I really don’t get sick all that often. Maybe it’s all the chilis I eat, what with all the capsaicin & all. I love garlic, ginger, oregano, mint, and I swear by the healing powers of zinc. We are what we eat, right?

So why is it I’ve really suffered this past week? The cold bug floating around really wiped me out.

What started as a sore throat quickly stripped my normal voice into a sad little croaking toad until I decided to stop talking and just whisper for a few days. Some would argue my lack of vocal ability was some sort of karmic repentance for blabbing too much. And honestly, I wouldn’t wholeheartedly disagree as a matter of fact.

As soon as I got my voice back, however, my head filled with what still feels like quick drying cement. My body aches from the coughing, the sneezing, the nose blowing, lack of energy and sheer and utter inertia. Though I’m thankful I literally had nothing better to do than sit (laying down only makes my head hurt) for long periods of time (once for 12 hours – though it helped that I watched nearly the entire first season of “The Wire” on dvd; officially my favorite show at the moment, by the way) and rest, being sick blows.

I’m just wondering how much worse off I’d be if I hadn’t been taking Zicam for the several days before this head cold hit me? And frankly, if Zicam causes anosmia or not, I really couldn’t tell you. I haven’t been able to smell or taste anything for the last 7 days anyway.

What are you doing to fight off this season’s bout of stealthy bacterias & viruses? Or, if you’ve got the bug, what are you doing to make yourself feel better?

according to the Portland Business Journal, Portland has the lowest average gas price per gallon at $2.10 per gallon. WOW, that’s still expensive compared to the sub $2 that is at the local station on N. Killingsworth and Interstate. Recently, I believe it was at $1.89/gal for unleaded. And yes people, there was a line of about 20 cars. I strolled right in and didn’t have to wait as we have a diesel and…. well, we don’t have to wait. Yes, diesel is a little more expensive, but we also get a little better gas mileage. woo hooo!

also, we just put in our first bit of biodiesel courtesy of Sequential BioFuels.

Mayor Potter dropped by today’s Hope4Schools meeting to confirm that he’s willing to fire the first shot in the battle to keep our schools strong – and he’ll be announcing specific details of the upcoming ballot measure this coming Thursday.

To that end, Hope4Schools is organizing our kickoff rally this Thursday, January 26th at 5 pm at Benson High School (546 NE 12th.) I’ll be cutting out of work a bit early and bringing my kids (and whoever else I can corral) to Benson by 4:45. We’re expecting a huge crowd of parents, students, teachers, Mayor Potter, and community leaders present to launch the drive to STOP THE BUDGET CUTS for next school year – but we need you to stand alongside us in a show of solidarity if you believe, as I do, that a strong city cannot exist without a strong public school system.

Despite what today’s alternate-universe Oregonian editorial would have you believe, we’ll not be asking for money to support frivolities, nor do we believe that additional monies might eventually be available from an improved economy, our less than efficient legislative body down in Salem, or that equally-mythical pot at the end of the rainbow. Instead, we’re marshalling our resources to take care of business now – simply because there’s no one else who will, or can do it for us. There’s no fairy godmother waiting in the wings, no one ready to make the ugly realities of what a 57 million dollar shortfall will bring just go away with a wave of a magic wand. And – most importantly – we’re beating the drums yet again because our children are counting on us to do right by them.

Please stand with us.

The 29th Portland International Film Festival needs volunteers. Volunteer and you can earn free admission to films at the festival and Northwest Film Center programs later in the year! It’ll be good karma and what’s more fun than quoting obscure movie lines and giggling or feeling superior because you can recite “Napoleon Dynamite” word for word. Now you can do all those things while hanging out with other movie geeks and earning free tickets!

There’s a volunteer orientation meeting on Tuesday, January 24th from 6pm – 7pm at the Portland Art Museum’s Fields Ballroom. (1119 SW Park Ave.)

Get more info at www.nwfilm.org or piff@nwfilm.org

On Thursday afternoon, I was waiting at the bus shelter on the corner of Yamhill and SW 6th Avenue.

Then I take a peek at the electronic, bus arrivals board in the shelter.

Underneath the rundown of the next several scheduled buses and their ETAs (which are often inaccurate but that is another story), I saw this:

“MAX Yellow Line opens May 1!! Come join the celebration!!”

Well, I actually did join the celebration ,back on May 1, 2004 if I recall.

Not exactly the most distinguished moment in the annals of Tri-Met bus shelter technology.

It was then that I wished my BlackBerry had a camera…would have Flickr-ed it 4 ya fer sure..

Yesterday, I was at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Yamhill downtown.

A signature-gatherer intercepted me and told me about a petition he would like me to sign. Something about “free education for all Oregonians.”

“If you sign this petition, you can help all Oregonians get access to free education by 2004,” he told me.

Then I said, well, this is 2006.

“Oh, that’s right,” he replied.

Then I noticed something on his person that indicated to me he might be a paid signature gatherer.

It was then, people, that my moo-goo detector went on high gain.

See, I’ve seen too many cleverly worded petition initiatives for referenda that do the opposite of what their titles say. The kind of initiatives that have been sponsored by Bill Sizemore, Don McIntyre, and others who have plagued Oregon with ideas that aren’t good for the civic, environmental and social good of this state.

I did a quick assessment, and not being familiar with what he was pushing, thought to myself that if this petition-gatherer really believed in what he was asking me, a registered voter to endorse, he would at least know what year this was.

But if he was getting paid to push this stuff, then maybe all he cares about is getting paid by his petition-sponsor.

Maybe even a petition sponsor who works for an organization deft at cloaking selfish initiatives in warm and fuzzy names.

I won’t play that game. I walked away, and felt good about doing so.

I just noticed a little story in the “O” today about City Commissioner Sam Adams playing the decoy in a police sting operation. (Read the story HERE!)

I’m a pedestrian 98% of the time and feel I have cheated death on more than one occasion so, thank you Mr. Adams. You risked your life trying to make Portland motorists more aware. For that I salute you!

I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to the Ditty Twisters for their final show. It certainly lived up to their assertion to go out with a bang and not a whimper. One of the best times I have ever had at a live show.

We (Taryn my girlfriend and I.) arrived late for the show because I had to work. When we got to the White Eagle there was a wait to get in because the bar was over capacity. When two people left we would get in. The guy working the door told me he had never seen the place this crazy.

After about ten minutes we got in. Our timing couldn’t have been better. The Jolenes, one of the guest artists, had just finished playing a set so there was a lull as the DT’s got back to the stage. I had time to get a beer and then we moved in toward the front of the stage as everyone else was heading for the bar. (Sneaky… heh, heh.)

When the Ditty’s hit the stage for the second set you could tell they were having a great time. Missing the Ditty’s first set was a bummer but the second one rocked me enough for both. Luckily, for me the second set included “Whole Lotta Jose”, my favorite of their live stuff, and “Smart Chick”, one of their best songs in my humble opinion.

As if their rocking wasn’t enough I also got two kick-ass, cool shirts for five bucks! Plus I have never been to a show where the lead singer would offer to pour beers, from stage, to anyone with an empty glass. I got three beers and maybe a little too drunk that way!

Steven Birch of Audio Learning Center sat in with them for the last few songs. Their final song was a cover of the AC/DC song “You Shook Me All Night Long”. During the final song I glanced around the room. I guess bittersweet would best describe the feeling. Everyone dancing and singing along knowing this was it. After this song it would all be over forever. It occurred to me at that moment that this was going to be one of those legendary Portland shows. This is going to be one of those shows record store geeks recall with a tear in their eye. This is going to be one of those shows people lie about being at so they can look cool. I realize I have never felt as cool as I do at this particular moment. Bittersweet indeed.

Thanks Courtenay Hameister, Pat Janowski, Alan Monk, Marie Murphy, Bob Thompson and Matt Tracy you ROCK! (Watch for those people to be in other cool projects around town.) Thank you Ditty Twisters for rocking and for making me cool even if for just one night.

I should have written this post a few days ago but while recovering form the DT’s shindig I lost a stupid bet causing an increase in my power drinking, something I don’t normally do. Which in turn made my brain act like pudding for the last couple of days.

I’m in the market for a new cell carrier.

My cell phone existence has not been the longest, but it has spanned many carriers over a few short years. There was Airtouch, which became Verizon, then AT&T, which became Cingular.

Although I don’t have any particularized Cingular complaints, I know plenty of people have them.

But, as my service contract is drawing to a close, I’m starting to consider my options.

So, I pose this question:

In Portland, what is the best cellular service provider?

Several considerations should be made:
1) Living in Portland necessitates trips to the mountains, to the ocean, to Seattle, and (at least once a year, it seems) to the southern reaches of I-5. A proper Portland carrier should provide decent service levels throughout the trips.
2) Living in Portland necessitates driving into various hilly areas. A proper Portland carrier should provide decent service levels when I do.

For this conversation, I prefer to leave the kinds of phones a provider can give you (the RAZR may look cool, but its use is still dependent upon the quality of the carrier) out, and instead focus on things like reception, customer service, cost, special options (PTT or roll-over minutes or the like), etc.

Also, rabid “X brand sucks! Y brand rules!” statements do little to enrich the discussion. Please be able to say something more.

My thoughts out of the chute:
Verizon was fine. I switched to AT&T while considering family plan options…
Cingular is not horrible, but I just have the subliminal feeling I’m getting jobbed somehow…
Sprint/Nextel is an unknown quantity; my friend has had Sprint for years and used to get patchy reception, but using a Nextel at work, I know they have a solid network…

Anyway, chime in, if you can.

My two kids attend Portland Public Schools, and I’ve been a long-time supporter of PPS. I’ve also been a vocal critic of specific district moves in the past. But while I may be less than 100% supportive at times, I still wholeheartedly believe that keeping a strong, healthy public school system benefits our community at large – and we all play a part in helping sustain that strength, even while we may squabble about the details.

We’ve heard plenty in recent weeks about a pending move by Mayor Potter to put a school funding proposal on the ballot – indeed, today’s O refers to the behind-the-scenes thrashing still taking place, with an expected proposal due next week. But the time has come for parents and other interested citizens to get our acts in gear and get organized to support a proposal, even while the details get hashed out.

That’s why I’m jumping in to join the Hope4Schools movement.
I’ll be attending an organizing meeting in NE Portland this Sunday afternoon – if you’re interested in learning more, visit the website or email Doug Wells at doug@hope4schools.org to get on the mailing list/get meeting specifics.

Jump in with me, please!