Rosanne's Lounge

Spent today in Yellowstone National Park. Mostly it was closed — we missed it by a couple of days, as it closed for the season November 5. Apologies to all in Seattle we failed to see (especially

bevsob

: I was really hoping to say bye before we left the country) but I came down with an awful cold in Olympia and spent four days on

goldfish42

’s sofa.

We saw a bald eagle, stayed at Chico Hot Springs, saw bison and elk and muledeer and a coyote and we heard a pack of wolves howling the sun down. We saw — and smelled — mineral hot springs and the multicolored travertine years of flow have created.

Sunset was glorious: oranges and tangerines glowing on the underside of beautiful clouds. I love the way the trees here are outlined sharp against the sky.

Such alien landscapes

Elk at rest

Mammoth Springs

Rosanne’s first snow in about 15 years

Trees at sunset

Advice to the wise: do not attempt to move house, start a honeymoon, finish an article, do your taxes, organize a wedding in a different country and pack for moving to that country all during the same week while you’re pre-menstrual. If you insist on doing so, please make sure you have a Doug on hand for when the crying jag hits its second hour. Also be aware that your responses to things like your tenants telling you they are moving out a month earlier than hoped will be less rational than desired.

This is our last day at the lovely Boardwalk Apartments. I will not miss the “little boxes on the hillside” sameness of the apartment blocks here but I will miss the water and the agapanthus and the ducks out the window over breakfast, and dinner on the balcony in the fading sunlight watching the geese fly over, and watching swift brown squirrels race up trees. I’ll miss the chipmunks and other cute life when I leave America.

We leave for Peru tomorrow morning at 8am. Doug is taking the modem back to the cable store now and I will only have sporadic access for the next two weeks. After that, we’ll be at Doug’s sister’s for a little. Those of you with my US cell number, it will still work for the next two months but the home number is gone as of today.

I am still surrounded by boxes and debris. Many of you know how much I resist change and that my usual panic at disorganization would have been in overdrive. I’m doing a little better now but I must get back to it.

I doubt I’ll ever get to these, but have some notes towards future entries: one, in which your author discusses Jack Goldsmith’s testimony about secret memos and the Ashcroft debacle, rendition, torture and what it means to be an American today; two, the upcoming film Rendition and what it says about freedom of speech as a paper tiger but one we cannot live without; three, the ethics of Jewish responsibility and your author’s challenges as a secular political activist brought up Jewish while reading Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ To Heal a Fractured World.

I’m sure there will be updates from the road but in case there aren’t, have fun, y’all and catch you on the flipside!

Nothing quite like your favorite café deciding that today is loud guilty pleasure 80s music day to knock the edge of your moping. So far, “Video Killed the Radio Star”, Devo’s “Whip It”, some unidentified Meatloaf and now “Call Me”.

Definitely getting into it.

Things are sort of starting to settle down here. I’ve had another week of extraordinary busyness and some emotional upheavals on the home front (if I owe you e-mail, please be patient for just a touch longer).

I’m trying hard to focus on the positives, so here goes:

Favorite new bookstore: Bird and Beckett on Diamond (thanks to

anthologie

, who had her reading there last week). I managed to buy not only her book, but Blessed Unrest, which I’ve heard discussed on NPR and have been looking forward to greatly, and The Dream of the Poem, a book on Hebrew poetry in Christian and Muslim Spain from 950 to 1492. Anyone who’s read my series from when I was in Toledo in 2003 will know my fascination with this era.

Favorite new relaxation space: Watercourse Way, which Doug took me to one night. Oh my. We had the Moroccan-themed room with our own spa, sauna and plunge pool. It’s a gorgeous place, beautiful music. You hire rooms, pay by the person and then lock the doors. I couldn’t help but think it’s exactly what we need for those Friday night soaks,

fizit

. No more of this silliness where it’s women-only because we’re in the Japanese baths public space.

Favorite new band: this is a hard one, because I’ve just experienced three awesome groups. DeatHat, a haunting sound that would fit right in at Woodford; Klezident Evil, which plays klezmer and, yes, video game soundtracks; but for pure raucous entertainment, I’m going to have to vote for SmashUp Derby, who I saw today at the San Jose Pride festival. I rang

nihilla

 and

crystal_storm

 to play them bits of this: George Michael’s “Faith” vs The Cure’s “Closer”; Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” vs U2’s “Bloody Sunday”; and many more awesome LIVE mashups. I think my favorite was “Smells like Teen Spirit” with “Billy Jean” sung over the top of it but it’s a hard choice. There’s heaps of songs to download at their site. Go play.

Favorite new area of SF: Okay, this is really just an excuse to mention that we went up to SF to see Helen Lawson-Williams, who I went to primary school with, and who was in town for work. But we did end up wandering around Caffe Greco and popping into the Apple store up there, and checking out Chinatown and it was a lovely day out.

Back from the handfasting… and no, the joke above is not mine.

My plane was four hours late getting into Seattle so Thursday night’s plans were stuffed. Went dancing to blow off some steam but the delay was still thing we needed. Friday we went to Pike St Markets for breakfast and then spent the afternoon at the FolkLife festival. Rather handy that the wedding coincided with one of the biggest folk festivals in America. We watched

bevsob

 perform funky acrobatic tricks and listened to Flodd (they call themselves tango pop but it sounds like klezmer to me). We also saw Bev’s little red studio (beautiful! *envy*) and met and chatted to a friend of Bev’s named Raven who showed us her emporium filled with erotic art and erotic Lego.

We tried to keep out of each other’s way and off each other’s toes — Doug was somewhat nervous about the handfasting speech and I had a lot on my plate. Saturday morning, we had breakfast delivered and then I looked up gluten-free bakeries while Doug finished getting dressed. Stopped at Da Vinci’s bakery on our way and picked up divine strawberry and custard tart so I had cakey things to eat at the handfasting, not knowing that their “cake” was going to be individual chocolates I can eat anyway.

It was all lovely.

puzzlefox

 is a sweetheart and her man’s not bad either. Met lovely folks. Doug took photos when he wasn’t being part of the ceremony and handed the camera to the groomsmaid’s partner when he was.

That night was another planning disaster. Went back to the hotel room to collapse for a while with hopes of going out to the bride and groom’s again for hot-tubbing, ended up having awkward discussions, not getting onto dinner until 11, having gluten issues with the food and then finally getting to the hot-tub past midnight to find everybody had gone to bed.

Sunday we had brunch with everyone, at this awesome vegetarian place called Café Flora and then Doug and I went to the Experience Music Project which was amazing. I remember writing about this place when it first launched. I could lose myself for hours in the oral histories of the musicians. One of the most amazing was Linton Kwesi Johnston talking about conscious decisions to pattern the rhythms of his poetry off the bass in reggae rather than iambic pentameter after reading Black Panther Literature.

Photos when I get an opportunity.

I think, disturbingly, that “they” have found a reality TV show that I may just have to watch. On the Lot is a Steven Spielberg/Mark Burnett co-production where the contestants are wannabe film-makers and the prize is a $1 million movie contract with Fox. Very interesting.
 
Also, Play! a video game symphony is coming to nearby San Jose. This is one that my old friend and game music composer Stephen Schutze would love (hi, if you’re reading. Been enjoying the updates from Japan!). The performance includes music from: Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Battlefield 1942, Sonic the Hedgehog, Daytona USA, The Legend of Zelda, Prey, World of Warcraft (of course), The Chronicles of Riddick, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and more.

Yes, I’m talking to you,

bevsob

 and

signifier

.

Doug and I are heading Seattle-wards for

puzzlefox

’s wedding.

We’ll be at The Grind Thursday night and then Pirates of the Caribbean, and I believe the wedding is Saturday. Any chance we could catch up for a Sunday brunch or Friday lunch?