Holy banana pankcakes, batman! It's December!

Christmas is wonderful, but I still rank Thanksgiving higher. It really doesn't get better than eating good food with good people and taking time to consider all we have for which to be grateful. I thought a lot this year about how thankful I am that my parents instilled in me the importance of surrounding oneself with good people. Moving around often it kept us from extended family, but we always had a substitute family of friends-- people I am thankful to still have in my life today. It's always hard to be away from family during the holidays, but going on my eighth year in Portland, it has been my home longer than any where else. I've met so many amazing people here and really feel like I can call Portland my home. I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by such a great support system of friends that help being away from family a little easier. This year I hosted another orphan's Thanksgiving for our friends that have become a second family. 11 of us lovingly crammed in the little house on el Tenino and stuffed ourselves silly and laughed until we cried.

     I did a bad, bad thing. My camera was left in the cold and fogged up real nice. As it turns out, cameras you can't see through aren't the most useful in picture taking. This is the one semi in focus shot that was captured of our turkey day celebrations.

     The frenzy of finals have left me exhausted, but I am eagerly awaiting next week's trip to Utah to see family. I'm going to a ladies night soup and cookie exchange a friend of mine is hosting on Tuesday. I'm planning on making my Mom's coconut carrot ginger soup, but if anyone has a unique cookie recipe I should give a go, I'd love to try something new!

Halloween 2k10: the year I become closer to 30 than 20.

Although I have reason to be slightly biased on the matter, Halloween is my favorite holiday. We really ought to come up with more excuses... I mean reasons, to dress up in costume. This year we celebrated all hallows eve on Saturday, and it was a success! A group of us went to dinner at Montage, a fun restaurant under the Morrison Bridge and home of the tastiest spicy mac'n'cheese and yummy oyster shooters. Everyone had a stellar costume, I'm really impressed with our costumed crew. Sadly, I forgot my camera battery charging at home, but was able to get a few copies from friends.  

In the past I seem to get over my head with some crazy intense costume ideas. Last year's bowie/spider took weeks to make. This year my costume took less than 5 minutes to prepare, and not only left me plenty of time to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but it ended up being one of my favorites.  

Ben preparing to become Chilean:

Ryan putting maths to work for his top hat:

Ben editing his editable legs:

Ben (the wikipede), Nigel, Ryan (the Warden), Ben (the Chilean miner)

Ben pointed out that not only have I cross-dressed for the last three Halloweens, but with Dr Who and David Bowie being in my costume ranks, they've all been British men. I just might have to keep this unintentional tradition alive... so if anyone has any good ideas for next year, planning has already begun!

The lovely Caitlyn had one of my favorite costumes. She made it herself, and it was very impressive. The detail she has on her hat and sleeves also went down her pants. I have to say, we were two charming mustached ladies... 

Another of my favorites was Matt as Orville Redenbaucher 

 Pirate Melissa and Orville Matt

 Part of eating at Montage is ordering more than you can eat, which isn't hard with their large portions. They wrap your leftovers in tinfoil sculptures. I've seen everything from a tank to a scorpion. Ben and I got swords...

 Which weren't quite sturdy enough for a duel.
(which worked out, as fitting the buggars in the fridge can be a challenge.)

It was a wonderfully fun night, I'm lucky to have such adventurous and creative friends that aren't afraid to get a little silly in the name of Halloween fun.

For my birthday Ben spoiled me and took me to three different concerts last week. They were all wonderful and we had a great time. After a crazy hectic week of shows, school, recovering from the flu and costuming, it was great to have a really relaxing leisurely Sunday birthday. Davis was in town for the weekend with a friend, so I was even able to hang out with him, which was awesome. He and his friend watched scary movies and ate pumpkin pie with us. 

Ben also took me to Hash, our favorite breakfast joint. The rain even let up and gave us a beautiful sunny autumn day that held out long enough to walk there and back. The food is always perfect, but the braised pork belly goes above and beyond. It's what dreams are made of; it melts in your mouth. If you find yourself in Portland (which I highly suggest), you cannot miss this place.

braised pork belly

Ben with his chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy

Me with my brisket hash. They have consistently perfect poached eggs... so delicious! They serve fruit in a light candied lime and rosemary simple syrup that is unbelievable. I want to get a job here so I can learn all of their secrets.

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

school works

 This poem is one I had a lot of fun writing. I'm working on a short story based in the 1920s, so I tried to incorporate some slang words from that time to help me out with that project.  

___________________________________________________

The Cookie Duster

As a mustache of epic proportions myself,

let me assure you-- It's the berries, the bee's knees,

this stalwart business that is bewhiskerment.

Here I am, a vision of rugged beauty.

With the complexities of follicular disintegration

I have pushed out, struggling shaft by shaft

until the day--The Day,

I became that which is now displayed before you.

You plow forward long enough, hard enough,

you can be apart of something so copacetic

it's unbelievable.

The expansion of the maturity progress of Man;

Evidence of the existence of pure masculinity.

I accentuate this proud mouth,

worn not as an ornate accessory;

instead as a statement of being.

And please, don't feel rude for staring.

the pleasure my onlookers receive

is surely part of my glory.

Looking for a one way ticket

to the good ol bronx cheer?

Just you try calling me a bluenose.

My role as a sexual characteristic

of the secondary degree

certainly does not mean I can't take first.

And I don't stop at first.

No dame dare says the bank's closed,

not when in the presence of my gallant brute;

of my bushy tufts, my overwhelming brawn.

The might of this magnificent mustache

will hit on the sixes each and every time.

I am irresistible; a stache of epic proportions.

___________________________________________________

My next photography assignment is of three final images and a contact sheet of 250 shots revolving around the concept of "hair" which I drew out of a hat.  I'm brainstorming like crazy and have come up with a few things I'm excited to try out. I think it will be a lot of fun. If anyone has any genius ideas, feel free to pass them on.

gimme those pumpkin cookies already

What an interesting fall this has been. The seasons seem to be all sorts of confused this year. It is only just starting to have an ever so slight feeling of autumn, despite leaves having been littered through out the city for weeks now. The prolonged sun has been welcomed, but I'm ready to break out my scarves and mittens. Reading a good book under the weight of a quilt-by-mom with a mug of hot tea on a rainy day is quite possibly one of my favorite things. So come on, rain. Help a girl out with the rest of the equation already!

This term has been incredibly challenging and a whole lot of fun. I'm taking a very light load, only two classes, but have never put so much work into my assignments. I'm in an advanced workshop poetry class, which is very outside of my comfort zone as far as writing goes. I've taken a film class from the same professor and really enjoy his approach to teaching. I was quite apprehensive about the class, as I haven't written a "poem" since I was 15 or so. So far it's been lovely. The best part; I've been surprisingly happy with my pieces I've turned in. Receiving feedback from my peers, especially those really in the know of poetry, has been a great experience. Perhaps I'll post some of them later on. I'm looking forward to getting involved with other workshops different writing groups hold around town.

I'm also taking a digital photography class. Although I've been shooting in digital for a few years now, I still feel much more comfortable working with film as far as printing and editing goes. It's been fun to learn a bit of photoshop and become reacquainted with the basics and fundamentals of photography. Last week my assignment was on recreating daguerreotypes. Having a classically handsome gent like Ben, who also has a fantasticly charming 3-piece suit, I had him sit for me. This is the (almost) end result.  

 

And just for giggles: 

I've also been playing a lot with long exposures. As much fun as photoshop can be for manipulation, there's something really exciting about making a crazy image with only a camera and careful lighting. My favorites of this series are at school, but I still find this one to be eerily fun. 

 

Halloween is quickly approaching, and I'm frantically trying to narrow down all of my costume ideas. So far I think The Log Lady from Twin Peaks is winning. Think I can pull it off?

W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N baby DC!

Last month I joined Ben on a family trip to Washington DC. 

The Glenn Beck Rally was in bold and at the tippy top of the itinerary, which I won't lie, I was a bit apprehensive about. Although I did start a ridiculous "Things I Learned From People in Glenn Beck Shirts" list which was, in full disclosure, slightly snarky and facetious in nature, but I was otherwise well-behaved. I am also pleased to announce that besides one slipped comment about Palin's tendency to use words of the not real variety, I blended in with the conservative crew pretty well, or at least appeared to be more like an aching thumb than a sore thumb. 

Instead of attending the rally, I took the opportunity to visit two of my oldest friends, Heather and Eagan, who have been living in the DC area for the last few years now. 

They took me to breakfast at The Founding Farmers, which was magnificent. It's always great to be able to catch up with these two. They are witty and charming and I am honored to call them my friends. They recently celebrated their ten year anniversary, which is impressive to say the least. There's is a relationship all couples should strive for. We later met up with Ben and because we're gluttonous fools, went up for a dog at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl. It wasn't just a stop for their famous half-smokes, but also to visit a historic landmark. During the riots of 1968 after Dr. MLK Jr's assassination, Ben's was a place of refuge for activists, local citizens, policeman, firefighters and others trying to return peace to the neighborhood. It was one of the few places left standing in decent shape after all the chaos and violence from the riots. I was glad to have a reminder of what Martin Luther King Jr should be remembered for among all of the uproar with Beck choosing the same date as King's I Have a Dream speech. The tasty chili dog and milkshake weren't too bad either.

Ben's brother just returned from serving a mission in Germany. It was lovely to meet him and even more enjoyable to be able to watch the four Craghead brothers interact. I'm pretty sure they communicate on a different wave length. I'm happy he was able to spend some quality time with his family and I the chance to get to know them all a little better. Entering a family vacation with a family that is not yours can make for an unsettling adventure, but luckily the Craghead Crew were welcoming and kind, not treating me as an outsider in the least. Another thing the Cragheads are really good at is making adorable little rug rats. It was fun to play with Ben's niece and nephews, although it did make me miss Liam, Elsie and Molly in a dreadful way.

We were sight seeing machines!

Tatum, Me (apparently as Boy George), & Pacen

View from the top of the Washington Monument

Ben, Reuben, Whitman 

Cather & Tatum

Ben, Will & Reuben 

The 5 kids in tow were champs!

the heat... it does things to my brain (& hair).

Jarom, Evan & Ben

Learning about wheat at Mt Vernon

a group of regular ol dandies.

Ben & Mom Carol

Junk mail in Colonial Williamsburg?! fail!

traffic cone & coke at mt vernon?! double fail! 

Other findings:

Will & Reuben flew out of Baltimore, so we took a day trip back to Ben's seasonal stomping ground from last year. After a groundhog day's experience of being denied a crab cake with Faidley's being closed, we stopped for lunch at the sensory overload diner, Paper Moon. I love this place. I wrote plenty about it in January, but it made for a nice consolation prize to missing out on the pure joy that is a faidley crab cake. 

paper moon decor

It was a quick trip, but a memorable one. I'm already looking forward to my next DC visit to see Brady & Dani... which will hopefully be sooner than later.

i am lucy moran

Voodoo donuts is a Portland donut shop known for it's wild and crazy donuts. Maple Bacon Bar: Check. Chocolate with Cocoa Puffs: Check. Crushed Butterfinger: Check. Strawberry Marshmallow: Check. If you can imagine it, or even if you didn't think you could, they've probably put it in or on a donut. They even had a cough syrup filled donut years ago before the FDA put a stop to that one. With two locations, one conveniently across the street from my work, the other on the east side of the river which can somehow be made "on the way home" no matter where I'm coming from, both open 24 hours, it's my go-to place for fried cakes. I had a hankerin for a donut Wednesday night, so if course Ben & I stopped by. Just as we had narrowed our choices down, which is always a challenge, the lady working mentioned that because it had been slower she had a variety of $5 boxes. As our specialty donuts would have been $2.50 a pop, and I'm a sucker for frugality AND mass amounts of food, we took it. 

(don't be fooled: this box is THREE donuts deep)

Ben & I have been watching David Lynch's 1990 television series, Twin Peaks the past few weeks, so naturally I took advantage of our obscene amount of donuts to be like Lucy Moran and set up a donut feast that would have made Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman proud.

They were delicious. 

What do you do with leftover donuts? 

Fry up some bacon and eat em for breakfast.

And even more leftover donuts?....  i might just have to make my first bread pudding. With donuts, of course. Stay tuned for the artery clogging, heart stopping goodness.

**UPDATE**

operation voodoo puddin: success!
recipe to follow