Westmoreland Asays

Have you ever walked to the movie theater? Our local cinema center is just .8 miles away--an easy and pleasant walk, especially at the beginning of summer. I met Meg there to watch Midnight in Portland Paris--a perfect fit, as the theater opened in 1926, and the movie was romanticizing this same time period. The theatre was as packed as I've ever seen it--mostly with older men and women, thus eliciting my often "We're the youngest ones here" line that I often drop when attending events in the neighborhood, and which Meg promptly refutes. Apparently I have a self-inflated image of how young I am. One of the benefits of walking home from a movie is that both Meg and I could freely discuss our reactions. She thought I bore strong resemblance to Owen Wilson's character (and we're not just talking the gigantic noses, the genuine charm with the ladies, and the goofy sense of humor), if you substitute the 80's for the 20's. Sure, I like music from the 80...

Andre Miller was the first NBA player I ever saw play the game live and in  person (I'm choosing to ignore the actual first instance--but he wasn't NBA material ). It was the first game of the 1998-99 season between the University of Utah and Utah State, in Logan. The Utes last competition was the national championship game the previous season, so it was huge to see them play in Logan. The Aggies won. I don't remember being excited to see Andre play, but I had heard of him and thought he would be a good player at the next level. Fast forward 10 years and Andre Miller signs with the Trailblazers, my favorite team. The team foolishly tried to make him the back-up point guard behind all-world talent, Steve Blake. That didn't last long, fortunately, and 'Dre proved his worth time and time again, to the point you could argue he was one of the team's top overall players and most valuable pieces. He had also won me over as my favorite Blazer (and this was before we k...

I grew up in a culture that did not celebrate Father's Day. At least that's what my memory tells me. So it has been a decade-long transition period of letting my wife and kids worship me for a day. This was an uncomfortable thing at first, but now I wish they would treat me like this every day. They let me sleep in and brought me breakfast in bed, with both Edward and Ian helping me eat it. Usually I'm up at dawn with Ian, feeding or changing him. But today I got a free pass. They presented me with gifts: a belt made out of a bicycle tire, with a star wars-themed buckle; a drawing Ed had made (with me as Darth Vader--yes!--and him as Luke); a dinosaur magnet that Aaron had made at school; and a hammock (which has been sitting in the garage for a few weeks now). At church the women presented all of the fathers with chocolate dipped Oreo balls. Even though they had cream cheese in them, I enjoyed them and hounded them for more. The primary aged kids--including Aaron and Ed-...

"Are you the lady from Lincoln City? You actually drove from Lincoln City just to get happy meals for your kids?" So said the assistant manager at the McMinnville McDonald's drive-thru to Meg, who had escalated her displeasure that they no longer had any Pokemon-themed happy meals, which had just been released today. I continued staring out the window, embarrassed, but listening intently to see how the drama would play out. The two women vigorously traded banter until some other underling discovered that he had found more of the Pokemon toys--but to Meg's disdain, she would have to park the van and go inside to place her order. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I wouldn't have to witness any more of this first-hand. I coached the kids to be over-complimentary when they received their food, and they responded perfectly when Meg returned a few minutes later with Pokemon-themed happy meals. I failed to observe any change in her outward appearance. Had her ange...