One of the all-time best Portland spots. SE Grand and Stark-ish. I never eat Lebanese anywhere else because it's SO GOOD and SO AFFORABLE. With vegan options! And piping hot pita brought to your table when you sit down!


I always get a shawarma combo. For around $10 (what up Golden Corral), it gets you a fat plate of humus, a good little side-salad, and a BIG pita with your choice of meat and more salad wrapped up in it. I never finish the sandwich or the humus, so it's like two meals. TWO MEALS for $10, y'all. Can't beat it.


Every ex-pat Portlander that I know weeps when I mention Nicolas anywhere. Suckers! Why would you EVER move somewhere with no Nicolas! (as an aside, this is my current favorite pix of Evie)


We didn't get it (still sad), but the baklava is so amazing. Baklava in general makes me the happiest of campers. All of the best in the world: honey, phyllo dough, and nuts UM YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU. The turkish coffee is wonderful too, although I did manage to get it all over myself/my camera last time I was there, so consider yourself warned.


Nicolas is usually CRAZY busy on evenings at the weekend, so go a smidge early or on a weekday. We went at 6:30 or so on a Tuesday and there was no wait at all. I mean it's COMPLETELY worth the wait though - I've waited up to 30 minutes for a table, which is pretty beyond me considering how much fast food I eat. You can stare pitifully through the window at the fat steaming pita breads to whet your appetite!

-hannah

Aaaaaaah, that's better. I tried the long hair thing for a couple years and it's just not my bag. I always had short hair as a kid, so I never developed good habits and so it feels like A Lot Of Extra Pointless Effort to brush it or blow-dry it or do anything much besides wash it. The long hair was all wrong anyway; I just feel much more like *me* with short hair. Like now that I did it, I have no idea why I put up anything else as long as I did!

(yes I did shoot this in my bathroom be quiet, it has wonderful light)

-hannah

Nothing too special... just dinner with my gramma c: The sun was setting, and the light in her west-facing living room was GORGEOUS.

-hannah

Previously on The Secret Life of the American Teenager:

Adrian and Ben are gonna get engaged. Hasn't happened yet, but it's a given. Grace is having an STD test, but no one really cares much about the results because we all know she's gonna fuck Grant regardless. Amy and Ricky wanna do it SO SO BAD, and Amy can't stop telling her dad aaaalll about it. The girl who plays Ashley is awful, but she has amazing hair. Ricky's birth mom is in town and staying with him and he ain't cool with it, so he asked his foster parents (who he considers his real parents) to take her in.

Nora & Margaret (Ricky's foster mom) meet. So can we talk about this weirdness about who Ricky calls Mom??? Have none of these people heard of the term "birth mom"? Not that I have a problem with him referring to both of them as Mom, because whatever, who cares, but there's all this totally needless ANGST about it.

Margaret: No, I didn't know you had allergies, because you seem to have the immune system of a horse.
Nora: An insult like that would be seen as a come on in the big house, sista.

OH GODDDD NORA IS GAY THIS IS GOING TO BE A DEAL GODDD


Their faces when they figure it out. ("It means... your mom is a lesbian??") I mean this would be funnier if that wasn't Ben's face 90% of the time. Ricky angsts about it of COURSE, but eventually is actually really cool about it, and their conversation is sort of adorable.



So nice.

Amy is just being so proactive with her sexuality you guys. I couldn't even transcribe the conversation she had with George, it was too awful, all like I AM REALLY GONNA HAVE SEX, OKAY, and he's like I REALLY DON'T WANT YOU TO HAVE SEX and she's like SEX SEX SEX and he's like SEX SEX SEXXXXXXX


Amy: Teen pregnancy joke?
George: Teen-who-won't-have-sex-after-being-pregnant joke.
Amy: Ah. Funny.

Ashley is tryin'a get mom/EVERYONE to do her dang biology project, and the actress who plays her is still terrible, even in the context of this show, where the ONLY REMOTELY DECENT PLAYERS are the girl who plays Grace and Jennifer Coolidge and MAYBE the dude who plays George.

Ashley: This is on ecosystems. This is planet Earth and this is a picture of my world, a microsystem of the larger planetary sytem. And when you put another life into a shaky ecosystem, where people are fighting for food and water and attention, the system becomes vulenrable. And when there are too many lives added to an already vulnerable sustem, the system collapses. After the world collapses, the survivors start over again, sometimes reproducing with other species.


Can we talk about this for a minute? Ashley is acting out y'all, and pretty much nobody cares. She's exhibiting some CONFUSING ass cries for attention and everyone's just like HOMESCHOOLING, ALSO YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS, YOU'RE WEEEIRD, like christ, what a shitty family, no wonder she's so pissed off.

Ashley: I'M SICK OF MY WHOLE LIFE BEING RUINED BECAUSE PEOPLE KEEP HAVING BABIES

Slackin' on the Grace front. No Grant at all this episode. Poop. We do get this nice scene with Grace & Adrian where they have a conversation about sex/boys, and it ALMOST sounds like a real conversation real girls would have. There are flickers where they're laughing and it's vaguely believable.

Grace: You're not gonna have... sex... with Ben, though, are you?


Adrian: And if you have any doubts [about having sex with Grant], don't do it.
Grace: And if YOU have any doubts, just don't do it. Don't do anything.
Adrian: And what does that mean?
Grace: You know what that means. Don't get married to Ben just because you're pregnant and you like all the nice things he does for you and the baby. You have to really love him to marry him, Adrian, if you don't it's just not fair.
Adrian: Well he hasn't asked me, and he may never ask me, so I don't have to decide that, do I.


Oh, Adrian. Even GRACE knows what's up. Can we please have cool spicy Latina Adrian back please :( :( Ben is taking Adrian out to Papi's Tacos. I really hope a Papi's Tacos exists somewhere because I really love the name, and Adrian manages to say it like 80000 times. Papi's Tacos Papi's Tacos I want Papi's Tacos!!! The repetition on this show is just weird and sounds totally unnatural, I'm not sure why they insist on it so hard.

Adrian: You know who loves Papi's Tacos more than I do? Ben. He LOOOOVES tacos. That's his favorite place. Papi's.


Ruben: Do you love him, Adrian?
Adrian: UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I thiiiiink... so? Yeah, yeah, he's a nice guy.

Ben has been running around getting everyone's (no one's) approval. Ruben is GUNG FUCKING HO about the wedding, especially it being before the baby comes because DUH unmarried women having babies is the MOST SHAMEFUL. Leo thinks it should be a year after the baby comes (so smart), and from what I can tell, Betty doesn't think they should get married at all - she pretends to, and definitely doesn't try to hide it.


Betty: You know, Ben, when really people love each other, they lie for each other. And one day, when you're married, you'll lie for Adrian, and she'll lie for you. It's fun.

JENNIFER COOLIDGE YOU ARE TOO WONDERFUL FOR THIS SHOW. I hope they're paying you well gurl!!!

Adrian's mom, who was VERY against the marriage (and against Adrian having the baby to the point that she was DOWN for an abortion, and basically the only bastion of cool on this show left) is now totally fine with it.... sigh.

Ben: Thank you.. mom.
Adrian's mom: *hugs* Ben you are a charmer and Adrian is a very lucky girl. Except, of course, she got pregnant when she didn't really wanna get pregnant... but anyway, she's lucky to have you.
Ruben: Welcome to the family, SON.


Adrian: I love you Ben. Wait, I think you said you love me, right?
Ben: Yeah, I did.
Adrian: I love you too! :OO she's moving! She's moving right now!

I WOULD HOPE THIS HAD BEEN WELL-ESTABLISHED PRE-PROPOSAL BUT I GUESS NOT, ARRRRRRGHHH THIS SHOW

Tune in next week for the wedding :| I hate everything.

-hannah

Just a quick shot of Reggie, overexcited and antsy because I went downstairs. Being a dog must be STRESSFUL. Ours freak out at almost everything - someone walking in the door, someone getting an ice cube out of the freezer, someone paying attention to the other dog, someone looking at them funny...

-hannah

Had a nail party a few days ago with a couple cool ladies and some nachos & amber ale. The homegirl Megan busted out some boss nails - SO inspired! All my attempts at nail art end up looking real amateurish and messy. Gotta figure out how to get some clean stripes and I'll get the Ireland flag on my middle finger for next St Patrick's Day c:

-hannah

Working on getting my photos off the computer screen.

Last year as Christmas presents I mounted prints on some cheap finely-milled plywood I got at the Home Depot. I bought a bunch of pieces slightly smaller than 5x7", but had a few 4x6" prints lying around and figured I'd get 'em on there and see how they looked. I'm not sure how I feel about the border, but for this series I think I like it. Still meditating on how to hang them - possibly string them together and literally hang dangling from the wall?

-hannah

It's spring in beautiful Portland, which means crazy weather - it hailed, but it's been consistently sunny when it isn't rainy for the last few days, but also cold??? We get gorgeous flowers and sidewalk cats.

I like taking pictures of flowers too too much. It's a compulsion! I can't help it! I'm trying to limit it to when the light is real pretty, like it was yesterday evening.


My boo Jordan and I hung out at SE Grind yesterday with some coffees and talked shit and she's my favorite. Then Max and I went to Dairy Queen. #dairyqueenappreciationblog



Not the most flattering picture, but my nails look GREAT. (Sinful Colors Hazard.) Seriously though, I have nothing but good things to say about Dairy Queen. I WISH they were giving me money, or at least free food. The best summer meal is a double DQ cheeseburger and a cherry Slurpee, eaten outside.

-hannah

Previously on The Secret Life of the American Teenager:

Ben & Adrian are pregnant with a girl and are making puppy-eyes at each other. Amy wants to boink Ricky, and is waiting on his STD test to decide she wants to get married first. Jack slept around more than Grace thought, so she needs to have an STD test too before Grant will sleep with her. She REALLY doesn't want one, so Grant REALLY won't sleep with her. Ricky's mom showed up to town and is crashing at his place.

Nora: Wow, this is kind of. Sick. My son is dating a woman who looks like his mother. Not dating. Worse. Wow.

They REALLY don't look that much alike except for being skinny white girls with long brown hair. Do respect Amy allowing it to be Ricky's decision to let mom into John's life (although I'm pretty sure any real parent would have been like NOPE YOUR EX-CON MOM DOESN'T GET TO HANG OUT WITH MY KID, LATER). Ricky is weirded out by the association of his mom and Amy.

Ricky: You don't look like my mother even if you look like my mother.


LOOK AT HIS EARS C: C: C:

Grace and Jack have a talk and... DRUMROLL PLS... an actually decently emotionally effective scene.

Jack: You know, I was good this summer. I didn't do anything and, whoo, I had plenty of opportunities to do everything.
Grace: Yeah, apparently you've always had plenty of opportunities to do everything. And you always took full advantage of those opportunities.
Jack: Not always. And I don't really need or want to do that anymore. Take advantage of every opportunity.
Grace: So you had had sex before we had sex.
Jack: I thought you would have had assumed that.
Grace: Uh!
Jack: I kinda did it because you didn't want me having sex with other girls, so I just thought you knew I had sex with other girls.
Grace: No, not really! I knew that you did what you did with Adrian but I didn't... ugh! You had sex not oral sex, sex with her?
Jack: Look, I told you to go get tested. What more do you want from me? This is as honest as I care to get with an ex-girlfriend who's seeing someone else! And you know what? I need my space.


GOD JACK IS THE WORST. This is the only part of this show so far where I have actually felt emotions beyond This Is The Worst Writing Ever for any character. Kudos to the actress who plays Grace - the first time I watched this scene my heart was really going out to the girl. He totally betrayed her and she is hurting. Apparently this is the clincher and she is Never. Having. Sex. Ever. Again.

Ah but then Grant shows up and says he loves her so everything's okay.

Grant: Come on, you disease-ridden skank, you know I love you.

So the sex is back on!!! Grace is gonna get tested. They managed to shoot him from the least flattering angle so through the entire scene I am thinking about how unfortunate his face is ;_;

Ben wants to move in with Adrian so he can clean up poopy diapers in the middle of the night I guess, and she's not down?

Adrian: Ben, we're not ready to live together!
Ben: We're not ready to have a baby together, but we're having a baby and I wanna be with you and the baby.
Adrian: I know, and I really appreciate that you've so stepped up the plate here, Ben. And you've just been been so responsible and kind and considerate and everything else but...
Ben: *puppy eyes*
Adrian: I'm not living with you! Okay! I'm definitely not living with you unless we're married.


HIS FUCKING FACE. It's like this kid's life is hell unless he has a wife in the works. UGGH Adrian's all "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAAAANT" but you know with the way her character is progressing their asses are as good as hitched in three episodes. Leo gives sage SAGE advice, telling Ben to wait 'til a year after the baby is born.

Ben: A year? My daughter's supposed to walk around a YEAR without knowing her mother and father are married?
Leo: They don't walk the first year.

DAAAAAAADDD I WANNA GET MARRIED RIGHT NOOOWWWWW god what a nerd

Madison's dad is trying to get her back together with Jack.


Dad: This is your opportunity to get back in the game, son! And when you get back in the game, just... remember what the rules of the game are.
Jack: Yes, sir. Is there any kind of compromising on that?

WHY ARE THEY ALL SO CREEPER AND WEIRD. It seems like everyone is pretty skeptical about this new boyfriend.




Amy: Don't tell me you broke up with Jack for this Stanley guy.

...even Amy's dumb ass knows what a weirdo he is. CAN'T BLAME HER BECAUSE HE LITERALLY LOOKS 35


Madison's dad: He's simple, and again, creepy! Why would you wanna go out with him.
Madison: Because he likes me! He really likes me! He says nice things to me :(
Madison's dad: Like what?
Madison: I don't know... like that I smell nice and that my hair's pretty and I have a great body :) :)
Madison's dad: WHAT??
Madison: What? I do!!!


God, I love her. Why don't they let her be awesome?

Madison: EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THE FOOD COURT IS LIKE A STEAMING BOWL OF STYROFOAM AND SEX
Madison's dad: The food court is where people have breakfast, lunch, and dinner while shopping.

Aaaaand Ashley's still tryin'a be homeschooled. Molly Ringwald is fine with it, and George is not, probably because it requires more work for him. "This is broken home schooling." He's scheming with Griffin to get Ashley back in regular school.


Have I ever mentioned how Griffin is a big part of my love for this show?

George: Why are you doing this? Is it because your mother and I are divorced?
Ashley. Most kids' parents are divorced. No one cares.

So, tune in next week to count down the seconds til Adrian accepts Ben's proposal, Grace forces herself on Grant, and Madison does..... something cool and adorable!

-hannah

My little stepbro turned 10 this weekend. Here's just some snaps I took while we watched Harry Potter 2 and my stepmom made white pasta. YUM white pasta is the best kind of pasta.

(this is Evie, she's the bomb.com)


"Yesterday was Thursday Thursday, today it is Friday Friday." (I took these pictures on Saturday.)


We only had the 1 candle, so he made the 0 with his fingers.

-hannah

So: I'm graduating this year. I know, right? TERRIFYING. I've got my thesis project pretty nailed down right now, though. Been taking pictures of all the meals I eat from the same angle. It's really satisfying to me process-wise; I love taking a camera around with me and shooting as a part of my daily life. I did a 365 last year which really solidified this for me (even if I hated a good deal of the photos I took for it and am glad to not be doing it!!)

Anyway: so I've been labeling each meal with the date & time (obviously). I'm planning for this project to span 3-5 months, and to end up with a wall-sized grid of these labelled black and white images. Really happy with these so far!




"Meal" has been a little problematic for me, as I tend to eat larger quantities at fewer sittings, so I'll only have two meals that day. I decided not to photograph snacks because 1. I need to draw a line somewhere, and 2. EMBARRASSING, and since I do snack quite a bit a lot of the food I eat is missing. Not sure how I'm going to work with that yet.



But yeah, like I said, feeling really good! This is the first time I've shot black and white and felt both conceptually and visually spot-on with it; usually I have to shoot b&w for a class and I'm all, maaaahhh why can't I shoot colorrrrr. I don't want to do this project in color AT ALL. It feels like it's in exactly the right spot in black and white, especially since I'm trying to avoid food porn, a totally unnatural action for me. I gravitate towards food porn like sunflowers angle towards the sun!

-hannah