FiveOhThree Magazine launches in Salem

May 3rd, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

My friend Nick Lopez, photographer, dad and all kinds of awesome, just launched a new site devoted to Salem culture.

It is called FiveOhThree Magazine (after our area code) and is a meeting place for conversations about food, drink, music, and community profiles.

An almost lifelong Salemite, Nick has lots of connections within the Salem community that put him in a good place to tell the kind of stories that need telling. He was one of the first people whom I met in this city — he tracked me down at the debut of Frank Black’s Grand Duchy project at the now defunct local music spot The Space — and I have been watching him develop his portfolio of magazine editorial images for years now.

Nick says  profiles of people doing great things in the community are going to be the heart and soul of FiveOhThree. For a prolific profiler like me, that’s music to my ears, but I didn’t expect to be on the other end of one of the first Q & As, and with so illustrious an interviewer.  For this inaugural issue,  poetry professor Michael Chasar interviewed me about this blog, my ideas about the next generation of journalists, and the battle over Englewood’s favorite mailman, Paul Lunde, drummer for the Matthew Price band. Nick came over yesterday to take the shots.

From the look of it, you can already tell that it has Nick’s hands all over this site. How do I know this? Because I look freakin’ amazing in all of the pictures he took of me for the magazine’s first issue. Also, the fonts have the kind of clean look Nick prefers.

He had me at elephant Twitter font.

Technically, since I was on the other end of one of the nterview for this project, it is now my turn to interview someone else. Where, oh where should I go?

Posted in Music to my ears, There's something about Salem, These are the people in my neighborhood, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Emily: Angry! Librarians cut from K-8 schools

April 15th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

I am not just angry, I am outraged!

The proposed school budget for the Salem-Keizer School District will eliminate all librarians for K-8 schools. All media aides and librarians were notified last night that their jobs would fall victim to the school district’s $55 million shortfall.

Take away an arts or music program and you will find a lot of parents grumbling about the lack of enrichment and quality in their children’s education. Take away the librarian and what you’ll get is a mob full of uber-educated, clenched-fisted citizens having their beliefs in humanity shaken to the core.

As one of those uber-educated (two terminal degrees in one house), I can tell you the evolution of outrage in this household.

1. Outrage!

2. We have to get out of this city! Seriously, we’re values nomads. I can feel the vein on my forehead throbbing.

3. At the very least, we need to start saving for private school. I found many like-minded on Twitter, especially among Salem creatives, who are now talking about other options, such as forming a local teaching cooperative. Getting green.

4. Outrage! This might actually get me to make a rare protest appearance in public. Muscles morphing.

5. EMILY: ANGRY! It’s the next day. I’m still angry. Time to Hulk out.

A library is not a room filled with books and media. It is a living, breathing resource, and librarians are the pumping hearts of it. If you think a librarian’s job check out books and stamp a due date on the last page, then you must think a Google search is how an individual builds knowledge.

People like me are going to find other options. We are going to reach out to other resources. We are going to make meaningful decisions about which direction to take and we are going to educate ourselves about the paths we choose.

Holy crap, that’s what knowing how to use a library does for you!

Every one of you should watch the nice piece of citizen journalism created by Jessica Ramey, which illuminates the real role libraries play in our children’s education. Not incidentally, Jessica had this video prepared before the last school board meeting but was not allowed to show it to the group making the budget decisions.

You can also go to the I heart Public School Librarians Facebook page Jessica created and join. But I wouldn’t stop there. Facebook is great for rallying voices, but this is the kind of issue that demands physical presence.

The Statesman-Journal article on the subject notes that the libraries will stay open even after the librarians are pushed out.

Good luck with that!

Posted in Books, Emily: Angry!, Family, Media | 30 Comments »

The Reel World

April 5th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor


Last weekend I did the unthinkable.  I went to Sears and bought a lawn mower. Not one of those gas-guzzling, fume-spewing feel-the-power-beneath-your-hands kinds of mowers, but a reel mower. The kind that cuts grass daintily with a spinning barrel as you use all of your heft to push it.

It is the Remington Reel, and for lovers of 1980s detective dramas, this might be the closest I ever get to Pierce Brosnan.

I’m not a huge fan of lawns. If this were our own house, Adam would probably fill the front yard with alien-looking succulents and I’d fill the back with my sad attempts at vegetable gardening. But we’re still renting, and according to our new contract, we are in charge of maintaining the yard. We needed a lawn mower.

I am easily the most suggestible person I know. If I see a Kit-Kat commercial I will want a Kit-Kat for at least a month. A few weeks ago, I watched a documentary about Sears and got all nostalgic for mail-order catalogs you could use as a booster seat and Cheryl Tiegs. Not to mention that I’m not even old enough to have seen a Sears catalog and the Softer Side of Sears was little more than a catchy90s tag line to me.

So a lot of stars must align to find me, on a Friday afternoon, in the Craftsman tools departments of Sears looking at reel mowers. My salesman says he sells about 20 a week from that store, mostly to people who live at the Oregon Coast and have postage stamp yards.

Ours is a deck-of-cards yard, but I thought I would give it a try.

The front yard went like a breeze. I was bolstered by the thrill of a new purchase, the sun glinting off the blades as they twirled in unison over the grass. The wind whipped through my hair. I felt a surge of camaraderie with my lawn-owning neighbors, many of whom were doing the same. Gradually, I began to feel new muscles in my, um, stomach? Back? Neck? Arms?

I thought back to that great New Yorker piece on the history of the American lawn, how it gets into our psyche and pulls up a chair. And then I looked back on my work. Rows or green and greener, moss peeping through, finished.

To the back twenty. Bumps. Twigs. Break-back pace. Some grass half a foot high that needs about twenty swipes to mow it down. I did half of it before I wimped out and called out the big guns — Adam with the baby strapped to his stomach.

It took two days for my body to recover.

Now, I am dreaming of what we might do when given the opportunity to dig up the lawn. Koi pond. Patio.

Rock garden. Sounds perfect.

Posted in Family, Home | 11 Comments »

Life is a Mall full of cherries

April 1st, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

Remember that post I did a while back about how I’m Only Happy When It Rains? Turns out that was a bunch of bunk. I’ve had three winters here now and they have gone like this:

2009: Moved to a new city, made some new friends, started a blog, read inside and drank coffee while it drizzled politely

2010: Had a baby. Fed baby. Changed baby. Repeat. Did it rain? I don’t even remember.

2011: Stuck inside with toddler. Rain. More rain. Sunshi— Oh wait, no, more rain. Killer cold that lasts two months.24-hour vomiting flu. Lost my sense of smell. Got my Vitamin D levels checked. Started taking 20,000 units a day of Vitamin D.

If you’ve stepped outside you know that we are almost through the long dark rainy winter.

So this month, in my Statesman-Journal column, I give you an appreciation. The turning of the seasons. A new leaf. A love letter to cherry trees. Out with the old, in with the new.

By the way, some of you have asked how you are to know that the column is running, so I’ll give you an easy answer. First Friday of every month! You might also remember this as the same day of the month that the Matthew Price Band plays their gig at Seven Brides in Silverton.

Posted in Music to my ears, There's something about Salem, Travel | 9 Comments »

Three is Enough

March 4th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

When someone with access to a nice mainstream media outlet goes and writes one of those stories spotlighting people who are changing the game in their particular area of interest, the early adopters are quick to cry.

And so it should be with Stumptown in Salem. Let me be the first one to say it.

No more Stumptown in Salem! We have enough Stumptown now! Any more Stumptown and the brand will be diluted! It will be just one more case of Starbucks on every corner!

I figured it was time to write about Broadway Coffee and the great things they are doing in NoBro (or the Carpet District, whatev) when I got an email from my German friend Insa about the ridiculous lines at Stumptown’s newest New York City location:

“I thought it would be a nice idea to stop for coffee at Stumptown’s Manhattan outpost (in the painfully hip Ace hotel). There was a line of ‘post office at Christmastime’ proportions just to get a cup of coffee. I’m thinking it probably takes less time to fly to Portland than to get a cup of Stumptown in Manhattan. Nuts.”

So chalk this one up to great things happening in plain view, world-class people in a small-town capital, awesome folks who need the attention.

Posted in Coffee | 8 Comments »

The rise of the #Salemia meme

February 6th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

Thanks a lot, Mike Perron. You’ve created a playful and collaborative Twitter adventure that has had me spend more time on Twitter over the past two days than I have in the past two months.

What’s the deal with all of the #Salemia hashtags being typed out by Salem’s most active Tweeps?

The short story is that my filmmaker friend Mike Perron decided it might be fun to envision what a Salem-centric version of the Fred Armisen pet project “Portlandia” might look like. “Portlandia” is an online web series, conceived, written and starring Armisen, that skewers some of the more the ridiculous hipster pursuits and lifestyle choices of a city where everyone seems to be a bike messenger/barista/struggling artist/tattoo landscape.

Not surprisingly, critical review of “Portlandia” has been mixed, with people in Portland embracing both the concept and the product (ironically, of course), and with critics in the trade press suggesting that the show features “an array of tiresome characters.”

Also, I’m not sure why you need to film in Portland to make fun of Brooklyn, NY.

But a show about Salem — well, that would provide some fodder for amusement. That must have been what Mike Perron was thinking because he set about to create some scenes for a potential mockumentary about Salem, and others followed in his wake.

So he sent out a Tweet with the first scene:

Mike Perron perronbrothers Salemia. Opening scene: five hipsters fighting over a half smoked cigarette outside Chelsea’s place… #Salemia

Here’s just a few of the ideas that are taking root:

MelinaTomson Homeowner converts meth lab to grow lab and gets community improvement award. #Salemia (my personal favorite)

GinoCorridori A grassroots campaign in the state penitentiary elects prisoner to the city council. #salemia

aaronjamesyoung@GinoCorridori … and nobody notices a difference #salemia

MnLs In an effort to combat sex-trafficking reputation, City changes nickname from Cherry City to Cougar Town. Curves memberships soar. #salemia

perronbrothers All Salem sign and print shops close after the “Chelsea’s Place”-style cardboard storefront signs become the rage. #Salemia #CherryPity

kidcapitale Trader Joe’s finally opens to overwhelming crowds but soon closes because “the wine was too expensive”.#Salemia

scriptdave Statesman Journal increases readership by 2% following addition of page 3 dedicated to hipster emos. #salemia

perronbrothers Regulars angry that they must wait for a 4:30 pm table after Olive Garden wins “best Italian restaurant” again. #Salemia #CherryPity

Now, to be sure, some of the ideas coming forth seem more like potential headlines from The Onion than ideas for a show about Salem. But I have to say this is one of the more interesting collaborative writing projects I have come across recently. Generally if you put ten strangers in a room and ask them to write a novel you end up with a bunch of junk.

This is junk worth touching.

Too bad that mass media producers tend to be obsessed with what is already popular and  old (making fun of hipsters), because our local Tweeps might be onto something.

Don’t forget, it’s Super Blog Sunday in Salem! Click below for more details.

Posted in Celebrities, Portland, There's something about Salem | 20 Comments »

Statesman Journal getting desperate

February 4th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

Almost two years ago, I was given the opportunity to start a column about being new in Salem. It was pitched to me as “New in Town,” an idea I liked with a name I thought was, well, more than kind of lame.

I rebranded it Desperately Seeking Salem because that name better reflected how I was feeling about my adopted hometown. How do you find people here? Who sells the spices? How do you make a new home for yourself in a place where you don’t have any relatives or friends yet? How do you do this while working at home? How do you survive as an East Coast culture vulture in a West Coast town that prides itself on its family-friendliness (read: staid day-to-day).

That column ran its turn. It did what it did. And while I was blogging all the while about the same things, I felt like the concept of being new in town wore off.

Why did it wear off? Because people here have been so friendly and welcoming to me and, in a sense, I found what I was desperately looking for — that community of active people who don’t want to just go about their grinds, but suck the marrow out of life every single day.

How did you suck today?

Today I sucked the marrow by picking up a copy of the Statesman-Journal and flipping directly to the life section to see my mug on the front. You see, for a few months now, I’ve been working with our local paper to develop a new concept for Desperately Seeking Salem.

Smarter. Better. More State Hospital picnics.

I haven’t always been a columnist — I feel, at heart, that I’m much more of a reporter — but I have loved the way that a column allows you to engage with your community. Not a community of avatars, but a group of people that you can actually meet face to face and exchange air with.

So this new column is for the people who are — or want to find ways to be — fascinated about the life that goes on in this city. Lots of other people are doing a great job telling this city’s story, but if you respond to the way I tell it, come with me.

About the first column: It’s a Bucket List. And before you call the suicide prevention hotline, know that I find Bucket Lists completely specious. But I am a list-maker.

The best lists items change every day. I’m guessing they change at about the same rate as the cells turn over in my body. But they are still worth writing, if all they do is get you to think about things undone.

Happy reading!

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

Salem’s underground chef hosting KMUZ benefit

February 1st, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

Just got word that Marc Nassar, host of Salem’s House Concert Series, will be hosting a benefit for KMUZ, the community radio station that a bunch of active people are trying to get off the ground.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather stuff my face on stuffed grape leaves for a good cause than simply send in a check.

I’ve been to Marc’s before and love his approach to fresh, healthy, Mediterranean food. If I had a Kardashian budget I might even just hire him to do all of my cooking.

Spicy peanut soup for everyone!

But I’ll settle for the odd chance to eat and his funky home in NE Salem.

Here is the official announcement:

KMUZ 88.5 is Salem’s budding Community Radio Station. Just a few dollars separates Salem from having it’s own forum for local music and public affairs run and owned by the community. You will be treated to an amazing authentic Mediterranean Dinner by Lebanese Chef Marc Nassar, including Lebanese Rolled Grape Leaves, lamb riblets, Spanikopita, Hummus, Lentil/yam soup, Arabic salad with vinaigrette and feta, and of course marc’s famous BAKLAVA. You will entertained by Sherry Calahan, one of Salem’s finest professional belly dancers, and updated about the State of the Station by KMUZ board member Melanie Zermer. Things are happening, and we are SO CLOSE! Come help make it happen, and have an amazingly wonderful time doing so!

Please spread the word to anyone who you think has an interest in Community Radio in Salem.

DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS!

Who: All persons interested in the creation and success of KMUZ 88.50 Community Radio

What: KMUZ 88.50 Benefit Dinner with Belly Dancing by Sherry Calahan and Station updates by Melanie Zermer

When:  February 12, 2010 – 6:30pm

Where: Marc’s Place at 468 21st NE Salem OR between State and Center.

WHY: Because we believe that independent community media best serves the community in Music, Art, and Public Affairs

COST: $50.00/plate – Reservations Required, RSVP

Information and Reservations: Contact myself Melanie Zermer melbelle57@gmail.com

Posted in Food, Media | No Comments »

New year, new home, new neighbors

January 24th, 2011 by Emily Grosvenor

Remember last Saturday, when the sun came out again? I was hanging out on our front lawn doing absolutely nothing and Adam was organizing his tools in the garage when I was struck by the sudden urge to clean out the Subaru.

Well, everyone else must have felt it, too, because within an hour, all of the neighbors were washing their cars.

Within minutes, we were introducing ourselves, saying hello, commenting on the weather and finding out the Absolutely True Story of the Train Horns that are Going Away Next Year.

God it’s great to have good neighbors.

Last weekend marked the first time that I felt like we had begun living in our new (old) house, and I believe I have my neighbors to thank for that. If you remember, I very reluctantly gave up living in my dear NE Salem microhood just a few weeks before Christmas and was struggling with the burdens of potential homeownership just when the sun started to disappear for the winter.

Well, I’m happy to inform you that things are finally looking up. I have stopped cataloging all of the things that are better or worse in our new vs. old abode (so many upgrades! so much lost in the process!) and I have begun actually living in this new space. Along the way, I discovered that I hate kitchen tile on the counter top, I really have needed a bathtub all of this time, and that a floor between a baby’s room and your bedroom is a very good idea.

I’m not really sure why I have struggled so much with this major life change. It took me months to figure out that we needed a bigger space and that my dreams of small house living were in conflict with my growing family.

Geez, I’m sure you’re saying, just get a bigger house!

When you have articulated to yourself over and over again why living grand on a smaller scale makes sense, it is very difficult to see yourself becoming more and more like the thing you don’t want to be.

For us, that has also meant getting another car.

Geez, Emily, just get a car! You’ll stop feeling so isolated at home with the baby!

Again, it wasn’t that simple. We were so proud of being a one-car family. We loved not having the financial burden of two cars and we took great pride in having the closeness that comes with having one car.

So yes, we got a car. We got a bigger house. I almost lost my mind in the process.

And the greatest gift of all? I got an office. A room of my own where I am typing this very second. It has its own fireplace. And built-in bookshelves.  And a Dutch door straight out of those Old Master paintings.

I wish it opened to the front yard so I could lean out and wave when I see my new neighbors.

Posted in Capital Shots, Family, These are the people in my neighborhood | 25 Comments »

Best of the Salem Blogs 2010

December 31st, 2010 by Emily Grosvenor

Phew! Did you make it through 2010? I threw a household move in two weeks ago and barely squeaked through. In the meantime, we’ve had Christmas and one baby’s first birthday and a new added distraction in the form of a Kindle, my first real feeling-like-a-kid Christmas present in oh, um, 15 years?

I haven’t even gotten around to making a list of New Year’s resolutions, but I do think the end of the year is a great time to reflect on whether your blog is doing the kind of work you want it to do and serving its purpose.

Now is as good time to also reflect on the great strides the blogging community in Salem has made in 2010. We’ve seen a lot of people come (hey there, Alva!), and go (goodbye Pollennation… sad…), and some bloggers pick up their production, while others have fallen off for lame excuses about why they aren’t posting (please don’t ever begin a  blog post like this).

Overall Best Salem Blog: EatSalem.com. Superpho opening downtown? Comings and goings in the restaurant scene? Quibbling over those nibbles? EatSalem has done the best job of engaging users and readers and in staying abreast of news important to its core audience while retaining the personal feel of a blog. With a viable ad program, it is becoming a great alternative space to advertise local businesses. A tip of the spoon to Gino & Co. Now I believe it might be time to switch up the look of the site…

The runners up (in no particular order):

Salem Breakfast on Bikes. Geez, Eric, do you ever slow down? I’ve been amazed and thrilled to see Salem’s great bike blog grow from a simple newsletter about bike-related happenings to a cultural and historical exploration of the biking medium and what it means to our lives. Talk about switching gears! The thrill of success comes when you realize you haven’t gotten on a bike in over a year and you’re still regularly pulling up a biking blog.

DIYStudio. More lives than Madonna. More get-ups than Lady Gaga. While you were busy eating cookies, Jessica Ramey was blogging 12 home craft projects in as many days. She also launched her studio in her home garage, making herself a blog-to-business owner. That’s one busy mama jama. This would just be all sound and no fury if it weren’t so damn interesting.

Jacob’s Kitchen. The thrill of self-promotion rarely looks as good as in the photos of this local(ish) food blog by Jacob, who has been (sometimes garishly) serving up some of the best food photography on the web. His shots don’t always look like stuff you might actually find behind the lens of a digital camera, but the verve with which he stages his shots and writes his food stories is inspirational. Every time I read it I am reminded of the simple truth that media are the way we tell our stories to the world and blogging, a way to shape and give meaning to a life. Now when am I going to start that homemade cheese blog?

Poetry and Popular Culture. Some of the best blogs around pluck ephemera from the annals of history or from the stuff of our everyday and share it with the world in a new and exciting way. Better yet if you’ve got a strong editorial vision and a knack for puns, as this blog writer does. Everybody should be reading the newsy and fun P & PC, if only to understand what it means to have a curator’s eye. Since the blogger’s move to Salem, we’ve seen more PNW-focused posts.

That’s all for this year! Thanks for reading DSS in 2010, and come back for some MAJOR DEVELOPING NEWS in 2011.

Posted in Media | 6 Comments »

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