Saturday In Portland 2

About a year ago I did a blog about my walk downtown to the library.  As much as I hate to be redundant there is always so much to see and it changes every minute so here is a second round of me walking down to the library on a Saturday in late summer.

Last night was the First Friday Art Walk.  It was amazing and there were so many photo moments and blog worthy things to mention but I was really enjoying living in that instant and just taking it all in.  Still, on my walk I followed the same path that we took on the art walk so I couldn't help but think of some things I had seen.

While I was at work Friday morning I was talking with a couple of co-workers about jazz music.  Ah, yes the conversation came up when I mentioned I would be in New Orleans during a huge jazz festival.  I love live jazz music and never get to hear it.  My co-workers and I hatched a plan to go catch some live jazz soon-specifically at this place: Jazz At The Blue

One of my favorite places during the art walk was a gallery above this flower shop.  These huge second story windows all lit up at night with people milling around inside was actually quite a sight.  The gallery was mostly watercolors of trees (and I admit I have a thing for any photos, watercolors etc of trees especially birches) and next to each photo was a story.  As, I said it was one of my favorite stops.

A completely different atmosphere was the art gallery Space.  It is a vast open space that has a bar in one corner.  So picture people milling around, chatting with a beer in hand.  It felt very much like a typical bar except instead of pool tables and a dart board there were art exhibits and stuff hanging on walls.  Very hip, funky vibe.

Yes, Portland now has a Reny's.  Topsham also has one.  Now that Reny's is everywhere does it somehow make it a less special place?  Hmmm, not sure about that one yet.

After my visit to the library I checked out the Library of Congress 18 wheeler bus that has been working its way across the country.  Portland is stop number 84 out of 90. It was touted as having America's treasures such as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, really old world maps and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.  Sounds pretty cool right?  But what they failed to mention is that there were no original works on the bus-only photos and brief descriptions.  Not exactly what I imagined but the huge air conditioned bus was quite fun!

SpikeFest 2011

In 1993 I was new to Portland and newly 21 years old.  A friend I worked with told me I had to check out local band Twisted Roots.  I bought the album, loved it and started going to their shows.  Before long it was a regular occurrence that I would be hanging out at Zootz, T-Birds and Asylum watching Twisted Roots.  I remember countless nights hanging in the mosh pit with guys at least twice my size just rocking out like crazy.  I felt so comfortable and at home in that environment.  Over the years music changed and Twisted Roots played out less and less. The band along with their fans started getting older, having kids and basically grew up a bit. 

Moving back to Portland I re-committed myself to catching them every chance I could.  They played last December at The Big Easy and it was a great night.  So, I had been patiently waiting for months for the next show.  They had announced that they would do a show over the summer so I waited and waited...

Then I woke up one morning to several Facebook messages that someone close to the music scene and a major part of life during that time had passed away.  In no time at all bands pulled together to do a benefit show in his honor and SpikeFest 2011 was born.

One of the opening bands was Whitcomb.  I thought I had seen them at the December Big Easy show and they were good so I was excited.  Well,  when I looked onstage I had two thoughts..."I guess I didn't see Whitcomb before" and "I know him!! Can that be who I think it is...Oh yeah it's him!!"  You see- a band called Tripe used to always play with Twisted Roots.  Some of the best shows ever happened at Zootz with TR and Tripe.  Having been away from the music scene I had no idea that the lead singer was now in Whitcomb.  He's magnificent and here is Whitcomb:

Before twisted Roots came on we grabbed a drink and took a few photos of our own.  These photos are when we were only slightly shiny and the humidity was only 110%.  Thank goodness we didn't wait much longer to get some good shots!

Here's the set list (except they closed with Tracks, not sure if there was another song in it's place):

I LOVE this picture sooo much:

It was the drummer's birthday that night:

It was an insane show with people acting crazy!  Really good music for a good cause does that to people :)

All photos except the close ups of myself and Jeanne are courtesy of Jewlee Robinson, a true Roots fan!!

Vacation Food

I don't tend to eat out often but since I'm on vacation this week I admit that I got take out for dinner last night and again for lunch today. 

Last night's stop was Chipotle.  If you haven't been, you should check it out.  The founder's motto is "Food With Integrity".  They have a small menu with fresh, flavorful, quality ingredients.  In the two times I've been there I have witnessed them hand chopping cilantro and onions- no frozen produce here.  I've also seen them hand mashing avocados which they claim to do three times a day.  Their web site is very transparent and fully discloses all ingredients and nutritional information.  When your food is good you really have little to hide.  Here's a link to Food With Integrity.  As proof that I am not alone in loving this relatively new addition to the area there was a very long line of people that wrapped along the wall, down to the door, and then back along the outer edge.  Totally worth it.

Today I walked downtown to the farmer's market.  It was pouring rain but I think that only thinned the crowds out a tad.  Here are photos of the grower I bought from.  I got some of these great cherry tomatoes and I also bought a bunch of cukes.

After leaving the farmer's market I headed up Congress Street to Green Elephant.  It had just opened for lunch so I got the first order in for Pad Thai.  Five minutes later I left with food in hand.  The inside of the restaurant is small but very well done. I've only ever had take out and it is definitely fresh and a step above.

 

Random Summer Stuff

The good news is that I'm having a really great summer.  The bad news is that means I've been doing other things than sitting at a computer updating this blog.  Here are a few things that I've been up to:


I drove way out along Route 26 past Bethel, almost into New Hampshire to Grafton Notch State Park.  I climbed a portion of Old Speck Mountain.  When I have more time I would like to go back and do the whole thing but it takes 7-8 hours.   The first picture shows (although hard to see) metal rails that were set up along some of the hiking trail.  It's a given that if metal ladders or rails were necessary to install that this is a tough section of trail.  In fact I use the term trail loosely since it was 2.5 miles of scattered rocks and not much more!  The second picture shows the view that was my reward for all of the hard climbing.

I bought myself this wind chime for my birthday.  I have it hanging indoors as you come up the stairs to my bedroom.  It has several cooper stars and moons all hung on a swirl.  The man who made it says its treated so that it will never turn that green, old copper look. Next year I turn 40 and you better believe I'll be getting myself something more than a wind chime!

I went to Crescent Beach State Park a couple of weeks ago. This picture was taken when I got there when they first opened. I should have a taken a picture a few hours later to show the dramatic change with the throngs of people.

Then there was the Motley Crue and Poison concert I went to at Mohegan Sun down in Connecticut. I love, love, love my souvenir t-shirt.

I also got to give vicariously through my friend who just got 3 kittens.  Their names are Macy, Lily and Yaz.  I want a kitten myself but I've been told by the man of my house that I'm not allowed.

Most of these pictures I already posted on Facebook so this is definitely not the most original post but...I'm having too much fun!!

All Things Food

I have been very inspired this season by all of the fresh, abundant whole foods that are available. I began following a vegan lifestyle last fall so this is my first vegan farmers market season. It seems like every time I have a meal it is a masterpiece...well except for that night I ate Toffutti mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Those are heaven- dairy free or not!


This pasta was a fantastic spring dish. It is whole wheat linguine topped with a citrus pesto. The pesto has chopped oranges, cilantro, olive oil and garlic. Throw in some zucchini and grated carrot and it was complete!

This is a corn chowder. You might normally think two things when thinking about chowder. First, it's warm and therefore better suited to winter. Not this one. It is intended to be served raw and therefore uncooked although I will admit to warming mine a bit before serving. The other thing that you think about chowder is that it couldn't possibly be tasty without bits of bacon and a whole lot of cream. Well, that would be wrong. This corn chowder is scrumptious. It is blended with cashews and olive oil for that creamy, rich texture and taste. Topped with some cracked black pepper and cilantro it's all I need.

I had this sandwich last week for lunch from Stoneyfield Cafe.  It starts with their yummy flatbread.  Add some very tasty flavorful hummus.  Pile on veggies like cuke, tomato, spinach, carrot and sprouts.  This thing was about the size of my head and I had to cut it in two to eat it.  I should have stopped at one half but it was so good I ate it all in one meal.

Warning: Author Doped Up On Nyquil

I have a cold that began last Monday morning. It then morphed into a migraine, slid straight into the flu before returning once again to a snotty, coughing cold.  I think I am on the mend although numerous people today thought it kind to tell me how awful I sounded.  Yes, I sound this awful and I'm feeling better.  Thank you.  These days when I feel  a cold coming on I get a certain kind of panic that I feel extremely bitter I need to experience.  You see-when I get a cold I want nothing more than to curl up in bed with a box of tissues and a death grip around a bottle of Nyquil.  Sort of like a female version of this:

The trouble is, and the reason for the panic, is that the meth lab fools have ruined a perfectly good thing for the world (besides bringing down neighborhoods, endangering children and all of that type of stuff).  Several years ago Nyquil was pulled off the shelves since its ingredients could be used to make meth.  Nyquil smartened up quickly to the fact that their product wasn't prominently available on shelves and they reformulated the brand to leave out the meth loving ingredients.  Trouble is--there's a reason I like to snuggle up to my bottle of Nyquil...because it's good and it works.  Don't go messing around with a perfect original.  Things were fine for a while.  My local CVS in Bath stocked the good stuff behind the pharmacy counter.  You just walked up, showed your photo ID, they entered you into the meth tracking computer and you were on your way with product in hand.  However, I have been having more and more trouble finding stores that carry the original version.  That brings on the aforementioned panic.  Last fall, I wandered the streets of Portland desperately seeking my Nyquil, sniffly and coughing only to wind up empty handed and with this pale impostor:

Note that there are only three active ingredients and none of them is really long and starts with a "P".  The long "P" ingredient is the meth trouble causing one that has been removed.  After I recovered from last fall's cold I started casually checking out the cold aisle whenever I happened to be in a drugstore.  To date I have not found the original Nyquil.  I'm not sure if it's because the pharmacies don't want to waste their precious shelf space which seems to be solely dedicateded to contraband Sudafed or because it's simply not being made anymore.  However, I did manage to find a Walgreens's brand that sports this fantastic list of ingredients:

So, my quest continues as Walgreen's brand is probably just as good but let's face it, there are some things that you don't go generic with and my Nyquil is clearly one of them.  As a side note-I thought this blog was hhysterical and proves I may be crazy but in a completely different way than this person:

What Would Happen...25 Bottles of Nyquil

A Very Soggy Relay For Life

This past weekend my team participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life.  This is an overnight 14 hour, rain or shine event.  Well, this year it rained the entire night with it absolutely pouring rain from the start until about 9pm.  Luckily my friends and I can have fun in any situation and are definitely not fair weathered friends!  We even managed to celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday with ice cream cake.  We were all cold, wet and freezing and still managed to enjoy that ice cream cake!

Here are some photo highlights from our night.


Our team participated in the Team Banner Lap.  We all gathered around our cool banner and as we walked onto the field the DJ called out "Here come Cacklin Hens 4 A Cure!"  It was a nice moment.  We then walked a couple of wet laps around the track with the banner.

The real troopers of the afternoon are below.  My mom and Ken arrived early on and helped with our camp set up, participated in the Survivor/Caregiver ceremony, had dinner and then when you knew they really, really just wanted to jump in their car with the heated seats...they stayed a little while longer so we could surprise mom with birthday cake, a card and balloon.  They did a great job and I know it was kind of crazy and miserable at times but it's the spirit that counts!  

There are theme laps every hour.  We missed a few in the beginning because it was raining so hard and we were so busy with trying to set up camp in the rain.  As midnight approached Jezzy and I were sitting in our screen tent discussing that it wasn't raining and the glow in the dark/neon lap was coming up.  There is also an 80's lap at 3am but we didn't want to chance missing that lap.  So, we threw on our 80's outfits, added our many glo sticks and hit the track.

Everyone got a little punchy around 2am. I don't even remember what I was laughing about here but it must have been good! Everyone stayed up all night long with no sleep and we took only one brief trip to the car to sit and warm up. The best news is that we raised an amazing amount of money. With only 6 team members we raised somewhere between $1,300-1,400 and made many memories.