Dave, Carley and Wags

2 bikes, 1 trailer, 2 parents, 4 kids, 1 year.

2009-09-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went for a bike ride. The MAX green line to Clackamas opened and I wanted to see if the bike trail was open all the way to the mall. On my way southbound a northbound family asked me how to get into Portland. The family had six people on two bikes and one trailer. From France via Quebec, Montreal, Calgary, Yellowstone, Spokane, The Dalles and Troutdale on their way to Lake Oswego. I rode with them to Burnside and pointed them west. As they rode away I thought, the bike trail will be here forever but they are riding over the hill...and I didn't want them to have to ride on Burnside all the way into the city. I rode with Arnaud and Estelle through Southeast Portland leaving them at the Hawthorne Bridge on their way to Lake O. We made a quick detour to Staccato Gelato for a treat since it was unseasonably warm. The family is traveling for a year, and is about a quarter of the way through their trip. Sounds like a great adventure, and I look forward to following them on their blog 6tzen.org.

Pickling

2009-08-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

We received a lot of herbs and 2 fat cucumbers in our CSA box this month, along with tomatoes and green beans from our garden. I've been wanting to try pickling, especially the methods that don't require canning or a long wait! I tried this recipe last night: 4 Recipes for Quick Pickles: Rosemary & Sage Quick Pickles, and it was very easy! I'm not sure if they taste good (still curing in the frige), but the results were very beautiful at least!

I made pickled garlic/dill green beans, cucumbers with chives and sage, heirloom tomatoes with garlic and chives, and cucumber chips with garlic and dill.

Crater Lake and central OR

2009-08-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely long weekend in central Oregon a few weeks ago. We headed out after work on a Thursday to stay at the St Francis School (a McMenamin's locale) in Bend for the first night. That was really fun - beautiful and fun McMenamin's decor, pub, soaking pool, patios, etc.
The next day, we headed to Sunriver for nice bike ride to LaPine SP. My parents and Nana arrived in the afternoon, and we all enjoyed the fun weekend in Sunriver - lots of bike rides, putt-putt, shopping, and relaxing. On Sunday, when my fam left for home, Dave and I headed to Crater lake for the afternoon. It is so breathtaking!! We stayed one more evening in Sunriver for swimming/hottubbing, birdwatching and reading. We ended the trip with a visit to the High Desert Museum in Bend where we got to see nice birds and nature displays. Very fun!
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Cycle Oregon University Weekend

2009-07-19T22:43:00.001-07:00

Some pictures from the Cycle Oregon University Weekend, out of Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR.

2009-06-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

First strawberry crop of the year. This was also the first weekend of the year that the farmers markets had strawberries. Summer's almost here.

Happy Hour

2009-05-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Carley and I hiked Angel's Rest on Friday--here are some pics:

Fun at the dog park

2009-05-16T21:15:00.001-07:00

It was a great evening of entertainment at the deluxe Banfield dog park. With 20+ dogs there, Wags probably had as much fun as he could handle. He loves the wading pool, greeting all of the dogs, and chasing tennis balls thrown into the pool. People are always surprised to hear that he's a 6 year old dog, since he acts like he's 2 or 3 and never stops running and playing. Good ol Wags!

Poker Faces

2009-05-09T11:42:00.001-07:00

Had a few people over for a belated birthday party...here is the wreckage.

Poker Faces

$60 of Sod, A Whole Day of Fun!!!

2009-04-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful sunny early spring day, perfect for a bike ride, hike, bird watching trip, or laying sod. We chose laying sod. We've been trying to deal with this an area of dead grass and moss. Phase one of the plan was to pave over a section of it with a new patio--that part is done. We decided to sod instead of seed to try and get something more stable in place more quickly than seed. On hindsight it would have been better to get a rototiller but we thought that since the area was pretty small we would be able to do it by hand. It took longer than we thought, but we were able to break up the dirt and lay the sod before dinner. I'm happy with the way it looks--now we just need to keep it watered for a couple weeks so it grows new roots. We'll also have to keep Wags from push it around. Hopefully we'll do something less physically intensive tomorrow.

We make birdhouses

2009-03-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little bored and without plans on Saturday morning, we decided to at least get out to do some stuff around town. One item on my list: buy a bird house or two. February and March are the months for our little birds to make their nests (time for humans to clean the birdhouses we might have as well). Not finding any at Target or Home Depot, we decided we could make them ourselves! We bought the supplies, then headed home for some internet searching.

The birdhouse design and dimensions we went with is suppose to be the right fit for Downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, which we see regularly at our feeders. Each house took less an hour to make, and we had fun! After utilizing our supply of light yellow house paint, we mounted the two houses today, one on the side of the garage toward the back corner our yard, and another higher up on the front of our garage. I hope the birds find it in time - it would be very exciting if one of them gets used this year!

If you only ski one resort in Utah MAKE IT SNOWBASIN

2009-02-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

Dad and I skiied Snowbasin today. I've been reading about this place for several years--in the 2002 Olympics they ran the Downhill, Super-G and Combined events at Snowbasin. We didn't ski on any of those runs, though.
We started out by taking a quick run to the gondola, where we rode up with Gary Nate, who has been the principal cameraman in some of the Warren Miller movies. We accidentally ended up at the top of some black diamond runs, which were pretty steep and had ten inches of new snow over moguls. We made it down, and eventually found some blue runs more to our liking. The terrain was as steep as some sections of A-Basin, and very open. Most ski areas have heavy forest on both sides of the runs, but Snowbasin only has sparse tree coverage, so the place feels more like an above-tree line area. Really fun.

The resort doesn't have much easy terrain--it is definitely suited for advanced intermediate like Dad and me. The ten inches of new snow made the trails soft enough to recover from sloppy turns, and kept us on our toes. Snowbasin is pretty big, and there were only a couple of trails where we saw many other people. It was a great place to spend time.

The resort reminded me of Oregon resorts--not much at the base, just a couple buildings. The buildings are really swank, though--new, with beautiful wood paneling, rugs,

marble bathrooms. The lodge at the top of the gondola felt like a luxury hotel lobby. It was amazing...not sure how they pay for it since lift tickets are the cheapest of the four resorts we’re going to ski in Utah.

Tomorrow we are going to ski at Deer Valley, the home of huge amounts of corduroy and one of the few places left where snow boarders are not welcome.

Here is one more picture from the crappy camera on my phone:

Shussing in Utah, day 1.

2009-02-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

shussing
Dad and decided to ski at Park City as a warm up on our first day. I'd never skied there, and it had been more than a decade since Dad had spent any time there. In the morning we skied the obligatory black diamond (Glory Hole)...tough, leg burning moguls under 8 inches of fresh peruvian. The day started fine, but I noticed pretty quickly that Dad was carrying much more speed in the flats...the wax on my skis was not good. Luckily the shop we rented from had an outpost at the resort and they swapped out the skies for me, and we were able to get down to business. After lunch and after getting fresh skis we did laps on the King Con chair. Nice ski day...hoping tomorrow might have less precip.

We didn't take any pictures, but other people did.

Flicker in Focus

2009-01-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took earlier this month. Our flicker friend is so good looking.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

We had a few folks over to celebrate New Year's Eve--there was good food, Mexican Train Dominoes, Guitar Hero and cava. The party was followed by a long winter's nap.

VQ: YES

2008-12-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

We went to VQ last night with Perrie and Matthew (Canadians both) to exercise our gullets. None of us had had a substantive dining experience at the restaurant. Carley went to as a recent, poor college grad with a party of other like-financed folks and ordered a round of salads, earning the emnity of the server. Last night was different, though. Being the lucky recipients of a gift certificate for dinner for four we told our server we would have one of everything, and were only kind of joking. My dinner consisted of rabbit pate, seafood stew, rack of lamb, chocolate souffle, truffles, and of course some Stunptown coffee. Carley had a mushroom salad and the sturgeon. It was pretty decadent, our server complimented us on our joie de diner.

The restaurant wasn't very busy, so please remember to support V--they are probably the premier supplier of rabbit pate in the area. They also have a full array of video lottery games to compliment your high end dining experience. I know addiction is a hard thing for restaurants to overcome, but was surprised to see video crack at VQ.

latest random pictures

2008-12-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

We're feeling very Christmasy at home, especially since we got to put up a tree during the first weekend in December. Since we'll be gone the week before Christmas (a live tree dilemma), we decided to borrow my grandma's best artificial tree this year. We are quite pleased with it, especially the nice size and shape, and how the decorations really stand out on the Noble-like limbs. Will this become a tradition?? Saves money, clean up, and one less dead tree!

On a walk this weekend, we were surprised to find this large fellow showing us who is boss. At first he was stone still in the backyard, and we stopped to see if it was real! Then it suddenly charged the fence, then jumped up there are crowed at us!! We could still hear him over block away!

Wags is a very lucky dog. He gets tucked in each night with his own blanket. He had a good Christmas last year (new bed and blanket). What will Santa bring him this year? Stay tuned for pictures!

Basement Project Update

2008-11-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a nice Tuesday--watched some Weeds, ate some eggs, studied some strategic HR management.

In the last few weeks we have made major progress on the basement office. Couple things left to do--need to wire in a couple outlets and switches for the lights, need to paint the remaining concrete wall, few finish projects. It's hard to overstate how different it feels to sit here and type this out in a comfortable, mostly finished basement.

Saturday Night

2008-10-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the year has begun! Autumn, well, yes that is lovely, but what I'm really talking about is that Chaba Thai is once again serving their special "Three Flavors Halibut"!! :) If you like lightly fried fish, sweet and sour sauce, and blend of produce like tomatoes, pineapple, cucumber, mushrooms, and onion, then you need to try this dish. Did I mention that it is topped with fried basil leaves? It's a perfect dish to share. Dave and I each had an order of fresh rolls with peanut sauce (always delicious), and we split the Tom Yum soup with tofu and the Three Flavors Halibut - it was a great meal!

After that, we watched Burn After Reading at the newly renovated Roseway Theater at 72nd/Sandy. The latest Cohen brothers movie was funny, weird, and very entertaining (yet not for the faint of heart). Brad Pitt's character made my laugh out loud, while George Clooney's performance reminded me how great an actor he is~ We were also delighted about the renovation of Roseway - it's kept some of the old theater looks, but it also has nice new seats, good sound, and AC which it didn't have before. If only they had pizza and drinks. But with the $6 admission, and it's close to our house - we'll be back!

A great evening!

Oh, to top of the evening, we caught the first part of SNL where Tina Fey plays Sara Palin in the debate - you must watch this!

my last day in the lab

2008-10-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Carley, Sam, Perrie, and Natasha

Friday was my last day of work in the Thornburg lab, and so we spent the day having fun together! I was met with a large balloon bouquet and voodoo donuts that morning, followed by lunch at Bambuza (their veggie pho is great!).

After that, just to round out the day, I did a final experiment on the ultrasound - Kent wanted to see some images of the atria-ventricular canal of the chick, and so a bunch of us huddled around the machine to watch the blood flow through the tiny hearts.

Once my desk was cleared and cleaned, and my notebooks carefully filed away (hopefully not just to accumulate dust!), we set off for happy hour at McCormick and Schmicks. They've got a great/cheap HH menu, and Kent kindly treated us all! We had a fun time chatting and reminiscing. I'm sure we'll be meeting there again soon since it's very close to my new lab and the CHH. We'll definitely keep up with each other - I expect to be kept up on all of the news!

With that, I start my new position on Monday morning! I'll be the Assistant Technical Director of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation ~ whew, that is long! I'll keep you all informed of my progress there - I'm very excited for this new and exciting opportunity~ C*

Confluence Project

2008-09-30T14:30:00.001-07:00

Dave and I were both pretty tired after work on Monday (following busy weekends), but since it was such a beautiful day, we needed to get out and enjoy it! So after picking up our CSA farm box, I suggested that we visit the new a interpretive art installation at the Sandy River Delta. It is part of the Confluence Project, and designed by Maya Lin, to explore the effect of the Lewis and Clark Expedition on this area.

At this location, a 1.2 mile path takes you to a bird blind that is very near the Columbia River. The blind is created by tall wood slats sides around an oval platform. On each wood slat, there is an inscription with the date and entry from L&C's diaries, and the name and the scientific name of the native plant or animal that they observed. It's an interesting spot, very beautiful and peaceful.

Along the way, Wags got to run off leash nearly the whole way. It's always fun to see him frolic, especially with the other dogs on the trail. Plus, the sunset was amazing last night, on fire! We got to the blind at dusk, and so it was quite dark by the time we got back to our car. We didn't see many birds, but it was very relaxing and beautiful for an evening walk. We'll definitely be back, maybe with a picnic, and definitely with the Wags.~

Our trip to the Wallowas

2008-09-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

We were in the Wallowa Mts last week (NE OR). Really beautiful. Here are the pics...

Our CSA Farm

2008-09-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our weekly CSA veggie boxes are really picking up now that the late summer is here. Our last share included: lettuce, mixed greens, yellow wax beans, dill, cilantro, tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, squash, kale, fingerling potatoes, eggplant, beets, and kohlrabi. A few weeks ago, I toured the farm and picked some blackberries, and snapped a few photos.

OR State Fair

2008-09-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Made our way to Salem for the state fair. We took Perrie and Sam along, and it was most everyone's first time at the fair (except for the true oregonian, of course). We were foiled by some rain and bad scheduling (no dog or goat agility, as planned - boo!), but we still had some fun seeing the animals and eating fair faire. Goats are cuter than I thought, especially the pygmy goats. And we all thought that the different types of chickens were amusing.

Last Thursday in Alberta

2008-09-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Last Thursday Alberta Art Walk last month with Val and Grant. Where do all of these hipsters come from?? Maybe it was the fact that it was August, a beautiful evening, end of summer event - it was packed! Fortunately, they now close down the Alberta between ~15th-33rd for the event. It was definitely more about people-watching than seeing art, but whatevs. It was amusing, and great to see friends~

Check out my cans

2008-09-02T22:36:00.001-07:00

Carley and I continue to toil in the mines (basement). We are making good progress--getting things organized, finishing the drywall etc. Carley was sorting family pictures and artifacts. Tonight she found these cans (headphones) from Carley's grandpa Howard time in the army. They are pretty sweet. I was tempted to rewire them and use them for my ipod but they are not at all comfortable.

What's for dinner?

2008-08-21T19:00:00.001-07:00

Maybe pesto and veggie pasta? Sounds great to me! The tomato harvest is finally here, and with 7 plants, soon our kitchen will be buried in them! I'm going to try freezing tomato sauce this year -- after I get tired of Italian tomato soup, salsa, and Caprese salad.

Funny/Good Show

2008-08-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday Carley and I went to the Doug Fir to see Nellie McKay. I have a couple of her albums--she is an oddity who composes songs that could be part of Broadway musicals from the '50s but with a contemporary sensibility. We love shows at the Doug Fir because the room is so small--we were even able to get a table while we were waiting for the show to start. The crowd was NPR-diverse: turbo music dorks, oldsters, drunk sorority-types. The show was good--her banter reminded us of a politically-minded grama with a Judy Garland-affectation, which is funny because she is 23.
Live Performance
Fresh Air Interview

Leatherman Hack

2008-08-07T21:49:00.001-07:00

I saw a cool post about a way to integrate your keys into a multitool. While Carley was in Philly I put mine together. It was fun to Dremel and grind the keys into shape.

Borscht.

2008-08-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

I saw a recipe in the paper of record and decided to try it. While I was making it I expected to be disappointed, but the cold borscht turned out to be really good.
recipe

Berry Picking on Sauvie Island

2008-08-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

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We went and got in touch with our fruit--picked marionberries, blueberries and peaches.

Carley tries out the new yard debris container

2008-07-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

We are all excited to have new recycling and yard debris containers. Some people are more excited than others.

Cornhole--not as dirty as you think.

2008-07-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Cornhole is a new thing in Ohio--beanbag toss for the inebriated. My parents convinced me that it is fun, so I made one for our party this weekend. I decorated it with some spray paint leaf stencils.. Get ready--we'll be cornholing on Friday!

Thanks for coming!

2008-07-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad were in town last week. We did lots of fun things, and had time to hang out. We rented bikes from Clever Cycles and rode across the Hawthorne Bridge, north to the Steele Bridge, then south to Sellwood on the Springwater Trail. It was nice--here is a pic:

my favorite things

2008-06-20T22:54:00.001-07:00

My most favorite time of the year - strawberry season! This is the first harvest of the year from our backyard strawberry patch, and the recent sun and warming weather really helped them this week. I hope to get about a pint a day for the next couple of weeks.

C*

Perfect Bike Storm

2008-06-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Just finished my ride home from work. My current bike commute strategy is carpool in with Carley with my bike on the rack and then pedal home. The morning ride can feel rewarding but more often than not I don't get stuff together and end up driving. We carpooled three times last week and this was the second time this week. The weather is perfect, gas prices are high, and I'm seeing more bikes than ever, especially closer to Parkrose. On Prescott between NE 72nd and Sandy I saw a dozen bikes. The cool thing is that it looks like more people are riding, not just the roadies and hardcore bike commuters. I'm seeing a wider range of ages and equipment. Pretty cool--we're proving that the Platinum rating is well deserved. I'm also getting stronger--rode most of the way in my big ring.

I'm making your analog digital

2008-06-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

Grant, Britney, Adam and Erin were over tonight for small group. We had a garden tour, which Grant documented with his polaroid camera.
Very cool--I want one.

Dave's Birthday at Edgefield

2008-04-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

Pics from my new camera. Had a great time, and played well until I had that second beer. Thanks to everyone who made it out--I had a great birthday.

The Coast in Spring is Fun and Brisk

2008-04-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Just back from a weekend in Seaside. We left on Friday not knowing how bad the pass would be--the forecast called for sleet and snow. We ran into some light snow, but nothing serious.

We stayed at a nice, new dogfriendly hotel in Seaside called River Tide Suites. Carley, her mom, Nana and aunt stayed there in January. Carley and I really needed a weekend away. Work has been hard. Being a grown up is kind of stupid sometimes. This was a nice break...even though the weather was cool, it was nice to be on the coast--always so pretty, and so much clam chowder.

These pics are from Cannon Beach, taken on Saturday. This morning before we left we hiked to one of the viewpoints on Tillamook Head on the Clatsop Trail Loop (page 3). Steady uphill walk, takes you right to the edge of the cliff. We looked for whales but couldn't find any.

Rickshaw ride to cirque du soleil

2008-03-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

We went to Cirque du Soleil tonight. We had dinner in riverplace, then started to walk over to the big tent. It was raining buckets so we hailed a pedicab. Here is the crappy mobile phone cam coverage:

http://www.rosepedals.com/

The circus was awesome--I had never seen cirque before.

Birdwatching at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

2008-02-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

We spent the morning driving around the Ridgefield NWR
It was beautiful spring-like weather and we saw ducks, coots, hawks, nuthatches, eagles and herons. We also saw nutria, which are ugly and stupid ROUS.

birds

2008-02-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

In the past few days, we've had several nice and strange bird encounters (weird subject, I know!).

On Valentine's Day, when I arrived home, our next door neighbor Maurice was in his front yard looking a bit perplexed. He hesitated, but then asked "do you know anything about birds?" to which I said "YES." He pointed out this funny looking quail-ish bird laying by his garage. He was worried that it was hurt and would be found by cats, but the Audubon Society didn't have much info in the evening besides telling him to put a box over it to protect it if it seemed hurt. Anyway, from my bird book, I found out it was a Chukar, a bird not from this area, more from Eastern Oregon. We think it must be someone's odd pet that got away. Fortunately, it seemed to recover, and soon it was walking around. It spent the night on his fence, and we haven't seen it since.

This experience and the ensuing internet searches led me to discover that this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, a bird-identification event supported by the Cornell Lab or Ornithology and the Audubon Society. It helps raise awareness and appreciation of birds: their locations, numbers, habitat. Since I'm a fan of backyard birds, and that interest is rubbing off on Dave, I decided to contribute to this count.

On Saturday morning, it was easy to count our backyard birds within a 15 minutes timespan: 3 Anna's Hummingbirds, 2 robins, a scrub jay, and a Junco. Nothing too new, but it is nice to notice, especially on a sunny and beautiful morning! Dave watched our hummingbirds fighting with each other - so feisty! As my mom pointed out later, they are like the Chihuahuas of the bird world.

After breakfast out, we enjoyed the morning sunshine by watching for birds at Smith and Bybee lakes, a nature preserve and wetlands in North Portland. We saw 5 Great Blue Herons, a Red Tailed Hawk (we think), 2 Double-crested cormorant, lots of American coots, and various ducks and little brown birds. Beyond birds, we were amazed at the tenacity of the beavers have chew down scores of trees for their dam. Between the lakes, we spotted their dam which seemed to reach ~5 feet above the water level. Although this place is site is in the middle of industrial North Portland, it is a beautiful place to experience nature.

That's a bit about our bird-geek weekend~
C*

More six word biographies...

2008-02-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

More of these little sub-haiku gems. Still haven't written one for me--maybe tomorrow. Thanks to Mike for leaving us a little something something in the comments.

Denver trip for Grandma's birthday!

2008-02-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

As per Heidi's request (it's good to know a few people check this blog:), we are finally posting again! We were in Denver last weekend for Dave's grandma's 80th birthday. Dave stayed around CO to ski with his fam, and those pictures will come later, but first, here are some family/birthday pictures! We ate dinner at the White Fence Farm, an old chicken farm that does big family-style dinner and specializes in fried chicken and Americana farm kitsch. They did groups very well, and it was an enjoyable family outing~
C**

Skiing at Keystone

2008-02-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Last week my dad, sister and I enjoyed three days at Keystone in Colorado. Here are the pics--we had a great time. Perfect conditions...we're a lucky bunch.

Keystone Trail Map
A-Basin Trail Map

Keystone 2008

Snowshoeing at Twin Lakes

2008-01-13T23:25:00.000-08:00

Carley and I made our first trip of the year up the mountain. We've been wanting to go snowshoeing since the first snow but have been too busy. We saw that the forecast today was perfect so headed up to the Frog Lake trail. It was really nice--here are a few pictures.

Snowshoeing at Twin Lakes

Six word memoirs

2007-12-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

A friend gave me the Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007 for Christmas. The first section of the anthology has short pieces and lists. One is the six word memoir, adapted from a challenge to Papa to write a story in 6 words. The memoir adaptation was started in SMITH magazine.
I thought it would be fun to try to write one--I'll post it in a few days. Think of one and post it in the comments...I'll pull them out and add them to the post.

The Supermarkets of Cincinnati

2007-12-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

My mom thought it would be fun to visit this world market/gourmet food store called Jungle Jim's. I had heard of it but never been. All I knew was that the beer selection was supposed to be pretty good. Turns out that Jungle Jim is this crazy entrepreneur who buys all these great things to display in his store--huge animatronic displays, boats, pagodas. Great cheese, beer, produce and international food sections. My sister documented the trip with her iphone. It was more fun than I've had in a supermarket in a while.
gallery

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T11:04:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!!
Nothing boosts our Christmas spirit like covering Wags in tree decorations~ He doesn't mind...any attention is good attention for him.

C*

30 years young!

2007-12-20T10:02:00.001-08:00

I turned 30 this month, and I'm ok with that. In fact, I thought the best way to display my youthful exuberance was to drag a bunch of friend to 80s Dance night at Lola's room. It was awesome! I put on my dancing shoes (or leg-warmers, in this case), and danced the night away (well, until midnight when i turn into a pumpkin) to The Cure, Michael Jackson, and other rad hits. So glad people made it out to this !
Carley**

Davis Cup

2007-12-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

Dave and his tennis pals scored tickets to the Davis Cup, which was in Portland this year, US vs Russia. Dave really enjoyed it, especially the first days events where James Blake, Andy Roddick, and other big name pros played. I'm posting this since Dave wasn't happy with the pictures, but I still think they are cool!
C*

Riding bikes through the forest is challenging and stimulating

2007-10-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Oakridge Mt Biking

Just got back from mountain biking in Gabe's hometown, Oakridge, OR. It was a ton of fun, and kicked my ass. I captioned the pictures in the album above, and will write more about it later.

The album picture comes from an area close to the trailhead for Moon Point (see map). We weren't able to find it, though. We were able to find and ride Larison Rock, Aubrey Mountain, and Flat Creek.

Thanks to Winnie and Flora for letting us bunk with them for the weekend.

Apples, Pears and Alpacas Oh My!

2007-10-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Carley and drove to Hood River in search of goods, specifically apples & pears. We were able to procure those items, as well as some very good chardonnay. We also went to an alpaca farm to see the baby 'pacas. They were cute and soft. We had perfect weather--it was a nice day.

Carley and the alpaca farm dog Pete. He's a Great Pyrenees (links to disgusting puppy mills). He protects the alpacas from the coyotes.

Wearing things out

2007-10-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

I've been wearing out bike parts lately--specifically, my rear tire and pedals. I put more than a 1000 miles on the rear tire before it lost its puncture resistant abilities. It's nice to wear things out that you only use for fun--a testament to having fun.

I bought new pedals because my old ones were ten years old and not releasing consistently. Upon closer inspection I saw that the oldies were thoroughly thrashed. I bought some new eggbeater-style pedals...Carley and I went on a short ride this afternoon, and so far I like these more than the SPD style...oh, right, I remember--no body cares about pedal comparisons.

Next weekend Gabe, Mike, Bryan, Aaron and I are heading down to Oakridge for some mountain biking...I am wicked excited. So excited. It's Gabe's old stomping ground, so he is going to show us around the trails. So excited.

Secret--Traveling Should be Interesting and not Soulsucking

2007-10-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

I've always liked PostSecret. The idea is that people create postcards and send them in, and they are published on the internets. It has been around for several years now. I think many people use it as an art/micro fiction project. I don't care if they are truthful--it's the stories that are interesting.
Anyway, the person who started the site wrote a brief column in the NYT about the post cards he's received concerning travel and airports. I hadn't thought about the PostSecret site in awhile...

and in science news...

2007-10-08T11:29:00.001-07:00

Today was a big science day in my world, and I heard it all on OPB coming in to work!

**The Nobel Prize for Medicine went to 3 independent researchers, Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies, for their discoveries of "principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells". Basically, they invented knockout-mice, which are used ubiquitously in research these days.

My link to this story? My old boss Scott came from Mario Capecchi's lab in Utah, where he made the mice that I worked on during grad school. So I'm the scientific grand-child to a Nobel Prize winner!

**In local news, my current boss Kent and his colleague just published an epidemiological study linking breast cancer and a women's hip size. OPB's Oregon Considered will air a story about it this afternoon at 4:30. These types of studies have a lot of impact, but they just begin to open up areas for in-depth research to figure out the mechanisms and biology behind it all. Guess I have some work to do~

C**

Isabella's birthday fiesta!

2007-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Isabella turned one this week! My mom and I had a great time at her birthday fiesta on Saturday. Crystal and her crew made hundreds of tamales (meat/chile ones and sweet ones, which I have never had), chili, horchata, and more - so good! We enjoyed watching the kids whack the huge, candy-filled pinata. Isabella is so cute and fun - she plays very well with all the kids at the party.
Happy birthday, Isabella!

Real men use tools that can maim if used incorrectly

2007-09-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Mike and I got busy putting up walls in the basement. We bought some gear at Home Despot including this nailer that uses .22 cal shells to power the nail. Really awesome. If you have stuff that needs to be nailed to cement let me know and I will do it for you. The shell firing is quite satisfying.

Here are the before and after pics--the idea is to finish this corner of the basement and turn it into a computer nook. We got a good amount of work done. I've wanted to work on this for a while, and it was nice to get started.
Oh, and nobody was maimed.

A new keyboard instrument in the house

2007-09-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

Carley had been thinking about taking piano lessons, so last weekend we rented a piano. It was delivered on Thursday and Carley has been plinking away on it. Today she found some music books and is going to start practicing.

I think it's funny that it's in the same place as the organ was. I like the piano more than the organ, though.

Labor day lunch

2007-09-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

I visited with my grandmas and Mom at the Labor day lunch and my grandma's retirement center. It's always nice to see everyone and get the family updates and share what we've been up to. The "Grandmas" are doing well, and we had a lovely time~
C**

Wags and Jacey

2007-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wags and Jacey love each other! Jacey is my parents' Golden Retriever, and Wags is always excited to go to his dog-grandparents house to visit his pal~

My parents kindly took care of Wags while we were in Denver, and we know Wags gets spoiled rotten, as any grand-dog-child should :)

Biking to work!

2007-09-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Dave and the Bike Commute Challenge, I rode in to work today! Dave and I started out at ~7:15 this morning, met up with Tim at 57th and Handcock, and then I went my own route around Providence Hospital, through to the Hawthorne Bridge. I was never alone, as there are sooo many biker out in the city. At the bridge, there were 4 gals all waiting for the light - fun!
At OHSU's waterfront building, there are underground bike lockers, and I was able to clean up at the gym in my building. Then I enjoyed my much-deserved banana-chocolate chip muffin and coffee!!

My route:

View Larger Map

Aspen adventures

2007-09-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

My fellow lab gals and I went to the Aspen Perinatal Biology symposium, and we managed to learn about wildlife biology beyond the conference setting.

We had several black bear encounters, starting with a personal encounter with a bear sniffing around the back door to our conference center on the first night. Then on the last day of our conference, a bear broke into the conference center in the early morning, helping himself to 3 lbs of cream cheese and a few packages of bagels and waffles. He needed a nap after that tasty meal, so he climbed the nearest tree and snoozed all day! As the conference adjourned, we all got a good look at another large bear that climbed down a tree for a few minutes, discovered there was nothing exciting except some amazed people, and then climbed back up a tree!

The conference center was right in Aspen, and apparently they are having bear troubles all over the valley.

To inspect the wildlife, we took a tour of the nearby Environmental studies area.

They have a resident Golden Eagle that has lived there since 1982! We were within 15 feet of her - so amazing!

We braved the Independence Pass road on our trip back to Denver, so we had to stop at the Continental Divide marker for some pictures. This was the scariest car trip i've driven or been on. While it was (mostly) safe, there were a few places where there were not even two lanes, just a wide area where you had to slowly make your way and hope on one came in the other direction. Ugh~

Pike's Peak

2007-08-30T09:14:00.001-07:00

While in Denver, we took a ride on the Pike's Peak Cog Railway with Dave's Grandma and parents~

In some spots, the railway is climbing at a 25% angle! At these points, the front of the train is 3 stories above the back of the train.

Overlooking Denver, we can see all the way to Kansas!

Dave and Carley at the top of Pike's Peak

Sunflower

2007-08-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

Sunflower seeds, anyone? I think the birds will enjoy this crop~

C*

Bridge Pedal

2007-08-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of the 2007 Bridge Pedal from earlier this month. While the ride was packed with people, causing huge back-ups getting onto the Ross Island bridge, i think the event made up for it by getting to ride up and down the Marquam and Fremont bridges. Those were quite the rides down! I thought I was going to lose it and fall, but it was thrilling!!

C*

The line up to the Ross Island Bridge ~ bor-ing!

Picture from the top of Marquam Bridge~

Fremont Bridge

Kirsten and Matt's wedding

2007-08-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

For our final weekend event, we celebrated at Kirsten and Matt's wedding! It was at the beautiful Overlook House which sits on a ridge overlooking the Willamette River and Forest Park. Kirsten looked absolutely amazing, her hair and dress were so pretty, she just glowed! The wedding ceremony was short and sweet, and very personal as they recited their own vows. The ceremony was finalized with a blessing from the guests to the newly wed couple. Then it was time to relax and celebrate! The food was great, very fresh and summery spread, and the weather really cooperated as the sun was out just enough to keep the day bright but not too hot. Now Kirsten and Matt are off to Victoria for a much-deserved vacation. It was exciting be with them on their big day!
~C*

Hottest Day of the Year ride (not quite)

2007-08-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Dave and I rode our bike in the Hottest Day of the Year ride. The ride was in support of the Community Cycling Center, an organization that does a ton of bike education, outreach, and community activities, including giving away bikes and gear to kids in need and fixing up old bikes to donate or resell.

As the name suggests, the activities centered around warm weather, but the weather didn't quite cooperate! While it wasn't exactly bad weather, we were hit by light mist and overcast skies that morning. However, that is great biking weather, in my option! After the ride, there was a huge ice cream sundae bar, and a water fight. However, we ducked out after the ice cream, ready for down-time at home in lieu of getting wet.

The 15-mile route started and ended at the new Lucky Labrador brew house in NW Portland. We crossed the Broadway bridge, headed up Interstate to the Overlook neighborhood, through North Portland to the Community Cycling Center on ~17th and Alberta, and back to the Bridge via Vancouver Blvd. The ride felt great, a perfect length for me, and just enough hills to make you feel like you worked a bit, but mostly it was nice neighborhood cruising. I'm feeling more and more comfortable with street riding.

On Saturday morning, we rode to the Hollywood farmers market to pick up our weekly produce and to get breakfast. It's so nice to ride places, especially when we can combine it with errands and shopping. I'm glad we can ride together and that Dave knows the best routes. Very fun riding weekend!
~C*

High school friends

2007-08-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

After having a surprisingly nice time at my 10-year reunion last year, I thought I'd try to live up to the usual statement of "let's get together soon!" by actually doing it! My original plan was to have a big party, but then I quickly narrowed the field to eliminate stress, focusing on inviting some friends I wanted to keep in contact with. Definitely want to do this again, inviting a few more couples next year in hope of staying in contact with local friends.

Therefore, a week ago, we had Crystal, Carlos, and baby Isabella, and Melina, Steve, and baby Paige over for dinner. We had a fun and relaxed time just hanging out and enjoying each other's company! Of course, having little ones around was very amusing and fun for us - very cute little girls!

It's great to be able to keep up with old friends, especially these two girls. I've known Crystal my whole life, and Melina and I have know each other through church activities starting when we were three! We have attended the same grade schools, and grew up living close to each other. It's fun to know their new families and to keep in touch!
~c*

just our cute dog

2007-07-15T20:55:00.001-07:00

~ Cutie Wags ~

Silly dog! Sometime he just doesn't look comfortable!

It's been hot here in Portland, but Wags handles it ok by staying mellow inside. Here are a few cute pictures since he hasn't been featured on the blog in a while~

Hungry Planet

2007-07-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Dave and I had dinner with people from my lab, a going-away party for a co-worker. A visiting prof and his wife joined us, and we had interesting conversations with them during the meal. Mrs. Barker and I discussed food and culture, interests of ours. She and Dr. Barker's mission is to raise awareness of how important good nutrition is for women's health before and during pregnancy and how this affects the future health of their children. In our discussion, she told me about this book "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats," and I was excited to finally get it from the library this week.

Hungry Planet is a beautiful book of photos and essays compiled by a photojournalist. It depicts 30 families in 24 countries in pictures of them in their kitchens/cooking spaces with all of the food that they eat in a week. For each family, there is a break down of what they eat in cost and amount (ex. produce, milk product, meat, etc) and the total food expenditure for the week. For example, a large Peruvian family don't have access to meat or eggs, but they produce enough on their farm to feed 7 kids. A Cuba family supplements their govt rations with goodies from the grocery store. A Chinese family doesn't deny their son the McD's that he wants, even though the grandparents disapprove and have never veered from their traditional food of rice, produce, and meat.

The pictures in this book are amazing. They include pics of the family life, how they acquire their food, and how they live. This book is very informative and fascinating, while it doesn't go out of it's way bash our food choices. It just shows life as it is for people around the world.

Check it out if you are interested~ We might just have to buy this book.

Livewire, The Thermals

2007-06-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Most Fridays Carley and I are tired from a week's worth of activities and frivolity and don't feel like doing much. Usually we'll grab dinner at Chaba Thai and watch a movie or Tivo-fare. Last Friday Carley and I dragged ourselves out of the house to see Livewire. It's something we've talked about doing for some time but never found a convenient night when all of our stars have aligned. The show was great, very much a Portland-flavored Prairie Home Companion with a great house band, interviews with authors and creative-types, sketches, and a mix of ages and social castes (hipsters, parents and kids, freakfolk hippies, general public radio admirers). They tape a couple shows at a time so you get to see two musicial guests and two interviews. It was a lot of fun.

One of the musical guests was The Thermals. I'm happy to be able to finally jump on this bandwagon. Before Friday I had only heard them a couple times and hadn't formed an opinion. They played two songs from "The Body The Blood The Machine" a conceptish album about a dystopian Christian theocracy. (I would say that it is set in the future but I think that dystopian only applies to future-state scenarios. Otherwise it would be some historical fictive amalgam.) They were great live--so good that I bought the album. It is pretty grim, but rocking.

The show and Thermals performance were uplifting in a brain-filled-up-to-capacity, should-be-creating-art way. One more push to get off the couch and try new things, or practice old things that have been put aside.

Ohio Trip

2007-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

We're back from Ohio where we had a great visit with Dave's parents and sis.
We started our trip with a fascinating trip through Ohio's Amish Country, the largest group of Amish in America. They are extremely insular and family oriented, living simple lives as farmers, craftsmen, and service-sector workers. We learned more at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin, Ohio, where the 265ft long Behalt cyclorama mural depicted the history of the Amish and Mennonite people of the US.
What I found someone ironic is that the Amish people's love of sweets and rich food (the are Swiss and German, so i guess it holds)! They are big on their pies, candies, chocolates, not to mention cheese, sausage, and gravy over everything! we enjoyed browsing and sampling at their bakeries and at the Cheese Chalet~ Mmmm...cheese~

And now, Dr.Carley

2007-06-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick video of Carley getting her hood.

Carley gets ready to be hooded.

2007-06-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

The hooding ceremony is tomorrow. The pomp, the circumstance. It will take no few than two ceremonies for it to happen. Here is a preview:

Garden update

2007-06-02T23:33:00.001-07:00

The garden is coming along nicely this year, especially with all of this sunshine. We have a strawberry patch on the north side of the backyard, and more strawberries, flowers, rhubarb, herbs, zucchini, and several heirloom tomato plants in the backyard garden. I've harvested about 3 pints of strawberries so far, and it will be about 2-3 pints a week for the next month at least! Strawberries are my most favorite food, so Dave is luck if he gets to them before me! (i think i ate a pint today~)

In our raised beds, I made things easy by growing lots of greens (salad mix, arugula, lettuce, spinach, kale, bok choi), radishes, fennel, and zucchini from seed along side our 4 blueberry bushes. Now that everything is set and growing, it's all about keeping things watered, weeded, and thinned out.

Congrats, Jodi!

2007-06-02T23:18:00.001-07:00

My good friend Jodi defended her thesis this week, and she did an awesome job!! Dr Jodi celebrated with friends Patrice and Wendy who came in from out-of-town for the special occasion. We had some great girlie time after her big day!

More Ornithology

2007-05-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

The Andrew Bird show Carley already posted about magical and captivating. He performs with more verve than most, truly a performance rather than a show. He starts out each song whistling, chiming and fiddling pieces of the song, then loops and layers them together when the drummer and guitarist get involved. The effect is captivating. Listening to the record you might assume that there are a bunch of musicians on stage, but there are only three, and AB plays much of the music himself. It's breathtaking--very different than the other shows I've seen recently.

Live Bird show on NPR--I think the best song he performs is "Why" (26 minutes into the show) The main pizzicato section is recorded first, but is almost of beat enough to sound like it is new every time.

Riding along swimingly

2007-05-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

Update on my 52 rides this year--nine down. Tomorrow will be ten. Everything has been good so far. I had my rear wheel rebuilt last week and it has been true and steady since then.

By the way, the impetus for my commuting one day a week comes from River City Bikes, who have pretty fun ads. This blog talks about their ad spending.

more pics~

2007-05-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures from our trip last weekend - I can't resist~ Many of you know the twists and turns on the Historic Columbia River Highway as it takes you past Crown Point and Multnomah Falls at the west end of the gorge, but just a little farther east, we enjoyed some other points to explore. From Hood River to Mosier, the Old Highway has been revamped for used by bicyclist, hikers, and for occasional antique cars. This sections includes the Mosier Twin Tunnels which are pretty cool! Now that we are both into cycling, we might have to revisit this stretch of the Gorge for a nice challenging ride!

Wags was a happy member of weekend trip to Hood River~ However, on Tuesday when Dave was petting Wags, he notices that Wags was carrying around a tick attached to his poor little face!! We promptly pulled it out, and he seems totally fine, so no worried. Still, it was weird and gross to see a nasty tick- we've never seen one before. I'm glad they aren't a problem in our area.

Hood River trip

2007-05-22T22:28:00.001-07:00

We spend last weekend in Hood River with friends. 4 couples rented part of the Panorama Lodge for a retreat, and it was a very relaxing and peaceful time. The Lodge/B&B has an amazing back deck with views of Mt Hood and the apple and pear orchards, along with beautiful flowers and great bird feeders that attracted a constant stream of Rufous hummingbirds, Stellar's Jays, American Goldfinches, and Grosbeaks. On Saturday we explored Rowena Point and the Mosier Tunnels, a part of the old highway. Wags was very happy to be with us during the trip, and he's always good for love and entertainment - such a good dog. And since it was a "retreat", we totally ate too many cookie and treats, so we were all so full by the end of the weekend!

The last day was cooler and drizzly, so no extra hikes for us. Instead, we walked around the shops in Hood River and then stopped to see Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville Dam. Fun weekend!

Check out the hummingbird!!

Andrew Bird~

2007-05-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

Andrew Bird is awesome~ We went to his concert at the Crystal Ballroom earlier this month on a Friday night. This was the second time we've seen him in concert, and it's always a treat. He is a great performer, a lovely whistler, etc. His extremely quirky lyrics are highlighted with the lively poppy music and great instrumentals.

New bike!!

2007-05-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

After some fun rides this year, I decided
that I like cycling and would like to get a new bike. My old bike needed some work and was very heavy, so it made sense to get a new one. We found this bike at Citybikes Workers' Cooperative in inner SE Portland, and it's a perfect bike for me - a commuter hybrid bike by KHS Bicycles.

We have plans for long bike rides along the Springwater Trail and waterfront, the Bridge Pedal, and parts of the 40-mile loop around the Metro area. Since OHSU is so bike friendly, I'm even considering riding to work some time by taking MAX closer in to town. Maybe someday~

I can't wait to ride!

EVENING UPDATE~ this is the ride i did this evening along Marine drive ~13.5 miles. Such a beautiful sunny day, tons of people were out riding, walking, fishing along the river.
C**

My Bike, Bike Riding, and Bike Maintenance

2007-05-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Carley gave me panniers for my my birthday and her parents gave me a rack to mount them on. They're great--It's nice to ride to work without wearing a back pack. I've ridden the last two days. My goal is to ride 52 days this year--only 50 days left. Even though I am never really excited in the morning to ride in to work it's a nice way to start the day. The only thing I miss is NPR--I guess I'll have to get the podcast.

I popped a spoke on the way to work this morning, so I won't get to make it three days in a row. I've been having rear wheel issues, so hopefully a new spoke and one more truing will take care of the problem.

Dave's Birthday

2007-05-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Dave turned 28!! Friends gathered to celebrate the occasion, to eat, drink, and..eat donuts. We started the evening at Mio Sushi in the Hollywood neighborhood where everyone got their favorites - the Oregon roll, crunch rolls, and lots of nigiri, plus some new items like seaweed salad and tempura root veggies and seafood. Yum~ Next, we headed downtown for drinks at Kell's and treats at VooDoo Donuts.

VooDoo is a popular Portland pit-stop for night time snacks. They have some odd concoctions like maple bars with bacon, Fruit Loop donuts, and mang-filled donuts. I had the namesake VooDoo donut which is shape like a sad doll, filled with raspberry filling, and comes impaled by a pretzel stick. The birthday boy had the deluxe fritter with chocolate sauce, peanuts, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and glaze. Everyone loved their treats - we'll be back~

Happy Birthday, Dave!!

What we've been doing lately...

2007-04-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Once again, we are soooo glad the blog is back. With that, now i'm brave enough to post things, and we have some fun stories and pictures to share.

Spring has arrived, and that means yard work. The first order of business has been to cut THE HEDGE (if you've seen our backyard, you know what we're talking about). We're tying to chop it down to a manageable height. We've done a pretty good job so far, although we've also ignored the job the past few weekends. However, we are determined to get it done ourselves and before summer arrives. Wish us luck!

A few weeks ago, we got to visit with Crystal and baby Isabella when they were visiting Crystal's fam in Gresham. Isabella is ~7 months old now, full of personality, energy, and cuteness. She "growls" like a little bear, especially if you aren't giving her your undivided attention, and it's pretty darn cute. She's already sitting up, and she's very strong - she'll be standing in no time! That's my mom, Crystal, me and Dave with the baby. She's growing so fast~

Around Easter weekend, my aunt Cindy came from New Hampshire to visit the fam. I took Cindy, my mom, and Nana on the newest Portland touristy landmark, the OHSU tram . After a great lunch at Marco's Cafe in Multnomah Village, I showed them around my lab in the Center for Health and Healing on the waterfront campus. Then we did the tram - always entertaining, and very beautiful on a sunny day. At the top of the tram, we enjoyed the great art work and patio terraces with views of the city and mountains. As my grandma said, "I could sit here forever and enjoy the view" ~

One of the painting in the new building. It reminds me of "McMenamins"-style artwork, something found at Edgefield.

On Easter, we were at Nana's house for a big family dinner. Good food and nice time with the fam~

Weekend bike ride

2007-04-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

And we're back~ Just as i was gearing up to add to our blog, it was labeled as sp*m and shut down - boo! I'm so glad it's back since Dave did such an awesome job with our Kauai trip posting, plus we have some fun new pictures and events to write about.

On Saturday, Dave and I took our first bike trip of the year. We rode a portion of the Springwater Trail from SE 82nd to the Willamette River and Sellwood, about 10-11 miles total. We turned around at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge where we stopped to gawk at the adult and young Bald Eagles and 8 Great Blue Herons all hanging out in the wetlands - so beautiful! On our way back through Sellwood, we took a cookie stop at Grand Central Bakery, then we headed back before the impending rain hit. This was a good ride for me since I'm not a big cyclist like Dave, but I hope that it's the start to a good riding year for us both.

not our photos, but these are the big birds we saw!

Our trip to Kauai...

2007-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

Carley and I wanted to put together some pictures and a description of our trip. We used this old blog o'mine that rarely gets updated, and platial. There is a link to the entire gallery at the end of this post.

Febuary 14th - Kauai ho--five weeks after we make plans (of which I tell everybody whom I come into contact with) we touch down on the Garden Isle. It's nice--sunny, 80 degrees, and not raining. It's vacation. Finally.

After touchdown we headed down to Poipu to check in to our condo. It was a nice--close to the beach on the east side of Poipu. We walked right down to the beach to watch the sun set. When we arrived we saw we had forgotten important accessories--the adult beverages that everybody else was carrying around. This mistake was not to be made again.

From Kauai Pictures

Febuary 15th - Thursday we woke up early and walked over to the Hyatt to look for whales. That is, we looked for whales in the ocean in front of the Hyatt, not in the lobby or in one of their lovely pools. When we checked in the receptionist told us that we would see whales, and we did--spouting several hundred yards off of the beach. They were so close you could see fins and tails as they surfaced for air. Quick whale facts--they come to HI to give birth, mate and site see. Whale calves gain up to 150 lbs a day while they are nursing.

After whale watching we hit Poipu Beach for snorkeling and relaxing. The only time we left was to get sushi and beverages, but we were back in time for the sunset. I don't remember watching it while we were on our honeymoon. Glad we made up for it this trip.

Febuary 16th - Friday we drove to the north side of the island. There is a dearth of non-Starbucks coffee places in Poipu. We found a nice place in Hanalei. Brace yourself--a cup of drip is $2.25. Make it $4 for Kona. Other than that the place feels pretty hippyish in a tropical, hawthorne meets tropical island way.

The Hanalei region is picturesque. Much of it is a wetland preserve. Most of the island's taro is grown in this valley in submerged fields. One-lane wooden bridges are the norm--all the traffic goes in one direction until everyone has crossed--then the other side goes. In the afternoon this can lead to some delays.

From Kauai Pictures

The pier in Hanalei bay is a good place to watch surfers. Noobs surfer in the protected interior part of bay, and the experience head out to the edge of the reef, where the waves pile up. Everyone and their dog is there to fish, surf or hang out.

From Kauai Pictures

Next stop--Limahuli Garden. This garden has terraces that are supposedly 700 years old. It shows how the first settlers grew taro. It is cool place to see lots of plants and how the different waves of settlers have brought new plants that have done different amounts of damage to the landscape. The garden is trying to replant the entire valley with native species (pre-whitey).

From Kauai Pictures

Next stop, Ke'e Beach. This is the northern-most beach accessible by road. It was windy when we went and the waves were hammering the sand. In a shallow, seemingly protected area someone had written "It is not safe" in the sand. I didn't see any freaky children around so assumed the message was referencing the ocean and not some otherwordly phenomenon.

The beach has great views of the Northern end of the Na Pali coast.

From Kauai Pictures

On the way back we stopped at Banana Joe's Fruitshack. We intended to get shave ice, but they only have fruit drinks here. The frozen banana thing is really good. You should really try it--banana custardy and frozen. They also have local fruit and over-priced granola.

Later that night we toured the art walk in Hanapepe. It was more fun that I expected. The Time/space gallery has nice paintings not necessarily related the beach.

Febuary 17th - Slept in. Tried out Salt Pond Beach. It is a good protected place to swim. The east side has some shallow snorkeling. More of a local place--not busy while we were there.

Febuary 18th - (ds) - By now we had forgotten what day of the week it was. It was a little windy so we decided along the coast toward Gillin's Beach. The hike takes you along beautiful cliffs along the south facing shore. Nice hike. You also get to see several spectacular golf holes.

From Kauai Pictures

Febuary 19th - Headed to Borders to buy some music and reading material. After listening to local radio stations for 5 days we began to tire of "shaka" and went looking for cds to play in our Pontiac. We bought "Wincing the Night Away" by The Shins and "Not Too Late" by Norah Jones. I also bought a communist mag to read on the plane ride back. The David Sedaris article is great. As I was reading it I would quote passages to Carley. Eventually, after quoting almost an entire page I just read her the whole thing. The story deals with the roster and offers a nuanced discussion of gender politics.

Before we arrived in Kauai we planned to go to farmer's market to experience the local vibe, score some cheap produce, and generally get our portland on. There is a Sunshine Market at different locations on different days. If you go get in line early, though, or all the produce will be sold and you will be tempted to produce-snatch from an octogenarian. Watch out for the hip-replacement checks. The retirees are there to score there mangoes and nothing will get in there way. While we were waiting in the parking lot before they opened the market we witnesses one spouse berating the other to hurry up--the old man was clearly limping too slowly and might be excess baggage in the heat of the market battle. We did end up getting good produce for about half the cost of what the Big Save had, but it wasn't a chill experience.

From Kauai Pictures

Apple Bananas, lettuce, some big yellow fruit, pineapple, and hairy lichi.
Febuary 20th - We drove to the top of Waimea Canyon intending to hike around a little bit.
First we drove to the end of the road--amazing view into the Na Pali canyons.

From Kauai Pictures

The Honopu Ridge trail sounded promising in our book but when we found the trailhead it was not well maintained or marked. Instead we tried the Awa-'awapuhi Trail a little further south. This one is well marked and maintained, but also very slippery after rain. We slipped and slide for almost a mile until I landed on my back on a particularly treacherous section and threw in the towel. The trails in this area look like they have great payoffs at the ends, but we'll never now--thankfully the guidebook took pictures for us.

We stopped at the Shrimp Shack after the abortive hiking incident for some shrimp cocktail. Actually, I (dave) was the only one to enjoy the tasty critters. Carley would rather eat just about any other type of seafood. She was interested in the granola shop across the street, though. Kauai Granola is a little shop that makes granola and other snacks. Lots of samples. If you are looking for a fiber fix I would definitely recommend it.

Febuary 20th - We were running out of days. On this one we visited the Hindu Monastery. At the monastery they are building a temple that could be straight out of Indiana Jones movie. Each piece of the temple is hand carved and amazingly detailed. It will be a beautiful ruin in a couple thousand years. The monastery is very peaceful and the grounds are lush and manicured. I don't know much about the Hindu faith but they seem pretty chill.

From Kauai Pictures

There is a symbolism in all parts of this temple. The rain alligator, whoever, is just there because it looks cool.

From Kauai Pictures

This chain is carved from one piece of rock.

From Kauai Pictures

The detail work is amazing--each flower is fully carved on site. We would missed this detail if the wire thingy hadn't been behind the rock petal.

From Kauai Pictures

This temple was one of the three favorite things I saw on the trip. The coolest thing was the mother and calf whale breaching simultaneously, with the baby then breaching another 5 or 6 times...more pictures from the boat ride below.

From Kauai Pictures

A few random pictures

From Kauai Pictures

Places we ate:
Garden Island Barbeque, Lihue. It is a decent, cheap, local place to eat. I had been hoping for some fresh, lightly cooked fish and was a initially disappointed by the battered fried goodness that greeted me. It was good, though, once I got over my lingering resentment. Seared ahi would be had, but not that night. While we were there a steady stream of people came through picking up meals to go. Carley's tofu stir fry was good and tofuey. It was a good place, and cheap, especially for Kauai.

Koloa Fish Market. Great simply prepared fish. We had the plate lunch--seared ahi with mac salad, rice, and some sort of slaw.

Beach House. Great food. Expensive. If you want to eat dinner you can either make reservations before you leave for HI or proceed past the hostess directly to the bar. They will serve you dinner there. We had drinks and appetizers--what isn't there to love about raw fish? Nothing that I know of. Just check your mercury levels.

King and I. Thai restaurant, reasonably priced. 4-901 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa.

All photos:

Kauai Pictures

Ohana Hawaiian Cafe (Portland, OR)

2005-12-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sandy Boulevard is a mized use street. It feels a little grimy and eclectic. I guess it what is a neighborhood feels like as it begins to gentrify. In the span of 50 blocks there are sanctuaries to worship the virgin Mary, used tire stores, Vietnamese law offices, strip joints across the street from nondenominational Christian churches and reasonably priced houses for gainfully employed 20-somethings. And there is good food, even the best Thai in the city.
Speaking of good food there is a new Hawaiian place, Ohana, smack dab in the middle of Sandy. It's next to one of the two unoriginally named Pho Oregon. The warm orange and yellow walls were a great relief after another day of floods and landslides. Somewhat original medium-format pictures of tropical (presumably Hawaiian) content hang around the restaurant. It's likely one of the owners will great you and explain how to order (at the register, then pick a seat and wait for your food). My Kalua Pig was good--shredded pig with some greenery, good lomo salad and rice. Nice size portion for $8. Carley had the Teriyaki Chicken and Beef Plate. Tasty. Service was cheerful and fast. They serve shaved ice with ice cream, which is allegedly the way locals eat it in HI. We wouldn't know because we were too daft to find a shack on Kauai that served it that way. Next time we will find it, though, good lord willing. Good place to eat. Nice neighborhood cafe.

Ohana Hawaiian Cafe

Hungry Tiger (Portland, OR)

2005-11-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Since I got married I haven't been frequenting dive bars as much. I'll occasionally go to Hung Far Low if I'm seeing a show at Roseland but other than that I mostly go to more brightly lit places. My tolerance for smoke has also gone down. I've never had a huge problem with it, and a couple people smoking doesn't bother me. The problem is when a place has had smokers for years and not opened a window. Where the nicotine makes the walls sticky with crave-forming cholesterol.
That being said, I recently visited a new-to-me place. Obviously I am the last person in Portland to go there but I thought I would include it as the "Best place to get a drink before seeing a movie at the Laurelhurst."
This place is straight up disgusting. Like the scene from Fight Club where they are procurring fat from the plastic surgery clinic and bag gets caught on the barbed wire and Edward Norton ends up showering in lipid loveliness. So why go? $4 pitchers. $3 Sapphire and tonics. $.25 pool. Just wash yourself when you leave. There was some unidentified stickiness on the outside of my glass. I'm not suggesting they don't meet the health codes, but why risk it? And you can't find a Sapphire and tonic cheaper than that anywhere. This bar was left out of the NYT article about innovative Portland eateries. Must have been an oversite.

here

Worst Restaurant in the World

2005-11-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

The contest seeks not the most mundane or humdrum chain restaurant dining experience. I want to find the worst restaurant in the world. ~~Sumbitches~~ Submissions should be sent to me via email or comments to this post. Photographic evidence or regulatory documents that support claims are also gladly accepted. Entries should run be shorter than a college entrance essay. Haiku are acceptable but not encouraged.

Local Ocean Seafood (Newport, OR)

2005-11-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

This new restaurant in the Newport, on the Oregon coast, is the perfect antidote to the shlocky seafood places in this tourist trap seaport*. Bright white walls and clear garage doors let in what little daylight you'll find on the coast this time of year. The food, caught fresh, can be traced back to the fisherperson who caught it by the tags in the case. You won't find fried fish and chips on the menu. Here they're grilled. The Los Fish Tacos have different fresh fish daily. Easily the best fish taco I've ever had a bite of. The salmon burger tastes fresh and not fishy. Instead of chowder try the Roasted Garlic and Dungeness crab soup. You won't be sorry. Great selection of Oregon beer and wine, all by the bottle. Couldn't ask for more.

The only complaint I had was the 80's light rock playing over the speakers. Carley told me that some people like that sort of thing, though. Not a piece of salt water taffy in sight. This place would be right at home in Portland (pick whatever hipster neighborhood you like the most).

Local Ocean Seafood

*This means you, Mo. I've had enough of your crap shrimp on salad. Enough of your clam chowder. Enough cutesy seafarer paraphanalia. Sell it to those WA tourists.

Oba (Portland, OR)

2005-11-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

The itty bitty little candles at Oba are just not going to stay lit if you're half as good on a date as I am. My date blew them out a total of three times from laughing at my lame jokes. I think she was laughing at me. It might have been the half price bottle of wine actually. The wine list at Oba is extensive and interesting, but honestly I was expecting more cheap Chileans being a Quasi-Latin Restaurant. Most the wines were from Nappa and Willamette Valleys. The atmosphere is pretty trendy sophisticated being in the Pearl and all, but I am afraid I can't agree with City Search's description of it having pretty people. Pretty decor yes, but my date and I were clearly the best looking people there. Then again Portland has always had a different (see "obscure" "insane" or "wrong") view of what is good looking.

So we went for happy hour because its supposed to be just amazing on Sundays. The waitress we had was super nice and very attentive as was the girl shadowing her. The service here is second to none. I always feel bad about the shadowee like I should be directing some sort of instruction to her instead of the shadower, like that will help her learn or something, but I ended up ignoring her for the most part, something about the term shadowing makes me feel like I'm not supposed to notice them. Anyway, the waitress was very helpful in explaining how best to exploit the obviously infamous Sunday happy hour deal(s), but I still managed to spend $75 on 2 people. I have heard other people say even though the deals are good the prices are overly high to begin with so I guess I would recommend NOT going to Oba on a day besides Sunday. Also just to get the other bad point out of the way I guess people have said the staff can be pretentious and choose who they are going to be nice to. They were nice to me and my date (probably because of her) but I could see how that would turn one off to the place as well.

So I get a bottle of wine for half price to start. In order to get it for half price you have to buy an entre with no deal associated with it other than that. The waitress said to split one and then get two items off the happy hour menu. We obliged. We ordered a butternut squash enchilada with mole sauce and curiously topped pomegranate seeds on top. Very tasty. Also got calamari with a really good honey ginger dipping sauce and then we just had to try the jerk flavored Salvador-Molly-like hurricane fries. Yeah, wine goes well with all this right? Should have gotten the margarita in retrospect as I hear they are super good--next time. The Spanish coffees were very strong and made up for any lack of alcohol consumption we may have missed from not getting the ritas.

Also next time I will have to bring a non-vegetarian date. I don't eat red meat either, but there were a few chicken and pork dishes I wanted to try. Why didn't you just order one you ask. Well because 1) I always feel bad ordering meat on a vegetarian date and 2) I wanted to try and conform to the aforementioned happy hour plan of attack and needed to split a entre.

Apparently Oba was the hot spot in Portland MONTHS ago (okay maybe years ago). WTLW Bryan. But I still thought it was a pretty cool place. I will be going back - on a Sunday obviously.

here

--Thanks Bryan.

Why is it called "Best in Portland"?

2005-11-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

Good question. The idea is to create a brief index of fun things to do and places to eat all over the country. I wanted to work on something that would guide people to things I like all over the country. That title is less compelling, though, so I went with what you see on this page. I plan to start covering Portland. I have an intrepid gumshoe working on a review of Oba. Maybe even a review of Farm. If you've found this little project feel free to write in with your favorite spots in your vicinity. It has focused on food so far but can include anything that is interesting and has an address. With any luck we could create an international neohipster monoculture. Cross your fingers and click your ruby slippers together.

Soon: A contest to determine the worst restaurant in the world. Think of possible candidates--there will be a prize.

House of Nanking (San Francisco, CA)

2005-11-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

Two friends took me to this tiny place on my first night in the city. We must have looked confused as we browsed the menu because the waiter took them from us and brought out several plates of food. The best part was the crispy beef straganoff noodle dish. Great food and cheap!

here

This rounds out my epicurian tour of San Francisco. Thanks to all involved, especially those people who covered the bills.

Rubicon (San Francisco, CA)

2005-11-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Robin, Robert and Francis' restaurant. That is Williams, DeNiro and Coppola. After the scariest cab ride of my life my parents and I alighted in front of Rubicon, a dim sum toss from Chinatown. We were able to score last minute reservations for the early shift of dinner. The restaurant is narrowish and tall. Townhousey. The wine list represented some fine OR pinot. The menu featured seafood and Frenchish cuisine. Everything was wonderful. The desert was the most memorable--a crepe filled with creme and berries, topped with pumkin ice cream.
The reason this dive doesn't earn my favorite restaurant in SF tag is the price. Entrees run about $30 each. Not a place to eat on any semblance of a budget. It is like expensive wine. I remember the first time I had a taste of $125 burgundy. I hoped that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and the $15-$40 bottles. I could. It was better in every way. That is the difference this type of restaurant represents. A must if you are living large on the expense account. There is a pre fix tasting menu for $75. It's a nice way to try a little bit of everything. Make sure to speak with the sommelier. It's fun to hear someone speak so passionately about wine.

here & here

Slanted Door (San Francisco, CA)

2005-11-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

This was the best place I ate while I was in SF. If you are in town call ahead and get a reservation. Used to be deep in the heart of the Mission, but recently relocated to the Ferry Building. The new digs are beautiful. Great view of the Bay Bridge and random homeless clowns*. But the point is the food. I heard about the restaurant on the Splendid Table. The woman of three names was interviewing the founder. Sounded savory so I made reservations before I left for the SF. I was able to eat there twice. Lots of standard Vietnamese fare with a focus on fresh, local produce and meat. Each dish had distinct, vibrant flavors. Dishes come family style. Don't skip the imperial rolls or the fresh rolls. The pho is nice. The seafood is the best part of the menu, though. None overpowers. I was worried that the cellophane noodles with dunguness crab meat would be too crabby. It wasn't. Wish I could elaborate more, but I won't. Go try it. Lunch is probably your best bet for reservations and value. Dinner prices are a little more spensive.

here & here

*I'm really not making fun of the homeless. We saw the same weirdass clown on a scooter at the Ferry Building, Pier 39, and Union Square. It was suspect. I resisted the urge to push him into the path of a street car. I can't support violence, though. Or the weirdass.

North Beach Treats (San Francisco, CA)

2005-10-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe
This corner cafe's name is either horribly pretentious or kitchsy and perfect. Or something else. The most important aspect to consider is price. Entrees are less then $10. Carley's lasagna wasn't good, but my entree was.. Too bad the name escapes my memory...a crepe thing filled with lamb and beef and covered in marinara. Great place for basic Italian food at a hard-to-beat price in the city. Two entrees, salads, and glasses of wine--$38.

Stella Pasticceria e Caffe
A nice place to follow your cheap Italian grub. Great cannoli, cookies, cake, coffee, and other things that don't start with "c".

Caffe Trieste
Famous coffee place. Coppola write scripts here. Lots of famous people on the wall. Also has good coffee. Close to City Lights.

Hana Zen (San Francisco, CA)

2005-10-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Another sushi posting. This place was excellent, though. The chefs are very Japanese looking. This usually means good sushi. In this case it did. A $30 tasting menu gets 6 pieces of sashimi, 3 pieces of nigiri and two rolls. The fish is great--probably the best I've ever had. The salmon (sake) was so good I had to have more. It was like fish butter. I mean that in the best way. The fish was almost like jello. But fishy. The restaurant is on the second floor and has big windows facing two streets, so it is an excellent place to people watch.

here & here

Maybe I'll eventually get around to writing about things in Portland.

Mas Sake, Mas Hangover (San Francisco, CA)

2005-10-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Met up with my cousin Isaac for some merrymaking. He took me to this nicely designed sushi bar called Mas Sake. It advertises "Freestyle Sushi." That is a pretty stupid thing to say. The sushi is decent, though, with some creative rolls. The only reason I'm writing this place up, though, is the restaurant was my first exposure to Sake Bombs. A sake bomb is a rocks glass with some champagne and red bull with a small sake glass balanced on two chopsticks sitting on the rim. To get the shot of sake into the glass you hit the table until the shot falls into the glass. Isaac, his roommates and I got a little excited and also knocked over three beers and the pot of soy sauce. I managed to catch the soy sauce in my lap. Maybe that round should have been called the Nagasaki Bomb. Nothing like a lap full of soy to know that you are going to have a good night. The four of us did another 4 or 5 of them. I think. Not sure. The next morning was pretty rough. So, remember that this is something that is best done in moderation.

This place is really trendy so expect to wait or stand unless you get there early. There are cheaper places to eat, but this one is thoroughly decent and has good music. I guess the only reason I am writing it up is to use the title "Mas Sake, Mas Hangover."

here & here

Picaro Tapas Restaurant (San Francisco, CA)

2005-10-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Tracie recommended a sushi joint in The Mission, her old neighborhood. I utilized the convenient public transpo and found the block where the restaurant is supposed to be but couldn't find it. I had the address and it wasn't there. Tracie told me that there was a trick to find it. I tried clicking my heels together but that didn't work, so after cruising the mean corner (Mission and 17th) I took off in search of other treats.

I found Picaro Tapas Restaurant on 16th (3120 to be exact). It was kind of busy, which I took to be a good sign. I got a table (yes, a loser sitting by himself). The place looks nicely Spanish, with all types of dorky decorations. Nice effect. It is in fact so Spanish that every half an hour they throw a match into a bag of fireworks, everyone hits the deck, and they blame ETA. Even scarier was the girl who looked like Liam Gallagher. Luckily the menu is not nearly as scary.
But seriously. The food is good. Started off with a gazpacho and French bread with a spicy dipping sauce. Followed this with jamon Serrano on baguette slices and fried halibut with homemade garlic/mayo sauce. Good good good. Total damage $27, including two beers.

Check it here & here