An evening with friends

Tonight I attended a very pleasant post-holiday gathering. It took place at friends of my sister's, just down the street near NE 40th and Skidmore. The theme was, specifically, "Port, wine, chocolate and cheese."

The hosts supplied a hefty amount of all promised menu items. The favorites were these homemade dipped caramel-filled peppermint chocolates, with crushed candy cane garnish. We also sampled a tempting white port (more light brown than anything) directly from Portugal that our hosts, Brett and Jessica, picked up in Lisbon this past fall.

There were only four other guests at the party apart from the two hosts, my sister and myself. Two couples, both residents of the same neighborhood, provided intersting stories and commentary.

The first couple operate a high end office and accessories store on NE Alberta.....they were responsive when I asked them if they were planning to carry any of the Freitag line. They responded that this Spring was the launch date, given some delays to shipping and product line agreements....I am not particularly fond of the Freitag line, but I do recognize its current market potential. To set the record straight, I am not a fan of the line because I find it panders to a crowd of snobby status-seeking design types who pay too much for a semi-decent product line. In any case, the brand promises a lot of profits to upscale retailers and apparently it was of current interest to these guys. Perhaps it was the port?.....

The next couple was a nationally known band member and his girlfriend, who also works in the music production biz. Chris W. of Death Cab is an easygoing and relaxed dude and his girlfriend is equally or more as engaging and interested in all things ranging from academic to domestic. It was fun to hear about their on the road stories. I really like the fact that Portland breeds of an atmosphere where rock star profiles find time in their (post-holiday) schedules to fraternize with locals in their neighborhood, talk about things outside their sphere of knowledge (or interest), and do it with amazing success and clarity. I could hang out in Portland on a permanent basis with great happiness with friends of a similar caliber....

Aside from the great party, I leave for Berkeley tomorrow night. For the next several hours I am supposed to figure out how to feed 16-18 people over three days....

It's gift giving day

Concert wrap up:
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks played on Friday night. From what I did hear, it was a fine performance. However, circumstances required a rushed departure. Pre-performance we visited Ron Tom's, also on Burnside, where my sister and I met a couple of annoying dudes whose version of mingling to us seemed more like medieval torture.

Saturday I was a shopping drone.

Sunday it is very wet here. I am going to go food shopping with Sarah and then I am off to Vancouver for an annual gift exchange tradition.

Shall I return not bearing candles or themed socks.

Destination: Malkmus

Off to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Report following....

It's a holiday tradition

Shopping for the holidays is an annual rite of passage. I tend to try and do all my shopping in 1-2 days, sometimes with favorable results, sometimes the opposite. Today was a decent attempt. Several gifts were procured:

1. Pirateology - gift for nephew Everett, age 7

2. Life of Pi - gift for nephew Alex, age 15

3. Pacifica lotion - gift for exstepmother Stephanie. This particular one smells like Chai. It is amazing.

4. Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour set - gift for sister Sarah

Fin.

The semester is over. I haven't slept since Saturday night and I am still rolling although I am about to fall asleep in my keyboard any minute. I think it is actually pretty dangerous for me to be handling graphics files in this state...my hand is likely to slip and delete a lot of fine line work.

The only chores I really must do today are 1)look busy while I am sitting outside of Peter's office (if I am in front of a computer he assumes I am working, when in reality I am reading celebrity blogs) and 2)clean off my studio desk. The janitors are rolling in tomorrow morning and have promised to take anything remaining with them, so it's up to me to clear off the altar.

Here's to tonight's sleep.

Post review sleep session

Hours of sleep consumed between Dec 7 - Dec 10: 12
Hours of sleep consumed evening of Dec 10: 14

There is something wrong about the above sleep data. Entirely wrong. However, on the bright side, today I am feeling great and looking even better. My skin no longer resembles that of a haggard 50 year old. My eyes are not (completely) blood shot. I am better hydrated, too. The long days and nights in this building literally take all the moisture and life outta ya.

Herr Bosselmann showed up at our review today. A gem of a phrase he uttered at one point was, "You know, slime is an extremely fascinating thing for 10 year-olds...think about it."

December seems like it is almost over. I will be home in a week. However, there is still much work to be done. I have an exam on science and ecology things on Friday and another design project due on Monday. Which I haven't even begun to think about yet...

Two days on the job and you kill someone

Breaking news from Berkeley's big box neighbor....the irony of the situation is ludicrous.

Emeryville Mayor Kills Pedestrian

It's official. Countdown begins.

Mental state: apprehensive & aware, not shaking

Dehydration scale (1-10): 7.8

Coffee intake in past 24 hours: <10 oz.

Beer, wine & spirits intake in past 24 hours: >12 oz.

Hand residue factor: ink and wash stains

Craving status: New York strip steak

Current desk display: 2 bananas, 1 Blue Moon Lager, 8 pieces of battered trace, laptop, desk brush, Elmer's glue, ipod, engineer scale, 1 eflute 100 scale topography model, drafting tape, various pencils and pens

Most recent sleep period: 230am-830am (sleeping in!!!)