Ms. Bathtub

99 Impressions of Jamaica: Part IV Finale

2007-08-21T09:44:00.001-07:00

To see all 99 photos of my Jamaican experience.

Biking in the rain in Jamaica is fun, It's so humid & hot most the day, that getting soaked through is just the ticket. No need for rain clothes that's for sure. However, having unknown boys on bikes follow you in the rain, is not fun. For awhile Matt was biking ahead, leaving me back with the boys, as I grew more and more uncomfortable I decided to bike ahead to get a little distance. At the main road, I turned left, and looked back. Ah finally it was just Matt, the boys did not continue. Whew! I said, and Matt said, they asked him for 10 bucks at that was all, but didn't give them anything. Later that night I was reading a chapter in a book about a couple touring on bikes around the world, and the writer spoke of children attaching on to them as they toured from place to place. At first they had fears echoing what I had, but after awhile, they just realized the kids were just curious, and maybe looking for a little money, but overall nothing to worry about. I felt better reading the chapter, I think next time I won't let fear take over, but one must learn things themselves I guess.

The last bit of road into town was quite the adventure - heavy rains filled up giant potholes along the side of the road [where we were biking!], and flooded, so you just never knew where they were. That plus giant trucks zooming by splashing us more. Oddly enough, it didn't scare me half as much as the boys did.

In the evening we mostly enjoyed the hotel area - played ping-pong & eight-ball, chased cats in the dark, had an overpriced drink special (Two drinks for happy hour - the catch is they had to be the same kind, and were poured into smaller glasses!), a sunset and another delicious all veggie meal with a little pot-smoke added in streaming from the back of the restaurant. (Ah Jamaica!) It was our last night on the Cliff, since the next day we were changing hotels and would be living on the beach side with the wedding party.

In the morning, we went to a new place for breakfast where we met 'Blondie' and waited over an hour for our food. Blondie was an American who had lived in Negril for about 10 years, and knew everyone. She wasn't shy, she was just hanging out the porch, calling out to all the men passing by asking for a cigarette or bulla cake. She was in her 50s, bleach-blonde hair, but looked older with sun warmed wrinkles. She dressed in a bikini with hip sarang. Talking to her passed the time as we waited for our food - not enough kitchen help that morning apparently, and as you know Jamaican Breakfast comes with a variety of 6 foods. Blondie did the talking, and we did the nodding. It was interesting, she said she was pretty tired of living in Negril, but had no money, and was pretty much homeless there. The Jamaican men seemed to like her out-going attention on them, and often came back with a cigarette or bulla cake (heavy enough to be a full meal she said). When our breakfast did arrive, I realized they put salt-fish in some of it, so I offered what I couldn't eat to Blondie, she graciously lapped it up. We thanked Blondie for all the insider Jamaican info and were on our way. Before we could leave Blondie just couldn't help herself. She asked us for some J [Slang for Jamican Dollar]. We declined, but again I felt that our whole conversation was just using us - warming us up, so she could panhandle us. I know it wasn't that simple, I think we both enjoyed the conversation, or I at least enjoyed listening, and I was happy to share my food, and so glad for it not to go to waste. But asking for money made it all not seem genuine. Again, I felt the Jamaicans and Exiled Jamaicans only see American's as possible J in their hands. Sad.

We packed up and took a taxi to our new home: Nirvana. Matt's best friend Jason was to be married in just a couple days to Shana. Jason & Shana had already been in Jamaica for a week, and were tanned, adorned with beach jewerely, and had a few bob marley tees. The hotel was a few little cabins and a lot of garden/sandy palm grounds with beach access and we were pretty the main people there. Both sets of parents plus Jason's sister, Shana's brother, and Shana's best friend had all arrived. I was a bit of the odd one out - no one's best friend or family - but everyone made me feel welcome and everyone pretty much did their own thing. A lot of lounging around under a thatched Beach hut, Mixed drinks in coconut halves (3 of the party are or were bartenders), looking for tree frogs at dusk or trying to get a glimpse of the baby kittens running around, Short swims in the crystal clear water, reading on the hammock. We had a kitchen, so the families bought food, and had the hotel staff make some Jamaican food for us to eat during the week. Whenever we went for a swim, and some guy tried to sell us something, the hotel's guard swiftly gave the no-no, leave my people alone. I began to understand why most visitor's Jamaica just hang around the hotel, and don't venture into the 'Real' Jamaica. Who wants be bothered while on vacation. But for us, I think it was wonderful to have our Cliff experience first, so we didn't feel just like tourists in Jamaica even though that's all we'd ever be seen as.

The Wedding day arrived. Jay and Shana decided to not to see each other until the ceremony. The boys went off to play golf, and the girls went to the spa. I went along, after my massage I ended up staying around the waiting room, and had a long chat with Jason's younger sister (there was only one person, so we each had to wait). She lives a very different life from me, but I enjoyed learning about her life.

The ceremony was to be at sunset on the beach. Palm leaves and candles were set out. A local photographer and minster came. Jay & Shana stood in the middle and the rest of us circled around them. It was short but very nice ceremony. I was standing right behind them in the circle, and every time the photographer took a photo, I was trying to move out of the way. I did not want to be in their vow or kissing pictures. I got out of a few, but not all! The one person not that connected to the couple in all the pictures, how about that! Afterwards, everyone walked down the beach to a fancy restaurant, and we dined and had a lot of champagne, while watching Jamaican entertainment (i.e. just think ladies with their hairs in scarves wearing big flouncy patterned dresses, singing folk songs). Jay & Shana heard reggae music down the beach so after dinner most of the group walked down to check it out. It was a lot further than we thought, and a lot more expensive than we thought - and in my opinion kind of lame. But the wedding couple, dressed in white, were having a good time dancing and drinking, and that's all that matters.

So at last we come to the end of this travel report. :)

99 Impressions of Jamaica: Part III

2007-07-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

After an amazing Jamaican breakfast with an Irish Moss - a brown foamy seaweed health drink that is delicious, Matt and I walked the other way on the one-town road towards the lighthouse we saw on the map, ignoring the attention like the night before as much as we could. Down at the lighthouse no one was about, so we just hung out on a couple of swings and petted the resident lighthouse dog. After awhile an old man appeared and asked if we wanted to see the lighthouse. He hurried off and another man came to give a short tour, talking in a bored monotone the whole time. He didn't ask for anything, but in Jamaica everything costs so we paid him, more than it was worth. Then the same old man came back, telling us to come look at the turtles. Ooh I want to see turtles was my first impression but soon I found myself in a tourist trap! He brought us to a ledge where he had lined up about ten hand-carved wooden sea turtles and bird souvenirs, and asked us to buy something.

While I ended up with a cute sea turtle for my friend Sue - a feeling of real pity for Jamaican arts, at least in Negril began to grow. This man, looked me in the eye and told me he carved these creatures himself. While I didn't yet have my proof; I didn't believe him. But as I suspected the same wooden turtles and birds showed up at other "Real" Jamaican Arts stands that we passed the rest of the day. There may have been 1 or 2 local artists in Negril, but the art was not original and frankly really bad, and all the rest made in China. Later in the day, we made the grave error of stopping at the Arts & Crafts market we saw listed on the map. Suddenly I felt like I was in a horror movie, with these fake artist zombies reaching out and trying to grab Matt & I and force us into these 3 x 2 ft booths that all carried the same Rastafarian fake dreds, red, gold and green flags, and wooden turtles and birds. 'RESPECT MON' they'd each say as I firmly said "No Thank you" for the 100th time.

Why does Negril's people lack creativity or the will to do something that is not like everyone else? Many are poor and have to most their energy to make ends meet - but why sell the same thing - why not do something different and unique. I feel like when I make less money, I'm more creative - instead of going to a store with money and buying what I need, I make it. Perhaps in places like Kingston, the capital, there is real art. Sadly I was not to find any on this trip.

Wheels is what we desired on the third day. We could swiftly pedal past the roadside ruckus and get off the one road and small city centre hub and explore beyond. We rented a couple bikes for $10 each from a man with one arm who was reading a prayer book upon our arrival. The man, shaded in a small hut, asked for a couple minutes to finish his page before setting us up - and of all the characters we met, I liked and trusted this man the most - he was genuine and not up to any tricks.

Off we went - see you later marijuana, papaya, Red Stripe (Jamaica's national beer), wooden turtle sellers. But we forgot that others on bikes could keep up with us - but that story comes later.

Our first road ended at a rocky pebble beach with goats off in the distance. Next we pedaled up into the hills into real neighborhoods away from the beach tourism. While it is usually recommended to stay in touristy areas for safety reasons, I felt totally comfortable riding around off the beaten path. It was a hot and humid day, so biking in the heat sucked up most my energy, but an afternoon heavy rain was on the way to give relief. We made a loop back to city centre, then headed north to visit a place called the Palm Reserve we saw on the map, stopping briefly for another amazing home cooked veggie meal at a roadside stand. As we turned to pedal down the road to the Reserve, a bunch of kids asked to be our Guide. we said no thank you and were on our way. The sky was darkening, and we knew the rain was on it's way. An afternoon heavy shower was almost as expected as the nightly sunset. Each day the humidity would rise so high that by 5 pm, the sky just had to open up and give something back. A $10 admission each was asked to visit the Palm Reserve. No one else was there to visit, and we decided the price was too steep to pay as well. So we checked out the surrounding banana tree, lizards on the shutters, and 'watch out for alligators' sign as we pedaled back passing white birds sitting on cows in a strange marshy land with tall palms as a backdrop. We briefly met a strange (crazy?) man on a broken bridge on our way out.

This is when our bike ride of two began to grow. A young boy on a bike asked to be our guide. We firmly said no, but the boy kept biking our way, sometimes rushing in front to do bike tricks (ie. popping a wheelie). On our map we were following a road that would take us around to meet up with the beach side of town. Soon there were two boys. The scenery around us was breath-taking - Little houses along this mountainside, lush greenery, woman washing clothes in the river. I loved it, despite the persistent company. We passed a quarry, and the boys stopped. Thank goodness I thought, they are finally going to leave us alone, but Matt called me back. The boys told us that we should not pass the quarry - that robbers hid in the woods. Quite a dilemma. Do we go on or do we listen to these boys? If we didn't meet them we would have gone ahead around the bend, but maybe they know something. We turned around. As we rode back I started to open up to the older kid and asked him how old he was, seventeen he told me. I thought he was 13 or 14. More boys on bikes joined our gang. An uncomfortable non-trusting feeling started to develop. My mind began to race with some rather ugly thoughts - maybe he's leading us back to a trap, and we will be robbed. this kid's no kid, he's up to something. I was wearing my purse with my camera,money,and credit card across my back. I started to worry that boys would cut it off and grab it. Between these fearful thoughts, I also wondered if these were just a bunch of bored kids looking for a little dough or an adventure. I hoped for the latter. Finally the sky got heavy enough, and buckets of water started pour down on us, soaking us instantly. We biked on, and so did the two first boys.

99 Impressions of Jamica: Part II

2007-06-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

In the taxi, hot sun beat down through the window and our week of humidity began. Scenes of Island life blurred passed us on the way - school children in uniforms waiting for buses, hand lettered signs for electronic stores, a sea of black faces and color.

The Cliffs of Negril became our home for the next three days at Hotel Samsara. I was delighted with our gardenside hut sorrounded by tropical greens - a simple unconditioned circular room with a front porch, soon to be inhabited by a trio of teenage cats.

Our first meal in Jamaica enlightened us to a week's worth of amazing home-cooked vegetarian food. I have never eaten so well on vacation. In the US, especially when traveling in mid-america, I often fall prey to fatty cheese & bread at every meal, and my body hates me for it. In Jamaica, my body and the food I put in it, got along very well. Because of the Rastafarian movement, that gained popularity with Bob Marley, almost every mom & pop cafe (which there are hundreds), offers a pure vegetarian meal. On this first night we ate at a Rastafarian restaurant near the hotel. Jamaican eateries are often simple stands or shack houses with an outdoor eating area and the cook just makes up huge pots of food, and you can choose a mixed plate or one or two things. We eagerly went for everything at this vegan cafe. I ate Callaloo - a spinach/greens-like veggie, Peas & Rice - peas refer to any kind of lentil or bean, Ackee - a yellow fruit that kind of tastes like scramble eggs, steamed vegetables, and lastly some kind tasty fake meat. We paid about $5 a plate for dinner and were completely satisfied.

The sunset in Negril, on cue, is amazing every night. Most nights we missed the previews, but always caught the final showdown of reds and yellows lighting up the sky. Sometimes with dramatic clouds or little boats in the foreground. After dinner we explored the seaside portion of the hotel. The open-air circular bar and expansive line of beach chairs and umbrellas was almost void of people. The tourism season was either low, or people were choosing other places to go than Jamaica. Little crabs entertained us as they wobbled back and forth along the edge of the cliff that drops into the sea.

There was a single (barely) two land road separating the two sides of the hotel. You had to quickly sprint across because the cars zipped past at unsafe speeds, and drove on the left side of the road instead of the right. Matt & I decided to take an evening walk towards the central town along the road. There is no sidewalk, so we walked as close to the side of the road as possible - and it wasn't until a few days later, that we trusted the fact that we probably wouldn't get hit even if we felt like each car that night was close call. Jamaicans are mad drivers, but seem to have the hang of it. In the night propietors of bars, shops, an illegal drugs called out to us in the darkeness. 'No thank you' we yelled back. Taxi drivers honked every two minutes, and a peaceful walk was not in a future but we were learning the lay of the land.

Back at our gardenside room, the kitty three-some made their first appearance: Blackie, Brownie, and Orangie as we referred to them. Being a fan of orange cats, I immediately preferred the orange one, but the orange one was so shy and nervous and always running away. Brownie was the most friendly and would sit on my lap.

99 Impressions of Jamaica: Part I

2007-05-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, 99 photos at least. I never in this lifetime imagined I'd ever vacation in Jamaica - that's for beach people or those who love Bob Marley. But when Matt invited me to be his guest at his best friend Jason's wedding at the end of April & early May 2007, I went shopping for sandals. Actually, I procrastinated, and only went shopping for sandals in a last week frenzy before leaving. In fact I was under the impression that the resort town of Negril on the west end of the island was going to be upscale. It was actually a lot more down-to-earth and casual - and I only realized - a little too late - it was a mistake to leave all my shorts for skirts. Ah well the skirts were fine, and the extra breeze on the hotter-than-usual days was welcomed.

The last hours before leaving for the airport, are ones I'd like to forgot. The week up until our trip was busy and it all converged into a hectic run-around pack-n-move chaos in the last two hours. Matt had to be out of his house by the end of April, so my roomate Devon & I decided to absorb him into our household - conviently next door. So all week we (and about 16 friends) worked on remodeling the garage into a live/work space - well that was half way finished, and since all the energy was put on that project, moving and packing got delayed. As I hurridly moved boxes, and tried to slim my wardrobe choices down for the trip, all I could think was that only in a few hours I'll be stuck on a plane, only able to sit, eat, talk, or sleep.

The Carribean is so beautiful from the sky. Strange land amongst bright blue waters. Such a different place from what I know. Upon landing in Montego Bay, the local hustling for tourist dollars began - and didn't stop until our departure. I slipped into the bathroom, noting that the toliets and bathroom fixtures are just the same as the US. Meanwhile the taxi drivers were surrounding Matt - One guy would not leave, no matter how many times we asked him to. We'd read up on prices, and knew about negotiating, but still it's a very hard custom to adopt for the set-price Americans. We ended up paying $50 total for a taxi ride for just us to Negril (1 1/2 hours away). Which was a bargain from what we had heard. When the man lead us to his taxi, which was actually a van able to seat 8 our more. I felt guilty being a "rich" tourist and having our own catered ride to town by ourselves ( On the way back, we actually figured it out and took a ride share for $14 each.)

To be Continued. Stay tuned for Part II.

The Tipping Point

2007-05-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell was recommended to me by David of Portland Walking Tours. I got a copy from the library and cracked it open Saturday afternoon and finished it this afternoon (less then 24 hours later). It's a well-written book about how epidemics happen - how fashion, crime, disease, news etc make their way from a few select to mainstream. Filled with tons of interesting scientific and sociological studies. Be warned, don't crack it open until you have time to read it. I didn't have time, but decided that reading a good book was worth putting few things off.

Yurt Raising & Plantains

2007-04-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've had so many adventures lately, but sadly have not written about them. Such as the awesome day a couple weeks ago that Elly Blue and I biked to Oregon City - meeting so many interesting folks along the way or that for a week I was a part of a PSU study on biking in Portland, where every where I went was recorded by Satelite and mapped out, Or that my Bunny on a Bike ride was pretty awesome this past Easter.

On Saturday I attended my first Yurt Raising for Kelly Peach. I have never seen a yurt, but I knew they were round hut-like temporary housing - many of the state parks in Oregon have them. Kelly's is more a less a giant tent - less wood, more fabric-tarp. The stucture is 14 feet in diameter, but packs easily into the corner of the garage when not in use. Kelly and a friend made it a long time ago when they lived in the woods in Washington State. She even sewed the fabric sides - bright orange. I wish I had pictures since I'm not very good at explaining what it was all made of - but once up it looked like a tent out of the Chronicles of Narnia movie. However, it needed a waterproof roof, so the last step was put on a silver heavy duty tarp - The sturcture now looked like the martians had landed.

Since Matt & I were the first to arrive, we left before the final touches of the Yurt to find food - we were starving. We decided to get burritos on Alberta Street nearby, but luckily my eye caught a little food stand in the Alberta Co-op parking lot. The only word I caught was Plantains. I rung my bell for Matt to pull over, and told him what I saw, and wondered if there was more food. Matt said that the lady came over to his house that week to pickup some free sawdust he advertised, and that he remembered her telling him about her food cart and that she does sell rice and beans. So we circled back. The sun was out and we had the most tasty, perfect lunch of all organice rice & beans, a side salad and a paperbag of plantain chips for $5. The lady's name is Blue, and she's super friendly and interesting, and sets up in the parking lot Noon until dark Saturday and Sunday and on Last Thursday Art Walks. You could also get a large plate for $7 and share with a friend.

My Letterpress

2007-03-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here she is. I'm gonna fix her up with new rollers & de-rust her. In fact, this little letterpress has been sitting in my garage for about 3 1/2 years. Now that I'm out of my downtown studio, and working from home, and attempting to wean myself from the IPRC's presses, I am in need of a letterpress. I was thinking that the this one I had was heavy and awkward - and though this one looks like it was built like a ship and once served a lifetime at the Bede-Hibbit Mortuary Printers, I think she'll serve Red Bat Press just fine. Her handle is light with wood, easy to grab, and all in all this press looks like it's in good shape. I'll be printing in my garage by June, I'm sure of it.

Small Museums by Bike - A recap

2007-02-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

Since September I've led a half-a-year's worth of Small Musems by Bike tours each month. I love to lead these rides. They are always small groups usually 8 - 18 really nice people, I get to visit places I want to go, and the rides always seem a little magical and adventurous. Here's a recap with links to a report & photos of the last 6 rides.

February: Old & New - A visit to the moving Contemporary Crafts Museum & a ride on the New Portland Aerial Tram

January: Off-Beat Art - Velveteria's Clowntactular, Portland Art Center, A Bathtub Valentine Show, & the Center for 3D Art

December: Craft Beer - Behind-the-scenes at Lucky Lab & Bridgeport

November: Trainspotting - Union Station & two model train open houses

October: Great Collections - Toys, Vaccuums, & Hats

September: Old Town History - Old Japantown & Maritime History

Why is my Hat on a pillow?

2007-02-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Because I just found out it's worth about $150-200.

Sure it looks like just a nice warm knitted winter hat. In fact it is. I found this hat in the middle of the street last winter, after I had lost my hat. I took it as a sign and claimed it as mine, besides, if I left it too long it would get run over by a car, and thrown away. Last weekend I happened to be wearing this hat and was on the bus riding home from Mochitsuki (Japanese Mochi pounding festival), when a girl two seats behind me asked me if the hat was musk ox?

I took it off and showed her the label which says 100% Qiviut Artic Handknitted. She said, oh Wow, that's a 150 - 200 Dollar Hat your wearing. I asked her how she knew, and she said the tight-knit & color. Curious with this interesting information, I did a little e-searching myself. I found out she is exactly right about my hat which is made from the soft undercoating of the Musk Ox by a handknitting co-op in remote coastal villages in Alaska. The Musk Ox only sheds in the spring,a and only so much can be collected, so this fiber is very rare and expensive. It is 8 times warmer than wool, extremely soft & never itchy, and does not shrink when it is wet.

Well nonetheless, I am still wearing this hat, though I am a little more cautious to make sure I don't lose it!

My favorite (cheap) Ethnic Food in Portland

2007-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

1. Dalos Kitchen (N Willams just South of Skidmore). Amazing Ethopian food, and they just remodeled and expanded, so not only do you get a gorgeous supper, the interior digs are cool too. The deal: Get the large veggie sampler plate for $8.99. It's really enough for two people, and they will bring more bread. Lucky me, this place is blocks from my house.

2. Pho Jasmine (N Killingsworth just East of Albina). Amazing Vietnamese food. The deal: reasonably priced dinner food, get a couple dishes and share. I recommend the pho (soups) & gluten dishes. mmmm! Inside decor not that fabulous, so bring someone you can't your eyes off of.

3. The Real Taste of India - food cart (Downtown on 5th Avenue & Stark). There are several indian carts but this one is just three carts down from the corner and has a covered picnic table. I've been going to this cart for 5 years, and they still offer the $4.50 Lunch special (veggie or meat). There is no better deal. On days where I work a double shift. I eat here for lunch as it lasts me all day. For the lunch special you get three entries, Naan bread, and rice. With a meal so cheap, you can afford yourself a mango lasse, but do you have room for it is the real question.

Hickup Cure

2007-01-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

I thought this might be useful info next time you get the hickups in a socially unacceptable place. The moment you have your first hickup, immediately take your pulse on your wrist. It has worked the last 5 times for me -my hickups stopped immediately. Thanks to Brian Cameron of Tillamook (now travelling in South America) for this awesome advice.

Spite & Malice

2007-01-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

On a past Friday night, I left a message for my friend Tresa inviting her to play cards with Matt & I. Later she told me she got the message while whe was out at the bar with friend and they all had a good laugh. She explained to me that Friday nights are not for playing cards, and that perhaps she'd join us on a Monday or Tuesday.

The last Friday and Saturday night, Matt and I couldn't help ourselves, but found ourselves staying home and playing cards. We've come back from our train trip to LA and San Francisco with a new card game that we can't get enough of - Spite & Malice - that a couple from Seattle taught us on our last leg up the coast. It seemed like every travelling couple we met had a favorite card game - an arty-environmental pair from Tulsa, OK played a specific progressive rummy (they are emailing us the rules), and another couple together 50 years still loved to beat each other playing gin rummy and other games. It's interesting how games such as cards are passed on - and would make a great subject of a book - if it hasn't been done already.

PS. I do believe I beat Matt twice last night in cards, though I'm sure he'd tell you different.

Going on a Train Ride

2007-01-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'll be on the Coast Starlight train choo chooing my way down to the City of Angels. I can't wait to be stuck on a train for 30 + hours. I've been either super busy or super dead these days. I look forward to staring out the window, reading, playing cards, eating, sleeping. The simple things. Lucky for me I get to go in style this time - not only do I get to travel with my companion, Matt, I also get the luxury of having a 'roomette' and all meals in the dining car.. and access to the parlor car.. and the best part of all is our tickets were pretty much FREE, thanks to Matt's Alaska Airlines creditcard. Amtrak is a partner, so we get our train tickets with a room, and all meals included with our voucher, for the same amount of mile points, we could get just two plain old rountrip airfares. Since Matt is between work and I am self employeed, we have TIME on our side to go the long way.

We'll visit my best friend Emily in LA for 4 days and her family. I've just been told that her 9 year old son Ian, is so excited to see me, he even wrote in his homework planner, that I'll be there on Friday! Ian doesn't know yet that even better than me, he'll get to meet Matt. I'm sure those two will head off to play Nintendo Wii for hours, and Emily and I can reminence about our art class days back in the grungy 90's where we occasionally were caught wearing plaid flannel.

Let me tell you the train is the way to go... even if it's pretty much guaranteed you'll be 1-4 hours late on a long trip because frieght trains have right-away. There's just something nice about taking your time to get to your destination, and the Coast Starlight is especially fun once it hits the southern cali coast, often the train is going right along the coastline, places even cars don't have access. On my trip in coach on the Coast Starlight three years ago, I even saw a dolphin from the train! In Portland, we're lucky to have such a great access to three lines of train travel" Coast Starlight, Cascades, and Empire Builder. And while on a long journey, get on and off. On this trip, We'll be stopping in San Francisco ( my former home) for two nights on our journey back North. Also when you are planning a trip, check for train specials, there are often free companion fares & last minute deals. So what are you waiting for, go far go near, go by train!

Kenny

2006-12-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yes this is Kenny (sorry about blurry pictures). A black fur ball with yellow cat eyes and two fangs. I discovered my new favorite thing at the Crafty Wonderland art fair. There Kenny was, proudly displayed at Illustrator Ryan Berkley's table. Kenny is his new character, and he even graces Berkley's business card."You'll see a lot more with Kenny." Ryan told me enthusiastically. Hooray, because there's just something about Kenny that speaks to me. Luckily now that I'm a fan, I already have my own I heart Kenny (picture) button. What... you love Kenny too? Never fear, I have 5 more buttons to send out to the first 5 "Friends of Kenny" to email me at bathublady [at] gmail.

Starsailor keeps coming around again

2006-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

A chance act of kindness has lead me to Starsailor, a 4 piece English rock band. Little did I know I'd become such a huge fan.

Three summers ago I hitch-hiked from Edinburgh, Scotland to Black Pool, England with my friend Christy. It had been ages since I hitched a lift, and only in Ireland where I studied abroad in the mid-90s with Christy. In England hitching is not as popular, and the larger roads make it more difficult to travel place to place. After a half an hour sticking our thumb out, we wondered if we were too old for this. We had made a scrappy "Manchester" sign on cardboard, even though we eventually wanted to end up further west in Blackpool, the tacky beach-amusement seaside town. Finally we saw red lights of a car that pulled over for us up ahead. We ran as fast as we could with our backpacks and got in. A middle-aged married couple sat in the front seat. The Father - hip with pierced ears and a stylish trim, the mother I don't remember, but before long were in conversation about Starsailor. Our drivers were the proud parents of the drummer of this popular english band. They had just been up the day before in Edinburgh for Tea in the Park to see their son play. I had never heard of the band, but filed the name for later.

A few month's back, the story continued. I met Starsailor's drummer, Ben Byrne (pictured on the far right) after their concert at the Doug Fir in Portland and personally thanked him for having such fine parents. The show was fantastic and the next day I bought their latest album 'On the Outside', the first CD I've purchased in at least a year. The band was back in town (again) last month to open at the Rose Garden for an expensive ticket so I passed. But now I've just heard the news that an acoustic Starsailor (yes, again!) will be opening for Pete Yorn this Monday, Dec 11 at the Crystal Ballroom for a reasonable $15 - though I learned Ben won't be there, as it will just be the singer James Walsh. After the last show, I already know James is a great performer & reminds me of a young Bono, I can't wait + I really like Pete Yorn.

Funny to think that taking the bus that day from Edinburgh to Blackpool would have been cheaper. So far my tab is two concert tix and an album = $50.

A window worth a look!

2006-11-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

Some stores just stick some mannequins in clothes in the window, and call it good. I applaud the creative who go a step further. Mario's, a fancy lady & gent's clothing store in downtown Portland, once again has a stunning display. This time with the funny (& fun) silouette art by Dawn Cerny. They've had velvet paintings, colorful laundry detergent plastic reconstructed into arty backdrop, Scissors hanging by ribbons, toast art, and many many odes to pop art.

I myself had a short stint as a window designer - no not on Broadway or any high shopping street - but a busy little tourist trap called Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Now I have you know my little shop, the Maritime Store, sat on the better half of the area - near the cable car and ghiradelli chocolate building, and grand old Martime Musuem buidling. The store was at the head of Hyde Street Pier, where all the beautiful old ships of the San Francisco Maritime Museum are docked. As a full timer at the bookstore, I started making whimsical and educational window displays - including Pirate Fashion (now a Red Bat Press postcard), Shallow & Deep, Sailors & Sweethearts, and by the far best one, was on the Bizzaro window - where I found strange stories and photos of sea creatures and inventions. Ah, Here's an old photo of me, dressing for that Pirate Fashion about 7 years ago.

Press Pause: Beauties & the Bath

2006-11-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

Randomly picked up the DVD of the 1934 flick 'Dames' - The movie finalies with this over the top amazing dance sequences - 100s of pretty girls - a dozen + costume changes - and a fabulous number where the 'dames' are all on beds, which turns into bathtubs - which turn into vanity sets. Wow. I thought about how I'd get some film stills of the bathubs, but realized I could take some my self. See for yourself!

Poodle Superstar

2006-10-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Green Poodle lives in Portland.

Red Poodle lives in Dallas.

While green poodle hangs out indoors mostly
Red Poodle has become quite the superstar.

The Bunny Returns!

2006-10-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

The Bunny has appeared again ("See Work Board Notice" two entries down). I'm the bookkeeper for the Independent Publishing Resource Center and the bunny showed up next to Andrew Jackson on this twenty dollar note in our deposit box. A Ha, an IPRC member up to funnigans (like shenigans, but good!). Also in the elevator today, a gal from my floor coommented about the Bunny poster on the board - and how things like that make her love Portland. And by the way, when I scanned in the $20, I got a note that popped up saying it was illegal to print the U.S. currency, and that I could only save it. Who knew scanners/computers were that intelligent.

Also I came across some interesting triva about the Jackson ahem Twenty dollary bill. Check out the interesting trivia, urban legends, and folding tricks at Wikipedia

Oscar Wilde's Pants

2006-10-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Gin Kitten once again up to mischief. Yes those little purple pants lying on her belong to none other than Oscar Wilde* (aka. Gin Kitten's love object). If you put the pants back on Oscar Wilde, She will only tear them off again. That's not quite princess behavior is it!

*Oscar Wilde (the plush doll) has come to live in the Kate - Emily household after Emily received Oscar as a white elephant gift from Elly last Xmas. Before this fate of Gin Kitten's love object, Oscar almost became a trip mascot to Cape disappointment but was voted out)

Work Notice Board

2006-10-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Saw this yesterday, and was the first to take a little bunny drawing. Today, two more have been taken. ha ha.

Let's Bowl

2006-10-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

Winter is coming in Portland, which means it's time to bowl, often. 5 teams came together to compete this past Friday night - The nerdy Math Club, The fatherly Holy Rollers, The snarky Pin Heads, the "it's complicated" Skervi, and the Sadly Sober. The Pin Heads taunted the Math Club with their bowling bling awards, the Holy Rollers drank beer and checked out the bowler's forms. Skervi slid into home base & The Math Club cheered about square roots and cosigns, and the Sadly Sober bowled, a lot. The First Place team award went to the Pin Heads, Top bowlers: Male - Matt of the Math Club, and Female - Devon of Skervi.

See all the photos!

The Powerful Y

2006-10-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

Portland's free weekly Willamette Week last week:

"In his latest message from a British Columbia jail, Oregon environmental activist Tre Arrow says he's adding a "y" to his first name. Why? "Adding the 'y' activates my fullest potential to manifest my true destiny," Arrow tells supporters in a Sept. 24 email. Arrow says he made his decision based on cabalistic philosophy , which teaches there is a direct connection between a person's name and the conditions of his or her life, such as health, job and personal fulfillment. "I know my true destiny is to be free," says Arrow, who was born Michael Scarpitti. "Trey" Arrow is in jail in Victoria, B.C., fighting extradition to Oregon, where the FBI wants him to stand trial for a pair of 2001 arsons."

A story of Name

In December 2001, I legally changed my name to Carye Bye from by birth name, Carrie Johnson). One of the Y's in my name came quite early (though not legally), I started spelling my first name with a Y since age 16 when a friend's brother gave me a drawing of ducks in a pond dedicated: To Carye. Instantly I loved this spelling and knew it was how my name should be spelled. The 2nd Y came later. The last name Bye is my grandmother's maiden name - a name that comes from a farmstead village in Norway. When my grandmother passed in late 2000, I thought a lot about my family's Scandinavian history, and began to use the name Carye Bye as my photography name. When I legally changed my last name, I also legally changed my first name. I've always been attracted to Y's in a name, and I feel blessed to know have two.

Another interesting story is, my nickname used to be Carye Bee during my college years and after during the 1990s. When I found out that the Norwegian pronunciation of Bye is actually "Bee" I knew it was meant to be.

Copy Shop Love (and Hate)

2006-09-21T12:24:00.002-07:00

Most of the work I do, I self print, but some jobs you just need a copy shop with expensive tools & equipment that I'll never have, and finding a friendly shop I like, with trusted workers, and reasonable prices is important. It has been a long & difficult journey, but I pleased to announce that I have found my one & only copy shop I trust & love: Documart (at 728 SW Washington). I hope this new crush doesn't turn ugly, But so far It's all rosy- Not only are they friendly, close (two blocks from my studio), reasonably priced (3 cents a copy if I bring my own paper) - They can take care of all my jobs from copying, cutting, and hole punching either in house or for no additional charge at their production warehouse. Ah... copyshop Bliss. I do hope the honeymoon lasts, read some of my toned down copy shop nightmares below...(pun unintended)

At one time I was going to three different copy shops for one job that needed copying, cutting, and holes drilled - what was I thinking...

Office Depot (on 5th Ave at SW Washington)- at first I got a very skilled associate to work on my jobs - but after that I kept getting underpaid new folks who just couldn't get it right, plus they make the copy staff also work the front desk so it can take a long time to get a job done. The copy price was reasonable, but they just weren't outfitted to do stack cutting or hole punching. After a rather difficult evening, the worker and myself hit a breaking point, and I decided to look elsewhere for copying permanently.

Kinkos (on SW Alder & 1st) - I just don't like Kinkos all that much - It's a big place, you never know who you are going to get, and they overcharge. While the workers are skilled, and I've learned the art of getting an estimate, so that I'm not really over charged - Kinkos has just not been coming through. First they raised their stack cutting to $1.50 a cut, and then they told me that they could no longer do my custom hole punching job - though twice I got the employee to volunteer to do it since I didn't know. There was only so long I could pretend to not to know.

MinuteMan Press (on SW Alder & 2nd) - At first I sung the praises for this copy shop. It was a block down from Kinkos, small, and they had reasonable stack cutting prices. I mainly took cutting jobs here, especially cutting down paper that I use for my art postcards. Though every time I came in, this family-run franchise made me uncomfortable - I felt like the main counter guys didn't want my jobs - I was small stuff, not worth it - and I took them away from their Internet surfing. In the last week of August, I dropped off my usual postcard-cutting job, though I was already thinking I needed to find a more welcoming copy shop. Well long story short, the youngest, incompetent guy there, not only forgot to do my job over the weekend he tried to charge me $69 for a $6 - 10 job. Actually that was another reason I didn't want to bring my business there, is every time my same job cost anywhere between $6 - 10. It didn't make sense. Anyway I got out that day only paying what I should have - $10, but I was mad. All I wanted is my job done - and suddenly I became the difficult customer. I called back to complain about what happened the next day, asking that worker to be trained, and was basically told - it wasn't my concern, and that I should have gotten an estimate. I promptly sent out a letter and vowed to take my business & my friend's business elsewhere. Thus ending any further business.

So.. today I decided to try all my jobs at Documart - I had already moved all my copy jobs there, but had yet to ask about stack cutting and hole punching. And I'm in luck, they can do all the above, and actually care to do business with me. Success!

STOLEN Horse!!

2006-09-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Nellie the talking horse is gone! Last seen next to a blue cadallic across from SCRAP at N Willams & Failing. I tied her up on a Wednesday at 3 pm. Checked on her Thursday at 6 pm and was pleased to see someone had fed her cheesy goldfish crackers. On Friday at 6 pm she was gone! Just the silver part of her harness left. Dear Nellie, I hope your new home is nice.

Who was it? Animal liberation? A 6 year old girl who loves horses? A hater of public art projects? Bring Nellie home!

Hard Work = Happiness

2006-09-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

At the end of June I went full time artist (woo - hoo) and I permenantly said goodbye to my part-time office job I've held for 3 years. As they always say, when you work for yourself, you work harder than ever - So true - no longer do I have hours behind a computer where I can blog and surf, and check email 100 times. The old saying that when you close one door, another opens is also so true. When I had the other job to pay my rent and bills, I had steady work through Red Bat Press - my wood-cut & letterpress illustration project since 2002. But now that it's all that I do, I've had more orders and opportunites - and I'm keeping very busy between bike rides to Mt. Hood & Vacations in the midwest to say the least. I'm still figuring it all out, learning to balance and organize - and finding happiness working for myself and spreading my little artistic thoughts and ideas around. I'm hardly just an artist - I'm a printer, rep, carver, seller, web designer, illustrator, and admin. The only thing I miss about my office job, is I now never seem to have any pens around.

Tall Bike Parking on Mt. Tabor

2006-08-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Who knew the Portland Park & Rec could be so accommodating - There is indeed tall bike parking at the top of this extinct volcano! And what luck, Jake and his tall bike happened to be in the park, and he was happy to know that he had bike parking to meet his needs.

This discovery happened last week when New York transplant Tresa & I biked around Mt. Tabor Park to train for our upcoming Mt. Hood bike trip. The park is free of cars on Wednesdays, and each week we are biking up and down the main loop to gain strength, adding extra loops each visit. Tonight we will be riding 7 loops (We did 5 last week, and 3 the first) and our final week before our trip we are attempting 10 loops! The scene at Mt. Tabor sans cars is awesome - skateboarders are out, people and their dogs, cyclists training for races. Though last week was a little hectic with a bunch of runners - who don't really know how to share the road.

Oxbow Bike Camping Top 10

2006-07-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Carye's TOP 10 of Oxbow 2006

10. The "bomb" into Oxbow Park (Last year it was scary)
9. Seeing over 10 rabbits on the ride down the Springwater Cooridor
8. River Hair
7. Games, Games, Games including "Bike Scrabble"
6. Not getting sunburned or torn up by rocks in the Sandy River.
5. Viewing hundreds of stars
4. Jeff's menu & cooking
3. Group tubbing down the rapids
2. Biking to Camp - best way to travel (ever)
1. Bar Dat (see pictures)

ps. I'm enjoying Summer

City Hall of Bikes

2006-07-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have a new design for Red Bat Press called City of Bikes that debuted last night at City Hall - Yes that beautiful rounded building in the middle of downtown (1221 SW 4th) where the Mayor & his commissioners do their work. It's quite appropriate that the City Hall was taken over by bike enthusiasts, bike builders, and bike artists. I think some of the staff were blown away by how many people showed up and it wasn't just the promise of beer & pizza (though under 10 pizzas were donated by Hot Lips which didn't quite cover all the ravenous thrifty bikers looking for some dinner - though I did score one piece). Bike Artists including myself showed art in three commissioners' office wings. One such commissioner, Sam Adams who is doing a lot of good for public art and transportation - hung out, let folks take over his office and is a huge supporter of the First Thursday art openings once a month at City Hall-- and even put in an order for a framed Bunny on a Bike print. Instead of just showing established artists, for then new year they've decided to show more community art. Inviting community members to celebrate their cause at City Hall through Art is an empowering idea. Polly, an intern in his office, was an awesome help in helping us hang the show (other artists included Chops, Shawn Granton, Tiago, Sara Stout, Lyla Emery Reno, Shaun Deller, and even a couple pieces by our departed friend Debi Marsh), and Jonathan Maus was the mover and shaker who made this show happen and gathered an impressive group of local bike builders to show off their masterpieces in the lower lobby. With the classy marble floors and finely crafted touches in the building - these bikes fit in well in the upon the checkered atrium floor. The newly relocated, Tresa from New York, exclaimed that in this would never happen in New York City - but I have to say a lot of cities of Portland's size wouldn't open up the City Hall after hours for such a fun party. Thanks for a wonderful night everyone and for making Portland truly a City of Bikes.

Though just a suggestion, next time you invite a city of bicyclists, order more pizza (or don't put it on the poster!). See my photos of the night, and photos of the Red Bat Press exhibit.

Last Thursday Magic

2006-06-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm always a little tired and out of sorts in the first hours of the Last Thursday Art Walk on NE Alberta. Now in my 5th summer of selling my art on the street, finding a spot, or getting that same spot gets trickier every warm summer month. Artists are getting there earlier, and more kinds of folks looking for a buck for their cause are coming out and setting up too. But always my mood turns around, friends come by, I sell art, and meet new people - and by the end of the night the Last Thursday Magic is back.

Last night followed the same formula

*Early Hour Grumps*
I arrived by bike (first time with larger folding table, chair, and card rack bungied to my back rack) around 4 pm - A couple was setting up glass jewelry across from my usual spot - Instead of feeling welcoming, I immediately feared a future bottleneck when the sidewalks get really busy with people from 8 to 9 pm, but was happy when the restaurant owners made them move across the way. Soon Devon, my roommate, arrives (usually I catch a ride down in her car, but tonight she had a late appointment); she was also out of sorts from running around all day for work. Already the night was looking good, I had a few early buys and the weather was sunny and warm. Then the aggressive neighborhood foodbank folks arrived and set up across on the corner - a friend pre-warned me that they were out last month (It was rainy so I didn't come out) causing a lot of folks to run by (and miss a chance to look at artwork nearby). While of course I think the foodbank is important and that they need to raise money - but to spend all night at the artwalk aggressively talking to everyone who comes by to give a dollar. Turning people's attention away from the artists’ set up nearby who depend on income from the artwalk. Other folks do benefits for Last Thursday too, but they do it more creatively - sell clothes, or draw pictures, or play music to raise money - That's how you do it at an artwalk. Hmm. I think I'll write a letter.

*Last Thursday Magic*
But soon the sun is out of my eyes, and it's a nice balmy evening in June - Across the street a Mexican band plays and drowns out the repeated speech of the food bank. Sarah L. joins Devon and I to sell her lovely collaged cards & handmade belts. And friends, new friends and good friends come by - some walk by others bike over to say hi - Sang always with plate ready for his dinner at the Thai cart set up. Joanne - we hug and talk about the Portland Art Museum bourgeois stance in Portland. Christine & her daughter - regular collectors, buy a few more postcards to complete what they have (always insisting I sign the back of each one). Carl L oohs over the Union Station and Burnside Bridge (his bridge!) and walks away with many more as he had $10 of Red Bat Bucks to spend from helping out at the Bunny on a Bike ride. By a blue tall bike Melissa comes by, we talk mail art and celebrate leaving old jobs. Elly comes by with news of her birthday party - inspired by by the fact that she was born on the day the bikini was invented - before pedalling off. Dan also arrives by bike - his last day of work is next week and I'm invited to help him build his new cob house during July. Another regular buyer turns the card rack, and purchases little blank bird books for party favors for her daughter's 9th birthday. Alessandra, whom I knew originally at Monsterland (online collaborative drawing site), shows me her bathtub tattoo. Debbie drops off photos of me as a giant carrot (bunny on a bike ride) and Red Bat (Pedalpalooza Kick-off parade) and we make plans to bike to Smith & Bybee lakes. Madoka, another visual artist, escapes from her table, and promises to be my July Tub Artist at the Bathtub Art Museum. Levi gives me a hi-five as he passes with his dad Greg. Later Cathy (his mom) shows me the art Levi bought, and a portrait someone on the street drew of him. Steve, whom I'm working with on bike advocacy issues, stops by and we have a long chat about transportation and Amtrak travel - I randomly relay a story about taking the train to Oakland - and having a 5 hour conversation with the person next to me who was eventually ending up back in Hawaii where she lived. No less than an hour later, I randomly look up from chatting with Melissa and Kathleen, and the person from the train, who I just mentioned, walks by. Without even saying, I'll be right back, I jumped up and chased her down - Re-aquainted, and amazed, Robin comes back to my table - we do a little catching up - (she lives here now, Hawaii didn't work out), and we leave without any exchange of info, knowing that will just bump into each other again. It's getting dark now, in between sales, and friends - soon 6 hours have passed effortlessly. I'm no longer tired or grumpy - but happy and hyper. At the very end of the night, Deanna and Aaron stop by - and instead of the usual 2-minute hi-bye. The night is slowed down, and we can chat and catch up about art, work, school, and boyfriend. After 10:30 the shoppers are now looking for beer or have gone home, and the non-hard core artists pack up. I throw all my stuff in Devon's trunk, and ride by bike home. On the way in the darkness two bikers pass, I crane my neck to see if I know them, as I pass, they yell out, "Carye!" I stop to visit with Ian & Shawna on their ride home from a benefit clothing sale they had up the street. I get home, unload the trunk, have an otterpop, count my money, and pass out - once again touched by the magic of Last Thursday

Yee Haw!

2006-06-30T09:48:00.002-07:00

Matt & I at the Multnomah County Bike Fair

Not going to Stop having the Bike Fun

2006-06-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

(Photo by John Boyd)

Curious to what the bathtub lady has been up to? Well she's been riding her bike - a lot - Here in Portland it's Pedalpalooza - 2+ weeks of bike fun - with over 140 events this year, I've made a personal goal to go on at least a ride a day. How am I doing so far? Let's recap:

June 8: Red Bat comes out for the Pedalpalooza kick-off parade
June 9: AM: Breakfast on the Bridges (Hawthorne), PM: "Happy Hour on Hawthorne with "Burma Shave" style signs, Evening: Malty Beverage ride lead by Deepak - super fun new group of folks including 3 other Kari/Carrie's
June 10: All day ride to Boring, Oregon "Buttes, Bike Trails, & Bonds lead by Jim & Amy - broke two spokes on the ride up, so had to leave the ride to go to Gresham to get them fixed
June 11: Dead Freeways ride by Shawn of the Urban Adventure League - Really Cool history tour of what could have been and what was - I unfortunatly had to escape early to get ready for a wacky-mini-golfing birthday atop a downtown Portland Building.
June 12: Ride Pad Thaied - by Dr. Wasbi (Jeff) & Dr. Ginger (Jeff) - 4 restaurants and Thai Culture, I then tried to join the Night of the Living Donut Ride - but after the first stop off far out Sandy, I decided to give my stomach a rest.
June 13: Taco Ride lead by Ben - Nevermade it to the first stop - was last to leave, then stuck at a light, and after pushing myself to try to catch up without success, I decided to NOT chase after my dinner, and left the ride
June 14: Bike to Skate led by Jeff - Ride to Oaks Park for a lovely potluck & skate - Skating to Def Lepard's "Pour some sugar on me" made my night
June 15: /// Vertigo Gorge Ride led by Kiran - All day MAX train & bike ride out to Crown Point Vista House in the Gorge with portable Karaoke and pints at Edgefield aftewards. Highlight - Singing "I will follow" karaoke in Corbett while riding bikes.
June 16: Interactive Small Museums Tour lead by moi. We geeked out at the Museum of Modern Materialism, 3D Center of Art & Photography, Ground Kontrol, IPRC, & the Bathtub Art Museum Studio.
June 17: Portland Bike Summit: Gathering of many a local Bike "Rock Star" & Politician. I felt I was apart of an imporatant historic event. Following it was Shawn's "Sullivan's Gulch" history tour - but after the 2nd stop, my attention span was nil, so I sent myself home
June 18: Mobile Mystery Dance Party led by Captain Clash, Dan - We grooved & boogied all through downtown. I had big hair & a sparkly shirt
June 19 Architecture Tour led by Carl - 50 folks showed up on this mysterious tour all through town down alleys, to homes, churches, fountains and more - small after party afterwards.
June 20: Solstice Ride - Ah didn't go - made plans with Matt but he caught a cold, so instead of riding our bikes all night to watch the sun rise, we stayed in a watched a movie
June 21:Communified Ride by Jonathan - Lovely evening out with a photoshoot.

Ah today is the Kiss-in - I was looking forward to it, Last year I made a whole bunch of signs: "Make Love, Not Traffic" and "If you rode your Bike, you'd be Kissing by now", but unfortunately my kissing partner Matt still has a cold, so making it is doubtful.

With only two days left - we have my 2nd Museum Tour - Fame & Glamour themed & the finale the Mulnomah County Bike Fair. Yee Haw.

Secret Thriftstore No More

2006-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Pssst. I have a secret thrift store. However the sad news is my secret thrift is closing. I am sharing my coveted store now with all of you, so you may take a piece of it with you in its last breath. The days are numbered for this basement oasis of amazing finds that is open only Saturdays and goes by the name Store II. Located off of Killingsworth near Michigan in North Portland across from where the rowdy Jockey Club lived & the long gone Renaissance Market where one could buy grape Shasta. The neighborhood is changing, the rent is going up. Old favourites must go. That's life I guess. This store is not where you go for clothes or furniture, but the place you go when you need a jello mold for a wedding, or 1/4 hole punch (it was there!) or pink dollhouse bathtub.

[True Story] About twice a year Store II has a half off basement sale, so sometimes when I see something I want but want a cheaper price I'll hold out. On one such day when I knew I could get a little pink dollhouse bathtub for $2 instead of $4, I marched down to the shop to make it my own. I looked where it was, and *gasp* it was gone. So I asked the white-haired elegant owner if she knew where it might have gone. She said she hadn't sold it, but maybe it was moved to another area. So she lad me back in the layered depths, and as we turned the corner, She looked back in horror, and whispered, "oh no, that lady has it in her hands! Maybe you could make a deal?" When I turned the corner I had a big laugh. It was my friend Cathy Pitters who had told me about the tub in the first place. She had it, but was saving it for me.

Last week I stopped in to say goodbye and stock up on some goodness. It was half off, but I know I got a deal since for $5 I left with a garbage can, gardening gloves, gardening tool, vintage 50s beach towel, cutters, plastic case with a handle, a scrabble board, jar of paint, and a 50s toy iron.

Go friends Go, I give you Store II. The secret is no more. (By the way, the bargains are downstairs! Upstairs it looks like a traditional antique store)

Cob-tastic!

2006-06-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Imagine building a bench, outdoor covered area, or even a home with your own hands - using mostly a mixture of straw, clay, & sand, that will harden to form walls & decorative elements of the main structure. Even small children can help build & mix the building ingredients - A community affair, part social, part hard work, and a little dancing thrown in.

Last week, I participated in the building of my first cob (earthen) structure - as part of City Repair's Village Building Convergence. Matt & I worked on a new outdoor classroom for the International School in SW Portland. The end result will be a cob & wood beamed round structure with built in benches with a partially covered roof. This new structure sits on a hill near their community garden. Interesting enough, the International School is a elementary school with three language tracks - Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese - and is tucked between freeways in a nice little green space that is easier to get to by walking or bike.

....

It seemed best to take off ones shoes and get dirty. Taking big globs of mixed cob and slowly hand building a desired structure. It was like taking a pottery or clay class on the large scale! The project was going on for the entire week and with all the school kids helping out during and after school great progress was being made.

Before the end of the day, we mixed a new batch of cob - which was a bit like a trip to an outdoor gym club - We ran in place and boogied down to mix the clay, sand, and straw together. In fact Matt and I did a few do-si-dos and locked arms to spin around.

Matt is the real enthusiast as he just attended a week long class at the Cob Cottage Company in Coquille, Oregon to learn the basics of cob building from some real experts. My friend Dan Miller also attended the workshop and is in the process of building his own little cob home in North Portland - maybe he'll have a square-dancing cob building party this summer after he has the foundation set! Ye Haw!

A Winning Obsession

2006-05-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

If you happened to be listening to Portland's Radio Station KNRK 94.7 '90s at Noon' yesterday than you already know. But I assume most of you were not. On Wednesday, I was on a letterpress printing marathon at the IPRC, the radio keeping me company, when a trivia question regarding the year 1998 was asked over the air -

What pre-fabricated band debuted in the UK in Scotland in 1998 to a crowd of 90... (huge number)?

Aha! Luckily I had the radio's phone number still stored in my cell phone from trying to win U2 tickets last year -- ring ring, the dj picked up - "Spice Girls!" I exclaimed. She said, 'You're the winning caller.' Of course my prize is nothing to brag about - a 90s compilation CD that the radio station does not even have yet, and they will call me when it comes in, then I can come by and pick it up... (uh, if it's that much trouble, I might leave it there - especially if it's full of bad ska & grunge). But the bottom line is I'm a winner! And it was announced over the air. I even got an email from someone who heard my name! And most importantly, I worked for my prize.

The tangents from this post could go oh so many ways - All the times I've won from the radio in the past (I had a hey-day in the 90s actually, mostly winning tickets to local shows and free CDs), OR the fact that I paid to go to the Spice Girl Concert in 1998 in Minneapolis, own all three SG albums (on tape!), and saw Spice World (their clever-mocking-themselves movie) on opening night at the Mall of America (You know you want to know the whole story!), OR how in my youth my older sister always won bigger prizes than me - such as at the Halloween costume contest in Stone Mountain, Georgia (Where I lived from age 5 to 8.). I only won a Spanish children's record (Wait, did my parenents buy it for me?), while Sarah won this glorious Ernie in a Bathtub Radio with a removable rubber ducky - I sulked I'm sure for weeks about it. Of course today I have the radio in my possession (though, the years have not been kind to this plastic 80s toy) but being the one obsessed with collecting bathtubs, I've rightful claimed the Bathtub Radio as mine! Does that make me a winner even though I cheated?

Tennis Girl

2006-05-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this tennis pendent, now in my possession. Joanna Dyer found it for SCRAP for little ol' me. Which is perfect since it's now tennis season again. And once again I need to get out there on the court. Last year I think I only played three games - including the Bike to Tennis I lead for Pedalpalooza last June and two games with Bruce Orr. And I was bad then, just as I'm still bad - but every time I have fun. I am reminded of a funny story, The last time I played with Bruce I forgot to bring any balls - I only noticed this oversight after we had waited 20 minutes for the Peninsula Park court to clear. OH crap - what to do. We started rooting around for lost balls in the vicinity. Ah Ha - I spied one and ran after it, just as one of the guys who left came back looking for it (I think, just in case I hid it). I have to say I kind of enjoyed one-ball tennis. It made me play better since I didn't want to have to go run and pick it up.

I also have a thing for tennis outfits - and this I have Joanna to blame as well. A year and half ago she had her annual January birthday party- the theme was dress the year you were born. I was born in 1975 - and decided that I wanted to dress as 70s tennis player. I gathered a white tennis skirt and top, old racket, headband.. then an ice storm hit and I missed the party. The outfit debuted a few weeks later at a Spies & Ninja Birthday party for Lauren instead. No one would suspect a tennis player to be a spy! But the outfit needed a coming out party on the courts, so I planned a Bike to Tennis ride. Originally Susie Phillips was going to dress up with me, but plans changed, so good old Joanna came through and won "Cutest on the Court" for her tennis ensemble complete with oversized sunglasses (which are now in vogue again recently). Well maybe this summer I might actually play more tennis than talk about it.

By the way another tennis story from my youth: When I was in junior high I took tennis one summer at Round Lake Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and it happened to be during the Tennis champions at Wimbledon. So we had a little contest to guess the winners. I knew a few players, but for some reason I chose, unknown at the time, Steffi Graf to win the women's comp. And she did! I even won a water bottle a prize. It's funny that now Steffi Graf is married to Andre Agassi - who I loved in the mid 1980s. In fact here's a little unknown fact - I was in the Agassi fan club for about a year, had a Andre Agassi poster wall in my bedroom and went to see him play at one of those all star game promotions - I even got more expensive tickets than my family so I could be a little closer - though he's just a speck in all my 'le clic' camera shots. Anyway I soon tired of the mullet and hot pink shorts, but I still like to watch tennis on the tube - mens or womens doesn't matter. This year I'll try to make an effort to get to the park to play tennis, unfortunately it takes two and I only have one good racket.

So who wants to play me?

In Print... Again!

2006-05-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Okay this is just for fun...
Make your Own!

As Cited in the Bathroom Companion

2006-05-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Who knew I'd become a definition in a fact book about Bathrooms! Read the full story (listed under 5/8/2006) in the Bathtub Art Museum News

Advice on marrying a Minnesota Girl

2006-05-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last week in the Oregonian there was an interview with Garrison Keillor aka Minnesota's favorite son. When asked "If we'd met 30 years ago, and I told you I was about to marry a woman from Minnesota, what advice would you have given me?" Garrison replied, "Develop a fondness fo Jell-O. Jell-O with little slices of mandarin orange in it." I had a good laugh -- Last year at several party functions (as a former Minnesota girl myself) I pushed my Minnesota Jell-O salad - one even had mandarin slices in it. On both occasions very little was eaten. Ah more for me! Now if I had brought my jell-O salad to a party in Minnesota. oh Ya, You bet there wouldn't be any leftovers there.

I, Benjamin Franklin, Printer Stamp

2006-05-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

Check it out. See my January post about Ben & Printing. Order your own today

Pretty in Pink

2006-05-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Dat Nguyen. See all his Photos)
As I arrived to my own Pretty Dress Bicycle Ride event during a small break in a day-long rain, a ravishing lady in pink stepped out of her car, and said, "You must be Carye". Marilyn introduced herself as an avid cyclist - commuter or tourer - and she had come all the way from Beaverton determined to ride her recumbent bike in a mini pink prom dress, fashionable sexy tights, and toe-clip shoes. Atop her helmet she had added fluffy fine pink & white feathers. (She noted that because of her low rider, she had special undergarments!) I told her I wasn't sure we'd ride, as it was hard to know if the rain would start up again. The back up plan was to eat Italian gelato at a cafe on the corner of Tanner Springs Park where we were gathering. I originally announced that the ride would be cancelled if raining, because who wants to ride in a pretty dress in the rain.

In the distance, I saw Emily Wilson arrive in a fleece/long john/skirt ensemble. She unzipped her fleece to show off a lovely fancy pink bow-tied dress. Kudos go out to Emily as she is the only person to attend all three pretty dress rides (See Photos 2004 & 2005). Next, a tall guy named Mark showed up not in a dress - wondering if we were riding, or if he should put his dress on. Over on the mini boardwalk in the park Dat Nguyen was taking photos also not in a dress. So I ushered Emily and Marilyn and our bikes over to get our photo taken before gelato. Then Shawn G, Ken, and Meghan rode into the park from the South, and 'cowboy' Ben joined us from the North and struggled to put on his printed frock. Picture Shawn in a rayon mini and pearls, Ken in a black spaghetti strap prom dress with matching shawl, and Meghan looking elegant in a vintage peacock blue fitted dress and sequined headband hat. Mark soon joined us again transformed: his hair in pig-tails, giant sun glasses, and lovely black & white dress with a silver-threaded sweater. Now only Dat was without a pretty dress, lucky for him & peer pressure, Shawn had an extra. So Dat could dazzle as well.

I told the newcomers that we probably wouldn't ride, and Ken & Shawn loudly protested. "What!! We ARE going to ride, we didn't get dressed up for nothing!" Well now that we had 9 bicyclist in dresses - 5 Men & 4 Women, and the rain was still holding off, how could I say no. I, by the way, was wearing my Kate Maresh SCRAP Vanna dress - over a striped long-sleeved shirt (for warmth). Before riding off Ben broke out a blueberry pie to share - not wanting to lose it on the ride, we ate it up happily.

Instead of the longer "Portland Parks & Plazas" planned ride, I thought it would be best to stay close in, in case the weather turned ugly. So we paraded ourselves (waving, and ringing our bells to random passerbyers) by Union Station, the South Park Blocks, up Couch into the Pearl, then down 12th. As we neared the home base, it was decided we needed some more pretty dress parading, so we hiked up to 23rd zigzagged to 21st, before Emily suggested a stop at Saint Cupcake - which was perfect since it's one cafe I wanted to have the ride go but the idea was cut in the final plan. MMMM.. hot tea & mini cupcakes with our pinkies up. I enjoyed the spontaneity and intimate small group on this ride - The people who really wanted to be on this ride, despite the inauspicious weather were present. The ride reminded me of the first St. Johns ride that had its own magical quality with 9 riders - though only one male. The bigger rides are great too, but I don't often have the chance to get to visit with anyone new - such as Ms. Pretty in Pink, Marilyn

Velvet isn't just for Jackets

2006-05-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Portland is blessed to have the likes of Caren & Carl. They are my kind of people - obsessive collectors* who delight in the odd, roadside attractions, outside art, and let the public in on their more brag-able collection - Some 1000 Velvet Paintings - Perhaps 100 or so on display at one time at their 5 month old museum Velveteria. (photo: Devon in velvet jacket at Portland's Velveteria)

Devon & I had a gander this past Saturday (at last! I've known for months about the museum). The little two-room museum is located at 518 NE 28th Ave in Portland. On the block North of Glisan. When we showed up there was a little note on the door, "Be back at 3" - Ah! I'd be mad, but Caren & Carl had a good excuse - which I'll relay later. So to kill time Devon and I had our own strange NE Sandy mini adventure - Barb-Q guy decorated cookies, "Interesting" Jesus art at Teen Challenge Thrift Shop, and a church rummage sale with nothing good. Finally back at the Museum, Carl was back - we paid our 3 bucks and were whisked into a Velvet Painting Extravaganza - Floor to Ceiling - Velvet Jesus-es, Smoking old ladies, South Seascapes, Wrestlers, Elvis, Willie Nelson, Banditos, and more covered the first room. The special exhibit on currently was Jesus Paintings. And starting May 20th, it will be.... Poodletopia! Which is especially exciting since it is Year of the Poodle (see previous post). Carl and later Caren gave us an extensive personal tour, though left us alone as we walked past the curtains into the Naked Lady back gallery! Little notes were taped on a few paintings, like "Courtney Love" here and there. One farmer man painting hangs in the back gallery - which is very clever - you always need a voyeur in this kind of gallery! After an afternoon well-spent in the midst of some fine velvet paintings (including local namesake Juanita!), I could go on and on, but why because you just need to go yourself. Oh and the excuse for being closed -- Apparently a safari man's estate was up for sale, and C & C could not resist getting their hands on a stuffed warthog head. While I'm not a fan of stuffed dead animals - I do respect a good story and sense of must-have that these two have -- as I can totally relate to the hunt of a collector.

*C & C are 0bessive collectors that have a sense of humor about themselves - as far as I can tell are 'healthy obessive' -- meaning they are NOT crazy, unsocialized hoarders who must rant, make you feel uncomfortable, or corner you with their obsession. You know who I'm talking about. I consider myself 'healthy obessive' as well - I have the things I collect and want to tell you about, but only for those who want to listen.

Bunnies on Bikes take over P-town

2006-05-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

On April 16, 2006 - about 125 Bunnies on Bikes were seen riding through downtown Portland - and I have to claim complete responsibility.

(Bunny Cheerleader photo by Jonathan Maus)

The third Annual Bunny on a Bike ride was the biggest one ever, particularly do to great coverage (color photos!) in the Oregonian and weeklies. I started this ride two years ago to bring to life the
'Bunny on a Bike' illustrated wood-cut from my Red Bat Press postcard line. This year I planned a surprise costume inspired by the latest
"Wallace & Gromit" stop-animated movie. Four months before the ride, the secret outfit was designed and sewn in Eden Prairie, Minnesota in collaboration with my mother while I visited for a snowy Christmas.

On the iffy-weathered Easter Sunday I emerged as Ms. Carrot -- laughing at a vision of Bunnies on Bikes chasing a giant carrot on a bike. I prayed, please do not pour buckets of rain on us like last year -- and be it faith or luck -- the weather cleared minutes after the ride started and sunny skies cheered us on during our 2 hour loop ride. This year the theme was "Bunnies on the Bridges" and over three bridges we did cross in honor of our third year.

(Bunnies on Steel Bridge by Ethan)

Wes & Timo of Trash Mountain Boys made their live debut of the "Bunny on a Bike Ballad" - The song was composed by Wes and includes just about every Red Bat Press character or card in print (This amazes me!). Dan & the Peninsula Commons created a special Bunny on a Bike cheer which they performed to my delight throughout the ride - the end of the cheer was "munch the carrot, munch munch the carrot!" Which was particularly funny because of the circumstances. While we rode, bunny/Easter themed songs compiled by Greg P rang out of a boombox strapped to the back of my bike. At our snack break - mini vegan carrot cake muffins were passed around in a basket, making the littlest bunnies extra happy. The last stage of the ride after we leisurely cruised along the Willamette River took us into downtown down 4th Avenue and through the Chinatown gates, a glorious homecoming. Five minutes after our return - a huge black cloud moved over us - and hailed. The few remaining bunnies on bikes waited out the rain under shelter at Union Station, before we decided to take over the Fancy Portland City Grill (in the Big Pink Tower - see earlier post) as it was one of the only places open on Easter Sunday.

This year did not happen alone - I hope I didn't forget anyone who helped along the way and day of: Thank you to Matt, Wes, Dan & the Peninsula Commons, Timo, Greg P., Mom, Kate, N. PDX Bike Works, Ayleen, Elly, Shawna, Ian, Steph, Greg M., eLiz, Kiran, Bethany, Melissa, Kirsty, Dat, Jonathan, Carl, John F., Shawn G. & All the riders of course!
(Carrot Carye Photo by Jonathan Maus)

And even luckier am I, that I have 5 links to photographs/ride reports of the ride. Dat (The Unofficial Official photographer), Jonathan of Bikeportland.org, Ethan of Stickeen Photography, The Blue Peep Ms. Debbie, & a fabulous online collage by A J Zelda.

Chickweed is good!

2006-04-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I chewed on chickweed, miner's lettuce, and fennel - not in a fancy $10 salad at Le Fancy Restaurant, but instead on weedy patches of wayward land in the my own Neighborhood in North Portland. I was on the Wild Edible Plants Bike Tour let by Shaun Deller (locally more known for his fashion design sense - deller caps & Bonnie & Clyde), who was offering up his free knowledge on a gorgeous 70s F Earth Day. Shaun told stories about some of the urban foodies he's read about, cut up samples of root, and told us how we could always identify a Douglas Fir Tree (Oregon's State Tree) - If you pick up the cone - it looks like little mice (legs and tail hanging out) have crawled up under each little shingle of the cone. Of course Shaun's biggest advice was to learn all the poisonous plants before you start stuffing any kind of weed in your mouth!

The bicycle tour was a perfect way for me to celebrate Earth Day. The tour was very empowering - as I get older I get more and more pratical - and I love the idea of making use (in salads and such) of so-called-weeds growing outside my back door. I hope Shaun continues to lend out his knowledge at a further point. I missed the latter half of the tour since I had to cut out for the Buckman Art Show & Sale. To Keep tabs on Shaun go to his blog.

My Friend Big Pink

2006-04-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

Whenever I'm walking or biking around Portland, and I feel a little lonely, I can almost always look up towards downtown and see my friend 'Big Pink'; from North Mississippi,the Alameda Ridge, East Esplanade, or Chinatown - Big Pink looms. When I first moved to Portland I read through a travel book and learned how to say 'Couch St.' , 'Willamette', 'Multnomah', and 'Oregon' so no one would out me as an outsider. I also learned the local name for the US. Bancorp Tower is the Big Pink. But you'd be surprised how many so-called locals don't know this. This tall pink skyscrapper is one of the tallest, if not THE tallest building in downtown Portland. But yet it stands alone, away from the other tall buildings further southwest. I've taken so many pictures of Big Pink over the 5 years I've lived here, that I always think I'll curate a 'Big Pink' Art Show - but then again I always think, hasn't every art student done that. Also it is to be known there are actually two Big Pinks in Portland. The other is in Oaks Amusement Park - a pink potato sack fun slide.

Matt makes perfect Pancakes!

2006-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

See:

A Gilligan Oasis

2006-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

I think it's a first...I went camping in March, well the last day. Matt & I arrived to our host Brian's house in Tillamook on the Oregon Coast around 5:30 pm on the Friday, we were told he had a spot set up not far from his house on a spit between the bay and the ocean, a mile walk out from the parking lot. In fact, Brian and his dad who is a local veterinarian, had been working hard all week to create an amazing 'Gilligan's Oasis' in the sand dunes. They had cut firewood, dug holes to secure poles for a thirty-foot tarp, and stashed water and other necessities for us out there. Brian was expecting a big beach-party campout as 20 people said they would come. So it was pretty disappointing when everyone flaked or found something else they had to do, & another group had car trouble. For awhile it looked like Matt & I would be the only ones to enjoy the beach, then we got the good news that two more, Charlotte & Matthias would join us -- but they were still in Portland, only just returning form another camping trip in the Gorge. They thought they could arrive the next day thinking it was a two-dayer, but when they realized no one was coming, immediately found a flex car to rent and drove out that night. Meanwhile after seeing a beautiful sunset on our walk out along the beach, Matt, Brian, Brian's Dad & I set up camp. Brian's dad even built us a table before leaving - he was on-call so he couldn't stay the night. Brian got a fire going - so we chatted while roasting veg dogs, drank beer, and ate chocolate. At 11 pm we hiked into the dark woods on the spit to meet our late arrivals (and ooh it was a scary walk!). Back at camp our group of 5 heartily made smores with our new provisions using up the few pieces of chocolate left. It rained lightly on and off, but by the fire it was nice cozy. During the night, it stormed; we kept dry though I slept poorly having left my thermarest at home (never again!).

On Saturday morning, the sun came out for breakfast (more smores and veg dogs, plus oatmeal!). Soon a beach expedition was formed. We walked the entire spit and beachcombed. Scattered across the beach a couple miles was a torn up fishing boat where 3 men (I think) lost their lives three weeks ago. Rope, wood, chairs, buoys were everywhere. A memorial cross had also been erected.
I searched and searched for a full sand-dollar - and finally succeeded - my first in 30 years - though my roommate Devon claims those things are all over the place on the Oregon Coast. On our way back on the bay side of the spit, Brian told us what he knew about clam digging. We hardly had the right tools or boots, but Charlotte, Matt, & I gave a go. We walked out to a sand bar and started digging when we saw little bubbles. Brian said the clams move fast. I only found little tiny ones. Back to camp for lunch, and a siesta nap - The sun left and it poured rain again. But once again the weather was on our side as the sun came back out for our pack up and hike out of the beach. On thedrive home from our relaxing beach weekend, Matt and I contemplated if we could bike out on Route 6 sometime in the future. I think it is definitely doable. We will be back.

See the Photos from the trip. The group photo pictured is by Brian Cameron - a great photographer!

April Fooled

2006-04-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I once again made it past April Fool's day without being gulliable, well I was had, by none other than Traveling Dan. Dan was writing a blog (Traveling Dan) way before any one else was, and I read in religiously. So after this weekend I tuned in and was happy to see a new post. Two sentences into the post Dan was telling a crazy tale about how he ran off to Costa Rica for two weeks to attend a astrology camp with a friend who got a companion fare. So crazy I believed it cuz Dan's the kind of guy who will not let a (traveling) opportunity pass by.. anyway well done Dan for getting me good. Luckily I only passed it on to two people. Here's Dan's blog, reprinted without total permission, but I'm sure he won't mind:

04.01.06
Well, what a day. I got up thinking I'd mainly just practice my songs for the little house concert/potluck I'm participating in tomorrow at my friends' Pam and Jamie's house. Then go to work later. So how did I end up in Costa Rica at a seminar on sidereal astrology? It started with an unexpected phone call from my old friend Jules, who i havn't been in contact with much recently but knew was intensively studying astrology from her home in Seattle. Seems she was registered for this workshop, and at the last minute as she was printing out her e-ticket from the airline website, bells and lights went off (so to speak) and it told her she was eligible (due to having racked up a zillion frequent flyer miles) for a free quick-reedem companion fare to the same destination (in this case Costa Rica from SeaTac.) She knew I had a budding interest in astrology, particularly its relation to human symbol systems and cultural memetics, so on a whim she called me up and said "Dan, do you have a passport and what do you think of sitting in on a conference at an eco-tourist lodge in the Costa Rican jungle?" After lifting my jaw off the floor I said, heck yes, why not? I've got 2 weeks of sick days racked up at work. And tomorrow's show can go on without me. So here I am. The lodge is very "rustic", and if you are single they will often put you in a double room with a total stranger. Thus I am lodging with a wild eyed Australian who offers up a "crikey!" every time one of the 3 inch long roaches scurries across the bamboo floor.
Well, all for now, as I'm writing from the only public computer at the lodge. There's a cocktail get-together with the 65 other astrologers, then a full day of talks and seminars tomorrow.

Gin Kitten Finds Pants!

2006-03-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got a call from Kate telling me that the brown cord pants that I "swore I left at her house" were finally found, by none other than Gin Kitten who was playing in the front closet and dragged them out from the depths. Well the truth is there was a whole bag of clothes I had left the night of my Vanna-ing (See post below) and Gin had pulled out a mysterious bra out of the front closet, and with further investigation the rest of the clothes were found. Thank you Gin Kitten! While Gin Kitten sometimes is a heroine, she also gets into all sorts of naughty kitten behavior like knocking down glasses and breaking them, or running around on tables, counters, or desks that are off limits to kittens.

Soon after I heard the news of my pants, I stopped for a visit. Between chocolate pudding, licorice, spiced tea & biscuits, I photographed Gin, or at least tried to. I discovered that cheap digital cameras take poor pet photos since the shutter is delayed by a second when you push the button, and with a fast crazy playful kitten, getting a great shot is quite hard. I did take a few cute ones and especially like "Gin as Pillow" (pictured) and the ones of Kate and Gin. See the rest of the photos to see all this cuteness I'm talking about! Ps. Gin is having her own 1st birthday on May 1st and only friends of Gin are allowed to come. So that means me!

Clever ReUse

2006-03-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went for a short walk in my inner North Portland neighborhood and discovered a carport roof made out of Nike display graphics.

This clever reuse was especially great to see because I used to have a job shipping those exact same grapics that are about 2 x 3 feet and mounted on board. These store display graphics would be changed out 4 times a year, and sent to 100s of stores - which equals A LOT of waste since the matierals are most likely dumped after use. I was happy to see something I thought would be thrown away put to some good use.

Move by Bike!

2006-03-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Portland, Oregon never ceases to amaze me. It's becoming the norm for my friends to move by bike. Yeah you read that right, by bike. In fact, a couple weekends ago I finally participated in my first bike move - it was hardly the first locally, I know of at least 10+ other bike moves that have happened over the last couple years.

Debbie DeRose was moving out of her corner "purple palace" home in the North Mississippi area down the road 4 miles to Kenton (home of a giant Paul Bunyan). Debbie announced a move date and the start location on local bike listserve SHIFT with a promise of pizza and beer at the end to whoever showed up. I don't have a bike trailer yet, but I wanted to take part as I had yet to see someone move by bike, and Debbie's starting location was only 6 or so blocks from my house. Around 15 - 20 folks showed up with some of the biggest amazing bike trailers I've seen. There wasn't a couch or bed on this move, but a huge stove, lots of chairs, and miscellaneous desks. I filled my side basket and pannier, added another box on top of my rack, and then strapped a foam pad on top of that. Moving went smoothly and was fun. Debbie pointed out what was going, and everyone just moved boxes onto their bikes and trailers. We made signs, drank coffee, and wandered Debbie's emptying house. And in no time we were biking parade style down Interstate Avenue, showing off all the lamps, shoes, & chairs we had piled on the back of our bikes. Moving by Bike is about community and helping others out, but it's also about showing off what human powered vehicles (our bikes) can do. Once at Debbie's new pad - a small cabin she can call her own without roomates - we gobbled up pizza and drinks before we finished the job by moving Debbie's things inside. The move was done in about 3 hours. Check out the photos that Dat snapped (mine coming soon).

Wanna get in on the Bike Move Fun?? Another move by bike has been announced for my friends Bruce and Carla who are moving from the same 'hood as Debbie to St. Johns. This move is dubbed the P*P*B*M - Puppet Parade Bike Move because Bruce & Carla are part of the MudEye Puppet Company so they have a lot of cardboard puppet heads to move. The move is set for Sunday, April 9th. Unfortunately I can't help, as I'm selling my art at the new Crafty Wonderland debut art sale at Doug Fir that day.

Aunt Carye

2006-03-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, It just dawned on me. I'm officially now an Aunt! My only sibling, my sister Sarah had a baby boy early Tuesday (4:35 am), March 14th in the Minneapolis area in Minnesota. My new nephew was 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and 20 1/2 inches long. My mom says he has dark hair, and is long and lanky. No name yet for this wee one. I'll update with more info as I get it. Is it Aunt or Ant?

Drumroll.. we have a name... Andy Scott Killorin. Scott is my Dad's name.

I was Vanna

2006-03-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

What a night - I was blonde with shimmery gold eyelids and long (fake) lashes, wearing a perfect custom-fitted midnight blue ball gown with gold sparkly leaf & flower accents.

My only job was to be pretty and to hold my arms out with flair during the live auction. It was the first WASTE-NOT art auction at the Tazo Tea warehouse in the Produce Row district in SE Portland. SCRAP (School & Community Resource Action Project) was one of the local do-good non-profits the auction would benefit, and when one of the co-directors Joanna Dyer asked me to be a Vanna. I said, YES!

Of course all the real work would happen before the Saturday night affair on March 4th. Lucky for me, Kate Maresh signed on to be my personal stylist, committing to make my dress from scrap from SCRAP, do my makeup and let me borrow her blonde wig for the night...

COMPETITION

Meanwhile the Vanna pool grew to 4 Vannas: Joanna, Ayleen, Carol & I. In fact a beauty competition brokeout amongst us - Who would come up with the best Vanna ensemble - Ayleen had won a free MaryKay makeover; Carol was working on an outfit that was "more Price as Right", and I heard rumors about a dress that Joanna had made out of an inflatable alligator, but than scrapped it after realizing it was too hot and unbreathable to wear. On my end of town, Kate magically turned scrappy fabric pieces into a fabulous fitted sleeveless 50s dress with poofy crinoline underneath (without a pattern!). The best example of reuse in the outfit were the shimmery pantyhose knee-highs that hung off the shoulder and waist as accents.

THE MAKE OVER

On the night of the event I arrived at Kate's house, late, sweaty from biking across town, I quickly jumped into the shower, "Five minutes only" Kate called out, and soon we began Operation Beauty Makeover. Earlier that day, Kate had fixed up "my hair" (the blonde wig) into a french twist with gold leaves -- so all there was to do was make-uping and wig applying before dressing. And of course all that takes more time than you think. Kate has a background in theatre, so lucky for me, she had a whole case of excellent stage makeup that would last all night. As she applied thick layers of makeup to my face, she reminded me that I must under no circumstances go to bed without wiping the make-up off or it will be pimple-city on my face. For the first time, I wore fake eyelashes and I loved the dramatic gold sparkle eye shadow Kate applied to my lids. While making me up, Kate explained and passed on wisdom of beauty techniques. The best advice she gave me is how to put on a wig properly. Instead of pulling my hair back into a ponytail, I had to pin down my hair into little curls with two bobby pins each - not one, she repeated, you must always use two pins. Once my hair was pinned down (not a bad look really on its own!), my new hair-do was set on and also pinned in place. As Kate pushed the pins in and they scraped my scalp, she reminded me that BEAUTY IS PAIN. Ah the clock with ticking, our Monte Carlo Ride was waiting - I wanted to bike, but with the wig, makeup, and dress, it was too much. So we quickly finished up, I got dressed and off to event we sped.

A NIGHT OF VANNA-ING

The warehouse was gorgeously transformed for this affair. Art hung in 1/3 of the space. A Buffet table sat between the silent auction and live auction/table area. Kegs and Ice sat in beautiful claw-foot bathtubs waiting to be guzzeled down. I was surprised how many artists I knew in the art show (Justin Scrappers, Mary Tapogna, Janet Julien to name a few) - for some reason I thought the art they were soliciting was from the top well-known regional artists (i.e. people I don't know). Slowly one by one the other Vannas arrived. At one point the volunteer coordinator attempted to switch me from 'vanna' to a ‘spotter’ during the auction, I protested that I didn't have my glasses - and besides I didn't spend three days getting ready for this to be a spotter. I was to be Vanna, and that was that. The 4 Vannas gathered to get ready for our show-time for the Live Auction. I thought we’d be on stage (would I trip?), but instead the live auction art was to stay put to the side of the stage. Our job would be simply to gather around the piece being auctioned off, so people could see what they were bidding on. Vanna #1 was Joanna - she wore a slinky green strapless, a giant bag made out of Tazo tea wrappers on her shoulder, hot black boots graced her feet, and top it off she wore a blonde long wig - she looked like Donnatella Versace! Vanna #2, Ayleen, had made her own skin-showing zipper dress in black and red - and told us her sad story of her MaryKay makeover gone wrong - the lady wasn't allowed to touch her face, so Ayleen had to apply all her own makeup and there was nothing glamorous in her kits. Vanna #3 was me, and Vanna #4 was Carol who made a truly scrappy colorful outfit that would look great between Bob Barker and a jetski on the Price is Right. Her see-through vinyl skirt filled with cds, paint swatch suspenders, purple tights, and shuttlecock/cd hat were amazing. She ended up being pulled into the role of spotter, but didn’t seem to mind. We loved posing for photos, and the live auction was a lot of fun. When I finally got home - my make-up and hair still looked good - and then the tedious take-down began. I must have taken 30 bobby pins out of my hair, and scrubbing all that makeup took a lot of elbow grease. Ah it was fun being Vanna, but I'm glad it was a one-time experience as I'm a get-up-and-go kind of gal!

See the photographic VISUALS of the night!

Adventure in your town!

2006-03-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

When you move to a new city, you explore. But then a few years past, you settle into your job, your friends, and your hangouts. Lucky for us in Portland, the Urban Adventure League reminds us to explore and learn about the place we live. Shawn Granton lead a small group of us on a walking tour from Goose Hollow to Council Crest (highest point in Portland) this Saturday.

The weather was on our side, as it was warm & clear - which means we had a great day to view all the nearby mountains: Mt Hood, Mount St. Helens, and a little bit of Mt. Rainier. Shawn leads both walking tours and bicycle tours -and I've tried out both. The walking tours are especially great because the slower pace allows for Shawn to talk more about the history of the area. And Shawn does his research for all his adventures, complete with an accompanying take-home zine and map. On this particular tour we winded our way up through some interesting SW hills neighborhoods - hidden stairways, and secret back paths we hiked as Shawn pointed out where the old Portland Heights Cable Car line used to be or the Elementary school Matt Groening went to (Ainsworth). At the top we enjoyed a picnic lunch, each with a sense of pride that we had hiked up and explored our way to the top.

A Super-hero time at the Library

2006-03-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Liz Marsh, former Portlander, now lives in Oakland, California and is going to graduate school. On her blog she has informed us that Spiderman has taken a day off of fighting evil crime, to help her work in the library. You must check out her photos of this super hero in super library action!

Folks, It's year of the Poodle!

2006-02-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Yes it's not only just Year of the Dog - it is 2006: Year of the Poodle! I'm not sure what that means for us. Poodles are typically short yippie dogs who have an 'air' about them. Does that mean that 2006 will be grand in small ways? That we should remember to view the world from the ground up? Or that it's time to dress up, prance around and have fun?

Nonetheless - I've printed 100 limited edition "Year of the Poodle" postcard prints. They are available at the Red Bat Press online shop. Also Reading Frenzy in downtown Portland may have a few. Sorry to those who where hoping for Year of the Great Dane or Year of the Pug. Maybe in 12 more years??

Mysterious Mascot

2006-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

This here is Boxer, the mascot of Pacific University in Forest Grove (40 miles from Portland, Ore.) How strange for an American University to choose a strange Chinese Idol - dragon/dog with hooves - as the official mascot.

This weekend I was in Forest Grove for the first time with Matt, who planned a getaway weekend at the Mcmenamins' Grand Lodge. The hallways of this old Masonic lodge-turned-hotel are covered with art depicting the history of the building and surrounding town. Over and over we came across this 'boxer' character immortalized in paintings and photographs and we wanted to learn more. So on our return home (by bike & train) we pedaled over the Pacific University to see what we could find out. The real statue is not on display as we found out by the VP of Student Life, but in fact is won in athletic tournaments and often stolen by pranksters. I found this
Pacific U student blog entry (scroll down a few entries) about Boxer that relays an event in the 1960s - one group went so far to ensure they were the last to ever ‘own’ Boxer that they drove down to San Francisco and dumped the original mascot into the bay. This means the current one is actually a replica!

Meanwhile we found our own mascot for our little 24-hour trip, a weightlifting mini alien - 25 cents from Goodwill.

To Matt

2006-02-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to Matt. Thanks for the last 6 months getting to know you. (Photo was taken by Elly Blue in Ilwaco, WA on our bike-camping trip 10/2005)

Shooting from the Hip

2006-02-10T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hold the camera at the hip and take the shot.
These instructions comes from a small photo book called Shooting from the Hip showing photographs from a UK photographer during the 80s, early 90s. The book belonged to Rory (see next post) and I loved this book. On my return visit to Cork, Ireland in 1997 I saw the book again sitting on his shelf and was determined to find my own copy when I was in London. I searched every bookseller I could find, and finally, when I just about gave up hope, there it was in the last shop sitting on the shelf.

I just took this photo on my lunch, after I chased after this Chinese man, a newspaper clenched behind his back, three blocks from Burnside heading south down 5th Avenue. The sun was so bright that I didn't know if I could get the shot. When I caught up, I pulled out my camera, kept it low, pushed the button, and smiled when I saw my return.

My Friend's an Olympic Athlete!

2006-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Never in my life would I imagine actually knowing someone in the Olympics. Tonight I will be watching the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy hoping to get a glimpse of my friend and former housemate Rory Morrish who will be competing for Ireland in Nordic Skiing. The photo shown here is one I took of Rory 10 years ago when we lived in a little house on Curragh Road in Cork, Ireland. I was a mere 20 year old, and he 27 then. At the time Rory was an avid photographer, gourmet cook & snappy dresser. He grew up with 6 sisters, and knows five languages fluently. I was always in awe of him then, and when I found out he became a world championship skier, I guess I wasn't too surprised, since that's Rory.

Today Rory lives in Oslo, Norway (where he can actually ski!), and I was lucky enough to see him last May/June when I was visiting my Mother, a Professor of Nursing, who was doing research over there. Rory has a blog about his Olympic adventure, though I'm sure he's too busy at the moment to update it much. I sent him a skiing-guy ornament which he has proclaimed mascot of his venture. Also here is a current photo of him all decked out on the snow.
Rory's competeing on the 17th of February at 10 am local Italy time. But perhaps we'll get a glimpse of him tonight when they air the opening ceremonies on TV in the USA (8 pm Central on NBC). Also a friend who has been reading another Irish Athlete's blog, says look for a bunch of "stuffed" leprechauns that may be thrown out into the audience during opening ceremonies. So tune in!

Portland's Penny Public Again

2006-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce that the Portland Penny is once again on public view at the Oregon Historical Society! In June 2004, the Portland Tribune published this letter penned by me:

City needs a penny for its history
While not much can be bought for a penny these days, there is one penny that buys a great story in Portland history. The “Portland Penny,” an 1835 copper coin, was tossed by two pioneers in 1845 to decide the name of our city.

Asa Lovejoy from Portland Maine and Francis Pettygrove from Boston each wanted to name our new city after their hometowns. What was one to do? Toss a coin, and let fate decide. Lovejoy won.

The good news is this famous penny is in the Oregon Historical Society’s museum collection. The bad news: The penny recently was retired from public view.
The Portland Penny needs to be on permanent display. May I suggest the lobby of the Oregon History Center or another important downtown Portland location.

Carye Bye
North Portland

I was just thinking I should follow up with the Museum to see what happened with the Penny after it was put away following the closing of the Portland Exhibit. But lucky for me, I found myself face to face with this Portland Treasure when I was visiting the museum this month. The penny is in a great lobby exhibit showing coins related to Oregon. From the new Lewis & Clark Nickel to the Oregon Crater Lake quarter that was minted last year. I am pleased.

Go to Oregon Historical Society website for info on how to visit.

Recipe for Chinese Mystery Dinner

2006-02-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

Take 10 Friends. Gather and write favorite Chinese Restaurant on slip of paper. Put in hat. Choose one and go. No Special Occasion needed.

We did just this Saturday Night. Once again, Danielle (see Ben Franklin post), and Kate thought of this idea after discovering they both love Hot & Sour Soup. So soon the group grew to 10. Hunans on Broadway in downtown Portland was the lucky winner of our night out. They set us at a big round table with a lazy susan (yes!) at the very back of the large restraurant. It's fun being a big group!

In honor of Year of the Dog, I brought a collection of minature dogs to share with the group. The dogs have been with me since 'Year of the Snake,' when I bought 12 sets, for cheap, from a closing shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Before our food arrived, it was suggested that we each put our dogs on the lazy susan, and had our own dog show. One person at the table exclaimed, "I've never done this before!" I also brought my Chinese Fortune Sticks, and since the menu had over 100 items to choose from, we used the sticks to choose our plates -- well not really, Devon certainly was NOT going to have Sweet & Sour Chicken. (She's Vegetarian).

Food was consumed (All of it, no take out this time!), a round table discussion ensued --sleeping at work stories were one topic. Soon the fortune cookies arrived. Devon, Matt, & I all got the same one. Someone had one that read, "Doubt is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object" Hmm. very deep !

See the more photos of our outing.

World's Smallest Park about to become Planter!

2006-02-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

This is Breaking News folks...

Yes Mill Ends Park, the World's Smallest Park (located in the Median on SW Naito Parkway & Taylor in Portland) is about to be uprooted into a planter during construction in the area. The 2 foot by 2 foot Park will be temporarily moved 7 1/2 feet to the east until it can be put back in place later this summer. Mill Ends became a city park in Portland in 1976, and is in the Guinness Book of World Records. Consequently, Portland is also home to the Largest USA Park (located in city limits), Forest Park. Just try and move that one!

A Ben Franklin Survivor

2006-01-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Ben Franklin was a vegetarian in his youth? Did you know he started the first library? Recently I have been immersed in many Ben Franklin factoids due to a country-wide celebration of his 300th birthday (Who will be there to celebrate my birthday in 2275?)

It all started with a phone call from a school in Hillsboro looking for someone to teach old time printing to the students. Danielle, my neighbor got this curious call, while she was interning at the Portland Art Museum, and immediately replied, "my neighbor's a printer".

I soon learned the school was organizing a very special week dedicated to Ben Franklin, and one day was to be all about Printing. So I signed up for the job, in hope I could inspire a future printer.

Since I didn't retain much information from social studies during my school days, I had much to learn... So my quest for knowledge began, and soon I was eating this stuff up. Ben's life was fascinating. He started printing early at age 12 as an apprentice in his brother's shop (The 15th child of 17, they needed to get Ben out in the world, and fast!), and by his 20s had his own newspaper, annually printed the popular "Poor Richard's Almanac", and was even printing money for the colony of Pennsylvania -- he did so well that he retired at the age of 42 and could now pursue his passions for science and government. If you read a list of all the things this man did, you will wonder if he ever sat down! But the cool thing I learned is that even at the end of his life, he still only wanted to be known as I, Benjamin Franklin, Printer.

Back at the school in rural (I was surprised) Hillsboro, Ore., the children loved learning old-time printing - all 200 + including up to 25 deaf and hearing impaired.
They made square printer's hats out of one sheet of newspaper, learned to print their initials by setting large type upside down and inking it, and they also printed their own bookmark with "A penny saved is a penny earned" quote.

Me, well I loved the opportunity, and enjoyed researching the project. I was happy to have Ivan, a local hobbyist printer, on board to help out and the school was great to work with. But the bottom line for me is I survived! Taking on the project was a big step out of my comfort zone, I spent they day addressing 8 classes of students from 1st to 6th grade. I was in charge, I was the expert. I even wore a "printer's outfit" White shirt rolled sleeves, vest, tie, and an apron.

I've decided that I need to say Yes, more often then No, to new experiences. This year alone I've sung Karaoke publicly, Learned to bike-camp, and was on the radio. I'm learning if you want to be GREAT, like Ben Franklin, you must not be idle, and let your life pass on by.

This particular quote of his, says it all "Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough."

Am I really now a blogger?

2006-01-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

I have held back for awhile, and I don't think this will replace my semi-monthly emails I send out to peeps about cool happenings or updates on my projects. But I have this urge to talk "out loud" if you will about thoughts, experiences, and life. We'll start with this, and go from there.