It's been more than a year since I've had an update here, and far more since I've been a regular LJ user at all. But lately I have been wishing for a place to discuss what's been going on in life, and frankly have been perhaps a little jealous of Vera's new Wordpress blog. See, it's ( Read more... )

I took a walk downtown this afternoon. Autumn is one of my favorite times to walk in the neighborhoods around here, because of the big, old deciduous trees we have lining the streets. The really beautiful days last just a couple of weeks, and then we have a few more weeks of piles of decaying leaves, their vivid colors fading away rapidly into ( Read more... )

Vintners Gin, the "Dutch-style" juniper rotgut offered by McMenamins' own Edgefield Distillery, is not exactly a magnificent spirit. It should probably be drowned in tonic water or, perhaps, drowned altogether. As promised, I had a martini made from the stuff, and it was so horrible I had to have a second one to forget about the first. I ( Read more... )

I'm actually outside of Portland now, in the questionably pleasant city of Forest Grove, which squats at the edge of the Willamette Valley in a place that is not entirely like a Forest Grove. I'm being too harsh on the place---I am certain that there are plenty of great things about this place, but I've never really taken the time to explore it. ( Read more... )

These past few nights I've been staying with my brother and his wife down in southwest Portland, right next to Multnomah Village, which, among other things, is the home of John's Market. I am not sure if John's has a larger selection than the Belmont Station, but it's an impressive one, and they've got Dutch beer! It turns out I'm bringing home a ( Read more... )

Good morning, enthusiastic readers! Some of you will be happy to learn that I'm still alive, and the rest of you will have to quit your premature squabbling over my remains-that whole thing with the exploding submarine and the Soviet cyborg was all faked ( Read more... )

My dad, brother, and I successfully climbed Steens Mountain and came back alive. I'm not entirely sure how, because it was one hell of a backpacking trip. I don't think we understood when we set out exactly how difficult this leg of the Desert Trail is, because it completely overshadowed both the Pueblo Mountains and the Alvord Desert sections. ( Read more... )

The weather has turned quite lovely, and perhaps a bit warm. Warm enough for seersucker! Hallelujah! Anyhow, this weekend I'll be up in Roseburg for a few good reasons. First, I'm going to be celebrating Dani's birthday with her and Chris. We're going to have fancy food and drink Dom Pérignon! On Sunday, it's Father's Day (you probably knew ( Read more... )

On Saturday I finally returned from my travels through Europe! I had a really excellent time, but as I'm leaving to catch a train to Portland early tomorrow morning (see how the travels never cease?), I am going to have to make my report a rather brief one for now. I took about 150 pictures, but I haven't yet gone through them and posted them to ( Read more... )

I just got back from Barnes & Noble, where I purchased the Michelin guidebook for Scotland, which has me very excited. I've been researching various ways to get from Amsterdam to Scotland, and it looks like I can get from Amsterdam to London via the Dutch Flyer, and then take some British train system to Edinburgh, which is just four exciting ( Read more... )