What’s Going on @ Sillydog Media

One of the nice things about doing restaurant (or as they’re called @ wCities, point of interest) reviews is that I get to pick where I write about. As such, I pick the places I think are wonderful and it turns into an easy write.

I suppose if I were to write reviews for a newspaper I could give crummy ones, but there’s so much negativity in the world — why not focus on the positive?

I’ve recently had articles posted on wCities for four excellent places you really ought to check out if you haven’t already. I managed to get over to the west side and experience St. Cupcake last summer, and it’s one of the few places I’ll drive across town to visit. Matt often scrapes some of the frosting off, but normal folks, such as yourself, will relish in it.

Not to be ignored is Pix Patisserie. I could go on all day about their exquisite desserts, but just go down and check it yourself. Don’t blame me for the extra weight — ride your bike.

Since you’re not driving, you might as well get an organic beer at Roots Organic Brewery, on 7th, just off Hawthorne. Bring your “growler” (a half gallon glass container w/ handle) and get it filled with your favourite brew for take-out.

If cocktails are your thing, you might as well visit my neighborhood bar, the Nightlight Lounge. It’s supaswank and has one of the best happy hours in town. I’m particularly fond of the hot artichoke dip, but that’s just me.

All these places are locally-owned and totally Portland, if ya know what I mean. The super-nice folks that run these places deserve your patronage. And you, dear reader, deserve the very best. I love it when these things come together.

If there’s one thing near and dear to my heart, it’s a good deal. While Portland is full of what I’d call mid-priced eateries of exceptional quality, the local papers seem to think a $10 plate of spaghetti is a good deal. I don’t. Then again, I’m poor. To add my two cents on the issue, I’ve just had my Guide to Portland’s Cheap Eats posted on Chowbaby.
I may not be able to afford health insurance, but I can eat healthy on the cheap at just about any time of day. Now, I’ve noticed that can’t be said as easily for every part of town. The good cheap eats seem to congregate in Downtown and the Eastside. It is also interesting to note that most of the best deals have a few things in common that have me thinking quite a bit about how to cut costs and not quality. (Read on …)

This portrait of Rizzo as a young rooster was chosen to be the December model for The Henhouse’s annual chicken calendar. What a great way to end the year!

Of course, you can still get 14 months of chickeny goodness from my very own calendar, “Chickens!” Get yours printed on demand today from Lulu. I bought one for the house and sent one to my mother, as per request. They look great, just like a real calendar should.

I hope Rizzo’s doing well in his new life on the farm. He was getting to be a bit of handfull, what with all the crowing and attacking Matt’s bare feet whenever he came out. I thought they were cute, but three roosters can get quite rowdy. Of course, I had no hens to offer him and when the hormones get moving, that’s really what they want. You can sort of see it in his still slightly juvenille eye.

A photo of mine was remixed lately and used to illustrate a quote about crime in “virtual worlds,” such as Warcraft and probably about a hundred others I’m not hep to. Didn’t South Park cover this? I think that’s the merging of worlds I’m most concerned about.
Check out the remix by lynetter in a set of photos with notable quotes.

Again, what a fine use of creative commons to foster creativity. I remain a huge fan and would encourage just about everyone to use it.

It might as well be now. I got my very first rude editorial comments from the editor of a college recommendation website this weekend. Up until now, I’ve been treated pretty well as a general rule.

I think the lesson here is that while there are a few amazing jobs on craigslist.org, a great many of the writing jobs either don’t pay well or don’t pay at all. Often what starts out as a good paying gig, just sort of evaporates as the client flakes out on you. Sometimes (Read on …)

I ended up writing an rather lengthy description of how Camilla came to be here on my FlickR site. I thought you might enjoy it.

You ought to check out the large version of this pic — the foot scales are especially nice, I think.

Camilla is from Washington originally and came with the wild bird. The other was a wee little pullet with a rather small comb. As you can see, Camilla has a very impresssive comb for a hen.

After finding a good taker for “the boys” (Read on …)

Gentle reader, I know you love sushi as much as I do. Oh, I can taste the salmon melting in my mouth, just thinking about it.

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “What sort of vegetartian eats fish?” This one, apparently. That I’ve been one for over 13 years now is a testament to what you can accomplish if you give yourself a little slack, or so I figure. But, that’s not my point here.

The point is, I’ve been writing and dreaming about raw fish. Portland has a gripload of Japanese restaurants, and I got to write a review of the 10 Best Sushi Restaurants in Portland. You can find my review on Chowbaby.com, under Top Restaurant Reviews for Portland, Oregon.

I just had the first in what promises to be a long series of “Point of Interest” reviews posted this morning. But, let’s back up a bit. I think the story of how I got to this point is a good example of how a girl goes about getting gigs. It just takes some moxie.

It all started about a year ago when I got a message on FlickR that a whopping seven of my photos had been included in the new Portland Schmap! Guide 1.0. Indeed, that made me one of their largest contributors. I later had photos of mine included in the Seattle, Vancouver B.C., Las Vegas, Minneapolis and incomprehensibly (since I’ve never been there) Washington D.C. Later when they released version 2.0, I had only three in the PDX guide, since the competition was stiffer, or so I was told.

The Schmap! application is very handy, especially so if (Read on …)