Portland's own community radio station turns 40 this year and they're celebrating in style tonight with a block party . I'll be there. Will you?

The new edition of the Destination DIY zine is now available, with stories and interview excerpts not included in the shows along with some fun visual stuff. Order yours today or stop by my table at the zine symposium this weekend. Thanks!

Due to a confluence of deadlines, I've decided to push the listening party/zine release back to the fourth Thursday of the month (Aug. 28). Believe me, I will make it worth the wait. Thanks for your support. 

I'm in the process of writing a grant that will take Destination DIY outside of Portland for some special episodes next year. I'd like to visit some towns in Oregon such as Pendleton, Astoria and Ashland. Do you know of cool DIY things going on in these places that you think I should cover? Do you know about creative, independent projects happening in other small communities around Oregon? Please email me and let me know: julie@destinationdiy.org Thanks!

I found myself on the other end of an interview yesterday. Andrew Ó Baoill (the one doing the interviewing) is a PhD student at the Institute of Communications ResearchUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he wanted to talk to me about Destination DIY on the web. He was particularly interested in the now infamous masturbation episode and he's not alone. Most of the people who come to this site to listen search out and click on that episode, even though it's been months since it was first released. Andrew also asked me what it's been like to have a radio show that's not currently on the radio in the city where I live. I explained that it's actually not that weird because the listening parties have become like the local broadcast for me. The listening parties are my reason to keep the third Thursday deadline. He also asked me what I thought the niche was for community radio, what role it plays in the world of radio. I pointed out that it's pretty much the only kind of radio station where you could show up with no experience and be welcomed in and trusted in front of a microphone within a matter of hours. Hopefully, I gave Andrew something he could use in his academic project. I know our conversation got me thinking anyway.

They're up and running once again to help you fill your punk radio needs. Show them some love.

For the past two weeks, this awesome music/podcast site has been offline. The site's owner, David Baker, got in touch to say he's working on the technical issues and hopes to have the site back up and running very soon. 

Destination DIY summer intern Hilary Galian provided us with a little extra web content for episode 30: an interview with a very enthusiastic Portlander who has moved by bike and even married here bike. Click here to listen. 

Some days I do so much radio work that it ceases to seem fun anymore. But on days like today, I remember what it's all about. I woke up to an email from a woman in Port Orford (off the Oregon coast) who says, "your style of radio production is so sweet and smart and interesting...it gives me a big boost in my quest to learn to make radio." Then, I got on my bike and pedaled around my neighborhood recording chickens and people who love them at the Tour de Coops for the August "urban farming" episode. My tire had another slow leak, so I came home and fixed it myself, remembering as I did so that I might not have learned that skill if I hadn't recorded a basic bike maintenance class last year. I think it's safe to say that Destination DIY has changed my life for the better. 

Tune in to Berkeley's KPFA today at 3pm (PST) to hear the Destination DIY "Art of Survival" documentary and, if you're an east coaster, check out the cycling episode on New Hampshire Public Radio Aug. 1 at noon. 

Thanks!

Who doesn't love stickers? Order your cool Destination DIY stickers today. Thanks!

I've listened to it a couple of times now and this episode just flies by, which is appropriate for the subject matter, I suppose. Listen to it here or via the podcast. Hope you can come to the listening party. 

Thanks to our steadfast engineer Brian Kramer, to Jason Leonard and Grey Anne/Per Se for the music, to Ethan and Elizabeth for their
awesome contributions, to Hilary Galian for her production assistance.

Thank YOU for listening! 

To make up for a total lack of fun, frivolous blog posts of late, I thought I'd let you all know I got economically stimulated last week (thanks, US government!) and I decided to buy myself some items I'd been eyiing:

I got this awesome, vinyl bag at Portland Saturday market. It felt good to support a local company.

It has a dinosaur on it and it's pink inside. What's not to love?

I also got this water bottle because I needed something lightweight that would fit on the water bottle holder on my bike. And because from time to time, I like to stimulate the Swiss economy.

Please, give us your feedback, by filling out this short survey. Thanks!

PS: Question 12 was added automatically by Quibblo, the free site where I created the survey. If I had written the question, there would be more than 2 choices for gender. Grievences can be filed with Quibblo here

UPDATE 5/18: Hmmm...Quibblo seems to have removed that question from my survey.

Get ready to be inspired! This episode may give you just what you need to decide to become a home-brewer. Or it might just make you thirsty for a hand-crafted beverage. Either way, I think you'll enjoy it. And don't miss the extra web content: Miriam Widman's report from Portland's oldest brewing supply store and Tim LaBarge's gorgeous photos. Since this month's KBOO broadcast has been delayed, you can only hear this episode on the web (until May 29 at 10AM). 

I hope to see you at the tasting and listening party tonight where you'll get a chance to sample the wares of the home-brewers and basement wine maker interviewed for this show. Most of these folks do not sell their stuff in stores, though it is quite tasty, so don't miss this one and only chance to taste everything you can hear in this episode. That's 7pm tonight @ the Waypost (3120 N. Williams Ave.) 

It's fresh out of the audio oven! Take a listen and leave a comment. Don't miss the outtakes at the very end. 

Nick Jaina and his merry band is finally coming home! They'll be playing tonight with the Brothers Young (Ritchie Young of Loch Lomond's 3 brothers + 3 others, including Leviethan). The show starts at 9pm and tickets will likely go fast. So, don't be left in the cold, er, cool spring air. I am ridiculously excited about this. Hope to see you there!

Apparently, I've been deemed an indie scenester and someone made me a professional DJ without my knowledge. 

Here are a few other folks who think you should be attending tonight's listening party at the Waypost (starting in under 3 hours!): The Mercury , the Oregonian , PDX Pipeline and Just Out. So, I'll be seeing you there, right?

Yep, it's here .  Hope to see many of you at the listening party Thursday 7pm @ the Waypost (3120 N. Williams Ave.) If you show up, you'll get to meet many of the artists featured in this episode as well as my brother, Andy, fresh from the US Freeskiing competitions.

Maybe I'm just a little out of practice these days, but writing the script for this month's show was HARD, harder than usual. Twice, I considered bathing my dirty, little stinky cat (Miles) instead of continuing to write. 

I just got word that WHUS in Storrs, Connecticut is broadcasting DIY, Portland every other Saturday at 4pm eastern time.

This is totally making my day right now. 

Check out this excellent (if a bit wordy) write-up of Mr. Leviethan Cecil "of DIY, Portland fame." (Little does the writer realize that Levi is a night owl and he doesn't hammer or do anything else much before noon.)

In case you haven't seen it, it's on the front page as well as the audio library. Please drop by the listening party tonight @7pm at the Waypost (3120 N. Williams). Thanks for listening!

April: Art in Strange Places - Do you know any artists who show their work in places other than galleries and/or coffee shops? The stranger the better! 

May: Beer and Wine - Do you know anyone who brews their own beer or makes their own wine? How about folks who grow their own hops and/or grapes?

Email me: julie@destinationdiy.org

Thanks!
 

Sorry for not blogging more. I realize it's been well over a week now. That's the thing about having a job that is consistently stimulating and challenging: no more blogging at work. I'm just too busy doing interesting stuff! OK, OK nobody wants to hear about that. Here's something else you may or may not find interesting: I've been sick for the past few days with some sort of sinus congestion. I put off recording the narration for the upcoming Mar. 20 show because I thought things might clear up. Instead, they got worse, but I had to record to keep up with the production schedule so as a last ditch effort, I bought a Neti Pot. If you don't know how it works, I'll spare you the gory details. Suffice to say my nasal passages were clear enough to record decent-sounding copy, though I think regular listeners will still be able to hear the difference. Now back to work...

I've taken on a new project and a new title-- producer of the Bitch Magazine podcast. Yes, I still have a job at OPB and time to make fresh DIY, Portland episodes each month. I just work all the time! It helps that I love what I'm doing. I'm really excited to be partnering with the ladies of Bitch, to bring their pithy feminist quarterly to your ears. If you're not familiar with Bitch, I highly recommend it, and not just for the ladies out there. At least 2 out of the 3 men who live in my house are avid Bitch readers. With their public support and zine roots, Bitch definitely passes the DIY smell test. I've been a fan of the magazine since my college days and was reminded to re-up my subscription last year when they relocated to Portland. Publisher Debbie Rasmussen and I had lots of fun playing with recording equipment and trading ideas over pizza and beer last week. (Along the way, she fell in love with one of my cats -- WileyMiles, the snuggly one, not Roxy the snobby fat one -- and published his picture on the Bitch blog today.) 

So, all of a sudden Kimya Dawson is, like, famous. A few of her songs from her most recent album Remember That I Love You appear on the Juno movie soundtrack. Levi and I went to see her at Music Millenium on Burnside yesterday. Even though we got there about 35 minutes early, the place was almost completely packed wall-to-wall with people. They were mostly adorably alternative Portland teenagers along with a few parents, some twenty-somethings and a few punks.

    I think it's great that Kimya Dawson is doing her Juno promotional tour in independent record shops instead of Virgin mega-stores (as someone had originally suggested to her), but Music Millenium is just a terrible venue for a show. She played upstairs in the vinyl section, while the crowd stood leaning against the CD displays, sweating in our winter coats. We were unfortunately right underneath where she was playing so, I only got to see her when she wasn't playing. She was still pretty darn entertaining though, especially when she talked about her crush on Danny DeVito 

    She passed by us on her way upstairs and i said, "Hi!" in this really unnatural way because I was surprised to see her suddenly behind me. I had never actually met her in person before, but I've listened to her music since her days as one half of The Moldy Peaches. After the show, I went up and gave her a hug, told her i think she's awesome and handed her a CD of episode #22. That's the episode where I used her song "Underground," after a short email exchange with her.

    Waiting outside to talk to her, a girl told me she felt bad because she only knew about Kimya because of Juno. I think it's cool that more people are finding out about her. I just hope they buy her music and not just the movie soundtrack. She played some new stuff from her upcoming album, which she explained is for kids and babies. I particularly like the alphabet song in which "C" stands for "cat butt." She's so silly and cute, and her songs are very cleverly worded. And she has these simple lyrical passages that can just hit me in a really poignant way. Like this one from Singing Machine: "Open up your eyes and see the beauty over there/Open up your ears and be surprised by what you hear/'Cause it's not just on the radio, it's not just on the video, it isn't all downloadable; there's music everywhere."  

    I'm happy for her commercial success. Her music the kind of music that deserves attention from a wide audience. Her voice and her lyrics are unlike most of the crap in the mainstream, even the quirky, "indie" mainstream. And I respect her so much for just looking the way she looks, instead of attempting to imitate culturally prescribed femininity. I'm sure she doesn't think of it that way; she just is who she is, and that's awesome.

I listened to rat laughter while shuffling around my kitchen on Friday night, thanks to one of my favorite public radio shows, Radio Lab, now in its fourth season. The show explores laughter and its evolutionary components, in an attempt to answer the question "Why do we laugh?" I learned a lot and I also giggled out loud, by myself, while taking in this episode. You can hear it for yourself here. Don't miss the bonus video footage of the scientist who tickles rats while researching joy.

This time at the Artist Repertory Theater, where Levi and I went to see the excellently acted Clean House. As we are leaving the theater, a woman taps me on the should and says with a smile, "I hate you." I look at her, rather speechless until she says, "I want your hair!"

    "Well, it comes in a bottle," I say, for lack of a better comeback. 

Tune in to KBOO anytime Thursday, Jan. 31 and you're sure to hear hard-hitting commentary and inspirational programming. KBOO is one of the most established community stations in the country and they're kicking off their 40th year with a day of special programming called "No Beginning Too Small." The goal is to invigorate listeners and raise $10,000 in one day. You'll hear from Ariel Gore, creator of Hip Mama magazine, Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Relief in New Orleans and visionary urban designer and author William McDonough. Check it out and give KBOO what you can. They've been here for Portland for a long time and we all need to ensure it's here for a long time to come.

This is my French doppelganger, Julien Sabatier. He found me today on Facebook.

This morning I had the pleasure of meeting Ward Cunningham, who invented the wiki. I was doing this thing called a tape sync (it's also known as a double ender, though I think that sounds sorta dirty). Basically, when a reporter wants to interview someone outside their geographical area, but they don't want phone quality sound, they get another reporter to go to where the interviewee is and the second reporter holds a mic in front of the subject's mouth while the first reporter conducts the interview over the phone. So, I was the one holding the mic and it was a very interesting one-sided conversation. 

After the interview was over and he hung up the phone, Cunningham and I got to chatting about DIY. The idea of a wiki is very DIY in that it's all about empowering people to customize their own computer programs. Cunningham asked me about the origins of DIY and it was sort of a thrill to feel like I had something to teach him. I learned a lot listening to him, but I don't want to give it away lest I spoil someone else's story (which you will no doubt here soon on a public radio show near you). It's probably safe to tell you the name comes from a Hawaiin word for fast. Cunningham originally called it "WikiWikiWeb" but it got shortened along the way to just "wiki," and he was really inspired by a book about architecture.

Think Out Loud, the show for which I am now a production assistant, will hit the airwaves (and the internet) on Oregon Public Broadcasting this Tues, Jan. 22. Check out the Think Out Loud web site for all kinds of info about the show (and a forthcoming bio of yours truly on the staff page). If you live in Portland and can be somewhere other than at work at 8am, I hope you'll consider coming to the launch, which will take place before a live studio audience. Most of the time, we'll be taking questions and contributions from callers, but on Tuesday, all the questions will come from the people in the studio. It will be my job to help facilitate that process. The topic of the first show will be population growth and the demographic shifts in Oregon, looking ahead to 2025. So, tune in or come on down have a continental breakfast on OPB and watch me run around with a headset and a microphone. It'll be fun!

Please drop by the Waypost (3120 N. Williams) tonight at 7pm, where we'll be listening to this month's episode of "DIY, Portland" all about history (see below). We worked really hard and got it out on time in the face of some serious technical setbacks in the new studio. I personally sacrificed all but 2 hours of sleep for the sake of this episode. So forgive me if I'm a little out of it by the time the party actually rolls around. In any case, I hope to see you there!

The newest episode of DIY, Portland is almost ready! This episode takes a do-it-yourself approach to personal and collective history. You'll hear interviews with my grandparents (including my grandpa Rome Hartman who had a long and storied career as a radio man at WIRK), and I'm proud to bring you the work of producer Miriam Widman with a piece about a storytelling night in Portland called DIY Stories. Performance artist damali ayo will enlighten us about her fascinating project called "Living Flag: Panhandling for Reparations," where she asks white people on the street for money and hands that money back to black people passing by.

I hope if you're a Portlander, you'll come hear the show at the listening party Thursday 7pm @ the Waypost (3120 N. Williams). Of course, you can always tune in to KBOO 90.7FM at 10:00am Thurs. and don't forget to come back here for fun links, photos and possibly some extra web content.

Thanks to Brian Kramer for production and engineering help, to Nick Jaina and Jason  Leonard for music, to independent producers Miriam Widman and Dmae Roberts for their sonic contributions and to Scott Magee for filling a critical, technical void. Thanks also to my aunt Virginia Hartman and my uncle Larry Dorman, who provided the recordings of my grandpa on the radio in the 1940s and '50s.

And thank YOU for listening!

I am proud to announce that I have been hired as a production assistant for a new show called "Think Out Loud" on Oregon Public Broadcasting, our local NPR affiliate station. It's a daily news/talk show with a great team of producers and hosts. I will be doing research, booking guests, contributing ideas and screening calls for the show starting in a little over a week. The first air date is Jan. 22 at 9am PST. I hope you can tune in. This does mean I'll be leaving my staff writer job at Just Out newspaper, but don't worry, "DIY, Portland" will still be on the third Thursday of every month. I may do some freelance radio work for national radio shows, but you won't be seeing my work in print for a while. Thank you all for your love and support.

The interview with KBOO program director Chris Merrick and Ani Haines of Positively Revolting Talk Radio that aired instead of "DIY, Portland: Too Hot for Radio" is now available (by popular demand). Click here to listen. Thanks!

Where: Mississippi Studios

When: 9pm tonight (Friday)

Why: You've heard his music on "DIY, Portland" episodes in the past. Perhaps you caught his song "This Town That Town" on the 2006 PDX Pop Now compilation. Surely, you saw the glowing review of his very DIY album in the Willamette Week. Now, you have a chance to hear Leviethan (aka Levi Ethan Cecil) live at the best venue in town for free! As an added bonus, Levi will appear with a stellar backing band made up of Heroes and Villains band members. Also playing this show will be Ritchie Young of Loch Lomond (also a "DIY, Portland" contributor) and IOA of Point Juncture Washington. I had a dream last night that the entire show took place under water and it was awesome. 

Levi and I spent the better part of New Year's Day working on sound panels for our emerging studio (named Edison's Elephant). It's beginning to look quite professional. Click here for more photos.

I produced a story for Oregon Public Broadcasting, our local NPR affiliate, about a strange loophole in marriage laws that allows same-sex couples to be legally married if one of them is a transgender individual. If you're interested, please listen to the story on their Web site here. Thanks!

Attention Baltimore folks! The "DIY, Portland" zine is now available for just $2 from Atomic Books on 36th Street in Hampden. This lovingly handcrafted little zine will take you behind the scenes of the radio show you know and love. It will give you lots of good reasons to visit Portland and hopefully, inspire you to start some cool projects right in Charm City. Please show your support for the show and for this awesome store by purchasing a copy either in person or via their Web site. Thanks!

I knew the FCC wouldn't like it and I knew that certain members of my somewhat Catholic family would most likely take issue with it, but when people asked "What does your mother think?" about the masturbation-themed episode of "DIY, Portland," I wasn't sure what to say. Mom podcasts the show, but I wasn't sure she'd listen to this racy episode and I let her know it was pretty, um, out there. Today, she called and told me she really enjoyed it. She said Dan Savage made her feel kinda dirty, but that she found the whole thing very entertaining. "You asked some good questions!" she said. I have to say it makes me cringe to think of my mom listening to some of the things that were said on that show, but I'm really glad she did and it means a lot to me that she really liked it.

If you listen to the show that I did about censorship (available via the podcast) you will hear that KBOO's decision not to air my show about DIY sex was largely due to their lawyer's assertion that the FCC regulations on obscenity are vague enough that the station would incur a significant risk of complaints by airing the program. 

Now, other stations are making different decisions. I'm in communication with a small community station that is currently considering playing the entire show after 10pm (which is considered "safe harbor" for profanity, though not obscenity).

This morning, David Goodman and Marc Stern of "Radio with a View" aired the interview I did with a phone sex operator on their "Annual Christmas Sex Show" on WMBR, an MIT-based community station in Cambridge, Mass. Goodman said to me in an email, "I’ve listened to [this interview] and I don’t hear anything that would trigger any FCC red flags."

The Radio with a View folks also interviewed pro-choice activist Bill Baird and Paul Reffell of the Global Orgasm for Peace. Their show will be available here and here for the next two weeks only. I'll keep you posted on other stations' decisions about what's too hot for radio.

 
You can read up on FCC laws here and here . Feel free to leave your own thoughts on the subject in the comments section of this Web site. 

Thanks to everyone who came out to the listening party last night and to the rest of you who have been listening in the privacy of your home/office/car/bicycle. It means so much to me to have this outpouring of support for the subversive project we managed to pull off this month. I'll be visiting my family and friends in Baltimore for the next week. So, if I don't return your emails right away, you'll know why. Hope everyone has a happy holiday-of-their-choice. xo

Hey look, the Willamette Week thinks you should go!
So does Just Out's Jim Radosta. And Alley Hector at the Oregonian.

What: A Listening Party for DIY, Portland: Too Hot for Radio, a Web-only episode about that very special do-it-yourself project we all do when we're alone sometimes.

When:  7pm, Dec. 20, 2007

Where: Waypost Coffeeshop, 3120 N Williams Ave.

Don't miss a chance to listen and giggle with all your friends (and meet some new ones). You'll hear the voices of guests such as syndicated sex advice columnist Dan Savage, who will enlighten listeners about the dangers as well as the ethics of DIY sex, and Portlander Isis Leeor, who will talk about a class she created called “Look Ma, No Hands! How to Orgasm With Your Breath.” You'll also get the inside scoop on assisted onanism from a protected source in the phone sex industry. The show will include music from Leviethan. 

Of course, if you can't make it to the party, you can always listen to it here anytime on or after Dec. 20. Get ready!     

The unofficial after-party will be at the Nick Jaina show 9pm at the Doug Fir. (Nick Jaina composed the DIY, Portland theme song and many, many other songs that I love.)

At Crafty Wonderland's Super Collossal Holiday Sale, I'm told there will be more than 100 vendors and goodie bags go to the first 200 people in the door. I don't know about you, but I plan on getting their early on Sunday, December 16. The sale opens at 11:00am and ends at 5:00pm. It will be in Norse Hall, 111 NE 11th Ave. Did I mention there will also be a full bar? And a recycled wrapping paper table? Yes, for those of us who have waited until the very last moment to buy local for the holidays, this is it.

This is also the second weekend of the Rebel Rabbit Craft Fair (see last weekend's DIY). 

 The Prometheus Radio Project people are some of my radio heroes. They were largely  responsible for changing the laws a few years ago to allow for more low power frequencies. So, when they talk I listen. And I hope you do too. Here's the latest from Prometheus: 

"As you have probably heard, Federal Communications Chairman Kevin Martin
is pushing hard to make media consolidation -- too few companies owning
too much media -- even worse.  One week from today, he's expected to let
just one company own the daily newspapers, radio stations, and TV
stations in America's biggest cities.

Community radio supporters have fought for years to not just stop media
consolidation, but to roll it back -- bringing new voices to cities and
towns, large and small.  Don't miss your chance to stand up for diverse
and accountable media in the United States!

Take a stand now.  You can file a comment at the FCC here:

http://tinyurl.com/2yswbr

Or at Stop Big Media:

http://www.stopbigmedia.com/comment.php

Remember to tell the FCC to not just stop media consolidation, but to
roll it back -- making space for community radio, accountable,
independent media, and more!

You can also ask Congress to tell the FCC to study the impact of media
consolidation on female and minority voices before they make any move to
consolidate.  You can do so here:

http://action.freepress.net/campaign/ownership

Thanks for fighting for our voices on America's airwaves and beyond!"

Check out this interview with Andy Sabatier, the pro skier.

Way back in August, when my life was approximately as busy as it is right now (or perhaps more so), I wrote a grant (my first) to get some money for some special "DIY, Portland" episodes I want to do in 2008. And today, I got a letter in the mail from RACC (the Regional Arts and Culture Council) that starts with the word "Congratulations!" I got almost everything I asked for and I'm hoping this is just one step in a series of steps towards funding the show through public money and making it a sustainable nonprofit-type venture. Thanks to everyone for listening and for your continued support! 

Wanna shop local and pick up some handmade arty crafty presents for everyone on your ChrismaHanuKwanzaa list? Then head over to the Hipbone Studio 1847 E. Burnside this Sunday, Dec. 9 between noon and 5pm for the Rebel Rabbit Craft Fair. You'll find stuff like adorable Ladymade pendants, "gourmet crochet" hats from Stone River Studio s(pictured), children's jewelry by Little Daisy Chains, organic soaps and lotions by Milina and screenprinted tee shirts from Salmon Street Studio. Check out all the vendors right here . 

And by cheap, of course, I mean inexpensive. Reading Frenzy (my favorite spot to find all kinds of independent literature) is having their 6th annual Cheap Art show/sale this weekend. There will be original prints, artist books, cards, journals, calendars, toys, jewelry, hats, bags and all kinds of other stuff such as organic chew toys for your furry friends. All of it is priced under $100, which is pretty great when you consider most of it is handmade by local artisans. It all starts on First Thursday, Dec. 6 and goes through the month of December at Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak St. 

Thanks to Western Washington University-based community station KUGS 89.3FM "DIY, Portland" will now be on every Monday at 6pm in Bellingham, Washington.

Looking for something fun to do tomorrow night? Why not drop by the Independent Publishing Resource Center for a Printer's Social. According to the IPRC, it's an opportunity for printers-- professional and hobbyists alike-- to network and schmooze as only geeky zinester types can schmooze. And, hey, it's free and refreshments will be provided. Find out more from the IPRC. 

Tune in to KBOO 90.7FM or streaming at kboo.fm tonight 11pm-midnight for a special music show devoted to men who aren't afraid to get in touch with the feminine side of their voices. My special in-studio guest will be Ritchie Young of Loch Lomond. Requests are welcome. Call us in the air room at 503.231.8187. Oh, and just so you know, we probably won't be playing any Aerosmith. 

The first of what I hope will be many listening parties at the Waypost went quite well, I thought. There was no particular reason to start the listening parties with this episode, other than the fact that this is when Michael Newman (owner of the Waypost) and I finally got our stuff together to plan it in time. Seven or eight people showed up, including the two women featured in this month's show: Patricia Sweeney and Cynthia Beal. They seemed happy with how they sounded. I didn't witness either one of them cringing while listening to themselves talk, which is a vote of confidence for any audio editor. Afterwards, we all had a really interesting discussion about death and burial. I hope next month, they'll all come back and hopefully even more people will show up when the subject is sex instead of death. 

Today is the day. I called Dan Savage and left him a voicemail, trying not to sound too creepy or rambly. I picked him up at his hotel and brought him to Brian's basement studio. I was a little early, so I played Ms. PAC-MAN on my phone for five minutes before giving him a call. He was late, so he offered me a bottle of wine.

On the ride over, I asked him if he remembered the two letters I've ever sent him seeking his advice. Even though this line of questioning lead to a brief but graphic discussion of my sex life with a stranger, it felt remarkably natural. Dan's pretty easy to talk to and once he realized I hadn't lured him to Brian's to murder him, we had a really nice conversation on the mic too.

I wasn't nervous, but I was excited and very, very prepared. I printed my questions out and glued them to index cards, god help me. It was one of the best interview experiences I think I've ever had. It helped that we were in a studio setting, rather than my normal sitting-too-close-and-passing-the-mic method of interviewing. Brian and I gave a lot of thought to the set-up and it just went swimmingly. It also gave us an excuse to put the door back on the band practice room where we were recording. Only the best for Dan-- doors an everything!

I've been consuming Dan Savage via a variety of media for many years. I'm a fan. That's for sure, but I think I kept the fawning to a bare minimum. I probably talked too much, but I also sort of forgot it was an interview at times. It just felt more like a conversation. I guess that's easy when you're talking to someone who pretty much gets paid to be himself and say what he thinks. His job is to keep it real. He's doing it himself, as it were: on the car ride back to Dan's hotel, I learned that not only does he agree to be a guest on podcasts recorded in basements, but he screens his own mail-- about 1,000 emails a day!

Tonight, Levi and I are headed over to In Other Words Women's Books and Resources to listen to Dan talk about open adoption. Not because we're considering adoption or anything. Actually, I'm mainly going so I can blog about it for work. So check the Just Out blog for my post about that tomorrow if you'd like.

"Here’s a free way to try out those art supplies you’ve been ogling while chipping away at your holiday gift list. Muse Art and Design at 42nd and Hawthorne is celebrating its third anniversary and all are invited to make a card, any card at the store’s Holiday Make a Card event on November 11. Refreshments will be served, including Widmer’s new Snowplow Milk Stout and Muse owner Peter Rossing has all the art supplies you could possibly think of. Families and artists of all abilities are welcome so come and spend an hour on a Sunday creating. Muse is open noon to five, Sunday November 11th and during the week from 11 to 6 pm."

Muse is located at:
4224 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, Oregon 97215
www.museartanddesign.com
503.231.8704

Called "One Pot," the series is run by Michael Hebberoy, underground restaurateur, impresario and provocateur. In Seattle, this blending of roles has stirred excitement. But many people elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest would find it uncomfortably familiar. Dinners like this were exactly how Mr. Hebberoy got his start in Portland, Ore. Those evenings generated enough good will and even national celebrity that, by the time he moved up from the underground and opened three restaurants, he almost had to turn away investors. Then one April day last year, he disappeared, leaving behind a wife, a ruined restaurant empire, a welter of debt and an angry herd of creditors and business partners.