Portland, Oregon is a walking city. On our day trip last week, we parked in an astronomically priced garage and set out on foot. Since the art museum is in the park blocks near my alma mater at PSU, I thought I’d take the kids to see my old dorm and apartment. What kind of [...]

Filed under: Mad Mom, S**t My Kids Say on September 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »

Part of the fun of going to a new place (or visiting a place you don’t get to much) is exploring the food scene. When you’re with kids, this can be dicey. My son will eat anything from hot peppers to salmon roe. My daughter, however, would exist solely on bread and bread products if [...]

Filed under: Foodie, Mad Mom, S**t My Kids Say on August 31st, 2011 | 1 Comment »

I love museums. I love how quiet they are. I love that everything is hung perfectly straight, and well-lit. I  love that you can sit in front of a painting for a long time without explaining yourself. I love that you and your sketch pad can  be endlessly inspired by old and new favorites. While [...]

Filed under: Art, Mad Mom, S**t My Kids Say on August 30th, 2011 | No Comments »

My kids are just now at the age that they don’t behave like feral monkeys in public. At least not all the time. So when I was on vacation from my Real Job last week, I surprised them with a day trip to Portland. We started out at the Portland Art Museum which is the [...]

Filed under: Automobiles, Mad Mom, S**t My Kids Say on August 29th, 2011 | No Comments »

In 12 hours, I will be back at work. In 12 hours, I will be sitting at a computer, but not on Facebook or Twitter. In 12 hours, my cell phone will be on vibrate, not set to play the Mad Men theme song. In 12 hours, I will be on the clock. In 12 [...]

Filed under: Mad Mom, Not painting on August 28th, 2011 | No Comments »