Last Sunday in April!

Laura is out driving with Michael as I write this. Here's a picture of her and Max, taken a few years ago, when all she drove was a bike!

Last night was the Parkrose Educational Foundation dinner and auction at Holiday Inn. That was a lot of fun, and yes, adults do occassionally still dance to Play that Funky Music White Boy - but Mike does it best!

The tour went to Corvalls and Newport this week. That was fun, and we had attentive audiences. I loved visiting Newport High School with Sara Ryan.

I am running the Eugene Half Marathon next week so I should run far today. But I may just run 7. I ran 10 and a little extra last weekend, so I know I can run 13.1!

I'm reading at the Eugene Public Library in May.

Planted

Lilies, iris, snap peas, forget-me-nots.

Tomorrow, geraniums and petunias and lavender.

Laura got her driver's permit today. Max had his opening day game for Little League.

Gotta run far tomorrow.

Reading the new Beckman.

Like a Day Without Sunshine

PCS without Mead Hunter.

I can't wait to see where he lands.

Tomorrow National Poetry Month begins! Get your haiku on.

Spring Break!

Terry Tempest Williams tomorrow.

Kids on spring break.

Shamrock Run!

I ran the Shamrock Run today with Amy. I ran faster than in 2006!

I never blog these days.

Reading Tod Marshall's The Tangled Line and enjoying it very much.

Poems from Updike in this week's New Yorker. Sad but I appreciated him taking the time to say goodbye.

Hello!

Milk is Cheap!

Milk is cheaper than it used to be. It's now $1.99 at Freddy's and that's not the sale price, that's just the price! Which makes it hard to be a dairy cow these days.

Yoga class tonight! I wish Laura could have come with me. You know how they say sometimes, people only use 3% of your brain power? Or something like that. I think yoga makes you realize you probably use only about 5% of your body's potential. Sitting, standing, walking, running - there's so much more than that!

Rough drafts to grade from students this weekend. But I want to see Milk (the movie not the beverage mentioned previously) with Michael before the Academy Awards on Sunday. I also want to see How To Disappear Completely, soon-ish!

I read Run by Ann Patchett over the long weekend. I liked it. I really appreciated Updike's review of it.

My new Poets & Writers arrived today and it has lots of stuff to read in it and new books coming out by Joshua Marie Wilkinson and Emily Wilson and other poets I like.

Spring is on its way, which means Little League. Life is good.

Milk is cheap. If you're not a dairy cow, that's not such bad news.

I was impressed by Calvin Trillin. They don't make them like that anymore.

Check this out

Ish Klein.. Then I ordered her book from Canarium Press.

It's Friday!

I'm Still Here and Happy Birthday Michael!

I guess I spend online goofing off time on Facebook these days. But I will blog again soon! The blog lives! And I got some nifty collage stuff I want to use to make new collages. When the time presents itself!

Caffeine Destiny will go off hiatus in a few weeks, March-ish, and I'll announce new submission guidelines.

I'm trying to write a story.

Happy Birthday Michael! I love you.

Rabbit at Rest

First Post of 2009

I ran three miles today and I'm trying to finish a poem but I'm not trying today. I will finish it this week. The working title is Violins of the Great Northwest. I think that is going to be the title of my second book if my first one ever gets published. Even if it doesn't!

You can still name your books even if they are unpublished manuscripts. And unpublished manuscripts is kind of fraught with mystery. Perhaps.

Tonight is poetry group! I think...

Michael and I went to Michael's craft store and around today and that was fun.

I read an article in the Atlantic about the demise of the New York Times but I don't believe it. I should note I read it in the magazine, not on the web site.

I made my curried carrot soup.

The sky is gray. Always.

Tuesday is Michael Pollan day!

The blog lives on!

Somebody asked, so I must tell you: the blog is not going on hiatus! Just the magazine. The blog will continue with its updates which are chockful of news. If you read between the lines.

This is Rita as a puppy.

Look for a poem by me in Shampoo in 2009!

On Hiatus

I put Caffeine Destiny on official hiatus which felt good. Time will tell!

My "about me" blog bio is no longer accurate, as Rita doesn't live here anymore. However it feels too soon to update the bio.

She lives here still in our hearts.

Max in the snow

Here's Max at Glendover golf course today!

I took the bus and the Max to Lloyd Center today (Max the train not Max my son!) and am just about done with my Christmas shopping.

I turned in my Marylhurst grades and I am officially not thinking about any teaching until the week after Christmas. Winter term starts January 5th so I have time to take a break.

Monday is my last day at work until after Christmas. It's on its way!

Last Christmas

For all you young kids out there,

The Wham! version of Last Christmas is the only acceptable version. Jimmy Eat World and Taylor Swift just don't cut it.

I tried to explain this to my kids in the car this morning. I'm not sure if they believed me.

She's Coming!

I'm driving to Corvallis after work to pick up mom and bring her back to Portland for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of which, a reader on a blog commented on the article on Caffeine Destiny about the history of Thanksgiving, that I think I originally posted around 2000, if not earlier. It's still kind of fun to read I think.

I'm reading On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction, by Karl Iagnemma. It's a book of short stories - the winner of the Paris Review Discovery Prize for best first fiction - but he's a research scientist in mechanical engineering at MIT.

More soon - I have to vacuum.

Annie and Laura

I took this picture backstage last night. I think they're both adorable.

Tonight Laura and Max and I are going to see Twilight. I'm not big on vampire movies, but maybe it will be good?

I made curried carrot soup last weekend and it was super easy! I kind of used two different recipes and then added coconut milk, which neither recipe called for, but I have seen as an ingredient in other soups and it was really good. All that was in it was onions, carrots, chicken broth, curry powder, a little turmeric and coconut milk! Saute the onions in butter, then add three cans of chicken broth and add the carrots (I used about three pounds). Add the curry (I used about two and 1/2 tablesoons) and the turmeric (I used about two teaspoons). Once the carrots are tender, you puree it. But don't fill the blender up all the way or it will explode, because hot things expand! (thanks to Martha Stewat's recipe for pointing that out). I pureed it in batches, and then I added the can of coconut milk afterwards.

Super easy.

Thursday

Amy has a new kitty!

I need a book to read.

Laura and I are going to see Guys and Dolls tomorrow night. That will be my second time.

I finally took the big rotting pumpkin off our front porch.

Yes!

I Hope He is Our Next President

How to Watch The Election

Happy Halloween!

This is Max and Laura ... ten years ago! They are very proud of their pumpkin Pez dispensers.  I made the Dorothy costume that Laura has on. Max was the cowardly lion. 

We carved pumpkins last night.

David Sedaris is tonight. Election soon!