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A Whole Nother Thing
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Seldom at a loss for words. |
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ABOUT THE BLOGGER 
Abode: Nine Forward Interests: Writing, Singing, Working Out Clickage Here Will Land You My Complete Profile RECENTLY POSTED
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Thanks for stopping by! Your visit here isn't complete until you do the comment thing. Don't make me pull over, just do it! Click on the "reflections" link at the end of a post. *A WHOLE NOTHER THING: A selection of words from my vast vocabulary, including the ubiquitous "the," the always versatile "and," and the more obscure "incontrovertible," arranged in frequently meaningful, sometimes profound, yet often pedestrian sentences and statements, designed with one goal in mind-- that being, to communicate; keeping in mind the oft-used bromide, "Never use two words when one will do the same job as two or more words would have done, unless you just want to take up space and sound important," which is, I must concede, too often a secret objective of mine indeed. And yet, now, the secret is out. 
Who ARE these women? © MMX Mattquist. Some Rights Reserved |
Saturday, July 21, 2012 Continuing the drop...  This morning, as I dutifully donned my bathroom scale, the digital readout finally projected the number that I've been hoping for, for weeks: 195. I've been on this weight-loss quest for the good part of two months, and yet I've met a barrier recently. At my heaviest, I weighed in at 215 pounds; and one of my important milestones, on this journey, has been the 20 pound mark. Today, I finally reached it. There are just a few more pounds to go. Hopefully, with due diligence, I will achieve my goal shortly. 180 pounds, here I come!
☺
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 Coming back to this blog  Like I said on my Facebook feed, I get this a lot (the part at the bottom). ☺ And with this, I return to this blog. It's good. It's easy. It's simple to post. Check out my main site for other news: mattnorquist.com Yours, Matty Monday, January 30, 2012 A New Flag for Oregon  One of my prevailing interests is flags. I'm a member of the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), the dominant organization concerning flags in these environs. I've done my share of designing flags and symbols. I guess I'm just prone to lean toward the visual media. That said, I've come up (again) with a design for a state flag for Oregon-- one that I'm embracing very enthusiastically. In fact, I'm actually launching a campaign surrounding this proposal. Please check it out here: http://neworegonflag.org, then feel free to join the cause! I encourage feedback; and even more, I encourage your support! Thanks. Wednesday, January 04, 2012 Go Sox! 
As I was navigating my shopping cart down the aisle of the local Fred Meyer today, she snagged me.
"The best team, huh?" she said.
It took only a few seconds for me to realize what she meant. I touched the "B" logo on my cap and smiled. "Yes, Boston?"
She smiled back. She had a warmth, a calm, a sense of serenity. She looked deep into my eyes, as if she could see everything. She said something about the Red Sox, that I, as a secondary fan, didn't quite capture.
"Yes," I responded, trying to be friendly, even though I didn't get what she said.
"That's my team," she smiled, "I'm originally from Boston."
"My son lived in Boston for a few years, so I became a fan of the Sox," I said.
She held her place in the aisle, smiling, and looking deeply into me.
We began a conversation that lasted more than just a few minutes. I was captivated by her gaze, and her friendliness. We discussed my sons, and their legal careers. She was impressed. She had lived near Boston College, where Keaton got his law degree.
She asked me what I thought of Boston.
I said I liked the city.
She liked that, and then we talked a little about Portland.
It was a special encounter. One of those random meetings that... that are really cool.
Monday, November 21, 2011 Can't think of a better way...  Got the chance to babysit my one-year-old granddaughter, Claire, for a few hours. She basically spent almost the entire time in this position (right). She is a snuggled, that's for sure. She's fighting a cold, so that made her need some extra sleep. Believe me, Pappy didn't mind. Saturday, November 05, 2011  Had a blast. We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, but it almost didn't happen. I almost didn't make it onto the bridge, let alone across. Acrophobia kicked in. There's a 10 inch opening at the bottom of the railing and I had to stop. Bikes use the west side of the bridge; peds the Bay side, so going north, we were on the inside, next to car traffic. That's the only thing that saved me. I memorized my son's bicycle seat because I couldn't look at anything else. When we got to the north side of the bridge I told 'em we'd have to find another way back cuz there was no way in Hades I could go back on the outside. We rode into Sausalito and took a ferry back. Friday, September 09, 2011 Flags on the Fremont Bridge  Flags-- I love flags. I've designed my own, actually. Yeah, I'm a true vexillologist. A card-carrying member of NAVA, actually. Anyway, below please find the text of an email I sent to the poo-bah of the Portland NAVA chapter. You may find it... interesting: This is cool!
I drive downtown every day, and without exception, my gaze always finds its way to the top of the Fremont Bridge (I-405) to look at the US flag and the State of Oregon flag.
For quite awhile, it seemed to me that the Oregon flag was flying just a bit lower than the US flag-- it wasn't hoisted all the way up the staff. Perhaps I'm just a bit anal about this, but it kind of irritated me. I didn't know if it was just my perception, or if it was real. After an indeterminate amount of time (months... years?) I came to the conclusion that it wasn't just me; the Oregon flag was never hoisted quite all the way to the top of its staff.
I suspected that someone at ODOT (the agency responsible for Interstate freeways in Oregon, and thus, the Fremont Bridge) was under the mistaken idea that no flag can fly at the same height of the US flag. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer. It just didn't seem right that the Oregon flag was not properly displayed at the top of the bridge.
I went to the ODOT website and filled out a Contact form, voicing my concern. (I don't have the text of what I said, since it wasn't an email, it was typed into the little box on the ODOT website.) I also provided a link to the wikipedia article about the US flag code:
Well, this week I noticed that the Oregon flag had been raised all the way to the top of the staff! And today, I received this response from a Manager at ODOT:
Is that cool or what?! Us vexillologists can do good!
/\\ /\/
Saturday, August 27, 2011 Rear Window  One of my favorite movies is Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." And it has to be watched in the heat of the summer. Because the whole movie is set in a sweltering New York summer. Before I had air conditioning, I used to love watching this movie on a Saturday night, sweat dripping from my forehead, as it did with Jimmy Stewart in the movie. There was something about watching this movie in the hot evening hours... But when I got air conditioning, well, it just wasn't the same. Modern technology has taken something from the experience. Rear Window isn't quite the same if you're not sweating while you watch it. This summer, though, I was greeted with a dead AC unit when I got home from work yesterday. The repairman won't come till Monday. SO, I availed myself of the opportunity, and as I type these words, Jimmy and Grace are gracing my television, in that NY apartment, as they stalk Raymond Burr-- the murderous murderer who lives across the apartment complex. Thank god for special AC outages. Very good memories, actually... Very good.  Friday, August 19, 2011 UPS Circle of Honor  This morning I was inducted into the UPS Circle of Honor, for having achieved 25 years of safe driving. As circumstances worked out, my oldest son Keaton happened to be in Portland this weekend, and was able to attend the celebration, along with my second son, Brant, who lives here. The best part of today was that they were able to be here. I'm the proudest dad in the world. Saturday, August 13, 2011
Camping out at Sbux. While I like it here, it's just not SBC @ Borders. The pace is more hectic, loud. Better for people-watching, but not as good for concentration.
I hope something goes into the closed Borders location, here at the Station, and I hope they open up a coffee shop where SBC used to be. I have virtually nothing to do this weekend, which is nice for a change. Last weekend was too busy. Need to regroup.
This week, down at work, they're planning a recognition celebration for my entrance into UPS' Circle of Honor. It should be fun, but from what I'm hearing, it sounds like they're going to beatify me. Hope they don't go overboard. Need to start working on my acceptance speech, I guess.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Home sick today. Damn these sinus issues!
This year, for the first time ever, I've dealt with weird nasal problems. Never had allergies like this. Gone through roll after roll of TP, and so many tissues!
I hate tissue issues!
Today, sinus headache. Yet another first for me. Usually don't have to deal with the headaches. Today it was so bad it actually hurt to open my eyes!
Feeling a tad better tonight. Must get back to work tomorrow...
Tuesday, August 09, 2011 Updating Monday, August 08, 2011 Just a note
...for historical purposes. Today the NYSE Dow/S&P etc., PLUNGED.
DJIA: – 634.76 But it'll come back up, right? Saturday, July 30, 2011 Claire  I just spent some time looking over this blog, and I realized that I haven't posted any pictures of my beautiful granddaughter, Claire!
So, here's one!
This was taken a month or so ago...
Claire smiles like this continually! She genuinely seems happy to see and interact with people. Brant & Em are such great parents.
 Sunday, July 24, 2011  Kenny Chesney. 7/23/2011 Rose Garden, Portland. Really good concert! |
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