(overly-dramatic) SIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHH

How 'Bout Them Apples?

He had us nervous for a minute, but Borowski pulled through with the save.

Indians win!

Poor A-Rod. His team just lost . . .

And this kid? He can't wait to see the Indians in Boston. And even though they won't be there, "Yankees Suck" will still be heard thoughout Fenway.

Thoughts of Home

Cleveland has been much on my mind lately, with its unseasonably warm temps in the 80s (while those of us out here in the PacNW shiver with the early onset on winter-like gray and 50s!) The Indians are kicking butt in the playoffs, and those quarter-beer days on the 1980s seem a distant memory.

I grew up just outside of Cleveland in a then-small-now-monstrous suburb called Strongsville. My parents still live there, active as ever in local theater groups, various landscaping and car-fixing projects, filling me on all the details of the neighbors, the football team, and the mall. My sister A has, like me, abandoned the suburbs in favor of urban living. She lives in West Cleveland with her husband J and their daughter L in a funky little neighborhood called Tremont. Within a several block radius of their house they can dine at Mexican, Polish, African (I think!), or visit the best year-round market in Cleveland.

In mom's most recent letter she described my little niece L, aged 20 months, as having "a huge belly and no butt!" Her description of her pants sliding right down around her legs has still got me howling! This letter was soon followed by a phone call from my sister in which she lamented the fact that she and J had better stop swearing in front of L. The most recent incident: while grocery shopping L accidentally knocked something off the shelf. She looked down, looked up at her mum, shook her head and said "Dammit."

L is ready to do battle with one of grandma's garden gnomes.

Chilling out at the local fair.

Z and I went to two Indians games while we were there in June.

A New Addition

(I have to get one more entry in before the next month!)

Meet the newest member of our humble driveway:

We call him Shitty Blue.

Belgium For Sale

While seeking-out-then-catching-up-on international news, I discovered that Belgium is for sale. If you have the financial means I highly recommend considering this worthy investment. If not for the culture, history, and wonderful people, than at least for the food and beer!

Coming Up for Air

How embarrassing. I have to post before I hit the one-month mark. There have been many moments when I've thought, "That's got to go in the blog for my trusted-but-few loyal readers out there." But there have also been many distractions, not the least of which is going from no jobs to three in only a matter of weeks. And then there's the dissertation . . .

No excuses, though, just a few teasers and random thoughts:

• We are what we eat. Our move to the Northwest has included, among many wonderful things, an increased awareness of the origins of our food. Thanks in part to Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Z and I have been making increased efforts to shop locally and rid our bodies of high fructose corn syrup. With a refrigerator full of kale and zucchini, we are at two weeks and counting!
• Back to the Presbys. After two years working in the Lutheran Church I've found a choir position with a local Presbyterian church in North Tacoma. Out with the sung liturgy, in with the praise music ...
• The women's choir at PLU is shaping up to be en excellent ensemble this year! And after our beginning-of-the-year retreat, which took place yesterday, I now know more than I ever wanted to about first crushes, favorite TV shows, and "most daring things you've ever done."
• I'm singing with a group in Seattle, The Esoterics, in a fascinating upcoming concert of contemporary Islamic sacred music. Check out the link and come on by if you are in the neighborhood. Tickets from Belgium should only run about 750 euro!
• A colleague and I have decided to join forces later this fall and put together an early music/contemporary choral concert of professional-level singers in an effort to set up an audience base in the Tacoma/South Puget Sound region. As you can imagine, the madbyrd in me is orgasmically excited about this opportunity.

Finally, I am almost-but-not-quite-as excited about the season premier of Heroes tonight. Let's hope that the writing has improved and that certain undesirable characters have been written off!

A Bit of Europe in the Northwest

Z and I recently took a short vacation (our second official one in seven years of marriage) to Victoria, BC. Recently voted one of the top 5 cities to visit in the world, Victoria represents the best of all my holiday dreams. It abounds with outdoor cafes, boutique shops, and beautiful gardens, all situated on a harbor and surrounded by majestic mountains. It is, essentially, a little taste of Europe nestled in the heart of the Pacific Northwest.

Victoria lies just a few hours from our doorstep. We hit the road around 9:30 AM, drove across the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge and onto sleepy Kitsap Peninsula. Two-and-a-half hours later we reached Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, parked our car, had a quick diner lunch, and boarded the ferry for the 90-minute crossing. We had full sun, light breezes, and great views of mountains on all sides. Fifteen minutes after pulling in we had disembarked, walked to our hotel to check in, and were on our way to our first-of-many outdoor cafes.

Victoria Harbor, excuse me, Harbour, bustles with sea traffic. As we pulled in we were surrounded by other ferries, executive yachts, small sailboats, cute local ferry taxis, and seaplanes. Everything worth seeing in Victoria is right here. The Parliament buildings stand side-by-side with old, majestic hotels. Horse-drawn carriages rumble along tree-lined streets chock full of street performers, artists, and ice cream stands. Downtown is only a few steps away, and it only takes one or two blocks to trade in cheesy tourist shops for cafes, chic clothing stores, gourmet food shops, coffee shops, and pubs. Z and I literally ate and drank our way across Victoria in our three-day visit.

The only time we left the sunny streets of Victoria was to visit the world-famous Butchart Gardens. In the 1910s Jeannie Butchart had an idea to beautify an exhausted limestone quarry that had supplied her husband's cement plant. The Butcharts combined the natural outline of the quarry with an mixture of rare and exotic plants to create the Sunken Garden. Later they carved out the authentic Japanese, Rose, and Italian Gardens. Today the gardens see over 1,000,000 visitors a year, plays host to a summer music festival, and is one of Canada's National Historic Sites. While the Northwest's mild climate allows the garden to exist all year long, I would highly recommend a visit on a late summer afternoon. The crowds wane, the shadows grow long, and the view from the patio with a glass of wine can't be beat.




Put Victoria on your list of must-sees. Leave your car behind, loosen your belt, and bring your camera.

(P.S. This blog is turning into a PacNW vacation guide. If you're getting bored, not to worry! The vacation is nearly over, and soon I'll return to riveting tales of dissertation writing, breathy choral auditions, and exciting whose-turn-is-it-to-do-dishes-tonight debates with Z!)