weekend pickthrough- cleaning up my act edition.

it’s been a wacky summer. once upon a time, i posted 5 or more times a week. i deal hunted. i cataloged. i photographed my groceries like a crazy person. then sometime this summer, i got lazy. or busy. or both. not to be a crybaby, but committing to writing a blog every day (or almost every day) is really hard. nowadays i’m lucky if i can squeeze out one post between weekend pickthroughs. NOT COOL. anyway, consider this weekend pickthrough my profound apology, and sincere promise to try and get back to where i was when i started (or at least closer to it). here is a list of my potentially empty promises to you:

1. i will try to write at least 4 times a week. even if the posts are kind of crappy.

2. i will try harder to respond to comments within 48 hours, unless there’s like a 100 of them, which totally never happens.

3. i will relaunch my diet blog being bess marvin with a totally sweet (ok, actually, it’s kind of lame, but it does involve free candy) giveaway.

4. i will bring back the “worth the trip” feature, and actually get some deals up in this business.

ok, i should probably distract you with some weekend pickthrough right now, before i say anything else that could potentially end up being a lie. what i can promise you, is that you’ll never look at a snuggie the same way again.

you’ll also never be able to read your babysitter’s club books again.

a creative use for burritos! (although, i think i’d probably use bagels instead).

karate bears!

the mostly true adventures of lepage and rooks. (seriously, 207ers DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO OUR STATE).

i was never a hairdryer person or a gun person, but now i might be both.

no, mocha dick isn’t a porn title. but it totally should be.

you really can buy EVERYTHING on amazon.com, but the product descriptions here are priceless.

i really should have named my dog majestic crystal. although if brother brent doesn’t show up, maybe i can just hook up with this guy.

this is gonna make my ipad so awesome! you know, when i get one. or steal one. or make one in my garage.

i spy- bargains and sadness.

this fucking economy. over the last 3 years, i have watched the streets of this town morph into something that i don’t recognize anymore. exchange street alone is a complete stranger with its consignment and discount shops mixed amongst the last few surviving high end stores. not that i don’t appreciate the bargains, but it feels like i notice a new STORE CLOSING! or GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! or maybe EVERYTHING MUST GO! sign pretty much every day. after having your business alive in this city for so long, i can’t even imagine what it must feel like to have to paste that sign up in your window. i assume that there’s a lot of shame and regret. a lot of wishing that they could go back and have that “it’s a wonderful life” chance to do it the right way this time… or maybe it’s just a relief to be done with it? struggling small businesses can be like large monsters in the way that they eat up time, resources, energy, and hope. whatever the case, shuttering those windows and signing over your lease to some dude who thinks he has a better idea has to be an emotionally pummeling experience. i know it breaks my heart every time, and i just shop there. well, i used to shop there.

this past week, 2 of my favorites made the casualty list.

the north star music cafe had such a benevolent purpose! delicious local (mostly veg & vegan) foodables! flexible performance and music space for all! a few months ago, the owner ran a small fundraising campaign to help pay off some mounting business related debts, and i think we were all really hoping that was the end of it. not so. thursday afternoon, the news broke on twitter that they were shutting down for good on sunday. goodbye adorable hippie girls serving me bagels. goodbye sweet vegan reuben. goodbye people in this town trying to do something with purpose, integrity, and love. maybe i’m being overdramatic, but i’m super bummed out.

second on the list (do we need to start making a dead pool for portland businesses?), is cunningham books in longfellow square.  always carefully organized and stuffed full of beautiful and pristine picture books, this was a regular stop on my local hunt for nancy drews and 80s art and fashion books. i spied the 30% OFF STORE CLOSING sign on sunday afternoon, and the excitement over possible vintage book bargains was totally clouded with the confusion and disappointment i felt to find out that they were closing. too pricey? too far from downtown?  not enough revenue to be had selling old books? i don’t know. it’s possible that they don’t even know. sometimes you can do everything right and still fail. small business is vicious, and i wholeheartedly admire anyone who has the iron cojones to actually give it a try.

anyway, sorry this post is such a bummer. consider it your “buy local” lecture of the day. if we don’t support the businesses that we love, they will disappear. it’s fucking crazy hard out there right now, so open those wallets and go get yourself some local whatever (might i suggest some gently used he-man figures, or possibly a chocolate covered twinkie?).

have you recently lost a favored local establishment to this crap economy? tell me about it. and let me be the first to offer my profound condolences.

weekend pickthrough- ramen invasion edition.

serious eats gets very serious about the best bagels in maine (and you should be too).

kate at the blueberry files gets wasted on hipster lemonade.

a comprehensive flow chart picking the right type face for any occasion, except that i keep coming up with COMIC SANS. i love an unnecessary flow chart, but I HATE COMIC SANS!

if you’ve never seen tampopo, you need to do that right now in preparation for the noodle bar explosion about to descend on portland!

uh oh! those two faced coupons are talking shit behind your back, and you are NOT going to like what they’re saying.

with young people dressing more like old people all the time, it’s time to swallow that pride and head over to the boys department for some amazing deals on petite sized menswear.

chicken on top of chicken on top of bacon (with a side of cheese and mayo). KFC has gone hilariously too far. even more shockingly, the vegan version might actually be worse for you.

and speaking of vegan, the starbucks frappuccino will soon be officially available in a cow free version.

and finally… HOLY SHIT they’re building a bowling alley on the peninsula.