We had a Valentine’s Day snow storm, so it was stay-inside-and-make-cookies sort of day. I made a salmon quiche for dinner and we had a lovely, quiet evening.
And for our Valentines cards, we got all arty!
My cards for Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson were projects I worked on with Ruthie Inman this week.
Soupy watercolor backgrounds were painted, left to dry, and pressed flat under three big volumes of Shakespeare. Then tissue paper and napkins were glued onto card stock and cut into hearts. Then the hearts were glued to the watercolors, and everything got glued to a card and pressed again. It was fun, not terribly exacting, and turned out very well.
Auntie Bridgett’s card to me was also very artsy! It is a line drawing inspired by her latest painting for GiftyKitty, which I just love. It featured cats, coffee, and lots of swoops, hearts, and spirals.
Tuesday was your Auntie Bridgett’s Birthday, and we had a fine time.
After a quiet morning of breakfast and language practice, she opened her presents, including tee shirts, sketchbooks, and a fabulous Snoopy quilt her Momma Donna made for her. Isn’t it amazing?
Once Bridgett had her celebratory red Converse high tops on, we caught the #20 bus downtown to Powell’s City of Books, which we haven’t visited in far too long.
Just being in the space makes me happy!
They have a new café inside, called The Guilder Café (after a country in The Princess Bride). The food was good and not very expensive, and the seating area has regular tables along with some arena type seating and comfy chairs. We spent more than an hour eating, reading, and browsing. It was delightful.
Then, after taking pictures of one of Coraline’s Curious Cats in her lovely urban environment, we caught the #20, connected to the #6, and headed up to the McMenamin’s Coffee Roastery. Considering how many McMenamin’s venues there are, I was amazed at how small the facility was! This one room, one giant roaster, and one guy named Chris.
Chris gave us all the lowdown on coffee… where it’s sourced from, how long you roast it for, and some of the dangers. Did you know that Auntie Bridgett’s favorite dark roast needs to get to 500 F, and will burst into flames at just 700 F? Dangerous work!
After we heard all that Chris had to say, we caught the #6 and then the #15 to get home, where we all had a nice rest. Birthdays are exhausting!
At dinner time, Grandpa Nelson was still pooped, so he stayed home and I walked the Birthday Girl up to Dov Vivi pizza. We love their cornbread based crust and Quattro Fromagio (Four Cheese) pizza.
We ate out on the patio and watched the world go by. Moms with strollers, kids on skateboards, old dudes getting off the bus… busy city life going on all around us.
We needed to bring half the pizza home, but it will make a lovely lunch tomorrow.
Every once in a while, I find a magazine article that doesn’t just speak to me, it calls my name and chases me down. Abbi Henderson, writing for Stylist Magazine, has written such an article. She talked to neuroscientist Nicole Vignola and got some great ideas for helping us feel better on days when peace and happiness feel out of reach.
She calls this list her Dopamine Menu, after the chemical in our brain that gives us joy. Doing these activities releases dopamine and can lead to happier, calmer moods.
I do most of these things, and now that I know WHY they make me feel better and have a convenient list, I can make joy whenever I feel blue, stuck, or just flattened out.
Stretching
Playing with a pet
Enjoying a coffee
Grabbing a snack
Doing a short burst of exercise
Putting clean laundry away
Cooking a meal
Working on a hobby
Exercising
Being creative (painting, drawing, writing, for example)
Listening to music
Listening to a podcast
I have been fortunate to fill my life with Dopamine-enhancing people. Ruthie Inman and Auntie Bridgett Spicer encourage my arts, which gives me courage at my crafts, and everyone loves a walk in Laurelhurst Park!
Maybe people who seem “naturally happy” have, consciously or unconsciously, found their own way to their Dopamine fix. Maybe this list can help you.
We went out to OMSI the other night for a Science Pub, a program that we have gone to before, but usually at The Kennedy School. Like other pubs, you can have beer or wine, sodas, snacks, and learn stuff!
The big show currently at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is about Dinosaurs, but we walked right past them (after saying a polite Hello from a safe distance, of course) and into the Empirical Theater.
Urban beekeeper Mandy Shaw was there to talk about her love of, and work with, bees. We are all interested in the buzzy, pollinating honey-makers and Auntie Bridgett’s main character, Auntie Beeswax, is a beekeeper, so we wanted to learn everything we could.
And we did! In Mandy’s hour long talk (complete with great video and even audio recordings of different bee activities) we learned that male bees don’t mate with their own Queen, but with Queens from other hives, at a place called The Drone Zone. This was a complete surprise, and now I wonder where our local Drone Zones are!
We also learned that if a hive makes too many Queens, the spares are killed by the bees swarming her in what is called a Murder Ball, or “Cuddle of Death”, where their body heat literally cooks her. Gruesome, but necessary. This Cuddle of Death is also used to protect the hive from invaders such as Yellow Jackets and Wasps.
Mandy obviously loves and admires bees, and told us about honeycomb ‘memory’, Mason Bees, and how bees build their own honeycomb in a process called “festooning”.
It would take another two dozen blogs to tell you all I learned, and there are folks on YouTube, podcasts and elsewhere who will give you better information. So, go learn! My brain is still processing!
This past Friday was busy around here. It was Grandpa Nelson’s birthday AND First Friday at SideStreet Arts, where Auntie Bridgett was having a show.
The first part of the day was for presents and quiet puzzles. Grandpa enjoyed his refurbished clock and a gift card from Donna.
Later, we headed up to the gallery to see Bridgett’s art, along with the four other artists featured in the Love Buzz show. It was a chilly, drizzly evening, so the crowd was small. But the artwork was beautiful (and so was Auntie Bridgett).
She had paintings, moleskin sketchbooks, zines, buttons, and all sorts of adorable bits for sale. Her fellow artists Jackie McIntyre, Lea Barozzi, Michelle Gallagher and Brenda Scott and were showing paintings, ceramics, and collage works.
I think it is impossible to see bees and be sad. The colors and movement in the show even brightened the grey evening outside.
Grandpa Nelson and I visited with the artists for a while, then walked around the corner to Ankeny Tap and Table for his birthday dinner. Yummy sliders (my first actual beef in over a year… amazingly delicious) , French Fries, good conversation and a glass of red wine made for a fine celebration.
We waved at Bridgett as we headed home, walking quickly as the rain had started in earnest. Love,
This year, Auntie Bridgett gave herself a challenge. She would watch a Halloween movie every evening of October and draw a cartoon of it. Lucky for me, we like the same kinds of movies!
Here is our list so far, and a few of her delightful drawings.
Bell, Book and Candle Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with Frederick March… we couldn’t finish it. Ick.) Boxtrolls Young Frankenstein Ghost and Mr. Chicken Hotel Transylvania 1,2,3 and 4 (First is the best!) Arsenic and Old Lace Nightmare before Christmas (My first time, and I didn’t care for it.)
The Blob (with Steve McQueen) Hocus Pocus 1 and 2 Paranorman Dracula (the original) Haunted mansion (NOT Eddie Murphy’s) Skeleton dance (old Disney short) Haunting in Venice Frankenweenie Blithe Spirit (with Rex Harrison and Margaret Rutherford!) Ichabod and Mr. Toad It’s the Great pumpkin, Charlie Brown
The animated Addams Family (2019)
Room on the Broom
Monster House
Oh no!! We have run out of October before we ran out of movies!!
On Saturday, Auntie Bridgett was selling her art at a table in Jameson Square. The Alliance Française organizes a Bastille Day celebration that is playful, musical, artsy, and very busy!
Since the Alliance supplied the tent, table and chairs, it was an easy set-up. Grandpa Nelson drove us to the northwest part of Portland and unloaded, then headed home.
There were hours of happy people-watching as hundreds of kids and families played in the fountain. A delightful program of live music, ranging from Cajun jazz to French pop, kept the mood lively.
Auntie Bridgett’s table was busy all day, and she sold a lot of cards, books, and artwork. My favorite painting, “Á Paris”, went home with this lovely lady. I was sad to see it go, but that’s what it was painted for. It was Bridgett’s most successful selling day ever!
I spent most of the day on a bench in the shade close by, to give Bridgett support if needed. I also enjoyed a conversation with Alan, a fellow Francophile (person who loves and appreciates French things). When I needed a snack I walked down to Via Delizia for an éclaire and iced chai latte. It was perfectly delicious and I felt very spoiled.
Later in the afternoon there were even fencing lessons for kids from a local fencing club. It was amazing. Full face cages and nice bendy epées kept everyone safe while providing a really good time.
Thanks, Alliance Française! We’ll see you again real soon.
This past Saturday was the second annual Books with Pictures Comic con, held at Auntie Katie’s bookshop. Of course, Auntie Bridgett set up her Auntie Beeswax booth.
The whole day was busy, fun and exhausting! Happily, it went very smoothly, mostly because of Katie’s wonderful staff and dozens of volunteers. Here is Alex, who was on the morning shift, getting everyone’s tents set up.
Once everyone was set up, I took a few minutes and gave the garden a good watering. Our weather has been very hot, and the garden was going to see a lot of action during the comic con.
The food carts that are behind Books with Pictures were doing a fine business, with everyone enjoying sandwiches from Underbite and waffles from Honeycuspe.
Auntie Katie was busy all day, making sure vendors had everything they needed and that visitors felt welcome.
There were fifty different vendors showing buttons, books, stickers, cards, patches, earrings, clothes, magnets, zines, games, and all sorts of handmade goodies.
Staff member Nico even designed a pamphlet that had a map and list of vendors and a schedule of activities that were going to happen in the garden.
We got to meet a lot of interesting and friendly people and see wonderful art, and by the end of the day we were pretty much wiped out. Until next year, BwPcon!
On Saturday, Auntie Bridgett got to have a table at the Mississippi Street Fair. This is the largest neighborhood street fair in the city, being half a mile long and stuffed edge to edge with booths, tables, and food trucks.
Rather than worry about traffic and parking, we took the bus. The Magic 15 got us downtown, then we transferred to the 4 to get us north. It took about 40 minutes, but we would have spent that much time driving around looking for parking. And we got to sit back and relax!
We got to the fair just before noon, and it was crowded! Looking down the length of it was like looking down a river of humanity.
Along the banks of this river were booths selling all sorts of things. Besides Auntie Bridgett doing commissioned cat cartoons, there were other artists selling puzzles, ceramics, and paintings.
In overwhelmingly White Portland, Mississippi is a neighborhood with a higher-than-usual African American population, and this was happily reflected in the fair.
This lady was selling her sparkly puzzles, and Author Joyce McNair was selling her book TheAmazingSweetiePie, which I bought. It is a creative, inclusive story that shows the commonality of children.
Down the road, our dear friend Jack Kent was selling his newest book, SketchyPeople6.
And there was plenty of food for when all those people got hungry. The most popular was the barbecue, with at least five booths and trucks pumping out delicious smells and luring long lines of folks.
But there was also caramel corn, burritos, and delightful ableskivvers (with lingonberry jam and lemon curd) from Broder Nord. Yum!
As the day warmed up, staying cool became a priority for everyone.
By 4:00, we were done in. Tired feet and too much sun got the best of us and we caught the bus home. Lots of water and a long nap got us in shape for that evenings’ Shakespeare in the Park.
This weekend, Auntie Katie’s Books with Pictures was not only full of people, but surrounded by people! Hundreds of them! It was amazing.
It was the First Annual BwP (say it BWIP) Comic Con. There were thirty artist vendors (including Auntie Bridgett).
There was a book signing by comic artist Steve Lieber and a comics trivia game run by Douglas Wolk.
And finally, a wonderful talk, Q and A and book signing by comic artists Kelley Sue DeConnick, David F. Walker, and Brian Michael Bendis.
Hundreds of people shopped, played, listened, talked, and had a wonderful time.
Adding to the fun were Rob Courage, who played music on his guitar to start the day; April, who makes giant bubbles,
Paulette, who runs a digital photo booth,
Maia doing face painting, and Cousin Kestrel giving people temporary tattooes.
The vendor tables were set up around the three sides of the shop. There were all sorts of things for sale. Books, clothes, jewelry, stickers, and original art. I will tell you more about BwiP Con in tomorrow’s blog.
Dear Liza 