boo!

what's this??? a toyota chinook. a new adventure. a humongous project. A GEM!
Maybe someday the interior will reflect these:

canada

so life has been FULL of wonderful canadian surprises as of late, its kinda creepy how often I find myself surrounded by things "made in canada"... its been a variety pack and I'd like to share some with YOU!
Did you know... canucks make great music:
Timber Timbre visited portland's mississippi studios:


Basia Bulat graced The Woods:


Buck 65 being beautiful with a beauty. *sigh* only 7 minutes, I was hoping this would last forever...


A wee story:
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees North to avoid a collision."

Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees South to avoid collision."

Americans: "This is the captain of a US navy ship; I say again divert your course."

Canadians: "No. I say again, you divert YOUR course."

Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP."

Canadians: "We are a lighthouse; your call."

~author unknown


And a special thank you to the canadian couch surfers who rolled into town and made the last few weeks much more exciting. So very grateful for all the conversations, meals, dance parties and spontaneous adventures.

(it gerry!!! can you believe it, ten years later the boy rolls back into town... woop woop)

big green trees

I am a little bit lazy, and a little bit broke so when I discovered the only Canon battery charger I had was meant for New Zealand plug-ins a few weeks ago, I have yet to replace it with on that would work in the US. Which means I am unable to take quick and easy digital photos to share on my blog.
Its been a nice break though. I am still sitting on 2,000 photos from New Zealand and have yet to print or scrapbook any of those. Until I do something with that collection I am not allowed to take new photos and amass more of something that I don't do anything with. I have a love/hate relationship with digital and am working out some of the kinks these days.

Anyways, this means that I've been toting around my colored pencils and sketch book more.
Carin and I went and got lost two weekend in a row in the woods. The first weekend, the lovely Kristin Flemington (yah new friend!) joined us for an in and out trip at Eagle Creek. We scored a lovely camp site about 10 miles in. Once we set up camp we didn't see another soul the entire evening. It was a gorgeous trail- exciting falls, steep cliffs, Oregon outback. This weekend Carin and I went a little further North into the Hoh Rainforest of Washington State. HEY HOH! Sorry, can't help myself sometimes. This hike was equally beautiful. Luscious, old growth trees. Cedars with moss melting over every branch. We heard about lots of elk and black bears, but only saw some friendly fawns. We hiked at least 9 miles each day, which was pushing our little feet. Spoiled ourselves by carrying in way too much food, I refused to carry any of it out, so we had lots of eating to do, and shared some lovely campfires with friendly kids from Washington. We traded warm cups of Stumptown coffee for hours of sitting by their blazing fire.
Looking forward to what is bound to be a fun summer.

BOUNTY

The doug fir was very fruitful last night. Deanna and I knew we were in for a treat, two tickets to see the sold out Menomena show... but the surprise was how freagin' awesome the open acts were as well.
It started with: Archeology (also playing FREE at RonToms this sunday... bring your Mum's!)

Beautifully followed by the violin, drum duo that created a symphony of sound, Talkdemonic:

and finally a band I've been yearning to see live since I first heard of them back in high school, Menomena... for some unclear reason they were focusing on there OLD music, which luckily for me were the tunes that made me fall for their sound. Here is a taste of their newest single:

(fun side note, Caitlin McCall and I recently got to work on a CHILDREN's music video together with the same women who helped make this menomena video... when I say "work" i mean we dressed up in giant paper mache costumes and participated in chase scenes and semi-choreographed dance sequences!!! exciting things to come!)

buzzed

lately i enjoy drinking coffee to the extent of extremes. I know its not good for me, I know it makes me stay awake and makes my body feel like a miniature marathon is taking place inside my veins after the third cup, but i am romantically in love with the concept of morning, afternoon and night time JOE.
My brother in-law drinks ridiculous amounts of coffee, to the point where if he doesn't drink it before he goes to bed, he can't sleep because of physical withdrawals. I don't want my new habit to get that bad, i just really like warm, roasted drinks that you get to wrap your hands around and go "MMMM". I also like the idea of staying awake late and being productive, but that doesn't really happen too much as I am a "morning person" who tends to slip out of my jeans and get under the covers before midnight. When i talk to Caitlin and she tells me how she has stayed up till 3am busting out dresses in her basement I get jealous. I wanna stay up LATE, buzzing and producing. How exciting!?
There are so many hours in the day and so many great things to do. I am trying to stay awake to do them. But really no one wants to play at this hour.
.... sigh.

obvious

i am not sure this lifestyle will last forever, a part of me hopes that it doesn't, but at the same time I've resolved to enjoy it while it lasts... with that said, BUBBLES AND BALLOONS FOREVER!!!

tryon state park > forest park

huy's freetime

huys freetime means that he is not unloading boxes at adidas, has a beer in his hand and a skateboard in his other hand, is standing over his octopus like screenprint machine, making things either for hasbeen design or scumdays. his latest obsession is stopmotion photo movies. here is an example of a photo movie and a scumday skate gem!!!



www.hasbeendesign.com
www.scumdays.blogspot.com

An EXCERPT from howie

a dear friend who uprooted himself from Portland, Oregon to Doha, Qatar a few weeks ago. You are missed. XO

"Most days aren't too exciting. I'm mentally exhausted when I come home from work. I'll tell you about my most interesting day in Doha, it began last Friday. My neighbor Mohammed picked me up around 11:00 AM, and we drove to a Mosque. On the way to prayer, he told me hated George Bush. He said, "America's is in the middle east for oil." I didn't disagree with him. Further along in the car ride, he explained the differences between Shi'ite muslims and Sunni muslims. The Shi'ites are to Sunni's as catholics are to protestants. After a short while we arrived at the Mosque. Mohammed drove right to the front of the mosque, and blocked in a car or two. I laughed. We walked into a courtyard outside the mosque, took off our socks and shoes, and entered a wash room with white marble floors and polished silver colored faucets lining the walls. I imitated Mohammed's movements; I washed my feet, hands and face. Once I dried off, I entered the mosque and sat on a carpet and listened to a Sheikh give an ardent sermon. During the speech, the Sheikh's intonation was passionate and his mannerisms were forceful - he threw his hands around like a man with some shit on his mind. After 30 minutes into the sermon, Mohammed leaned over and told me, "The sermon is about sex before you're married." I laughed to myself. Later in the day, I told him, "Now, I know why you laughed during the sermon." Mohammed has no problems (making love to)* ladies outside of marriage, and I doubt he has any trouble picking them up either. He's a suave guy who resembles Mario Lopez. After the sermon, we went to a Syrian restaurant, and Mohammed tried to boss his girlfriend around over the phone while I laughed. His girlfriend is from Oregon and has no problems telling him what she is and isn't gonna do. After he got off the phone, he told me, "American women are to, to, to." "Independent", I responded. The ladies in Syria are more acquiescent than American ladies, if I can make that generalization."
*edited word choice

feverish

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.

- Vincent van Gogh

photo by j. crowe

a T-chart

Um, so Japan rattled and rolled recently and then a massive wave washed over the shores of a city. Its in pretty bad shape, and sadly things haven't gotten too much better for those who have suffered the worst. I was still 4 days short of flying to Tokyo when the earthquake hit but that meant that I had to make a decision: Stay or Go...
Its difficult making these kind of decisions... a school of children are depending on me to teach, its only a week before I am supposed to start work, they've already got enough shit on their plates a the moment vs. the unknown fear of possible nuclear radiation, your scientific inclined friends telling you about the importance of your thyroid gland and the friend in Japan whose mentioned the lack of bottled water available and the likelihood of electrical blackouts for the next few months. UGH.
WHAT NEXT? I am looking forward to the next 6 months as flowers blossom and the sun begins to shine. I haven't had summer in a while and I am feeling pretty lucky to be in Oregon for this next one.
So my travel blog won't be so much about the freedom one experiences whilst on the road... at least not for a while. I am not sure what's next but i am keeping thoughts positive and fingers crossed for some MAGIC.

love,
ckd

i ate a rainbow

sometimes when i am sick and snot is blocking my breathing passages i like to remember the better, healthier moments when i felt like a stallion and grooved for 8 hours at Fog & Bubbles Dance Party Extravaganza 2011!!!!

i am glad its not sunny today

i wanna flox

(art by Flox)

i rode up to the mountain with a friend of a friend recently who was surprisingly out of control... i wont go into details but i was scared and i thought "dammit how'd i get myself into this situation". but the reality is i get myself into those situations all the time and normally things work out just fine, including this time, i was home safe and sound a few hours later. A little extra sore from a collision on the mountain (getting hit full speed by this dude). Aside from the minor uncomfortableness and lack of trust i had for this person, he was wonderful, full of great ideas and fun to be around, additionally he put into words something which i've felt for a long time "I have a special connection with birds," I asked him why and he said because he wants to be able to fly. I smiled and nodded, but inside there were small fireworks going off in my mind "me too! actually i think i am kind of a bird" but i didn't tell him this.

recently life introduced me to another person who has a special connection to birds and kind of reminds me of one due to the fact that he is incredibly independent, nests in rafters and seems to frequently migrate North to South. He blows my mind with his ability to create relentlessly. Makes me giddy inside that I made such a cool new friend during my brief stint back in Oregon.

I have twelve days left in USA until I fly to Japan, they are going to go by fast. I am so happy I came home, even if it was brief and fleeting its been full of romantic dates with my best friends, making memories with the family, exploring the free events around portland (please watch Y La Bamba video courtesy of Barbarapartment.com) all around a damn good time.

Y La Bamba — Dialect Of Faith from bar bar apartment sessions on Vimeo.

please enjoy!

i wasted over an hour of life watching a film i was really looking forward to "I'm Still Here" (destruction, waste & ignorance) and then luckily jeremy redeemed life by confusing the film title with a different film he thought i was talking about "i'm here" (beauty, love & paper mache rats- all set to a great soundtrack) in only 2o wonderful minutes.

oh robot love, you are so beautiful.

http://www.imheremovie.com/

too many boys

my rambling brought me to Bend, Oregon this weekend to visit manly men from my past... i haven't been surrounded by this many dudes in YEARS, it was hilarious and exhausting and made me feel like a wimp when it came to drinking, but i kind of appreciated being a wimp the next day anyways... cause I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise in the high-desert and got to sit outside in the peace and quiet reading "atlas shrugged".

there is a very drunk human being underneath these pillows, he didn't wake ever, not even when i dove onto the pillow castle.

please note the gorgeous buck in left corner!
CNS

Crosby,Stills, Nash & Douglas

today was fun

Portland looked like this:

So we went to Mt. Hood to snowboard:

and it ROCKED:

on the way home we drove through Hood River (oh how i love that place, brings tears to my eyes these days) anyways Huy skated at the sweetest li'l skate park I have seen since leaving NZ. He got butterflies in his stomach over the "hobbit hole" feature than did it, just like that.

well done mate.

Untitled from colleen douglas on Vimeo.

this video is a bit long, its something we used for the "farewell party" where the girls performed songs and hip hop dances, we gave away awards for best campers and they showered me with gifts (phone charms, chocolates and sweaters) overall camp was awesome.

for liz

steampunk: is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used as the main source of power.
IMAGINE if steam engines powered the world???? This is what the world and we might look like:

liz and I stumbled across a steampunk mecca in our travels around NZ in the town of Omaru... we nicknamed the place "odd-aru" due to its very strange people and behaviors.