Thursday, October 26, 2006

alert: kickass happy hour joint

portlanders, i'm sure you already know this, but i've just tonight discovered a super duper happy hour deal downtown. barcode on 2nd and pine, next door to e-san, shares the thai restaurant's kitchen, and thus has great happy hour food. try pad kee mao for $3.95 and get a really solid size portion. spring rolls for $2. beers (not PBR, we're talking micros) are $2, and wells are $2-3. the service is super and the food is delicious. not being at all hip or cool, i learned that they do great business late in the evenings with the party crowd, but they're trying to get people in the door earlier. as such, their happy hour is offered from 4Pm to 10Pm. say what?! 10Pm?! you heard me right, sister.

go. eat. drink.

Monday, October 23, 2006

niner, part deux

earlier this year i dubbed this year the niner. i guess the folks at multnomah county found out, because today i was chosen as juror number niner. and i get to be juror niner for 6 whole days. yes, my friends, 6 days away from my job, which couldn't be busier. and i get to sit in a pathetically padded swivel chair listening to 42 hours of lawyer blah blah. awesome.

but it's baseball season, so i can't be too sad. go detroit!

Monday, October 16, 2006

color me cabled!

this weekend i finally figured out (with the help of the lovely folks at the naked sheep) what i've been doing wrong with my cabled christmas stocking. turns out when you knit in the round, you don't have a right or a wrong side, and thus, i was following the pattern incorrectly.

behold, my first cabling project!

100 percent pure cable lovin'

only four tear-outs required -- who said i'm not patient?

next up: learning how to knit the sock part. i'm scared.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

sex and baseball

yesterday i spent 13 hours in front of the TV watching a combination of 'sex and the city' season one (and part of season 2), and the MLB division championships.

some call it lazy. i call it THE BEST DAY EVER.


Saturday, October 07, 2006

gotham tavern part deux

attention portlanders: the gotham tavern on interstate ave. and albina is back open, and let me be the first to tell you it's terrific. same hip space, but new management, new menu and a new attitude makes it about a thousand times better than its original incantation. that first time around, mickey and i visited the restaurant not long after it opened. we like NW cuisine, but this was a bit too much: every dish had 20 adjectives to describe it, the experience was pretentious, and when we left that evening, we were wholly unimpressed, so much so that i vowed never to go back, even after semaphoria worked hard to convince me that their breakfast donuts were delish.

fast forward to now. mickey remembered seeing lights on in the joint earlier this week, so we decided to give it a whirl last night. when walked in, the bartender waved and said, "anywhere you'd like to sit is fine!" what? no more $50 down payment to sit in the beehive booth? we chose a seat and were greeted by the very nice waitress. i asked for a wine list. they had three options, all very good. the waitress apologized that they were still finishing their selection, would i be OK with a glass of the kason vineyard willamette valley pinot noir ($24/bottle)? funny lady. when am i not ok with a pinot?

the menus was one page, featuring simple yet delicious pub fare options. few adjectives. mickey ordered the prime rib sandwich and a salad, and i ordered the pasta special of the day (fettuccini with sausage, roasted red peppers and zucchini). we settled in with our wine, and when the food came, we were very impressed. the plating of mickey's sandwich was beautiful, and it was a huge portion, too, all for $7.50. my pasta ($10) was really tasty.

jordan, the manager/owner, wandered over, sat down and chatted for a few. he and his partner have worked at other neighborhood bars in portland. when the opportunity came to pick up the lease at gotham, they jumped on it. jordan said he's trying to make the restaurant fit better with the neighborhood than it was before. in other words, he wants people to stop in for a beer, have happy hour, and have good tasting, inexpensive food. he mentioned considering doing a discount for people who take alternative transportation, since they're on the max and bus line. they are also going to change the name (we got the preview, but i won't mention it here because it's still a secret), to get away from the brand image that gotham had before. good move, sayeth me. we finished our meal, paid our bill ($34 with tip), waved goodbye to fawn, our waitress, and to jordan and his crowd at the bar, and headed home with our to-go boxes full with a second portion for lunch.

all in all, it was a great experience, and i'm so glad we tried it again. i want to encourage all portlanders to check the place out. the food is super and at really reasonable prices, and the staff is fantastic. the grand opening will be later this month, but even now during their soft opening, it's well worth the visit. go say hello to jordan, have a beer and grab a bite!




Friday, October 06, 2006

watch your back, ena

oh, puddy, you better watch your back. a new breed is in town. best be on good behavior (no late night meyhem, scratching, or claw attacks), or else you're outta here.


Wednesday, October 04, 2006

tough rhetoric

i heard the most classic thing on the bus tonight from a five year old. he was arguing back and forth with a little girl he just met on the bus. over and over, they argued, "no sir!" "yes sir!" every topic resulted in the same -- "i live on the stairs." "nuh uh!" "uh huh!" "nuh uh!" "uh huh!"

just about the time when i'm laughing out loud at the two kids, the five year old says, "this is my stop. i just have one more question for you: yes."

and then he got off the bus.

i love it: i have one more question for you. yes.

classic.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

chili lovin

23 chilis. a new record. props to my peeps for the best turnout yet!!!

view the chili carnage here.