Author note: I know I usually write about food topics, but as my tagline above reads “critical thoughts on here, now, eating and drinking,” well, I’ve allowed myself a little bit of wiggle room to stretch out my writing topics beyond the hottie foodie things. This here essay is an example of the “here and now” part. I wrote it this past Christmas and hope you enjoy it.

It’s Christmas. And I’m on a plane. I’m going home to San Diego with my partner of 10 years by my side. I’m approaching 30. I’m leaving my secure job of three years. It’s been a hellva year.

And all these swirling events are leading me to one solid conclusion: Lady Gaga has saved me from running to the woods.

Let me explain.

I’ve become increasingly ornery over this past year. Maybe it’s related to the severe lack of sun, maybe it’s related to some other personal issue, all I know is that my patience has been at it’s lowest in recent memory. I get irritated more and more by “the grid,” and frankly, this is very unusual. I’ve always been such a fan of density, people, traffic, busyness… cities have always meant action, excitement and opportunity in my book. But this year, it’s weird; I’ve become a total urban grump. The sound of the bus going by grates me, pollution of all kinds disgusts me, and to-go containers frustrate me beyond belief. When I’m not working, I have to spend at least a few hours outside, or else, forget it; I’m a total bitch.

What’s happening to me? Are the stars pushing me to the sticks? Should I try and turn these daydreams into reality and go work on an organic farm somewhere and completely abandon my iPhone, Twitter account, blog and ambition to create a career in writing and creative communications?

Then Lady Gaga comes around and makes me feel, well, like the old me again. And who is that exactly? A girl born and raised on pop music, with an endless appetite for creative culture and the ambition to write about it.

I saw her Bad Romance video after Perez Hilton Twittered about it, and I’ve been forcing anyone I can to watch it since. I had two friends in from out of town for New Year’s Eve, and since they weren’t familiar with her, I declared it, “Lady Gaga Awareness Day” and played her cd and videos on repeat.

She gets me excited about culture again, and all that comes along with it. It’s due to her brave theatrical fashion, her controversial sexuality, her addictive glossy songs, and her art-forward videos. NPR journalist, Shana Naomi Krochmal writes, “She’s not just selling sex; she’s selling art,” which in the landscape of mainstream culture, is a little unusual. And that got me cheering for her while reassuring me that modern capitalist civilization isn’t completely void of smart, new, creative ways to celebrate itself. She’s out there happy, having a good time, and I’m afraid it’s a little contagious.

Does that mean I’m patronizing the Wendy’s drive-thru on a regular basis? Well, no (Gawd no!) – and the bus exhaust still can bum me out, but it’s not sending me into a complete hermit shell like it used to. So when Lady Gaga sings, “Just dance – it’s gonna be okay,” I believe her.

A Fly on the Wall: How’d you get started?

Daniel Delaney: The show launched on February 15 of this year. If you’re talking about how’d we choose the topic of street food, that comes from me. I studied street food in school from a design perspective. I’ve always loved street food and entrepreneurs. It made sense to me to support them in a way that was feasible. I have a background in technology and media and design, so it’s the cross roads of all of that.

AFotW: Try hard to name your favorite cart (or at least, a few of them):

DD: I think in Portland, my favorite cart is MoxieRx. It’s a charming cart we did an episode about. In New York, where I live, I would have to say (pause – a long one) it’s probably the Calexico Carne Asada burrito cart in SoHo. My favorite cart that I’ve ever been to is in Berlin, and it was the Döner Kebabs they served there. I think they’re fantastic. That’s probably my favorite street food of all time.

AFotW: I get how food blogs work but video is a whole other ball game. How do you financially make the show possible?

DD: The show makes money off of donations and from advertising. We’re now working with a company called the Next New Networks, which is a web video network and they’re going to be starting to wrap ads around our episodes, which will bring in enough money to keep the show afloat.

AFotW: How do you think the economic landscape has affected the food cart scene?

DD: I think right now there are two things that are happening that are changing the food cart scene. On one hand it’s technology, and on the other hand it is the economy. Technology; things like Twitter and Facebook have allowed vendors to be mobile and really communicate with their audience in a way that really no business has before – more so than brick and mortar businesses. I think the economic landscape played a large factor in the growth of street food over the last six months. It’s hard to justify going to an expensive restaurant. It’s often the case you can get some pretty great street food for cheap. The ambiance on the street doesn’t feel so high flatulent. It feels okay to do that. It feels forgiving.

AFotW: Where are you headed to next?

DD: We’re filming more episodes in New York. We’re heading up to New England; heading up through Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, and Boston. Then after the winter, we’ll be going down to Texas, and the middle of America.

AFotW: What type of cart would you say is the most popular?

DD: It’s hard to answer. I’d say each city handles vending very differently. If we were to talk about sheer numbers I think the hot dog cart is the most popular. But each city handles it differently – the carts look different. For example, if you go to Maine, they’re really more like shacks. And if you’re in California they’re more like catering trucks. In Philly they’re on sidewalks. I’d argue that the most popular item served from a street cart, is the hot dog.

AFotW: What’s the biggest challenge to street vending?

DD: It’s a very difficult question to answer. You have cities where it’s nearly impossible to get a license. Then you have cities like Portland, where your biggest issue is your power goes out for a half hour. I think the weather is really the biggest challenge. As far as food-prep, I don’t think there are really that many challenges. I think there’s a great opportunity for profit in street vending because of the low overhead in comparison to a restaurant.

AFotW: Any other news you’d care to mention about the show?

DD: As I mentioned, it’s moving to the Next New Networks. We might have a book in the works and maybe even something on prime time television. We’re really excited about it (the show in general). We have a great time putting it on. We’re always doing what we can to make it a better show for the people who watch it. We hope to hear from our audience. It’s always great to hear from people and their favorite street carts because it most certainly informs where we travel.

Connect with VendrTV: Website | Twitter | Facebook | iTunes

Long time granola dining room, Vita Cafe is closed until mid-May. They lost their lease and are in the process of moving directly across the street.

I ran into the drama about the Floyd’s-King Harvest move and yeah, they shouldn’t have stayed open during construction. We had to practically shove the table saw aside to get to the counter. Enough said.

Tita’s Pista is, umm, gone. The little shack has disappeared and just its sign remains.

The love affair between The New York Times and Portland’s cuisine continues. Matt Gross shouts out Spella Caffe, and yes, they make a superb cappuccino.

Speaking of New York Times and food, the iconic Ruth Reichl has two Portland visits booked in the future. One being through Powell’s (Weds. May 13 2009, 7pm, Bagdad Theater) and another through Literary Arts (Mon. March 29, 2010, 7:30 p.m. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall).

The north-Portland pizza dealings, just got a little more competitive. Atomic Pizza opened up just down the street from Eddie’s Flat Iron Pizza. They offer slices, salads, calzones, beer and wine. What they don’t have are Eddie’s killer sandwiches, so I may still end up going there, not to mention the fact that Eddie is super nice. I’m a moth to a flame when it comes to the pizza/salad combo, so I’ll check out the new player, and if it doesn’t suck, likely I’ll tell you. I’m so committal, I know.

I have a lot of little things to cover, from all subjects involved on this blog (me/living, Portland/food, and some random media stuff too).

I’ll start with the Fly on the Wall updates: If you’ve read this blog before, chances are it looked a little different last time. I’m afraid I lost some pretty good posts in the process of the transition, which (sigh) is just how this cookie crumbles. I am still tinkering with some changes, so don’t be surprised if it changes again soon.

Clips: I’ve had a few pieces up on Portland Food and Drink since my last update. Check out my thoughts on the US Barista Championships here, or read all about Kevin Ludwig and his bad ass new bar, Beaker & Flask. I also will have a review of the new Fischerspooner album out in the Summer issue of VenusZine. My brother foodie blog, Chocolate Meat, also published an essay of mine from my epic Mexican adventure.

Media bits: After five years at the helm of the ship, Bitch Magazine publisher Debbie Rasmussen is setting her sails for calmer waters of the country. Portland is about to get another printed hipster rag called Button. Whenever a new outlet pops up, I get nervous, excited and really hope they don’t sink. How far can the advertising dollars go in this town? They seem to have quite the editorial staff, and maybe they’re all volunteers/work for next to nothing, who knows. I’ll be interested to see the paper. I’m also excited about OPB working on acquiring KMHD. Long live the jazz on the airwaves. On a bigger public-radio note, NPR will no longer run This I Believe, the excellent program dedicated to broadcasting listeners’ essays on beliefs. “This I Believe had a remarkable run on NPR. After four years and more than 200 shows, we felt that it was a good time to conclude the weekly broadcasts,” states their latest newsletter. That show will be missed; however, hopefully I’ll get it together to actually subscribe to the podcast.

Foodz news: Taste of the Nation is around the corner. The pr branch of the festival was offering free tickets to for food bloggers to give away, and I was excited to see Food Dude created a food-haiku contest around them. On a more random web-link note, I came across Foodzie and think this thing is friggin’ genius. Etsy is to art, and Foodzie is to food. Now no matter where you are, you can support the local man and the postal service in one swoop. Lord knows both could use the biz. I also am impressed to hear that the PSU Portland Farmers’ Market and Powell’s are joining forces to bring books to the market. Super cool idea (I wish I’d thought of it!). Speaking of wishes — I wish I would have gotten in line for the Food Cart festival on Saturday five hours earlier. OMG, I went up there 30 minutes after it started and the line was bonkers (I’d guess about 400 people). Portland surely does love its food carts.

I’m writing this right after sending off one of my freelance-writing assignments, and while on hold with Western Union (I’m wiring money to Mexico! More on that in a minute).

Most of you have probably read (or heard me blab about) my latest clips, but I’ve contributed to PortlandFoodandDrink a couple times recently, wrote a few more music reviews for VenusZine, and have started copywriting for a childhood friend. God bless Facebook! I was reunited with an old friend through the social-networking monster and turns out she owns an awesome graphic art/media firm who just so happened to need a freelancer (Yes, please! Hire me!).

And let’s not forget the side projects or pitches that never go anywhere… actually, scratch that – I’d rather forget about those.

Moving on to Mexican paradise. Who says you can’t plan a vacation during the economic apocalypse? Yeah, a lot of people, but not us! Yes, Casey and I have just wired our deposit for our seven-night Mexican adventure. I’ve never done anything like this, and I’m friggin’ ecstatic. I never studied abroad and if I board a plane, there’s a family member involved with the destination. Being the freelance-work-horse that I am, I kind of feel like I can never really take a vacation (must. always. keep. pitching). But slowly over the years of working myself stiff, I realized I actually want a piece of the cookie-cutter American vacation experience. I want to go to the sun when it’s rainy and hellish. I want to “sit on the beach with a margarita,” and I want to swim in a pool.

But before I do any of that, I just have to do one small thing: apply to graduate school… again (sigh). I have a feeling I’ll be “a bit mute on the blog” again.

–Catherine

Now it seems like the virtual world has nuzzled itself into reality like toast crumbs in the corners of a corduroy couch—a sign of simple comfort. As I type this a friend is going on a date with a girl she just met on Craigslist. And a different friend has a similar date set up in the future. I was on a walk a few days ago and I heard an old grandma talking on her cellphone in her car about FaceBook. I eavesdropped on a conversation between two dudes at the gym about the random MySpace messages they’ve been getting lately. And I’ve sat around computers with friends multiple times—watching videos, browsing friends’ profile pages together, that it feels pretty close to natural to pull out one’s “personal” computer and share it with an audience.

But two things happened recently that have me really chewing on my relationship to the internet (and let’s face it; we’re pretty tight).
I have fallen into the YouTube Vlogging abyss and I read, probably, the most poignant piece written about blogging in The New York Times Magazine.

It tells the tale of Emily Gould and her rise and fall through the blogosphere. If you know anything about Gawker, or blogging, or really anything about writing in the least—you’ll find the piece interesting.

I can’t help but relate to a few of her experiences about putting pieces of her heart and soul online. Except the obvious, obscene difference… uhh, I’m not a mega-giant blog star. That girl rakes in over 300 comments when she posts bits about her life (not to mention over 1200 to the story itself). Which brings me to another difference.

I’ve traditionally been of the school that thinks personal blogs are boring and too self-absorbed. I didn’t want to do that. Who could possibly care about the details of my life? With this blog over the past year or so, I’ve aimed to cover food topics in a divergent, analytical way, sprinkled with a few food-news scoops whenever I can find them.

Reading her story, along with being introduced to video-blogging, has me questioning my old-school thinking… personal details into people’s normal lives are SUPER interesting! While my partner was gone for a month I’d watch hours of totally pointless videos of people just talking about plain, boring, everyday topics. But I’m not sure where to go from here… why is it interesting? Does this make me a voyeur? Or—worse—vain for possibly blabbing more personal anecdotes?

At the root of all this are questions of creative expression, and what motivates one to reveal the most intimate details of their lives. Gould’s answer is:

I think most people who maintain blogs are doing it for some of the same reasons I do: they like the idea that there’s a place where a record of their existence is kept — a house with an always-open door where people who are looking for you can check on you, compare notes with you and tell you what they think of you.

I half agree with that statement. I haven’t totally made up my mind on the barrage of issues she addresses in the piece, but I see personal writing as one of the most direct ways of sharing and connecting to the world at large. And when you’re Emily Gould, that world can be, well, pretty friggin large.

UPDATE: My partner has been back for a week, and my desire for vlogs has diminished ten fold. My desire to blog about food has also returned to its previous levels.

-Catherine

And I’ll just get this right out in the open… yes, I left out the last “g” in her last name. I almost had a heart attack when I read that comment from, ahem, her father. Bad Catherine! She’s forgiven me and doesn’t think I should feel bad. Live and learn, I suppose and remember to check for those sneaky silent “g”s!

-Catherine

This state of mind has its benefits and pitfalls. For now, it’s exactly what I just said: a state of mind. Very little action is required until I get the green light from the program, therefore I’m left to dream, worry and strategize all kinds of possible scenarios and appropriate reactions in the scene of my unknown future.

Take this evening for example.

After eating a simple dinner made from pantry and refrigerator scraps, I read this New York Time’s article.

I loved it for the reason I love the majority of good macro-cultural journalism. It speaks to the collective conscience and puts what a lot of people are thinking into concise words. I had doomsday thoughts a lot—probably closer to eight months ago more than I have recently; but nonetheless, I found this article aptly timed and of course well written.

It got me thinking again about what I’d do, how I might prepare, and how my life might look, should society begin to crumble. What if I lived in NYC without my partner? Or even if society isn’t hitting the fan, but for whatever reason, I need to operate in more of a survival mode than I am now. My mind began to list some of my favorite simple foods that would keep me nourished in more ways than one. And the top of the list? Poached eggs. There’s something just perfect and romantic about a poached egg atop almost anything.

Alice Waters taught me how to poach eggs this winter and she’s right:
“A freshly laid organic egg simply poached is an incomparable delicacy.” From The Art of Simple Food

Then my sugar addiction kicked in and I was left to forage my pantry yet again. After combining heaping spoonfuls of organic cocoa powder with tablespoons of agave and a few pours of 1 percent milk in a saucepan over low heat, I had myself a new item for my list… hot cocoa. Three ingredients coupled with heat and a pan had me entering a brand new state of mind—utter bliss. The simplistic deep chocolate melted away any care I had at the time. The drug-like effect my cocoa had on me was almost embarrassing; it was so immediate. I could almost visualize the neurons releasing serotonin on my brain.

I may not know where I’ll be living within the next few months, but the more chocolate entered my body, the more okay with it I was.

-Catherine

Finally somebody said it! I’m kidding… sort of. As with any movement or idea, there comes a backlash. As “locavore” joins the New American Oxford Dictionary as a legitimate word (darn! too bad my Mac came with the 2006 edition), university labs are studying to disprove the claim that local food is kinder to the environment. Andrew Martin reports this in the typically stellar NTY fashion. Smart, witty, and riddled with insight.
Fave line: At some point, the ethical maze can make you dizzy.

2. The Green Party
By ALEXANDRA JACOBS
Published: November 4, 2007 New York Times Style Magazine

Keeping with the theme of the above article; Alexandra Jacobs also wrote an entertaining critique of green-ism, except her version contained way more tongue and way more cheek. My partner thought the tone was a little too snobby and pretentious, and perhaps she’s right, but I liked it.
Fave line: And the potential for “gotcha” moments while “sourcing,” as eco-conscious entertainers like to call shopping, is boundless.

3. Fido for Supper
By STEVEN RINELLA
Published: October 2007 Outside magazine

If I like something a lot; I read it aloud, and this piece had me waking up my partner just so I made sure someone else could enjoy it with me. Rinella answers the intriguing question of: what do you do when dog is on the menu? Being a doggy owner, and a wanna-be exploratory eater, I found his answer fascinating. He attempts to toss his deep-rooted Americanism aside while he chokes down various flavors of dog, but doesn’t succeed. An interesting viewpoint of where culture clashes with will.
Fave line: “Geez … it was good. Just great. And that sauce is really something, too! Wowzers!”

PS. If you’re thinking: WTF? Only three? Well, yes. I had a lot more articles selected for this list but I couldn’t find them all online by Dec. 31 (and posting a Best Of list after the New Year just wasn’t an option). Too much holiday fun!
-Catherine