Month: June 2004

Poo bags

I’m somewhat appalled by the quality of Fred Meyer plastic grocery bags lately. You see – I use them to pick up dog poo, and the number of holes has been alarming, and with serious consequence. Today I stuck my fingers into stuff I’d hoped to avoid by using a bag. Its not the first time either; this is about the 4th time this year, 2nd time in 1 week.

And its not that I’m not careful. I check the bags, usually before leaving. But sometimes I’m sure I can just work around the holes. But by working around the holes, you often creep up the edge of the bag, and your thumb or fore finger slips over the top and into the payload. It always happens early in the walk too, so you’ve got a stink finger for the next 20 minutes.

So – to the extruders of Fred’s plastic bags – do better. (not doo better)

Ben & Therese

This weekend we celebrated the marriage of Ben & Therese Walz in Tacoma. The ceremony was held at St. Patrick’s, and was the first time I’ve been to a catholic mass. It was certainly more elaborate than any other wedding I’ve been to, but it was kind of cool to see the entire ceremony. The following reception was a lot of fun, but there were several grievances committed on the dance floor.

One of the highlights was the bride’s brother doing karaoke to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was amazing, as you’d expect from a guy who gave his new brother-in-law a t-shirt that says “Mr. Plow” on it.

Ben was always the bar raiser when it came to calamity in college. But he is also one of the most generous people you’ll ever meet. We wish him and Therese all the best, once they return from St. Lucia of course.

Fahrenheit

Imagine a place where an acerbic criticism of the President can be viewed freely. Then imagine a place where the people can be duped into war. Amazingly, its the same place.

Do me a favor and see Fahrenheit 9/11. Especially if you voted for Bush. Especially if you plan to again. If, after seeing it you still want to vote for him, please… please tell me why.

My bushism

I was trying to explain all the intricacies of a project to an instructor and found myself in several gray areas regarding responsibility. While mentally stumbling over the problems we’d encountered, I found myself trying to explain the difficulty of making disparate systems work and tried to paint an ideal picture and accidently dropped in a bushism. “… and all the childrens smiling..”

There was a pause in which I was trying to think of a way to resurrect the sentance, but I couldn’t. The instructor laughed, so I continued and pretended that it never happened.

Naylor Jasper Wedding

Today we celebrated the union of Lindsay and Joe. The ceremony was held in a wooded glen above the Nooksak river and at the foot of the North Cascades. It was a beautiful day and the services rendered were equally eloquent. A long time friend was ordained for the occasion, and the message he shared for the ceremony was wonderfully fitting. It really matched Joe & Lindsay’s fantastic friendship, love, sense of adventure and devotion. We wish you the best, especially with that nettles rash.

Dylan, chef.

There was a bit of confusion. He wasn’t actually a friend of anyone, which I learned after about 20 minutes of cryptic drunk talk. I had asked if he was a friend of anyone’s, and yes, he was Andrew’s. Well, we were pointing at different people. The guy in question was someone completely unknown by my friends. Regardless, I spent nearly 2 hours with the man, learning his psychosis, life, and halitosis.

This fellow seemed a friend, especially with a Lucky Lab shirt. We spoke for some time and despite his being on the third day of a major bender, he assured me that I was a friend. In all honesty, his pictures of Skagway, Jeanau and Craig Alaska were amazing, and it was fun to speak with someone so passionate about the inside passage.

Regardless, I noticed glances of condolence and sorrow from across the room. People identified this fellow as a Alaskan State Ferry reject. I enjoyed his stories, less of his breath, and was somewhat surprised that after identifying himself as a friend he would empty my pitcher of Boundary Bay IPA and leave. Such is life.