Portland: Pine State Biscuits is So Good

Hello, Pine State Biscuits. I love you, and here are some reasons why:

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Sweet tea and Arnold Palmer served in giant mason jars.

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Biscuit sandwich paradise, including classics like sausage, egg, and cheese.

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The Reggie Deluxe: fried chicken, bacon, and cheese topped with gravy and an egg.

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The Chatfield: fried chicken and cheese, topped with apple butter (usually comes with bacon, but I ordered mine without).

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Equally delicious sides, like this massive plate of hash browns, crispy on both sides.

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Tasty fries…

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…made even tastier with a large side of shiitake mushroom gravy. Yes, there is a choice of vegetarian gravy or sausage gravy — and the vegetarian gravy is so good.

Standing in line is worth it. I miss you, Pine State Biscuits.

Favorite Portland Bookstores: Powell’s City of Books, Floating World Comics, and Reading Frenzy (Plus, Linework NW Festival)

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The first time I visited Portland, my friend’s flight left earlier than mine so I had three hours alone in the city. I ended up spending all three hours at Powell’s City of Books, and I still didn’t have enough time.

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I love Strand Books in New York, and Powell’s is like a much larger, sunnier, spacious version with plenty of seating and an in-house coffee shop.

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If you ask about a book at one of the information desks throughout the store, they will fill out the book’s location — the section, subsection, room, and aisle number — on a special yellow slip of paper; then they will show you on the map how to get there. That’s how big Powell’s is.

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The mix of old and new books makes for ideal book hunting. An entire shelf of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books!

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So many used books gems to be found, like The Slander of Witches.

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There is also great signage everywhere; even the small paper signs on shelves are thoughtful and personalized.

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Fantastic curated shelves, like this one of death-related books in the Medical section.

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World Cup Coffee & Tea is the coffee shop inside of Powell’s. The first time I visited, I discovered that a cup of iced tea here was only $1.50 — coming from New York, the combination of price + quality + size was unfathomable to me. In my mind, this deal reached legendary status. I stopped by Powell’s twice this trip and got a cup both times; my friends mocked my enthusiasm, but seriously, what a deal!

Book lovers, I think it’s worth traveling to Portland just to pay homage to Powell’s City of Books.

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If Powell’s is the Portland version of Strand Books, Floating World Comics could be the Portland version of Desert Island in Brooklyn, my favorite comic/art book store in New York.

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Floating World carries a wide selection of independent comics and zines, but they also have mainstream comics, art books, magazines, and more.

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Truly, Choose Your Own Adventure.

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Old school Drawn & Quarterly.

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Landfill Record Unit, a record store, is also located inside Floating World.

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There were a few Stinckers vending machines by the entrance. I really liked the Foxing bookplates, so I tried my luck twice…

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Super happy with my results!

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I visited Reading Frenzy on my last trip, when it was located near Powell’s City of Books. It has since moved and expanded, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign.

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The new space is much brighter, and still stocks independent/small press books, zines, and prints.

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Show & Tell Press — an offshoot of Reading Frenzy — publishes local zine/iconography compendium Crap Hound, so back issues and related products are available.

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Cute stationery and paper goods like Max Ernst postcards and Wrap Packs from UK magazine Wrap.

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There’s also a gallery in the back, which I didn’t see because they were in the middle of setting up an exhibit. I’m so glad Reading Frenzy is alive and well — it’s definitely on my list whenever I’m in Portland.

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I was mainly in Portland this time to help my friend, who participated in the first-ever Linework NW Illustration and Comics Festival. It was held in a cool space, Norse Hall (hence the Scandinavian flags).

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I didn’t have much time to walk around, but I liked these paintings on wood by Knotpile; the little white dudes reminded me of Treeson — both adorable.

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Overall, it was a crowded festival with a fun energy. For fans of indie comics/illustration, zines, and local artists, it’s worth stopping by Linework NW if it happens to be on — it will only get bigger and better.

New York: Screen Printing 101 at the SVA Printshop

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My friend Kim started screen printing three to four years ago; I marveled at her finished products, but the printing process was a mystery to me. After we recently collaborated on a book, it seemed like the perfect chance to be a screen printing tourist and watch Kim print part of the book at the SVA Printshop.

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At the printshop, Kim first taped a transparency onto a sheet of paper in the position she wanted it to be printed; this paper was then used to line up the screen.

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Previously, the transparency was also used to burn the image onto the screen. The screen was coated with emulsion and left to dry; then a machine in the printshop exposed the screen to light, reproducing the transparency’s image.

The same screen can be used multiple times, so remnants of old images — or “ghosting” — are visible.

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The table of ink that is available to everyone in the printshop. According to Kim, it’s good quality ink that “comes by boat from Australia.”

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After the screen was lined up and clamped down, the printing began. Kim poured some ink onto the top of the screen.

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Then she used a squeegee to pull the ink, forcing it through the screen onto the paper below.

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The first couple pulls were tests; I secretly liked how the ink bled all over the characters and obscured the words. Creepy.

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The beginning was a labor-intensive process of pulling, checking, and adjusting the ink (like spraying a cleaner that helped keep lines clean) until the perfect registration was achieved.

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Once all the conditions were right, it was a fast process; Kim cranked out 40 pages like a screen printing machine.

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The finished sheets were laid out onto drying racks.

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The ink dried fast, in 15 minutes or less.

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With printing done, the screen and squeegee could finally rest.

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At MoCCA Fest this past weekend, we sold the finished product — a Choose Your Own Adventure book, Boy Dies.

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Victorian London: Highgate Cemetery East and West

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On an overcast day in October, I took a trip to Highgate Cemetery — one of London’s most famous Victorian cemeteries.

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Around the mid-1800s, London’s population was booming and small churchyards — which had served as burial grounds until that point — were full. To alleviate overcrowding and sanitation issues, Parliament passed a bill to encourage the building of larger, privately-operated cemeteries. Seven new cemeteries, including Highgate Cemetery, opened on the then outskirts of London; they were later dubbed “The Magnificent Seven London Cemeteries.”

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Highgate Cemetery is still a working cemetery; it’s comprised of two sections — the East and West. The East Cemetery is open to the public, and the admission fee includes a map which provides the locations of notable graves like:

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Karl Marx, the most famous resident of Highgate East.

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Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is also buried here, along with George Eliot, Malcolm McLaren, and Patrick Caulfield.

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There are plenty of interesting graves to see, even without the map.

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The West Cemetery is only accessible to the public by guided tours. I booked a few weeks in advance for a weekday tour, because tours regularly sell out. There are no advance bookings for weekend tours and spaces are limited, so make sure to plan ahead. Admission to the East Cemetery is included with a tour of the West Cemetery.

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The West Cemetery is much more unkempt and moody.

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The Victorians were fascinated by ancient Egypt; Egyptian influences can be seen throughout Highgate, like at the entrance of the Egyptian Avenue.

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The Egyptian Avenue is flanked on both sides by tombs.

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It leads to the Circle of Lebanon, a circle of vaults built around a giant cedar tree.

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Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness, is interred in a vault in the Circle of Lebanon with her first love Mabel Veronica Batten.

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Angels are a common grave marker, but there is a rare sleeping angel at the tomb of Mary Nichols.

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Some monuments are quite literal; this is the tomb of popular Victorian boxer Thomas Sayers with his loyal dog Lion.

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Many of the monuments are symbolic; our guide pointed out some of the more common ones, like a broken column, which symbolizes a life cut short or the death of the head of the family. The wreath symbolizes victory in death.

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Another commonly seen symbol are inverted torches — the end of life, the extinguished flame.

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The West Cemetery tour lasts about an hour and includes other stops like the Terrace Catacombs and the Mausoleum of Julian Beer, the most expensive monument in the cemetery.

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At the end of my visit, I felt like I took a gothic ramble through time. When can I go again?