baby tomato

this morning i went to a breakfast held by northwest business for culture and the arts. that sounds like a boring thing, i know, but this organization is something else. it exists to encourage local businesses to donate money to cultural organizations. and they do some amazing work.

the speaker was sam adams, a portland commisioner currently running for mayor. i'm new here and don't yet fully understand local politics, but it seems like this dapper fellow is a favorite to win. i could see why, after listening to his speech. he's hip, young(ish) and very articulate. funny, too.

speaking of portland politics, election day came and went and i didn't participate. the only things on the ballot were a couple of state measures i didn't really understand. one about land use and one about taxing tobacco to provide health care for children. anyway, the only reason i mention that i didn't vote is because i still have the ballot here in front of me. oregon votes exclusively by mail, so by not voting i've still got a pile of paper on my desk: a ballot, a brochure that provides arguments pro and con for the measures on the ballot, a "ballot secrecy envelope", and a mailing envelope (postage not paid; you can drop the ballot off at several locations around town if you'd rather submit it that way).

anyway. that's the political part of this post. on to the musical part.

i'm going to finally be playing my horn again. a desperate member of the horn section of the marylhurst symphony orchestra pleaded for me to come help out for their upcoming holiday pops concert. he said that due to others' holiday scheduling conflicts he'd likely be the only horn player in the section. i think he was over-exaggerating, but i agreed to help out, contingent on the guarantee that i could play 4th horn. (theoretically the easiest part, and way down at the end of the line where i can't do too much damage.)

i don't know much about this orchestra (i can't even find a website to link to), which probably means that i can suck and they won't care too much. rehearsals begin thursday night. first, though, i need to remember where my horn ended up after the move. i think it's in that closest in the 2nd bedroom.

divaville continues to get a really good, enthusiastic audience on KMHD. the phone rings constantly, i get great email, and the program director finally decided to expand my 2-hour shift to 3 hours starting in december. that'll be exhausting (all of those damn songs are just 2 minutes long), but i love the music and it's great getting such good feedback.

ok, that's all for now.