A sunny day at last!

A splendid day in every respect. Phone conversations with good friends this morning, and then...unbelievable...our customary cloud cover slipped away like a shy girl, and the sun came out blazing. Amazing. Delicious. I headed for Sauvie Island and walked on the river beach for hours, soaking up sunshine. Few people were out there, but we were all dazzled, like moles coming out into the sunshine, squinting and shouting to each other joyously, "Sunshine!" and "Can you believe this!" Nobody appreciates sunshine as much as people in Oregon at the end of a long, gray winter.

This evening, dinner with a friend (she cooked a strapping vegetarian lasagna, slathered in ricotta cheese) and then a spellbinding evening of Gertrude Stein pieces interpreted by dancers, singers, readers, painters, and speakers. If you're interested in Stein, there's a two-minute Youtube of tonight's performance here.

Home from that, I opened the Portland Occupier and found a concise and thoughtful piece by Blip friend, Barrioboy. I couldn't ask more of a day.

I had so many wonderful driftwood and river pictures, it took me hours to decide which one to blip. Now it's 2:30 a.m., and I'm behind on comments, but I'll see if I can catch up tomorrow. I've been thinking non-stop about the conversation sent me by Giacomo, featuring Nicholas Carr and a brilliant woman named Sherry Turkle. It lasts for 73 minutes, but it's worth every bit of it, if you care to hear several brilliant people talk about what the internet is doing to our brains, our attention spans, our social lives, and our desires. Some good, some bad. Can't resist posting two quotes from Turkle:

"...offers us the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship."

"I don't like the metaphor of addiction because addiction means we have to give it up. We're not going to give this up! We have to go on a digital diet that's healthy, enhances us and nourishes us in ways we need to be nourished."