The Adventures of GricklePants and Research Girl

budapest red ... oh noes!

2007-08-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

well, now i have something to remind me of hungary...my hair color. this picture makes it look less garish, (thank you mr. sunshine!), but it really is budapest red.

millions of women all over hungary, old and young alike, all sport the same hair color. you would think that with the fall of communism there would be zillions of hair color options flooding the market. that's what capitalism offers, right? more choice in hair color? maybe there are more colors available but the only one women buy is a freakish dark purply-red one.

in the hair color aisle, i looked at so many different boxes and they all looked more or less the same. i had a fleeting thought that this one might be too close to budapest red, but when compared next to some others it looked like a safe bet. but no. next time i will heed the small voice in my head that says "orange, not red."

quasi-failure

2007-08-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

the lovely and multi-talented vera obliged me with the recipe for failure cake, so named for its finicky-ness for actually forming a cake. i had a lot of plums, why not make failure cake?

i haven't cut into it yet, but i am pretty much certain it is a failure. the plums were very, very ripe. i added cornstarch to them and even drained excess liquid from the fuckers, but i fear the top crust of the cake hides a goopy, soupy mess of an interior.

however, all is not lost. i ended up with some extra batter (i have lent my springform pan to arlie, so i had to improvise with some other smaller baking vessel) and i pretty much love any food baked/served in a ramekin, so why not combine the extra batter with a ramekin and see what happens? success cakelettes happen, that's what!

having used all the plums i looked for something else and found a too-ripe-for-eating-unless-you're-gricklepants-banana and sliced that up. poured the batter on top and baked it. it's pretty darn tasty, especially since the batter had a bit of cardamom in it. i see many failure cakelette experimentations in my future...

morning scones

2007-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

we had an abundance of half & half in the house so i have been wanting to find ways to use it up. or maybe i just wanted another excuse to make scones. and use some of the delicious lavender cherry jam vera gave me for my bday. on a super beautiful morning.

whatever the reasoning, i made scones. i decided to smear the round disc of dough with the lavender cherry jam and then folded it in half. i was in a bit of a rush to get them into the oven so that gricklepants and i would have ample time to eat them before he had to go to work, so i probably could've arranged them better prior to baking. they kinda fell over and the jam exploded out. i'm not too picky, though. they were delicious.

birfday!

2007-07-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

oh, bloggy, so many great things have been happening, but we've been so busy, and i 've been on a plane every week so far this month. so for now, no more pictures of kitchen experiments (but oh how delicious the boozy homemade maraschino cherries were!)

my birthday was saturday and it was a full weekend of celebrations. i flew back to pdx on friday night and gricklepants and i decided to have date night and go out to dinner. we went to farm, a place many people have raved about and so it was time for us to try it out ourselves. in a word: deelish. in two: deelishous.

we shared an appetizer of figs stuffed with gorgonzola and drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar. it was phenomenal. i ordered the gnocchi with a fire-roastd red pepper sauce and gricklepants got the halibut off the specials menu. the halibut was the bomb-diggity. the gnocchi were a little heavy, but the sauce was supreme. we ended the meal with a slice of marscapone cheesecake topped with a blueberry sauce and it was so light and fabulous.

saturday morning meant a trip to the dmv since my license expired. having some previous experience with the dmv on a saturday we decided to awake painfully early. it wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly fun either. and nobody wished me a happy birthday. i wouldn't have expected it but at the airport all of the security people wished me a happy birthday (i guess they actually do carefully read over your license!)

we got out of the dmv around 9am so went for breakfast. i wanted to go to le pigeon since it's rumored they have the best eggs benedict. sadly, i will never know because they are no longer open for breakfast. the doug fir was a tasty backup. then we went shopping! gricklepants gave me his wallet and left me at mabel & zora, my favorite shoppy store for girl clothes. i was pretty good and didn't go too overboard. oh! and at some point in here i opened up my present from gricklepants: a whole new set of pots 'n pans! i am super stoked.

after a nap we met up with jeremy, vera, jonathan, and arlie at thatch, a tiki bar i had read about. there was a tiki crawl going on so the place was full of people in bright outfits. it was fun. we were tucked away in the back in the tiki "hut." the drinks were good 'n strong and the food was surprisingly good (though, i can only really compare this tiki bar to the alibi, which is decidedly not known for its food.)

it was an awesome day! can it be my birthday everyday? please?

berry season

2007-07-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

this past weekend i went out to sauvie island - twice - to pick fresh berries. came home saturday with a flat of blueberries as well as some cherries from kruger's market. on sunday, gricklepants and i joined verabee on another jaunt to the island, this time to columbia farms, where we picked another flat of blueberries as well as a flat of raspberries.

i guess i got a little carried away because i'm not really sure what to do with all those blueberries. i knew i'd freeze a bunch, but man, there's a LOT. blueberry crumble cake from gourmet was made yesterday, and blueberry buttermilk pancakes this morning... i've been looking for new blueberry recipes since sunday but i'm a little overwhelmed. and i leave tomorrow for 3 days. so many blueberries! maybe i should feed them to pancake. do cats even like blueberries...?

so i made a cherry pie instead. that's more straightforward and does not overwhelm. still, i decided to experiment just a tad. i kept a few cherries back from the pie and decided to make mini pies with them. i rolled out some leftover scraps of dough, cut 1-inch circles and placed them in the bottom of a mini muffin tin. then i placed half a cherry on each circle and topped with a second dough round. i think they came out alright for being a last minute "hey, what would happen..." sort of thing. they do look a little like open clam shells, or pac-mans.

monster island

2007-07-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

wow... iceland is the most awesome place on this planet. our 5 days there simply wasn't enough time to see it all (even though it's a very small island.)

we landed right around midnight on saturday night and the sun was just touching the horizon, casting long shadows on everything; and on our bus ride to reykjavik, gricklepants commented that the lava field landscape would be perfect for a godzilla movie. this is true. when godzilla tires of crushing tokyo under his feets he should consider iceland. there he would have the extra benefit of the geo-thermal springs in which to bathe. i imagine even godzilla would appreciate the hot springs of iceland.

there aren't really words to explain just how awesome a place it is. we spent half our time in reykjavik livin' it up with our friends and hosts, tyler and korka, going to bars, seeing icelandic bands play (we saw múm!) and general exploring. we spent the other half driving around the countryside, which was unbelievably amazing.

aww hell, you should just look at our pictures here

adorable

2007-06-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

lots of cooking

2007-06-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

i've been busy trying to make the most of the summer and cooking/baking as much as possible. from the fresh berries on sauvie island to delicious meats from gartner's, gricklepants and i have been eating well.

some highlights...

the other weekend, our friends scott & pete came up for a visit and i felt compelled to show them the tasty things portland has to offer. first, we went to sauvie island to pick strawberries, which was awesome and ruling, according to scott.

scott shows off a tasty specimen:

we picked a lot:

which we put to good use (photo by pete):

that would a strawberry rhubarb pie along with a chocolate pavlova topped with whipped cream & strawberries. sinfully delicious!

the leftover rhubarb got turned into tasty drinks:

rhubarb syrup, liberal amounts of gin, plus lemon & lime juice. i have bought extra rhubarb to freeze just so that i can have this drink in the dead of winter. sometimes i am smart and plan ahead like this. just sayin'.

we had some non-berry food too:

most notably, we bought a big pork shoulder from gartner's and then cooked it up with beer. holy crap it was good. we served it with homemade bread and some asparagus. everyone seemed to like it, though it helps when you eat dinner at 11pm. i think we could've served wallpaper paste and it would've gotten rave reviews.

i think gricklepants was inspired by that weekend because the next weekend he wanted to make meatballs. growing up in the sault has spoiled him; apparently the best italian restaurants are there and every so often he gets nostalgic for some tasty italian meal from mrs. b's, aurora's pizza, giovanni's, minelli's, or suriano's.

i like it when gricklepants joins me in the kitchen. he's a good sous chef who can mince garlic like no other, but it's rare for him to take a lead role in meal prep, so this was very nice. we researched recipes online, slowly narrowing down our choices and finally chose one, knowing that this was just our first step toward finding the ultimate meatball recipe. we also decided to make the pasta from scratch too, which is always tasty and worth the effort. the meatballs turned out pretty good, though i'd like to keep tinkering and get them perfect.

the leftovers i think were even tastier:

there were other food adventures like a few batches of ice cream, banana cake, a plum galette, etc. but i think this is an already epic post, so we'll leave it at that. and we leave for iceland in one week so you'll have pictures of putrified shark to look forward to!

we has kitten

2007-05-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

gricklepants and i went to the humane society on friday night because we've been wanting to get a cat. we've talked about it forever but now it feels like life is settling down enough to make room for an animal of some sort. and we came home with the best cat in the world!

we're trying out the name pancake for her, which so far seems to be sticking, except sometimes it comes out as popcorn or petunia or pumpkin instead. that doesn't matter too much since she's a cat and doesn't come when you call her anyway.

but man, is she lovable! she cuddles up with us and sleeps with us and makes biscuits in graham's closet and falls asleep on his pants.

food!

2007-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

my weekend in LA provided ample opportunity for me to eat delicious food (& drink quite a bit. then this past weekend friends who love food as much as we do came to visit. more opportunities for tasty foods. i present a pictoral digest:

the pork tenderloin mentioned in the previous post:

shrimp cocktail served in individual shot glasses:

gin gimlet (or, how to make an already good day great):

a well set table in anticipation of the food:

grilled cheese ooze (it looks like mount hood!):

apizza scholls! (after months of trying, we finally got in!):

desserts from pix patisserie:

i am in LA

2007-05-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

my sister has just informed me that i have not posted anything in a long time. i can't remember the last time my entire family has been together, but my sister and i are right now at this moment sitting at the kitchen table together at my parents' house while my mother sips wine nearby and my dad is is busy getting 16 lbs pork tenderloin marinating for the big weekend party. and i have not posted anything, she says. fine.

also, my dad has always informed me that the recipe i posted on our website for the pork tenderloin on our website is wrong. i am not going to post it correctly now, but i will quote from the recipe (i don't know the source - i just know it's a longtime family recipe):

pork is excellent when roasted.
roast pork figures as an important ingredient in a great variety of other dishes.

i must take this opportunity to point out that i can find no fault with the above statement. also, my parents are feeding me lots of alcohol.

p.s. my dad says i must point out that this is the best pork tenderloin ever in the history of ever.

signs of spring

2007-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

have been meaning to post this...

our "back"yard is surrounded by super tall magnolia bushes & they're all starting to bloom now. and i swear, the sun shines more awesomely here -- it's almost reason enough to wake up in the morning.

the great bread experiment

2007-03-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

every tuesday morning i look forward to reading the oregonian's food day section (which is about the only section of that paper worth reading.) this week's cover story was about some crazy no-knead bread. i was dubious. i know there are people who hate kneading bread dough and that's why they cheat & use a bread machine; but not me, i find kneading dough to be satisfying... i guess i like to earn my delicious bread.

so, no kneading? at all? indeed. but patience is the trade-off. the dough needs an initial rise of 12-18 hours (18 was listed as preferable) and man, that's a long time to wait for delicious home-made bread. but i thought i'd give it a shot.

i mixed it up yesterday evening and then over my lunch hour today inspected the goo sitting in the bowl. it didn't look that good. it was bubbly, yes, so i knew the little yeast guys were doing something, but it sure didn't look like bread dough. it looked more like waffle batter. i had grave doubts about being able to form it into ball for its next rise -- it looked like it would just flatten out & run off the counter. and it was sticky as hell. the second rising, which takes place on a cotton towel covered with flour, didn't double up in size and the dough was still really wet. to make matters worse, it seemed as if half of the dough remained glued to the towel despite the liberal flouring. i was sensing failure. but i had been dutifully preheating the oven along with a cast iron pot, so what the heck -- i dumped the messy goo into the pot, covered it with a lid, & shoved it into the oven. after 30 minutes i peeked. it had risen & it looked like bread, but how would it taste? i kept the lid off and baked it another 15 minutes. after removing it from the oven and dumping it onto a wire rack, there was not another drop of patience within me to wait for it to cool. the bread was hot & clearly was still baking because it continued to pop & crack for the next few minutes. but i didn't care, i grasped a knife and began to slice... the exterior was nice & crusty (good sign) and finishing that first cut revealed a soft & luscious interior. i was shocked, it looked perfect. could this have actually turned out? but there remained the taste test... holy crap, it was good! no, it was great!

i wouldn't call it a 100% success -- i'd have to try it out a few more times to see if the dough is always so wet & gooey, that just doesn't seem right to me. oh, and i'd probably want to explore putting things in it like cheddar & cracked pepper. maybe when i know i'll have enough distractions for 18 hours at a time, i'll try it again!

(so, ok, gricklepants and i had troubles getting this whole blog thing transitioned over to the new-fangled google sign-in process; that's why dear old bloggy has been neglected.)

mountains, mountains everywhere

2007-01-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

Exhibit A: Mount St. Helens

So, from our kitchen window you can see Mount St. Helens. On Friday the sun was out (for the first time in over a week), the sky was totally clear and that mountain was an unmistakable presence on the skyline.

Exhibit B: Mount Adams

This past weekend we went to Arlie's family cabin which is juuuust across the border into Washington. The cabin is on the south side of Mt. Adams and from their living room, you can see that mountain too. It's just as awesome as Mount St. Helens.

Exhibit C: fun with dogs

We went hiking and exploring the surrounding areas. It was cold and snowy but it was very sunny and we had dogs with us, so that makes everything more fun. Dogs are easily amused by snowballs. Throw snowballs up into the air and the dogs try to catch 'em as they fall back down. It also makes for good photo ops of leaping dogs.

Exhibit D: ice caves are wicked!

The following day we hiked/cross country skied, snow-shoed to some nearby ice caves. Apparently in the summertime you can go deep into the caves, but in winter they are very icy and slippery, as evidenced by the snow-covered stairs. Oh, and we had no flashlights. Caves are dark 'n spooky so we only went down to the bottom of the "steps."

Exhibit E: disappointment

(though 3D photos won't really be of any use to you out there in webland)

I brought my new Loreo 3D camera (I even bought real film!) and was excited to use it, but I was totally lame and didn't check to see that it needed a battery. And not just any battery -- a funkdog 11.5 volt battery. wtf is that? So I'm already in negotiations with Arlie for another trip back to the cabin sometime next month so this camera can capture the scenery in 3D.

new year, new post

2007-01-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

This blog really does get neglected. I guess I just don't know if what I have to say is worth it.

In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of cardamom breakfast rolls from Christmas morning. (yes, they kinda exploded...)

Thanksgiving Wiikend

2006-11-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

I know I was skeptical about the Wii with that crazy wireless wiimote, but holy sweet jebus, it's the coolest thing ever. Ever since I got it we've been playing Wii Sports and Monkey Ball with whomever happens to be over at our house. My arms are actually a bit sore from playing tennis, baseball, and bowling. And boxing is a workout!!

Even my parents have gotten in on the action. Choice quotes from them as they created their Mii avatars:

"They don't have slicked-back, blow-dried preacher hair." -- Dad
"The nose choices are pretty limited." -- Mom

going to hell

2006-09-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

GricklePants and I have returned from a weekend in the Bay Area, where we attended a wedding, memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The reception was held at St. Vincent's, a totally beautiful place in Marin. Everything looks as though it has been left to decay into ruins and it was awesome to explore the grounds.

As usual, being raised without religion means I have no manners or respect for such icons, therefore I seize photographic moments like this one below. I'm praying for her acid rain-eaten face to be restored and her arms to grow back:

My only comment about this wedding... Apparently, the wedding was straight out of 1982, as evidenced by this cake:

Yes, gentle readers, there is a giant plastic replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as fountains with colored water.

what's in the box?

2006-09-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

supplies!

and this is what it looked like before

2006-09-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

the first thing we did in the house was tear out the carpet from the living room/dining room/hallway. look at gricklepants tear out that gross carpet pad! thankfully, the floors underneath were in gorgeous condition. (the 'gorgeous' modifier may make it sound like we didn't have to do anything else other than rip out the carpet and carpet pad, but in truth, we had to scrub to remove all the carpet pad dust that had worked its way into the crevices of the wood, as well as strip the wax finish then re-wax it. but at least we didn't have to do anything crazy like sand the floors.)

ok, real quick

2006-09-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

sorry bloggy! have been meaning to post but have been busy unpacking. here's a quick pic showing our progress in the living room & dining room (which is the room that is the most unpacked/setup/presentable...)

i <3 doctor hectic & susie cupcakes!

2006-08-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

This morning, a co-worker sent an email out saying he had brought in muffins and scones from the Cheeseboard, one of my favorite places in Berkeley. Sadly, being in Portland, I am unable to partake of the goodies. (I wonder if he'd be willing to bring some in next week when I am in the office?) That got me thinking of making muffins and I dug out the "Granny's Muffin House" cookbook I received from Susie Cupcakes and Doctor Hectic. I was paging through it and thinking of the muffins Susie Cupcakes made last fall when she and Doctor Hectic were in SF for OrphanStu & Michelle's wedding, and was on my way to picking a recipe to try during lunch when the doorbell rang.

It was the mailman with a box! Hooray, more fun mail! And lo and behold, it was from Doctor Hectic & Susie Cupcakes! What could it be? Quite possibly, the two best books ever written. I must post quick pics. Sorry for the blurriness.

GricklePants is going to piss himself when he sees this:

And this:

(I'll have clean underpants waiting at home.)

And then, there was this:

And this gem from page 129:
"Wood paneling, like other wall coverings too expensive for wide use in the past, is now readily accessible at low cost. The warm glow of wood is a perfect foil for the spare, clean lines of modern furnishings."

Well don't that beat all. This house is all about the warm glow of wood -- it's in every single room!

Really, I will post pics of the shrine to '59 soon! Stay tuned!

pancakes unlimited!

2006-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

We have received our first package in the mail at our new house -- hooray for mail!! Doctor Hectic's parents, Jan & Lee, knowing our fondness for all things breakfast, sent us our very own swedish pancake pan! And cute little spoons for applying tasty toppings!

Many fine weekend brunches at Jan & Lee's have turned into all-day affairs as we took turns cranking out the wee & delicious pancakes. Sweet toppings of sugar or jams, or Eric M's inventive and tasty savory toppings of whatever else he might find on the table... it makes me miss the days when we all lived in the same area and could gather for breakfast any old weekend. Now we are scattered across all parts of the country (or world, depending on where Bengeance is), which I guess makes the times when we do get together, like for Molly & Kenny's wedding in April, more special, but it makes me a little lonely too.

I miss my Minnesota peeps, wherever they may be currently living. Maybe that's why I'm warming up to this whole blog thing, because I realize that by reading their blogs it allows me to sort of be a part of their daily life and to share in the moments that shape their day. And now, by having my own blog I'm maybe having the same impact on them?

Sheesh, this kinda turned into a depress-o post; that wasn't my intention. Pancakes! That'll cheer me up! Good 'ol GricklePants and I will have a fine banquet of swedish pancakes this weekend to infuse the walls of this house with delicious pancake smells, and if I can ever find the little thingy that allows me to get pictures off the camera, I'll even post a few!

horsies

2006-07-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to post this and was reminded again when I saw Doctor Hectic's Top Dog photos today.

All over the city of Portland there are small metal rings on the street curbs which date back to the days when horses were the standard mode of transportation; the rings providing a convenient place for you to tie up your horsey while you did whatever it is that you did way back then, before the time of the intarwebs. Well someone has found a genius way to bring smiles and delight to all Portlanders by doing this with the horse rings:

You can read more about the nice people behind this project here.

"holy crapface!"

2006-07-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

We got the keys to the house yesterday and went over there last night. As I unlocked the door, GricklePants said it felt like we were breaking into the house as it just didn't feel real yet. And no, he did not carry me over the threshold of the door, I was just too eager to get inside and see if they had left behind the clock over the fireplace (they had -- score!)

Friends arrived and we poured wine and gave them the tour of the place. The above quote is from Jecca, who has been in town this week and to date, it's the best thing anyone has uttered about this house.

omg! wtf! sbj! we're homeowners!

sorry bloggy!

2006-07-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

It wasn't our intention to ignore our blog for so long, we've just, uhh, been busy. Doing little things like buying a house!

Yep, so we bought our "shrine to 1959" -- the house that has remained virtually untouched since it was built in 1959. The previous owners took meticulous care of it and did nothing to spoil its beauty. Dear bloggy, you may be ignored for a bit longer as we move and unpack and get everything set up, but I promise you we'll be back.

In the meantime, I'll post a few pictures of non-house related activities from recent weeks.

#1 -- Fireworks are cool. I thought we were going to be arrested because, no, fireworks are not legal here in Oregon. After the city-sponsored/sanctioned fireworks, we made our way to a schoolyard and set up shop setting off our own stash. We were joined by a few other neighborhood gents and ladies and together we took turns lighting our fireworks. To end the night, we lit the Peacock -- omg, it was huge. And awesome. Everyone was jealous.

#2 -- Picking berries on Sauvie Island is thoroughly enjoyable. We went on a Friday morning and it wasn't too busy, so we had little competition for the ripest and tastiest blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and marionberries. I think we got carried away because we ended up with pounds of berries, but it's really hard to stop when you know that there are 75 acres of delicious berries and the next bush might be the best. Or maybe the bush next to it. Or the one after that...

Note to self: review Alton Brown's puff pastry and/or cobbler episodes and make use of these berries!

#3 -- Seattle has nice underpants. We drove up to see the lovely Miss Rachael's art show, conveniently held at a store that sold very enticing underpants. Although I liked this pair, I'm not sure I would like to find them on GricklePants. We saw more underpants than just the ones in this store, however. The young Mr. Nicolaus was very proud of his Lightning McQueen diapers, and let me tell you it's quite a sight to see a 2 1/2 year old walking about yelling "Ka-chow!" as he shows off undergarments!

OK, bloggy, more later!

old stuff is better

2006-06-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

Went house hunting this week and while I was underwhelmed by what I saw on the whole, there were bits I liked. These bits being the details and charm that escaped the bad remodeling jobs using the latest sale items from Home Depot. Last I checked, Portland was nowhere near Tuscany, so please, folks, stop "fixing" your home to look like Tuscany. It just doesn't look right and doesn't fit with the architecture of the house.

So what bits did I see that I liked? The wallpaper lining the closets in the 1950s homes -- awesome plaids and japanese lanterns and giant florals -- stripped from the living rooms and bedrooms, but thankfully overlooked in the closets during the Pottery Barnification of the home.

And formica in basement laundry rooms or family rooms. Why don't they make patterns like this anymore?!

summer vacation!

2006-06-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

Friday was my last day at DF and on Sunday, GricklePants and I made the long, long drive up to Portland. We intended to leave on Saturday after a nice breakfast with friends, but I simply wasn't packed and ready to go. Picked up the car from the repair shop, went to work to clean out my desk and then it was almost 5pm, so we decided to get up wicked early the following morning. The drive was pretty uneventful, though pretty.

Yesterday was my first day of "summer vacation" because that's what this feels like. I still don't feel like I've uprooted and moved to another state. But summer vacation may already be on the way out because by 5:30 last night, I was working part-time for DF again.

...mayhaps not

2006-05-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

We did the inspection on the house and it came back with some frightening data. Not only is the electrical system out of date (which wasn't surprising given the age of the house), but it had had some Frankenstein electrical work done which was totally haphazard, posing an immediate threat of electrical fire. The seller would not agree to any concessions for that, or for the 30-foot dead tree in the front yard -- or anything else for that matter!

Now, understandably, older homes have things that need maintenance and modernizing, which as new home owners we would be happy to undertake, but there's no logical reason why we should have to pay for a previous owner's neglect and poor choices.

So we gave a final "eff you" to the seller for being so unreasonable and are moving on in search of something that won't be a money pit.

Photos!

2006-05-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

Okay! I've got some photos up for folks to peruse of our pending house! They are located right, exactly, here! Or just click on "Photos" on our website's homepage.

haus!

2006-05-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

GricklePants and I have bought a house!

After all these months of searching and searching we finally found a wonderful place. It was built in the 50s and it has retained so much of its original charm -- the kitchen is vintage, and throughout the house there are awesome sputnik-styled lighting fixtures.

So, very soon we shall be reunited with our stuff, which has been sitting patiently in a storage unit. Hooray!

Pictures to follow soon...

The city of Twins.

2006-04-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Malena and I have just returned from America's favorite state, Minnesota! And we have returned with a multitude of pictures. I have put our photos up on Snapfish for all to peruse at their leisure. Photos of time spent at Anodyne, Molly and Kenny's wedding, and the wicked Swedish pancake breakfast are all there. Enjoy.

By golly...

2006-04-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

...we're long overdue for a new posting of something or other on this blog!

I can't think of a better random image to post than Miss Malena enjoying a fine frothy root beer in San Francisco. At Rocco's, a good little Italian joint we ate at after a hard day of comic conventioning.

I can't escape the rain

2006-04-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting much, but the rain has gotten me so down that you probably wouldn't want to hear anything from me anyway. (And no, I'm not talking about Portland -- it's been raining non-stop in the Bay Area FOREVER.)

So this morning I wake up and it's sunny! Holy eff, real sunshine! As I'm walking to BART I hear the birds chirping and it's clear that they are happy too. Never mind that I can see dark clouds on the horizon, I will at least make it to work without getting soaked...

Once on the train, I fire up my DS to play Animal Crossing -- you know, check on my townspeople, water my plants, catch some fish, dig up fossils -- and guess what? It's effing raining in my town. I just can't get away from the rain.

oh that Biscuit...

2006-04-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was requested to capture everyone's favourite studio dog in vivid pen and ink. Here's the result. The picture is outside of Henry's office now for all to gaze upon and contemplate the wonder of Biscuit.

Some research.

2006-03-25T11:31:00.000-08:00

(WARNING- the following blog entry is completely focused on weather. It may be extremely boring to portions of the population. If you find yourself distracted, yawning repeatedly, or slipping in and out of consciousness, while reading this post then close the webpage immediately. Visit it again later in the week only when a new, more stimulating, entry will likely have been posted.
You have been warned.)

Okay, so upon making the decision to move to Portland, Oregon, we suddenly found ourselves with a heightened awareness of climate. And the recievers of many, many, words of advice and warnings.

"You know it rains there, right?"

"Do you know how much rain they get up there?"

"Man, I don't think I could handle the rain in that place."

"I sure couldn't live without sun, dude."

As you all know , our heads swirling with visions of constant floods and neverending monotonous gray skies we still went ahead and relocated to the Northwest.

I'm happy to report that so far it really hasn't been that terrible. Oh sure it's rained a lot but honestly no more than the folks in the Bay Area have been receiving. And in fact the storms have been on a much milder scale than our Southern friends have been enduring.

It got me thinking. Maybe it's really been a big conspiracy up here, this whole "oh man it rains all the time" stuff. A clever ploy to keep the outsiders out. Scare off the Californians, Canadians, and other foreigners who might want to ravage and spoil this idyllic Pacific paradise.

So I did research (maybe about 10 minutes on the internet.) I fully expected to uncover a terrible misconception about the state of Oregon and put into swing a full scale migration of friends and family to the Pacific coast. People from all over moving to the new "sun state" of the West.

Well, what I discovered was that the misconception maybe isn't such a misconception after all. Looking at annual precipitation numbers there are some pretty glaring differences between Portland and the rest of North America for weather. Especially those regions known as "California."

Here's how the numbers stack up for annual precipitation in some familiar spots across the continent:

Portland- 36"
San Francisco- 22"
Los Angeles- 16"
Toronto- 32"
St. Paul/Minneapolis- 29"
Seattle- 37"
Vancouver- 43"

So, yeah, it does rain a lot here. Oregon isn't quite the undiscovered sun country I thought it might be. It is mostly grey and wet for a good chunk of the year.

But honestly it hasn't really bothered me. I admit I do think about weather more than I have in a decade, but it's not so bad.

I mean it doesn't really snow here or anything eh.

Introducing ... Miss Jazz!

2006-03-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

Look out, Biscuit has competition!

Miss Jazz belongs to friends of ours and I was lucky enough to take care of her for a few days last week. She's really the best dog in the whole wide world!

mmm... cioppino

2006-03-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Mmmmm.... No need to say more.

Hermit Weekend 2006!!!

2006-03-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

The weekend Malena and I have been waiting for finally arrived! Hermit Weekend 2006 was a complete and utter success here in Portland, Oregon.
We managed to do little or nothing for all of Saturday, other than sit through nearly 10 straight hours of 24: Season 3. We're nearly caught up with the rest of the Western world as we close in on Season 4!

Isn't it odd that the most patriotic fictional American character of recent times is in reality a Canadian?

Whoa.

Ironic, eh?

Forgive me if this is pointing out an obvious issue that's been discussed on countless chat rooms for the last 5 years. I'm still slowly catching up with the present eh.

Hermit weekend 2006 gives a person a lot of opportunity to ponder.

The Hills have Snow

2006-03-10T08:06:00.000-08:00

Downtown Portland was rainy and business as usual, but a quick glance at the surrounding terrain showed off snow covered hills all around. I rather liked it.

best thing ever... so far today

2006-03-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

As I passed the Metreon on the way to work this morning, I witnessed something awesome. There were a shit ton of school kids out for a field trip and they were walking along. In the middle of the sidewalk there was an open manhole cover and a construction dude standing over it. As the kids passed by, a construction dude from below starts climbing up and as his head breached street level, he let out a huge yell to scare the kids. They all screamed and laughed and continued on their way. It put a smile on my face.

beaches, lovely beaches

2006-03-08T22:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd take a second and post yet another picture of the Oregon coast. This one is minus the big Goonie rock (which I've now discovered there are several rocks that all look to be the Goonie rock dotting the Oregon coastline, so I can't be sure I captured the geniune article the other week.)

We spent the past Saturday night at a beach house rental and it was great! I had it in my head that all beaches in Oregon would be covered in rough, craggy rocks and pounded relentlessly by a cold stormy ocean. I've been pleasantly proven wrong. The beaches here, disregarding the temperature of course, remind me more of San Diego for how fine the sand is and how the waves come rolling in.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

blogging under pressure

2006-03-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

I've just been informed that I must put down my latest knitting project (a cozy for my DS) and tell the world about my latest adventures.

Behold my tale of the blimp!

In between periods at Winterhawks games (junior hockey) there is a small blimp that flies out from the rafters of the Rose Garden arena. The crowds go wild -- absolutely wild -- screaming and waving their arms in an effort to attract the blimp to fly over them. When the blimp finds a worthy group of fans, it lets loose its booty and pieces of paper rain down upon the crowd. And just what are these pieces of paper that cause the crowds to whip into such a frenzy? Coupons. Coupons, you ask? Uhh, okay... Coupons that are redeemable for an airline ticket or two? Mayhaps a gift certificate to an expensive restaurant or a spiffy new digital camera? No. Instead, these precious pieces of paper offer fans such lofty gifts as a free quart of milk from the local Fred Meyer. Milk. Yup.

The punchline to all this is the looks of disappointment on the faces of the children of Oregon who thought they were going home with something that would be the envy of their entire neighborhood.

Goonie rock captured.

2006-02-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to create as many excuses as possible to update this blog I've posted a picture of the rock from the Goonies, off the coast of Astoria (or more specifically, Cannon Beach.)

This is the photo I would've snapped last weekend (pre-blog era) had my little Corolla made the initial trip. Equipped with a fresh new clutch disc, I arrived at Cannon Beach today and was able to document this historic landmark.

Biscuit!!!

2006-02-25T12:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, first real posting of everyday boring stuff. Well cute and boring stuff.

Meet Biscuit! He's the pride of the Coraline studio up here in Portland , Oregon. A potentially lethal mix of Jack Russel l Terrier and Chihuahua, Biscuit is capable of charming all who cross his path.

He even knows a little German eh.

OMG!

2006-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

Get ready for truly amazing and adventurous commentary about our everday boring lives. It's just what the interweb needs more of...

The beginning!

2006-02-25T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family! You are reading the first of hopefully many postings on the all new, all fresh, Adventures of GricklePants and Research Girl blog site!

Welcome!