dryden lane

Eight bucks for a pint of beer is kind of insane, but...

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:25:01 -0400

Eight bucks for a pint of beer is kind of insane, but whatever—I finally got to try my first Ballast Point beer, their Sculpin IPA. So awesome. I’m pumped!

photo by edwin bautista

Billy Joel, maybe not looking so good. His pug, totally...

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:39:24 -0400

Billy Joel, maybe not looking so good. His pug, totally adorable.

Billy Joel was the first musician I ever saw in concert, and it was a pretty cool experience. My parents had tickets with friends, and at the last minute, decided that my brother and I should go. I was maybe seven or eight, my brother ten or eleven. We were on the far side of the Charleston Coliseum from my parents, just there on our own listening to River of Dreams and Piano Man. A drunk guy kept trying to offer my brother’s friend, who came with us, sips of his beer. (He declined.) The whole thing was sort of surreal, and I doubt it would fly these days.

photo by the new york times magazine

I’m all for Keeping Austin Weird, but mostly I’m...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:06:00 -0400

I’m all for Keeping Austin Weird, but mostly I’m hoping I can find and woo Matt Saracen while I’m here.

(Side note: I totally forgot that Zach Gilford starred opposite Alexis Bledel, my number one celebrity crush, in Post Grad. I recently watched a truly bad and also totally amazing Gilmore Girls season 8 trailer,* and was totally surprised to see Matt/Zach as Alexis’ dude.)

* I hope it’s obvious that this was a fan video compiled from various Gilmore Girls and other clips, and that, sadly, an eighth season of Gilmore Girls isn’t in the works.

photo via imaginary men

We have such a bounty of gorgeous flowers this spring! These...

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:09:04 -0400

We have such a bounty of gorgeous flowers this spring! These cherry blossoms bloomed about a month ago, and now our garden is filled with roses. It’s totally amazing. More pretty flowers (and a ho-hum outfit) at My Darling, My Dear.

This is Hero, a service dog whose human graduated from college...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:14:40 -0400

This is Hero, a service dog whose human graduated from college this month. He graduated, too. Pup and circumstance.

photo via cute overload

As a kid, I had a phase that involved lots of watermelon-printed...

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:32:17 -0400

As a kid, I had a phase that involved lots of watermelon-printed clothing. (Also, massive hair bows and printed vests.) It feels like we were always eating watermelon and having seed-spitting contests, and I guess that’s what summer in the south is like. Hot days and bare feet and freckled shoulders and just a little bit of down home tackiness.

I’d like to wear fruit-printed clothing and eat that fruit exclusively every day this summer.

photo by anja verdugo

RIP, Dick Trickle. photo via deadspin

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:22:25 -0400

RIP, Dick Trickle.

photo via deadspin

I was out of town for Portland’s annual vegan bakesale a...

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:58:08 -0400

I was out of town for Portland’s annual vegan bakesale a few weeks ago, so I missed out on these cute hippo cupcakes, but I think I’ll try to recreate them for my birthday next month! (Eek!) More drool-worthy baked goods over here.

photo by kittee berns

I’m a new and reluctant JT fan. I wasn’t much for...

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:38:46 -0400

I’m a new and reluctant JT fan. I wasn’t much for *NSYNC as a kid—except for one totally exuberant night in eighth grade where I went with the coolest girl and a couple of other slightly less cool girls to see *NSYNC and then have a sleepover, pinching myself all the while, unable to believe that another mildly cool girl canceled at the last minute and I was chosen to take her place. We didn’t even study for the next day’s English final.

Anyway, what I want to know: The lyric “I couldn’t get any bigger” is a blatant reference to JT’s dick in an otherwise romantic ballad, right?

Dudes are really weird.

Kissing my stupid RAZR goodbye because it’s done. Dead....

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:00:38 -0400

Kissing my stupid RAZR goodbye because it’s done. Dead. Broken. Poor me.

Some of us have real third world problems.

Oh my word. I gained approximately ten million pounds last...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:00 -0400

Oh my word. I gained approximately ten million pounds last summer eating a whole lot of doughnuts from Revolution, in Decatur. Most of their doughnuts are vegan, but they haven’t had a vegan cream-filled doughnut until today. Behold. This lovely is a yeast doughnut filled with coconut almond pudding and topped with chocolate glaze, toasted almonds, and coconut. Droool. Someone mail me a dozen, please.

photo by revolution doughnuts

My favorite show that no one else watches, Survivor, had its...

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:53:44 -0400

My favorite show that no one else watches, Survivor, had its season finale last night. My favorite player won, which is awesome, but this hottie was pulled from the game for medical reasons. At least I had eye candy all season. Seriously, gorgeous. (He also happens to look a lot like my sweetheart. Score!)

photo via the livingston post

Friends, I need your advice. Someone got drunk (of course not...

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:42:49 -0400

Friends, I need your advice. Someone got drunk (of course not me, no way, I’ve never done anything like that before) and dropped my camera, which now needs its lens fixed. Fixing it would cost 85 bucks, so now I’m trying to decide if instead I should get a new camera. I’ve had the current one, a Canon Powershot SD780, for three and a half years. I really like it, but it’s also dinged up and the lens has a few spots, which show up in some daytime sky photos. Any advice on whether I should repair or replace? Thanks, y’all.

photo by nicholas hendrickx

I’ve realized that since so many of the components of the...

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:00:38 -0400

I’ve realized that since so many of the components of the Brooklyn movement were being done to less fanfare in Portland a decade earlier, it’s important to sympathize with that Oregonian precursor. Portland is the Lorna Luft to Brooklyn’s Liza. We’re thinking of you, Lorna.

- Henry Alford, in an article on Hipsterism in Brooklyn. I don’t know that I’m a proud Portlandian yet, but I know that my heart swells a little bit each time I bike west on the Burnside Bridge and see that first view of deep green hills rising above this beautiful city.

photo via wikipedia

"Nobody can guarantee that it’s going to be okay, but — and I don’t know if this will be..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:52:26 -0400

“Nobody can guarantee that it’s going to be okay, but — and I don’t know if this will be comforting to anyone else — the possibility exists that there’s a piece of corn on a floor somewhere that will make you just as confused about why you are laughing as you have ever been about why you are depressed. And even if everything still seems like hopeless bullshit, maybe it’s just pointless bullshit or weird bullshit or possibly not even bullshit.”

- Allie of Hyperbole and a Half, in her post today about depression. I was never a super regular Hyperbole and a Half reader, but this, and the previous post about depression, is so right on.

"An article last Thursday about Williamsburg, Brooklyn, erroneously included several products that..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:38:02 -0400

“An article last Thursday about Williamsburg, Brooklyn, erroneously included several products that are not sold at the store By Brooklyn. Its merchandise does not include dandelion and burdock soda, lovage soda syrup or Early Bird granola.”

- A correction for a recent New York Times article about hipsters in Brooklyn. I love the rueful tone, like if only By Brooklyn did in fact carry dandelion and burdock soda. Then things might be different. (And neither would the correction have run.)

Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’m heading...

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:31:10 -0400

Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’m heading down to Austin, Texas for a few days later this month. My mom asked me what I want to do while we’re there, and all I could really come up with is eat.* Austin has some seriously epic vegan eats. Just look at this popcorn tofu, y’all! Wheatsville Coop, here I come.

* I also want to luxuriate at Barton Springs Pool, vintage shop on South Congress, and see the big flagship Whole Foods on Lamar Street. I’m taking other suggestions, too!

photo via yelp

A few Gatsby things: I’m still a little skeptical about...

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:54:08 -0400

A few Gatsby things:

I’m still a little skeptical about Carey Mulligan as Daisy, but how gorgeous is she on the cover of Vogue? That lime green dress is perfection.

I think I’ll re-read the Great Gatsby (as soon as I finish Ghostwritten! So good!) in advance of seeing the movie. I haven’t read it since high school. A former co-worker recently shared an article claiming the book is awful. I’m inclined to disagree, but excited to revisit it.

Baz Luhrmann decided to remake the Great Gatsby after listening to an audio version of the book on the trans-Siberian Express. Mr. Luhrmann, on the trip:

You could actually recommend this as therapy to someone who was really in trouble: Get in a tin box, travel through Siberia, listen to ‘The Great Gatsby’ and drink red wine till you’re drunk.

Sign me up.

photo for vogue

Dog dressed as a hot dog, eating a hot dog, while watching...

Wed, 08 May 2013 01:40:09 -0400

Dog dressed as a hot dog, eating a hot dog, while watching baseball, in Atlanta. I want to be this pup. (Except with a veggie dog, of course.)

photo via deadspin

"Let me know if you have any questions about heavy metal or Norse mythology."

Mon, 06 May 2013 22:44:48 -0400

“Let me know if you have any questions about heavy metal or Norse mythology.”

- An actual thing an actual person said to me. Oh, Portland.