Test post from guest author

Just testing something out here.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Sunset, sunrise

I think it's time to end this blog and start up a new one. This space has always been about our crazy adventure - Greg and me buying a house, tearing it down, building it anew, living in it and doing some amazing things therein. There's a lot of shared history, love and beauty captured in this blog and I don't want to diminish it by shifting focus solely to me. I'd like that history to remain here, whole. 


That said, I am going to shift focus to me and my adventures. I am just going to do it elsewhere. Stay tuned for more on this front.


In the meantime, thanks for reading, following, caring.


XO
e.

Up Next: Elvis Costello!

He's coming back! Our favorite traveling troubadour is headed back to Portland for an early July show, and we will be there in full force. 

Greg estimates he's seen EC 10 times, and I've been there for 4 or 5 of them. The last set we saw was spectacularly good (pun intended). 

Last time he did the unexpected and played Veronica. 

Will he bring it again with the same ferocity? We shall see. Signs point to yes.

#excited #IheartElvisCostello

I looked away for a minute, and Foursquare messed everything up

Dear Foursquare,
I loved your old program and its various goodies, especially earning badges and mayorships. The delight I derived from earning a new digital badge was unexpected and perhaps a bit juvenile, but very real. Getting new badges was like getting tiny surprise presents. It's those tiny surprise presents that kept me using Foursquare and sharing it with other. "You, too, can get tiny presents!" I explained to my friends. "And yes, I am the Mayor of Gino's."

You updated the program earlier this year to a check-in app called Swarm, and when doing so, stealthily stripped away my beloved badges and mayorships. I didn't notice this for a while, but now I am onto you and I cry foul! Why would you take away the fun stuff and leave only the checking in part? Who wants to check in when you get absolutely nothing for it? You are ruining everything - waaaah!

I realize that a 40-something adult shouldn't be crying over phasing out digital badges, and I will cease my caterwauling. However, now that I've gotten your attention, I will use this opportunity to share with you my beloved badges (in part to document them here before you decide you need more server space and remove them from users' Foursquare vaults).

Thank you, Pee Wee Herman, for giving me the exclusive badge for checking into your SXSW movie premier. Thank you, airports hither and yon, for allowing me to check in so many times that I leveled up on the Jet Setter badge 8 times. Thank you, Foursquare, for badging me when I voted in November '12, when I visited the Motor City in '13, when I hit my "ten hundredth" check-in a year ago.

Sincerely yours,
Erin 


P.S. Now what do I do to get tiny surprise presents? The hunt is on...

Camp Mommy to Daddy Greg and Papa Ross: Missing You

Greg is now in Ohio (medical emergency trip 3 this quarter, for those who are keeping track). His dad's in the hospital, likely to head to hospice tomorrow. Cancer still sucks. And missing Greg sucks.

Crap.

Well, we shall stay calm and carry on.

Greg's dad Ross is pretty darn awesome, for those of you who haven't met him. He was in the Army, stationed for a while in Anchorage, AK. He is both an optometrist and a pharmacist (so it's a pretty good bet he's an ace at math and science). He is a heck of a good jokester - our kids love hanging out with him. He is a collector of amazing things: old science and ocular equipment, traditional woodcraft tools, native american arrowheads, cute kiddo pictures of Greg and his brother Mark.

Let's continue to hope for good things to happen in the days and weeks to come.

Good thoughts, people.

Camp Mommy to Daddy Greg: We Miss You

G's in Florida helping out his dad, who was just diagnosed with cancer.

Think good thoughts, people.

Oh, and fuck cancer.

My Storm Large Valentine

Went to see Storm Large last night with her band and the Oregon Symphony at the Schnitz. The show was unexpectedly awesome (which is not to say that we expected crap, but she really brought it).

She belted out some old standards (opened with "My Funny Valentine" and played others I can't recall). She sang some of her own songs, including "8 Miles Wide" (oh yes, she did) and "I Want You to Die" (somehow this is a Valentine's song). She covered Elvis Costello ("I Want You"), Tom Waits (not sure about the song, but it mentioned a philanderer and a hooker), and Lou Reed ("Satellite of Love").  She sang songs about love, hate, yearning, fear, God, redemption. She was, as always, spectacular. And barefoot.

Standout show moments:

• She sang a truly amazing reinterpretation of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" in which her Sandy alter-ego was tweaked into an off-kilter jilted stalker. 
• She got the guys in the audience to sing "8 Miles Wide." Let me remind you that the audience includes Oregon Symphony patrons. There were octogenarians. In fancy dress. Singing about vaginas. Just think about that for a while. 
• She performed "I Want You" as a duet with a creepy guy clown. Full clown drag. Very off-putting and perhaps the most brilliant moment of the night in terms of performance art.
• She had some Von Trapps (yes, real ones) join her for some German song, and back her up later on "Juke Box Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Best moment of the night for me was an unexpected one. She and guest Holcombe Waller slayed me with their cover of "Unchained Melody." Stunning. Here's a clip of them from a '12 show doing a similar version.

To sum it up: awesome, awesome show. If you are in PDX tonight and don't have plans, she's playing again. Curtain at 7:30. Be there if you can.

A Storm Large Valentine
2/14/14

Camp Daddy Rocks

Second post of the day to give props to Greg. He is really amazing, and it becomes abundantly clear when I leave for 2 weeks and he takes charge. He is able to cheer me up from afar, and manage things seamlessly (or nearly so). 

Camp Daddy activities thus far have included: 

- 2 ballet classes 

- 2 swimming lessons

- 1 birthday party 

- 1 movie (at the movie theater!)

- 1 remodel of our pantry (in progress)

- 5 wake-up routines

- 4 bedtime routines

- 1 school holiday

- 1 field trip

Compared to that, all I've done is flown across the world and had a couple of business meetings. 

Daddy officially rocks. I love you, G.

Man, do I suck as a blogger

No post since March 2013. Jeez. That's really terrible. I am sorry I have neglected y'all. 

I am currently in Turkey for market research, headed to Russia next week. Both are new countries for me, so that's exciting. Both are being threatened by terrorist activity, which is unsettling. Turkey is a target for folks that are pissed about Syria. Russia is a target for folks that are pissed about Russian's activities in various countries/areas near Sochi. And I am an innocent market researcher stuck in the middle. 

My plan is to lay low, get my work done, and get out. 

And to stop watching CNN. In the last year or so, CNN has really shifted focus so it's now covering terrorist crap nearly non-stop. Can't I get an uplifting episode of "Inside Africa" or something? Even a Grey's Anatomy with English subtitles would do. I need some fluff. 

I will say that Turkey—and Istanbul, to be precise—has been beautiful thus far. Food has been great. People have been gracious. 

I'm a bit nervous about Russia. It's supposed to be COLD (read: zero degrees daytime high). And I'm not sure about the food. Or the mafia. Maybe they'll be so busy readying for Sochi that they'll leave business people in Moscow and St. Petersburg alone. We shall see...

XOXOX
e.

Bright lights, Chengdu city

We went out to a historic shopping district in Chengdu last night. Saw some amazing sights and a show with traditional dancers, including a "changing faces" dance that's drawn from the regional opera. And ate some locale fare including spicy hot dumplings in chili oil and kung pao chicken (the real deal).

I can't stay and chat because pandas await today. For now, here are some pretty pictures.

 

 

 

 

More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157632963512939/ 

Can do...Chengdu

First morning in Chengdu--so far, so good. It's about 70 degrees out, smoggy but at least it's sunny and warm. I strolled around the neighborhood near the hotel and did some people- and sight-watching.

 
 

 

 

Here are some more pics for your perusal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25768433@N02/sets/72157632960664564/

 

 

Cheers from Chengdu!

e. 

Kung Fu Panda, Leedy Remix

I am on my way to China. But not just China...tier 2 China. This means Chengdu--home of pandas and spicy, spicy food--and Dalian--home of dumplings and a stone's throw from North Korea. Adventure!

I will aim to blog a bit while I am away. Not much to share yet, as I am 3 hours into my 22 hour journey. Tomorrow, Chendgu!

More soon,
e.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Greg makes the most amazing roast turkey

A picture of the turkey is worth 1,000 words.

But tasting said turkey was 1000x better.

Ah, thank you Lord for sending me a husband that can cook like gangbusters.

Incredible? Why, thank you

Here I am fulfilling my Halloween destiny.

Darling, won't you ease my worried mind?

We've lost another of man's best friends. The Carratos lost their crazy-but-beloved dog Layla. Ah, 2012, why do you have to be so cruel when it comes to the pets?

This makes 5 since I've been paying attention: Django, Lita, Thor, Midge, and now Layla.

Last time I posted about this, I included a dog video to cheer you (and me) up. This time, I think I'll include a video just for Layla. This is the New Orleans jazz funeral march version of your namesake song.

(Note: to skip straight to the music, skip to 2:55...Clapton takes a while to set this up.)

RIP doggie friend.

Oh, and the rain starts tomorrow. In earnest.

Birthday for Batman

My good friend Rich is having his birthday today. Since he never misses a birthday blog post on my birthday (see most recent ones here, here, or here), I figure I ought to do the same to celebrate his special day. So...I just have to be snarky, curse a bunch, and throw in numerous pop culture references. Here goes!

First of all, despite being a raging social-phobe, Rich is a fabulous Halloween costume partner. In year's past, we've been The Captain and Tennille, something great that I'm not recalling right now, and Batman and Robin. Check out our f'ing fabulous selves here:

 

I was going to post a link to that Prince song from the original Batman flick with Michael Keaton, and then I remembered that Rich f'ing hates Prince, so that idea has been thrown out. So...then what? Batman Dubstep? OK.

 

 

Rich has saved my bacon a couple of times this year, and for that I am grateful (and he's helped me out once or twice too). It's distinctly possible that he distracted me from a very stressful situation by forcing me to go to a matinee showing of a summer blockbuster (it's also possible we didn't do this, as I can't imagine 2 serious market research professionals leaving work for a desperately-needed-yet-not-work-sponsored movie break). If in fact this happened, this is the movie we might have possibly (but not probably) seen:

 

 

Rich is headed to Scotland in a couple of weeks to see a concert, which is both ridiculous and fabulous. I can't wait to hear all about the adventure! In the mean time, let's close by gazing lovingly at my favorite Scottish lad (who I imagine Rich might like as well).

 

Happy birthday dude! Rock the fuck on.

 

Erin Leedy, World Traveler

Holy cow, my world map is looking better and better. 2012 has really fleshed this out—I added 3 new continents! And can really say I've been to the southern hemisphere now. (Note that I'm cheating for 1.5 weeks, as I don't hit Mexico until 10/1). 

That said, Where I've Been calculates that I've visited 9% of the world. That's it? Really!? It looks like so much more than 9% when you color in the entire countries of China and Brazil after having visited a city or two in each. ;-)

Perhaps next I will have to visit Russia, as that'll add a lot of blue to this map.

Now, how am I going to convince a client that we need to do some market research in Antarctica?

Everything, everything, everything, everything (East African remix)

Holy moly. Just wrapping up 11.5 days in East Africa, specifically Rwanda (Kigali) and Uganda (Kampala). What a life-changing experience. 

While it may not totally change what I do, it has changed my frame of reference. We in the West are so fortunate—so safe, so affluent, so healthy, and strangely, so grouchy. We have so much and yet we appreciate it so little and bitch about it so much. Going forward, I will try to appreciate all that I have more deeply. 

Here are a few images from my stay in Kampala, Uganda:

Headed to Brazil now, and feeling so fortunate to have been able to experience East Africa. I will try to share some of this with the kids, not only what I've seen but the renewed sense of appreciation for all that we have. 

e.  

No words

I visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre today. No words can describe the feeling of being there. My heart feels for all Rwandans today. 

I am in awe

I didn't really get it until today. I didn't fathom how different Africa (or at least Rwanda) would be. And honestly, how much poorer it would be. This is a place unlike any I've ever seen. I am in the most affluent part of the country and yet the buildings and the infrastructure—roads, storm sewers, water supply—clearly show how little this country has in terms of money. And when you consider the country's poverty coupled with the horror and sorrow of the 1994 genocide in which a million people were killed, it's really a staggering set of obstacles to overcome. 

That said, what I am in awe of is the wondrous people who inhabit this place. The hard-working, kind, creative, curious, smiling people. The people going out of their way to host me, to help me, to entertain me, educate me, and feed me. The beautiful children playing around every corner, pausing to peek, smile and wave at me. God, I love these kids already. I want my kids to understand a teeny bit about these kids. I will be bringing back stories and hoping to do a bit of educating myself. 

I was fortunate to visit an amazing place this afternoon: Nziza Artworks and the Ivuka Arts Studio. The art studio complex is being run to help mentor young Rwandan artists toward successful careers, and also provides opportunities for genocide widows and their children to learn arts and crafts and make/sell art works to advance their income earning potential. Some of the art here is quite primitive (though we Leedys quite like primitive folk art already) and some of it quite impressive. I was fortunate to meet artist Innocent Nkurunziza, a painter who mentors younger artists and craftsmen. He's headed to the US in 2 weeks on a trip related to this studio, and in an amazing coincidence, may actually head to the Nike campus. I was also fortunate to meet several of the widows working on crafts, including 2 who'd made the lovely necklaces I purchased earlier in the shop. 

I don't have the proper words to describe how amazing this day was, and in particular, this visit to the Ivuka Arts studio. I'm hoping some pictures will do it justice. 

me

paintings done by genocide orphans 

Painting done by artist being mentored at the center

Innocent Nkurunziza

Widows making traditional necklaces for the shop

One of the amazing kids I have encountered

Tomorrow the actual market research begins. Let the learning continue!

e.