Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships, Sun 11/9. After watching the first race of the Cross Crusade series at the Alpenrose Dairy, I had high expectations for all cyclo-cross races. Luckily, today’s race at the Portland International Raceway didn’t let me down. Costumes, “free” beer and bikes, oh my … what more can a girl ask for?

SSCXWC in Pictures

… results …

Last night’s Ray LaMontagne show leads me on a hilarious and exciting adventure of the “yesman” variety.

With my date canceling only an hour before the show, as I’m enjoying happy hour with my friend, John, I have limited time and resources to line up a new concert mate. Unfortunately, my drinking buddy has serious plans for sleep already lined up and the few other folks I can think of last minute are also preoccupied. So I enjoy a final pre-show drink with Mel and Nichole, who have 2 seats on the floor, before I head over to the venue to begin my short lived ticket-selling career.

“If you’re reselling tickets, you must be outside the marquee.” Really? I’m not sure I want to compete with big, silent man selling “$60 for front row” with a sign, so I crouch towards the opposite side of the street. This isn’t too tricky, except suddenly I’m aware of who I don’t want to sit next to. On my 4th day of non-smoking, I bum a cigarette from two girls and it works. I’m suddenly relaxed and a gentleman promises me he’ll buy the ticket … his friend wants one for his girlfriend. Plus, he’s friends with the drummer, so this can be my “in” to an after show party. (They still happen, right?)

Admist the celebrations, fireworks, live music and cheers one thing rings clear in the night America calls Obama their 44th president elect: hope is alive. For some, this is the first ray of hope they’ve seen in a long while. For others, this is the empowerment they’ve been passionately pushing for years. I am excited at the possibilities we’ll continue to see as we embrace this new attitude.

I think Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com, put it eloquently in his post on the “Pandemonium After Obama Victory“:

I’m sure you have plenty of your own opinions on the debate. I just couldn’t pass up sharing some comments I saw on a post this morning on “who won the debate?” Are we really this close to “Idiocracy“? (For those who haven’t seen the movie, not sure now will be a comforting time, though you’re sure to laugh!)

hey… just out of curiosity, did anyone catch the bit from CNN or fox… one of those media stations that play US politics 24×7 (obviously, nothing else is happening in the world)… the bit was one of the anchors saying how people who are judging Palin are the intellectuals and those aren’t the people Palin’s shooting for. The anchor lashed out at the intellectuals for beating on her. What’s this world coming to?!?!

Well, if 12Th grade knowledge is the mark to be dubbed an “INTELLECTUAL - ELITIST” … Then, half of the USA is “INTELLECTUAL - ELITIST”… And, if being an “INTELLECTUAL - ELITIST” is unpatriotic … then, we will live in an America where the “DUMB leads the BLIND” … or are we there already!

After watching a breathtaking, tear-jerking and passionate performance of Antony and the Johnsons with the Oregon Symphony, I quip to my friend, Joe: If you like DRUGS, you’ll LOVE the symphony! We walk out of the Shnitz with an extra hop in our steps and I have passion bubbling inside and I think I may explode. (And it’s impossible not to run-on my sentences!) Suddenly, I deserve a giddy, romantic and sincere love. I imagine a life with passion a part of EVERY day, like a drink at lunch. My friends, past lovers and future husbands flutter amidst the darkness of the night and the night tastes sweet, like cornfields after a summer rain.

Top Alive Moments, free-write list:

1. This concert
2. Train bridge jump, Traverse City
3. Moments in love: cloves in winter, falling in love is like trees, midnight picnic, waterfront chatter, rooftop escapades
4. Fluting in world premier of new composition, NE All-State Band
5. Music… Andrew Bird, SF shows, Austin, my musical in my car, late night jam sessions, …

It’s true. As I search for those moments of overwhelming passion and aliveness, love and music dominate. And with music, it can be watching and listening, like the recent shows and festivals, and it can be the active participation and exercising of my vocal chords, arms, legs and whole spirit and soul. What’s even better is that music is cheaper than drugs (and I won’t even go into the health pro-cons) and won’t break my heart or drive me to crazy land.

There is the urge to weep. There is the force of creative vision. This pain? This isn’t a heart breaking; it’s a heart waking. The waking world is this one, where our senses clear and we feel the power of transformation, we see that the doors along the corridor of possibility are not, after all, closed to us, though they may be far away and heavy and frightening. We can face them and walk through them nonetheless.

- Luciana Lope, the Oregonian

Been a while since you’ve visited the city or never been? Check out some cool scenery and take a walk down impressive Mural Alley. And while you’re there, help me figure out some intriguing found plants. San Fransisco (and Outside Lands Festival) in Pictures.

Fun stuff at Outside Lands: we got to make our own “mixed tapes.” Check it out.

Time confuses me. After 3 days of energetic music, I can barely remember who I’ve seen. (Luckily, I snapped some photos.) My legs are jello and my eyelids are locked. A dream already, fragments of the music float by, in no particular order. You can also check out more acts and photos over at StereoGum, where my cousin’s old collage mate, Heather, snapped some amazing photos. (Note to self: work on getting a photo pass to the next festival!)

No time to explain. The last time I sat down to blog I spilled coffee and killed my laptop. At the time, I had visions of expanding to music and technology and had some witty commentary on the gmail and at&t outtage. Now I sit across from Melissa in a secret garden, preparing to walk over to our second day of the Outside Lands Festival. And now she’s sighing, waiting for me to wrap this up, so off we go.

PS. Radiohead is pure euphoria. As can be expected, pictures will be loaded soon.