Much needed mini-vacation

My parents are coming to visit me for the first time in Oregon! They're coming tonight and staying for a week, so I'll be on hiatus until Wed., the 1st of October.

This is their first trip to the Pacific Northwest, so we're crossing our fingers for sunny days. Sean and I will be showing them around the city (Farmer's Market, Saturday Market, lots of shopping areas) and driving out to the Gorge so they can see all those great waterfalls in person. If we have time this weekend, we might take a trip out to the coast, since none of us have ever been there!

If you have any suggestions of stuff to do in Portland, please leave a comment! We won't have a car for two of the days they'll be visiting, (since Sean needs it for work and I thought we could get around on Trimet and on foot). If you know of any good, relaxing stuff to see in the SE or on a busline, please share. We have some great ideas already, but it never hurts to have extra options.

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Cicada Mania

This blog just featured my new Cicada Bottles, and I just had to share the awesomeness that is Cicada Mania! Their post just before my Cicada Bottles is about the Bottle Cicada from Australia. Who knew?

There are some seriously beautiful photos on this blog, not to mention pop culture occurrences and scientific info (including a wedding guide, in case you're worried about insect swarms ruining your big day)!

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Jesse Reno

Jesse Reno is another artist whose work is displayed at the salon where I get my hair cut. His paintings are colorful and energetic with a primitive feeling to them. Layers of paint and words and symbols make his work fascinating to stare at for hours on end. It's also complimentary to Lana's work, making their side-by-side displays somehow seem grander than the sum of their parts.

Maybe their work plays so nicely together because they both live above the salon, and they feed off each other's inspiration? I couldn't tell you. But I know that it's beautiful, and I look forward to sitting in that chair just so I can catch another glimpse into their artistic souls.

Check out Jesse's website for a cool video about his process and a little peak into his studio.

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Donnie Darko is still cool

If you haven't ever been to the Donnie Darko website, then you should check it out now. Web designers are becoming more video-savvy and sites are more interactive than ever, but this was still a monumental website when it came out, and it still is.

Turn your pop-up blockers off, your sound on, and sit back for a memorable experience. It helps if you remember details about the movie, but it'll be fun even if you're just clicking around.

http://www.donniedarkofilm.com/

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Crude Things

Since moving to Portland, I've been getting my hair cut at Do! Rad Cuts and Color. They're close to my house, have comic book heroines on their signage, and their stylists know exactly what I'm asking for in a cut. What more could a girl ask for?

Actually, having something nice on the walls to look at while sitting in the chair would be nice. They've got that too!
Multi-talented doesn't even begin to describe Lana Guerra, one of the hair stylists at Do!, whose paintings and wigs are also on display around the shop. Lana's paintings often involve candy-colored nude monster-people who never seem to have the correct number of body parts. There's glitter and fuzzy fabric arranged within her collage-style paintings, giving them a sort of deranged-little-girl's-bedroom feel. They're strange and dark and creepy, but all in a fun way!

Lana apparently spends most of her working hours making elaborate art wigs (not all of them are "Hairplanes"), which I will absolutely have to have the next time I go to Burning Man!

The talent doesn't stop there though: Ms. Guerra also performs in a circus, DJ's, plays in a band, and makes life-sized puppets, doll sculptures and plush, clothing (now I want a pair of stripey bloomers!), marionettes, and probably lots more things I don't even know about. Check out her many websites for more info!

http://www.crudethings.com
http://www.crudethings.etsy.com/
http://www.myspace.com/powercircusmusic
http://www.lanaland2.com/

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