Hook, Line & Sinker

Moose

Have you ever had one of those moments when the universe grabs you by the collar, smacks you upside the head, spins you around on your heels, grabs your chin and forces your head in the direction of someone, screaming, “Him (or her)! You belong with HIM (or HER)!” My boyfriend and I spent last [...]

Life As A Human Article: Welcome to My Brain

I am very impressionable. Seriously. My subconscious is a sponge. A super porous, extra absorbent sponge. If my brain were toilet paper, it would be Charmin Ultra. Actually, that’s a good analogy, considering the amount of crap my brain soaks up. When I expose myself to a certain kind of media for extended periods of [...]

Life As A Human Article: Adventures in Snacking

How many jalapenos does one girl need? To answer that question, let me take you back a few weeks. I was invited along to the movies by my friend Bev and her daughter, Aubrey. We buy our tickets, and then this conversation takes place: Aubrey: Ohmygod, have you ever had jalapenos on popcorn?Me: What? Aubrey: [...]

Counting Cookies

For me, Christmas is not Christmas without shortbread cookies. And not just any shortbread cookies. My Dad’s shortbread cookies. Every family has their wacky traditions, and ours involved quintuple batches of sugary dough. It would take all day to bake tray after delicious tray of specially shaped shortbread, each with half a candied cherry pressed into the [...]

American Thanksgiving Postscript

I had big plans about writing this post last Thursday. Actually on American Thanksgiving. Or at the very least, the day after. And here it is, not only five days after the holiday that inspired this post, but also a brand new month. Ah well, we all know what happens to best laid plans. So [...]

Hostel Weirdos

I’m staying at a hostel in Ashland (officially known as The Ashland Hostel). The town has a pretty famous Shakespeare festival that runs for a good chunk of the year, and apparently the hostel is just swinging when the plays are on. They stopped not too long ago, and now the place is dead. There’s [...]

A Homage to Fried Meat

There’s this thing I have to do every time I’m in the States. If at all possible, I must go into a greasy diner and order chicken fried steak. CHICKEN. FRIED. STEAK. It’s a dish of pure genius. My step-dad, Mike, introduced me to the wonder of CHICKEN FRIED STEAK over a decade ago, and [...]

Couch Surfing in Portland

Finally, after months of talking about it, and one failed attempt at doing it, I’m finally getting to use my van for more than cruising around town in the fast lane during rush hour. My good friend Bev is in Portland taking a class, and she made the mistake of inviting me down to visit. [...]

The Mystery Of The Disappearing Poo

I would like to dedicate this story to my sister, Melissa. Mel, this poo’s for you. A few evenings ago I decide to take Riley and Zera for a walk. It is pissing down rain and getting dark. I’m wearing my rain jacket partially zipped up, with the hood down. This jacket also has big pockets that sort of [...]

Cobble Hill’s Mysterious Road

Last Saturday was one of those rare September weekends, where it’s sunny and warm and feels like it’s still the middle of summer, even though fall is only days away. We get lots of days like this in September, but they often fall during the week, fading to rainy cool days in time for the [...]