Return to the City of Roses

Well, I made it back from the new country of Alaska (it recently seceded from the Canadian Empire) mostly intact but a little off my rocker...the constant sunlight (leading to sleep deprivation), lack of vegetables/fruit (leading to scurvy), and constant fear of bear/Eskimo attacks (leading to permanently soiled under-garments) took a toll on my mental soundness, which is why I've been back in town now for two weeks and haven't been able to muster up anything of worth to share with you all. Mostly I've been re-energizing my soul, soaking up the Portland Life.

A quick update of my recent activities:
-Within hours of arriving in the Stump, I set out for my favorite local cheapo movie theater, the Laurelhurst, where I proceeded to watch a ridiculous number of films to escape the heat, re-acclimate to city life, and catch up on my beer intake. If you like geeky Russian fantasy films with low-budget weapons like flash lights, chalk, and chocolate oranges tied to rubber bands, then I whole-heartedly recommend Daywatch. I'm a sucker for that shit. Paprika was a gorgeously animated, ummm, anime...featuring a typically baffling "plot" and disgustingly obnoxious characters...again, one of my favorite genres. The Namesake was a really enjoyable film featuring the under-rated Kal Penn...a solid bit of acting and a welcome relief from the "summer blockbuster." Speaking of Spider Man 3, it sucked.
-Kes and I have decided to move from our current apartment and upgrade a bit now that she's got a teaching position. Gooooodbye shag rug carpet, oh how I hate you enemy of mine!
-The Bonfire Lounge on SE Stark and 28th has the best burgers in town, a fitting end to my flirting with vegetarianism. For those curious in going meatless, the loss of bacon is a pain worse than death. Don't go there.
-Kes and I started a potted garden on our balcony, featuring oregano, basil, two types of chilies (including Hungarian paprika as an homage to my heritage), tomatoes, mint, cilantro, and garlic chives. Whenever Kes gets the kid bug, I divert the coming debate with things she can fulfill her nesting desires with...i.e. the plants and the cat. What a dick.
-Checked out the new Museum of Contemporary Craft, which was, as I'm sure you've already guessed, an absolute BLAST. Actually, it wasn't nearly as painful as I had thought it would be and I will be sure to take artsy-oriented relatives there in the future mainly because it's also free.
-Kes and I played migrant worker for a few hours picking berries at a local organic farm on Sauvie Island...dirt cheap and delicious, we nabbed damn near twenty pounds of marionberries, raspberries, and blackberries to store in our freezer for a year's worth of smoothies...and smooth morning bowel symphonies.
-Went to the annual PDX Pop Now! preview concert outside of City Hall to see Little Sue (we were late and missed these folks), The Watery Graves (I thought they were interesting and fun, Kes wanted to donkey-punch the front man and keyboardist), and Old Time Relijun (good ol' rock'n'roll, but the lead singer is fucking annoying and I don't give a shit if half the hipsters in Portland now want to cry all over me for that). I'll have a full post on the actual music festival after it occurs near the end of next week.
-We went fucking nuts at the Sullivan's Gulch neighborhood garage sale bonanza, biking back and forth between a score of separate sellers...picked up an old wooden TNT box, a popcorn maker/fire starter from the early 80's, and a gigantic wooden pirates booty chest that doubles as a coffee table and a rental unit for midgets (I'm only charging $80 bucks w/ free cable...pass the word 'round). I also picked up an ancient Smith Corona Silent Super typewriter, in the hopes that it'll re-ignite the desire to bang out poems and finally finish Kes and I's road trip journal from our travels in 2005. Kes thinks this new possession officially makes me a hipster. She just doesn't know.
-Today we had amazing pho and bahn mi at the Binh Minh restaurant (NE 68th and Broadway), right next door to the Pacific Market where we purchased a hundred bucks worth of crazy candy, anxiety-inducing salty soups, dried squidbits, "mock-beef jerky", and unknown gelatinous ooze nuggets...this is my new favorite place to stock up on kitchen essentials.
-We also recently threw a bit of a party/fish-fry with our freshly caught Alaskan halibut and taco fixings...We were eating the flanks of one of these fuckers my Pops and I are holding below (right after this picture was taken, the gaff hook slipped out and impaled my Dad's quadricep):

I'll have more Alaska photos to share in a future post.
-Breaking news: Being fat is contagious, so be careful who you shake hands with...peep the study here.