Check out my Dads photos at jonasdovydenas.com There are pictures from aboard an aircraft carrier for Marines, and also from over a 30 year period in Afghanistan!
The Afghan photos require flash unfortunately, so you will have to use Chrome if Safari doesn't load them.
Wow! The line for Nong's is impressive, and intimidating. Nong herself is intimidating and impressive.
I've been thinking this is my ideal spot for Picnic. I would love to move in here. If I was next door to Todd, Picnic would not have to make coffee anymore, which is not really one of our core specialties. From left to right is:
Off camera but continuing to the corner,
I’ve heard so much about our namesake, Portland Maine. From reports it is supposed to resemble Portland Oregon in that it is a liberal mid sized city, distrustfull of large corporations, entranced with local small business and natural agriculture, stuffed full of coffee shops, good restaurants and yoga studios. This all seems to be true. It shares with Portland also another charachteristic, large numbers of homeless people.
Susan was laid off from her full time job in 2013. She could not find further employment and gradually lost all stability in her life. Her son, who she showed me on her cell phone, would support her with cash from time to time. He tragically died of a heart attack that same year, in his late 20’s. She is too embarrased to confide her situation to the rest of her family and now lives in homeless shelters with money garnered from busking. She was born in Maine and has lived in the state her entire life.
Don was hanging out drinking coffee sitting on the sidewalk.
This guy was collecting bottles and was pushing his cart up the street at a good clip. I snapped a few photos quickly without asking for permission, something I normally do not do. As he passed I heard him mutter, “what’s this guy doing taking my picture? He’s with the F.B.I. watching me.” It was after this encounter that I began to notice men sitting quietly in public plazas holding signs reading, “I spent 90 days in an F.B.I. prison being raped daily.” Then again just days later in Chicago I saw the same signs.
This kids name I did not get. He just arrived from a rainbow festival. He is in Portland just for the summer before heading to the west coast.
Andy appearing to be in a Jesus Christ state of mind. He was literally walking down the street like this.
While taking photos of the distressed of Portland, one naturally begins snapping pictures of everyone else. This couple asked me to take of photo of them with their iPhone 4s. I did, and then whipped out my camera to snap a few pictures of them.
The local organic food purveyors, and their progeny. Eventide is where my friend had one of his wedding parties. It is a restaurant started by a protogé of Thomas Keller. When we ate there, the star dish was a Korean style steamed rice bun with lobster and brown butter sauce.
This man was looking relaxed and chill. I asked him if I could take his picture. He was suspicous and said, “why would you want to take a picture of such a bad looking fellow?” I said, “oh come on, you look pretty cool and tight.” Then he said, ok, you can take my picture I guess.
Finally, a version of me if I was actually a professional! Hehe. This guy is probably from the Portland Tribune. As I quickly snapped his photo he passed with nary a blink.
I recently shipped all my childhood legos from my parents house to Portland. There is so much nostalgia in all these old bricks.
This last weekend I held a second lego night, printing out instructions for us to use. Zoe made the above helicopter, kit number 2849, designed in 1997. I only have a single tail fin of this type so it was pretty lucky that this one could be built.
This excavator is very likely something I made when I was a kid. Kit number 6631 released in 1985. The older models have fewer specialized parts and I was able to make an exact build.
Choul was working on #1489 from 1989. There were a few pieces was missing so she had to improvise. With some string she tied up the winch and by the end of the night it was a fully functional crane.
Eric was particularly excited about this lego night, and searched plans of a distantly remembered childhood spacecraft. And lo and behold, #6931 from 1985, the FX Star Patroller. This is a huge craft. It features a spaceship with detachable cargo bay, and a robot controlled rover that can scout on land.
Katie made the Katee boat, an astounding craft of great sophistication. This is from the first night, where everyone made free form models. In the rear Katy maintains vigilance. In the cockpit Katie takes the controls. The only flaw in the design was some topheavyness which could hinder the Katee Kraft in inclement weather. But the addition of two pontoons provides sufficient stabilization.
Lisa made this strange temple of the tongue. Is the astronaut on a distant planet? Or is she expecting a plunge down the throat?
Such a great and timely video about the condos being built on Division street. I recognize two of the band members as baristas at Stumptown coffee. The quantity of condos that are being constructed is unbelievable. In a 10 block stretch of the street about 5 units are being put up. It's like a mini housing bubble, and even reeks of corruption. Somehow they exploited a loophole because they do not need to provide parking for the hundreds of new units!
Plus I love that the video starts at the Clinton Market, my go to shop for beer.
The band is White Glove and they have an album up on bandcamp from 2 years ago. Hopefully this signals a resurgence in their output! Either that or they are going to leave town :(
Here is a view of Justin Smith's pinot just before harvest last year.
Back to the present day, Mike Kelley is doing a second trimming on his vines. Our mild winter is gentle on the plants, but random freezes could still do damage to the spring budding.
