andrew bird

I was first exposed to TED Talks while working at Living Room and completely fell in love with this unique form of education. I can't stop learning. I love it so.

So today at work, as we go between the highs and lows of patronage, I've been meandering about the web and expanding my horizons while sipping green tea out of a paper cup. In my journey I came upon a TED Talk with Andrew Bird, one of my favorite musicians. He's immensely talented and this just proves the point... Enjoy!

i wish i had a pet

How cute is this red fox in the snow? Their hunting method is not only effective, but adorable. Oh, how I wish I could have pet fox! Sigh. What a perfect combination of a cat and a dog!

doppelgänger

Per tradition, I spent Christmas Eve up at Dad's house. In lieu of a big, fancy holiday meal, we opted for the meal I mentioned in my last post (oh, still dreaming about it). While we were cooking, Maw Maw was busy rifling through boxes of old Farmer family photos and came across one in particular that shot out at me like a bullet.

The first photo above is of my Great-Grandpa Farmer, a man I never knew, taken in 1920. It struck me for obvious reasons... Because I had taken a photo - almost the exact same photo - of Jared a little over a month ago while we were in Indiana for his dad's wedding!

It's just amazing... Same pose, same hats, the suits... Simply stunning.

On that note, I'm sitting at the airport in Sacramento and I can't wait to get home and see him!

"little full, lotta sap"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's Christmas morning and I'm sitting up here at Dad's house in Napa watching A Christmas Story... Again. This makes, what, six times this year? Oh, I love it! We had a little Christmas Eve dinner last night of grilled pork tenderloin (Dad) and mushroom & butternut squash risotto (me) with some Bella Vida 2007 Two Rows Pinot Noir from Oregon. That, of course, was followed by the twice annual viewing of Christmas Vacation and falling asleep on the couch!

Just wanted to wish all readers a very Happy Holiday and I hope the day is filled with all the magic it held way back when! And don't forget why we celebrate today... It's all for Him!

(photo of Brigette and me, Christmas 2007)

let it dough (since we've no place to go)

Sitting here at the Portland Airport, I find myself halfway through a cup of coffee and still more than a half hour early for my flight. In total I've been here over an hour. Indy dropped me off and left me wishing, for the umpteenth time, that we could spend another Christmas together. "Maybe next year," he said. I hope so!

Anyway, to cull my boredom I got to snooping around A Cup Of Jo again and found these amazing photos from artist Christof Neimann... How creative is this?!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm sure I'll post a few things from home in the next few days but just in case, love and happiness to all!

a cup of jo

OK, you've now heard me profess my love for Joanna Goddard and her amazing blog A Cup Of Jo somewhere around four hundred times. My coworker Jodi and I have each sent her a little note thanking her for her blog and for being generally awesome and surprise! each received a note in return! A woman that has over 15,000 people following her blog and who must get thousands of letters a day... Needless to say we were both just shy of giddy to have gotten responses. Anyway, I just wanted to put a face to the name. From the way she presents herself, she is kind, generous, goofy and loves her family like there's no tomorrow...

I can relate to that.

merry christmas baby

Andrea sent us these pictures of Kamdyn (already 4 months old, so grown up!) and his first Christmas tree! 

the riverhouse

For the last few days here, Indy has been dog-sitting for Lisa and Helios here at their house while they're in Mexico for a week. They live out in Lake Oswego which is just far enough away (and the house just big enough) to make it really lonely to be there all alone (I should know, it's where I used to live when I first moved to Portland). So I've been camping out here with the two boys - Indy and Jack the Wonderdog - for a couple days here.

With Indy working at 3:30am each day, I've taken to curling up with Jack on the couch here and waiting until he gets back at a more human hour of the morning to actually get up. Today we spent most of the day curled up in cozy blankets in front of the television watching shows OnDemand since they have a big, fancy TV set up. The only time that routine was interrupted was when Mr. Indiana drove me downtown to get my haircut and then out to Costco to pick up some Bacon Mac & Cheese (delicious, by the way...). 

And now, with the cheesy, bacon-y goodness firmly plastered to our insides, the boy is back under his blanket and dozing off before another early morning shift while I remain only slightly more lucid as I sit here tapping away at my computer watching The Sing Off. 

Sidenote: The group On The Rocks (here, in their first performance on the show) of The University of Oregon had a good run on The Sing Off and are the winners in my heart for sure. GO DUCKS!

Goodnight!

(photo reposted from Hip Hip Gin Gin)

i can't stop thinking about it

Oh, Nikon D3100 SLR, you are so beautiful. 

ooo, foxy

As a huge fan of Roald Dahl, this print made me smile. The film version of Fantastic Mr. Fox came out not too long ago and rekindled my love for his "children's books" along with his more grown up fiction that I am so partial to. 

(photo reblogged from That Kind Of Woman)

peace on earth... little drummer boy

The original.

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

The remake.

f a b four

Well this is just rad. I love The Beatles and I want this even though I have no wall space to hang it. 

pretty as a picture

Joanna Goddard always posts the prettiest photos on her blog. I'm particularly obsessed with this one. Minus the cigarette, I want to recreate this look once the weather warms up again!

(photo by Garance Dore, via Milk)

portrait

 

Every morning I spend some time online. Usually it's a scan through Facebook to see what's new in the lives of the people I haven't seen since one of my graduations, too much time spent on A Cup of Jo then finally on over to CNN to find out what has happened in the world since I went to bed last night (this is usually the same ritual I execute each night before bed as well).

 

This morning was an easy first stop on my global news front - Time magazine's Best Portraits of 2010.

 

 

The photo above was the first in the series to fully capture my attention with the caption, "Aisha: After having her nose and ears cut off as punishment for fleeing her abusive in-laws, Aisha fled to the safety of a woman's shelter. She was featured on the cover of TIME and later flown to the United States for reconstructive surgery."

 

It's a stark and imminent reminder of just how much I have to be thankful for to live in a country where I can love whomever I choose and live without fear of in-laws beyond the occasional quip.

 

(Photographed by Jodi Bieber / INSTITUTE for TIME )

wine wizard

In my free time at work (and there's been a lot of it lately) I got around to trolling the internet for acclaim for Erath and found this delightful and succinct interview with our winemaker Gary Horner. It's a neat little glimpse into the mind of the man behind our wines. In my opinion, he's one of the rock stars of the industry but still so solid and down-to-earth. For those of you who haven't been able to visit me at the winery, here's the chance to get to know it a little better!

royal

I thought it was really sweet and refreshing to see that Prince William & Kate Middleton's engagement photo seems so normal. If you didn't know any better you wouldn't think that this was a "royal" couple, with God knows how much pomp and circumstance behind it. No, this is just a young couple in love. And I love that. What a sweet photo. I can't wait for the wedding (29 April 2011).

(photo by Mario Testino)

john lennon, 30 years later

One of my favorite John Lennon songs. It's been thirty years but he's still inspiring a generation... A new generation.

artful

"November" by Clare Elsaesser

This is just a beautiful print I found on Etsy. I actually stumbled upon it while going through Joanna Goddard's (A Cup Of Jo) gift guide and favorite Etsy shops. Clare Elsaesser has loads of gorgeous paintings along with this one in her shop TastesOrangey. 

w i s h list

These are the things on my "To Buy Someday" list. They may be slightly frivolous but from word-of-mouth and various reviews I've read for them, it seems that the only regret buyers have had is that they didn't buy these things sooner.

Works for me.

1. Kitchenaid

When Brigette got one of these a couple years ago, she literally burst into tears. I was so excited for her because I knew she had been lusting after the pretty little machine for quite some time. My personal enthusiasm though was somewhat muted. I wasn't big into cooking at the time because, well, she was. It just worked out that she did the majority of the cooking while I did the cleaning. We were each other's perfect housewives. Now though, as I dive deeper and deeper into culinary adventures, it's me who stares wistfully at this puppy as I pass it in stores. Sigh...

2. Nikon D3100

I never really thought much about photography beyond "point and shoot" until around senior year of college. That was when I started to actually care about what I was taking a picture of - the angle, the lighting, the composition. In my free time I began studying photographs that I like in more detail, seeing what it was about them that made them so intriguing. Apparently I don't suck at it now and I'm loving it more and more so in the next year or so I can see this being "The Big One". While it's not a monster camera or anything, this is the best "beginner" camera I've seen on the market. Not that I don't love my sweet little Canon, but it'd be a fun change once in a while to whip this baby out. 

3. Le Creuset

Again with the cooking utensils... This one is just plain awesome. Initially, I was drawn to Le Creuset for its established history of being amazing cookware. My interest in a French/Dutch oven was growing due to my newly minted obsession with making risotto. But in my search I not only found a different Dutch oven (see below) but this little wonder! It's a two-in-one enameled cast-iron pan and I can only imagine what kind of trouble I could get into with this in my kitchen arsenal. 

4. Dutch Oven

Voila! It's the Giada De Laurentiis 6-quart Dutch Oven! This is the one... A little more streamlined (and a lot less expensive) than the other one, this is just a simple beauty. I have kind of a cooking-crush on Giada and was so excited when she came out with a line of cookware for Target. It's all so classic and streamlined. I'd probably buy up the whole line if I could afford it (and had the space to put it)! But if there was only one piece I could choose, this would be it. 

5. Hunter Rain Boots

Long story short: I live in Portland. It rains here. These are awesome. The end. 

neckwarmer

It's barely in the 40's outside right now which has me lusting after things like this amazing piece. 

(photo reposted from pip-squeak chapeau etc.)

tom shadyac's school of joy

I've spent the better part of the last four years or so raving about Tom Shadyac. You've all no doubt heard about his generosity and unwaivering kindness from stories but now it's time for the rest of the world, not just Pepperdine and select members of the Hollywood community, to see a man that talks the talk and - shock of all shocks - walks the walk.

His latest film, a documentary called I Am, is raising both eyebrows and hopes about the future not just of the entertainment industry, but humanity as a whole. What Tom is doing is daring to imagine a world where material things are less important than the relationships we have with our fellow man. 

You can read more about the film here and start to get a feel for the Tom we all know and love. 

i will.

still one of my all-time favorite beatles songs. and exactly how i feel.

warm a n d cozy

It's very cold tonight. I want to live in this picture right now. 

(reposted from Kate Gabriel)

l i k e

After seeing this on A Cup Of Jo I agree in that I want this wonderful, wavy hair.

i love love

of all the charlie browns in the world, you're the charlie browniest

Watching this while decorating my apartment is one of the happiest feelings in the world.

if it looks good, eat it

At this point I would love to post pictures of our Thanksgiving at Fortland (pet-name for Mike, Dean and Robin's house - a combination of Portland and Fort Wayne, appropriately enough) but my camera has decided to cross its arms, hold its breath and stomp its feet (bet you didn't know a camera could have arms, feet and lungs, huh?)... Like an onery child, my sweet little Canon has punked out on me. The lens is broken so the boys of my local Geek Squad have wrapped it up and shipped it off to military school, also known as Canon headquarters to see if they can't whip it back into shape for me.

Forgive my camera. He knows not what he does.

Meanwhile though, life is plugging along merrily. And rightly so seeing as we are now officially coming up on the holiday season. I've switched my ringtone to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" so I can carry my Christmas spirit with me wherever I go, and tomorrow begins The Great Holiday Decorating Spree of 2010! In lay terms, this means I will be doing a sweep of my local dollar store and Target to pick up an assortment of festivities (that I was unable to accquire last year, thank you mononucleosis), snuggling down in my apartment with a cup of some hot beverage, the year's first viewing of Elf and Love Actually and replacing the hundreds of autumn leaves and pumpkins with snowflakes, garland and LIGHTS... Lots and lots and lots of lights.

I think I'll make cookies, too.

classics

we are what we believe

scrabble

I wrote this a few weeks ago when I couldn't sleep...

When it comes to writing, to finally tuning myself to the key I’ve set my life to, I am my own worst enemy. I lie there in bed at night, in the dark, and quietly construct the makings of great things: I write novels and poems, epic dramas and heartbreaking romances, prose and drama, scripts and haikus… Everything pours from my mind and into some great, cosmic font waiting to be blessed by being committed to the page. But as I continue to will my mind to shut down for the night, my frustration only multiplies because I am writing these words in my head and not on paper at all and try as I might to keep them there, near to the source from which they sprang, I cannot. And by morning, it is all gone and I am no more a writer than I was before full consciousness set in somewhere between birth and my first solid memory of actually living.

Does every writer go through this? Dealing with the absurdity of writer’s block only to try and escape it for a few hours in sleep, but to have the thoughts racing around your mind like some frantic muskrat on a mission? Jesus. It’s exhausting. I just want to go to sleep, to drift into the blissful unawares of nothingness for a while. Much as I love those rare lucid dreams, I love just seeing what my poor head can get up to when I get out of my own way.

And even now, I know the minute I step away from this particular ramble, my mind will once again spring into action because it won’t have the stage fright it has right now and once again I will be frustrated at not having the power to control my own inner-workings. These thoughts and stories and beautiful, perfectly constructed sentences will go to waste and I can only hope at this point that God is keeping some great transcript of my thoughts so that someday, if I am allowed into His kingdom, He will let me read over the things I thought so merrily at night and I will finally have the sense of satisfaction I only get a glimpse of here on earth, in the middle of the night, in my dark apartment somewhere between sleep and madness.

happy boy

Kamdyn Michael could not be any cuter. This is a fact. 

time lapse

The time it has been since my last post is, quite frankly, inexcusable. But, since we're being frank here, the only reason I had so much to say a few weeks ago is because the person I usually say things to was gone and now he's back. 


Jared returned from the fires completely rejuvenated. The light was back in him and he was happier, albeit more exhausted, than I've ever seen him. The thrill of the fire was lit in his eyes, his voice, everything. And although he was covered head to toe in wicked poison oak, it was exactly what he needed.


In short, it's been great to have him back safe and sound. And now I'm ready to get rid of him again. By which I mean he's ready to go out on another call. Everything here in the northwest is cooling down dramatically and with the descent of autumn he's getting anxious to get back out and play in the flames again. 

While these aren't pictures from him crew, they are from the View Lake Complex Fire (the second fire he fought) and, he said, EXACTLY what his conditions were like. 

Anyway, beyond that, life has been frolicking along merrily. Work has continued to be wonderful and challenging. Last week we had a wine delivery and with three of us putting it all away, it only took three hours to get from 460 cases of wine down to this one. last. box. 

And since my apartment has become an apocalyptic mess, I decided to forfeit the gym for the day (which I will regret later when Jared and Shamoo go for a run and then do an obscene amount of pushups and sit-ups after dinner) and clean. The anticipation of October and with it the coming of Hallowe'en season has me all wound up like a small child. Should I get this excited about pumpkins and candy corn? Eh, I don't even care. 

I'm totally okay with it. 

dolce vita

Jared just called from I-5... He's on his way home... I'm right here on the edge of my seat. 

fire, fire everywhere

Also, in recent and important news... Jared called me again today. His crew was getting ready to leave the Oak Flat fire and heading toward Mt. Hood where they have been reassigned. This fire is called (to the best of our knowledge) the View Lake (or Lake View, according to Jared but the website I found called it the other) fire. The only information I've found on it is here. This fire is smaller and mostly contained but with so many other crews dispatched elsewhere, ASP has been called in to fill the gaps. To his knowledge, this should only add a few more days to this "deployment".

Continued prayers are always appreciated!


***UPDATE*** View Lake Complex

eat pray love

In some ways, I find myself beginning to think of Elizabeth Gilbert as my guru. I'm reading her book Eat Pray Love right now and finding, beyond all the suppositions that it's some silly, "chick-lit" sort of book, that she has stumbled into some very real human truths, on both broad and specific levels. And through it all, her humour about the many ways to tackle life keep me smiling, laughing, crying and understanding that we are, in fact, all divinely and serenely connected through three of the most natural and basic things we can do as human beings: eat. pray. love.

kamdyn michael!

I just had to post these pictures of Jared's nephew...