Evening Paddle in Scappoose Bay

Enjoyed a nice evening paddle in Scappoose Bay. Wonderful views, a quiet evening, a short soft shower, Great Blue Herons, the splashing of beavers and leaping little fish.

After night fell we followed each others glow-light taillights as we maneuvered our kayaks through fallen trees in a narrow channel.

I did get a few photos before we lost the light of day.

Thanks to Steve and Bonnie at Scappoose Bay Kayaking and to PCC Community Education for a memorable evening.

PCC’s Poppe Panther

The Panther mascot at Portland Community College is really strutting his stuff as of late. He’s got a new video on YouTube.com and is pawing the latest happenings into Twitter. This is quite a break from the reclusive behavior I had been accustomed to from our Panther. Once rarely seen in the wilds on campus, Poppe is now spotted commonly on campus and across the Web.

Poppe Panther and his brethren form a proud ink of panthers to be mascots of schools. While I am aware of professional and university panther mascots, I was not aware of the population of panthers touting the mission of community colleges.

The Chronicles of Goodfoot and Toaster

The first volume of The Chronicles of Goodfoot & Toaster: The Misunderstood Union is now available for the world. This soon-to-be cult classic tried in vain to avoid being posted online but finally relented to the throngs awaiting its release. The Misunderstood Union is loosely based upon actual events in the lives of our main characters.

Cover of The Chronicles of Goodfoot and Toaster

(The Chronicles of Goodfoot and Toaster is a wedding card produced by a father-daughter team one fun afternoon.)

Lemony Snicket and Carson Ellis

Life is good! Checking email to close out the night and see a message from Powells.com Events. Lemony Snicket is coming to town for a book signing. Exciting, right. Lemony Snicket, a new book, a signing and Lemony is joined at the signing by illustrator Carson Ellis.

The book, The Composer is Dead, is to be released March 3, 2009, and sounds unique from the review and comes packaged with a CD narrated by Lemony Snicket and music from the San Francisco Symphony.

I wonder if Snicket’s handler will be there assisting at the signing? I hear he’s quite a guy.

I’m excited and there is going to be one excited little girl in this house tomorrow morning!

Natural Cycles Art Installation

The Natural Cycles art installation (September 2008 – September 2009) featuring works from five artists offers yet another enticing reason to visit Tryon Creek State Park. Each artwork is unique and intriguing in this natural setting.

Fung-US is gorgeous, playful and thought provoking — are we the fungus? Nontrivial Pursuit amazes in scale and message. The Source Series offers a true perspective of where our material lives originate. Forevergreen Tuffet is, well, alien. Invader, just like its real-life counterpart, threatens.

Of course the natural beauty of the park surpasses each of these installations but the art does spark discussion regarding our impact on the natural cycles of our world.

December Snow in Portland

A wintry week in Portland is capped off by a true winter storm. All week has seen snow off and on with school closures all week, although a couple of days probably should not have been called off. Today, though, we have really been hit.

We started the day off with a beautiful quiet snowfall in which we delivered food to the needy. This was followed by a trip to Sellwood to pick up the little girl from a sleep-over. The snow continued lightly the entire time while we visited. Upon leaving the snow continued but we found conditions worsening as we approached home. The winds picked up, snow deepened, we followed a snow plow, drifts in Portland accumulated. The thermometer in the car read 20 degrees and it was now quite windy.

We made it home to find drifts of powdery snow in the yard. I stayed out for a while letting the dog take care of business. Of course she loves the snow so it is hard to get her mind off playing in the snow. I shot a few photos to share with you.

Evidence of Spring

The Evidence of Spring gallery documents blooms and growth blasting our half-acre with color. The tour includes photos taken over the past two weeks. Unfortunately some early bloomers were missed: Damson Plum and other plum blooms. There are more blooms awaiting the camera, they’ll be added if time permits. Enjoy your spring tour of our yard.

Inverge

I’m planning on attending Inverge 2007: the interactive convergence conference. As the Inverge site states, “Inverge is a multi-disciplinary conference happening on September 6-7 in the Pearl District of Portland, OR that focuses on the invergence of media platforms, of online + offline, content + advertising, and corporate content + consumer-generated content.”

There look to be some great speakers and the event is tied to the Time-Based Art Festival, MusicFestNW and the First Thursday Gallery Walk.

Unfortunately I’m only able to attend one day of the event but still feel that this will prove valuable.

Web Visions: TriMet Commute User Experience

Honoring the event I am attending today, I thought I’d share my user experience using TriMet, Portland’s public transportation entity, for travel from home to the Oregon Convention Center.

In short, the bus and MAX train ride were technically flawless. Even the preparations went smooth. Last night I used TriMet’s website to verify my travel plans. After entering my home address, my destination (just entered “Oregon Convention Center,” no address) and the time I needed to arrive by, the website informed me of where and when to catch my bus. It also let me know where to depart the bus and then walk to catch my MAX train. As I said, everything was flawless. Even the times were right on. But, despite this, the experience was mundane and uninspiring.

Then, on my short MAX ride, the coachman alerted us to the presence of a sea lion in the river to our right as we crossed the Steel Bridge. My transportation experience transformed immediately from an impersonal task into a shared experience. People around me morphed from mere indistinguishable shapes to inquisitive and true community partners.

One little action changed my experience.