All sorts of fun and frustration this last week. In no particular order, some cool stuff!

1. The Twitter hashtag #SciArt pulls up some amazingly beautiful stuff. I’ve added a nature photo of my own below, but you should go see the real art.
2. Frustration/sadness with the discovery that scalpers are a very real thing — tried to buy pre-sale tickets for the Flight of the Conchords show and was unable to do so (at least initially), but tons of great seats immediately started showing up on the ticket re-sale sites. Very sad. Fortunately, I found sympathy with other fans online and then tried again some more a day later and managed to get a couple of seat waaaaay in the back. Spent some time speculating over dinner about how to counter scalpers — and didn’t come up with any realistic/non-intrusive ways to pull it off for larger performances.
3. Wonderful food, wine, and drinks at Coopers Hall in Portland, Oregon. Delightful evening with friends, but check that they are not closed for a private party before going. It’s funny to buy a glass of wine that costs as much as I often spend on a whole bottle, but it’s also a delicious treat.
4. I quite love Ghostbusters and I’m looking forward to seeing the new Ghostbusters this summer. If you too have a fondness for ectoplasm, snot, vomit, and ghostly (demonic?) possession, enjoy this preview. That being said, this is Ghostbusters people: keep your expectations under control.
5. Craig Robinson is on tour. Go see him if you can. He’s in Portland at Helium Comedy Club at the end of March. I’m missing him. 🙁 But it’s okay, I can hear him singing highly inappropriate things very quietly in my ear.
6. I’m working my way through the Rama series for the first time since I was a young teenager, and while they aren’t perfect, they’re a fun imagining about a very cool alien spaceship and how humanity responds. And we all know about my feelings about spaceships…  Buy the Rama books from an independent bookstore (I’ve linked to Broadway Books in NE Portland this time).

Good afternoon, Mr Tarragon. I’m going to eat you! Bwahahahahaha. #garden #herbs #dinner

A photo posted by Taylor Rush (@rush.taylor) on Mar 1, 2016 at 3:43pm PST

1. Comedy Bang Bang: thank god they only release one podcast a week. I would get nothing done.
2. Radar PDX: lovely meal and drinks in Portland, OR.
3. James Herriot: just what I need to relax in the bathtub before falling asleep. There’s nothing like descriptions of birthing lambs in an open field with blowing snow to make bed seem really fabulous.
4. Bunk Sandwiches: I would engage in an inappropriate relationship with their chicken salad sandwich.
5. Race for the Galaxy: information on Board Game Geek.
6. Discovering McQuixote Books & Coffee and wanting to take a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky.
7. Delicious Fennel and Kale Gratin from the New York Times — good for breakfast, too!
8. Better Block PDX has some cool things planned for 2016.