Spot On

Creatures Comfort

We love our local pet shop and supply store and this place is literally hoppin’ on a Saturday afternoon. Thank goodness we aren’t subjected to going to Petco — and don’t give me that “Corporations are people, too” litter box crap. There is NO comparison.

Don't cha love a business with a sense of humor?

Guinea pigs are our friends.

Hissing hedgehog is hissing.

(Seriously, you would not believe how these things hiss.)

For the love of all things small, holy, and with sad eyes: Adopt one of us.

Sidney meet the Interwebs. Interwebs meet Sidney.

Visitors are welcome, of course.

Yes, sweetheart, I can see that Sidney is indeed a beautiful bird.

I don't even know what the hell this thing is.

No. No. A thousand times, no. I don't care what he said. He is not coming home with us.

And if I don't leave now, one of these might end up in my purse.

They Grow Up So Fast.

 

It's like I'm watching my own kids grow.

Living The Fairy Tale

Classic Tales. We Haz Them.

This Daughter came home this week with a really, really old copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It could possibly be an original Guttenberg printing but then I checked out the copyright date. It was a close guess (1945) with this book having been in circulation since 1951. It’s in surprisingly good shape. The pages feel like rose petals under your fingers but for the most part are intact even after 60 years of middle schoolers pawing through it. Which is why I just LOVE old books. I’m happy that they survive and persist. I find them to be incredible, portable artifacts.*

 
I just randomly opened the book to this illustration and, no, I did not Photoshop the spots on that dog. Seriously. I did not. I swear it was like that.

Part of the fascination for This Daughter checking this copy out has to do with us watching NBC’s Grimm on Friday evenings. We enjoy seeing what they do with the Portland locations since they began filming here last summer. We also watch for friends that show up in the crowd scenes (hey P.J.!). In all truthiness I wasn’t too enamored with the show initially, but after a couple of episodes it’s grown on me like invasive ivy on an old growth fir. I’m sort of over the squishy CG animation (I can’t tell if it’s getting better or I’m just getting used to it) and I love seeing how Silas Weir Mitchell and Reggie Lee develop their characters Monroe, "The Big Bad Wolf" and Officer Wu.

 

From the beginning we have been having fun dissecting the running plot of the show and the Brothers Grimm fairy tale character references. And with our memories exhausted, we started perusing this book with obvious favorites in mind (Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, etc.)… and then we jumped into the random ones.

Like “The Salad.” *snort*   Let me just say, you don’t get a more meandering-going-no-where-tale than “The Salad.” You just sort of let the crazy wash over you. I can’t imagine a literary agent or publishing editor even touching this drivel with a 10-foot pole in this day and age. Of course, I realize that these stories were all from “the oral tradition” but good grief, it’s not hard to see why “Little Red Riding Hood” rose to the top of the collection.

 
Best bedtime story ever, people.

Fairy tales seem to be big stuff having recently pushing out sparkly vampires and wizards for now. We’ve got ABC’s “Once Upon A Time,” Julia Roberts in “Mirror, Mirror,” Disney’s continuous loop of Princesses, “Puss In Boots,” and the list goes on. I’m guessing they’re a safe bet for The Suits in these desperate, copycat times.

Last summer there was a symposium at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Detroit with Dr. Don Haase who is a Professor of German Studies in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wayne State University. Dr. Hasse not only “studies” fairy tales but the dude has written VOLUMES on it. Out right TOMES. This is serious business and I’m just nerdy enough to find that incredibly cool. I was leaving town right before his presentation (aww, snap!) but I found some of his work online once I got home. I had to go back and reread “The Salad” because clearly I forgot all of my classic literature symbolism education. Thus giving lettuce, donkeys, and giants a whole new meaning,

 
"...and all their library fines were waived. The End."

All heavy feminist messages aside we are still enjoying Grimm and it’s put us on a whole new literary track. Are there any other people out there that get into this stuff besides us?

That is besides, us and Dr. Haase.

 

*Check out Portland's Attic Journals. They would love to get their hands on this book.

Small Town Saturday

Special Delivery:  Anna's Flowers.

Swirly!

Hey, Pinot lovers, this is where some of your 2012 vintage is starting to grow. The vines are trimmed, wrapped and ready to go. I see this all the time but when I snapped this on a walk the other day I thought perhaps I’d keep you updated on how it looks throughout the year. Hopefully I can document it through to harvest, a type of photographic sommelier of sorts. And while I’m not an oenophile I think this could be an interesting experiment.

Of course after that, then we’d have to wait a few years to see if this crop makes someone’s cuvée or if it’s a disappointing year for the growers here in the Willamette Valley. Stay tuned and send suggestions if you have them.

A Good Sign

I've walked under this sign countless times in twenty odd years. Surely it's been there since the 1970s... and I just now noticed it. (What else am I too busy not noticing? Geesch.) A flood of memories came back in an instant after seeing this graphic though. Does anyone else besides me remember that this was the predecessor to VISA?

Of course, if you do remember, that doesn't mean that you're old or anything. It just means that you have a great memory for logos and marketing.

Cleaning Up Your Act

Dang. I love the products that House Industries puts out — as evident in these nifty kitchen towels.  As an art director/graphic designer I always appreciate their type products and their dedication to the art history behind them, but the fact that they apply it to merch makes it doubly hard for me to resist their charms.

Thanks heavens for great design. It makes my soul happy.

 

 

Glad Påsk!

Remember, no matter what you do today,  just eat the ears first.

Small Town Saturday

((( BOUNCE )))

 

TERMS OF SERVICE (for the middle aged)

The ground rules have been updated and revised since the last time you were on a trampoline. Please read the following statements below before accepting these Terms of Service. By accepting these terms, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms.

 

LIABILITY

 Make sure you pay your ginormous health insurance premium on your way to The Bounce House. There is a casualty (usually of the ankle variety) here every session, every hour.

 (i)    Don’t have health insurance? Turn around now.

 (ii)   Bad knees? Turn around now.

 (iii)  Actually, bad anything? Turn around now.

USER LICENSE

You know that 20 oz. of caffeinated sustenance you use every morning to pry your eye lids open? Get rid of it. After having two babies it will not stay where it’s supposed to once you get started. Now would be a great time to practice those Kegel exercises you keep forgetting to do. And remember, they’re not just for women either. Just sayin’…

As an adult, do you now get queasy/headache-y swinging on the play structure swings with your kids? Okay, well. It’s like that, only to the tenth power. It sort of goes away after about five minutes, so just keep bouncing. Also, bring Tylenol.

Wear a sports bra. This is a consideration for both genders. It’s already not pretty out there so let’s just make the best of it for all involved.

There IS an upside to that stubborn ten to fifteen pounds you keep trying to lose. You can apply it by bouncing your own kid (up to 70#) into next week for that time they smeared Vaseline all over the bathroom.

PRIVACY POLICY

Ignore the pencil thin tween girls who obviously come here to show off their weekly gymnastics lessons by ricocheting off the ramped sidewalls. Patience, my friends. They’ll get theirs someday. Oh, yes. They’ll get theirs...

LIMITATIONS

The Foam Pit is not your friend. Yeah, yeah, we realize it looks inviting — like some sort of a “Freebird” fantasy — however, this is the area where your extra ten to fifteen pounds works against you. Just know that if you want to experience an anthropology lesson in why animals died in La Brea then, sure, go ahead. Also know that you’ll expend more energy in five minutes trying to get out of that fluffy hell than a two hour Pilates class.

 

 And the attendant won’t help you.

Stick to the main trampolines, people. Not only should you count yourself lucky that you are even doing this at your age but that springy Dodge Ball court isn’t any more fun than it was in elementary school. It will always suck to get picked last and get clocked in the head.

Finally, there will be a freakish, quakey-like, leaden feeling to your legs when you get off the trampolines. Just know it’ll linger for longer than you’d like it to. Don’t imbibe in the next 24 hours and you’ll be fine.

All set? Ready? Alrighty then.

Please sign here.

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And here.

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Annnnnnnnnnnnd here…

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Now go have some fun!