Yeah, I know it has been awhile, but good things take time, patience is a virtue, etc. The Our Portland Story Volume 1 book is actually wrapping up. Final edits to pages are being made by generous designers, my editor is pouring over every last detail, and a new website that I designed is being programmed by the talented, Andrew Barden.

I am hoping this will all come together in time for an end-of-July launch.

Seen here is a sample of the current cover art and design comps for the new website. Let me know what you think! If you want to stay tuned on updates, please make sure you sign up for our e-newsletter.

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Our Portland Story Volume 1 is part coffee-table book, part yearbook, and part insider’s travel guide, but is all about Portland by Portlanders. Our Portland Story sought submissions of text and images from Portlanders of all walks of life that together capture many different aspects of the city at this place in time. Stories submitted for consideration included historical reflections of Portland’s past, accounts of a memorable tattoo, observations from a Portland bus ride, and the story of a scooter riding mom wearing pink.

The final book will be a cross section of community views and values told through personal stories and images.

Much of the promotion I am doing for the submission call will be grassroots and word of mouth, so if you like the project please help me get out the word by passing the information along to interested parties. Of course I also encourage you to enter if you are a Portlander! Thanks for your help telling our story!

Bill Bryson’s book, The Mother Tongue – English and how it got that way, has caused me to have a newfound respect for my high school English teacher, editors, and other purveyors of this unwieldy language. English is the most widespread language, and it draws its roots from countless other languages, thus accounting for the blatant spelling and pronunciation discrepancies that confound foreign and native tongues alike. The rules of our language are largely disputed and constantly in flux, although not for lack of trying of the part of some important linguistic fellows. One, Noah Webster, created what became one of the most widely distributed dictionaries, and was largely regarded as a uptight, humorless and staunchy ass (arse if you lived a couple hundred years ago). He fought and loss for things, like the ingredients of a bread bowl to be spelled “soop and bred.” Then there was W.C. Minor, one of the largest contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary who did all of his work from his residence inside an insane asylum. Obviously cataloging all of the English language is not a task for the socially blessed.

Root of “O.K.”
One of the most common expressions in all the English language and most obvious “Americanism” is O.K. There are three theories as to its roots.
1. It stands for some important person’s initials such as Indian Chief “Old Keokuk,” or Martin Van Buren’s nickname “Old Kinderhook,” and was stamped as a mark of their approval and thus, quality.

2. It formed from the roots of some English dialect such as the Finnish “oikea” or the Choctaw “okeh” (Woodrow Wilson was a big proponent of this theory).
3. It is a shortened version of the old expression “oll korrect,” spelled by semi-literate President Andrew Jackson. If this is the case it may have a long lost partner in O.W. for “oll wright.”

Swearing
It hard to believe, but in 19th century England “puppy” and “cad” were risque (a French word from risquer, to risk) but “shit” (formely scitan, then shite) was acceptable. In most languages one of the biggest insults you can throw at another human being was to directly accuse your target of incest. Hence the “tu madre” or “your mama” expression. Cut someone off in traffic in Germany and you may be called a “schweinehund” (pigdog); aggravate a Finnish lad and he may cry “ravintolassa” (meaning in the restaurant). I would go into the history of the word, f*ck but it is not appropriate here, maybe in another hundred years.

Rhyming
On a final note, the book discussed wordplay and in particular, different forms of rhyme. They gave the example of the Burma-Shave ads of the 1920s that used rhyme to tell quick stories about men using their product. Their rhymes were broken up across many freeway billboards so you read one part of the phrase at a time as you drove. An example, “A peach looks good with lots of fuzz, but a man’s no peach and never was.” Or “If wife shuns your fond embrace, don’t shoot the iceman, feel your face.” I love the simplicity, the wit, the rhyme such is a reflection of its time. I am now trying to think up little rhyming quips for my clients. What rhymes with Sports Rejuvenation with Active MSM? «

After eagerly consuming the novel Sometimes a Great Notion (by Eugene resident and bus-painting pioneer, Ken Kesey) and watching the movie, my boyfriend and I were among the first in the door to the Portland Center Stage production of the novel. The play was fantastic and we chose to attend a symposium on the play’s creation the Saturday following the first week of shows. Among the speakers was playwright, Aaron Posner, film director Gus Van Sant, and prankster extraordinaire, Ken Babbs. Babbs was one of the self proclaimed Merry Pranksters who, along with Kesey, journeyed across America in a converted school bus spreading the peace, love, drugs, and rock and roll message of the 60s. Babbs stole the stage more than once because his crazy non-linear stories could not be told from a sitting position. Nonetheless he was an interesting character an interesting message. Plus he has his own Wikipedia article, so he must be cool.

To celebrate their book launch of Not Quite What I was Planning, 6-word Memoirs from Authors Famous and Obscure Smith Magazine is coming to Powells on Feb 21st. The Reading/Signing/Six-Word Slam begins at 7:30 and will feature six word “readings” from me and other Portland contributors. How’s that for a good 6-seconds of fame.

Several months have passed now since I worked to bring Cut & Paste, the international digital design tournament to Portland, however, the design lives on! For the event, I designed 3 large banners that graced the Wonder Ballroom day of show. Post-show, I donated the brightly colored banners to my friends at Queen Bee Creations, a quaint little shop in Portland that turns recycled fabrics into gorgeous handsewn bags, purses, etc.
They were thrilled to receive the banners and quickly went to work turning them into large Market totes, so you can grocery shop in style. The “Delzio” line of bags are set to publicly launch soon, but I was lucky enough to score the first one completed (see below) along with a few additional for Christmas presents.

Look for it to go on sale soon at www.queenbee-creations.com.

More exciting news to report, along with the Delzio bag launch, is that I will also have a sentence published. That’s right, a sentence. About a year ago I submitted my 6-word memoir to Smith Magazine as part of their call for entries for a compilation book, and my submission was among the chosen. Its a shame that it has been so long that I dont even recall exactly what my 6-word memoir was, but I think it made reference to the hokey pokey. I guess I will be as surprised as the rest when it arrives at my doorstep. You can find the book at amazon.com. Who knows maybe this year I’ll shoot for publishing a paragraph.

Happy 2008!

I have a strong affinity for the “…” I think there is something inherently comforting about not finishing the sentence, letting it hang out there for everyone to fill in the blanks themselves. Similarly, I like an unfinished thoughts. Finished thoughts can be packaged up, and prepped for their exit out of your mind and into the external world via blog or the more traditional conversations over beers. Unfinished thoughts just rattle away in your head, gaining and losing clarity and coherence over time. You can return to them at night, mull in the morning and maybe visit them occasionally while “listening” to a particularly dull conversant. They are random, raw and unpackaged, just waiting for you to transform into structured sentences…

Yet another reason to love Powells, these kick ass retro notebooks. The covers for these spiral bounds are old hardback library children’s books complete with check out slip and stamped dates on the inside cover. My favorite: Nancy Drew of course! I imagine myself filling those pages with all sorts of Drew-inspired notes. Heck maybe Ill even write my own mystery novel complete with a hapless sidekick.

“Ernest Hemingway once claimed he could write a great story in six words or less. He followed that braggadocio up by keeping his word. His story: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

The six-word story challenge is still alive and well today, only with a spin. Smith magazine (smithmag.net) posted a contest to find the best six-word memoir. How to best encapsulate your life in six words. Submissions range from the touching to the bizzarre. Some examples include:

Big Hair, big love, big hurry. ~ Larry Smith

Yes to every date, met mate. ~ Maria Headley

As for me, I submitted my own six-word memoir to the challenge.”Put whole self in. Shook about.”

I think that about sums it up