Monday, July 28, 2008

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR FRIENDS

OMG this one is long! Considering I normally write a book this will take me the rest of the day.
-Pam
PS: Yep, it took me the rest of the day. C'est la vie!


WELCOME TO THE 2008 EDITION OF GETTING TO KNOW YOUR FRIENDS. Please copy (not forward) the entire e-mail & paste it into a new email. Change all answers that apply to you, and then send it to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of interesting little facts about your friends that you might not know!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:29 am

2. Diamonds or Pearls? how about Rubies?

3. What is the last film you saw at the cinema? Ummmm, I think it was Dan In Real Life. At Northern Lights.

4. What is your favorite TV Show? I watch whever's on. I think I have favorites but I can never remember them unless they're coming up next.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? left-over coffee that I have to nuke and half & half (Frank gets up at 3am to go to work and the left overs are cool by the time I get up)

6. What is your middle name? Jean

7. What food do you dislike? ham & cheese sandwiches. If you add yellow mustard to that, it just ups the gross factor by about 35 points.

8. What is your favorite CD? This week it's a three way tie between Muse, Hard-Fi, and Hot Hot Heat

9. What kind of car do you drive? my little red mafia car, an 07 Chevy HHR

10. Favorite sandwich? Roast beef panini with fontina and carmelized onions and country mustard on ciabatta

11. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE? purposely helpless

12. FAVORITE ITEM OF CLOTHING? My red scottie dog pjs

13. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? I'd travel through Europe, starting in Scandinavia and winding my way around to Corsica, avoiding tourist-packed destinations like the plague

14. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM? The apartment complex painted it white with a beige floor but I have a red black and grey shower curtain, matching towels (mostly) and black rugs. It's masculine and very sexy, if I may say so.

15. FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? Does it fit? Does it look good? Then it's my favorite at the moment.

16. WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO? A high-rise condo in the arts district of some vibrant, hip, pedestrian, urban downtown. I wouldn't need a car which would be good since I'd probably run people over at that point anyway.

Oh wait. That's incorrect. I plan to retire extremely wealthy in 15 years. I'll still be driving... my Jaguar.
But I'd still live in the condo.

As my second home.

17. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? 9th - My birthday is on Halloween and I dressed as "Time." I'm not sure why, but my crazy mother dressed me up in a tablecloth, one of her old wigs (that was the fashion in the early 70's and she kept them "for fun"), bright red lipstick, a tiara, and a sash with the years 1967-1976 on it. I went out trick or treating, nobody knew what I was, they were still confused when they asked "What are you?" and I replied "One year older!" Truly the most bizarre Halloween costume I've ever left the house wearing. I thought it was a little weird, but mom was pretty gung-ho about the whole thing and I figured "Why not?"
There. Does that explain things a little? At least now you have a better idea about where I get my weirdness from...
I think she still has the picture. Want me to ask her to dig it up so you can see it?

18. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Synchronized Swimming. And Ping Pong.

19. FURTHEST PLACE YOU ARE SENDING THIS? Around the world

20. Who do you least expect to send this back? Hmmmmm....

21. Person you expect to send it back first. I'm probably the last one again, as usual.

22. Favorite saying : Toughshi Sh!tski and Okey-Dokey (it's fun to say B.S. in sign language, too.)

23. When is your birthday? see #17

24. ARE YOU A MORNING OR NIGHT PERSON? I'm a night person between 5:30-8am and a morning person after 11pm

25. WHAT IS YOUR SHOE SIZE? I'm down to 8.5-9, depending on who makes the shoe.
My feet are shrinking. They used to be size 10.

26. PETS? A weird little intellectual emo doggie named Caesar who understands a lot of spoken words as well as a fair amount of sign language. (Are you surprised? Did you expect me to not refer to him as weird?)

27. Any new and exciting news you want to share? The rash is healing nicely. No, I'm kidding.
How about I announce that Rachel comes home from her seven-week vacation to Wisconsin in two days!!

28. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher. Huh. Oh, I know what happened with that plan. Charlie Kolb in my 6th grade class threw up and I decided I didn't want to be a teacher when I looked at (and smelled) the mess in the hallway. Instead I decided to become a mom and I also got a dog. So much for avoiding inconveniently timed smelly messes that I'm stuck cleaning up!

29.HOW OLD ARE YOU TODAY? Old enough to know it's not polite to ask a lady her age. Ok, the truth? This Halloween I'll be celebrating my 12th Annual 29th Birthday.

30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Reeses PB Cups. Oh, and Licorice Allsorts; they turn your tongue green,among other things.

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Lilacs, redbuds, peonies, rhodies, roses, lily of the valley, bottlebrush, bouganvillia (sp?)camillias, iris, hmmm...allium, alstomeria, impatients, bleeding hearts... I used to have a garden but now I sit in my apartment all day and complain and whine.

32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? This whole week is a big one. July
30 Rachel arrives at the Seattle airport, July 31 we visit Pike Place and the Music Experience Project, Aug 2 my sister marries my boyfriend-in-law thereby changing this long lasting title to "Brother In Law." This wedding is a HUGE family event because we've been waiting so darned long for them to finally tie the knot.

33. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Pamela Jean Hawk

34. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Ryan is talking fast and spitting out phone numbers like he's an army drill sargeant. Maybe he'll say something else, too... We can only hope, right? Oh sorry boss ladies, let me finish that sentence. We can only hope he doesn't. *ahem* better?

35. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? melted vanilla shake, cold coffee, blueberries

36. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Magenta, Orange-red, or Violet(purple) We're talking Crayola names, right?

37. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Sunny and perfect low 80's with a 30% chance Ryan might sing more lame tv sitcom theme songs from the early 80's

38. FAVORITE SOFT DRINK? ummm, San Pelligrino? I don't like pop, so I hope that counts as a valid answer.

39. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Muchas Gracias and now sushi at Kyoto (and of course Figlio and the Times Bar & Grill in Mpls)

40. SIBLINGS - 2 step sisters and a step brother

42. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD I had Barbie and the bimbos along with her pimps named Ken, Ken, and Ken and they had a camper go run around in and an airplane to fly

43. SUMMER or WINTER? Summer

44. HUGS OR KISSES? Eh. Friendly handshake?

45. COFFEE OR TEA? Coffee and tea - depends if it's morning or night

46. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? How about Umpqua Espresso Madness?

47. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO EMAIL YOU BACK? heck yeah, but they probably won't at this point

48. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED. Mmmm, I really don't remember. Must have been quite a while ago. I probably stubbed my toe or something.

49. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? (don't laugh) Three under-bed boxes crammed FULL of old cassette tapes: Gino Vannelli, Corey Hart, Abba, Nina Hagen, New Order, OMD, Husker Du, Bauhaus, The Buzzcocks, REM, U2, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, ELO, The Beatles... tons of mix tapes with weird names

50. WHO IS THE FRIEND THAT YOU HAVE HAD THE LONGEST. Michelle in Wisconsin; 30 years and counting

51. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Computer stuff, went shopping for $63 worth of misc stuff at Wally World, had dinner with Frank standing up at the kitchen counter as we alternated between thin slices of home smoked pork loin and home smoked beef tenderloin and talked about silly stuff, bread recipes, Deaf Schools in other states, plans for this week, checked out menus of Seattle restaurants...

52. FAVORITE SMELL? Ocean Beach, bread, and wood

53. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? Becoming senile and having other people take care of me and I'm clueless as to who they are and who I am

54. SALTY OR SWEET? Oh, I'm sweet, thank you for asking.

55. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR RING? 3 My little red purse is too teeny tiny for any more than that.

56. HOW MANY YEARS AT YOUR CURRENT JOB? nearly 2

57. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Wednesday & Sunday morning

58. HOW MANY TOWNS HAVE YOU LIVED IN? 15 so far

59. DO YOU MAKE FRIENDS EASILY? Yes.

60. HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL YOU SEND THIS TO? directly or indirectly?

61. HOW MANY WILL RESPOND? ?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My cute hubby


My cute hubby, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Acting like a dork.
Gosh, no wonder I love him so much!

The Pam Cam #7

Invisible clothes sold separately


wow, beautiful clothes, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Pam Cam #6

When shopping in the Dollar store, you never know what quality the goods will be.

...Nah, I don't think I like these enough to buy 'em...

.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Pam's Plates

Lots of people are starting to ask me "How is your plates thing going?"

For the record, it's fantastic. We're working hard both here in Oregon and in Wisconsin to introduce people to the concept and familiarize people with the concept. It's hard work, but it's plugging along and growing.

Because I'm not available to do farmers' markets and art shows on Saturdays, I'm working on promoting online and one on one. I've also been working on an additional ingenious way to have people promote the plates for me. You'll have to keep your eye on my Pass It On Plates blog to see what's developing.

In Wisconsin, my mom (and Rachel) have been regular vendors at the Hayward Flea Market with the plates. The plates have also been gifted all over Wisconsin and have already traveled to other states.

It has been challenging, introducing this totally new concept to people and trying to carve out our own little niche in the gift market with this interactive plate, but the response has been fantastic and people are rapidly catching on. Sometimes when a new project starts, I feel like time can't move quickly enough. In this case, though, I'm learning and developing so much I almost feel like time moves too fast and I can't get enough done in the time I have. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I think it's a good thing. I'm having a blast.
.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Cairo, Egypt KFC is one-up on the USA

Frank has so many things to say that it can't be contained in just one blog. Not too long ago, he started up his second blog, Red Hawk's Deaf Musings.

When he first showed it to me, he pointed out a video bar he installed on the side. He gets a lot of visitors to his blog when he posts videos, so he thought that would be a helpful way to increase traffic on his blog. One of his videos is made by a Deaf girl who traveled to Cairo, Egypt and encountered a KFC restaurant run by all Deaf staff. The fascinating 6 minute video features her conversation with a manager, Deaf counter staff interacting with hearing customers, some new Egyptian signs for words like "chicken," "french fries," "ketchup," different kinds of pop, and some local words.

Like spoken languages, each country generally has its own Sign language; it's not a universal language. My jaw dropped when I first saw the manager signing in American Sign Language. He then explained that he had attended Gallaudet University, which is a Deaf University in Washington, DC.

Even if you don't understand a word of sign, it's interesting to watch and see how the customers and staff interact. And near the end, the Egyptian signs are captioned so you can learn them too.

I have to say, though, it made me feel sad to see that there was no problem with the hearing customers interacting with the Deaf customer service staff. I didn't expect there to be any problem. It's not a problem. People who work with Frank learn that it's not a problem. In fact, many of his past supervisors and managers tell me having Frank in the kitchen has improved communication with all staff members and the customers love him.

So why did it make me sad? This amazing KFC has a whole staff of Deaf people. In contrast, when Frank is out job hunting, him being Deaf is the biggest issue with prospective employers. It's illegal for them to not hire him just because he's Deaf, but they say he's got the education, qualifications, and work history they're looking for. They tell him he's a great candidate but then add that they "don't know how it will work out." End of interview. This comes up whenever he applies for a job. Any job.

How do we get American employers to see things the way the boss in the Cairo, Egypt KFC sees things? Surely in the USA we are forward-thinking, equal-rights, open minded people and can figure it out.

Can't we?

Please take 6 minutes to visit Frank's blog and watch the video.

Comments on how we can turn things around here for Deaf job applicants in the good old US of A are more than welcomed.
.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Count 'em

I remember 13. But I don't think of that as "old," I think of that more in the same category as "Laugh lines" or "Battle scars."
-Pam

Count all the ones that you remember, NOT the ones you were told about !
1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (OLive-6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt !

Sign our Guestbook!




We keep a permanent copy of this at the bottom of the blog.

Friday, July 11, 2008

No thumbs up


No thumbs up, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Why not just have a "thumbs down" sign?

Thursday, July 10, 2008

New game

Ok, maybe not for little little kids, but Rachel will probably convulse with hoots of laughter at this one.

You know how after you read a Chinese fortune cookie, you're supposed to add the words "In bed?" We recently decided it's much funnier with the words "With a chicken." Plus, you can tell your grandmother why you're snickering.

This new game uses the same concept:
Take any song title and add the words "In my pants"

I discovered the IN MY PANTS game on an Etsy forum today and was ROTFLMAO.
(Mom, that means Rolling On The Floor Laughing My "Anterior" Off.)
My post is #1140 (at the bottom of page 114) and I decided to take a stab at it with some Christmas songs. One song in particular told me I'd done enough damage.
Check it out - get ready to giggle.

Mt. Rainier, from the "steering wheel cam"

With a little foreground for perspective...
Taken from southbound I-5 at the I-405 interchange, just south of Seattle, obviously.
Sorry it's crooked; it's a 'drive by' shot.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Intense Debate

Just testing a new comments widget I installed.
There should be a drop down box for comments instead of the old Blogger form.
If you see it please leave a comment!

Thanks!

The Pam Cam #5

And note how the comments at the bottom of the package point right up to the ASSETS shown in the illustration.

ASSets, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

That's so subtle.

.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Mt. Rainier


Mt. Rainier, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

From southbound I-5, just as we were leaving Seattle.

The foreground sure gives you some perspective regarding just how ABSOLUTELY huge the mountain is!


. . . Did you know Mt. Rainier is an active volcano?

Monday, July 7, 2008

Boathouses on Lake Washington

Like we have carports here in Oregon, locals living on Lake Washington have similar shelters for their boats. Just beyone these boats were some amazing looking houseboats. We'll have to make another trip up there to get pictures of the houseboats.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge

Heading downhill to the water level, crossing from Bellevue back over to the Seattle side of Lake Washington.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Bellevue's city park

Who says it's always gloomy and rainy in the Seattle area?

Thursday, July 3, 2008

We never did find the restrooms.

We looked and looked and walked and walked.
And then we gave up.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Pam Cam #4

OMG!! The face of Jesus is in my apple.
If you look really close you can see it.

I think I'm going to sell this on eBay.

Darnit. Someone just ate it.

.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Beggar in the park

Don't know who this little pooch belonged to, but he decided we were going to share our supper with him.

He came sniffing around and tried to look cute - and hungry - but we told him "No."
Not easily discouraged, he tried barking at us to make sure we knew he wanted some of our food.

Realizing we weren't going to part with the food any time soon, he started marking the space in front of us, then kicking up tufts of grass to end his little territorial ritual.

Ornery beggar.
But a cute ornery beggar...