Mississippi Movie Mondays presented by Moxie Rx

Moxie Rx Presents
MISSISSIPPI MOVIE MONDAYS
7pm to 10pm
(show time 9pm to 10pm)
Moxie Rx Opens @ 7:00
for Nibbles & Refreshments

FREE! Watch movies projected on the side of the Rexall Drugs building (where the Fresh Pot Coffee Shop is located) just up from the intersection of NE Shaver and N. Mississippi Ave. Also available for purchase are amazing nibbles by Moxie Rx and some lovely beverages (they are planning on having a license to serve alcoholic drinks).

July 31st
Silent Movies and Cartoons
with live music by the Evolutionary Jass Band

Future Shows:

August 14th
Joanna Priestley will present a program of contemporary,
experimental animation, including her new film "Dew Line" ("a rich
abstract tapestry of botanical and biomorphic forms that hint at the
loss of botanical diversity") and a few historic gems that are her
favorite animated films.

August 28th
Music films from the collection of Dennis Nyback including Slim
Gaillard, Lester Young, 50's Rock and Roll, Scopitones from the 60's
and more.

September 11th
A series of musical shorts curated by Eric Isaacson of Mississippi
Records

* Special thanks to The Evolutionary Jass Band, Mississippi Records , Joanna Priestley, Dennis Nyback, Video Verite, & a Very Special Thanks to Rachel Elizabeth for curating this event

Reminisce about childhood water toys and water parks

Water slide.,
originally uploaded by Morgan Nichol.

In my last entry I posted a photo of a terrific inflatable water slide I saw in somebody's yard. Therein lives a parent that is super dedicated to childhood fun and spends a whole lotta time filling that thing with air.

Most of all I remember the water parks. Glorious tubes of plastic reaching down from the sky to the concrete jungle below. The aromas of chlorine, sunscreen and over cooked hot dogs filling the air; a sea of red chubby masses and tiny over-stimulated natives in constant motion. Time spent waiting in line to get to the top, eager for a water trip that would last less than a minute, clutching a giant blue foam mat and considering how many more times you will get to slide down the water slide before you have to all cram into the car for the 45 minute trip home.

Wouldn't you know that two of the toys I remember best have since been outed as dangerous!? Both the wonderful Wham-O Fun Fountain with clown face and the nostalgiarific Slip and Slide are on the block.

I have sorta become disinchanted with the slip and slide since I found out how easily it is to break your neck or incur other serious spinal injuries. Read more about it here and here.

water slide

Some lucky kids have this excellent lawn water slide.. this is huge improvement over the water spouting clown head from my childhood.

chalkboard teddy Zzz

Chalkboards are really neat. The hard part comes when it is time to erase one picture and start anew. This is a really large chalkboard I found recently while digging at my favorite Portland thrift store.

It was a fantastic day for finding great stuff. I also picked up a wonderful 70s blue floral chair that is in amazing condition and oh-so-comfy. It is my new sitting-by-the-window-chair.

PAPERCUT

PAPERCUT

New paper cutter how do I love thee, let me count the ways.

• I love that I did not pay full price for you
• I love the hours you will save me
• I love how you cut through a stack over an inch high

I look forward to the years together we will spend. I wonder how long it will take until you need a good sharpening. I love that the guy I bought you from offered to fix my lawnmower. Welcome to the family, trusy paper cutter. I HEART YOU.

New Encaustic Paintings

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click the photo to view larger image

I have uploaded some photos to my flikr site, including images of a few new encaustic paintings entitled tick tock and little room 1 that I created by layering pigment mixed with beeswax, ink, papers, and colored chalk.

Also added: a photo of my encaustic painting set and a peek inside my studio.


original artwork is owned and copyright of the artist and cannot be reproduced without permission. thank you.

Celebrity Stationery Shopping

There is nothing more fun than cruising the aisles of the stationery store, looking for that special card or invitation for that certain someone or event. I love my job and I like to imagine all of the special moments that my little pieces of artwork have witnessed. Sentiments shared, thank you's made... And it is no secret that I love me some good celebrity scoop while simultaneously thrilled that there are no photogs following me around to get my morning makeup-free-hair-crazy-pillow-creased-face-coffee-run on film and then plaster it all up on the internet. I am thankful it is a part of someone else's job.

In the spirit of celebrity voyerism, I give you the first entry of Celebrity Stationery Shopping. This is a special edition, with both celebs shopping in stores where my line, Owen Says Paper & Gifts, is carried.

Hally Berry @ Kate's Paperie
in New York City on May 31, 2006. (source)



A then-pregnant Katie Holmes @ Soolip Paperie
in West Hollywood on April 07, 2006. (source)

(click image for larger view)

Crafty Wonderland - what I did this sunday in Portland

Today I visited Crafty Wonderland @ the Doug Fir in Portland, Oregon. A monthly showcase of kickin artists and crafters.

I coveted these gorgeous layered resin pendants made by a really talented lady by the name of Faryn Davis from Seattle. Check out her website Fernworks to see her very special jewelry and artwork. They are definately one of my next purchases. I love the new colorful hand painted layered bird and grass themes. (not shown)

Unfortunately I spent all my loot yesterday on mother's day gifts (retro black and lime travel umbrella, special no-sweat garden gloves and a chocolate cupcake) and the most beautiful pair of shoes I just had to own, an unusual occurance for this very picky and usually cheap girl.

My mad-money budget being only $5, I decided on the 3 hand painted button pins made by painter Madoka Ito. She also had some really great original artwork on display in the style shown  here.

Today I will also visit Post Secret -- an online art blog project that intended to be temporary, but instead has spawned art shows, books, and a cult following. Always facinating and updated every Sunday.

A website more committed than work, friends or family

oh Amazon.com Wish List, let me count the books i will never buy. 85 in total dating back to November 29, 1999. my longest stretch of employment did not last this long.

Here's to the next wonderful years of my life - may it be full of Dr. Phil books that tempt with suggestion that life can be fixed with a car-mechanic-like workbook, GenX novellas, collections of random things by theme, illustration books by people I want to be, and recipes I will never make. a list filled with people who have written books i have never read. gone from the list are my favorite authors -- i already read all their books. I "borrowed" them (permanently) from my brothers or bought them at Good Will, or on impulse, at Powell's Books.

oh Amazon.com Wish List. maybe this will be the year I add items of deep literary substance. thought provoking works, classics, books that fill the deeping gap of where education failed. well, maybe not.

View My Amazon.com Wish List

Oogle my Kugel - another local food review of Moxie Rx

Breakfast Kugel with fresh strawberries and whipped cream
@  Moxie Rx, N. Mississippi Ave Portland      $4.50

kugel   (kgl) n.  A baked pudding of noodles or potatoes, eggs, and seasonings, traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath.

I pronounce it YUM. Highly addictive. Decadent and very filling. If you still haven't tried anything from this Mississippi area cart you are missing out. Check out previous postings for reviews and the link to the article about Moxie Rx in the Willamette Week. Moxie Rx is now opened Friday-Monday. Hopefully more days added as the weather improves!

New commissioned illustration for KABOO Radio Guide

When it rains it pours! There are a lot of interesting little projects going on right now. Recently I was commissioned (by my sister-in-law Leigh Anne!) to create this illustration for the upcoming KABOO Radio program guide. It will accompany information on the show she is hosting discussing Princess themes in children's media and traditional fairy tales.
Topics will include how the princesses (and princes) have stereotyped roles that are revisited again and again in different stories, as well as the current facination with and popularity of the princess theme within today's hip kiddie culture.

Sure to be a button pushing Disney-centric discussion about how princesses aren't fullfilled until princes save them from a life of slavery or sleeping and how princes are man-boys until they have found the woman to give them direction. It is going to be really cool, so check it out!

Eat like a gourmet for under $5. Moxie Rx's yummy tomato tartlet

Tomato and goat cheese tartlet with white bean salad
@  Moxie Rx, N. Mississippi Ave Portland      $4.50

Eating well on a budget can be hard. I have tried to convince myself that coffee and an oatmeal cookie constitutes a meal. (There is some logic to this when the cookie is larger than your hand.) Other times it seems that a slice of pizza or fast food (gasp!) are the only options for a quick bite that doesn't leave you without any money left to do happy hour that night with your friends.

Enter the Moxie Rx food cart, located on N. Mississippi Ave. in the lot next to the Fresh Pot Coffee Shop. Each scrumptious item is worth every penny and is made fresh with the best ingredients. Another plus - you will be supporting another local small business. Nancye is the owner and genius behind ever single delicacy. If you haven't already visited for an affordable meal or snack you are missing out bigtime. Options include breakfast, lunch, homemade muffins and scones, cookies, smoothies and more. Currently only open Fri-Sun, but better weather will bring additional days.

Read about Moxie Rx in this week's Willamette Week.

friends don't let friends go on television

Coming to a television near you -- me dancing with my childhood teddy bear and other disastrously wonderful cheesy moments brought to you by Jenn (that's me!) and the Home & Garden Network (that's cable!)

Today I taped a craft themed how-to segment for the HGTV show, "That's Clever!" because yo, I am the cleverest. No, um, scratch that. Talking to a camera is freakin difficult. And I am happy that the format of the show is fun and silly and that they were super nice and lead me like a trained monkey dressed in people's clothes. Bless every single one of the crew. They couldn't have been any nicer or accommodating to me. According to them I did a pretty good job and managed to look not too shabby on video.

I am the girl who says strictly forboden phrases ("Now I will" and referring to the viewer as "you".) over and over without ceasing - instantly destroying at least 50 takes. OH and I can't forget how the mild speech impediments that I manage to get away with for the most part were magnified and so obvious. I come from a Georgia McEducation and frequently channel Yoda (and not necessarily in a good way). My Yodisms have been joked about many times, but I always shrugged it off. Try shrugging it off when you hear three people repeating the words that you just uttered just so they can relive how awkward you just sounded and puzzle over it for themselves. I fear it has put an abrupt end to my television career. (HA!)

Who is the girl who inverses words? ME! Who is the girl who combines two words into one nonexistent word? ME! Who is the girl with weird enunciation? ME! Who is repetitive? Who is repetitive? Who is repetitive?

Seriously, most days this girl can talk. Usually I can do a fantastic job communicating ideas and dotting my chatter with descriptive words. Get the camera in front of me and it was like.... der, um, what was I talking about? I had to be told very specifically what to say and I made the worst parrot EVER. I needed direction like a child does to tie his shoes. And I needed instructions cut into tiny pre-cut pieces, thankyouverymuch.

When the show finally airs in the fall I fully expect for my older brothers to tease me for the rest of my days with the numerous cheesy quotable ammunition they will have. Guess I will have to wait until Fall 2006 to see it myself. It was a fantastically challenging opportunity and I am really glad that I got a chance to experience it! I expect to have more to share once I have stopped internally siezing long enough to eat and sleep normally again.

art review: a polar explosion resulting in evil bunnies and a giant bear with a door for a tummy

The entire gallery looked like the North Pole exploded and some of the animals went rabid. And not just the walls, but the floors, the ceiling, everywhere you look there were animals and sparkly winter wonderland. There was never a place for the eye to rest.

Vicki Lynn Wilson  Love in the Wild @ Blackfish Gallery
420 NW 9th, through April 1

I know I probably shouldn't have taken this photo all on-the-sly with my camera phone. But I wanted it to be my cell wallpaper because I was truely enchanted. Honest! So here, up front, is all the artist and gallery information to ease the guilty pinch a little.

What I did not realize was that there was a whole performance art aspect to this show that I missed when I arrived late on opening night many weeks back. I remember being worried that I wasn't dressed nice enough with my sneaks and messy hair because the gallery was in the Pearl. Instead I was greeted by an entirely empty gallery and the artist dismantling her costume and makeup. She seemed honestly upset that I had missed the performance. Performance art not being my thing, I wasn't really all that upset. But now I wonder what I missed based on the enthusiasm of the artist. The Mercury didn't write anything up on this show until this week, not mentioning the performance art piece either. Curiosity builds.

 The Mercury review called it "amateurish". But I call a giant polar bear with a door for a tummy that easily out-sizes the average home refrigerator, simply just "delightful". (Granted, the bear was bowing under its own immense weight - with out a doubt testing the limits of plaster and wire.) Another corner reveals a grouping of white deer with a dotting of red eyes staring back at you. It is enchanting and creepy all at the same time - one of my favorite combinations - and nary a goth black item to be found. Check it out while you still can.

You can read the Mercury review here.

So I am going to be on TV... hello insomnia!

So I got the call today that I have been picked to do a craft segment on the HGTV cable show called That's Clever! 

I am very excited, but memories of how difficult high school speech class was keep coming to mind. Thankfully I am fully committed to letting go of old fears. But there is no way I will be able to sleep until it is all over and I will prepare in the way that only a complete control freak can so that on the day of the shoot I can just chill.

Curiously enough last weekend I also found myself on the end of a camera, sans makeup with serious morning hair, to film a segment for a clip that should appear sometime online. It gave me a chance to see what it is that I do when you stick a camera in my face:

I babble
I nod A LOT, seemingly agreeing with everyone and everything
I glance at the camera
I become the person who compulsively winks at the cameraman
I added the host's name at the end of sentences with a hard syllable. "Thank you, LIZ."

And this is all for a bit that lasted maybe 60 seconds. But it was eye opening and I have some work ahead of me. The segment people will be around to film for five to six hours!

I worry:

That I will start talking and never stop from beginning to end
That somehow I will do something so horrible and so cheesy that it will be played back in my head like a doofus home movie clip forever more
I will mispronounce a word, or even worse, use it incorrectly over and over again
I will become supremely southern like I do when I drink too much or talk with lower state customer service reps
That suddently I will become bad-madonna british. This is something that has never happened, but what if it could happen. 
What if I fall and get a head injury? 
I can't think of anything to say at all
I say something completely wierd (this is not out of character for me
I say something that horrifies my mother
I wear something my mother dislikes so much she mentions it every five seconds any time the TV show is brought up forever
Something about my craft goes crazy like the time Martha Stewart's Berry Wreaths kept exploding all over the front doors of homes across america whenever it got too hot

I will keep everyone posted as the hilarity unfolds!

rummage this weekend:

I came across this adorable little ewok in the coffee shop.

 

The trees have popped all over the city.

This hat was a distraction from the old lady furs I not-so-secretly
coveted and modeled in the mirror like Lindsay Lohan.

But the hat's off to the bazaar cobra in a bottle of liquor. Drink that.

Sadly I had to walk away from a perfect condition fur cape and a fur shawl combo that included the most-amazing-muff-in-the-whole-wide-world-with-a-little-pocket. But I did come out with a few things; the highlights being a lucious burgandy eel skin clutch, a dainty ceramic dish with a sleeping pig on the top, a ceramic owl for my collection, and a tiny painting of a ship.

what's more odd than being the new kid?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt in the garden state?

what's more odd than being the new kid in jellies and a miniskirt and a pink flashdance sweatshirt in the garden state surrounded by izods?

Answer:
Being an adult doing your day-to-day and realizing you are standing next to somebody you recognize from their blog and who do not know who you are. Or that you know who they are. And you feel like you are violating their invisible chalk circle of anonymity.

How curious - the social structure of the internet and how it works out in the real world. It is really odd if you stop and think about it.

You could be standing next to somebody you talk or read and is part of the everyday world you have constructed for yourself and not know it. Not actually have to deal in the real world. Sorta weird huh?

a trip through music past...

the early years
Ohio and California
My parents were into road trips. And Babs. And Neil Diamond. And I am one of those people who catagorically memorizes lyrics. And I was also desperate for attention so would sing REALLY REALLY LOUD. enough said. Memories was my favorite. Oh the horror. 

 

christmas 1985
Summit, New Jersey
I actually still have my wish list from this year. Eventually I will get around to scanning it so others can share. I was in the 4th grade and wanted 1) A-HA cassette tape (and i included a little illustration of a casette just in case my aging parents weren't sure what i wanted) and 2) a boom box. I got both. The boom box was pink (i think) and looked like a transformer. It was totally sweet. I remember going to LA to visit my aunt sometime later and listening to The Hooters (aka Cyndi Lauper's backup band) over and over and over again. I also remember having a hissy fit outside the Pirates of the Carribean ride.

 

1987-88
Alpharetta, Georgia
By this time I was full swing into rollerskating and also at the height of my top-40 phase. I liked to couple skate to Tiffany's "I think we're alone now" and skate super fast to Salt-n-Pepa's "Push it". I admit to purchasing a Debbie Gibson tape and going to my first concert, George Michael. Two moves which almost got me disowned by my older brothers. (Seriously, as a side, going to a concert when you are 12 where the singer is belting out ballads about sex and your friend's dad is standing next to you and some drunk girl falls on him is life alteringly.) Thankfully Dirty Dancing came out and I got distracted by oldies long enough for my brothers to retalliate by gifting me U2 and mix tapes to sway me to their side of things. They really went out on a limb by including Dinosaur Jr.'s cover of Just Like Heaven.  While I am sure they take a lot of credit for my future improvement in musical tastes, actually the credit should go to a boy I met on the bus who had a shaved head and a punk rock attitude.

1989-1990

Alpharetta, Georgia

Ah, these were the years. Before the internet finding new music was an art form. It involved detective work, bin rummaging, music label connect-the-dots and luck. Mix tapes were the alcohol of my youth. The term "Alternative" DID NOT EXIST. But MTV's 120 minutes did. I was into The Cure, The Smiths, Camper Van Beethoven, The Descendants... I will keep adding to the list because all I did was absorb music and trade with my friends. It was our Pokomon. We were obsessed.

1991-1992
Alpharetta, Georgia
Once in high school the music obsession had not subsided. I had access to people with cars, friends in bands and Atlanta 30 minutes away where I could see live music. There was not much else to do and not being one into sports or extra curriculars I was seeing a lot shows. Thankfully at that time there were a lot of venues that allowed under 18 babies like myself. I added The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugazi, The Church, and a lot of terrible punk. (OK, breathe. I did not say I was punk. And many people would say my eclectic tastes prohibited me from being punk. This is a debate in itself. I remember a few times in high school people went ape because I was wearing fishnets with birkenstocks or combat boots with a flowered dress. Like I was a dress code felon or something. I always thought it was stupid and funny. Everybody always running around trying to catagorize everybody else.)

Ok. So you are thinking, "I've heard of all these bands. They are not obscure. I could buy their album in Walmart." That's fair. During the time I am writing about these bands weren't even played on the radio. They are well known now because they were flipping out suburban kids like me. Some of them way before my time. And the rich kids at my high school thought it was cool to pretend to be a redneck, drive a truck and listen to Garth Brooks. So for me they were delightful. Enough said. (for now!)

ah, the memories. 

plush cuteness abounds

i love the site called mypapercrane.com with crafts by heidi kennedy. 

she creates some of the cutest things in the world. seriously, how can your mood not be improved by plush donuts and cupcakes? it is almost like huggable prozac. check out her store and blog by linking through her main website!

 

portland weather has bipolor disorder

It is bright and sunny at the moment, but earlier it was snowing.

It is funny to see the trees budding, the flowers blooming and it is snowing outside. I love real seasons.

when blogs collide - Urban Honking

Back in November I was walking down the street with my friend Ryan and we came upon his friend in the midst of a shoe crisis, one that was also being chronicled for her blog. You can read about it here and see a funny photo of me in the background.

She did finally retrieve her shoe. I have since figured out that she is also one of the exclusive bloggers on Urban Honking (an invitation only site for those that want to contribute) that is getting a whole lot of attention. Read the article about Urban Honking in the Willamette Week.

new encaustic teddy painting

"We used to be together always..."   © 2006 

I am really digging my new encaustic painting set. To those not familiar, just imagine painting with hot wax, then scraping and heating with various tools to achieve what you want. This is a crappy photo taken with my mobile phone.. so you can't see the translucent effects you can achieve through layering or any of the other details for that matter. This medium is a fantastic outlet for obsessive compulsive behavior and very zen as well.

Unfortunately I am about to embark on a major inventory push for Owen Says (my greeting card company) and must turn my back on the siren song of my wax paints. I am in the middle of a new painting and am anxious to get back to it. 

I have now fulfilled my small pet fantasy

Having real pets has become obsolete. Where have you been? No longer will you have to endure the stench of the cage, or have your warm embraces met with sharp incisors dashing your hopes of warm cuddly fun. Because now we have PET CAM. My brand new obsession. 

PICK YOUR FURRY


Four Enthusiastic Guinea Pigs -
 http://1130819934.camarades.com/userpage.php3?resource=1130819934&force_resolution=320_240

One Brooklyn Bunny Rabbit -
http://www.bklynbunny.com/

What a beautiful day!

Today is a fine example of why I love living in Portland. So beautiful, so green, so sunny. Got a fantastic nosh at the Moxie Rx food cart next to The Fresh Pot coffee shop on Mississippi Ave. Open only on weekends and some sunny days during the winter. Don't worry, you don't have to pick between the cart and the wonderful people at The Fresh Pot. You can get Fresh Pot coffee  and a scrumptious raspberry crumb muffin to go right from the cart.

A fine PDX perk - the creative and independant businesses that make living here so special.

Bowling score maybe not fluke...

So tonight scored high of 98, which for me is pretty gosh darn good. I have not bowled in quite a while, ever since they closed my most frequented bowling alley. I have been apprehensive about trying my luck at one of those bright and clean alleys run by blue haired old ladies with not a speck of rock and roll music to be found or a crappy Ms PacMan game to remind me why I suck at Ms PacMan and why I only play it to see the digitized bow on Ms. PacMan's head... but anyways, I digress. The topic is bowliing. Specifically the new bowling alley I went to tonight. 

The new place is indeed run by a blue haired old lady, but I did find a ball with finger holes small enough for my freakishly small kid hands and one that would not throw off the balance of my fragile upper body strength (or lack thereof). There was also a guy walking around with a microphone and an afro because there was some bowling/gambling game going on simultaneously.

On a side note, while once bowling when I was still living in Atlanta, Georgia, I was actually denied a child size ball by a cranky lady who told me I was too old. I showed her my freakish kid hands, she shamed me further. I bowled a terrible game with a ball that weighed a ton (14lbs) and had giant man holes. Really I am not sure about that last part, but you get the point. So you can see why finding a ball on a busy Saturday night is nice.

I actually have one final thing to say about bowling. In high school I took a recreational Phys Ed class that included bowling. I almost beheaded a kid when the ball flew backwards after it slipped from my hand.

So bowling = fun (but with a little baggage)

But don't get me started on eating after sticking your fingers in shared balls and putting on smelly shoes wet with whatever they spray them with... ew.

the library rules

i always feel nervous when i leave the library. walking out with a book and having given no money makes me feel like i forgot to do something. now to get the perfect latte (fresh pot mississippi ave, of course) and wash all my dishes and the day will be off to a good start.

Amy Ruppel (http://www.amyruppel.com/) - a local artist whose work i really like after seeing some of her paintings in The Fresh Pot - is having an online art sale today. Check it out. And if you miss the sale get on her mailing list to find out about the next one.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I thought I would share my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. To me, this is the perfect cookie. If you follow the directions exactly these cookies stay chewy for days. You may also gain five pounds in the process but it will be worth it. Drink with milk!

Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) MELTED unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla (less if you like a mellower vanilla flavor)
2 eggs
Semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (if you use milk chocolate these cookies will be too sweet)

Preheat oven 325 degrees. In mixer combine melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla. Add one full egg and one yolk and mix well. In separate bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix like crazy. Stir the chocolate chips in by hand. Spoon onto baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes. When they look just barely done remove from oven. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.