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Melissa was recently talking about “life theme music” you know, the music that

I was thinking about this as well, but in a tangential way. It’s not music that I think represents my life, but instead music that transports me back to a certain time in my life. I’m talking about songs that I hear that immediately transport you to a time and place of your life. Sometimes a fond memory, sometimes not so.

Let me share a few with you.

1. Dan Fogleberg “Longer”
It’s 1979. We’re living with my grandparents, and mom has the Phoenix Album. The song longer comes on and Jim and I are dancing around the living room theatrically. This is something that continued on as we got older, we always loved to sing along, dancing and putting on shows for anyone who would watch.

2. Neil Diamond “Forever in Blue Jeans”
It’s 1981, we’re in the house on the golf course and this song is played regularly. It’s the song that represented my mom’s second marriage. They were blue jeans people, with more love then money and happier for it.

3.George Micheal Faith.
It’s 1987
I’m sitting in the living room at my Grandparents. My dad’s parents this time, and I’m unwrapping Christmas gifts The gift is my first album, Faith. The music from that album takes me back to receiving it

4. Soundgarden BlackHole Sun.
It’s 1994 Steve’s left for his 2 week commitment for the reserves. I’m home alone in our new apartment in Woodridge. I’m reading a Sci Fi/Fantasy book about eclipses, and this song is on a lot. I can close my eyes and remember the apartment, the lack of furniture, even what i cooked during this time.
(This was covered by the Long Winters at a TMBG concert I went to. Was just as amazing then.)

5. Burn. NIN, from The Crow.
It’s 1994. I’m wearing Doc Martens and in my free time I take the train into the city. I hang around the Alley and other places near Clark and Belmont, hoping to absorb some of the cool gothyness by just being there. I’m more independent then I’ve ever been, and this song represents me. (The Crow was very important to me at this time. )

Can you imagine me as a goth? or even a wannabe goth? I think I’d turn out like the kid in Dead Man on Campus. I goth look alike singing sunshine tunes from the 70′s.

—
Coming back to today, I can’t tell you what song will bring me back to this time and place. While there are particular songs on repeat, I can’t predict which one will hit that spot.
Will it be the music from Kiss Me Kate? or Sooj’s Wendy Trilogy? or maybe Gary Jules Mad world.

But If you asked me what song represents me now?
That I can answer?
I think it would be Abba’s I have a Dream. It’s taken me a long time to get here, but being here is so important and so satisfying. Following my dreams, doing what I want to do, and having faith in them.

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
Ill cross the stream – I have a dream

-Abba I have a Dream.

Any musical memories you want to share?
.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to represent the Seattle Free School at the “Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere” event held by the Community Alliance for Global Justice. They had contacted the Free School for tabling and asked if anyone would be up for teaching a workshop or two. I volunteered my meal planning workshop and a new one I’ve created on coffee certification. They accepted and in return  I was a guest at their dinner afterward

I arrived at St Demtrios Church early, and picked out a spot in the shade for our table. Waiting for Jessica and Dani, the other Free School folks, to arrive I wandered around helping out a bit. I helped one of the  event volunteers, Molly , rearrange tables and just kind of hung out helping as needed.

The other Free School folks showed up and  We set up our booth. I had a list of current classes, they brought signs to show who we were.

Between workshops I was able to talk to people to explain what the Free School is and encourage them to attend and teach. My coffee certification talk was a little nerve wracking because it was the first one I had been to and 2 of the people who came were pretty near experts on the issue, but they were supportive and in the end it was well received. (I have an idea of what I need to remake in the material so I can offer it again)

I hemmed and hawed about attending the dinner. Dani the other Free School person wasn’t going to, and I felt a little bit like the odd man out since I didn’t know anyone.
I’ve felt this push lately to do stuff, you know get out participate, experience whats going on. I spend a lot of time thinking of stuff, planning stuff, and writing about stuff, but I spend a disproportionate amount of time doing stuff. I’m trying to fix that

So I went into the dinner, not sure what to expect. I arrived the first at my table and sat, apprehensive. Very shortly  a very nice woman came over and asked if she could join me. I agreed and we began to chatter. Turns out she was Molly, the volunteers, grandma. She didnt know anyone else there so we spent our time chattering.

The keynote speeches &  dinner reminded me a bit of a socialist potluck I went to once. Lots of “We’re in this together” complete with singing, and a side of great food.   My beliefs are  not necessarily aligned with everything the organization stands for, but they’ve got some ideas on food sustainability that I support and I’ll keep an eye on their progress.

Great food? Oh yeah, here is one example.  As Joan and I sat talking appetizers started arriving. One woman went around the room with a big metal tray. She reached in with a gloved hand and piled a bunch of greens in the center of the tableclot. Without a plate.

What in the world ? I asked  what it was.
“Oh it’s Kale, eat it, it’s soo good. ”
Joan and I looked at each other skeptically then dug in.

Turns out it was roasted kale, and it was one  of the best things for dinner that night. (Competing with rum cake, and salmon.) Anyway, here is a recipe for it, do try this at home and tell me what you think.

Roasted Kale

1 bunch of kale
olive oil
coarse sea salt

Warm oven to 350

Wash Kale and pull the leaves off the thick center stems. Toss with olive oil.

Spread on a tray and roast for 5 minutes.
Flip, then roast another 10-15.

Salt as it comes out, and eat.

Some will be soft and cooked, some will be crunchy and crisp. In the end, its all good.

From Blog Photos

I think of education a lot. I didn’t follow the typical path to get where I am now.
I never had the opportunity to pursue college straight out of high school. Instead I got used to working. I’ve done a little bit of everything to earn a living. Or a lot of everything. I’ve had 24 jobs in the past 17 or so years. (For a fair amount of my misspent youth I worked 2-3 jobs while in school)

This means that I’m familiar with most business operations. I know what makes most companies tick, and have even how to rise in an organization. I’ve been on both sides of the interview table, I’ve hired people, reprimanded, trained, and fired people. **

This background makes me appreciate the digging in the dirt aspect of hands on classes.  I like experiential learning where I can dig my hands in to the process and pick something up by experiencing it. It also means I’m sometimes less then patient with my classmates who have had less experience. I know its not their fault, but I just can’t fathom coming this far in one’s education without at least some real world experience.

It’s pretty clear that the path I’ve taken has put me in a unique position. Because of my age people expect me to be educated, because of my status in education  it’s assumed that I don’t have experience. I realized this last night at the MSIM program info session last night. Since the executive program deadline has not passed for the year yet, and the age of these in the room, the presenter assumed we were all interested in that program. I clarified that I was interested in the day program, and the pendulum swung the other way, with an assumption that I don’t have the real world experience.

The combination of my experience and education mean I can take either program, the day or the evening. It means that I fit my own mold, that information on how business works is redundant, but that applying skills learned in those classes is a delight. I get to think about my desired path and customize my learning to match where I want to go.

How cool is that?

This is all a fabulous adventure for me, with ups and downs and twists and turns. Bring on the dirt!

**I’ve also made some horrid mistakes, that I can now see humor in.

I walked in, unsure of what I was going to find.
<first the job>
You see, I’ve been offered a job, at UW Technology starting Monday, and before I start, I want to verify the earliest I can get into the Tower after dropping Miss Bit off.  Testing the buses this morning tells me if I drop her off right at 8:45, I can make it to the tower early enough for a 9:30 start.

I decided it made sense if I brought my laptop and picked a coffee shop to work in for a while. So I loaded up my Mac book and opted to come to Mosaic in Wallingford. i knew that I could ride most of the way to the tower to test the time, then get off and wander over for coffee.

<the coffee house>
Why Mosaic Coffee? Well I’d come across their “Den” for meeting space when I was looking for a place to hold my next session of Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping 101.  It’s a non profit , church run space. The price being free for using their meeting space is really attractive. (I looked into maybe using my church basement but the fee was out of my price range*).

<So? It’s that cool?>
First its a No price cafe, meaning you pay based on what you think your item is worth. I don’t mind paying what my drip coffee is worth and am glad to be able to try out a cafe that has that agenda.

Second, the space is big, warm and a strange but comforting mixture of cozy and bright.
I was worried when I walked in and the first thing that I smelled was patchouli, but the scent went away pretty quickly.

Third, they brew Fidalgo bay coffee. Local coffee from my favorite roaster. How can it be bad? 

<Geek>
I’m a church geek sometimes. I’m fascinated by this in part because it is a church coffee shop. Beyond the pricing thing, and some chairs scattered around that look like they belong in a church. Beyond that, it just looks like a nice coffee house. There are nice tiffany lamps, leather coouches, and jazz music being played. I wonder  if this works for them as soft evangalism or if they just consider it a service for the community.

Anyway, I’m in love!

*Yes paying for space goes against the Seattle Free School Mantra, I figured if I had to pay for the space I would either remove the free school name from the class for that session or I would just call it a personal donation.

On Wednesday I finally got out to the Taize service held at the University UCC church. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. The idea of a chanted service followed by a communal soup dinner, sounds delightful. I arrived a little bit early, and initially had some difficulty  getting into the building.

Once in I was greeted by a small group of folks, a total of 8 ended up showing up for the service. They introduced themselves and  I got to listen to their small talk as we waited for the beginning of the service. As the start time neared we wandered into the chapel. There was some commentary that since so and so was missing  that I could fill in as cantor ?!? I kinda just shook my head and said, I don’t think so.

Luckily the girl who was the cantor showed up.  I fumbled through the service, having some problems finding my footing and trying to figure out what was going on. At one point during the silence I wondered if I was supposed to be doing something to break the silence, was it really supposed to go this long, had  I  missed something? We also participated in communion, with each person offering communion to the person next to them. Kind of nerve wracking as you try to hold the bread and the cup and remember the right words to say, plus to remember the name of the person next to you!

For a girl who is comfortable in really any sort of UCC service, I was really thrown for a loop. This was all new to me. Afterwards we sat down and had a nice supper of curried sweet potato soup wiith mushrooms.  We went around the table , talked about our days and what was new with us. They signled me out and asked about me and made me feel welcomed. It was the best community experience yet.

I’ll be going back, it’s a small service and I look forward to being part of the community going forward.

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Dateline : November 1 2008

A friend of mine does monthly bios. i used to do them, but they fell off my plate a long time ago. I’ve decided that I’m going to revive the practice and start posting on the first of the month.   Having spent a good amount of time the other night navel gazing I decided that its nice to have a monthly check-in. Since it’s been  a while this will be longer then most. It’s also a good intro to who i am in general.

Background: I’m 33 a Midwestern girl at heart having grown up in the suburbs of Chicago . I’m what could be considered a liberal Christian, not politically but more in the beliefs end. I am polyamorous and actively practicing, but at this point am not pursuing new relationships.  I  live in a big house in Seattle with my boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance and two children, one belonging to my fiance the other belonging to my boyfriend and girlfriend. I’m lucky because i can in a way consider both of them mine as well.  Lastly I have a codependent relationship with my cat.

School: At this time i am a full time student up at the University of Washington in Bothell. i am pursuing an Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences BA degree with a specialty of Science Technology and the Environment.  While at one time i was very interested in the pursuit of a degree in nutrition its pretty clear that that will only be a hobby  in the long term.  Officially I don’t know what I’m going to be when i grow up, though i have some ideas of how to apply my degree.

Work: At this time i am out of work. For the first time since i was a sophomore in high school, my only job is to go to school. I am pursuing part time employment though, looking for something to keep me on my toes.

Home:  We’ve been in the house nearly a year now. I think we’re fairly well settled in and I’m  hoping we don’t have to move for a good long time.  There are still some home projects i would like to get done, but they need money and time and while i have time, i don’t have money to sink in them yet. i did get signed up for a p-patch waiting list for next summer,and  i hope over the winter to come up with some ideas so that we can maintain our own yard without paying someone.

Girls: I’m still learning when it comes to the 6 year old. She surprises me on a daily basis, and I’m glad to have her in my life. it’s a pretty big learning curve and as of tomorrow she is seven!
The 16 year old is at an age where she seems to ignore me half the time appreciate me a quarter of the time and be annoyed by me the other quarter. Watching her grow and change is pretty amazing. Recently a friend of her stayed with us due to some home problems. She handled it really well though it was close quarters for a little over a week.

Church : I’m still feeling split between two congregations. Wednesday i went to a a Taize service at university UCC and had a great experience, the closest community experience i have had there . I’m moderating my involvement to avoid burning out.

SCA: i have a cooks symposium coming up mid month. I’m excited as its a cheese making and hearth baking class that I’ll be going to. I’m a little apprehensive, i don’t know how I’m getting out there and i don’t know many people. Otherwise I have some German cooking I’m working on, some persona development, and some weaving as well.

Crafts. i”ve started some craft work last month, but haven’t finished a whole lot. We carved pumpkins, I worked on a sock, and thats about it. I’m in need of yarn to finish a sweater, and need to get lye for soap making. Madrona Fiber Arts announced their schedule, and i’m excited by the rigid heddle weaving class, though if i don’t get a job i wont be able to go for much beyond window shopping at the vendor area

And thats me for this month. See you next month with another recap!

On Friday’s I have a tradition of going to Makeda after dropping Miss Bit off. I have coffee, go over my to do lists, a little bit of productivity and a little chatter with the coffee gals.

i also get to visit with th dogs who come in. This one is Rocket and he was adorable.

From 111NIKON

10 Random Things you might not know about  about me (1)

1. I once spelled my name as Debi . It was jr high.  This has scarred me for life to the point that  I detest being called anything other then Deb or Deborah.
2. Excluding my commodore 64, I didn’t have my own computer until I moved in with my ex-husband for the first time.
3. I don’t drive, though I”ve gone through the motions of learning more then once. My motivation is pretty low though.
4. In my senior year of high school it was typical for me to have 2 part time jobs, totaling over 40 hours a week
5. I physically am unable to have children. I have malfunctioning female body parts.  When I’ve explored the issue with medical professionals, they seem to be unconcerned unless i am trying to concieve. the bonus? No PMS.
6. I HATE talking on the phone. HATE HATE HATE.  Email  or text message please. This is how I knew my relationship with Patrick was serious. i enjoyed having phone dates. I’ve also suggested a phone call recently to my brother. This is a BIG DEAL.
7. In some ways I still don’t know what I’m going to be when I grow up.
8. I still consider myself a writer though I haven’t done any hard core writing in years. This has changed recently and I’m glad. I don’t expect anything to come out of it other then my own enjoyment.
9. My family in Seattle means everything to me. My scorched earth policy means I don’t know how to deal with my family back in the Midwest. On the other hand the network of close family and friends I have in Seattle mean the world to me, and  I don’t show them that nearly often enough.
10. My scorched  earth policy(2) seems to be eroding a bit. I have an ex or two that I consider myself to be on friendly terms with. This is big for me.

(1) This is a meme, came from my lj friend Tatterdemilion
(2)Scorched earth policy: In the past at the end of a relationship i have burned the other person out of my life completely. Staying friends is irrelevant. This has also been applied to family and friends in the past. I’m not proud of it. It’s one of the things I’m working on along with my Passive aggressiveness.

This really is a neighborhood for cats. First there is Mr Pants, whom you’ve all heard me talk about before, Then there is Sasha who came into the yard on Friday as I was barbecuing ribs, she stayed in the yard a good 3 hours hopping from person to person begging for pets, lazing in the sun, stealing  Leah’s blanket, and Miss Bit’s seat.

Tonight I also met  Gatsby  on the way out for coffee tonight, to this last one  who greeted me on the way home.

Cute huh? (He’s a polydactyl and he wanted to know why I was fussing with the camera and not petting him.)

He’s pretty but boy he doesn’t look so smart does he?

It takes little to make me happy.

My eee, a cup of coffee from 7 Roasters and my little pantone notebook.
(For the record, 7 Roasters does the best machiatto. Almost as good as Cafe Darte)