That Emilie Boyles sure calls for a lot of things to happen. She’s also doing a lot of developing. Does anyone see the logical contradiction of using 16,000 dollars to build a system to monitor e-chatter, and then giving results from that system to someone before the system was even in place?

If you think my interpretation is hard to follow, don’t go reading her latest missive.

We’re heading into a three-day holiday weekend in Oregon in May. Which means we can count on three days of rainy, unseasonably cool weather, right? (Mark Nelsen says as much on the StormTeam12 blog…)

In other areas of the country, Memorial Day weekend is the gateway to summer – it kicks off barbecue season, outdoor pool season, and ushers in days of fun in the sun.

But I quickly learned that isn’t the case here in Oregon – instead, it’s safest to assume that the weather will be less than ideal, all the way through the end of the Rose Festival (yep, the Grand Floral Parade is often followed closely by summer-like weather, in my experience anyway.)

The other ‘can count-ons’ I’ve learned to expect?

• The single day of mid-summer rain will occur on the day you plan the outside birthday party for a horde of rambunctious kids (warning: don’t try to stage the pinata smashfest indoors instead…)
• The five-day summer heatwave happens during the same week you’ve booked your kid for a strenuous outdoor soccer camp
• Scheduled swim lessons only encourage colder weather
• The ozone warnings that suggest you not mow your lawn happen the day after you finally broke down and mowed your own lawn in triple-digit temperatures

What other weather myths are bashable here? Which weather truisms do you live by?

The O’s Anna Griffin paints a fairly unflattering picture of public school parents in Classroom divides. And after reading her profile in today’s InPortland of two parents in two different Multnomah County districts on a surface level, it’s hard to disagree with her gloom and doom prediction about our ability to address funding problems on a local level.

Portland Public leaders hope to try for a local-option property tax this fall. But over the longer term, a broader solution — be it citywide, regionwide or statewide — must be found. The biggest challenge in doing so appears to be convincing parents from different streets, neighborhoods and school districts that there is a common, city-spanning solution out there, and that what’s best for every kid is best for theirs.

While the article contains many valid points illustrating Griffin’s thesis, I was shaking my head from side to side at other overly-narrow examples given to bolster her case – when I wasn’t frustrated by what I perceived was an attempt to magnify divides in order to create dramatic tension, that is (haven’t we had enough of that with the recent coverage of the school reconfiguration proposals already?) This paragraph, near the end of the article, perfectly illustrates my point:

Wilson, for her part, says she does not know any parents from the city’s other districts or many parents from other schools, although she’d like to. She’s sheepish about how insular her world can be, but why? How many parents, even the most active, go out of their way to meet their counterparts elsewhere? Who has the time, or a reason?

I wouldn’t label myself a ‘most active’ parent by any stretch of the imagination – I’m rarely on site at either child’s school thanks to a full time job and the school bus transportation provided for my younger child, for example. But I disagree vehemently with the picture she paints of little isolated bubbles of parents, acquainted only with their own child’s school community. And I don’t agree with her point that parents can’t/won’t/shouldn’t be expected to come together as a cohesive force to address school funding issues because they’re too concerned about their own child’s needs first and foremost.

Within five minutes, for example, I was able to rattle off the names of ten families we have relationships with, all with children in eight or nine varied PPS schools from across the district – and that doesn’t include the families I know from the two schools my kids currently attend. It’s not that we’re social butterflies – instead, we’ve picked up acquaintances as part of our daily life, from participating in activities like soccer clubs and summer camps to our involvement in a religious community to the conversations I have with past and present co-workers.

I didn’t set out specifically to cross off ‘meet with parents at other schools’ earlier this week when I met friends for a girls night out over drinks, for example – but we did spend a lot of time thrashing through school funding/reconfiguration issues, and we all walked away with greater insight into the unique challenges present in other school communities. (That and the fact that the volume level at the early evening music offerings at Imbibe doesn’t lend itself well to conversation!)

I’d argue that most parents already do have similar networks established – we just may not be having those conversations, is all.

Maybe it’s time we started…

Once again, in response to rising fuel costs, Tri-Met will be raising the fare for busses and MAX.  Over on the Portland Transport blog, there’s a discussion over Tri-Met’s business model, or lack thereof.

What do the Metblog readers think?  Should the transit riders pick up the increased fuel costs?  Should more tax dollars be spent to subsidize those who ride the bus?

For those of you with bustitude, have you seen an increase in ridership in the last several months as fuel costs have increased?

Technorati Tags: Tri-Met, busses, transit, transportation

I just read an article in the Tribune about a book called The Girl Who Went Away, by Ann Fessler, about women who were made to give up babies conceived outside of a standard-issue marriage. (She’ll be here tonight.) Powell’s describes the book as covering the time “between the end of World War II and the establishment of Roe v. Wade in 1973.” I got to the end of the article about this book and read the following quote from a woman profiled in the book:

“Yvonne” says it best when she rails about those who gush over “people’s lives being touched by adoption.”
“You’re smashed by adoption,” she says. “I mean, it alters the mothers’ lives forever.”

Well the more I think about that sentence, the more worked up I get-I am not denying that these women have suffered through tragedy, nor am I trivializing their loss. But to make such a grand statment, she paints the entire concept of adoption (not just those in this unique situation, look again at what she said) with a very wide brush indeed. Take me, for example.

I am an adopted child.

I am also a birth mother.

I will not deny the simple fact that giving birth is one of the most profound experiences in my entire life. Yes, my life was altered. But not in some tragic way. In some cases, nothing could be further from the truth.

I have officially put on my ranty pants. You might wanna get comfy if you’re gonna click through to read more…
(more…)

Couldn’t break this until the MSM did, but now that they have, I’m glad to point you over to KATU.

The FBI is trying to spy on City Hall, and in the spirit of “What do you have to hide?” From their letter:

The vast majority of public officials – both elected and appointed – are honest in their work and committed to serving their fellow citizens. Saying that, we’ve seen cases around the country of those who abuse the public trust. The citizens served by the FBI expect – and should expect – the FBI to take reasonable, lawful steps to counter criminal behavior where and when it happens.

In other words,

Because there are a few bad apples, we want to watch everyone at City Hall. Oh, and by the way: Your co-workers are spying on you for us, naturally.

Is this retaliation for Portland’s withdrawal from the JTTF? I think it might be. Is it the FBI’s duty to preemptively spy on our officials? No, not really, but with the NSA now spying on all phone calls, the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilt seems to be officially out the window.

City Hall? Seriously?

(In which Miz Fishbones holds forth on the current state of our weather. You may want to check out the first, second, third, and fourth entries in this series as well.)

Maybe weird weather
Is just a clever plot to
Deter newcomers?

Is it just me, or is this allergy season brutal?

I’ve spent the last 3 days looking blearily through swollen eyes, standing over a bucket to catch my assorted disgusting nasal drippings and trying to figure out exactly how to type out that think you do in the back of your throat to try to make it stop itching.

Ugh.

It’s my own damn fault, of course. Whenever the nice weather hits, I take it upon myself to do some work in the yard. And, without fail, that work involves drumming up some pollen and grass and dust and whatever else it is that causes my misery.

I can’t be alone here. There must be others. So, today’s question:

How do you deal with your allergies?

I know there are prescription and over the counter drugs. Which of those do you take, and which work the best? I also know that there must be someone out there with a family remedy that always works. C’mon, friends, share and share alike. The life you save could be mine…

My long-dormant gas grill will be getting a thorough overhaul this weekend, come rain or shine. And with any luck, we’ll be grilling all summer long.

But first, I need to:

• Refill the propane tank (I do the drop off/pick up tank from Fred Meyer)
• Clean out the gunk from the inside, get new rocks, etc. (I won’t stop to identify any random chunks from Meals Gone Past
• Do I have my grill accessories? (A gizmo to hold smoking chips is key; don’t you think?)

And, most importantly

• Have I thought about pest protection?

Huh, wha, you say? Well, there’s nothing worse than swatting flies with one hand while attempting to flip burgers with the other hand (says the woman who prefers to have a frosty drink occupying her free hand instead.)

Thankfully, JD’s come up with a solution: A Quick and Easy YellowJacket Trap.

I’ll have to give it a try. But first: add ‘move grill away from bedroom window’ to the to-do list…

After last night’s down pour, a sewer piple blocked up, flooding the Doug Fir basement, closing the restaurant and lounge for a good bit of the day. I also heard that sewer water blew up through the floors over at Holocene, splattering a party guest. That’s nasty.

But the Doug Fir is open. And I can attest to that as I sit here with Cathy, sipping a Cowboy Coffee, one of this town’s finer caffeine concoctions.