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Pollution is now a sin. Litterers, go to hell.

By and large, excellent news for progressives on the sin front today. The Vatican says that social and economic injustices are fresh areas of sinful behavior. Pollution also. I can only hope that the jerks who have been leaving lots of litter on the road we take into Salem are Catholics who keep up on their faith's sin list. Apparently polluting is a venial sin that can be forgiven by confession. However, I can still issue my non-papal proclamation: litterers, go to hell. I don't often praise the Catholic Church (or any church). But this is a positive step on…
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Posted inMiscellany

JC Penney’s “American Living” line flaunts the flag

Browsing through a recent People magazine, my wife pointed out to me a series of double page ads for JC Penney's new American Living line. Laurel was struck by the strangeness of people wanting to go around wearing clothing emblazoned with the American flag. The American Living logo is a bald eagle flying off with the stars and stripes on a flag pole. This strikes me as against the flag code, but my Boy Scout days are so far in the past I can't remember if it mentions anything about a bird absconding with our national symbol. Of course, all…
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Posted inSalem

Size matters with county commissioners

Is five preferable to three? Absolutely. Personally, I think seven is even better. But last night I learned that no Oregon county has more than five county commissioners. It's hard to imagine that a meeting with the geeky title of "Marion County Governance in the 21st Century" would be as interesting as it was. Before I headed off to the Salem Public Library to attend this Friends of Marion County forum, I considered taking along a super-sized latte to be sure I stayed awake. But it was surprisingly engaging. The reason for the get-together was to explore the pros and…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Clinton nets four delegates. Whoopee.

I was kind of depressed last night, since I'd hoped that Obama would win decisively in Ohio and Texas. But perusing the new delegate totals on Obama's web site, I'm feeling better. it looks like Clinton will pick up four after all of her "We're back!" hullabaloo. Big deal. Obama is still 156 pledged delegates ahead with 571 remaining to be chosen. So Clinton needs to win the final twelve races by about 64% - 36% to catch up to Obama. And that isn't going to happen. She needs the not-so-super superdelegates to hand her the nomination, or have the…
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Posted inSalem

Suddenly I felt very old

Damn you, Coffee House Café! You're one of the few hip, happening, alternative gathering spots in downtown Salem. And I'm a hip, happening, alternative guy who frequently stops in for a latte. I enjoy having my drink prepared by a tattooed, pierced, black-clad barista with an attitude, a pleasing contrast with the staff at the squeaky clean Starbucks down the street. During the day I feel like I fit right in at the Coffee House Café. Beard. Longish hair. Impeccable '60s counterculture credentials. Progressive politics. We're on the same radical wavelength. But last night I realized that our relationship has…
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Posted inTango/Dance

I’m dance-blogging in Russia!

Here's a great example why blogging is so satisfying. I can go to my Outlook inbox and find an email from a guy who runs a Russian dance blog. Dear Brian! My name is Ivan Makarov. I am from Russia. I am webmaster of the http://ballroom.org.ru So I am writing to let you know that I like your dance related posts. Thank you for your writing. I've found your site via google and decided to translate some of your posts to Russian, for posting on my own site. What a kick. Ivan chose to share my "Tango, where men lead…
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