Going to See Barack

At dinner last night with some friends, we found out that Barack Obama is going to be here in Portland on September 7th. So, like the Barack groupies we're becoming, we bought tickets to see him first thing this morning. I'm not planning to scream or cry like he's a member of the Beatles, or anything, but I really like this guy - and it's exciting to be able to see him speak. I've not seen very many politicians in personal appearances in the past, although I did see Al Gore on his presidential campaign - and he was fantastic. I don't know what to expect from Barack, but if he's even half as charismatic in person as he is on TV, it's going to be a pretty cool event.

I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

After spending a few days at my mom's house in the mountains, I'm exhausted. Partly it's because I didn't sleep very well down there, but I don't know what explains the rest of it. All I know is that after a whole day back at work yesterday I was completely knackered and had a pounding headache. Is a few days away from staring at a computer screen really all it takes for my eyes to not be used to that anymore? I slept like a rock last night, and am feeling much better today, but am still expecting to take it easy this weekend and get really caught up.

Have you seen my fish?

If you haven't seen the cute fish animation I added on the right hand column of the blog, scroll down a bit and you'll find them. They'll follow your cursor around if you hold it over the white box (their "tank," I imagine), and if you click in that box you can deliver "food" to them which they will then eat. Is it silly? Of course. But it provided me with a few minutes of fun one day, so I figured it could possibly do the same for someone else as well. It's kind of meditative...

Coming Home to Freshly Baked Fig Newtons

Well, perhaps not the kind of figgy cookies you might be familiar with, but still - they were the homemade version. When I walked in the door, the house smelled like baking. That's always a good sign in my world. Turns out Chris had located some fresh and beautiful Adriatic figs at a nearby market and had made some cookies with them. Thankfully, he saved a few for eating. They're decadent. Cutting into the bright green flesh, you're rewarded with a glistening ruby center that's gooey and just waiting to be eaten. I've missed those figs ever since we had them for breakfast every morning in Croatia last year - so it was a real treat to find them in my kitchen when I got home from work today.

Sad Laptop Becomes Happy Laptop

Sad Laptop
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

Remember back when I wasn't sure my laptop was going to live? Well, when it was disassembled* I snapped a few pictures for posterity. I figured if it came back to life I'd post it here on the blog, and if it didn't, well, I'd probably delete the pictures...

Anyway, this picture shows the laptop air-drying on the dining room table, with as many pieces as I could remove from it lying on the newspaper around it. For another angle, see this photo.

And to celebrate the rebirth of my dear, sweet laptop companion, I finally got around to ordering the laptop skin that Chris had promised to get me for my birthday (yes, the one I had back in February). It looks so very, very cool, I just want to go somewhere and use my laptop so people can see it.

* Am I the only one who thinks of the movie "Short Circuit" every time I hear the word "disassemble"?

How does one go about downloading Italian songs when one doesn't live in Italy?

So, I've run into a bit of a brick wall with my friends (okay, they're not really my friends) at iTunes, so I'm hoping that one of you tech-savvy people out there can help me figure out a way around this.

See, I've been listening to Radio Italia online for some time now, and recently have heard several songs that I'd like to download. When I went to iTunes and looked for them, I wasn't surprised when they weren't in the catalog. I was able to find them, however, if I switched to the iTunes Italia store. Everything I wanted was there - it was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one, and I was feeling quite giddy and pleased with myself. Until, that is, I tried to actually purchase the first song. As soon as I put in my password I was redirected back to the good ole iTunes USA store, where (as mentioned) nothing I wanted could be found.

I contacted iTunes to ask why I couldn't download something from the Italia store. It makes no sense to me why this should be an issue - I'm willing to pay for the songs (more, in fact, than the US rate, as the prices there are in Euros), and it seems iTunes has them in some online catalog somewhere. Why should it matter where I live? Oh, but it does, the iTunes person tells me. He doesn't say why, only that I can't do what I want to do and I should request that what I want to download be added to the US store. Yeah, I'm not sure they'd work too quickly on my "everything in the iTunes Italia store" request, do you?

I asked my local Italian community for help, and got pointed to this site - again, looks promising, no? I found many (not all) of the songs I wanted to download, but in order to register I need to live in Italy. Or at least know more about the post codes which are associated with certain towns and regions than I currently do in order to fill out the registration form. I sent them an email a couple weeks ago - in Italian - asking how I might register because I really want to send them money and buy songs from their website, but I haven't heard bupkis from them.

So, I turn now to you. Anyone have any brilliant ideas for me? I'm thinking I'd like to avoid P2P systems, as I don't particularly relish the idea of the RIAA knocking down my door and swiping my laptop (or any nasty bugs which might come from the P2P stuff), and am perfectly willing (happy, in fact!) to pay for the songs. I await your brilliant suggestions, and thank you in advance.

Willamette River Cruise

Blues Festival
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

Way back at the beginning of July, Chris' friend Ken invited a small group of people out on his boat on a beautifully sunny Saturday. Naturally, I took my camera along and I snapped pictures during the entire trip. Unfortunately, the wind and water combined meant that most of the pictures ended up with some kind of droplets of something-or-other on the lens, but theoretically if I had the patience (and time!) I could Photoshop all that out. And the pictures are fun anyway. The one to the right is of the Blues Festival, and you can see the rest of them here.

The End of July

Chris' last day at work is tomorrow. He's looking forward to taking the month of August "off" to decompress, but he doesn't sit still well. He'll be pottering around the house checking things off his to-do list all month, I'm sure, in between long bike rides. He deserves to take a little time and relax, so I hope he gets to do that. And then, well, we'll see what happens next.

This has been such a year of transition and turmoil for us, I think we're both exhausted but at the same time not taken by surprise anymore. I think we've learned to take each new roadblock or speedbump in stride, which, even though it's been tiring and annoying at times, is a good thing to be able to do.

At any rate... A couple updates on other things:

• My dad went home from the hospital quickly, because the doctors think the hole in his esophagus will heal itself. He'll go back in this week for another check up so they can see what's going on in there, and then hopefully they'll have some solutions for him. He's in good spirits, but it's a frustrating situation.
  
• We met with Bub's oncology vet today, and she's very optimistic that he's doing really well. His loss of appetite after his last chemo was explained, too, because she'd increased his chemo dose last time. So, that was good to hear - it wasn't an anomaly, it was reasonable. And I'll continue to obsess over how much he eats, so hopefully the weight he lost last week will be back by his next appointment. He begins going in every other week now, so he should be able to recoup better.

Which photos should I submit to a photo contest? Help me decide!

0911 Breakfast in Piazza Maggiore
Inserito originariamente da andiamotutti

I'm contemplating submitting a few photographs to the National Geographic Traveler annual photo contest, and aside from this photo (which I love) I'm not sure what else I should send in - if anything. I've chosen a few that I think are good pictures, but I'm not sure if they're really worthy. So I'm asking for your input.

What do you think? Let me know which (if any) of these pictures you think I should submit. Many thanks in advance!

Later edit: I should have also mentioned that the incredibly talented photographers out there who I know occasionally read this blog ought to think about entering the contest, too. Will? Alessandro? Are you listening??

Timely Teabag Tag

From my morning cup of tea:

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them. - Paul Valery

This is suspicious...

Every time Chris leaves for a business trip of more than a day, I get sick. I swear this is true, and he agrees. He thinks it's a spooky coincidence, I think it's some kind of conspiracy. Whatever it is, it's downright annoying. I mean, I wouldn't be feeling any better if he were here - I'd still have the most congested nose I have ever had, bar none - but at least I'd have someone to fetch me things... Which is, of course, why I'm sure he's very glad he's away on business.

Does humidity cause head colds?

I'm sure it doesn't, but man - after several days of extremely high humidity levels around here (something we're just not accustomed to in these parts), I came down with a head cold yesterday. It's just annoying right now - keeping me from sleeping, making me sneeze incessantly, causing my nose to run ad infinitum - but I'm OD'ing on vitamin C and Zicam in an effort to keep it from getting any worse.

In other news:

• My dad was in the hospital again over the weekend, although my understanding is that he'll be coming home today. His esophagus had been growing scar tissue ever since they got rid of the cancer that had been there, and the scar tissue was closing up his throat so he couldn't swallow. The doctors were scraping away the scar tissue and ended up poking a hole in his esophagus (they apparently warned him that was a possibility). He'll go back in a week to see if the hole is healing itself, and in the meantime he can't swallow anything - including water. He's had a feeding tube back in for a few weeks now, it'd gotten so bad. I kind of wish they'd just go in and remove the offending piece of the esophagus so he can get back to a somewhat normal life - although the recovery time from that kind of surgery is weeks, it still seems like it'd be better in the long run. But I'm not the one who'd have to be in the hospital.
  
• Bub's appetite isn't back after his last chemo appointment (last Weds.), and he's due for his next round this Thursday. I'm not comfortable taking him in right now, since I don't feel like he's rebounded from the last one. I left a message for the doctor today, so we'll see what she says. The last time he went in for this same drug, they sent him home because they said his bloodwork showed he wasn't up for it. I'm wondering if it's the same situation this time. He's shedding like crazy, so the chemo is affecting his fur - it's not falling out in big clumps, but it's definitely falling out. The saddest part is he's losing his whiskers - he's only got two on the right side of his face, I noticed yesterday.

CatCam

My cats don't wear collars (two of them won't even tolerate the things), and they don't go outside except to wander on the balcony, so this project wouldn't be interesting at all in my house. It is pretty funny, however, in the original house: It's Mr. Lee's CatCam.

Seems a German guy was curious about where his cat went during a day, so he affixed a modified keychain digital camera to his cat's collar with a timer set to take a photo every few minutes. I've been very curious about some of my cats' antics, but I think I'd be more inclined to set up a CCTV-type camera before I'd go to this length. But hey, if I had the technical know-how, who knows? I just might have three cats running around with cameras on their necks.

(Thanks to Alessandro for that link!)

It Lives!

I'm happy (no, ecstatic is probably the more accurate term) to report that I'm typing this entry on my trusty old laptop. Yes, the very same one that got doused with liquid just the other day. After spending about 36 hours in pieces air-drying on my dining room table, it was put back together (by yours truly, who now knows how to remove a keyboard from a laptop - knowledge I hope to never again need to use on my own equipment) on Saturday morning and presto, it started up just fine.

Happy me.

And if you need pointers on how to disassemble your own laptop, lemme know. I'm full of wisdom now.

Computers Don't Like Green Tea

So, the day before Friday the 13th I had some nasty bad luck - I accidentally (because, really, who would do this on purpose?) spilled some green tea onto my laptop while I was at work. The monitor immediately began flickering. The computer guru at my office sits right next to me, thank goodness, and he switched the laptop off and began taking it apart. We dried everything we could see but the monitor was still barely visible to completely black when we tried starting it again. My stomach was, by that point, home to an awful sick feeling...

I've got an archaic spare machine now which I'm borrowing from work, and my laptop is in several pieces on my dining room table airing out. Chris is pretty confident that once it's dry it'll start up again just fine, but of course I'm worried. The good news is that the daily backup I do means that there's essentially nothing that will be lost data-wise, it's just an annoyance if I have to send the machine to Texas to have Dell fix it, or an expense if I have to buy a new one. I'm not looking forward to either of those possibilities, so I'm hoping Chris' optimism is well-founded.

I learn quickly, generally speaking. After I nearly lost my entire senior thesis in college because I hadn't hit the "save" button in hours, I got into the habit of hitting the "save" button every 30 seconds or so. In the future, you probably won't find open containers anywhere near my computer.

Another Stop at the Chinese Garden

Lotus Flower
Originally uploaded by andiamotutti

We went to the Chinese Garden again recently - I think it was about a half-hour before closing, so we didn't stay long, but it was nice to wander (as it always is). The last time we were there, the lotus flowers were basically done for the year - we saw one still in bloom. This time, most of them were still blooming, and several were still only buds. They're just stunning...

We also renewed our membership to the garden, and learned that they've opened it up on Wednesday evenings for members only - I'm not sure it'd be good for photographs at night (no tripods allowed), but it'd sure be pretty to just wander through and grab a snack at the tea house. I'd like to do that one Wednesday this summer, before the thought gets away from us entirely.

Rundown of the Last Week

Quick update, since it's been awhile...

• Our weekend was exceptionally busy - too busy, frankly - but one highlight was a potluck we went to yesterday at the home of some friends who live outside St. Helens (about an hour from Portland). She's a professional chef in Portland, so the guest list was almost entirely made up of other professional chefs. I tell you, that's the way to do a potluck, people. I was clever enough to fast before the party, only having a light breakfast and no lunch, so I actually went in for 3rds and possibly a small helping of 4ths before calling it quits. It was amazing stuff.


• Bub's appetite still isn't great after his last chemo (2 weeks ago) and he goes back for the next round tomorrow. He seems fine, however, which is good - happy and energetic. I take that as a good sign. I just hope he's gained a little weight the past 2 weeks, or at least maintained.


• Abby, his sister, was at the vet's today getting her teeth cleaned. It's an all-day event, so I just got her home about an hour ago. She didn't have any extractions like her poor sister Jasmine, so she's just a little disoriented now. But she's happy to be home, and I'm glad for that.


• We've got no plans for the 4th this year, mainly because neither of us is feeling particularly social or energetic lately. It's partly cat-related stress and partly job-related stress, we figure, but we're just pretty content to be at home by ourselves these days (this past busy weekend not withstanding). I've always wanted to test the theory of whether we could actually see the Lake Oswego fireworks from our window, so we might get a chance to do that this year.

Even My Cats are Bad Jews

I like to joke that I'm a bad Jew - it's a good joke if you know me and my family, but it sounds weird out of context. Here on the blog, it's kind of out of context. But if I say this, it might help... What made me think of it is this:

I'm such a bad Jew, even my cats eat ham.

All three of the cats seem to really like sliced ham, the lunch meat stuff, although in varying degrees. Bub's last chemo appointment was a doozy, so his appetite still isn't what it was before he went in last week, but he'll still eat a few bites of ham (but only if I hand feed him - I have no idea why). Jasmine adores the ham, so I just cut it up into tiny pieces so she doesn't have to worry about chewing it too much. And Abby, Bub's sister, eats whatever ham is left on the plate when Bub's done. She's very polite about it, it's cute - she'll let him eat what he's going to eat without bothering him, and then after he's gone she'll move in and clean up. It's pretty funny.

The Year of the Cat

I don't care what year it actually is on the Chinese calendar, this is the Year of the Cat for us.

Here's the good news - Jasmine is doing much better. She had a rough night that first night back, but she's mostly back to her old self again now, thank goodness. And I think our experience dealing with Bub's recovery each week after chemo has been helpful in dealing with Jasmine. Instead of assuming she was going downhill and never coming back uphill, I just assumed that she'd be getting better gradually and we just needed to find the things she'd eat no matter what. I browsed the cat food aisle at the grocery store the other day, and then made my way to the baby food aisle. I'd heard that the turkey baby food was a hit with most cats, but Bub hadn't shown interest. I bought some to try with Jasmine, and also got some chicken sticks (like the ambiguously-named meat sticks shown in the picture) to try as well. I think they're repulsive, but I'm not the one who has to eat them, right?

(As an aside, every time I open a jar of cat food, I recoil from the smell and think, "Good god, we feed this to human children?!?" It smells so vile...)

At any rate, thankfully Jasmine seems to enjoy the chicken sticks - I chop them up really small so she doesn't have to chew them - and she even likes the turkey baby food occasionally. She's always been the pickiest eater, and that trend has (unfortunately) continued, but we'll just keep trying new and different foods. It's just a matter of trial and error, I've learned, and not worrying about "wasting" food if I open a can of something she doesn't end up liking. It's just about figuring out the new pattern for her eating schedule that's going to work for both her and us.

In other news, my dear boy Bub is at his chemo appointment now - I'm awaiting a call from the vet that I can go pick him up. It's the 3rd drug in the cycle, and one he hasn't had as yet, so I'm curious to see how he'll react to it. They give the animals a week off after receiving this particular drug, which also takes several hours to administer, so I'm guessing it'll take him awhile longer to bounce back than normal. But I'm ready - I've got a roast chicken from the grocery store in the fridge, and it's all his. Not all at once, mind you, but I'm calling it cat food - it's not for human consumption. I've got a big plate of cut up chicken pieces ready and waiting for him for when I bring him home today, too, poor guy.

So, yes - the Year of the Cat it is.

The Unhappiest Cat in the World, Part II

You may recall the original post about the unhappiest cat in the world - well, here's the rest of the story, at least through today.

Poor dear Jasmine got wrapped in a towel this morning so we could stuff her into a carrying case, and then Chris dropped her off at the vet. We knew they'd be sedating her, because there's no other way to do the necessary check-up stuff on that feisty creature, and they were also going to be cleaning her teeth. Or so we thought. Chris got home a few minutes after me, Jasmine in tow, and announced that she'd had to have six teeth pulled. Not only that, the vet says she's under weight - probably because eating dry food has been painful for some time now. So, how much do you think we feel like the worst cat parents ever?

The poor thing is still disoriented (she got home a few hours ago) from the drugs she's on, which include morphine right now, and she keeps licking at the stitches in her mouth. She's on a strictly wet food diet now for the rest of her life, and luckily we had a can of food which is actually meant for cats on cancer treatment (but Bub doesn't like it, of course) - it's really tasty (to cats, I guess) and super soft, so she's eating that right now. It's also full of calories, which she really needs.

In case you're feeling too badly for her, know this - she'll get her revenge on us twice a day for the next week. We have to give her pain medication at night and antibiotics in the morning. They're both in liquid form, so we've got to grab her and get the little plunger-full of medicine into her mouth without letting her shred us to bits. That would be a challenge under normal circumstances - this is the cat that doesn't even like to be held - but right now she won't let us come near her. Well, that's not exactly true - she'll let herself be petted, but if you try to do anything more than lightly stroke her back she hisses. She's pissed off, and with good reason, and I'm seriously dreading having to give her any kind of medicine whatsoever - especially tonight.

Chris & I know this will pass, and she'll be fine (especially once the drugs wear off and she's not so disoriented anymore), but we both feel awful right now.

And a quick note - I realize this has kind of turned into the all cats all the time blog, which I hadn't planned... It's just that, for obvious reasons, this is the big news that's going on for us right now, so that's what's on my mind.

Oh, and if you've got any suggestions about soft foods that would be treats and that cats would like, by all means - let me know.