Halloween!

Halloween used to be a big production, with months of forethought. My mom sewed multiple costumes for me, which were frequently used for several years. One year, she made me a Wendy dress out of an old sheet, and I went with my neighbors Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell.

I miss trick or treating, and I miss dressing up. My neighborhood doesn't have enough kids for me to stay home with a bowl of candy either.

This year, I discovered something fun to do: Trick or Vote. With Halloween just four days before the big election, Portland (and 50 other cities in 40 states) are doing a fun get out the vote campaign. I get to go door to door in costume, but this time, I'm asking for a pledge from people that they will vote their whole ballot and get it in by the deadline. There are a lot of important issues on the ballot in addition to the president, so we hope to encourage people to look at all the candidates and measures. It's nonpartisan, which makes it easier to reach out to everyone.

After much deliberation, I finally settled on dressing as Beethoven because my hair is just right for it. I've compiled a black coat, white tights, short pants, a white frilly shirt, and a red scarf.

Michael Dorris and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Michael Dorris was a Native American writer, anthropologist and head of the Native Amerian Studies program at Dartmouth College. In 1989 he published an autobiographical account of his experiences raising his adopted son who had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The book is called The Broken Cord. It's a poignant tale of the love and frustration he experienced as a first time father with a special needs kid. It's also the story of Dorris's unfolding research into the syndrome and its epidemiological and social nature. At the time, FAS research (both clinical and epidemiological) was just at its infancy. Dorris hadn't guessed that it was the cause of his son's physical and mental disabilities or even heard of the disorder until his son was a teenager. By that time (the early 1980's), some health care workers on reservations were estimating the effects of FAS and FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effect, with less pervasive symptoms) hit up to a quarter of kids in their communities. One of the most troubling results of FAS or FAE is poor judgement or the inability to grasp the long term consequences of immediate actions. Thus, women who themselves have been victims of FAS are the most likely to repeat the cycle. All the education attempts are tainted by the simple fact that those who are most likely to drink during pregnancy are unable to learn to avoid behaviors that are damaging to themselves and to their innocent babies. A lot of research progress has surely been made in the past 30 years since FAS was discovered, but as a disorder of the poor, the downtrodden, the uneducated, it will always take a back seat to such well-funded disorders as autism and cancer. Advocate, educate, work for change. But how? Dorris thought he was doing good by caring for these children, giving them all he could provide, but it is never enough to change the course of their preventable fate.
A Broken Life (story of Michael Dorris's suicide in Solon.com)
A well referenced wikipedia article on FAS

Crooked Still at the Pickathon

The Boston-based quasi-Bluegrass, Newgrass, do your own thing-grass band Crooked Still was at the Portland Pickathon this year, sporting two new band members and a new CD. Following the potentially devastating departure of ex-bandmember, cellist Rushad Eggleston, the band has picked itself up and taken to the road with a new set of tunes. The two new band members are erstwhile fiddle prodigies Brittany Haas and Tristan Claridge (Tristan now on the big fiddle, a.k.a. cello). Tristan told me it's a bit difficult to say when they joined the band-- was it when Rushad left last fall, when they sat in the studio putting together the new CD in the winter months, or when they played their first gigs early this summer? Sounds like a lot of relationships. The new CD is cutely called Still Crooked, and I haven't had a chance to listen to most of it yet. Tunes from the first two CDs still got a lot of play at this show. Tristan had learned many of Rushad's cello lines note for note, but they lacked the distinctive drive (perhaps the term is wildness) of Rushad's playing. Brittany's fiddle adds splendidly where there was nothing to replace-- Brittany did play on a few tunes on Crooked Still's first CD Hop High and fiddler Casey Driesen appeared on Shaken by a Low Sound. I think it will take time for this new group to coalesce, though Tristan has certainly come a long way from his strictly flawless, painfully perfect contest days. I'm missing Rushad, but I'm pretty darn happy to see the band keep on going.

Take It In--Imbibe

Last week, I went to dinner at Imbibe, on Hawthorn and 22nd or so. I hadn't been there since the last time I played music there, which was over a year ago. Although everything looks just as it did, things have changed. Overtly, what's different is the the menu, but my hunch is that the menu is just a sign of greater evolutions behind the scenes. I definitely like the new menu, which has many items to please both meat eaters and non-meat eaters (like me). Apparently, the menu is still in flux, meaning your input would be welcome. Sunday is all day happy hour, so cheap eats and drinks abound. My only lament is the obvious-- I miss jamming there each Sunday with my friends. Perhaps the new management will come round eventually and invite us back. For now, it's definitely a place I'll recommend to friends and visitors.

Pancake Breakfast

What a wonderful way to start a long, lazy, weekend day. I recently discovered Dancing Bear Baking Co. I made pancakes using their lemon-blueberry pancake/waffle mix, and they were perfect. I only had one burnt pancake, and that happened when I tried to answer the phone while on pancake flipping duty. Best thing of all: we got to enjoy them outside on the porch in the sun.

Wow! Google Maps Street View

Google maps added a new feature. Now, for some major cities, including Portland, you can actually travel along the streets looking at video/photos of houses and stuff from the street. This would be a great tool to help us find new places. I just looked up my own house, of course. I determined that the photos were probably taken before I moved into the house, but I'm not sure. If I point my view down, I can see the car that drove around taking the photos. Now I'm virtually driving that car around town. Fun.

I like the Rhododendron Garden

Rhododendrons are at their peak right now in Portland. I see them everywhere, and they are brilliant. Their home base is the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden across the street from Reed College in SE Portland. It only costs $3, and is free after 6:00 pm. Now that it's staying light until around 9:00, this is a pretty good deal. Although rhodes are the claim to fame, this place is really nice year-round, and has lots of other blooming things to appreciate in the spring, including cherry trees. It's nine and a half acres, and feels even bigger because it shares a border with a golf course. It wasn't crowded when I went, and that was on a weekend when the flowers were at their best. Check it out!