Today I went to the dentist for the first time in Portland. Actually, it was probably the first time in a decade. Why have I waited so long to go the dentist? Bad memories.
When I was in fifth grade, I got braces. Not too long afterwards, my sister got braces. Eventually she got them off. Then my brother got braces and then he got them off. Meanwhile, I still had mine. I didn't get my braces off until my sophmore year of college. It was utter hell. My lips were always getting caught and cut open. My mouth was full of metal. If I had a time machine, I would've probably gone back in time and knocked all of my fifth-grade-self's teeth out so I could have dentures and not have to endure the years of torture. But I don't so I have to go to the dentist.
The dentist and every person that looked at my teeth knew that I wasn't from Portland originally because my teeth were in good shape, hence, I must have had fluoride in the water growing up which I did. I didn't have cavaties but I did get a lecture and several suggestions on proper tooth care. I will now be flossing regularly.
When I was young, my teeth were coming in all wrong and now they are straightened so I'm grateful for that but I just wish it had been an easier process. The day I got my braces off was probably one of the happier days of my entire life.
The above picture was taken on my walk home. The dentist office was off of Weidler in NE Portland. I walked there from work and then walked back home. It was a damn gorgeous night. To celebrate my good dental report and the fact that was Friday, I met a friend at Crush and coincidentally had drinks right next to the mayor. Crazy!
Angela Davis was implicated in the murder of a judge in 1970, was the third woman to appear on the FBI's most wanted list, evaded police capture for two month, was acquitted of all charges after being in prison for 18 months, ran for vice president twice under the Communist party and is now a professor. She's also a bad-ass.
I got to hear Ms. Davis speak tonight at Reed College for the first time. Honestly, I was expecting a super-charged tirade of the government and the prison system. What I got was a bit more watered down and soft spoken but eloquent nonetheless.
I've always been under the belief that you shouldn't see your heroes in person because there is no way they can live up to your expectations. I still believe that Angela Davis is fantastic but now I know how time has mellowed her a bit. But who am I to judge? She's 65 and lived one hell of a life so far. She's earned whatever she has right now. More power to her.
There were several parts of her speech that I thoroughly enjoyed. In particular, she was very outspoken for queer rights and ended her speech by reading the prayer given by Gene Robinson (the gay bishop who read a invocation before Obama's inauguration) which was censored by the fascists at HBO.
For a while, I was back in the saddle. The room was a sea of black hoodies, spikes and patches, the music was hard and fast and I missed Europe. Plan B's a big space. It was Acme before this but that means really nothing to me because I had never been there either.
My boys, Riot Cop, opened up for the Agent Orange show which was a big deal because A.O. is a quintessential punk rock/surf rock band from back in the day. During the second band after Riot Cop, I decided to push my way through the crowd to the bathrooms on the other side of the bar. When I got there, I saw the women's toilet was closed but the men's was open. I went in and some older lady with Lita Ford hair and pink panties was pulling up her pants and exiting the bathroom. I guess she didn't want to wait for the ladies' room to open.
After that band finished, I headed up to the bar with the last of our free drink coupons. That's how we got paid tonight: in free drink coupons. No wonder we never have any money to go back to Europe. Anyway while waiting at the bar, I notice the Lita Ford lady leaning against the bar. She turns to me and says, "Got a light?" I reply back and tell her I don't smoke. She says back, with a drunken, half-lidded stare, "Noo....I said, do you have a light?" Again, I say no. She looks at me for a few seconds, apparently pissed that she's not getting anywhere and says, "What are ya, a faggot?"
"Yes," I reply, "but I still don't have a lighter."
Lita Ford was not going to upset me but the scene was rearing it's ugly head and I remember the bad along with the good and took off my rose covered shades to see this scene for what it really was.
There's a wine bar in Portland called Vino Vixens. We checked it out today because my friends are thinking of holding their birthday bash there. It's proof-positive that appearances can be deceiving.
First, it's right on Powell. Powell's a big street and there are only two businesses right on Powell that I would recommend; my vet Clinic and Chaos. Second, it's in a strip mall. Third, at the end of the strip mall is a bowling alley. This all adds up to someplace that Topher is unlikely to frequent. But I really really liked the place. It's got charm, class, beauty and great staff. It's just too bad you have to walk past a high school and a McDonalds to get there.
We had the best training class today at work. It was on emergency preparedness. It was a training designed for people with developmental disabilities but my boss sent me to scout it out before we signed up our participants for it. It was put on through a federal grant, apparently given to groups like this one after Katrina.
Besides the useful information, they also handed out gifts to everyone. Everyone who showed up received a hand crank radio/flashlight/adapter for a cigarette lighter (to car-charge your cell phone). It was like being on Oprah!
I'm thirty three today. It's the crucifixion years. (what would you dooooo if I sang out of tuuuune...)
I had about as tame of a birthday as I wanted to. Work sucked but some of my coworkers and participants were sweet and wished me a happy day. Afterwards, I went to Crush with a handful of friends, played trivia and took third. Before turning in for the night, Ashes and I dueled with light sabers on the Wii Star Wars: The Clone Wars game which was fun but exhausting. That was my new thing.
It's odd but I'm so glad it's done. I was walking home earlier today and thinking that I should enjoy my birthday more because it's my day to do whatever I want but...that's pretty much everyday for me. Really, without many attachments or responsibilities, I do what I want a lot of the time. I just need to start making more of a concious effort treat myself right.
Thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes. I love you all.
I have found a fault in El Nutri Taco. They've set the bar for vegetarian food too high. Now other places seem mediocre. Before them, I would have found the Blue Moose Cafe to be a gem. Now they're just average. The decor of the place makes me think it should be located in Wyoming. So does the food.
It wasn't bad it just wasn't great. I had a burrito there and it could have been from Taco Del Mar and I wouldn't have known the difference except for the size. However, they do have a niche, their soups! When I went there today, they brought us a sampling of each of their soups which were fantastic. It's a great idea. Soups are cheap and, when they're that well made, they're gonna sell. I'd go back to this place if I was in the area. Maybe the sandwiches or the breakfast meals are good as well. But I won't be getting the burrito anymore. That part of my tastebuds and stomach are spoken for.
I've done yoga before (I tried to find the link for my Yoga Shala post but I can't) but today was something else. I did hot and sweaty yoga with 75 other people!
I think that I am relatively in decent shape and pretty well coordinated but today showed me that I am not as hot as I think I am. However I was still comfortable at Bikram today. There were other novices there and the teacher kept saying that it was okay if we wanted to sit some poses out. However, he wouldn't let us leave the 105 degree room. The hot guy in front of me was pouring sweat. I didn't sweat as much but that's also because I also don't drink that much water. I'm gonna change that though.
Bikram wasn't as difficult or demanding as I thought it'd be but it did open my eyes to some things that I need to change and work on. I may or may not go back. I haven't made up my mind. But, regardless, I think I'll start taking better care of myself.
I love the unpredictability of my job...sometimes. Other times it's a pain in the ass. Being self-motivated at work means that I pretty much set up my itinerary. I decide which days I'm going to stay in the offie and which days I'm going to head out. I pretty much decide which days are going to be work-intensive and which days are going to be...not so intensive. However, there are variables.
Today, the variable was a heart attack. One of our participants thought she was having a heart attack so she had to be rushed to the hospital. She's pretty independent so she didn't have family to call but we couldn't let her go it alone so I followed her there and waited with her. Luckily, she's fortunate enough to have a good enough friend and neighbor who met her there later.
Although it wasn't on my to-do list today, I think that it was very timely. Yesterday, I attended one of my participants' meetings. This is her annual meeting where all of her care givers get together and talk with her about her plan for the year. Unfortunately, the person in charge of the meeting is afraid of driving in the snow and cut the meeting short without really addressing the person we were there for. I was pissed and feeling like none of this matters. Then today happened and I realized that we are making a difference when it comes down to it.
On a side note, the participant didn't have a heart attack but rather an asthma attack. Still, I was glad I could be there for her.
I've felt like I missed out on something during my childhood by not going to Jaws 3-D way back when so today, I paid way too much money to make up for it.
Coraline is a stop-motion animation movie that was made in Portland and is set in Portland so I thought it would be a great movie to pop my 3-D cherry. It was wonderful. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get the white glasses that had the red lens and the blue lens but these glasses did the trick.
I can't even recall the last time I had a walkman. It's been a long while. It bugged me for a while after I got a discman that it didn't have a radio connection. I think that they eventually made discmans with radio capabilities but they were definitely in the minority. By the time I got an i-pod, I completely forgot about walking with a radio. It seemed like such a foriegn concept, to not control what you're going to listen to on a walk. Now I've got Slacker.
Slacker is an application for mobile phones and your computer. I was able to put it on my blackberry today and now, I've always got music or comedy or talk radio. It stalls out sometimes and the blackberry can freeze on it's own but when it works, it's pretty sweet. I think there's a way for me to make my own radio station. I'll have to play around with it. If I didn't value my blackberry before, that's changed now.
Ahhh, the theater!
In high school and community college, I was involved in drama. I don't necessarily like acting but it was something I could do and it was an extracurricular activity so I went for it. My junior year, we did a stupid play which was completely forgettable and rightly so. I was a knight, Sir Cumference. My senior year though, we did a play called Up the Down Staircase which was a lot better. It was two years before Dangerous Minds but it was basically the same thing. I played a dropout. It was a good time.
Today I went to support my friends and neighbors as Sydney was in a play at her elementary school. It was The Kid Who Ran for President. Some of the kids, including Syd, were really good and I'm sure will be in many more plays that I will probably go see as well. Some of the kids remind me of me, not so good but still having fun with it. Brava!
It's been really really nice in Portland for the last few days. There's been no rain, the sun's out and the sky's blue. I love winters here. I've caught premature spring fever. It's a common ailment here about this time of year. We get a spell of decent weather for a week or two (maybe three) in the winter and then it starts raining again for a month on end. I always get fooled and think we made it through the gloom and we're thisclose to summer. While in my feverous state, I made my mom's baked veggie dish today. It turned out okay. I like eating heathier in the spring. I'm starting early this year!
I love writing this blog just for moments like today. I was coming back from Clackamas today around lunchtime and I was starving. Normally, I would either hit the veggie Vietnamese place or stop somewhere to get a pizza slice. But today I decided to give a new place a chance.
On 82nd Ave, there's a sandwich board advertising vegetarian and vegan Mexican food. I figured it was probably just advertising the fact that they have rice and bean burritos but I went anyway. I found that the place, El Nutri Taco is a cart set up in someone's front yard with a deck attached for dining. That was cool enough so I was really pleased to see that they had tofu, soy chorizo, veganaise and a full vegetarian/vegan menu!
The best part is that it was absolutely wonderful food. I scalded my mouth on their El Nutri Burrito because it was fresh and hot and I couldn't put it down! I cannot wait to go there again! Hell, I want to move closer to there!
The Wii Sports has a Fitness portion of the game which will determine your Mii's age, based upon your balance, speed and stamina in a trial of three different games, a mixture of boxing, baseball, tennis, bowling and/or golf. I've tested out as high as my late fifties before but today, I hit 20 years old. I'm not sure how accurate this is considering I was fighting off a minor hangover at the time. Plus, I don't think they should view 20 as the optimum age (which they do) because the brain doesn't fully develop until 22. Oh well, I'll take it as an accomplishment.
Today I went to the dentist for the first time in Portland. Actually, it was probably the first time in a decade. Why have I waited so long to go the dentist? Bad memories.
