Getting to know a friend through her art: A look at Mary Aday a.k.a Mefore Aday, THRU Gallery’s Debut Art Exhibit When Mary Aday first moved to Portland from the South in 2005, a few of her new classmates at Oregon College of Art and Craft would ask her to repeat: Bright. White. Light. In …
Category Archives: Stories
What I See in Thawed City Streets
Written as an account of an actual walk through the streets of Portland this January 9, after a single day of non-freezing snow-melting weather — one of Portland’s iciest weeks on record. Portland is back to usual tonight. The rain is steady and the smell of donuts moves like an invisible steam through the streets. …
Community Supported Chicken
A Look into the Modern Farmer’s Movement Baked, fried, BBQ’d, on a stick, simmering in lemon and garlic: I love chicken. I love chicken in soup, Pad Thai, enchiladas, and cold for breakfast. Until recently however, I honestly could not tell you where it came from. How does it end up in the freezer? Somewhere along …
Birds Eating Birds
Death as Concept, Death as Survival, Death as Distant Reality. The first time I became aware of the concept of death was from the tag on a hair dryer. “Warn children about the danger of death from electrocution,” it read, under a cute rendering of a bathtub with lightning bolts all around it. As long-haired …
Too Much To Handle
Featured image is “Reading Woman with Parasol” (1921) Henri Matisse (cropped to format) “Do you still want to be famous?” That’s my ex, Ben. He texts me sometimes on weekday mornings while sitting in class at the Ohio State University. When Ben is at home or it’s the weekend I never hear from him because …
Juliet’s Flash Dance
The first time I met Juliet she was wearing a tutu and a gorilla mask that covered her face entirely. She had wandered over to my campsite, drawn there by the heady smell of hash and the steamy jungle beats I had been throwing into the night air. She accepted the pipe without saying a word, …
Magic 8 Ball
I lost my virginity late one night while Moonbeam was gone away at the bar. She bought us a six pack of Corona from the 7-11 and we’d finished most of it. We were cuddling and touching under a blanket on the hide-a-bed. My brothers were in their bedroom, asleep. David was telling me, as …
Inside the Red Doors
The 5th Annual Oak Street Art Show offers celebration and a much-needed dose of inspiration for one young man. It was sometime in the winter of 2013 that I found myself caught in a position of personal confusion. A stressful year of academics and tumultuousness had left me tired and ready for a break from being a theater …
THE MAN I NEVER MET // Part 3
The Final Installment of “The Man I Never Met” Chapter 2 – Cont. I never did like big crowds, I said to Walter, but I still couldn’t shake him. Bruce Walter was the kind of guy who could not take a hint. So your friend—is he in the movie business? He is indeed, said Walter, …