Month: June 2019

Last days of the Alder Street Food Cart Pod

The Alder Street Food Cart Pod is famous! It takes up an entire city block. Yes! People can walk the perimeter and find a large variety of choices for their meals.

It’s also going away at the end of the month. A luxury hotel and condominium will be built on the block instead.

These pictures were taken from the streetcar, hence the blurry glare.

There has been talk of relocating some of the food carts to a different area of town, maybe the North Park Blocks, or the underused park on Ankeny and Burnside. But nothing has been firmed up. So in a few days, these carts will be gone.

Kim’s Convenience provides a variety of comedy

The review:

If you are looking for a gentle ensemble comedy with a lot of laughs, look no further than Kim’s Convenience.* The convenience store owned by the Kim Family (parents Appa & Umma,** with their grown children Jung and Janet***) provides a steady series of memorable situations and characters. The Kim family is partially estranged—father and son haven’t talked in years due to Jung’s delinquent adolescent choices—but there are still a lot of laughs to be had as the Kim family goes through life’s ordinary trials.****

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home with Matt, who heard about it on Feminist Frequency

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It also has the charm of being set in Toronto, which means when characters are issuing apoligies, you get to hear that charming Canadian closed-mouth prounciation: “soory”.
**I know this is Korean for father and mother, but IMDB doesn’t list the parents’ names.
***There’s a great supporting cast too: Jung’s friend Kimchee; Jung’s boss Shannon, who is delightfully awkward in her trying to project that she’s hard-working, while barely hiding her crush on Jung; Janet’s friend Gerald, who is a pushover; the too-familar Mr. Mehta; and the ever suffering Pastor Nina.
****Most of the humor comes from normal situations such as trying to prove who is the better photographer, and a goodly number of complexities arising from situations at church.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The interior set of the titular location is an exact replica of a real downtown Toronto corner store, Mimi Variety.

Waiting for Pride 2019

I arrived at the Rosetown Ramblers designated parade slot at nine a.m. and groups were already assembling in the parade staging area. Energy was high. Music was playing, people were dancing, talking, shouting.

That energy was sustained for a very long time, but by noon most people had wilted. That’s when I caught this picture of Jim and Eileen.

Energy returned once we started marching, and the parade was, as usual, an overwhelming experience of celebration and joy.

SKS postcards: Union Station, Sweet Science Ice Cream

Sorry for the blurry photo. It might be my middle-aged eyes, it might be lack of attention to detail.

Sara uses a postcard of Union Station in Washington D.C. to remind me that I’ve got this. As in: YOU’VE GOT THIS! Also to let me know that the stamp was the last of her hummingbird postcard stamps, which she had to augment with a 1-cent stamp because the price had gone up and those hummingbird stamps weren’t Forever stamps.

She sent this postcard from Sweet Science Ice cream to update me on their weekend, which was quite busy, but not with church. (!) Also, the realtor team was coming over that morning. The house sale begins in earnest!

Portland Couple, Summer 2019

Doing some shopping in the Pearl.

I love them so much. There are so many Summer 2019 in Portland things about them. They are both wearing pants, because it’s not really hot. The silhouette is about the same for both the man and the woman, though the man gets a bit of breathing room in his clothing. Both of their shoes are great—stylish and walkable. The woman has got some great shoulders on her, and that phone is so big it peeks out of her back picket. Plus: I spy a tattoo.

Also, they are both wearing watches, neither of which look like smart watches.

Now I’m starting to think they are perhaps from Europe.

Elizabeth Gilbert at Revolution Hall

Back in the day (this particular day: the early 2000s) Powell’s Books would rent a venue for its big authors and you could see a reading for free. No longer. Now you pay money, and also get a copy of the book. This is how I’ve obtained Gilbert’s last three books.

Elizabeth Gilbert was her usual self. She was funny, wry, and admitted to drinking too much at lunch with Cheryl Strayed. She talked about the loss that had come lately to her life. In the Q&A section she was very clear about what a question was, which was very much appreciated. The woman who asked the first question, asked the most beautiful question I’ve ever heard at an author reading. The whole room took a breath simultaneously. What was the question? I do not recall. But it was a great moment at the book reading.

Gilbert also read us the first chapter of City of Girls. Which would have been enough to sell me on reading the book. Of course, I already had a copy.

Cats head for the catio

When the door is opened, will the cats go outside?

The answer is yes! As usual, Sentinel charts the course, and Antares follows.

Things I’ve learned? Our windows and doors are really good at blocking out a lot of the sound that happens outside. With the front doors open, it’s really loud.

The cats don’t like to go outside during the day. Newness is a factor, plus the volume. Plus they mostly sleep during the day. Early in the morning is a great time for them, as is after dark. I think they are going to like it when we get the cat door in and they can go in and out on their own. Also when we get the shelves, so they can be above things.

It’s going to be a great summer at the Orange Door.