Anthem. From Dave.

Sorry, I can't vote for any of those songs. So, there's this instrument maker who always talks about the people he has built for and... nevermind. Long story short is that most Fleetwood Mac songs are now a bit tainted for me and "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" was never one of my favorites to begin with. Moving on.

Whitney. Hmmm... Too much baggage, and when was the last time a Whitney song sounded like an anthem? She can't even sing "Oh Canada" without trying to show off. And, oh yeah, if you're smokin' a rock you're supposed to stay in the shadows. Moving on.

Madonna. Ever since she caused every Pepsi exec in the country to have a simultaneous coronary by dry-docking with a twelve year old on national TV, I've been a fan. But my admiration stops shy of her music. We need another choice.

We need a product of the 80's that can sing an ANTHEM! We need a song that says "Fuck Cancer!" We need a song that says "Hey World, Obama is our president now and we'd like to come out and play again and we promise not to pee in the pool, throw sand, or lick all the Oreos." We need a song that says all that but... better. And it needs to sound like an anthem, and it needs guitars. Guitars at the knees and not too many chords, and it needs to be loud. And it needs to be sung by someone like Jess who is defying logic and the rest of us and is getting hotter with age - and could also kick your ass!!!

Amen... Hallelujah... where's the aspirin?

Dog Love

Hello Lovely-
Yesterday was a crisp, sunny day in Eugene, so Marley and I ventured out to celebrate one of the ever fabulous Mondays off (okay maybe only a half day!). During the course of our walk I found myself thinking of you (again!). Marley's expression pretty much says it all. I know she thinks you're great too.

Sending big dog smiles and the good vibe.

With love and hugs, Alison

Vote for Week 6 Anthem

Once again we have mined our database of Most Inspirational Songs and we have found three for you to choose from. Vote to your right.

And if you have ideas for future Anthems, leave them in a comment below!

Flower of the Week

Hi Jess-
Your friend Arica is right: so many of us are thinking of you *every* day. Rest as much as you can, pamper yourself, and let your friends do the heavy lifting.

Here is your flower of the week. It's a crown of thorns, which suggests both trial and triumph. Take some energy from the red blooms, a proactive color of strength and hope.

Joyce

Strength and Wisdom

Silver contemplates strength and wisdom with Gn"om"

xo,
Your Crazy Gnome Lady

Anthem for Week 5

Chosen by overwhelming popular vote, please enjoy Jess's anthem for Week 4.

Jess, take special note of the part, about 2/3 of the way through the video, where the creepy vest guy is hassling the young lady and Pat and her Thriller-esque cohort teach him a lesson. I'm imagining your cancerous mass as the vested hassler, you're Pat of course, and we're your big-haired back up dancers shaking our boobs at the creepy vest guy.

We are strong.
No one can tell us we're wrong.
Love is a battlefield.

Indeed.

VOTE!

Hello Ninjas.
We have added a new and exciting interactive feature to the welovejessblaine blog. Check it out to the right - we'll now be voting for Jess's weekly anthem to provide a little inspiration and something to sing in the shower. You'll see three unquestionably moving choices. Vote for your favorite. The one with the most votes by Sunday at 5pm will become Jess's Anthem for Week 5.

You can also suggest songs for future anthems by adding a comment below.

Pirates or Ninjas?

(Nick and Tom are my two friends that live on a random website found by typing Harry Potter and Ninja into the Google. This is a conversation between them, which I tried to join, but they're pretty exclusive so I only got a few words in edgewise.)

Nick: Do you think Harry Potter is a Ninja or a Pirate?
Tom: I think Harry Potter is definitely a Ninja
Tom: it's the cloak of invisibility
Nick: Really?
Tom: but Ron Weasley is WAY pirate
Nick: I would have said the relentless good feeling made Harry a pirate.
Tom: I'm going to categorise EVERYONE into categories of ninja and pirate from now on:
Tom: Margaret Thatcher - pirate
Tom: Bill Gates - pirate
Tom: Steve Jobs - ninja
Melissa: Jessica MacMurray Blaine - ninja
Melissa: Karen Stapleton- ninja
Melissa: all the MICE - ninjas
Melissa: Frank MacMurray - ninja
Nick: And Ninjas are, of course, creatures of the night, subversive, rejecting the male authority...
Tom: exactly
Tom: much like...
Tom: Britney Spears
Tom: - ninja
Nick: Subtle rather than confrontational, weaker in a head-on confrontation...
Tom: actually no. she's a pirate
Melissa: I agree
Melissa: Barak Obama - ninja
Melissa: Sarah Palin - pirate
Melissa: Voldemort - pirate
Melissa: I will now be categorizing everyone as a ninja or pirate. It's addictive, much like Kanye West. He's definitely a ninja too.

Ninjas read Harry Potter too:

Let HP get you through the day my friend.

Busy Lady

Wow! Jess, you must be tired. You come to work with me every day. You ride my bike to teach at school and go running with my friend Lorri and me. You pickup groceries, you clean my house. You even come to MICE. (You don’t come to bed with me or shower with me; sorry I gotta draw the line.)

You are a busy lady running around everywhere with everyone who proudly wears their TEAM JESS bracelet. You are with us all every day, every moment.

Don’t forget to take us with you too. Take us to the doctor visit, to the treatment room, to anywhere you need us. We are your team. We’ll keep sending you energy… you are almost there, but we know you need us just a few more weeks. We’ll keep you with us.

As I mail out more bracelets today, I hope you remember how your circle widens and grows stronger every time we look down and see your name in bright, powerful red right alongside us as we go about our day. You are on our minds.

Arica

Live from DC

(Tuesday)

It's Obama time!! I thought of you today while standing on the mall, hoping that you were watching history and smiling through treatment. Stay warm!

All the good omens

(Tuesday)

The past week has been just achingly beautiful, full of gifts and surprises.
I felt a little weepy for how gorgeous this shiny, new day has been -- a perfect day to be together as a country and to step forward into change.

I smiled through tears as President, PRESIDENT, Obama talked about grit and truth: "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true."

I laughed and didn't cry, but cringed at the high school photos my friend Amy posted to our favorite time-eating social networking site. To be honest, I'd forgotten, or maybe denied, that there was such joy in that phase of life.

I laughed and cried all at once this weekend as Baby Tau Frankensteined his first four steps; good kid -- though he's been on the verge for weeks now, he waited for both me and Dan to be in the same room to see him walk.

I whooped out loud and cried only a little at the news that you are winning. There's been some collective breath-holding going on, as you of all people can well imagine, and it felt good to just let the diaphragm relax a little, to breathe deep and steady, and to feel OK.

Friend, this is obviously the week you should buy a lottery ticket. Sending love and peace.
bobbie

Anthem for Week 4

And another one down....


According to the Google there is a protocol for this song:

Best Things to Do While Listening:
Ideally, you should be celebrating some kind of sporting victory. Or, maybe if you get in a lot of fistfights, you could have one of your cohorts play this as they haul the other guy away, bleeding.

In light of your recent victory, we here on Malibu Way feel that this song is particularly appropriate as you head into Week 4. You've won one battle and are well on your way (75%!)to winning the war.

(Not to mention, a 'stache and a tank top?! Love it.)

Ninja Hamster

(From Alison)

Good Times

Blue sky and sunshine makes me dream of summer. Is there a more perfect place to spend some time than along the Deschutes River? Looking at this picture of you laughing with our friends always makes me smile, as does the memory of your attempt to pour red wine on my father-in-law's suit the next day. Good thoughts going your way.

Love ya, Karen

Billy Collins 4 U

Hi Jess-
A friend sent me this Billy Collins poem. I thought you'd like it.

Despair

So much gloom and doubt in our poetry-
flowers writing on the table,
the self regarding itself in a watery mirror.

Dead leaves cover the ground
the wind moans in the chimney
and the tendrils of the yew tree inch toward the coffin.

I wonder what the ancient chinese poets
would make of all this,
tree shadows and empty cupboards?

Today, with the sun blazing in the trees,
my thoughts turn to the great
tenth-century celebrators of experience,

Wa-Hoo, whose delight in the smallest things
could hardly be restrained,
and to his joyous counterpart in the western provinces,
Ye-Hah.

Wishing you many more Ye-Hahs than Boo-Hoos
Joyce (Alison's mom)

battle sequence

This is Jess.

This is Jess surveying the hill in front of her.

This is Jess skiing/slogging/reverse snowplowing uphill.

This is Jess kicking cancer's ass. GO, Jess, GO!

You're not over the halfway hump of the 6 week torture, but you can see the terrain ahead of you. You know what to do. We know you can do it. We are still behind you.
I hear that feeling crappy means the treatment is working. So in that case, I hope you feel like hell.

Love,Arica

Good news rocks!

Jess,

So I pulled up at knitting last night and saw the most wonderful sight... the MacBlaine truck parked outside! My heart skipped a beat and I was flooded with warm feelings about Jess and Mark and construction/demolition projects out in Crow. I held on to the feeling that you were inside with a glass of wine, curled up on the couch knitting something fantastic. Then, when leaving, I saw the truck again, and it was like you were there. Now, writing this, I hear your laughter and some slight teasing about how when you come back to knitting  you will ride in comfort and style in the Element or Jeep, of course.

More importantly, I am overjoyed by your good news today! Yay for good news! I look forward to your return to Crow in a few weeks, with the crud stomped out. We will provide you with tons of TLC while you recuperate from the chemicals and drama. Most importantly, I look forward to when we look back on this as a distant memory.

We will continue to send our good ninja vibes and karate chops to speed along the banishment. Lots of love, Rohanna

Kicking cancer's ass

I found a couple T-shirt designs on the interwebz that seemed appropriate for this happy moment, although they lack the requisite ninja dagger or throwing star for this particular cancer fight. Dave -- can you get on that for us? Thanks. R

Week Three: Manic Monday (Bangles, of course), Guaro, & Red Wine

Cheers from the parking lot

Saturday was a glorious bluebird day at Bachelor. The snow was so-so, but the scenery was incredible and a few runs in the afternoon was a wonderfully relaxing time. We got there late and left early - perfect. So here's a "Cheers to Jess" from the parking lot you know so well.

- LT, DG, and TypeA

We missed you...

Hey, Jess. Just read your latest posting, and am very glad indeed the treatments are just annoying and not much more. We did miss you in NH, but your Dad read the lovely Chinese poem, and I was transported back to a gorgeous sunny day in Portland! Our four-day houseparty seemed to work very well, even to meals being delivered to the house for the hungry hordes. What with snowballs and sledding and chats by the fire, everyone seemed to mix up nicely. Max and Gavin stole the show, and David's four grandchildren fought over who could play with them! Laurence and Merrill had already given us all a new definition of family in their welcoming you to Houston and MDACC, so we started well along in mixing up Coopers and MacMurrays. If you'd be amused, we can send you a video of the service. We're thinking of you every day, and sending you so much love and hope. What with all your allies, human and scientific, those misbehaving cells don't stand a chance.
Much love,
L.

Haikus

Jess,
I hope your treatments are going well and you are feeling okay. I was so sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I have the utmost confidence that you will beat this beast, especially with all these cloaked ninjas at your side. I have composed a series of haiku, because every ninja loves a good haiku.

I.

small cancerous growth
doesn't stand a chance against
powerful ninjas


II.
chemotherapy
plus radiation cocktail
siyonara growth

III.
spirits remain high
Jess prepares swords and nun-chucks
to kick this f@#!'s ass


I'd love to come and cook for you and watch movies with you when you are recovering in Crow!

(Elise Ferrarese)

Anthem for week three

Courtesy of the Jess Kicks Ass mix by DJ Joel

When the sun shines we'll shine together
Told you I'd be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

Go to treatment, you aren't missing much outside

So, we are in (as Melissa calls it) Tropical New England. And you aren't missing much. There is freezing rain, a la Portland Oregon, and it has fallen on the snow making this ultra slick ground cover that is just fantastic. You have so seen this so nothing new. The middle of the country is freezing cold too, so not fun. I hear Seattle is flooding and Washington state is falling into the Pacific, not missing anything new there either. Internationally, I hear that there are a few military conflicts here and there so travel is pretty much not a good time - might as well stay home. Here in Chez Buchanan we are watching the college football playoffs (but if you have a TV I'm sure you can get that), waiting to drive to the Manchester airport to get Julie (you don't want to go), and knitting with Nana. The knitting with Nana part is fun, but what you are really not missing is the part where when the phone rings (and it does a lot)this fire alarm sounding device goes off scaring the bejesus out of those of us who don't live here. Seriously, when I lose my hearing I'm getting a phone that vibrates. So, I guess you should stay home, go to treatment, then go nap. Plus have people be super nice to you. Given the alternatives, that sounds like the best plan. I hope to be back in Oregon soon to join you.

Big hugs and a large glass of wine,Rohanna

I pity the fool...

I pity the fool who messes with Jess.

So, I was feeling silly - as I generally do by 4:30 in the afternoon, having been taped to my chair at work all day - and wanted to post something on the blog, so I went to google images and typed in "ninja tea party". I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was the fleeting moments of sun today that made me think of a tea party for ninjas. This was one of the top 10 images to come up on my screen.

Jess, we'll be your A-Team. Better, actually. But never forget how many you have in your army.

(Arica)

I Love Jess Blaine!

Today's card: Simplicity.

xxoo, alison

Eye of the F*$@ing tiger

It is possible that I will be singing this song until the end of time. But watching it live in full leopard print might have been worth it. So Spinal Tap (which, by the way, I remember watching in your living room so long ago.) Speaking of those days, remember this truck. She's still kicking it here in Montana and that's genuine keep-the-cows-out-bloody-your-hands-western barbed wire pilled in the back under all that snow. Ain't she purty.

Life is rolling along here. Eliza has learned to say don't. As in "don't touch my butt" which she said yesterday. I found her today standing on the kitchen counter, reaching for the cabinets above her head because she thought there was candy in there. She feeds Lyle with a fork and completely ignores me when I tell her not to. At 2.5 she sends me some days to the edge of reason.

And then there is her sisiter. Juicy is sweet and smiley and as mellow as a bunch of hippies at the country fair. I'll let you decide who's personality traits are at play in each of our children.

Well, since you are battling cancer and all, and because I think about you nonstop, I've decided to do something positive with my Jess energy. I'm going to learn how to cook. I heard you just now. That little half laugh. That audible "I don't know about that." Well anyway, it's true. I'm thinking of getting some books and maybe spending some time on the Cooks Illustrated website. You'll see. You concentrate on showing the big C the door and I'll make you something good. No backwood Southern shit, I swear.

And between now and then, if you want company on those Forest Park walks, holler. I'll be on the next train. I'm serious.

xoxo,

savage

Some sexual chocolate for you to chew on

anthem for week two

Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry...



Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

Chorus:
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

chorus

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

chorus

The eye of the tiger (repeats out)...

from Bill

Promise of spring

Hi Jess-
More flower power, and a promise of spring to brighten a gray day...
Joyce (Alison's mom)

Aspens

I was just thinking about how so many of the women posting on this blog have a great story about the first time they met you. It seems like most of them involved you being intimidating. I love that idea: intimidate your cancerous mass all you can, scary lady!

Funny, I don't remember the first time I met you. It was probably 12 or 13 years ago in that big pink house on 3rd and Pearl when Melissa and I lived together and you came down for a visit. Did we have tacos at Tres Hermanas? Hmmm. Anyway, I don't particularly remember you as intimidating, but I do recall your lovely smile.

What I remember well is the day I really fell in love with you. It was on a hike outside Flagstaff. Must've been early fall. I remember that you and I fell behind the rest of the group, and we had a spirited conversation about, well, you remember. So much has changed since that day, in all of our lives. But I remember your fiery opinions, your fierce protectiveness and your no-bullshit attitude and those are still things I love about you. You are fiery and fierce, and kind and loyal. You do not tolerate bullshit easily, and that's a quality I think will serve you well throughout this experience.

If I had a photo of that day to post it would be a picture of you in patagonia stand ups, a yellow fleece pullover, and chacos. You'd be standing on a trail, surrounded by yellow aspens and high desert pines. The sun would be shining on your hair and glinting off your blue eyes. You'd be poised and confident, and you'd be just a little bit angry. That's the image I'm holding of you.

Love, Melis

Ninja Smiles

Lucy Lu sends you big smiles and big love. We all do. One week of treatment down. One foot in front of the other. Before you know it you'll be home, with this whole mess behind you. You are missed every day around here. -Melis

Missing Mouse

This sucks! I miss you too much, Jess and Mark. I want you back. MICE is not whole without you. Who will get your work assignments in your absence? Who will shotgun Mark’s PBR when he has a soccer game and can’t drink? It’s January MICE at the Duhrkoop-Galases (or DGs as Rohanna would write, because she IS into the whole brevity thing) and we have many tasks for our ass-kickingest female Mouse. So, Jess get your Sawzall, cat’s paw, belt sander into action and demolish bad, stupid cancer. Then, get your tails back to Eugene. We’ll try to manage without you….for a little while longer. We need you! You complete us. -Arica

Hack Sushi

We've been away in Boise for a week or so, and while we were there we made sushi. This made me think of that Entree story you wrote about"hack sushi" -- which is what you are really doing when you make sushi at home, you informed us, because in Japan sushi is like an art form and people who make sushi can be named National Treasures or something.

But my brother, Dave, is pretty good at it. So we rolled up some sushi. First thing I discovered is that if your rice isn't of even thickness, your pieces of sushi come out all lopsided, which really looks lame.

My dad refused to eat the eat the sushi. "I don't eat seaweed," he told us, though he doesn't have any problem with raw fish. Anyway this was all great fun, and I kept thinking you would have enjoyed thewhole scene and been right in the mix, arguing with my dad about seaweed -- and any number of other things -- because we all always argue with my dad -- about pretty much anything.

The same night we made sushi, we also made pizza (why not?). We had this cheese-making kit that you may be familiar with. It's thecheese-making kit they use in that Barbara Kingsolver book "Animal,Vegetable, Mineral." You can make your own mozzarella in 30 minutes (with some help from a microwave). If there were some late great Japanese sushi chefs rolling in their graves that night, I can only imagine what the European cheese-makers were thinking. "My god, I zpend my whole life learning to make ze cheese, and look at you -- 30 meenutes? -- I cannot even bear to see zis ..." Yes, the moz was not so good -- but maybe someday you'll decide to write an Entree story about this cheese-making kit: Hack Cheese. Or perhaps not.

Anyway, I hope you will be comforted to know that we did try to keep the proper respect for the great food traditions of the world even as we were desecrating them. Thanks for writing that article about sushi. Otherwise, I never would have known. You should be a National Treasure. You certainly are a Eugene Treasure.

I hope the treatment doesn't have you feeling too crappy these days,but I know you're tough enough, whatever the side effects.

Oh! My hair started falling out again. This was not intentional.Yesterday Jamie noticed that I have this little bald spot on the topof my head, the size of a thumbprint. I had one once before on theback of my neck that got to be about the size of a half-dollar. Joel always used to ask about it and I never knew what to say. Just arandom bald spot. It went away eventually -- but it took almost twoyears. I don't know if your chemo is going to do anything to yourhair, but fuck hair anyway.

-- Bob

Missing you

Some more kids who love you. Now we all sleep under jessica-inspired quilts. We reaaaaaaallllllllly missed you, marc, bird, and gary over xmas, and can't wait to see you soon. Love from your Damrosch second cousins---finn, sophie, and eliza.