Many of you already know this. What most of you don’t know is the small detail of my parachute failing…which I will get to shortly.

Currently I’m admitted to OSHU in the ICU…no…just kidding that is just f’d up. I’m fine…but my chute did fail.

Expanded:

My friend Rachel, (you know, the girl from http://blog.gabrielmathews.com/2009/10/social-experiment-002-and-my-30th-birthday/), and I decided the best idea we had in a while was to go to http://www.skydiveoregon.com/ and reserve a time to go and learn how to appropriately  fall to our potential demise while gaining a hefty dose of sympathomimetic catecholamine in the form of epinephrine.  We chose a cloudy day with hopes that the sky would break and we’d have a chance to fall.  Unfortunately, with a few hours of waiting, the clouds never did. Instead we were given a couple of vouchers stating our education on tandem jumping and our pre-payment status.

A couple weeks went by and finally the sky was looking less like January and more like June. I met up with Rachel for our weekly morning breakfast and we looked at the sky and realized ‘today is the day’. I ran back to my house to write a crude will and get on a t-shirt. I rushed back to Rachel’s house and we packed up and left. Out to Molalla, Oregon. The sky was still clear and the wait was the most excruciating part. The fun part, though, was getting a chance to watch the planes take off, see specs that were people appear in the sky followed briefly by a parachute opening and familiar silhouettes take shape in the sky, and gaining excitement for our turn. We met our instructors, mine made fun of my pants as they were still pegged from riding my bike earlier in the day, and we geared up. It seemed almost instantaneously that we were on our plane and facing the cattle door. You sit facing the back of the plane. with a bench in between your legs. An instructor was sitting in front of me trying to scare the girl he was attached to. My instructor was adjusting our attachments and joking with his colleague that Rachel was secured to. Finally at the 13,000 foot mark, the plane slowed, the green light went on, and an obvious veteran in a squirrel suit and a cobalt blue helmet said something that I couldn’t make out per the wooshing air in the cabin. She put down her metallic flaked visor and poured her body out of the plane effortlessly. Veterans in the back to newbies in the front. Ingenious really. You feel less afraid of the commitment and think to yourself, “Of course I’d roll out of a plane attached to only a human with a stuffed polyester blanket. in a backpack.” It was my turn. I gave Rachel a brief glance before scooching forward on the bench with my instructor. I peered off the edge holding my harness like a hiker’s backpack and just let go.

The Earth seemed to warp as my mind was bombarded with information. The wind pulled my face back and I reached a long moment of Zen before I noticed a slow in the decent. This was quickly followed by a sensation of speeding back up quickly followed by a sensation of a truck trying to yank out my spine.  What happened was the primary parachute failed to deploy properly (the slowing down), the instructor cut it free (the speeding up), the reserve chute deploying (the spine rip). He tapped me on the shoulder and said, “We just used both chutes!” The blood had rushed away from my head from the fast stop and I passed out for about 3 seconds. When I came to and realized that I was still coming down, reality washed over me. I was geographically lost and relied on the instructor for the rest of the drop to steer us into the field. Not that I had a choice, but I was glad someone knew where we were…not like you can stop and ask for directions at 5000 feet. We finally came into the field to land, with legs pulled high, we skidded in on our butts. I was really hoping to get a nice grass stain on my pants, but alas, the grass was too dry.

I waited for Rachel to land, came over and gave her a hug, and we came back into the building to de-gear. Both of us were sort of lucid as you might expect from the experience. We drove away from the field, found a spot by a passing river and ate strawberries and sandwiches while discussing our favorite parts of the adventure. My armpits are still a little bruised from the harness. (I’ll upload a picture eventually).

So that was my skydiving experience. I recommend it…especially with a reliable parachute…or an awesome instructor.

-G

To catch you up:

-Work is going well. Working through some great projects with Nike, Callaway Golf, Gerber Knives, and a few others.

-Life outside of work  is good. I’m a little beat lately from lots of running and bike riding. I’m feeling very settled into my routine now and am having a blast earning my sleep at night.

-I bought Rhinoceros and V-Ray…so I’m legit now.

-I’m looking forward to the end of July to perform iLan’s & Vanessa’s wedding.

That’s all I got a the moment. I’ll try and come up with something interesting to post soon.

Enjoy the awesome weather!

-G

My home base on the weekend where I share smiles, waffles, and some kick-ass french press coffee is Spunky Monkey. Located on the corner of NE 20th and Couch, this fine establishment used to be known as Ruby’s, has the perfect location in walking distance from my house. I can wake in the morning on Saturday’s and Sunday’s and count on kind baristas with no ego to make me a killer Charlotte’s Lament or a Conspiracy of Consciousness sandwich accompanied by a fine pull of espresso or an Italian soda.

The prices are just right and an ambiance created by Nick Drake and other wonderful folk musicians. The drive through in the back is signaled by a “Honk Clown Horn for Service” sign.

I’d go into some glamor shots of food and espresso, however, this is a place you just need to come to in order to really appreciate the holistic experience it offers along with free WiFi (on which I write my blogs lately)

So if you are ever in the neighborhood and are looking for a wonderful place to sit, relax, drink some Joe and have a smile. I really do recommend you give this place a chance.

You can follow them on Twitter- @SpunkyPDX

You can also visit them on the web at- http://www.monkeyroasters.com/

Have a wonderful and safe weekend folks.

-G

I am officiating their wedding soon. I’m going to lose myself in that experience for sure.

Saturday, May 1, 2010 was one of the most resplendent and soothing days that I can remember having in a long time.

I woke up at 10:15a to a shuffling best friend doing his normal morning routine while I gave the morning a stretch. I sleep very well on his futon.

We waited for his fiance, and my friend Vanessa to come about. We decided to go to a place, that as I couldn’t see what it was called on iLan’s monitor, I called Baby Cafe but later found out to be called Macrina Bakery and Cafe.

We waited outside and snacked on some pastries. I had a “Rocket Muffin” which was composed of an amazing strawberry preserve. So moist and delicious. We were finally seated about a half hour later. Famished and drooling we sat at the bar and ogled the menu. I chose the “Market Special” which was 2 eggs over easy, peas and onions with baked gnocchi, a salad, and some fantastic bread with more of that awesome preserve. iLan had a sub-satisfying granola, and Vanessa had a waffle that I could’ve grown old with. It was ginger infused and amazing. I recommend stopping by and having a nibble if you are ever there.

After breakfast, we drove back to the house for a brief stretch before heading out. I should say this now: The biggest part of what made the day so wonderful was the fact that both of these lovely people wouldn’t spill any of the destinations we were headed to. With that, I couldn’t have any set expectations, as much as I probed, and was thereby forced to just enjoy the journey.

With both of my kites, Louis and Carlos packed in the trunk, and a flashlight equipped for whatever reason that I wasn’t told, we drove to the Edmonds Kingston Ferry. What a spectacular first stop. The ride is maybe only 25-30 minutes, but just enough to relax, enjoy the air, and really take in some amazing views of the Sound. When we got to the other side, we drove into Kingston for a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee before continuing on.

Elton John played songs while I dozed in and out, feeling the travel, seeing green landscapes. Another pit stop. We swung by V’s old grandparents area and scoped some nice views, hung out on a wobbly dock, and drove through what used to be forest; now retirement residence.

Continuing on, we finally pulled into Fort Townsend. We parked the car, and walked a path up a hill. Still not sure what was happening, I kept joking that they were taking me to the woods to shoot me. Not exactly. Instead they surprised me with an amazing abandoned Naval base on a bluff! We explored all sorts of little pocket buildings before heading atop the base, which was a beautiful field. Perfect for flying kites and catching a spectacular view of the water as well as a couple bald eagles. We flew Carlos and Louis for about an hour or so before I was told we had to go or we’d be late…

More mystery.

We packed up the kites, headed back to the car and back to the ferry. While we waited for the ferry, we ran out the car and grabbed some amazing iced cream. I had lavender with honey. *swoony pants!*

Finally the ferry came, we boarded, played a little hide and seek, and then de-boarded. We then drove back to the house, iLan asked me what I packed to wear. I told him jeans, underwear, shirts, etc. He seemed a little sighish before retreating to the bedroom. Through the door I heard mumblings of, “I don’t know if he can wear that”…”Maybe these?”…”He can wear mine”…

I chuckled at my curiosity. Finally we got back in the car and drove to our destination. Getting wound through an industrial complex, I was back to joking about them plotting to kill me before finally iLan surrendered to asking me to tell him if I saw anything awesome around while we drove. We got a little turned around before finally pulling into a parking lot. A giant building was in my peripheral vision. I caught a glimpse of an open garage door and nearly emptied my bladder in excitement. A freaking warehouse filled with trampolines!! I completely forgot that I had just said on Twitter a few days before how I really wanted to go to a trampoline house. Vanessa had taken it upon herself to plan an amazing surprise. Needless to say I was like a kid at Christmas. I was a little hesitant at first, but after seeing everyone having such a great time, I “jumped” right in. The building was subdivided into a birthday area, a dodge-ball area, open jumping, a foam pit for doing crazy flips, and a supervised area for kids 8 and under.
I felt really old when I had a passing thought of, “Sheesh, insurance for this place must be pretty expensive.” The old guy in me took a backseat almost immediately after my second or third bound off the bouncy walls. I did front flips, side flips, back-ish flips, and face-plants into the foam pit. I’m still sore from how much jumping occurred. 2 hours later we left, and I had burned, in my approximation, 60000 calories. Hunger had set in.

We then retreated to Safeway for snacks, drinks, the works. The night ended watching old Sealab cartoons from Adult Swim and eating nachos. I passed out almost immediately.

That concludes one of the most beautiful days of my life.

Later Taters.

-G

Next up: Spunky Monkey Junky

At the end of March I started moving my things in to the new studio. The term ‘studio’ has such a sexy appeal before you actually move into one. With that terse statement out of the way, I must say I really am enjoying my new place. The new …OK…armor clad knights?…it has only been 25 years since the virus broke out…GUH this movie sucks…*ahem*…the new space is much smaller, but then again, it is only for one person with very few belongings. So I find it very appropriate.

More photos can be seen here in the flickr set.

Staying in the north east quadrant of the city was an appeal for me as I’ve fallen in love with it. I am literally 3 blocks from Burnside and a minute walk from a great coffee shop called Spunky Monkey. They feature their own brewed coffee, weekend waffles, and free internet (a huge plus for yours truly). A very friendly staff is matched only by the awesome baked goods and sandwiches that you would kill your family for…I recommend the sandwich affectionately called Charlotte’s Lament.

Seven blocks north of my new place is a lethal combination of DaVinci Arts Middle School and Steccato Gelato. I am stoked about the middle school as it has a great field for flying kites and playing games. Gelato is gelato.

I am now also much closer to Laurelhurst Park which I discovered this weekend. Aside from the pond algae problem I read about, it is quite a beautiful place to read, eat, and relax on these wonderful days Portland is experiencing.

As far as the work commute, I am now back in bike riding season, so it is pretty easy to coast down Sandy, to the new Sandy/Couch coupling project (nice work by the way Sam Adams), and ease down Burnside to the office just a proud 3 blocks south from there. In September iDL Worldwide is moving to a great new building in the park blocks in the Pearl District. This will be great as then I will be able to practically spit on Powell’s Technical Bookstore. I won’t spit on it though; however, I will buy copious amounts of math/science/and technical books.

This is a good new place. I am pretty sure I will be here for a bit while I save for something a little more permanent.

-Gabe

So the first week is spent hum-drumming along on craigslist and the like. I was getting nowhere fast. Finally I decided that a more analog approach would be good. I walked south out my house and within 15 minutes of walking saw a small building on Everett with a ‘Studio for Rent’ sign. I called the number, was shown the place, and within 25 minutes had my deposit down. Moral of the story–don’t forget that even though the computer is extraordinarily powerful for networking, real organic interactions with the world around you can yield some pretty incredible results.

I spent the the next couple weeks at my leisure moving things in. April 1, I was all moved in and totally beat. Work blew up with some pretty fantastic clients and I had zero time to really settle in. Then, within a a couple weeks, I had to take a trip to New York for the 99% conference. (www.the99percent.com). It was a great trip. The Tuesday I came in, I came to the Aka Times Square Hotel. A pretty sweet suite.

Anyhow. The conference was great. Jack Dorsey can’t draw. Stefan Segmeister’s accent in real life sounds like someone who knows how to professionally torture people. But more relevantly, ideas are great and execution takes time to learn. You can read the recap on their site.

The next day, I went to MOMA for the Tim Burton show, ate at S’Mac, and got a full tour of the photography and PR department of Showtime thanks to my old friend Rick. Walked out with some great swag. My feet are still a little sore from all of the walking.

The full batch of photos can be seen over here.

I left on Saturday after much food and travel, I’m now back in Portland with a weekend to relax. Yesterday I bought a kite. Its name is Carlos. I flew him after a fabulous breakfast at Screen Door on Burnside. Oh! And! Saw my good friend Tad from Phoenix. He cut my hairs….see?:

I’m very happy to be home and have an uneventful weekend to myself. Silence and blogging. *sigh of whimsy*

Next up: My new place. ~maybe I’ll write this next weekend.

So where was I? Ah, yes. Wednesday and Thursday. Let’s start with the play-list:

March 10:

• Tresspassers William_Different Stars
• Moby_Everything is Wrong
• James Brown_The Godfather
• Saul Williams_Amethyst Rockstar
• Yoav_Charmed & Strange
• Sage Francis_A Healthy Distrust
• Unkle_Never, Never Land
• Radiohead_Talk Show Host
• Serart_Self Titled

March 11 (The longest day of my life, literally):

• Andres Segovia_The Art of Segovia 1&2
• Radiohead_In Rainbows
• Mirror’s Edge_Original Score
• Me & You & Everyone We Know_Original Soundtrack
• DJ Shadow_The Outsider
• Sage Francis_The Human Death Dance
• Solar Fields_Randomized Tracks
• Sarah McLachlan_Surfacing
• M83_Before the Dawn Heals Us
• Dieselboy_The 6ixth Session
• Jose Gonzalez_Veneer

Alright. With that outta the way. Let’s talk the experience.

So Wednesday I got up in the morning. (a good time to do it). I walked over to wake up at Odaiba park some more. I was hoping to get into the science and tech museum but they opened a little later that I had time for. I wafted back to the conference hall to have lunch with my co-worker. I noticed a wonderful social etiquette behavior take place within the hall. Everyone eating on the benches faced away from each other.

Eat back to back

I was one of 2 a-holes that decided to not follow suit. It felt pretty punk rock.

So through lunch I could barely focus on the conversation I was having with Ed, the co-worker. My mind was filled with all of the places I wanted to go and see. The bento tasted a little gamey, but made for good walking fuel. I then bowed out of the conference and walked to the local mall to do a retail audit and begin an adventure of architecture and yumminess.  I can’t say much about the mall  experience (if you are super interested, some of the photos from that can be seen in the architecture folder here.)

After the walk to the mall, I was feeling a little beat. So I came to the hotel room to rest a bit and watch some TV.

Funny thing about television. It encapsulates and compresses culture in such a fantastically truncated way, that you can really see the boiled down stereotypes and cultural symbolism in its purest uncut form. The above was from a kids show explaining the turning of the seasons from winter to spring.

After my break, I did a freaking huge architecture walk from deep Ariake to deep Ginza. It was about a 6 mile walk in total, but because of my pacing, it felt to be around 10 miles. Too many photos to post here, but again the link to the architecture set is here.

One of my favorites though was the eternal chase I had trying to see the Eiffel Tower. It must have been huge. On the skyline it appears to be right across the bridge, but the closer I thought I was getting, the further it appeared. It played as my leader while I scouted other awesome buildings.

Lots of buildings seen. My favorite shot of the evening below:

I was outside of an athletic club. The sun had set and I was beat. Time to head to the hotel, pack and prepare for a long ass day of travel.

In the morning, I woke up and stumbled into the bathroom and spotted a wonderful little refraction of rainbow on the bathroom wall. A nice little morning goodbye from my neat little bathroom before I headed back.

Long story short as far as the ‘commute’ back to Portland, I traveled back to Narita airport and waited a good chunk of time for my flight before flying for -8 hours. I ate lots of noodles, shopped a little, and drew. Milk tea is great.  I took off at 5P and landed at 9A that same day. Such a strange and long day. I came home to a completely f’d circadian rhythm and a short fuse of a timeline to find a new place to live…(but I’ll leave that for a future blog).

To summarize, Japan was an amazing experience. I have a hunch I’ll be back there in the future for business or recreation and have another humbling experience in one of the most polite and ‘smart’ places I’ve ever been. Thanks for reading.

A woman and her child racing across the "Dream Bridge" in Ariake

I stumbled down the hallway to the vending machine and bought a coffee. 3 of them in fact as the typical coffee is served in about 6 ounce servings. My American gut craved MORE. ~7 dollars worth later and I was only partially satisfied as I milked the teat of the machine like a sinner at a prayer bench.

I washed up in the awesome shower and got myself into form before heading over to Tokyo Big Sight. I had arrived about an hour and a half early so I decided to sit and people watch. There was an “international lounge”, however I didn’t feeling like talking to anyone in broken “insert whatever native tongue they spoke here” with as little caffeine in my system as I had. It was turning into Fear and Loathing in Ariake real quick. Thankfully you don’t have to go very far before bumping into another vending machine where I downed another 6 ounces off brown-juice.

Finally, guest check-in started and I was able to get my pass and meander the show. I saw many awesome vendors and material samples.

I’d love to show you all the show pictures, but I’m considering them IDL Worldwide property, so unfortunately, I can’t…but here is a little montage of some of the booths with thier awesome construction.

After about 3 hours of the show, I also hit the Retail Tech show, LED Today, Security Show, and a couple others. It was massive. To walk the entire show and hit every vendor would’ve taken about a week. I was pretty hungry so I went to the bento cart and had some chicken and pickled radish. Very tasty. After that, I decided it was time to head back to the hotel and put on my walking shoes.

No, just kidding. I wore my Vibram Five Fingers. So good for walking Odaiba Park.

Why did I walk Odaiba Park you ask? Because I was desperately looking for this-

I must’ve walked 10 miles through the park and surrounding territories with zero success. It was quite maddening. However, there were some good things to see regardless. Lady Liberty was there, an immense amount of crains, beautiful architecture, and a bit of cultural informing. I learned all about the way pedestrians move in Japan is quite different from the US; they pass on the right and as such, make me look like a douche. It took a bit of getting used to veering in the new direction, but after awhile it made total sense (considering they also drive on the opposing side than Americans. Second to this, which I think is an unintended side effect, considering that 71.1%* percent of people are ‘right-eyed’ when you pass on the right, you are more likely to look up and see the person you are passing, thus making for more real organic interactions with the people you encounter on your way. JUST A THEORY…obviously.

Odaiba Park

As the day went on and my legs started to die, I eventually, around 6p, ventured back to the hotel for a much needed shower and change of clothes. I then snacked on a clif bar before watching a little television, and mentally preparing for walk-a-thon 2010. Wednesday I had planned on an intensive day of walking through retail environments, more park and community studies, and architecture photo-walks. I’m pretty sure I heard my legs weeping…or at least that is what I am calling the noise…hahaha.

Next up: Arigato! Mr. Gaboto

March 9th Play-list:

• Telepopmusik_Breath
• Blade Runner Soundtrack
• Boards of Canada_A Campfire Headphase
• Sting & The Police_Roxanne
• Tycho_Coastal Brake

Sunday, March 7th I left for Tokyo Japan. My work sent me to attend Japan Shop, a retail merchandising materials and manufacturing trade show and also to get inspired. I like working for a company that invests in its employees in this way.

What a wonderful experience! This is the first of four blogs that will give an overview of my stay, my observations, and the extremely brief role reversal of becoming the minority in one of the ‘world’s most populous metropolitan area‘ over the span of 5 days.

I left my bed at around 6am to catch the commuter flight from PDX to SEA. I got to the airport pretty quickly so I was glad to find that they had an earlier flight I could hop on to prepare for transit to the appropriate gate in Seattle*.

I got to my gate and had just enough time to mentally prepare myself for the 9:52 flight to NRT (Narita Airport). Once aboard, way back in seat 34B, I sat next a very nice, but extremely talkative human named Kristyn. She immediately barraged me with the details of her work life within the Washington State Legislature and her night job as a bar tender for some bar somewhere. I watched When Harry Met Sally, Family Guy, and a bit of the in flight GPS system. Fast forward, past the over-sauced flight meals, touchdown in Narita. “I lost a day.”, thinks the time traveler in his head.

When we deplane the craft, the first thing I noticed was the wonderful usage of iconography to help an ill-prepared visitor like myself. I followed ‘Yellow‘ to get to international arrival customs. The lines and customs lobby were clean and super efficient. When I got to the officer, he pointed to my head and softly said “cap”. I removed my cap, surrendered my fingerprints and a pretty awful face photo of myself to the Japanese government before heading to bag inspection. One in the bag inspection area, I kept noticing how amazingly fluent the iconography was. I could navigate with barely any effort. The officers were dressed in the most beautiful blue uniforms. So spotless you’d have thought that the officers themselves were rolled off of a manufacturing line 15 minutes before I arrived. The female officer I was prompted to approach softly welcomed me with a “hello” and then briefly glanced at my papers and bag before bowing and sending me on my way. I’ll never forget those deep, beautiful, welcoming eyes. Kindness and authority can go together. Who knew?

The whole time leading up to the trip, I felt my biggest hurdle was going to be getting from Narita to Tokyo. Thankfully co-workers informed me about the awesome limo-bus system. 2,700¥ or about $30. It was the only moment of culture shock I felt when I pointed to my destination of the Ariake Washington Hotel to the limo-bus counter clerk. She looked at the destination, quickly printed a ticket, collected my yen, and sent me on my way.  Painless. I then felt much better clutching that ticket. I sat next to a girl I recognized from the flight while I waited for my bus.

On the bus and the fastest hour of my life passed by, I was getting off of the bus when my co-worker Ed Toler was sitting in the front row and said, “Hey, are you Gabe?”…I was kinda caught off guard, and continued off the bus before turning around to greet him. We made plans for dinner and I checked into my room.

hallway to hotel room

my hotel room

Once I got into my room, I noticed a little card holder on the wall. Brilliant. You put your room card in to hit a switch to power the room. I assume it only works with the room card. I didn’t try any other cards, but still good stuff. Great way to save on power consumption.  I gave my room a brief scan before unpacking and laying down for a moment.



view from my room

I called Ed and we met up to have dinner in the hotel. We played elevator lottery trying to get up to the 21st floor where the restaurant was located.  Finally, we found out that the restaurant was closed. However, the 20th floor had a killer Chinese restaurant. We split all sorts of yummy dim sum, rice dishes, eggplant and dumpling soup. It was really delicious and just what my body needed after that long journey.

After dinner, Ed and I parted ways, and I went up to my room to sleep.

time for bed

Next up: “Arigato!”

Want to see more photos? Head on over to my flickr page. Always adding, never ceasing.

March 7th Play-list:

• The Fountain Original Score
• Portishead_Dummy_Roads
• Led Zepplin_Babe I’m Gunna Leave You
• Carbon Based Lifeforms_Abiogenisis
• Juno Reactor_Pistolero (radio edit)
• Juno Reactor_Rotoblade
• Ryan Adams_Love is Hell PT.1 & PT.2
• Sigur Ros_Flugufrelsarinn
• Sigur Ros_Glosoli
• Sigur Ros_Happipolla

March 8th Play-list:

• Cake_Prolonging the Magic
• Blue Foundation_Self Titled

*I should note I am not a huge fan of the Seattle/Tacoma Airport as the “N” and “S” terminals are separate from the other terminals. As a visitor, my first few attempts were pretty rushed and frustrating. WAY better than LAX though. Oh wow do I despise LAX.

Mouth-full yeah. Regardless.

I picked up my guitar again. I picked up my paint brush again. I picked up my cutting board again.

I’ve been doing a ton of quick photoshop illustrations to ‘check my buff’ and see how my understanding of form is holding up. I don’t normally draw in the computer environment as there is something to be said about old school media. Not that PS doesn’t have its place. I just enjoy the tangible sensation of creating with wet/dry media.

I am trying to improve and true-out my interests through practicing the things I enjoy.  It felt like a bizarre feat to successfully strum out some Segovia-esque rhythms and have it sound half decent. I listened to him a lot today while walking.

Today our landlady was showing the condo to perspective tenants so I had to be scarce. I got up this morning and walked to get some coffee. After that, I walked all the way over to the foot of OHSU and looked at the homes that were for sale. I don’t really have 1.2 million dollars, but I can enjoy the thought of that view. Holy crap.

Eventually my legs took me to the office and I did a little work before retreating to Backspace for some lunch (Intermittently perusing the awesome art that is up over at Compound). I recommend the “My Sweetheart Salad”; I’ve never had heart of palm before. Tasty! Then I walked through the Lloyd Center Mall before taking refuge in the park where I sat for the better part of 2 hours just enjoying the sun and the music that filled my head. This was concluded with a viewing of Shutter Island. I must say, this was a better flick than I anticipated.

Now I am home, typing, digesting AWESOME leftover mushroom soup from yesterday. I must say, this is a great recipe!

Tomorrow I have to get up early for my dentist appointment (10 years since last check up) eek!

Have a splendid evening kiddos.

~G