Eugene

Dan and I went to Eugene, Oregon last weekend to check out the town and surrounding area. It's a nice sized college town - population around 135,000. Beautiful parks, lots of bike and running trails - and lots of very healthy people. A few shots from the weekend:

Alton Baker Park

Saturday Market - downtown Eugene. It's the oldest open-air market in the country.

Dan at the Rhodie Garden at Hendricks Park

At a concert venue - how cool is that ??

We stopped in Portland on the way home to check out their Saturday Market (on Sunday). Lots of good things there too.

Couldn't resist a photo op with Jimmy !

R.I.P. George Carlin

What sad news to wake up to this morning - George Carlin died at age 71. This clip is his famous "seven dirty words" routine. I shouldn't even have to say this, but I don't want to offend anyone who isn't familiar with the routine - and must have been living under a rock for the past few decades. THIS CLIP CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO THOSE WITH NO SENSE OF HUMOR.

Thanks for so many years of fantastic humor - we'll miss you George.

Happy Summer Solstice

We're sorry we are going to miss the 37th Annual Fremont Fair this weekend. It's a summer highlight here in Seattle. Especially the parade...

photo by Joe Mabel, 1992

TGIF

blown away !!!

AP Photo

Happy Father's Day !

rocks...

We finished an outdoor project this afternoon that we started a few weeks ago. The "flower" beds out front were more like "dirt" beds - not very deep and could grow nothing but weeds and mystery plants. No matter how hard we tried to keep it looking nice, it seemed an endless battle. So we decided to put rocks out instead. We have planters out front already and thought they would look better on something other than dirt. We picked out some turquoise rock for the under-layer. We (Dan) hauled about 1200 pounds of rock home from a nearby landscape company. We spread a good layer of that out first.

Then we went to a very cool store that sold recycled glass and bought two big bags of tumbled mixed colored glass to sprinkle on top. One was a bit large grade than the other, but the color mix looked good together.

In the end, we were very pleased with the results.

is it a Friday the 13th thing or something ??

Say it isn't so ! One of my favorite sites EVER is out of commission as of today. This was the best recipes/awesome food photos/great links to food euphoria blogs out there. And I'm sad to see it gone.

Legal complications = BOO

oh the wind and the rain....

how does our garden grow...

Tomatoes

Clematis

Planters out front

Retaining wall - lobelia, dusty miller, hostas

slow blog week

I apologize for my slacking in adding any new posts since Monday - I think the crappy weather has left me totally uninspired. I had a 4 hour charette at work this afternoon about LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for a new building slated for construction on campus and it made me think about my own human footprint. National Geographic has a "footprint calculator" on their website. Here are some of my stats:

In my lifetime, I will...

• drink 40,430 glasses of milk


• eat 20,215 bananas


• drink 49,717 cans of pop (yes, I said pop - not soda!)


• drive approximately 225,338 miles (less than half the 627,000 US average)


• use 28,301 gallons to shower

What's your footprint ??

R.I.P. Bo Diddley

(Reuters) - Five facts about rock 'n' roll pioneer Bo Diddley, who died at his home in Archer, Florida on Monday at age 79:

* Diddley, who was born Ellas Bates on December 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, played classical violin as a boy. He became interested in the guitar after hearing John Lee Hooker's blues classic "Boogie Chillen" and said the violin helped him create his guitar style.

* The distinctive 5/4 rhythm pattern that became known as "the Bo Diddley beat" can be heard in dozens of other musicians' songs, including Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," Johnny Otis's "Willie and the Hand Jive," U2's "Desire," the Who's "Magic Bus" and Bruce Springsteen's "She's the One."

* Diddley built many violins and guitars, including rectangular models like the one he often played onstage. His stage name may have come from a one-stringed instrument called a diddley bow.

* Although Diddley did not like "gangsta" rap, some of his songs were forerunners of the rap genre, with his propensity for good-natured boasting and calling his own name in his songs. The verbal sparring with bandmate Jerome Green in several of his songs was similar to that heard in today's rap music.

* When Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the members of ZZ Top introduced him.

can't wait for this movie !

I love the Coen Brothers....