Be a Superhero at Kickstarter

Thanks to Facebook, I've come across Kickstarter and a couple of businesses I'm really happy to see get going in Portland.

The first was plugged by the coffee shop across the street from my library, Jazzkats. I supported Heidi Ho Organics not because I'm vegetarian, though I like to choose vegan options when I can, but more because of the name. Kinda required, don'tya think?

Lately, I've been all about the food carts. Innovative, creative food, cheap, and a lot of choice when you go to the pods. Who cares if it's raining during this summer-long Portland winter? We've got cart pods with tents and heat. There are 3 pods in walking distance of my house, and another mini-pod. This one, Alacarts, has my favorite veggie burger place, Off the Griddle. Not only are they all about the vegetarian, they have all renewable energy, including their own solar panels.

So now, comfort food as finger food. Mmmm. Plus Steampunk. At a cart pod hopefully near me. It may be a little light on the vegetarian options, but I have faith, and the baker is focusing on locally grown ingredients. I'm supporting them; why don't you watch this video, then be a superhero and help them get started too.



Hopefully the feature in the freely delivered Food Day will also get her more donations at Kickstarter...only about 20 days left.

Oh...if you make a donation and comment here, I will raise my donation by $5 for each of you who does so.

Spud

I posted a review at Yelp for Spud.com. It has become my preferred grocery delivery method.  I don't usually do Yelp reviews, but Spud spurred me along at Facebook with a chance to win dinner for two.

Seriously, I'm not sucking up, I really do like Spud a lot.

Let me count the ways I love Spud as a delivery service:

1. Delivery is free if I buy as little as $34.00 worth of stuff. Other grocery delivery services only sometimes give you a coupon for free delivery, and that's only if you buy certain stuff and spend at least $150.00. Even if I had no other reason to like Spud, this makes them a winner.
2. I don't have to be home when they deliver.
3. Even if I am not home, they keep the cold stuff cold with ice packs and dry ice.
4. They use reusable crates rather than disposable paper or plastic bags. (and no deposits required for crates or ice packs)
5. When I buy milk with returnable bottles, Spud takes the bottles back and reimburses me the deposit.
6. I never trust other grocery delivery services to give me good produce that I would pick myself, but I've always been happy with the produce from Spud.
7. I have a choice, to ask for a delivery when I want one, or to ask for a regularly scheduled delivery, and I have a choice as to how often that happens.
8. I don't need some rewards card, but I do earn points for money spent, and actually get money back towards my next delivery fairly often.
9. Spud makes it very easy to know if what I'm buying is from a local company, and even rewards me with the possibility of free stuff if I buy enough local stuff.
10. I get to pick and choose what I want delivered, but if I forget to do that in time, Spud picks some produce for me based on my preferences.

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. As with any delivery service, I love not having to cart those heavy groceries home on the bus. The only drawback: they don't have as many choices available as those other services that charge around $10 for delivery. They do have the kinds of things I want: organic, local produce; and environmentally friendly household goods. The funny thing is, since I started using Spud, those other services are offering me free delivery if I will come back to them. Now, if only they started carrying Swheat brand cat litter...

Cougar Cheese and the Kindle

Someone asked me how I like my Kindle. I like it a lot for the ease of highlighting and making comments for later review. It took me a couple of books worth of reading to get used to the new timing of turning a page, but that's no big deal. Once I got used to it, easier to handle than a paper book. So many feel obligated to lament the loss of the feel and the smell of a book. Not me. The Kindle is light, easy to hold, whatever your position. Not so with books. And when it comes to smell, well, if it is musty enough to smell, get it away from me...that means it will spark an allergy response. Some people wish it lit up, but that would defeat the purpose of the electronic ink. The whole point of the Kindle display is that it reads more like paper and less like a luminescent screen.

Here's something I don't like: the only covers they sell for it are freakin' leather. No, I'm not vegan, but if I can help it, I do not buy leather.

But then, here's something I really really like. When you buy WSU's Cougar Cheese, they send it to you in the pictured foam envelope in a box. This envelope is the perfect size, with a snip here, a snip there, for a case for the Kindle.

I have a lot of these foam envelopes, having bought a year's worth of cheese for my sweetie for Christmas for a couple of years now. (Full disclosure, my sweetie's other sweetie first bought it for him one year, and I asked her if I could steal that gift idea in subsequent years.)

This is so much better than a leather or faux leather case. 1. It's free. 2. It's reusing rather than creating new stuff. 3. It is not waterproof, but it is water resistant. 4. The way it looks is only limited by the owner's imagination. 5. If you have this for a Kindle case, chances are you've also had the cheese, which is absolutely fabulous. I'm a fan on Facebook. 6. The foam is slightly grippy, so holding it behind your Kindle while you're reading gives you a little extra holding power. 7. The foam envelope is bendy, so you can fold it over and use it as a prop to hold your Kindle at an angle for reading at a table. 8. If the case wears out, replacement is easy...just buy some more fabulous CHEESE.

My first protective case I created was plain, with 3 simple cuts and a fold-over for a flap. I decided though to try another, creating a loop and stick fastener, using a hairstick for the stick, the "loop" cut into the flap, which is tucked inside. The material is tough, and stretches a little. It could hold, but with the way I handle things, a little duct tape on the seamed edges and the loop fastener will help it last longer. Yes, that's pink duct tape. A person could paint or color this cover with a sharpie or paint pen, but I like the semi-translucent look of the envelope, and you can see colors of the back cover showing through. My sweetie bought that for me separately, a Gelaskins product. There are a whole lot more designs than when I put mine on my wishlist, but I like mine. Each little 'room' on the bookshelves has a theme, and the faux books relate to the theme and classic titles.


Be warned, if you're thinking of buying a Kindle, it is way too easy to buy something on impulse. Keep in mind that you can take a few steps to convert free ebooks to the Kindle format, for free, so anything at the Gutenberg Project is up for grabs. You can also put your own documents on your Kindle...again, with a few extra steps it's free. I like saving paper that way.

Oh, another use for that foam envelope? It's just big enough to fit my CPAP machine, so when I travel, I can use one of those for padding, and put the machine and components in my travel backpack without having to carry another case.

Dinner, Lisa, and my first YouTube upload

I finally went to see my good friend Lisa Mann perform. I have her first CD, which she said at this little show is now a collector's item. It is, too...good songs on there. Go and buy one before they're all gone. You can sample her songs at her MySpace page.

She was playing alone at this little place called The East Burn. Or is it The EastBurn? They have yummy food...I had potato pancakes that seemed to have a little influence from the Japanese version. I also had the ravioli special made with sunchokes and artichokes. My sweetie met me there. He's been working a lot again. He's not so into this kind of music, and his ears bother him, so it was especially sweet that he joined me. He got their fries, which were a mix of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leeks. Oh, I would go back even if just for those. The leeks were sliced into slivers, so were these crispy green things that had a taste reminiscent of fried onions, only more refined, as leeks are. I'm not a big fan of sweet potato fries, but the leeks made these quite delicious.

Actually, when I arrived there was a guy drumming along with Lisa, but he left after a couple of songs. He was drumming with his hands on a box contraption. That just goes to show you how much I know about music these days.

The first thing I was inspired to do was pull out the crayons from the double shot glass and start drawing on the butcher paper that served as a tablecloth. I draw like a kid. When Lisa saw it she loved it. I'd already decided if she liked it, it was hers. When I told her so after the show, she jumped up and down in a little happy dance. Of course I had to hang on to the image just a little by taking a photo.

Her final song was a cover of a Tom Waits song. Of course I thought immediately of my blogging friend in Nashville, so I thought this was as good a time as any to see how good a video my little camera could produce for YouTube. And I have to say, not bad, not bad at all for a pocket-sized camera.

While I wait for that video to upload, here's my sweetie's drawing that he started after I was all done.

Eats Near Hollywood Library: Hollywood Burger Bar

So you're in the Hollywood district and you're hungry for a burger (in my case a veggie burger) and you see this:



Do not be tempted by the B-list celebrity gimmick. Do not think that because it's big and a newly renovated building that the restaurant must be good. It's not. I went there once, chose two vegetarian appetizers that with tip came to $20, and they were kinda lame. If you must go there, don't choose anything with tomatoes, that's all I can say. Even the Hollywoodian that was quite excited about Mark Lindsay opening a restaurant has lost her enthusiasm. She said the burger wasn't that great either. Now I hear they've raised their prices. Like that's going to bring more people in.

So you still want that burger. Why don't you just go kitty corner across the street, and squeeze into the Hollywood district landmark, the Hollywood Burger Bar?



The only day I have a lunch hour while working over there is Saturday. Sometimes it can be quite busy, thus I say "squeeze into."

They may just have good old diner food, but they have the Garden burger and the Boca burger for vegetarians. You'll pay at least half as much as the Rock and Roll joint, you have the veggie options, and I'm sure it tastes better. They know their burgers and fries here. I'll bet they know their milkshakes too. I wouldn't know. I'm always too full from the burger and fries to try one. (and some Hollywoodians still go to McD's. What's up with that?)

Tell me, did I choose the Boca, or the Garden burger?

Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee

About a month ago I was scheduling a grocery delivery when I came across a flavor I hadn't seen before: Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee.

Now you may think that I, being the size that I am, regularly snarf a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting. Not really. That sort of thing happened when I dieted and completely disconnected myself from any true feelings of hunger or fullness, but it doesn't happen so much now.

But this was a new flavor, and it was soooo good, before I knew it, the whole pint was gone. The key difference between this and when I dieted, I savored every moment of its melty goodness.

Before I actually bought it, along with another unfamiliar flavor having to do with dinosaurs, I looked at Ben and Jerry's website to find the whole scoop. (Oh groan...that's how I make people laugh without intending to.)

If you go to the Flavor Graveyard, you can have some fun with the haunted house.

The Creme Brulee? You must have some. It's the next best thing to dark chocolate. (The next time I bought a pint of it, no, I couldn't eat the whole thing at once.)

But speaking of this ice cream stuff...I am so hungry now.

Eats Near Hollywood Library: My Canh

If you are at the Hollywood Library, it is possible to walk through the parking lot, walk through the McDonald's parking lot (I see too many Hollywoodians bringing food back from that place), look to your left, and you will see the Baskin Robbins sign. My Canh Restaurant is in that same little complex.

This Vietnamese restaurant is a dependable favorite among Hollywood staff. Is there a Vietnamese restaurant that doesn't offer the lunch special of soup, entree, spring roll, and sometimes little won ton crisps?

I chose to get the Buddhist Delight this time around. It's nice to have a choice from several vegetarian entrees, but this omnipresent one is usually my first choice. I liked having so many vegetables, and they were crisp and fresh.

I actually had a request to eat here to review the avocado smoothie. Since it was my first review request ever, of course I had to make it a priority. I wasn't too sure about this though. An avocado smoothie? Wouldn't that feel...ummmm...slimy? I'd never had one before.

I was pleasantly surprised. Not slimy, but the little ice crystals gave it a sharpness that hid the smooth creaminess a little. My first taste (before any hot stir-fry) yielded a slight taste of grass. You know that green taste I mean? It wasn't too much though, not like real grass, but a good mild greenish taste. Later, as I switched from vegetables and deep fried tofu back to sips of the smoothie, then I could taste the creamy avocado. Again, not slimy. I don't know what else was in there besides avocado, yes something sweet, but not too sweet, and not heavy like banana-based smoothies.

When I returned to the branch, I blamed my requester for my feeling too full. Waaay too full. It was her fault I ate lunch and a smoothie, after all. I kidded. She asked me if it was weird, and I replied, "Not as much as I thought." I will look for avocado smoothies now. Maybe I will even try making them. Maybe this one with mango, or this one without.

She told me my next assignment is an Avocado Martini. As found at Mint. That's actually over near the library administration building. It won't work for my theme of reviews near my place of work...but maybe somebody over at Admin will pick up on this...or maybe I'll just have to check out that restaurant the next rare time my sweetie has time to go out for dinner.

Or wait, did she say Avocado Daiquiri? Because that's what I found on the menu. That sounds even better. I have completely lost my hesitancy for avocado drinks.

Oh yeah. Back to My Canh. It is also a mini-store of imports. One year I happened to eat there in December, and they were giving out those Asian bamboo calendars.

Eats Near Hollywood Library

This is one of my work blog posts, so it was written with Multnomah County Library employees in mind:

One of the big draws in the decision to sub at a particular location could be the places to eat nearby.

People have many choices near the Hollywood branch.

I thought I'd share some of these places. I hope other people will consider doing the same for their locations, and fellow Hollywoodians, don't let me stop you from covering places you go regularly.

Panera Bread has moved in next to Trader Joe's. Actually, many of us at Hollywood shop at Trader Joe's for our lunches, as there are many tasty ready-to-eat things to choose from there.

In order to eat somewhere, I have to be able to walk there, be served, eat, and return to the library within an hour. At Panera, there could be a line, but lines are dealt with fast. Last week, I met my sweetie for lunch. He was late, there was a line, and we still had time left on my lunch hour after we ate.

Unlike fast food chains, the food is good. The bagels alone can be worth it, but a bagel with one of their soups, even better. As a vegetarian, I can usually expect to have only one or two choices, but Panera often has three or four soups, one or two sandwiches, and a variety of bready things. I've had the Southwest roasted corn and tomato soup in a bread bowl, along with a half-salad. (I wish I'd remembered to take that photo.) Tasty, fresh, plenty. When I went to lunch with my sweetie, I had the tomato bisque, also quite good, and I'm pretty skeptical about tomato soups. A bagel with cream cheese, great for the side.

Besides coffee and fountain drinks, Panera also has Jones soda. For some reason I never noticed before that the labels change. This one caught my eye. It turns out you can submit your own photos.

Oh yeah, Panera is great for breakfast too. Someone I know has become hooked on the egg souffles.

While I don't have need to use their free wi-fi, it could come in handy when I'm not at work.