Four things I've enjoyed lately

[darkemeralds]

1. I had dinner with dine last night at Russell Street Bar-B-Que. Her fannish roots are deep, deep, deep, and she catches me up on the latest in hockey fandom and the earliest in stuff like zines and cons of yore. It's always a breath of fresh air.



2. Mint! It hooks up to your accounts, logs all your money stuff, gives you little electric shocks notices when you're on the brink of madness with Sephora or Ross Dress4Less (ask me how I know), and generally chivvies you toward fiscal responsibility. Great customer service, too. (Mint is part of Intuit, my annual tax painkiller.)



3. The following flow chart, which I am at this very minute defying:
   
   Nevertheless, I am making progress on the Restraint rewrite. (Thanks, by the way, to karen_jk for some lovely chapter-by-chapter feedback with the rewrite in mind.)
   



4. Winter in Portland. It has its downside, nobody's gonna argue, but lately it's been cold and dry. The exhilaration of riding my bike in the cold, the freedom of the paths, the not-sweating--I love it. I took a lunchtime ride the other day to play tourist on the aerial tram, a Portland feature I'd not yet experienced.
   
   
   I parked. (Eleanor O is way back there by the "Go By Bike" sign.)
   
   
   Here comes the tram.
   
   
   I went up.
   
   
   And up.
   
   (The tram's sole destination is OHSU, the vast, labyrinthine medical complex perched at the top of the Cascadia Subduction Zone for when the magnitude 9 earthquake hits, but meanwhile, nice views.)
   
   
   And when I got back down I had some delicious lunch at the Hotbox Asian Grill, one of Portland's gajillion food carts. No MSG! And super nice people.

Comments

[ranunculus]

Great views!

Wait, aren't you supposed to be writing a book??
Grin.

[darkemeralds]

Ha. Yes I am. Well, revising. I'm making tiny progress.

[tehomet]

The flowchart? LOL!

The photos are awesome. (Portland *is* pretty awesome.)

Food carts I've heard of through Happy Opu, Jewel Staite's food blog, but they, like cable cars and ample bike parking, are something one just doesn't get over here. *sigh*

[darkemeralds]

Bike parking this ample isn't common in Portland either. In fact, I think this one is unique. On the whole, though, I have very few problems finding a bike rack of some kind wherever I go. Even my dentist has one. :D

The fun thing about food carts is that they're so modular. In a food cart pod, the whole character can easily shift as food trends and interests change. One of my favorite carts in downtown Portland is called "The Frying Scotsman." Hot, greasy fish and chips served with a real-live Glaswegian accent. Not that I want to eat a lot of that, but it's a brilliant overall concept. LOL.

[tehomet]

Oh god, I wonder does the Frying Scotsman do that Glaswegian classic, the deep-fried Mars Bar?!

[darkemeralds]

Um...I think I might have noticed that on his menu. LOL. Now I might have to try one. God help my tummy.

[darkemeralds]

Also, I take it back. He's not specifically Glaswegian. Ayrshire, though, so kind of in the vicinity?

[tehomet]

Close enough!

As far as the deep-fried Mars Bar goes, you will need nerves of steel! And a stomach-lining of Teflon! :D