I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Okay, so my heart is actually still with me, but WOW -- San Francisco is a place we must return to visit (or live in!)! I thought Portland was a compelling and intriguing city, but the feel of San Francisco is so different from any other city we've ever visited. It's hard to explain, but it feels comfortable. It's not dark, dreary and oppressive like most cities (including Portland, Chicago, Boston, St. Louis and Denver -- all cities I actually like a lot ... or thought I did). :o)

We didn't spend much time doing things in the city in our 24-hour visit, but we had a great time with our friends who just moved here and would like to check out more of the touristy spots next time around. Even from the billboards they run all over town, we can tell it's a different city. How many billboard ads do you see for iPods in Colorado? How about upcoming movies like Ocean's Thirteen? Yeah, I don't remember any either. We did pretty good in our 24 hours, though with a quick visit to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Lombard Drive hill, The Stinking Rose (Garlic Restaurant), IKEA, In-N-Out, The Apple Company Store, now we're at Peet's then headed to Yosemite here in a bit. This is the most fun week I've had in a long time! Thanks, my Phil! :o)

Calm Flushing with Discernment

I just arrived in Portland and have already encountered a couple of things that are definitely different from Colorado:

First, the Sloan Flushmate toilets in the bathroom. They encourage you to pull up to flush #1 and push down to flush #2. Gross, but probably not a bad idea. I always flush with my foot in public restrooms and it was a little tricky to pull up with the toe, but it worked.

Secondly, Portland so far is so incredibly quiet! If you've been to DIA, you know it's loud. With little or no sleep a headache comes on really fast. But, I didn't hear any airport announcement or other noises when I was walking through the airport -- it was just peaceful. Same for the ride on the MAX LiteRail to the hotel -- just a peaceful 20 minutes with 30 strangers. A few people struck up conversations with their neighbors, but even those were quiet and calm.

Hopefully the rain clears up so I can see Mt. Hood before we cut town tomorrow. Portland is one of the cities I'm curious about -- I like it because I think Phil and I "fit" here, but don't "fit" here. The local equivalent to the Colorado Springs Independent was here and I read through it. I think it's hard to see Jesus really working in a city like Portland, but I also think this is exactly where he would be just loving on people and caring for them no matter what they're going through. This is something we talk about doing as Christ-followers today, but I just plain don't do it -- I'm too comfortable in my cozy suburbia tract home with my little VW personal bubble. I wonder if my attraction to Portland is curiosity or God laying it on my heart? Regardless, it's neat to be here.

From Barber to Midnight

I went the other night to see the broadcast of The Barber of Seville from The Metropolotin Opera in NYC straight to my local movie theater in HD!

I would consider myself a fan of classical performances and operas like this, although I wouldn't want to see operas every day. I've been to probably ten in my life and enjoyed most of them. Madama Butterfly my sophomore year of high school was a stretch, but the others were really interesting. I'd recommend this particular performance of The Barber of Seville to anyone, though. It was really well-done and very, very fun to take in.

The casting was excellent: the barber was lovable and silly, the hero was lovestruck and sappy, the damsel was beautiful and in distress, the caretaker was strict and smart, and the matchmaker was crafty but bribe-able. I had not seen this opera before and I had only a vague idea of the storyline, so I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. I'd love to go to The Met live in NYC someday, but I'll undoubtedly take in another performance at the local movie theater in the meantime.


On the opposite end of the spectrum musically, the new Linkin Park finally came out this week! Minutes to Midnight is really revolutionary for my favorite band for a few reasons:

• It's their first totally new album since 2003.
  
• They take some opportunities to express some of their political views and frustrations for the first time in a main-release LP album (the ones with Jay-Z don't count in my mind since most of the lyrics on those were his, not theirs). I might not agree with all of their political expressions, but it's still interesting and the music still rocks regardless of the words.
  
• I think this album is much more musical than the past two main releases. They are definitely pulling in some vibes from the newer Coldplay and U2 work, especially on "Leave Out All the Rest" and "Shadow of the Day." But it is still a unique LP sound.
  

Don't get me wrong, they're still freakin' loud and rockin' like always (maybe even better than before in some cases), so they haven't turned soft at all, but their sound is really fresh on this new album and I'm addicted to it. I'm afraid to see how many times I've played the whole album since I got it on Wednesday morning, and I will neither confirm nor deny allegations that I've burned it to CD to listen to quickly in the car on around-town driving. :o)

One word of warning this time around, though -- if you're a pure Linkin Park fan (not a LPJZ fan), you do have two options for Minutes to Midnight -- clean or explicit. Phil pre-ordered it for us from iTunes and when I asked him which version he got he may as well have said, "Explicit! DUH!" Seriously, we don't throw them ourselves, but there's no denying Phil and I are not afraid of a few f-bombs here and there. And LP does throw 'em with joy here.

Bottom line, Minutes to Midnight is an excellent album -- buy it and listen to it like crazy!

Back in Black

Go see Spider-Man 3! It is worth every penny, especially in IMAX. This is the first can't-miss summer movie this year, so get on it. You might want to buy tickets online in advance, though -- word at our local theater is they're still selling out almost every show.

Three is just as good as the first two Spiders. As expected, Peter Parker becomes more torn between being Spider-Man to help others and being Spider-Man to avenge his uncle. There's a great bit in the middle when he's wearing the black duds and having a grand old time dancing along the streets like Adrien Brody in the old Diet Coke commercial. And, he was wearing eyeliner. But it turns out by doing things that just make him happy or make him feel good, he's destroying the relationships with those he loves most.

It reminded me a lot of something our pastor said once a few years ago about how you can gauge whether or not you're seeking God in all you do by examining your relationships. If your community is crumbling, you're most likely seeking to fulfill yourself, not to serve those around you. Spider-Man 3 demonstrates this really clearly (accidentally?) while still being funny and compelling and full of good fight scenes. And there's a great message of forgiveness and commitment.

OF COURSE, you should see it! You'll be entertained to the extreme, as I was (and Phil has been twice already)! If you're going to see only one of the #3 movies coming out this summer, skip that Pirate junk and go see this Spider!

No Spin Zone

A girlfriend of mine pointed me to this link from Always.

Seriously. Some things you can't spin, no matter how hard you try.

I am normally a positive person, a sometimes-over-the-top optimist, but this is not how I feel when Aunt Erma is visiting. I can guarantee you I will never, no matter how many times Always tells me to, "have a happy period." I think what they mean to say is, "We're happy you're having your period so we can make a recurring $20/month profiting from your misery, the misery of your husband, friends, coworkers, children, the dog, and the poor person at the grocery store check-out." I will never be thankful for my period. It's a curse of the fall and just plain torture on my poor husband.

There are only three times I can think of "happy" and "period" being associated for a woman:

1 - When maybe it didn't come because it was intercepted (and this is not always a happy discovery).
2 - When it's over every month.
3 - When the key word of "not" comes before either "happy" or "period."

I'd like to see my hero at indexed make this into a postcard for all womankind to agree with.