Voodoo Doll Doughnut from ...

... the Voodoo Doughnuts van, in place at the entrance to the PDX Bridge Festival's celebration in honor of the Steel Bridge's 100th birthday on Saturday, July 7, 2012.

Official words from the Voodoo Doughnuts Menu: Voodoo Doll Raised yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake! (characteristics of Voodoo Dolls are all different) My friend Ann enjoyed every morsel of her purchase.

 

Here's the van in a photo taken on a different date, parked at Voodoo Doughnuts Too on NE Sandy.

Finally my Wifi's back in business, been off since Tuesday! And I've uploaded all of my recent photos to Flickr. Back to blogging!

More serendipity on my way to the PDX Bridge Festival's Block Party for the Steel Bridge's 100th birthday! I'm walking more blocks than I figured I'd be walking, due to some strange directions from TriMet's Trip Planner.

So, you can imagine the utter joy I felt when this yellow VW pulled to the curb as I crossed at an intersection and the driver got out. "Lynette!" she said, "What are you doing over here? Going on a neighborhood walk all by yourself?" Grinning the whole time. "Susan?" I replied. "I can't believe you're here, we're here at the same time! What are you doing here?"

Turns out Susan was somewhat lost looking for an event she planned to attend. We'd met each other at the Architectural Heritage Center's lectures and walking tours. When she learned that I was out and about, headed for the bridge birthday party, she just laughed and offered me a ride the rest of the way. Wonderful! Blissful! Serendipity! I put the address in my Google Maps' app on my iPhone, and in mere moments, Susan delivered me to the party's location.

Before I climbed out, I asked if I could take her photo for the blog. She agreed, so I snapped it and the rest of these as she pulled away, waving and smiling! Hooray for Susan!

Serendipitous find from Saturday, The Freakybuttrue Peculiarium

On my way the the PDX Bridge Festival Block Party, a celebration of the 100th birthday of the Steel Bridge, I walked up to this sight at 2234 NW Thurman Street. I admit I jaywalked, after looking both ways, so that I could get this photo and the next two.

I wouldn't have been here if my trip planning through TriMet's Web site had turned out differently. The second of three buses left early. I saw the 15 leaving as I got off the 20 to supposedly wait for it. It left maybe five minutes before it was even supposed to be there. I knew that the next 15 takes a somewhat different route but, when I got on and asked, the driver told me he'd get me as close as he could. So, when I got off, I put the destination address into my Google Maps on the iPhone and started walking. It was hot enough that doofus me, wearing a black Los Lonely Boys t-shirt soon felt a drop of sweat sliding down my back from bra to pants' waistband.
 

Found on the Web site, peculiarium dot com: Famed and yet unknown Portland adventurer Conrad Talmadge Elwood had a dream, but forgot it when he woke up. Still he spent a life time traveling the globe in search of the inexplicable and the freaky. Established in 1967, The Freakybuttrue Peculiarium is a one-of-a-kind store and snack bar devoted to Elwood’s blurry vision. Under strict instructions, Filmmaker Mike Wellins, Lisa Freeman and Eric Bute have built the Peculiarium to house previously unknown elements of the darker side of Pacific Northwest history. Visitors can discover interactive displays for all six senses, including retro candies, toys, novelties, gags, books, original artwork, tricks one-of-a-kind oddities, ephemera and more. All while having a light snack, complete with edible insects and the likes. In Conrad Elwood’s words, the Peculiarium is a store dedicated to learning and terror.



After I took the close-up above, something just inside the door caught my eye. "What the heck is that?" I wondered. I walked in, seeing no humans at first, just this gigantic hairy-fur-covered form. Then, I noticed a young woman at the register and asked, "What's this?" Her answer, "Sasquatch." Duh, Lynette. She proceeded to answer my question about its height, "Ten feet tall. It's a model based on the biggest one ever sighted." OK, I thought, thanking her for the info and promising to return someday when I wasn't about to be late for a party.

January, 1, 2011--Monthly Theme Day

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in today's Monthly Theme Day--2010, the favorite photo.


My photo is of a portion Portland's downtown skyline at the west end of the 100-year-old Hawthorne Bridge that crosses over the Willamette River. The Hawthorne Bridge in the midst of celebrating its birthday during July's PDX Bridge Festival.

Happy New Year, y'all. May you be healthy, wealthy and wise in 2011.

Bridge Lift, Morrison Bridge, July 16, 2010

After the PDX Bridge Festival KICKOFF event, I walked south to the steps that go up to the Morrison Bridge so that I could catch the 15 bus home. As I climbed the steps, I noticed tail lights on the bridge, cars crossing the bridge from Southeast Portland or coming off the exit from I-5 southbound. Ah, I said jubilantly to myself. Sharon Wood Wortman's bridge walk is now inside the western leg of the Morrison Bridge. The bridge operator is opening the bridge as part of the tour! What an ever-lovin' treat to see it from where I stood at the top of the steps. You see, I went on one of her bridge walks back in 2008 and have yet to post about it because I took so doggone many photos that I can't make up my mind which ones to post!


This is blurry, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I took it from the 15 as we rode west across the now closed bridge. That's the bridge operator's tower you see through the window. Those colors and shapes are some of the people on Sharon's bridge walk. That is one of the things you get to do, hear all about it from the bridge operator. Neat-o!

The tunnel of light, usually known as the Hawthorne Bridge, downtown Portland

Part of the PDX Bridge Festival involves highlight the birthday bridge, the Hawthorne which turns 100 this year.

Here's a bit about the lights on the bridge, from the PDX Bridge Festival Web site:
FABRIC AND LIGHT

The centerpiece of this years festival is the Hawthorne Bridge, which celebrates its hundredth anniversary in 2010. In honor of the centennial of the nation’s oldest working vertical lift bridge, we’ve designed an installation that will transform this bridge into a large-scale work of kinetic art. The lighting display makes use of programmable and environmentally aware lighting technology to interact with the nightly vehicle and bike traffic on the bridge. The lights accentuate 48 panels of colored fabric installed in three spans of the bridge trusses, turning the structure into a wash of color and moving light, and marking the rhythm of commuter traffic as it moves across the bridge. The installation will be visible for the 15 days of the festival and can be viewed from neighboring bridges, both esplanades of the Willamette River and downtown buildings.

I got to take this photo Thursday night through the windshield of the Zipcar Artale, a Scion xA. After making sure that no one was behind me a we headed west across the Willamette River, I stopped on the bridge and took four photos. Oh, joy!

Come back tomorrow for some that I took from the Eastbank Esplanade. They will be my City Daily Photo Theme Day pictures!

To see the latest on our vacation and my trip to Talladega Superspeedway, be sure to check out Mama and Me from PDX. The truck race is on!

When I left the KICK OFF event for the PDX Bridge Festival, my miniature art car "Icons on Parade" was still in one piece.

A little girl admires my miniature art car.


Everyone's inside--this is only part of the Olympic Mills Commerce Center which used to be a cereal mill. From the Internet: "The Olympic Mills Commerce Center, located in the close-in southeast riverfront area, joins other BEAM mixed use creative / office / flex-space developments - the Water Avenue Commerce Center and the Eastbank Commerce Center - in offering beautifully updated, affordable, historic rental spaces to a wide range of creative businesses."


Entertainment provided by the Amazin Jerkz--they danced on what I assume was the loading dock at one time. I stood on the street and tried to get some good shots.




Can you see the guy standing on his hands? The rest of them are certainly enjoying it!




I took this photo of these handsome, energetic and talented young men after their scheduled show, then I met a lady name Kay--I think that's her son is in the orange shirt.


A few minutes later on of their appreciative fans, a young man, asked me if I was having a good time, to which I replied, "Sure am." He danced around to the music that the DJ continued to blast from his set-up. I continued, "But I can't dance like you do." He said, "Aw," as I went on to say, "But I can do the Electric Slide," after which he implored me to teach him. I moved out into the edge of the dock area where the Amazin Jerkz had been dancing and proceeded to show him my ol' lady version of my favorite dance after the two-step which I don't ever get to do 'cause I don't have man! Anyway, I saw Kay go by and snagged her to dance with us, then in a few minutes we had folks watching us and smiling and another woman whose hair is grayer than mine joined in. What fun we had for about 15 minutes, until the Amazin Jerkz got to dancing again--see below a few more shots--I could use the rest!













Head over to Mama and Me from PDX for the latest vacation post!

KICK-OFF PARTY: July 23rd, PDX Bridge Festival

First let me say that I have decided to post about our vacation over at Mama and Me from PDX--you can get there from the link in My Other Blogs. Today is all about Milton, the Cajun Fryer, and loads of fried delights!


My miniature art car, "Icons on Parade," is in the art show! Read all about the evening below. It ought to be quite a night! The entire PDX Bridge Festival runs through August 8--find out all about it at PDX Bridge Festival dot org.




Fireworks from the 4th of July seem fitting in celebration of the Hawthorne Bridge's 100th birthday--that's what got the PDX Bridge Festival going.

PDX Bridge Festival organizers will combine three of their favorite things in one kick-off event at Olympic Mills Commerce Center: ART + MUSIC + PERFORMANCE! Join PDX Bridge Festival and curatorial art partner Portland City Art, as they begin two weeks of art, music, culture, and fun celebrating the bridges that connect us all. In keeping with the theme of bridging cultures, the opening event, Curated by our partners-in-art, Portland City Art, “Nuts, Bolts, and Slabs of Steel” showcases the 2-D and 3-D art works of over 50 Portlanders. PDX Bridge Festival’s opening event will also feature performance by a number of established and newcomer troupes, and involve our elected officials in sanctioning the fun and freaky side of our creative city! From massive sculpture to individual performance, this event—co-produced with Portland City Art—sets the tone for the weeks to come. Don’t miss it!

Free/All Ages

Olympic Mills Commerce Center, 107 SE Washington Street

July 23rd, 6 – 11 pm

At 7pm, Mayor Sam Adams will officially open the festival with brief remarks about the importance of art and culture in our city. Outlining his plan for arts and culture in the coming years and how an event such as PDX Bridge Festival fits into that vision, Mayor Adams will also speak about his role in the festival from its inception to its launch.

Music and Performance:
Following the mayor’s remarks, the event will feature a performance by the AMAZIN’ JERKS — an up and coming teen dance troupe from Northeast Portland with a very unique street dancing style. You can see their work here: www.vimeo.com/9354335. DANNY CORN will be spinning music all night long on Scion’s customized xB DJ Booth Car, which converts from a road-ready city cruiser into a mobile sound stage. Later in the evening, from 9-11pm, the event presents additional performances by:

DEVIANT DANCE COMPANY, a bellydance fusion troupe devoted to storytelling and the deep spirit of dance.
WANDERLUST CIRCUS, the proudest circus family in Free Cascadia, will preview some of their bits from their special PDX Bridge Festival production, “Battle for the Bridge”
BRIDGETOWN REVUE TRIO will close out the night with acts of acrobalance and vaudeville from their repertoire.
Roving performers will roam the gallery and entertain guests as they peruse the art and enjoy the space and music.

About the Art:
Ever wondered how many nuts, bolts, shims, slabs of steel, cables, contractors and pounds of concrete are poured into a bridge like our very own Fremont? And is it a Howe Truss, and X-Truss, Burer Arche, Town Lattice, Partridge Truss, Whippel Trapeziodal or just a plain Suspension design? If these questions leave you confounded, clouded or curious, the answer might be standing, laying, hanging and swinging from the walls, floors and scores of seams of Olympic Mills Beam Bridge Gallery. 7′ bronze sculptures and 10′ steel renditions of the St. Johns Bridge Cathedral Spires—surrounded by 75+ paintings, collages, photographs, prints and posters from stellar Portland artists—fill the Beam Bridge Gallery at Olympic Mills.

Beer will be provided by PDXBF sponsor Lagunitas Brewing Company, and delcious wine graciously donated by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. Come on down to the Beam Bridge gallery and see what a celebration and homage the artists are cooking up for PDX Bridge Festival!

Hawthorne Bridge 2010 Centennial Calendar Launch Event, Sept. 10, 2009, and a dahlia with a bee! I saw lots of bees at Swan Island Dahlias!

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, Gitts Respect, from Swan Island Dahlias.

Remember when I was so excited and I just couldn't hide it? Here's the rest of the story, so far--well, just a bit of it today, more soon.

Here's my photo that is on the December 2010 page in the Hawthorne Bridge Centennial Calendar. If you clicked on the link above you saw where it's placed on the page. I was so excited when I first unrolled the print and saw it! At 11x14, this is the largest print I've ever had done of one of my photos. And then I was so excited when I saw it matted and framed. I grinned and grinned, not really believing what I was seeing. Then I walked into the event and saw it on an easel. Swooned. I practically swooned!


Now for some info about the Hawthorne Bridge and the event itself. Opened in 1910, the Hawthorne Bridge is the oldest vertical lift bridge in the U.S., likely the world. With next year's 100th anniversary in mind, the Friends of the Willamette River Bridges has produced The Hawthorne Bridge 2010 Centennial Calendar, a 12-month, 26-page, full-color booklet.

A calendar launch and gallery viewing of selected works from the calendar is scheduled for Thursday, September 10, 2009, 4-7pm in a historic trolley barn under the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge.

The trolley barn, at 1403 S.E. Water Avenue, is now the Multnomah County’s Bridge Maintenance headquarters. (The County owns and maintains the Broadway, Burnside, Morrison, and Hawthorne bridges across the downtown Willamette River.) The launch, sponsored by the Friends of Willamette River Bridges, in cooperation with Multnomah County, is open to the public. All ages are invited.

Here's the sign that greeted folks as they arrived.


Here's my photo's first fan, photographer Randolph.


Here's Randolph's spectacular photo, which is on April's page.


Here's Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler beside my photo. He attended with his family and made remarks about the Hawthorne Bridge and in support of next year's PDX Bridge Festival.


And here's my photo with the man who bought it, on the left, Bill D. whose company printed the calendar, and on the right, Ian C., Multnomah County's Bridge Services Manager.

Yep, you guessed it. I was so excited--again!

Today's dahlia, Gitts Respect. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 10" Red and Yellow, Bush: 3 1/2'

Love the bee!

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it! I have a photo in the 2010 Hawthorne Bridge Calendar, celebrating 100 years in art and words!

Back in mid-June I got at e-mail from Facebook, from Sharon Wood Wortman, Portland's Bridge Lady. Here's part of that e-mail: Lynette, I found your image of the Hawthorne Bridge during one of our snowstorms on your blog and would like to include it on the December page of the 2010 Hawthorne Bridge Commemorative Calendar. There are more than thirty images in the 2010 calendar. Yours will be one of the smaller images, but it's strategically placed.

Needless to say, my heart rate increased dramatically, and my breathing changed, too. I fulfilled the requirements to get my photo published in the calendar as quickly as possible to meet the printing deadline.

After I received a copy of it in the mail less than a month later, I got even more excited. My photo is small, but it's on December, 2010, the birthday month for the Hawthorne Bridge and me! It turns 100 a week after I turn 62! And my photo sits right beside Dec. 31, which would have been mine and LeRoy's 38th wedding anniversary.

The only way I could be happier is if I had one of the big photos for a month. But there's always the Steel Bridge that turns 100 in 2012 and the Broadway Bridge that celebrates its centennial in 2013. Maybe I can take a photo worthy of a big photo for one or both of those. It's a grand goal to have, don't you think?

Go to PDX Bridge Festival for all sorts of great info about the upcoming celebration. Plus there's a wonderful animation of the bridge going up.

Here's my photo which I named "Snow Break." Here in Portland Mama and I have enjoyed many a sun break, when the glorious sun bursts through the cloud cover, so it seem appropriate to me that this photo be named in honor of those wonderful moments--it was hardly snowing at all when I took this one as I walked west over the Hawthorne Bridge on January 16, 2007, during our first Portland snowstorm.


One more thing I'm looking forward to, a Hawthorne Bridge chocolate bar from Jaciva's.