opening day [squeezed in versinon]

readers of this blog will know that many of my posts involve keeping traditions going.  i love how keeping favorite events or activities going on year after year, give a sort of rhythm to your life.  it provides a structure for memories in a way.  now i'm in no way oppose to new experiences, but i like a few favorites dotted in throughout the year.

one of those is the opening of  "portland lobster company." besides a couple of years during covid, i believe ive been at every opening day for the past 7 years.  it's a sign that spring is finally here.  a time to put that winter coat away and emjoy patios again.  this year was to be no different.  there was one big item that i had going on in my life, so this year's opening day consisted of just one beer on the patio.  

but it still counts!

opening[day]

a sign that winter is coming to and end in maine when [the portland lobster company] opens their patio. coats may still on, but summer is on it's way.

a little [home] here

excited to see an installation by randy regier, a wichita artist, here in portland, maine...even though it was very, very cold.

new [year] new [project]

 excited to see this project going up.

[new][local][history]

 living in a city you were not born and raised in, means there's a lot of nostalgia to catch up on.

there's a mural in portland that's been hanging around on a wall for a long time...so i've heard.  although i don't look at this mural and get reminded of my parents driving me into the city, it does remind me on the side of town i use to live in.  it also has a fun authentic vintage vibe to it i always like.  

when the news reported that it would be coming down, i was in fact a little sad.  not as bad as though who have seen this their entire lives, but still, a little. i went and paid my respects and got a few pics to say i was there...

but it made me think. nostalgia plays a huge part of how you feel about something.  nostalgia is important but it's not everything.  and i think it's healthy for members of a community or citizens of a city to have different levels of nostalgia for items or buildings or places in a city.

i'll miss it, but excited to see what might replace it, and to see a new generation of people gain nostalgia for a new mural.

on[line] lectures

i belong to an organization call architalx whose mission is to bring four speakers to the city of portland every april to talk about architecture and design. however with the pandemic, we had to switch to lectures online. like a good organization always does, we didn't let that stop us from putting on a quality month of lectures. not only was this a great opportunity to hear some incredible architects, landscape architects and designers speak, it also allowed me to break out my new sketchbook come and get a few sketches....all in the comfort of my pajamas. 

come[t] as you are

i was able to get out to check out comet neowise last night.

i am by no means an expert at photography, let alone, night time, long exposure space photography, but i was pleased with the pics i was able to get.  basically i've learned to take a lot because 90% of the photos will not come out right.  thankfully the subject of the photo was pretty chill and let me take my time. 

hopefully i'll be able to get back out before his comet dissapears for the next 6,800 years.

foggy, foggy [evening]

a foggy evening was a brief reminder that summer will soon be ending.

[bar] chart

sometimes there's no better way to get to know a place than to go to where the locals hang out. the neighborhood bar.

it's also winter in maine so you have to find activities to keep you entertained...


wanting to discover and get to know the city of south portland a little better , as well as just get out of the house, some friends and i planned out a south portland bar crawl.  to keep it interesting, it was a mix of breweries, restaurants and dive bars which provided us a mix of craft beers, cheap drafts, appetizers and meals.  some of the places were warm and welcoming and will find us visiting again, others gave us the vibe that non regulars would be better off at applebee's.  shady looks aside it was a successful bar crawl which basically means memories were made and good times were had. 

not only do we know sopo just a tad bit better now, but it was great to get out of the house.


the route we took:

foulmouthed brewing
rj's pub
evelyn's tavern
spring point tavern
elesmere bbq

 

 

 

[pho]ever and ever

i was introduced to the vietnamese soup know as pho several years back from a group of friends when we were all nursing a new years eve hangover.  since that day, i've been a fan.

pho is definitely one of those dishes where you can get into great heated discussions on which place has the best as well as brag about any place you've "discovered."  when i lived in wichita, i had my preferences on which places to go; however all that pho knowledge was lost when i moved to maine.  to add to the problem, not many of my new northeast where as familiar with the dish as my drunken wichita friends were.

thankfully a few years back i introduced my wife to this perfect bowl of soup so she has had no problem hitting up different vietnamese places around town to try out their pho.  over the last three years we've been on a small quest to find the best pho in portland maine.  well i'm pleased to announce we found it, and it's in westbrook, maine.

my wife, ever looking for a new pho restaurant to try, heard about a place from a local food blogger 207 foodie called phoever maine.  one snowy winter weekend, which is just about every weekend here, we drove to westbrook to try it out.  it was located in a strip center, which in my experience actually means it's off to a good start.  we walked in and it was fairly full...another good sign.  we both ordered pho and anxiously awaited our bowls.  a few minutes later we were both peering over the bowl breathing in that sweet pho aroma.  with pho it doesn't take long to know if it's good or not.  one sip of the broth and you'll know.  we both tried a sip and were immediately in love.  adding a few sauces and garnish and we were off.

if this was a movie rather than a blog this paragraph would just be a montage of us eating, because we were there a long time enjoying every last drop. 90 minutes later and we had finished the entire bowl and my wife asked me what i thought.  i was hesitant to admit my true feelings because up until this meal, i had been the one to find the best pho place, but i knew that she had indeed found it; a competition i really don't mind losing.  needless to say we have been back and it was just as good.

year in pictures [2018]

year fourteen for the [year in pictures] post.


every year i’ve done this post, i’ve been able to come up with a theme that seems to encompasses the entire year.  sometimes it’s very apparent, other years it takes a while to discover.  this year was the latter.  i’ve stared at these ten pictures the last four weeks trying to figure out what binds them together; what’s the common thread weaving itself around each one? 

i think i might have figured it out with just a couple of days in january to spare….

in this social media world we live in, where you scroll through pages and pages of pictures of people showing you what they’re up to, it's easy to fall into a “grass is greener on other side” mentality.  even when you post a picture yourself it can give you anxiety wondering, “how many people will think what i’m doing is cool?”  as cliche as it sounds, the grass isn't greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.  

that’s what 2018 was for me; realizing that putting time and effort into your situation and the relationships around you are really what’s most rewarding; basically [watering your lawn]. now i understand the irony of saying all this on a blog post where i’m basically showing you pictures of what i was up to last year, but believe me…. this is just me looking back and appreciating what i've [watered.]

after moving away from my friends and family three years ago, to a city i had never been to before, nearly all my relationships were new.  with the perspective of time, i’m able to look back and see how those early interactions have grown into true friendships.  as a newly married man, i can also see how that rings true with my relationship with my wife.  if marriage has taught me one thing, it’s that i’m no lawn care professional.  hell, sometimes i wonder how was even lucky enough to acquire a lawn.  although there’s a lot to learn, i feel i do know one thing, and that is, even a little bit of water makes the grass greener.  also....don’t shit on the lawn…that’s a big one too.  i also know how important it is to take care of relationships with friends and family [back home] and how i need to keep those lawns [watered] with phone calls, texts and face time chats.


like i said before, this post and the following photos are just a look back at my life and appreciating the time and effort i’ve put into the last three years living in maine and enjoying the product.  i know all of you out there have your own wonderful lawns you’re taking care of as well.  this neighborhood called life we all find ourselves living in really is better when we can all sit back with a beer and enjoy a nicely maintained and watered lawn…and trying not to get too terribly mad when you find shit in it.

that being said…. here is my [watered lawns] of 2018

 ice_friends_1.20.18

 i've made a lot of good friends here in maine and they're all very active people that do maine things.  you meet someone, you hang out with them a few times, you become acquaintances, then you become friends and pretty soon your freezing your ass off with them in the middle of a frozen lake.
[frozen lawn]

 

 snowy_steps_3.8.18

 i hate the winter. 

let me rephrase that; i hate the winter when it lasts into april, which is what it does here in the northeast.  as awful as it is and as tiring as it can be to deal with it, one day you walk to work and look up and admire how the snow is falling on a historic building, and it almost makes it all worth it. 

[snowy lawn]

bowling_team_3.28.18

three years ago i joined an architecture board. during that time i got to know several of the people on it.  in january of last year, a few of them asked me to join a bowling league they were on.  not only did this help make the winter months a little more bearable, but it also turned acquaintances into true friends. 

[lawn league]

hunting_5.18.18

my wife and i spent most of 2018 looking for a house.  weekends were filled with going to open houses and setting up showings with our realtor. it's been a long, boring and sometimes stressful process.  it's also created many high energy discussions between my wife and i, but in the end,  there's no one else i'd rather go through all that with. hopefully we'll find a home in 2019.

[my own lawn]

under_the_falls_5.31.18

my wife and i took our honeymoon to jamacia almost a year after we got married.  one of the many activities we tried was climbing up dunns river falls.  between, the water, the rocks, the climbing, me helping her and her helping me, it almost felt like marriage counseling.  we were there for each other and had a blast doing it.  it was one of my favorite memories of the trip.  with all the stress we had with the house shopping, spending a couple hours climbing up a waterfall, with our only goal being not to slip and fall, was as priceless as it was enjoyable.

[waterfall lawn]

 time_to_sketch_6.5.18

sometimes you have to take a little time for yourself too.  while on our honeymoon i found time to draw in my sketch book, which is one of my favorite things to do.  although it's not a picture, this sketch sums up how relaxed i was during our trip.
[lawn relaxation]

 casco_sunset_7.21.18

sometimes i still can believe i live here.  this statement has a different tone when said in the summer.  witnessing a summer sunset from peaks island was one of my favorite moments of the summer.
[lawn sunset]

glass_house_8.24.18

sometimes i forget i'm in the northeast.  several places i studied in school that were thousands of miles away when i first read about them, are only a few hours away from me now.  with the glass house only being four hours away, there was no way i wasn't going to visit it.  also, introducing my in-laws to mid century modernism was a memorable and fun experience.

[minimalist lawn]

 boothbay_with_the_fam_9.7.18

i miss my parents...a lot.  it meant the world to me they drove from kansas to maine to spend seven wonderful days with my wife and i.  i was also able to show them my favorite spot in maine, boothbay harbor.  if absence makes the heart grow fonder, my heart is full of "fond" for these two...
[family lawn]

date_night_11.16.18

the last few months of the year, my wife and i went on a mission to find the best ice cold dirty martini in the city of portland.  every friday night, we'd hit up a different bar looking for the elusive cocktail.  the goal was to find the best martini, but what i really enjoyed was quality time with my best friend.  this picture was taken one night as we waited on our martini's.  not as exotic or exciting as a honeymoon, but little adventures like this seem to help create a healthy relationship.
[date night lawn]

[christmas lights] on the water

this year my wife and i checked out the "parade of lights" in casco bay, an event we've always wanted to see.  we watched along the shoreline as several boats all decked out in holiday lights cruised the bay, a few even shooting off fireworks.  it was a wonderful start to the holiday season although next time i might bring a heavier coat...and maybe some coffee...and maybe some alan's coffee brandy....and maybe a tripod.

 

dats alotta [sandwhich]

i love road side attractions.


sometimes they're strange land forms, unique structures or historic sites, but more often then not it's an object or animal that seems to vastly different than most other object like it.  you often hear "the world's largest...", "the worlds deepest..", "the worlds smallest..", etc etc ect.  if i'm on the road and see a sign for one of these attractions, you can bet i'm going to stop and check it out.  now imagine my delight when one of these events basically came to me.

last month the city of portland, maine decided to create the world's largest ham italian.

a little back story for those unfamiliar with this type of sandwich.

to make a long story short, back in the day, a baker named giovanni amato was selling bread to the dock workers of portland.  by request, he started adding sliced meat and vegetables to the bread making a simple ham sandwich.  since he was italian, they became known as ham italians.  he sold so many he eventually opened a restaurant.  over one hundred years later it's a staple in the state of maine, with his store still going strong as well as several other deli's selling their version of the sandwich.

i was introduced to these sandwiches last year by a friend of mine who is a true "mainer."  being the type of guy who loves local culture and wanting to embrace my new home, as well as thinking it's a pretty damn tasty sandwich, i've become a true fan, belonging to several on-line social media groups filled with ham italian fan-dom.

imagine my excitement when it was announce that a group was organizing an effort to create the world's largest ham itailian.  food! local culture! world record!  there was no way i was going to miss this.  i took an early lunch that day and met up with my wife to head down to the square where it was taking place.  as i turned the corner of the street i saw 177 feet of italian bread.  several deli's would make different sections of the sandwich until it was completed.  as they piled on the sliced ham, veggies, oil and vinegar, i was scoping out which section i would like to try.  as it's not really too complicated of a sandwich to make, the event didn't take long.  i grabbed a couple of slices, sat back and enjoyed my ham itailian.  

not only did i get to try a few varieties of the sandwich from different deli's but there were several other ham italian "fans", who oddly all looked exactly like me, doing the same thing.  i chatted with many of them and now follow several of them on instagram.

in the end, it wasn't an "official" world record as the proper judges weren't there, but the sense of community felt that day was something special.  although this event is pretty much incapable of become a road side attraction i do believe photos of the event will be placed in the local museum under the "ham italian" exhibit.

yes, it's a real thing. be sure to grab a ham italian and check it out.

make your [parents] happy little [parents]

there was one thing in this life i swore i would never do.


last month i did it...and it wasn't that bad.


there is currently a very trendy activity you can find in almost any town that involves going to a studio and painting a picture someone else has already done.  that's right, you pay to copy someone's work.  for the life of me i couldn't understand the appeal of this.  if you wanted to paint, just go buy a canvas, some paints and create your own!  even worse, couples go to these classes!  at the end of the night you end up with two pieces of art that aren't really yours!  (i always imagined couples going home and fighting about which one goes on the wall!)

point is, i am not a fan of these classes and never planned on attending one.

my mom, however, LOVES them.

during my parents visit last month, my wife suggested i take my mom to one of these classes to spend some quality time with her.  i assumed she was joking, as she knows my opinion on these painting classes.  however, i knew exactly why she had suggested this; it was no secret to me that she had always wanted to take one of these painting classes and had bugged me for years to go with her.  thinking i could do the whole two birds with one stone thing i agreed to go, so we all three got singed up.

entering the studio and finding "my" easel, i was hesitant and not all that thrilled to be there.  however there was a bar and enjoying a beer before class started simmered me down a bit.  the class was pretty much what i expected.  they painted, we watched, we painted, monkey see, monkey do.  what i didn't expect was looking over at my mom and seeing how happy she was.  she was having a blast AND she was pretty damn good!  she was so thrilled to have us both there, painting with her, it immediately changed my perspective, and i started to enjoy the night.

near the end of the session, it hit me why my mom loved these classes so much.  there's something very zen-like about listening to someone describe how to paint, it's very relaxing, it's very bob ross-i-en.  painting in this class was basically my moms yoga, it was her way of clearing her mind.  she was simply switching out poses and asanas for palettes and acrylics.

all in all, it was a wonderful little adventure. spending quality time with my mom was priceless and one of my favorite parts of their trip.  although my opinion has changed slightly about these classes, it doesn't change the fact that we still ended up with THREE versions of the same painting that night. 

now we just have to decided who's goes on the wall.


"don't forget to tell these special people in your life just how special they are to you" - bob ross

love you mom.