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January 31, 2008
Airport
My dad gets in to town tonight. He's staying for a couple of days, then helping Austin load up his car for the long drive east.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:23 PM | Comments (2)
January 30, 2008
Frozen vs fresh
For two 18-week seasons now, Ben and I have paid a local farming family for a share of its harvest during the growing season. Some of the veggies we've brought home have been odd - kohlrabi, anyone? They've all be fresh, though, and very tasty. At the end of each year, we get an e-mail from Vicki, the matriarch of the family, who urges us to think about where our food comes from as we head back to the grocery store to stock our pantries through the winter months.
In the economics classes I took last year, I learned that global trade makes everyone better off. In some parts of the world, workers specialize as farmers. Elsewhere, they fill factories. In the U.S., presumably, they become engineers, consultants and retail clerks. I'm not quite informed enough to understand how this theory plays out with food, especially when things like flavor, community well-being and the environment come into play.
I know that I like the fact that I have blueberries in my fridge in January. (Thanks, Chile!) Still, I do try to buy frozen or canned foods through the winter. Local farmers sell some of their corn, broccoli and the rest of their harvest to the companies that freeze or can the produce I can buy at the local supermarket, Vicki says. When I get a hankering for stir fry, the pre-chopped broccoli, bell peppers, onion and corn are cheaper than fresh stuff at this time of year. And they cook up just about as good, only with less prep work.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:28 PM | Comments (1)
January 29, 2008
She's a maniac, maniac
Bar hopping with colleagues on Saturday, Blazers with Austin followed by SNDC on Sunday, hospital visiting on Monday, three hours of Wii on Tuesday. We have Wednesday off, but on Thursday Ben's jazz band plays and I'll be getting a beer and some grub with Sara, then watching Lost with Austin, then picking my dad up at the airport. Not to mention how busy I've been at work.
I feel pretty socially successful these days, maybe even a little overwhelmed by it all. I'm having a hard time keeping up on other commitments, though. I need to make some phone calls, prepare pamphlets and update a web site for the upcoming SPJ conference. I've also completely failed on my new years resolution to stay in touch with distant friends. And there's a small bundle of Christmas presents next to the dining room table that I still haven't sent out. How do people keep up? How do people with kids even survive?
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2008
Tooting my own horn
Lindsey pointed out the other day that I'm kind of awesome. She didn't put it quite like that, but she made me feel good when I realized that three years ago I couldn't run a mile and last year I completed a half marathon. This year, if my knees hold out, I may run the full deal.
In other Courtney is awesome news, I wrote three articles in the eight-hour work day that ended at 5 p.m. I can't say that I did anything else on my to do list, but still. Three articles! Rawk!
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:29 PM | Comments (4)
January 27, 2008
Sunday
First Ben, Austin and I lost our voices screaming the Blazers to victory, then Ben and I joined up with the SNDC crew to push a car 11 blocks and make fondue. Cheese and basketball in a single day make for a worthwhile Sunday.
Our neighbor's foot was amputated, which is worse than it could have been but better than the leg amputation that we first heard about. She's in her mid-60s, in so-so physical shape, and her kids don't know how well she'll take to prosthetics. But there's a chance she'll be able to move home and walk again. We're going to visit her in the hospital tomorrow. Maybe we'll bring a pastry or flowers. I know she likes sweets and pretty things.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Last night
I went out and had a good time with a bunch of work-associated folks. I drank probably a bit more beer than I should have, and today I feel a bit crummy. I guess that's the trade off, eh?
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2008
Pat is not going to be OK
My neighbor is in the hospital having her leg amputated tonight. There's bleeding on her brain. Nobody knows what to expect for her for the future. I don't think she'll be able to live next door any more, no matter what. There are just too many stairs. I'm so sad. Be careful out there, everybody. These bodies of ours are fragile.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 11:07 PM | Comments (4)
An article about my neighbor
Here's the first story I've found about Pat's accident. If the bus was turning left, there's no way that she didn't have the right of way. We're only a couple of miles from where Ben's car was totaled by another traffic-law-flaunting Trimet bus.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)
Pat and Mike
Our next door neighbor, a really nice retired lady named Pat, was hit by a bus while walking her dog today. At first, some kids told Ben that she was hit twice and her dog was also hit, and we were really, really worried. The news now is that the dog, Mike, just got a few scrapes. He got a clean bill of health from the vet, and now he's staying with another neighbor. I'm not sure how banged up Pat is, but she's staying the night at the hospital and she's undergoing a CAT scan. She was talking and moving when the ambulance left the scene, and I figure that's a good sign. Our front doors in this row of townhouse-style condos are all half a flight of stairs above the street, and I hope that Pat is able to make it up and down when she gets home. I hope she gets home soon and she's not too hurt. She's one of those top-notch neighbors, a really great lady.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
One more thing
I'm an organ donor. This Law and Order episode reminds me that I should make my intentions known. Let's hope nothing bad happens to me that leaves me no longer in need of my organs, but if it does I hope my body can be used to help other people. As hard as it is, we all must face our own mortality.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
When Ben goes out for whatever reason, I've been turning on the TV and watching Lifetime shows. This is a strange channel. "Gay, Straight or Taken" is a dating show where a woman goes out with three men - one is gay, one is straight with a girlfriend and the third is straight and available. Through a series of activities, she gets to know the men, and we, the viewers, realize that it's really hard to pigeonhole men like that. On "Look Good Naked," heavy women who hate their bodies go through exercises that show them how distorted their views of themselves are. There are tears.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:16 PM | Comments (3)
January 23, 2008
Whee!
Ben got a Wii! I've been coveting Nintendo's hottest toy of the moment for months, and we decided to get each other one for Christmas, but it's been sold out everywhere for months. Then Ben went for a stroll through the mall on his afternoon break, and one of the electronic toy stores had a pile of the things. So he got one. Yay! Time to plug in some wires and start flailing.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:04 PM | Comments (3)
January 22, 2008
Good times
Algorithm dance. Anybody wanna do it?
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2008
The down side to baked potatoes
By the time your potatoes are done baking, an hour after you hungrily stuck them in the oven, you have ravenously devoured so much food to quell your belly's rumbling that you are no longer hungry.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:08 PM | Comments (3)
January 20, 2008
Quips from Austin
My brother has always been world-renowned amongst the Sherwoods for his one liners. Recently, I transcribed two quips.
Me: The trashcan lives under the sink in the kitchen.
Austin: Hey Trashcan, I'm coming to your house.
* Austin puts on Indian rap music *
Me: What are they saying?
Austin: I know what they're saying, but I don't know what it means (begins to rap along in Hindi or whatever language).
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2008
Impromptu
I'm heading to Eugene to see Rian. Be back Sunday.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2008
It's Friday!
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 06:49 PM | Comments (2)
January 17, 2008
Saxomophone
Ben's out with the Woodshed Big Band tonight, playing his saxophone while I play dress up, rub kitty bellies, surf the internet and read about ancient Chinese history. I've taken to calling Ben's instrument a "saxomophone."
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2008
Good reading
The community theater in Whitefish, Montana, was in the middle of a production of Camelot when Ben and I were there on our honeymoon a year and a half ago. One night we went to see the show, which was a very silly musical but a good way to pass the time.
The next day, we wandered into an independent bookstore because Ben had finished whatever he'd been reading, and he happened upon "The Skystone." Written by Scottish-Canadian Jack Whyte, "The Skystone" is set during the decline of the Roman Empire and its departure from England. It also purports to tell the beginning of fictional history that might have inspired the Camelot story.
Ben finished the book and I picked it up, and it was pretty cool. I had been trying to read "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and even though I gave up on the history before I got very far in, it was clear that Jack Whyte's "Skystone" drew heavily that book. There was no King Arthur, not even a hint of him, but there were a lot of other characters going on interesting adventures and living well-written lives during a perilous era.
Today I finished "The Eagle," the last of the seven-book series, and I feel deeply satisfied. Some of the books were stronger than others, but over-all the series was really well written and a lot of fun for a fan of Arthurian legend like myself. Along the way, I learned a little bit about British geography and European history, too, which was cool.
I just posted a short review to Goodreads, but I don't want to say too much here because Ben is next in line for "The Eagle" and I don't want to spoil it for him.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2008
Cinnamon sticks
Apparently the stick that most Americans associate with cinnamon is actually something called "cassia," which contains a compound called "coumarin" which is associated with some nasty health effects. For this reason, cassia is banned in much of Europe, leaving people with an entirely different bark - much milder to consume. I am sitting here chewing on cassia, which I thought was cinnamon, and feeling kind of deceived. On the up side, cassia may be associated studies with reduced blood pressure, possibly. Still, I wonder what real cinnamon tastes like.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2008
About work
The Columbian moved its headquarters over the weekend, from a 50-some-year-old crowded, florescent-lit structure that gave me the first migraines of my life to a massive six-story structure my publisher built to very high environmental standards. And did I mention that I have a window?
We broke ground on this building just about two years ago, a few weeks after I had started my job, and my anticipation has been mounting as I've watched the structure climb and I've waited through delays. This morning as I left for work I felt like the luckiest newspaper person alive. In these days of layoffs and pay cuts and broken business models, my newspaper is moving to an amazing new building and looking forward with optimistic trepidation to the future.
My euphoria evaporated soon after I arrived on the job. My computer wasn't set up right. I struggled with the voice mail system. I didn't know how to send outgoing mail. I couldn't get faxes. This are all pretty standard problems to have in the middle of a major move, and they were all resolved fairly quickly. But I went from feeling like the queen of the world to feeling like a lost and confused high school student on her first day of ninth grade.
Change is scary. I kept getting lost on the way to the bathroom. The building smells different. I don't see the same people I'm used to seeing every day. I do see other people who I've never even met before. The noises of this new building are different. The procedures we use are different. The facts of daily life are different.
Within a few weeks, I'm sure a new routine will begin to assert itself. Within a few month this will all seem ordinary, and I'll begin to forget how blessed I am to have a view of a river and a bridge, to have daylight even in the winter, to have high-grade environmental air purifying my lungs.
Soon, new people will be hired who have never known anything but the new Columbian building. Soon we won't call it "new" at all. I'll become a regular, a confident high-school senior who knows her way around the halls and feels superior to all these struggling new arrivals. Or, at least I'll be comfortable and happy and on top of my own little corner of the universe, I hope.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2008
Winner of the husband of the year award
Interrogator: What is the best thing about your life right now?
Ben: The best thing about my life? I guess that would be you.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2008
I finally skied!
Austin came with me to Mount Hood, but when we got there he was overwhelmed by the crowds and feeling a bit icky so he sat and read while I plied the slopes. Then he saved the day, for the first time, by feeding me a fluffernutter sandwich when my blood sugar plummeted and the cafeteria was all out of carbohydrate-containing vegetarian fare. He saved the say for the second time as we drove the long, slick, winding path from Timberline to the main drag back to Portland, and my aggressive driver tendencies started to flare. "Straighten the wheel! Slow down!" So I did, I came out of the skid, and I heeded Austin's advice the rest of the way down the mountain.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:29 PM | Comments (2)
January 11, 2008
Office relocation
I move to a new office on Monday. Here's an article about the past 50 years at The Columbian, and how much newspapering has changed. And here's a related column
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2008
Multiple choice
I haven't had a night off all week. Should I:
A - Fulfill commitments to others.
B - Read my book, which will fulfill a commitment to myself.
C - Have a beer.
D - Watch basketball in order to bond with Ben.
E - Go to bed early because I am tired and sleep-deprived.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:02 PM | Comments (3)
January 09, 2008
Skiing - it's really gonna happen this time
There's 140 inches of snow at Timberline Lodge, bad-weather-worthy chains in the trunk of my car, snow pants and goggles ready to be broken out, and an eager Courtney Sherwood looking forward to Saturday. This time I will go skiing, I will bring Austin with me. I will try very hard not to lose my wallet, and if I do lose my wallet I'll look everywhere that Ben suggests. Boo-yah!
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2008
Simplicity is not so bad
A blue collar worker who never made more than $11 an hour is giving away millions of dollars to good causes, all because he saved lots and invested well, according to this article. I don't think Ben and I will ever be as frugal as Paul Navone, but as we think about a possible distant retirement I hope we learn at least a little bit from him.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2008
Ugh
Dear January Gym Bunnies,
Give up already. Learn to love your body. Surrender your fitness and weight loss dreams. You were in my space this evening. You stole my locker. You took all the treadmills. You made me wait in line to shower. You act like you own the place. You don't own the place. I don't actually know who does own the place, but it's not you people who will be gone within a month. You bring out a angry, annoyed version of myself that I don't want to deal with.
Sincerely,
Courtney
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:15 PM | Comments (1)
January 06, 2008
Beowulf and other books
I finished Beowulf yesterday. It was surprisingly good and readable, better than I expected from a thousand-year-old epic tale of warriors and monsters. The translator from Old English, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, likely deserves much of the credit. I posted a fuller review here.
I've been going kind of nuts with my book reviews lately. Early last year I started keeping a book diary. Every time I finish a book, I record my thoughts and impressions. Recently, I discovered Goodreads, a web site dedicated to tracking and talking about books. I've set up a profile, and transferred a lot of my book diary entries here. It's cheesy, but the prospect of sharing what I think about what I'm reading has actually inspired me to read more.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2008
Mixed blessing
I canceled the credit card, canceled the debit card, created a flurry and fury of paper in search of the right documents, stood in line at the DMV for two hours, got a new license, bought a new wallet, came home, and then found my wallet in my gym bag. Which Ben insisted I check last night before we drove around for an hour and a half, and I insisted definitely did not contain my wallet. Some genius I am, eh?
Time to find a new home for my social security card.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 03:46 PM | Comments (2)
January 04, 2008
Ski trip canceled
After years of searching, a couple of months ago I finally found a wallet I like. I lost it tonight. Also lost: my driver's license, my social security card, a credit card, a bank card, about $2 worth of credit on a Starbucks gift certificate, $20 credit on a Powell's gift card, a 15% off coupon at Jiffy Lube, a coffee shop punch card and about $23 in cash.
Ben and I have spent the last hour and a half retracing my steps this evening, squinting into muddy puddles in the rain, digging around the car, upending the house, and calling everyone and everywhere it might have been. Eventually, though, you have to call it quites.
I'm feeling rather zen about the loss, the prospect of identity theft, the soggy search, even about the fact that I've had to cancel the ski trip that Austin and I were planning to take tomorrow. I'm not angry, not sad. Mostly I want to shake my head and say, "There I go again."
Sometimes my absentmindedness results in amusing stories. Did I tell you about the time I walked right through the middle of a Little League game, completely unaware as I buried my nose in a book? How about the time I locked the keys in the car at noon in Death Valley when I had a fever? Gee, that Courtney. Sure has her head in the clouds. There she goes again.
This time my absentmindedness is going to cost me about $45, plus the cost of a new driver's license, plus a whole bunch of time and hassle. Probably less money, overall, than a day of skiing. *sigh*
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 11:18 PM | Comments (2)
January 03, 2008
The Caucuses
When I was editor-in-chief of the Grinnell College student newspaper, the Scarlet and Black, I had never heard of a blog. Less than eight years later, the S&B's editor live blogged the Grinnell Democratic caucuses. It's kind of exciting to follow.
I have a policy of not commenting on politics here, but I think it's safe for me to share how moved I am by one element of today's caucuses in Iowa: turnout. I believe in democracy, and participation, and any time people choose to participate in their own governance in large numbers I find it inspiring.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:29 PM | Comments (1)
January 02, 2008
2008 resolutions
1. Build a six-month emergency savings buffer.
2. Run or walk a marathon.
3. Do a pull up.
4. Call friends regularly, and return their calls.
5. Draft a novel that does not fill me with shame.
6. Learn Chinese and Asian history through the year 1 BCE.
7. Make time to follow through on commitments.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2008
I did it! (Almost all of it, at least)
Last year around this time, I resolved in 2007 to:
Complete a race longer than 5k.
Sleep outside at least four nights.
Improve my 5 kilometer running speed speed to 27 minutes.
Complete first-ever pull up.
Ski.
Hike the underground difficult Ape Cave trail again.
Read four books from the Modern Library's top 100 nonfiction list. Read two classic novels from each decade of the 20th century, not repeating any author.
Except for the pull-up, I did it all.
I ran a half marathon; camped in central Washington for two nights with Rian, along the Oregon Coast with my Hood-to-Coast relay team, and in the shadow of Mount Hood with Ben; ran 5 kilometers in 26:50 in November; read all the fiction I said I would; hiked the Ape Cave alone on a sunny day; skiied twice with Ben; and as of about five minutes to midnight on Jan. 1, 2008, I have now read four books from the Modern Library's list ("Six Easy Pieces," "Notes of a Native Son," "A Room of One's Own," "Aspects of the Novel").
I guess you could say I cheated on the nonfiction reading, because I gave myself an extra day to get it done, but as far as I'm concerned the accomplishment stands.
I set a ridiculous number of goals for myself in 2007, and I'm glad I did. I was challenged throughout the year. I feel physically and mentally stronger. And I made a point of doing things - hiking, camping, skiing, reading - that I love, but sometimes don't make time for.
I've got a new list of goals for 2008, which I'll post soon. Foremost, of course, is that dreaded pull up, which I still have not achieved.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
Happy New Year!
Austin and I saw Comedy Sportz and then we ate free chocolate at Pix while toasting the new year. Ben decided he wanted to ring in 2008 from the comfort of home, and watched Law and Order while fireworks whirred and whizzed and flashed outside. Morgan and Robin got up in their get up and steampunked their way into the future.
I'm giving myself a one-day repreive on my New Year's Resolutions. I have until next midnight to read two books and do a pullup, or continue into 2008 with a small amount of disappointment.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 12:51 AM | Comments (0)