My Sophomore year of college, my friend Audrey and I took a road trip for Spring Break. We took my car down to her parents’ house in the Bay Area and spent a few days in the sun, then drove to central Oregon to meet some friends of ours that were spending the week at a cabin there. Somewhere in central Oregon, about 2 hours from our final destination, we got a little bit lost on back roads and it started to snow. It was already dark and we’d been in the car for so long we were more than a little loopy. I was driving when Audrey said, “How come whichever way we turn, the snow is still coming RIGHT AT US?”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or not. She had to be joking. Everyone knew that snow always looks like it’s coming at you when you’re driving, but it’s clearly not possible. I reasoned with myself that Audrey was, by far, one of my most sarcastic friends and that she couldn’t be serious about this. I mean, she was born and raised in the Bay Area, but she’d seen snow before. She had to have driven to the mountain to ski at some point, right?

I responded, half joking, half serious, and totally confused: “What, have you never driven in snow before?”

When she replied that she hadn’t, I didn’t know what to say. I can’t really explain how I felt except to say it was probably the same way she felt the previous year when I asked her why people in movies always went to doorways in earthquakes.

Why did I tell you this story, you might ask? Because it was one of the first times I realized that not everyone understood winter. And I was reminded of this revelation again last Sunday when it began snowing in Portland for the first time this year. I’ve seen Portland drivers try to deal with a few inches of snow before, but their inability to do so never ceases to amaze me. I met a guy from Wisconsin last weekend who described Portlanders (and specifically their reaction to snow and ice on their roads) as adorable.

In the spirit of the season, here are my Top Five Favorite Things About Snow in Portland:

1. The obsession Portlanders have with chains. See here. This is not a joke. Chains were required earlier this week on any road anywhere in the Portland Metro area, due to roughly 1-4 inches of snow. And no, studded snow tires don’t count.

2. The 2008 edition of “Portland-drivers-on-snow-and-ice” video. Hard to believe no one was hurt in the making of this video.

3. Arctic Blast 2008.  That’s what the news networks are calling it.  It’s just a few inches of snow. Accompanied by something called “Arctic air.”

4. My need to defend myself for complaining about this weather, while still feeling superior to everyone around me. The bottom line is that I know how to deal with snow, ice, and cold. The problem is that the city of Portland doesn’t. They don’t have any plows, they don’t salt the roads, and I actually saw a Tri-Met employee downtown yesterday breaking the ice in the MAX tracks with an iron rod and then blowing out the chunks with a leaf-blower. Yes, I may complain that it’s cold and difficult to drive on certain roads. This is not because I learned nothing in my 18 years in Montana. It is because I am always cold and because Portlanders would rather cancel work and stay home safe than take the actions necessary to operate business as usual. I don’t blame them. I just think I’m better than they are.

5. Snow days. In the 13 years I went to school in Montana, I had one day off because of weather. And it was because the roads were so icy the superintendent was worried about school buses driving on them. This week in Portland, schools were closed just about every day. Most people didn’t go to work (except at my office, where we think that because the doctors have to go to work every day, we should, too. Thank goodness there were fundraisers available to the citizens of Portland this week!)

They really are adorable.

My friend Blythe asked me to post a list of some of my favorite blogs to read the other day. Some of these she already has, and I know I’ve mentioned most of them before (see: Blogtastic, lower right), but here they are for anyone who needs more online entertainment to help them procrastinate.

(I’ve left off a few people who I think might not want me spreading their links to people they don’t know. If you are one of those people, please don’t feel slighted. I just don’t want to pass links around without your approval.)

Blythe already tagged her, but Abby’s blog is my religion. I love reading it and can’t wait for her to come to Portland on Tuesday! Her latest post about protesting Prop 8 was amazing.

Recently, I’ve taken to cyber-stalking my homonym Meghann. She’s a great writer and tells hilarious stories about her adventures teaching special education to elementary school kids in Phoenix. For a good laugh, check out her post about one of her more musically-inclined students.

Of course, there’s always my cousin Kevin who writes interesting stories about sports that aren’t really about sports. Turns out life is what’s happening while you’re busy cheering on your team.

And speaking of cousins, my cousin Emily recently posted some of the most amazing photos from a trip to Glacier with a photography class. Her flickr site is incredible, too. But she’s not just a great photographer – the rest of her blog is always interesting and insightful.

Last, but certainly not least, two of the Plastics also have blogs, and I know they’re both trying to write more often these days. Check out Julie and Kara for great stories about concerts, triathlons, and life in Portland.

Enjoy!

I offered to help a friend at work with her wedding planning. She’s getting married on New Year’s Eve and I was hoping to take something off her plate. I’ve seen enough people go moderately nuts while trying to plan weddings to know that even the ones who seem calm can be freaking out on the inside.

Anyway, she mentioned that one of the things on her to-do list was to make a soundtrack for their slideshow. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m sort of obsessed with music, so I told her I’d try to help.

I ended up sending her a whole list of song options, and in the process started compiling my list of Top Five Favorite Songs About Love. I originally started with Top Five Songs I Wish Someone Had Written About Me, but could only come up with two that I really liked, then moved to Top Five Verses About Love, but that still didn’t do justice. Anyway, I’m still having trouble narrowing them down confidently, so I’m asking for some audience participation. What’s your favorite song about love? This includes break up songs, happy songs, heart-wrenching songs, anything that moves you. And let me know your favorite verse or line if you want. I may include your song in my Top Five!

Plus I always love being exposed to new music.

My Top Five Favorite Things About Seattle, Washington:

1. Pike Place Market

2. H&M

3. Neat alley shops and cute areas downtown.

4. That superior feeling I get when I tell cashiers I’m tax-exempt.

5. Mountains, water, and nice people everywhere you look.

Top Five Reasons I’ve been wanting a dog lately:

1. This website.

2. This breed.

3. Just about every dog on this website.

4. An email from Talia and Alex saying they got a new puppy.

5. This interaction with my dad online today:

me: dad, i’m in a huge dog-wanting phase.
it’s a problem.
Dad: You can’t have one where you liive?
Or your roommate doesn’t want one?
me: mostly i don’t think i’m grown up enough. nor do i think i can afford it
(long pause)
Dad: Slight delay for spilled tea.
That’s HOW you grow up. And you can afford it.
Gotta go work.
Get one.

I’ve been known to talk a fair amount of smack about my book club. I started to get a little cranky recently because everyone kept choosing chick lit for us to read, and although I read The Devil Wears Prada on my own, I definitely didn’t mean to make it a monthly habit.

However, the truth is that I look forward to our meetings every month, and this month (tonight) I hosted the group for the first time. So, I’ve made this list of My Top Five Favorite Things About My Book Club:

1. Every gathering involves some sort of dessert and colorful adult beverages.

2. I always joke that I’m the only member who wasn’t part of the U of O Greek system, but in fact the girls are fairly diverse in their interests, backgrounds, and careers.

3. We always discuss the book, and we usually start with a brief synopsis for those who didn’t read it. Those members are not judged or looked down upon – in fact they tend to ask the most thought-provoking questions about the book.

4. After discussing the book, we always catch up on personal lives, gossip, reality TV, etc. Sometimes we even discuss other books we’ve read and give each other suggestions. Then the host for the following month gives us her recommendations and we all choose which book to read next from her list.

5. Even though I chose How Soccer Explains the World this month, all of the chick lit fans still supported me. For being so snarky, we’re awfully open-minded.

Favorite books we’ve read so far: Three Cups of Tea; Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea; I Was Told There’d Be Cake; and now How Soccer Explains the World.

I balance out the book club by reading books like The Brothers Bulger, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Empire Falls. If you’re not on it yet, you should all join GoodReads and help me find more stimulating reading material!

I’m still in shock. Hope-shock.

I have been completely worthless all day. I woke up late after only a few hours of sleep, went to work with soaking wet hair and no makeup, and couldn’t consume enough coffee (or water) to kick the champagne hangover that nearly killed me. I was so out of it, I was actually worried about being a liability.

So I spent most of my time at work reading about the election online. And thus, today’s Top Five Things I Saw on the Internet Today:

1. The Top U.S. Front Pages

2. Foreign Papers and Their Editorials on the Obama Victory

3. The updated “Palin as President” site. (If you didn’t see this one before the election, you won’t appreciate this nearly as much.)

4. Photos of Reactions Around the World

5. And this excerpt that someone left in a comment on the Oregonian’s website, regarding McCain’s concession speech. They said it was from Joe Boyle, a contributor to reason.com, however I couldn’t find it there:

Classy speech.

John McCain did exactly what John Kerry did. He allowed himself to be jammed into an ill-fitting persona, and thereby surrendered everything that made him an interesting candidate to begin with.

McCain was never a comfortable fit with the thuggish kulturkampfer “Real Americans” who made up the base of his party, nor the low-road campaign that was designed to appeal to them. He couldn’t pull it off effectively – heck, he kept talking down lunatics at his rallies instead of whipping them up. They didn’t accept him as one of their own, and with good reason: he’s not.

John McCain is the sort of person who gives a classy concession speech and calls for unity after he loses, and his supporters are the kind of people who boo when he does that, and he’s the kind of person who shoots them an exasperated look when they boo.

Sort of sums it all up right there.

My Top Five Favorite Moments of Today:

1. Montana was listed as a battleground state.

2. Wyoming and California were called with 0% of the vote counted.

3. “Blitzer Beams in Hologram Reporter”

4. John McCain: “All presidential candidates make mistakes, and I’m sure I’ve made my fair share.”
Brian: “Shhh! She’s standing right there!”

5. CNN Projects
Barack Obama
ELECTED PRESIDENT

I heard about NaBloPoMo from my friend Blythe, who is taking part for the second year in a row. National Blog Posting Month is a pretty simple concept, really; just post on your blog everyday for a month. I’ve chosen November because that’s what Blythe is doing and because you can win prizes. And I’m a sucker for free stuff. (Luckily I already blogged yesterday, or I would have already lost my chance at the prizes!).

I’m a little worried that I won’t have anything to say some days, as this happens fairly regularly in my blogging life, so I’m creating a new post type and category called, “Top Five…”, based on High Fidelity, one of my favorite movies. In case you haven’t seen it, John Cusack and Jack Black’s characters make top five lists of everything (i.e. top five most memorable breakups, top five songs about death, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the ’80s and ’90s, etc.) and then John Cusack ends up naming his record company “Top Five Records.” My plan is to make a top five list of something, anything, on the days I have blogger’s block.

(If you have anything you’d like me to blog about, top five or otherwise, you can also put in a request!)

I’m going to kick off my new invention with a list of the top five websites that make my life better/more fun/a little bit more interesting every day.

1. YouTube. Considering I have a whole blog category based on this website, it’s no surprise it made the list. But really, it’s pretty incredible. I mean, maybe you want to know if Sarah Palin’s ever been tackled by a linebacker after one of her ridiculous statements, or you want to see that video of Philipino prisoners recreating Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. Just search and you shall find. You can even hear almost any song you want to by searching for it. Chances are good someone made a music video of it. Best website for workplace procrastination.

2. Etsy. It’s like Saturday Market on the internet! You can shop for something specific, browse, or even look for local sellers.

3. Socializr. I’m starting the Socializr revolution. Evite will be a thing of the past. Check it out.

4. Google Reader and Google Alerts. I already use Gmail, Google Calendar, and have a personalized iGoogle homepage, but those are only the beginning. When I first started working at The Foundation, one of my coworkers recommended that I setup a Google alert for our foundation’s name so I could monitor all the internet coverage we get. I liked it so much, I selfishly set one up for my own name, just out of curiosity. It’s pretty cool.
Google Reader helps me stay up on all my blogs without checking each website everyday. I just put the Reader box in my iGoogle homepage and then every time I go to my homepage it tells me who’s updated. Well played, Google.

5. Birthday Alarm. You can either enter all of your friends’ and family’s birthdays manually or email them and have them each do it themselves. Either way, you get reminder emails for their birthdays so you can send them gifts or funny and offensive e-cards on time.

It’s hard to come up with things to write about when my days are so insanely boring. Being at this hotel in California is sort of like purgatory. They feed me to keep me alive, but I can’t leave and I have to spend all of my time with the same people. I sleep in a room on the 8th floor, the walk down to the 5th floor (because the elevators are broken) and spend all day in the Hospitality Suite. I eat lunch from a buffet in the atrium and count the minutes until our cookie break at 2 PM. The most exciting part of my day so far has been that our coffee station still had some English Breakfast tea bags left when I got there. I shit you not.

So, I spend all day on my computer, looking for things to entertain me. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of my favorite websites from this week with you:

1. Elf Yourself. Enjoy.

2. From my cousin Emily in Spain: Dancing turkeys.

3. From Jason, the Scandina-phile: Kiss a Scandinavian. My favorite part is the names it suggests for your Scandinavian. Mine’s named Frøya.

4. Microsoft shuts down Santa for talking dirty.

5. SantaCon 2007 Check out the pictures from last year.

And I’m spent. If anyone has anything else I could do to kill time, let me know. And now, back to my tea.