Old Wives’ Tale

I took this right around the corner from the restaurant we ate at on Burnside in SE Portland. I didn’t see a person here, just the dog.

^ This is the original attempt at the photo above. Jacob walked right in front of my camera!

That first image reminds me of all the ads I’ve been seeing for The Road, that new Viggo Mortensen movie. Has anyone seen it? Is it any good? I’m not terribly interested in it – went to see Coco Before Chanel instead.. Is there a more beautiful girl than Audrey Tautou?

I’m not so sure. If I could look like anyone I think it would be her. Anyway I liked this movie quite a bit.

I spent half the weekend galavanting around Portland with Jacob, Hank, and Kevin. It was great; we ate, we drank, we rode electric bikes! More on that later though. Here are some pictures from Friday morning at Old Wives’ Tale.

^Hank and Kevin

Old Wives’ Tale is a delicious, hippy-gluten intolerant-vegetarian-friendly, local paradise of a restaurant. It has one of the biggest, most diverse menus I’ve ever seen, which is sooort of a good thing. I’m not too big of a fan of restaurants with 5-page menus because, well, you know, more choice isn’t always a good thing. I do love this place though. If you ever go, I urge you to try the Huevos Rancheros.

Will anyone reciprocate Hank’s fist pound?

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Thanksgiving at Home

Unfortunately the lighting at my house makes for a lot of very orange pictures, but here they are anyway:

This is only part of the family!

My turkey-less plate. I know it looks terrifying in that orange-y hue, but it was just delicious! My dad is a pro in the kitchen. I haven’t eaten that much in ages. We had FOUR pies for dessert too.

My cousin Claire and aunt Lisa.

Jacob and his friends Kevin and Hank came over later for pie and we all took turns showing off our weird quirks. Por ejemplo:

Pretty gross huh?

Anyway it was a great day and really nice to be home. What was your thanksgiving like?

I’ve just developed two rolls of film so check back : )

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Pine St.

I went to read at Victrola the other day and managed to get a few photos in on Pine Street just before it got dark.

By the way, I’ve updated my website a lot recently: http://allisonoconnor.com, take a look?

And, my photo book is still for sale! You know you want one… ; )

I’ve been having a great break down here in Portland – lots of new photos to come.

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Last Year

I spent Thanksgiving gorging myself at this place in Tokyo:

I miss Ben and Amy and Momo and L. Ploy and everyone I spent Thanksgiving with last year (terribly!),

but I’m thankful to be home with my family this year too.

Even though I think the basis for most of our holidays here in the states is a more than a little sketchy (especially Thanksgiving), I’m thankful that I have a reason to be home today, enjoying my family’s company.  I’m thankful that my parents bought an organic, free range, grain fed, etc., etc. turkey, I’m thankful to be so fortunate – to go to school and have wonderful friends and family (and <3 ), and lastly…

I’m thankful for the sweet potato pie (I stayed up until 3am making it last night!) waiting in the refrigerator to be devoured later!

What are you thankful for?

Here We Go*

I went on a long walk down from Capitol Hill the other day during a temporary break from the rain.

I had to walk carefully to avoid all the puddles and slippery leaves, but I managed to see

some walled fortresses,

some impressive natural feats,

some rule-breakers and some rule-followers,

some signs of perseverance,

some runaways,

some hula-hoopers,

stickers,

and other such ephemeral art.

How was your afternoon?

If you have an hour or so to spare, I highly recommend this film, The Home Project, which you can watch online for free. It definitely left an impression on me. I’d like to know what you think.

*title from a song by Jon Brion

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Sweet Potato Pie

Paul and I tried the Sweet Potato Pie at Sunlight Cafe the other night. It was the first time to try it for both of us and all I can say is, what have I been doing eating pumpkin pie my whole life!? I had never even considered sweet potato pie before one of my professors, who’s from the South, mentioned it the other day. He said he was shocked when he moved to the Pacific NW to find out that we don’t eat it and that we’re seriously missing out. No kidding! I’m in charge of desserts this Thanksgiving and I know what I’m making.

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Its getting coooooold…

So I’m posting some forgotten pictures from the summer!

Paseo’s is a cuban sandwich shop in the Fremont area of Seattle. It has the most delicious, messy – I mean dripping down to your elbows messy, and filling sandwiches you can find around here. They’re located in this small garage-like building, and they don’t have a sign, but you’ll know you’re at the right place if you seen the line that’s always outside.

Looks like they might have been trying to get some sauteed onion’s out of their teeth. : ) That’s Paul and his cousin Kyle – I think we may have gone here the day we flew to New York. That might be why I never remembered to post these pictures.. hmm.

I also have a bunch of Farmer’s Market pictures I’ve forgotten to post. Young’s post today reminded me.

If I could afford to I would always have fresh flowers in my house.

^What a funny guy.

That day I bought (ok my dad treated me to):

With all this I made couscous stuffed bell peppers, honey-balsamic roasted delicata squash over sauteed chard, and roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Over several days of course! I love cooking and going to these markets makes it so much more fun and challenging because you can’t be sure what you’ll be cooking with until you go see. Grocery stores with the same produce year ’round are nice but this is more fun, don’t you think?

This is the delicata squash:

And a pizza I made after another visit:

Mmmm…summer.

Now I’m going to pour myself another hot cup of coffee and get back to my homework, : p

Have a nice day and enjoy the sun for me if you live in a place that has it!

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Convenience

A 7-11 in Seattle, WA

For my History of American Consumerism class this week we’re reading some terrifically depressing stuff – if only because it marks a sort of economic ‘loss of innocence,’ if you will, for me. Believe me, I have no desire to live “off the grid,” but studying the history of American consumerism and consumption has effectively wiped me of any desire go shopping for shopping’s sake anytime in the near future.

On Friday my teacher lectured about supermarkets and landfills (how clever) and challenged us record every new package we open/use in one week – last Friday at 2pm to this coming Friday at 2pm.

I’m already up to 40! Just for my own personal use!

I took some pictures at a local 7-11 several weeks ago for a follow-up post on the PBLKS regarding my 7-Eleven Japan post, and it seems fitting to include them in this post.

Last week we talked about 1950s optimism and the “throw-away society,” idea that was dominant after WW2. This week the readings are all from early 1960s critics. If you’re interested:

John Kenneth Galbraith – “The Dependence Effect” (from The End of Affluence); Vance Packard – The Wastemakers; Betty Friedan, “The Sexual Sell” (from The Feminine Mystique); and E.P. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful

 

Thoughts?

 

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I want…

more free time!

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Roosevelt with Dad & Ben

I mentioned a while ago that my dad was coming up to visit for the day and I’ve finally developed the pictures. It was really nice to spend the morning with him and my brother. Too bad mom couldn’t have been there too : )

I’m incredibly envious of his wavy hair.

See the resemblance?

We stuffed our faces at Sunlight Vegetarian Cafe before going to a couple grocery stores – which was a pretty good idea (I’m sure my dad’s wallet would say so at least) because we were so full we hardly wanted to buy anything.

Charming little street, isn’t it?

Apologies for my lack of posts the last few days -  I had a big test, but now its over. I’m grateful for your comments and views, all of you that continue to look at my photos!

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