Today 17Aug2023

Yes, the blog returns after a short break.

Going backward, I just arrived home at half past midnight, safely in Air Volvo from Tigard. It was a bit of a challenging flight as I am not used to staying up late anymore. It is always funny when I am tired as I don’t recognize where I am, and then pop my mind, tired, puts it together, and I know where I am. It is best to be home before 1AM to be safe.

I decided tonight to catch one of the last shows of the latest Indiana Jones movie. I liked it last time and wanted to see it on the large screen again with all the sound. It was good again, I thought, and I laughed at many of the jokes. And I agree that “More ice cream is always good.”

The showing was at the Bridgeport Mall in Tigard, and I was sad to drive by Susie’s exit. I miss just deciding to do something, and Susie and I just did it, not something I can now do with Susie. But, we will head, I hope (my shoulder was pulled or something) I can lift here for a visit to the theater on Friday to the record-breaking movie Barbie.

Moving back, I made dinner of pasta and homemade pasta sauce, a garden veggie sauce, with good sweet Italian sausage. I picked up a Wholefoods last week. I wanted to cook the sausage before it went bad. I discovered I did not have a premade sauce in a bottle but had the ingredients. So I sliced and cooked onions with garlic and chopped celery. I added a can of whole cooked tomatoes that I then crushed (trying not to be sprayed by the juice). To that, I added generic Italian seasonings and tomato paste. I cooked the sausage in a frying pan until browned and added it to the sauce, and cooked that for an hour on med-low heat. I made the pasta I had, macaroni. I washed pasta with cold water to stop the cooking so it would not congeal into a blob of starch. I then scooped the pasta into a bowl, poured two or three helpings of sauce into that, and dropped some leftover ricotta cheese. Excellent.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the original Swedish version, was the show I watched while cooking and eating. It is a great version if you don’t mind reading the words. While I like the Hollywood version, the original is a kick and much darker; it is a much more human story. I recommend it.

Moving back further, I was in Portland. I left Susie’s early to see the Portland Art Museum (PAM), which I had not been to in years. I had heard I needed to see Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio show, and I wanted to see the regular collection. PAM is famous for its graphic arts collection. Unfortunately, the building is being rebuilt, and only the Toro show and the Impressionism to Modern Art collection were open.

The Toro show was terrific. It had the models and sets for the stop-action work for the film. The work was incredible to me, a model maker and figure painter. The amount of work and the attention to detail on the puppets, especially the clothing, just floored me. Some of the painting techniques are familiar to me, but the scale is nothing I work in. I enjoyed the displays and took a few pictures.

After that, I did the art by descending to the basement, taking the tunnel, and climbing back to the impressionists. As I climbed the stairs, I saw the familiar pond from Monet, blue with lily pads. All the favs were represented by a few paintings and some bronze sculptures. Van Gogh was represented by a small brown painting of a bull. I was missing Toulouse-Lautrec, but he is likely heavily represented in the graphic arts displays that are closed–too bad. It was a pretty collection, and the modern stuff seemed to be selected for its beauty, so I liked the selection, not knowing most of the later most American artists.

I purchased a membership as I liked what I saw and could return for the impressionists alone. I also found a book on the Toro show (on special) and a scarf that I think Susie will like (Pacific Northwest Nations design in red and black on wool).

Next, I stopped by South Park’s bar–A place Susie and I used to visit after symphonies in the nearby Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The place has been remodeled (I learned that the art pieces are at the former wine bar director’s wine shop), and the menu is a bit less friendly, I thought. I managed to order an excellent red wine–but the bar no longer focuses on wine, I could see, and instead had the usual endless spirit collection. The bartender was not that helpful. I had to pick it without recommendation (I miss Will, the aforementioned wine bar director). I had their board of cheeses and some fish dip for their house-made crackers. The mains ranged from low thirties and up to $60+, but they still had fish and chips and a burger for a reasonable restaurant price. No special bar menu with special appetizers like olives or stuffed dates. Still, it was good, and the bartender, Matthew, ensured I was happy.

Next, I traveled across town with me, enjoying a small traffic snarl with a stalled car. Once through that, I soon pulled into the best parking spot (!) at Guardian Games. Madison, a gal I thought I remembered from previous visits, helped me a few times. I did not find the add-on for the board game Furance. They were out of stock. Madison checked for me, breaking her away from shelving hundreds of Warhammer figures in boxes. I suspect she was not too focused on that task as she also checked me out with an adventure book for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess Role Playing Game (RPG): Green Messiah. Because I bought it there, they also sent me the matching PDF, a service for buying RPG stuff at Guardians (it does not cover 5E D&D).

Lamentation of the Flame Prince is a strange RPG based on the original version of D&D, often called OSRIC, but set on an alternative history Earth in the 1600s. Magic is unholy by definition and banned by the church, but it works much like in OSRIC. Cleric powers are through the church. I have yet to play it, but I have acquired the books as they interest me. Maybe someday I will get to try it. The books and system are from Finland and published in English.

Before all this traveling in Portland, I was at Susie’s in the morning, arriving before noon. The weather was overcast and humid. The 80Fs (27C) should not feel cool, but anything felt cold after three days of 100F+ (38C) days. Jeniffer popped Susie into her wheelchair from her recliner in the shared living room, and I soon pushed Susie into Metzger Park next door. Susie was happy to again be back to our park visits.

We called Leta and Barb (her mother and sister, respectively) on a three-way call via FaceTime. We had a lovely short chat as the sun surprised us, and it appeared and was baking us. We headed back, and Susie was surprised it was a quick visit, but today I wanted to see the PAM; I did not take Susie with me as I did not know what to expect, and I wanted to chance my hurt shoulder on a nearer location first. I kissed Susie goodbye, and she was OK with me leaving–I had spent the last three days staying with Susie until 4ish.

Before this, I started my day again, sleeping in until past 8AM. It is my mission to rest more this week. Nike is closed for a week for Rest and Recovery Week. I made an omelet for breakfast with three eggs and some already-cooked spicy sausage I usually use for Jambalya. I had that with liberal coffee made in my French Press, but as I was busy with laundry, dishes, and trying to research microprocessors, I only drank one cup of coffee. I boarded Air Volvo and headed to Susie’s after 11AM.

Well, that is full circle for Thursday. I will try to add a catch-up entry for the missing week. It is almost 2AM, but I wanted to finish the blog tonight. Some nights I just don’t feel like stopping even when my eyes droop, and I could just sleep on my keyboard. Some days just want to hold on, a good day.

Thanks for reading.