I have been absent for quite some time. I apologize. I’ve been busy. Until I have time to leave a proper post, I give you this. Eban dancing to the X song “Nausea.” I’ve been letting the boys pick songs on my Ipod and they are quite fond of X. Although, when letting them choose the other day, I suddenly heard “Straight Outta Compton” as I was doing the dishes.

Summertime. I really want to love the summer. I like to think of it as carefree and fun, but in reality the summer is usual a lot more stressful than throughout the year. Summer kind of sucks in general. School’s out, routine is shot, it’s hot–or as is the case in Portland, it’s often not hot and you can’t really plan on anything–and people get cranky and annoyed. Everyone is in and out of town. Nothing is set. Drives me insane.
I have been trying to finish my record all summer, but it seems like it’s an impossible task. I am depending on too many other people’s schedules that never really seem to work together. I have basically accepted the fact that I won’t be able to work on it until September. So for the time being, I am focusing on running the Hood To Coast next week.
The Fresh Pot has had a HTC team for the past six years and ever since I started working there almost four years ago, I had hoped–and more or less counted on–running the event someday. I wasn’t supposed to be part of the team this year, but there were some last minute changes and so here I am. I’ve had only two weeks to actually focus on doing the run, but I did start running again in earnest in the spring. In May I started running just about every day with the short term goal of being able to go for a five mile run and not feel like total shit. That happened in mid to late June when I ran about five and a half. Since then though it’s been steadily down hill throughout the summer. I could count on running while the boys were in school or if I was unable during that time, it wasn’t too hot to run in the late afternoon/early evening. Now that they’re out of school and it’s hot as shit, my window to run has diminished considerably. Since I peaked in June, I’ve been running more like two or three times a week, running between two and three miles.
This past week I’ve run every day for at least three miles, the past two days going up to four and a half. I feel pretty good about my ability at this point. I don’t think I will die on the course at least. The race is broken into 36 legs run by teams of twelve (The Fresh Pot and Stumptown have a combined team). Each runner does three legs that range in length from 4 to 8 miles more or less. As a newbie, I’m given the relatively easy assignment of runner #8. As runner #8, I will be doing just under 15 miles within a twenty five hour period. The first leg is on the shorter side and is relatively flat, which is nice because I will be running in the dark probably around midnight. My second run, #20, is significantly more difficult and makes me a bit nervous. As you can see here, it’s rated “Very Hard.” Yikes.

Not only is it long and mostly uphill, I’m told it’s almost entirely on a gravel road and I can expect a shit ton of dust kicked up by the constant stream of vans passing me by. Yes! The third leg, #32 is a super duper short 4.09 miles, rated “Moderate.” At that point I should be completely stained in blood, sweat, and tears (hopefully not shit and vomit as well) and barely coherent. You can see satellite maps of all three legs here. Feel free to place side bets in the comments section on exactly where I will have physical and emotional breakdowns. You can use Google to pinpoint the exact coordinates.
I should also add that my dear, dear friend Amy Harwood will be runner #8 for her team as well. Their stated goal is to beat the Fresh Pot. We shall see. I get twenty percent of any bets placed on this page.

We had various rules regarding the television when I was growing up. They changed some over the years–including the time my parents paid my brothers and I five hundred dollars each to not watch TV for a year–though it usually stuck to something like choosing a show or two per day adding up to no more than an hour of TV. There was a time when my Sunday night show was America’s Funniest Home Videos. I looked forward to watching it as much as I did the Simpsons in later years. I thought AFV–as it’s now known–was so hysterically hilarious that it was impossible for me to comprehend why the rest of my family didn’t think the same.
So tonight by accident, the boys started watching AFV and they seem to agree with my younger self that this show is incredible. They were laughing hysterically, shaking uncontrollably, and then coming in to the kitchen to explain and reenact each hilarious video they watched. Amedeo summed up the shows appeal best by describing one video as “hilarious and painful.”
I’m struck by a number of things watching this same show years later:
1) I was right as a child in thinking that Bob Saget was a terrible, obnoxious host. The obnoxious host now is not nearly as bad as Bob.
2) Hosting this program would send anyone spiraling into heavy drinking and needle drugs.
3) Even with the amount of video recorders in the world today–probably at least ten times what was around when I was a kid? Twenty times?–the ratio of good to bad videos is roughly the same. There is more video being taken and therefore, more bad video.
4) The show still plays a fair amount of old videos. And I mean old as in, from the nineties, maybe even earlier. Seems very peculiar.
Of course I have to include a video now. Supposedly this was video submitted to the show that they couldn’t air. I’m not quite sure why that would be. Thanks to the magic of Youtube, we can all watch!

We spent the afternoon on Sauvie Island picking berries at Kruger’s Farm. It was clear and warm, but not too hot: a perfect day for picking berries. And, a good day for a wedding as well which was set to begin soon after we were leaving. My brother and his wife were married there (three years ago? I think?) so it brought back lots of memories to see people setting up beneath the giant oak tree. That was a beautiful day as well, weather even better than today in fact.
Today the boys and Ida picked berries for about an hour–boysenberries, marionberries, blueberries, and raspberries*–before they said they were too hot. Melissa pointed out again that it is painfully obvious these kids were born in the Northwest. They start to melt if it gets above eighty degrees. They did fairly well though, enough so that they got to stuff their faces with ice cream, in addition to the many berries.
*If you–like myself–are unsure of the difference between boysenberries, marionberries, and blackberries you can read [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus). They are all part of the genus Rubus! Who knew? The information might also serve you well in deciphering the lyrics and imagery of various “[freak folk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_folk)” artists.

I must apologize. I have been absent from this blog for too long. I have a new computer now though and I’m hoping to increase my productivity as a result. In the meantime, I offer you this photograph of a dead stingray, washed up and dried out on the beach. Amedeo inadvertently stepped on it while we were in Bandon a couple weeks ago. Enjoy!

This is certainly one of my most favorite of Eban’s drawings. Nathan gave the boys a Stumptown t-shirt and a Blazer’s sweatshirt, so they were to make some drawings to give to him as trade. Eban sat down and did two. He handed them to me and said solemnly, “the ghost is for Nathan. The cat is for Rita.” The cat is pretty awesome as well, a very human-like face done in black with the ears colored in. The ghost though is so simple and alive to me. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I love it.
The boys and I are headed to Bandon tomorrow for a family reunion. Good times will be had.

Tonight we went to see the opening of “WALL E” through the kindness and generosity of Cabel Sasser of Panic, ie Mike Merril’s boss. Panic bought up more or less the entire theater and then gave tickets away to friends (and friends of friends). I don’t know Cabel and did not get a chance to say thanks after the show, so…thank you! The movie was awesome as we have all come to expect from the folks at Pixar. And, as always there was a killer short to open the film up. The short was fantastic as well and I think sets a great precedent that all studios should follow: start your feature with a short or two. People love short films. And there are tons of really great ideas that need not be hashed out into a feature film, but can be realized in ten minutes or less. It’s awesome.
Last summer we saw “Ratatouille” in the theater and I thought it was the best film I had seen in a very long time. Not the best animated feature or anything like that: the best film. I still think it should have won the Oscar for Best Picture. I say this as someone who loves me some Coen Brothers. The Brothers Coen are responsible for a good fifth or so of my sense of humor and story telling (The Far Side, The Simpsons, Raymond Carver, and my father are more or less responsible for the rest). And I liked “No Country…” a great deal as well, though I thought the last quarter of the film is no where as good as everything leading up to it.
I have to say I was a little surprised by all the praise heaped on the film, especially by those who are serious fans of the Coens. I’m guessing at least some of that praise and excitement is due to the relief that they made a film better than “The Lady Killers” and “Intolerable Cruelty” and one that feels a bit more familiar thematically at least. Still, I don’t think that’s any reason to vault “No Country” up to best status. Not only that, but it’s unfair to their films that are more or less flawless: “Fargo”, “The Big Lebowski”, and “Miller’s Crossing.” Strangely, I more or less agree with David Denby from the New Yorker on this–though he doesn’t include “Miller’s Crossing”–which surprising because usually I think he’s way off and pretty boring to read. If we’re going to laud the Coens’ imperfect masterpieces, I’d take “Barton Fink”, “Blood Simple” or “Raising Arizona” over “No Country” any day.
What struck me about “Ratatouille,” is how thoroughly realized the story is. Anyone I’ve talked to who has ever worked in a kitchen talks about how accurately they depict the back of house of a restaurant. The filmmakers created this super accurate environment and then used it to have all kinds of chases and excitement you’d expect from an animated film. The conflict, the love story, the characters all ring true in a way that only stems from a really well written screenplay. It’s exciting to see a filmmaker like Brad Bird who is totally on top of his game. (“WALL E” is not written or directed by Bird, but made by Pixar). You know that whatever he does next is going to be great. It’s a little bit like the Coen Brothers about ten years ago.

Today Amedeo had to have a baby tooth pulled, the second time this has happened. The teeth in question had cavities which went too deep and then got infected. The first time it happened, both Lisa and I were confused as to how it happened, but also felt like horrible parents. This time, I’m a little confused, feel a little responsible, but am mostly just annoyed at the overall health care system in this country.
They boys are back on Oregon Health Plan (OHP) which they had been on from gestation until they were around four years old and we got a letter explaining we made too much money. It’s nice to be told in a letter that your children are no longer insured. Luckily we got them on insurance through Lisa’s work for a while. Once that ended, I applied for OHP myself as a singer parent and got the boys on. Madee went in for the initial dentist’s appointment after complaining of pain and had the first tooth pulled. A month or so later, both boys went back for a check up and cleaning. More cavities they said so make an appointment to get them filled. Long story short, the soonest appointment for the fillings is in October. It’s laughable.
A month or so later, cavities unfilled, and Madee has to get his tooth pulled because it’s so fucked up and infected. Lucky for us, since today was a “special request” appointment we went to a different clinic than we had before. The dentist at this new clinic–which is coincidently much closer to the house–was super friendly and helpful. I don’t know if this has to do with the dentist’s skill or the level of decay, but Lisa said the first time the tooth was pulled Amedeo screamed and cried. Today he didn’t even flinch. He sat perfectly still and said nothing. It was amazing. I was so impressed. Then the dentist helped me navigate tthe bullshit surrounding the system so that this can be our new clinic.

I have a couple theories as to why the boys have so many cavities, at least relative to what I had at their age. The boys have relatively little sugar or sweets compared to what I had and certainly compared to your average public school student. One theory, is that they are just naturally more susceptible to cavities than other people. Some people seem to get more cavities than others. They brush their teeth daily. They don’t floss daily, which I know is a problem, but I never did either. The second theory is that it’s due to the absence of fluoride in the water in Portland. They are given fluoride tablets in school now, but we didn’t sign the boys up at the beginning of the year to receive them, so it wasn’t until the last few months that they were taking them daily. Up until that point they would sporadically take the fluoride at home.
Hmm…I guess either way it really is my fault. Looks like I owe them a coke!

The boys gave me their cards the day they left for New Jersey. This is Amedeo’s. I love it. I said, what’s the porcupine from, Buddy? Then Lisa told me that he meant I would recognize it is a porcupine, not recognize it from something.
I talked to them Sunday night as they were lying in bed with Lisa’s Dad. They told me they went on a roller coaster at the boardwalk and went into a haunted house. Then they started laughing uncontrollably and Amedeo couldn’t talk. I asked what was so funny and he said Grandpa farted. It’s safe to say they’re having a good time.

I have received confirmation that my sons are on the Eastern Seaboard. They were flying down the Garden State Parkway when I spoke to them.
This is what they looked like before they left, running around like mad men.


Come home soon, Boys. I miss you already!