Tomorrow evening, July 30th from 7-9pm at my beloved (air-conditioned) Ladybug Coffeehouse in my cherished St. Johns neighborhood, I’ve invited a lice-infested, boil-covered Danish Dwarf and her life of squalor in early 18th Century Russia and Denmark to visit. They’ll be coming there in the form of a novel called The Tsar’s Dwarf, which blossomed from the darkly fertile mind of author Peter H. Fogtal.

The Tsar’s Dwarf is the tale of beauty found in even the darkest periods of time. The novel follows the life of Sørine Bentsdatter, a female dwarf living in Europe’s Early Modern Age, in Scandinavia. She is given to Tsar Peter the Great as a gift by the Danish King. The Tsar carts intelligent, well-read Sørine off to St. Petersburg, where she lives in a decaying world made of meanness, armed only with unrepentant wit and endurance. Don’t feel sorry for Sørine, however. Although she refuses to consider herself a human being, like humans she wrestles with guilt about past choices.

The Tsar’s Dwarf is Peter’s 12th novel, but the first to be translated to English. He will discuss his tiny protagonist and read short sections from his weirdly wonderful story. I’m pretty sure he’ll be reading the visceral cake scene, which is one of my favorites.

Edit: Here’s an excerpt of The Tsar’s Dwarf from Danish Accent, Peter’s blog.

Ladybug Organic Coffee will have its air conditioning on full blast, and its full menu of scrumptious organic coffee and food stuffs available. If you haven’t yet ventured through the doors of this award-winning establishment, a wickedly witty Danish dwarf and A/C during a heat wave should get you there.

Don’t miss this chance to meet Peter H. Fogtdal and hear more of his latest novel.

The Deets
Thursday July 30, 2009, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Ladybug Coffeehouse
8438 N Lombard Street
Portland, Oregon 97203

RSVP on Upcoming
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About the Author: Peter H. Fogtdal was born in 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark and has a degree in playwriting from Cal State Fullerton. He is the author of twelve novels in Danish. Three have been translated into French, two into Portuguese. In 2005 he won The Francophonian Literature Prize (Le Prix Litteraire de la Francophonie) for Le Front Chantilly. Peter H. Fogtdal shares his time between Portland, Oregon, and Copenhagen, Denmark. His English language blog is Danish Accent. Peter is on Twitter as @Danish_Novelist.

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By Angel O'Brien

Tomorrow is a big day for my friend Angel O’Brien. She owns Ladybug Organic Coffee Company, one of my favorite coffeehouses in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland. It’s a very special place.

At Ladybug, all the coffee, tea and deliciously original food (which is made from scratch and on-site) is organic. The napkins, disposable cups, and pink plastic straws are all biodegradable. (I wrote a lot more about Ladybug’s efforts to be sustainable here.) And often, afterhours, you will find the lights on for neighborhood committee meetings and fundraising events.

But that’s just business as usual. What’s different about tomorrow is that Angel’s outstanding photographs will go on display for the first time. I am not only a fan of Angel and her beloved Ladybug coffeehouse, I am also quite enamored with her artistic eye for detail.

Encrusted, a photographic depiction of the remnants of coffee bliss, is series of gorgeously rich photos of the art we customers leave behind in our cups. For a sneak peek at what to expect at the show, you can view several pieces scheduled for showing in Angel’s Dirty Dishes set on her Flickr page. Even more brand new, never exhibited before pieces will be revealed at the reception.

If you love coffee and photography, you’ll love Encrusted. Please join us at the Ladybug on March 1st between 4-7 pm for the opening celebration!

Ladybug Organic Coffee Company
8438 N Lombard Street
Portland, OR 97203
www.ladybugcoffee.com
503-715-1006

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Join me and my fellow ourpdx.net author @dieselboi tonight in St. Johns as we visit some neighborhood bars. These bars range from dive-y to trendy, so you’re sure to get the full picture of available libation purveyors in the area, and the whole route is less than a mile. It’s pretty fast-paced but I planned it that way on purpose – you’ll need to keep your heart rate up to stay warm in the bit of snow we’ve gotten today!

We’ll be visiting Leisure, Slim’s, Marie’s, and Your Inn. I made a handy-dandy interactive google map (see below) for those of you who dig that stuff, like me. I hope to see you along the crawl!

St. Johns Pub Crawl Schedule

Leisure 5pm-6pm
8002 N Lombard St
Portland, OR 97203
(503) 289-7606‎

Slim’s 6pm-7pm
8635 N Lombard St
Portland, OR 97203
(503) 286-3854

Marie’s 7pm-8pm
8727 N Lombard St
Portland, OR 97203
(503) 283-0494‎

Your Inn 8pm-9pm
7004 N Catlin Ave
Portland, OR 97203
(503) 285-0420‎

RSVP on upcoming.org


View Larger Map

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1 pound monster che burger
Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Every so often on my way into St. Johns, I need to stop at the B of A on N. Lombard for some cashola and see the wonderful Sweet Home Bar sign. There is always a great new message advertising food or an event. It makes me just love the creative use of signs by small businesses. Are you salivating yet? Now, is this a Cheeseburger or a CHE! Burger, you know, a revolutionary burger?

Too bad we didn’t plan our meetup for PJ night.

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We know, you know someone who knows someone and your tickets to President-elect Obama’s Inauguration are in the mail. Uh-huh.

If you need a swearing in fix, though, Portland’s new Mayor Sam Adams is inviting the public to a ceremonial swearing in at Parkrose High School at noon on Monday, January, 5. (The ‘real’ ceremony happened at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, when everyone was a little busy ringing in the New Year, right?)

Then, he’ll lead a business walkabout in St. Johns that afternoon (time and starting location were not specified on his website). To cap off the day, the mayor and city commissioners will be on hand from 5 to 7 at City Hall, where there will be both free food and music, including March Forth Marching Band.

I grew up in small towns where everyone knew the mayor and city leadership, and I like the idea that everyone has the opportunity to see and meet city leaders. I think, too, that Adams’ deserves some kudos for going to neighborhoods that – face it – don’t often feel the love of the spotlight.

If you’re more into the glitz and glam of a big event, dust off your ball gown and get your tickets to the Mayor’s Winter Gala, hosted as a fundraiser by the Q-Center. It’s at the Nines Hotel on Jan 31. Tickets are $75, and include music, hosted desserts, wine, beer and a champagne toast to Mayor Adams.

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Stock your shelves with books for the winter and help your local library at the Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale.

October 11-13, in the beautiful St. Johns neighborhood, the Friends of the Library is holding it’s legendary bottom-dollar sale. So many books, CDs, DVDs, and tape will be up for grabs that it fills an entire car dealership building. (In this case, the old Sterling Auto dealership on the corner of North Lombard and North Richmond).

Hours are as follows:

Saturday Oct. 11 9am-9pm
Sunday Oct. 12 11am-5pm
Monday Oct. 13 9am-3pm

Hard backed books start at $1.50, with paperbacks and kiddie pages starting at 50 cents. Of course, all proceeds from this sale goes to support our beloved Multnomah County Library. I hope to see you there! (Otherwise, I will assume you are a book hater and will shun you forever more.)

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