I walked right past, remembering that cruel anecdote from that anthropology course—wondering if I am being filmed as part of a study on altruism and how some wicked people can just walk on by.
Read morethe Zen art of Hippo Hardware
We returned to Hippo Hardware one last time to redeem an $11 store credit. I brought my camera to snap pictures of every little thing in the store and remember how, even in a city as rapidly changing as Portland, there are still some genuinely beautiful pockets holding their corner.
Read moreA family moves from Portland to Minneapolis
How to sum up the incredible and complex forces, both pushing and pulling, that would provoke a family to leave their beloved home for a new city, across the country?
Read moreDelicious Donuts, Portland Ore.
A recent visit, and farewell, to my favorite donut shop in Portland, Oregon brings an encounter with Old Portland, New Portland, and this place we still call home, but don’t live in anymore.
Read moreMost bad companies are bad on accident. PODS are bad on purpose.
Like, they are terrible. Just absolutely awful. Danger. You'll have better luck carrying your household across country than we did when we moved from Portland to the Twin Cities.
Read moreA love letter to our dear friend, and home
This is a love letter to our home a stylish Arbor Lodge bungalow, with a classic interior, a sleek, elegant kitchen with a built-in dining area that was a raging pain in the ass to build. From the formal living room with fireplace and handmade built-in cabinets and window seats with plenty of storage, to the beautifully renovated tile bathroom and handcrafted artisan built-ins in the master bedroom, this home is a luxurious palace, and it’s totally for sale.
Read moreNight Ride, Portland Ore., 05/05/2019
At night, the whole city turns on its lights. Eyed disapprovingly by passing motorists, and hungrily by circling prowlers, there’s a gazillion fabulous pictures to be had—if you’re brave enough to stand in one place long enough to get your levels right.
Read moreOMSI's Employee of the Year
Today, a lot of people will be shaking her hand and wishing Jaclyn all the best luck on whatever lucky project she’ll work on next. It must be a weird day for her—twelve years—and everything to show for it.
Read moreOMSI's Animation Land
OMSI’s Animation Land. Created in partnership with Jolby and Friends, and largely designed by Jaclyn Barber
Read more"Fromageee!!!"
This is a story about how, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in the spring of 1998, I became old friends with 20 or 30 seniors on rumspringa from Green Bay Wisconsin and how they almost destroyed Western Europe with a photograph.
Read moreDancing Lessons
Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis
While in Minneapolis for a brief, busy weekend exploring new apartments and job prospects, a mid-April blizzard hits town and I miss my flight home.
Read moreLloyd Center Mall
I have never been very current on fashion, so my trips to the mall usually included eye-opening updates on trends. Apparently, judging by the three Russian figure skaters, there was some huge fad for czaritsa chic going around.
Read moreHow I learned to get over myself and fall in love with malls
I love malls. This is an essay on how I came to fall in love with malls, accompanied by a series of pictures I shot in January, of Portland’s Lloyd Center Mall.
Read morePilot V5 Precise
I love this pen. This is my love letter to the Pilot, V5 Precise.
Read moreThe tantalizingness of mistake art
Whether we like it or not, art is all around us. If we’re paying attention, we might just have the opportunity to be its chaperone.
Read morePillars of Kenton
A creepy encounter with a strange old man and the seedy backstory behind the pillars of Kenton, Oregon.
Read moreNorther Cycles will save america
Stand anywhere in Portland, Oregon, throw a rock in any direction and, with that rock, you could hit two bicycle frame builders. Maybe though, don’t throw rocks. (Just a thought.)
Read moreA note about handmade bike racks.
Rack beautiful via. Norther Cycles
Think you know how bicycle racks are made? Think again. Let us take a moment to raise up the artisans who craft and build beautiful and functional (and often overlooked) bicycle racks.
Read moreIf it weren't for visiting Family, we'd never make it to the Oregon coast
It is odd, how we can live next to something as spectacular as the Oregon Coast, but rarely visit.
Read moreOmens
Witnessing the Winter Solstice, it's not hard to imagine why its first observants wanted commemorate the occasion. It must have been scary as hell, a moon like that, and without the lights of the city to dilute its fullness (as they did here). Will the year's crops fail? Are we all going to die? Or, does this foretell good luck? Is this the year my wife will finally buy me that Ferrari I've always wanted?!