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Who knew that shooting this photo of Bill the Back Scratcher Man would lead to writing a story about him for a local neighborhood newsletter, which would then inspire an artist to help him realize his life-long dream of opening a back scratcher museum full of real and imaginary back scratchers?? I'm thrilled that Bill got to realize his dream!

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January 20th, 2009. What a day. At 8:30 in the morning I walked to my neighborhood cafe to watch the inauguration. It was such a moving experience, being there in a standing-room-only crowd of folks watching breathlessly as the events unfolded in Washington. I have never, ever felt pride for this country, but it filled me from head to toe on that morning.

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Zig and I were just reminiscing about the time Raskal got stuck in the tree after following Boyfren up there. He's just too fluffy to navigate a tree.

Looking at the photos makes me miss our Iowa backyard in summer time. The humidity! The cicadas! The trees! The endless tomatoes! Sitting here in my cold house in the middle of winter, all of those things sound so good to me right now.

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Last night Zig performed in the School of Rock's Radiohead show. Radiohead is his favorite band ever, so you can imagine how exciting it was for him to be doing their songs on stage. As usual, the kids were AMAZING, the teachers were AMAZING, the parents so supportive.

Here's two songs with Zig on drums.

This is sweet Matt and his buddy Java, chillin' in my kitchen. We're both so happy to be making things work between us, exploring new levels of relationship with all of its challenges and rewards and wanting more than anything to negotiate the path forward, together.

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I'm so excited for 2009. I'm newly single [Update: We're back together. Yay!] , I will start school and we will get a new chance to redeem ourselves in the eyes of the world. Finally, something to look forward to!

We just returned from our annual trip to the Bay Area to see family and for my much-needed rest in the hot springs. This time I left my big, bulky camera at home and brought only my small point-and-shoot. I love the ease of carrying and using it, but man, the image quality can be so disappointing. That said, I'm posting some Christmas day photos here for family to see. It was good to have a day with y'all. Come on up and visit us any time.

When we left Iowa, I was pretty excited to say goodbye to the snow shovel and the ice scraper, but I guess I should have brought them with us. What an amazing day! If I had any sense I would have stayed home where it was warm, but I was determined to make it to the Crafty Wonderland extravaganza, so I set out in my/Zig's old snow boots and walked to the light rail station.

Portland is beautiful in snow! Driving a car looked treacherous, what with the lack of snow scraper trucks and the hills, but taking the train turned out to be a joy.

This are my neighbors on our street, having a great time:

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Brrr!

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And I saw lots of cool things on my walk, like little snowmen and kids sledding at Zig's school. Also, this leaf:

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While waiting for the train, I felt like I was in Chicago waiting for the L with Sarah (minus the heated platforms, unfortunately).

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This is unusual weather for Portland, especially the below-freezing temps we will have over the next few days, with more snow to come. We live on a big hill, so I think I will be getting to know public transport a lot better rather than venture out in my little car. Fun!

I thought I would post a photo that I think I lifted from Cute Overload a while back. It makes me feel joy whenever I look at it and I'm thinking this would be a good time for a bit of joy, maybe a laugh, even.

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