Sara Ryan

Publicity strategy deployed by many in arts communities: Commentary on the current ubiquity of owls in hipster subcultures: Admonition against dwelling on the idea of a dog:

Having wonderful time, wish you were here. Unless you are, in which case let’s hang out. I’ll be here all week.

So I found myself at a high school pep rally assembly. When I was in high school, I did my best to avoid these events. But today I welcomed the opportunity to observe the phenomenon without being obliged to demonstrate spirit, sartorially or otherwise. I made notes about a few things (five, to be exact) [...]

I was tempted to make this into a user icon. Still might. Sadly my camera couldn’t capture the rotating X-rays behind the bird-mask mannequin’s head. I love that she has no hand. Risked an accident by quickly snapping this through my car window at a red light. Foolish, I know, but the stencil-art umbrella girl [...]

Or tornadoes, for that matter. I’m gonna be in New York next week, all week, engaging in a variety of literary and less literary pursuits, some of which I will perhaps document here. I am excited.

During the hottest part of the summer, I decided to take up hot yoga, because, you know, it was hot anyway. For those of you following along at home, the hot yoga occurs at a different place than the classes with the instructor I wrote about in “They carry parasites,” and the dynamic is very [...]

The last time I visited the Usual Undisclosed Location, I brought back an envelope full of photos labeled in my dad’s handwriting: 1 x 1 photos, old. They’re relatives, I’m fairly sure, though there are no names on the backs except the photographer’s, Roy Leadd. I like looking at them and wondering about them. Was [...]

Sighted near one of Portland’s myriad food cart pods. I like the combination of industrial and rustic-decor components. Any guesses as to function?

1. Stare glumly into refrigerator, which contains condiments, cat food,  soy milk, and half a can of tomato paste. 2. Contemplate going out for dinner. 3. But then I’d have to go somewhere. 4. Stare glumly into the freezer. Oh hey, there’s frozen chicken. 5. Can I actually manage to defrost some chicken? 6. … [...]

I wasn’t surprised that there were a lot of people, but I was surprised that I knew so few of them; further evidence that Portland’s nerd community is multifaceted. We were mostly quiet while he read. Not, I would attest, because we weren’t appreciating the humor and nuance of the language, but because we wanted [...]