Fun fact about VA: Dogwood is both the state flower AND the state tree! I had no idea there was a state song. Somehow the hater in me assumed it was Dixie, possibly because it was my high school song and got played at cotillion on a regular basis. Gah.

Portland! All the love. On Saturday you can hit the Saturday market (relocated to along the waterfront, so pairs nicely with a stroll along the west side Waterfront. Head north, with the river on the your right, to experience the Japanese memorial. The cherry blossoms are done blooming but it's still lovely. Then if you want to continue walking cross over the Steel bridge at the north end of the waterfront park and stoll south along the East Bank Esplenade. Floating walkways! Random scupture! Homeless people sleeping under the Morrison Bridge overpass!). Hawthorne bridge at the south end of the esplenade has a nice pedestrian/bike walkway to get back to the west side and see the southern end of waterfront park. Also on Saturday morning/early afternoon, I would totally go to the PSU farmers market for noms. No need to buy produce, obviously, but there are SO MANY FOOD vendors (including Pine St Biscuits, tamales, and anything else you could dream of) plus music and general good vibes. All the gardens are nice this time of year but not spectacular, the roses are mostly spent. Pittock Mansion has a fantastic view of the city and gorgeous grounds for strolling even if you don't want to pony up the $$ to see inside (and it's pretty frickin cool, like walking through a manor house while everyone is away on a partial holiday) I bet there's all kinds of crazy wacky awesome things happening over the weekend, i'll my eyes peeled for event. So very bummed that I'll be working all weekend! Boo! Maybe I could meet up for an early supper before work or breakfast afterwards.

eta: zomg, the Pirate Fest is Sat and Sun! Ok, it's technically in St Helens, and the web design is painfully awful, but it could make for some very interesting people watching. Of course, so can Hawthorne or Alberta and the food is likely better....

Totentanz as I remember is German for "Dance of the Dead". Am I correct? So what would the German be for "Dance of the Free?"

Yes, der Totentanz is the Dance of the Dead. The Dance of the Free would be "der Freiheitsstanz", although this actually translates more as the Dance of Freedom or Liberty. German doesn't really have a translation for "the Free".

Skipping because, according to the Buffista Calendar, today is both meara's as well as Jen K's birthday.

I haven't seen any posts from Jen in a long time (then again, seeing my skipping habits, it may mean nothing at all), still, I hope the well-wishes find their way to her regardless.

Happy birthday, meara! With lots of wishes for a great day and a wonderful year!

And take care, NOLAs.

Sounds like most of NOLA has no power this morning - anyone heard from Smonster or Nora?

I was just wondering the same thing. I just heard that NOLA is on the worst side of the storm with 450,000 without power.

Happy Birthday, meara and Jen!

You know what makes me happy? Three roller derby people from nearby cities that I know and love are posting about Joss Whedon on Facebook and how much they love his work. I shouldn't be surprised because there is a ref in Madison who's skater name is The Gorram Reaver.

Nora posted on FB. She has power but no cable/internet.

I just heard that NOLA is on the worst side of the storm with 450,000 without power.

Yikes.

Nora just posted on FB she has power but no Internet.

HI! Still have power and internet. Just got up. Weather radio alarms woke me up several times in the night. No street flooding yet (woo!) but the wind is totally fucking bananas. Something I am not posting publicly on fb - have a dripping leak by one of my chimneys. Not much I can do about it except move stuff. Of course it's just a few feet from my modem/router/printer set up, dammit.