This is huge, but oh, so worth it if you want a really good view of Portland. In the center of the photo, between the two bridges, there are two boats moored to a dock. Those belong to the Portland Spirit, where I spent a while as a singing waitress. Yes, really. Nice folks and good to work for.

Our friend, Fabulous Girl, came up to our neck of the woods so we could go out for brunch. After we finished a tour of the apartment, we decided to stay in. I’m generally happier cooking than going out, so that worked well for me.

I made a beet green and black olive tapénade frittata, topped with a sour cream and gin sauce; sautéed green peppers and potatoes; fruit from -e-’s garden in Portland. I also had a some croissants leftover from work, yesterday.

The closest coffeeshop to the Puppet Kitchen is the The Bagel Zone. The guys there are totally nice. I needed to research some ways to decrease the distance of a cable pull, and they were starting to close down shop. Not only did he let me hang out while he cleaned, he gave me a big bag of pastries to take home.

It was great to have Fabulous Girl here. She is a fine reminder of the many reasons that moving to NYC was a good idea.

Today I took my bike out for the first time in the city. First of all, I have to say, that my timing was amazingly stupid, because today was genuinely hot. A high of 92. For the most part I was in shade by the river, but still. It was hot. Hot. Hot, I tell you.

I was expecting to be frightened and tense while biking–I mean, it’s New York. I’m used to Portland, where the cyclists are plentiful and respected. We all know how crazy traffic in NYC is, right? Yeah. Here’s the interesting thing. Traffic in the city is slow.

I didn’t think about that until I was on the bike. Even obeying all the traffic laws, I was always moving faster than vehicular traffic. Why? Well, first of all, I planned my route so I was on bike lanes almost the whole way. So, when there was an obstruction, I just sailed past it. Second, cabs stop all the time to let people out.

By the end of the ride, I wound up being more aggressive about merging into traffic when someone was stopped in the bike lane. Again, I expected that would be scary, but really, I’m going the same speed as traffic. I’d look. Signal. Change into their lane. Not once–and this is NYC–not once did anyone honk at me. I even had a cabbie, a cabbie mind you, wave me ahead.

I think because I was behaving like a vehicle and they’d seen me stopping at traffic lights (there was a long stretch where I was next to the same three cabs) they were inclined to not hate me for making their lives difficult.

I, on the other hand, began to loathe the other cyclists and pedestrians who just wander out into the street as if no one is going to run them down.

I went over to our local farmers market today. There are only six or so booths, but with a nice variety of things. It’s at 106th and Central Park West, nestled against an unexpected bluff of stone. It’s a beautiful setting, and naturally I didn’t have my camera with me. Google Maps Street View is not really doing it justice, but gives you a bit of the idea.

The weather has cooled off enough that I have been cooking at night. Other than that, most of the day was spent organizing the office. There have been several things in our boxes that baffle me. For instance, why in the world did I decide to pack the folding file I had in college? I mean, nothing–nothing is useful in that. I didn’t even know I still had it, so why is it in NYC? I’ve started a box for “things that don’t belong here” that Rob will take back to Portland when he goes back for IPNC.

Portland has an old tradition of the Rose Festival and the Rose parade. Part of the Rose Parade tradition is that it always rains on the day of the parade. So, what day did we pick for our yard sale? Parade Day! We’ve had some customers, but not as many as we would like. The weather feels like November.

And with an hour left in the yard sale, we still have the cyclops head.

Edited to Add: Evan Nichols stopped by and took this photo of us. Note the grey and Novembery weather.

I’ll be taking the train to Norwescon tomorrow and returning to Portland on Monday.

I’m at the Chattanooga airport on my way back to Portland. I’ll get home at 6:00 tonight and head straight to the studio. Well, probably dinner and then studio.

I’m sitting in the Portland airport and just realized that I left my spare computer batteries at home. I have a total of three batteries. This one has two hours of life. I’m figuring between this and my palm pilot I ought to be able to write for a good chunk of the five hour flight. It could be much worse. The battery I usually have in only has a half-hour life span.

I also have Jay Lake’s Trial of Flowers for when I run out of battery life.

WRW presents FREE AUDIO DRAMA by Craig Kenworthy, Carole Dane, Sandra DeHelen and Joe Medina by way of H.P. Lovecraft.

WRW is happy to prove the cynics wrong and present four of our original audio experiments free of charge to the listening public. All are from writers who have participated in our Writer’s On the Air Workshop. lt broadcasts on Stage and Studio with Dmae Roberts on our local station, KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland Oregon. I am very proud of all these pieces and I think they show the ever restless range of audio expression that makes “workshop” more than just a slogan or idle phraseology. We continue to experiment and explore the storytelling possibilties of the audio medium and welcome you on our voyage of discovery.

I’ve been troubled for awhile because my left shoulder, the one I hurt when I fell down the stairs last year, has begun bothering me again. I couldn’t figure out why. I hadn’t had another injury. My lifestyle is much less stressful than the things I did on the show. And yet…something that I was doing in Portland made my shoulder hurt.

I finally figured out what it was. When I read or edit at the computer, basically anything that doesn’t require both hands on the keyboard, I put my elbow on the desk and lean on it. My left elbow. What happens then is that my shoulder rolls forward into the position that lets the tendon pop out of its groove, and then I lean on it, compressing the tendon between my bones. Nice, eh?

I’m now trying to break the habit. It is not easy. But, if I do it, then I’ll get to sleep on my left side again. That’ll be nice.

I made it back with no trouble. Rob and I went to go pick up some of his wine in McMinnville, so he could do some deliveries. Now, I’m off to the pharmacy, because he went and got a headcold while I was gone. Tomorrow we leave for Hawaii.

I’m looking at my suitcase and wondering what security will think of it. For the monkey build, I’m taking my DeWalt radial sander, belt sander, three boxes of industrial hot glue and two shafts of nylon for milling parts. My other checked bag contains 8 bottles of Frameworks Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and a roll of 1/2 inch reticulated foam.

My clothes are in my carry-on bag.

For those keeping track, I leave Portland at 5:30am and arrive at JFK at 4:45 tonight. A car service will take me into the City to the studio to drop off the tools.

Today was mostly spent tidying and sending things away. Folks from various corners of Portland came and picked up various things, slowly creating more space in the house.

I also made snowcream tonight with the snow I saved in the freezer. Snowcream, for those of you who didn’t grow up with it, consists of a bowl of snow, evaporated milk, sugar and vanilla. When I called Dad to ask him for the recipe, he said that you just mix those things together until it tastes right.

sigh

So that’s what I did. Mmmm… snow cream. Rob was not impressed, but I think Christina appreciated it. I grew up thinking that everyone made snow cream, then thinking that it was a Southern thing. And now I’m beginning to suspect that it’s a very localized thing. Like, maybe just Tennessee. Have you ever had it?

I’m emptying my basement. I have loads of stuff that aren’t going with us to NYC. If you are in the Portland, OR area and are willing to come pick things up, you can score on foam, ribbons, fabric, glue and lumber. Email me and I’ll give you my contact info.

I also have several boxes of marionettes that I inherited from an older puppeteer and I can’t take them with me. These are in various stages of completion. Some of the boxes are only parts. Many of the marionettes need to be restrung

I can’t bring myself to throw them in the trash.

These are good for an older child’s toys, beginners and collectors.

I spent today being the Blue Fairy while floating down the river with an assortment of elves, fairies and other creatures. The Portland Spirit has these Cinnamon Bear cruises which are pretty cute. We spend about two-hours, providing kids with a trip through Maybe-land. It’s fun, in its own way. It is also pretty draining. I keep getting home and wanted to go straight to bed.