Portland Metblogs » divebarwife

Make Gloves Not War

divebarwife — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:39:26 +0000

I think I must be blind. I have driven past this intersection of SE 82nd and Stark countless times – aand I honestly don’t remember ever seeing this sign before. This huge grenade on a post declaring “.” Apparently this is the HQ for Grenade Gloves a sportswear company for snowboarders/skateboarders.
The sign doesn’t really look new – am I I indeed just blind?

Cans Film Festival for Oregon Food Bank – Today!

divebarwife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:48:45 +0000

I’d forgotten about this annual event until a co-worker mentioned to me that he was taking his whole family to see a movie and eat popcorn for the meager price of 3 canned goods each.

So DVR the season premiere of The Office, Survivor or whatever your TV vice is (it’s better when you can skip the commercials anyhow) and head to any participating Regal Cinemas to support the food bank.

As our economy continues to plunge into the sh*&ter we’re all going to have to help each other out even more whenever we can. Thanks for lending a hand.

Oregon Farmers not McCain fans?

divebarwife — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:53:37 +0000

As anyone who has driven I-5 south out of Portland during an election season can tell you, from the look of the highway you would never know that Portland and Eugene are overwhelmingly liberal. Typically, nearly every farm along the drive has political signs for the Republican candidates and the conservative ballot measures.

As my husband and I headed to Bandon last Friday morning, driving south all the way to Roseburg, we noticed a very pleasant change. Not a single McCain sign anywhere. Not a single Gordon Smith sign. There were a handful or Erickson signs.. but, not the overload we’ve seen in the past. I didn’t have to grumble to my husband about the ridiculousness of trying to stop people from marrying or giving women the right to make their own medical decisions. It was wonderful!

Now – there weren’t an overwhelming number of Obama signs either, although we did see a few. And quite a few for Jeff Merkely. So I wonder, are the more typically rural and conservative Oregonians just not excited enough about McCain and their other candidates to bother with signs this year? Or has this Zauner guy just gotten old and given up?

Bad Religion Across the Ages

divebarwife — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:16:33 +0000

A few notes from last night’s fantastic Bad Religion show – I can’t decide which entertains me more…

a completely packed house at the Roseland for a punk band whose balding lead singer takes the stage in a salmon colored polo shirt
the fact that the crowd sang along enthusiastically for both the classics and the new songs
or the text message I saw the girl standing next to me send before the band took the stage

“Seriously, a mom in front of me is arguing with her 14-year-old kids about how close they can get to the stage…. Yeah All Ages Shows!”

Totally Portland.
Amen.

Have you ever had your fortune told?

divebarwife — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:13:31 +0000

I have once – many, many years ago. I was in New Orleans for a business conference. It was the early 90s when every trade show or conference event involved huge parties nightly for the attendees. This one was held on a casino riverboat and in addition to the free drinks, food and gambling – there was a tarot card reader, and I had her tell my fortune. What she said to me seemed pretty darned accurate at the time. Of course – what she said (and I don’t remember now exactly) had something to do with ‘my soul-mate, a man who was a friend and more than a friend…’ and probably was a pretty standard line for any single woman in their early-20s that showed up at her table. I’ll blame my gullibility on the free drinks.

So I’ve always seen fortune tellers, tarot card readers, palm readers – as just a fun party trick. But just recently I’ve noticed a number of signs all over Portland advertising palm reading or tarot cards…downtown, northeast, southeast – there are several on Broadway both in NE and over to SW. For a while there was a woman who regularly did readings at the New Old Lompoc over on trendy-third. Seeing the spaces in more downtrodden neighborhoods, places here rent is cheap and not many people go by doesn’t really surprise me. But to stay in some of the spaces I’ve seen – they have to be bringing in some decent business. Or they’re a front for some crazy gypsy scam.

I’m a bit of a cynic about this type of thing. Of course I also place hypnosis under that same cynical umbrella – and I have a friend who used to be terrified of fire – was hypnotized and says she no longer is – so who knows.

Portlanders always seems pretty intelligent to me – are there really that many out there who believe the lady with the scarves can really help them prepare for the future? Do they believe it’s actual ‘fortune telling’? Or is it treated more like a new age therapy session. ‘Cause that in Portland – I’d believe.

So my question is, have you ever had your fortune told? Did you do it just for fun, or were you truly looking for some guidance and enlightenment or hope for the future?

Join the "Save ORblogs" Campaign

divebarwife — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:11:50 +0000

About 4 or 5 years ago when I first really began to read blogs I wanted to find some written by people in Portland. The first thing that came up in my search was ORblogs. From there I found Portland Metblogs, started reading, then started commenting and eventually started writing. I found blogs that I love and now subscribe to. I found others that amuse me and I pop into occasionally. I found ones that regularly piss me off – but I have to pop over and read to just to see what the crazies are saying. Everyday I read the blogs in my feeder – and I check ORblogs.

So I was stunned when I read it’s no longer going to be.

I really have no idea how the technical end of blogging works. I am not a tech person at all, I’m a marketer and a writer. I don’t think I’d have anything to contribute to trying to save ORblogs – but I know many of you out there do. And it looks like the gang at SiliconFlorist is leading the charge.

Lend a hand if you can. You’ve got my moral support!

It’s Pie Off Day!

divebarwife — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:32:26 +0000

It’s the first day of the three-day weekend, and the last official weekend of summer. The weather is beautiful and the smell of freshly baked pies is in the air.

Yep – after weeks of hype in the Portland internets, the (first annual?) Portland Pie-Off is getting underway today at 3pm in Washington Park. Join Lelo, Radio Gretchen, Betsy, Bojack and everyone today for good pie and good fun!

Go the official Pie-Off site for all the details you’d need to know.

As our friend dieselboi would say…Eat More Pie!

Gym Goers Add to the Pearl "I’m More Important Than You" Rep

divebarwife — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:02:43 +0000

Both my husband and I both work downtown, so we carpool. Every afternoon I pick him up from his office over in the Pearl, a block or two down from the 24-Hour Fitness on Irving & 12th. And everyday there is at least one car – sometimes three or four – sitting in traffic on Irving, waiting to get into the tiny little parking garage owned by 24-Hour Fitness.

They aren’t waiting because of log-jam at the gate like you occasionally get at a SmartPark – they’re waiting because there aren’t any open spots. So they wait for someone to leave. Sitting in traffic. Blocking traffic. While they wait – no one can go eastbound on Irving. And everyday they sit and wait. Eventually you can get a gap in westbound traffic and go around them – but really? I’ve pulled up behind them and honked. Usually they don’t pay any attention, to full of themselves to notice anything around them – or if they do – they motion that they’re waiting to get in the garage.

I’m sorry, but when the garage is full – go somewhere else and park. And if you’re headed to the gym, shouldn’t having to walk an extra block or two not be that big of a deal anyhow?

It’s too bad, ’cause that’s just one more reason why the Pearl gets a bad rap.

Tri-Met Does Good by Students

divebarwife — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:53:16 +0000

This is a fantastic idea. I actually can’t believe that students had to pay for buses in the first place. Having grown up in a considerably smaller city than Portland I rode a yellow school bus in elementary and middle school – and then drove in high school. We didn’t have bus service for high school – and city bus service was relatively sparse, so nearly every upperclassman had a car… lots of beaters, but we almost all had cars. But those freshman and sophomore years were tough – you had to rely on older siblings or friends to drive you places. And since your high school friend base now spread much farther apart then when you were younger – it was much harder to hang out with them after school or in the summer. In a city with public transportation as good as Portland – allowing students to use it is a no brainer. Plus it frees up parents from having to play chauffeur constantly and gives the kids more freedom to get after school jobs, do extra curricular activities or just hang out with their friends who may not live near by.

Good work Tri-Met!

Green Dragon Growing

divebarwife — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:49:57 +0000

Hooray!

I love a good patio, and I love that more and more of my favorite places have them. I am NOT a fan of places that have a few tables on the sidewalk and try to call it a patio. I want a dedicated space where buses and cars aren’t whizzing by a foot from where I sit. And now one of the best beer bars in town has that.

Hooray!