butter boat saves frozen salmon from cello

3/29
in the pics...
I went to listen to a group of cellos sing. it was pretty cool. Portland cello project rocks, and I mean the heavy metal type. Standing room only said other people also enjoyed experience. The bumper sticker is homemade; the other one is for that mentioned car..red white and flashing. oh, and a shoutout to the fort george brewery in astoria.

I made one of the samoan delicacies "puligi". a boat of butter floating in melted sugar makes this not something for people looking to cut down on sugar and fat. but it tasted good...sweeeet.

In samoa I ate whole cooked fish caught earlier the same day. back in good old usa, I get frozen salmon blocks neatly cut to fit in a box. fun.

beyond religion with simple pleasures

in the pics: finnish brotherhood is astoria,OR had their annual St. Urho's celebration, complete with purple monsters, grasshoppers, and lots of yummy food (I recommend the cabbage rolls).

3/29
“To go beyond religion” …heard on the radio. The Christian radio station. Oh, I think it’s called klove.com.
What does “beyond religion” look like?


3/28
Newsweek recently ran a feature on education. Well, that’s all fine and dandy. I read it and wrote some stuff, but both the teaching opportunities I applied for said NO, so in my journal those notes will stay. Have a nice day.

Palm Sunday..
echoes of mercy
whispers of love
this is my story
this is my song
“Fervent (passionate ) love towards one another” as the pastor says…
Potentate, monarch, ruler..jesus
“if you could recapture the moment, would you?” would you go back to relive that one moment that changed everything for good? Would you change anything; go a different direction; no direction at all? What kind of question is that, anyway…?who wants to change desinty? Ha.
Peace on earth once and for all…yes, ah so.

Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures. Ok..
Big thoughts: save the world, win the lottery, $50 billion company, constant inner peace.
Small pleasures: wind/sun on my face, helping a friend, rolling the grass, a hug, a kiss, five minutes of quiet, favorite music, walk or run in the woods.

I’m cleaning out some old papers and such. I came across a paper from college—a thing called “urban plunge” where a group of us college students plunged into the big city of Portland to experience a little of what homeless people face every day. “the people I have come in contact with have a plight to regain their dignity. That plight has been put in m book of dreams as something I would like to deeply involve myself in someday.” Well, that someday has been the last 10 years. Americorps, ymca, peace corps. The beat goes on. Ahh, to be young and naïve again.

Walking in the rain with wet pant bottoms. Why?
Minimize carbon footprint—for the future.

A pastor: “friends, we live in one town, work in another town, go to church in another town. We are not connected to any one place.” I saw the extreme opposite of that in samoa. Very connectedness.
“I don’t even know the people next door.” Vs. samoa

repairing cars with drum sticks and garbage bags

in the pics: the "new" car; cleaning at solve's spring beach cleanup.

3/27
I started my adventure in car repair today—with an oil change. Surprisingly, everything went well. Oh, I forgot to say I bought a used car—a 1993 toyota corolla. It still runs well, and I also just changed the headlight. I also start a (part time) job at Job Corps soon, working in the learning resource center with computers…



3/24
Thank you for volunteering at the SOLV Oregon Spring Beach Cleanup last weekend! We had a very successful event with over 4,200 volunteers removing 70,500 pounds of trash and debris from Oregon’s coastline.” Yes, and the wind made the sand go sideways. But it was fun, I found garbage, and lots of cig butts and beer bottles in the swamp.

See pics


3/13
Drummer vs. percussionist. Which are you? I sense a word study coming on. Percussionist—person who plays percussion instrument.
Drummer-one who plays a drum as in a band.
Drum-a percussion instrument
Percuss-strike so as to shake or give shock.
I guess I feel a percussionist has used a greater variety of instruments.
Drummer-long hair/t-shirt/heavy metal??
Percussionist-black tie/tympani/ large orchestra
Black tie drummer-?


3/12
Reading latest issue of Hip Fish monthly newspaper…here are the interestings:
Many music concerts, many opps to volunteer, man commutes to work on unicycle, obama’s foreign policy plan looks like a photocopy of the last four years, and “the appliance [crock pot] faded into kitchen obscurity as not being very chic.” Well who says slow cookers are not chic.??? When you are in a hurry and want some yummy smelling/tasting soup with little fuss when you get home tired and hungry, this is the chicest way to get it done. Nuf said.


3/5
Heard on the radio recently: biggest factor for being happy: being thankful/grateful. Yeah..i guess that would be important. I’m grateful for: my mom, grandma, health, the warm sun, stars in the sky, internet.

Girl scout cookie recall?? Well, I guess girl scouts get a taste of how the real world works, or doesn’t.

March 1-7 is peace corps week. I don’t see much in the way of peace corps.


2/13
The individualism can be stifiling. After spending two years in the box, coming back to the I I and I and this is MINE is hard. Greeting and meeting people is different here. Adjustments, or more officially, “re-entry”. Sounds like I’m in a space pod.

creative fries taste with sake's twist

in the pics: adventures of new york: brooklyn bridge is big; the burritos are so so;
NYSE bull was a popular picture destination; the new found fry discovery (also so so ); the sake was not kickin enough.

3/2
Interview success…at the new york city fellows program. now we’ll wait six weeks to see if they like what they saw and heard. It will be EXPENSIVE to live in NYC. But oh so interesting…

New experiences …poutine…fries, cheese chunks, and gravy. I guess it’s bit in French/Canada. It was good. Not spicy at all. Then a carafe of sake. Not enough “bite.” Had a corona with five pieces of lime in it…that was good! I had fries special and sake with a guy from Argentina and one from germany. Definitely international at the hostel.

Random ideas…picture book “finding humanity in NYC.” Wondering if there is an equation to measure the flight of the water droplets falling from the top of the Brooklyn bridge.

I went for a walk in Central Park today with my friend Marc, who I met at the hostel. We met a man, who is a teacher (imagine that). We talked for a (short) bit, since we were outside, with snow on the ground. Three things he said I thought were interesting:
*Don’t become a tyrant.
*Be true to yourself.
*Go to craigslist.com and click on “shared” in apartments section. I want to live with 3-4 other people. We’ll see how much that costs.
Thanks david. I hope your dogs didn’t get too cold on the walk through the park.


3/1
I’m in NYC for a job interview—teaching high school…maybe math or science. I’m staying at a hostel called “Village Inn.” It’s a nice place, although I don’t have many hostels to compare this to.
I was in my room (shared with 5 other guys), and I saw some keys on the floor, which one of the guys on the top bunk asked me to throw to him.
“nice toss.” Well, after you live in samoa, you may develop a competency with accurately throwing things. Samoans are very good with all “things” physical. I mean they work with their hands most of the time—doing chores and gathering and preparing food. Something else I will lose as I come back to the “American” way.


2/22
I’m watching the Olympics. Fast skiing. Big crashes. And there’s the beer commercial with Lance Armstrong. That’s not living strong.

granny loves pringles

in the pics: grandma likes her pringles.

My grandma rocks...she's been alive a while. and she's still having fun.