Reading The Tea

Blogs range from sensational tell-alls to posting links to other people’s sites. Over the years, I’ve done pretty much the gambit but I still haven’t decided what the best approach is for me. Why read blogs? Information? A new way of seeing things? Voyeurism? Then the other side: Why keep a blog? Am I hoping to influence people? Have a large audience? Keep my friends and family up-to-date? Provide amusement? Have a place to get stuff out of my system? Keep a record? In recent years, I tend to shy away from anything too personal in blogging. But then, what’s personal? I feel like there are a few ethical guidelines: it’s up to me if I want to make my own private thoughts public, but crosses a line if I reveal too much about other people without permission. But what is too much? There’s the obvious, then the blur. Recently I’ve gone to a rather extreme point, where I minimize the “me-ness” in my entries. But then I wonder… Couldn’t some of my photos be rather personal to me? If I remove the “I” from a blog, why use the blogging medium. What is a blog writer’s responsibility to a reader? Should I ensure that an entry has a certain degree of interestingness? Quality control check the writing? Why do I blog? Why do other people blog?

The discovery of the quickly growing graphic novel section at the library fills my heart with the spring flowers that are being frozen by the unseasonable cold here. (Snow at the end of April? Here? Seems like a bad joke.) I read “12 Days” by June Kim and “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel. Both revolve around a death. Alison Bechdel’s writing has sometimes been compared to David Sederis. I didn’t see it except that 1.) they both deal with autobiographical subject material 2.) they’re both gay. Is that really enough to always tie the two together. “Fun Home” reminded me more of Craig Thompson’s “Blankets.” I’d highly recommend both.
I’ve been watching the first season of Veronica Mars. What took me so long? I have a feeling that I’ll go through the DVDs for all three seasons too quickly. If you also have been remiss in watching it, go remedy that now. Why are you still reading this? Shoo and watch.

Sarah and me (photo by Dustin)

I needed shoes:

And found a great shirt:

And everyone should own at least one brass candalabra:

All for the low-guilt price of $54.48.

Some friends from back in the Brooklyn “day” are on a six-week trip driving across the US and back. They spent Monday evening and yesterday with Dustin and me, exploring Portland. Nothing like trying to give someone a sense of a city in 24 hours to make one stop and contemplate the city. We decided that a sampling of Portland restaurants was definitely in order. After much debate, D & I settled on Castagna, Pix, McMenamins Chapel Pub, and Farm. Then of course there was coffee: Stumptown and Albina Press. We also visited Powell’s, tried to see the view of the completely cloud-obstructed Mount Hood from the barren (Oops, wrong time of year…) Rose Garden, and wandered around the shops on Mississippi. If the weather had been better I think we’d have done more outdoor stuff, but as it was we filled the day. Of course, it was lovely to see them.

Michael, Sarah, me, Dustin

Looking at this sign in Half Moon Bay, all I could think was that it’s really too late for the poor guy in the sign.

Bronwen’s creation to go with afternoon tea: ginger snap and green tea ice cream sandwhiches.We drank them with ginger peach black tea as we were lacking milk to go with any of the other black teas.

 I found a Tahitian Pomello at the Farmer’s Market in Palo Alto. It was large and glowing, like a dragon’s egg should be. This citrus was so impressive that people stopped me while I was walking around cradling it and asked where I’d gotten it.

We kept it enthroned on the vase, in honor.

It met it’s demise when Bronwen and I combined it with blood oranges, advacado, greens, olives (I would leave those off next time, though B would use them again.) and a lovely dressing for a marvelous dinner salad. The skin was much thicker than I expected –almost half an inch deep.