What does 1% look like?

Due to my apparently chronic unemployment, I'm jonesing for a new project. That new project is going to be a portrait project that hopefully will be a statistically accurate(according to the 2000 census) slice of Oregon City shown in portraits. I'm going to have portrait events where people can stop by and have some photos made as well as scheduling some portraits of specific people I want to photograph.

I'm hoping to have my first 1% portrait done this week.

Here are my overall numbers I want to hit

• 1% = 257 people 
• Under 5: 21
• 5-18 years old: 48
• 18-65 years old: 162
• 65 and over: 26
• Female:131
• Male:126
• White: 236
• Black:15
• American Indian: 3
• Asian: 3
• Hispanic: 13

I found out Santa isn't real this year

Here is my first edit of my 2010 Santacon shoot. I was only there for about an hour. Maybe. I haven't done hardly any processing to these. I still want to pick my favorites first. Do you have any you like in particular?

Tech: one sb-600 in a 4x8" 'softbox' attachment. 

I haven't been shooting anything lately. That needs to change. I am in a rut though and I don't know how to break it. I've never had one this bad. Maybe it's the short, dark days that are getting to me? Who knows. This week, I'm going to make a concerted effort to shoot every day. Even if it's crap. I've got to get back into the habit.

Gogol Bordello, Portland

Here are a few photos from the Gogol Bordello show in Portland. Writeup will come soon.

Cypress

Just under the cliffs and north of the elevator you'll find Cypress, sometimes Aegean, sometimes Indian and sometimes just “white bread”.

Oregon City is not known for its messianic draw for foodies, but bear with me, there is good food here. Even guys in Gett'r Done shirts want to eat well occasionally. To do that in Oregon City it seems you're left with pitifully slim pickings. Cypress, on 820 Main St., in the downtown area of Oregon City is one of the rare places you'll find worth eating at.

Owner Kay Houdroge describes the two and a half year old Cypress as a “niche restaurant with great food” and I suppose under the lens of Oregon City 'niche' is correct, as any semi-ethnic food here certainly will draw some extra attention after seeing only mediocre Mexican and awful Chinese on the 'not fast food menu'. I hesitate to call Cypress an 'ethnic restaurant' simply because the (delicious) options on the menu vary so widely it certainly does not hail from a specific gastro-tradition.

The feta and olives appetizer($5.50) came with sliced cucumber and tomato as well and, well...it wasn't anything exciting. The produce certainly wasn't as fresh as it could have been, but it was a nice snack before the entrees came out.

For an entree I ordered Chicken Coco($8.75) The Coco is code for coconut chicken curry and it is served in a small bowl with fluffy sumac spiced rice and a basket of warm pita. Presentation is not the focus here. However Houdroge(who is also the cook) does focus on making everything absolutely delicious. The curry, while a little salty, played nicely with the sumac spiced rice. The curry could be improved by having something other than just meat in the sauce, maybe some vegetables here and there would pick it up just a bit.

The service was absolutely impeccable at Cypress. I was there at the end of the lunch rush so it wasn't terribly busy but it was steady enough that Houdroge would have been absolutely within his rights to be behind given that he was the only cook and waiter on staff.

My only regret from the trip out to Cypress was that I did not order anything from their full bar. $4 cocktails and great food? Sign me up.

If you're headed south, definitely stop in at Cypress.

 

820 Main St
Oregon City, OR 97045

(503) 387-5914

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 am - 9 pm

Fri 11 am - 10 pm
Sat 5 pm - 10 pm

Other similar restaurants you should try soon.

Swagat

(503) 766-3015

2074 NW Lovejoy St
Portland, OR 97209

Bombay Cricket Club

(503) 231-0740

1925 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214

Mum's Kitchen

(503) 287-0696‎

3441 N Vancouver Ave, Portland, OR‎

Bucket List, because I am a copy cat.

After reading Lisa Kislingbury-Anderson's Bucket List, I thought I would write up my own. But I'm gonna do mine a bit different.

By October 2011 I would like to:

• Have a job that makes me happy, hopefully at a newspaper or another publication.
• Live in my own house.
• Have traveled to another country.
• Be able to wake up knowing that I will think creatively today

By October 2020:

• Traveled to at least nine countries I have not been to before.
• Had children
• Own a home
• Met a really smart robot
• See polar bears in the Arctic which I hope will still exist

After that:

• Run for public office and win
• Own a magazine that I am proud of.
• Teach

Portland Alterego Society: CEASEFIRE!

I took some portraits at the Portland Alterego Society's annual Ceasefire party which benefits p:ear. Here are some of the portraits. I'd love to hear what you think!