Who writes for Our PDX Network?
We’ve collected an eclectic bunch of writers to contribute to Our PDX Network. The main requirement? They have to be interesting, involved people. All of our authors have multiple lives - they’re launching businesses, volunteering their time to causes dear to their hearts, or raising their voices about what’s happening in their neighborhood, their city, their world.
They also have to be willing to consider this a labor of love, as I do. This site isn’t meant to be a moneymaking operation, and if you ever see ads on here, you can bet that I’m just trying to recoup my bandwidth and hosting costs. (Of course, all of our authors own their own words…)
Finally, they have to be willing to talk. With you. In our comments section, or our mailing list (once it’s up and running.) We don’t pretend to know all there is to know about Portland, and we’re willing to listen to dissension if we can keep it fairly civilized. (Although I do reserve the right to insist on some basic respect and tolerance for each other - it’s my ‘living room’, after all…!)
Eventually, we’ll want to expand our author ranks - if you’re interested, drop me a line at betsy at ourpdx dot net, or send feedback through our comment form. But for now? We’d like to keep it simple and manageable at first, which means keeping the author ranks low.
Thanks for being here!
– Betsy
I'm a lifelong Portland-area resident who slings code for my day job while working as a professional photographer on the side. I'm often found wandering the city with a camera in hand, and I appreciate the variety of people, hobbies, and events around Portland that make this place, well, Portland.
http://www.aaronhockley.com/
After living on the East Coast for the majority of her life, A. L. Venable moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2006 and hasn't looked back since. She loves music, vodka tonics, photography, seeing bands perform, traveling, and meeting new people. Often, she can be found playing Scrabble(tm) on her cell while waiting for the bus.
http://www.dimpleandasmirk.com/
I stumbled into blogging a few years back, now contribute or run more sites than "than the Iranian nuclear program" (according to one commenter) - yet creating this site is a total labor of love for me.
I spend my copious spare time (cough, cough) hanging out on Twitter or FriendFeed (just look for 'betsywhim'), or trying to clear out my RSS feed.
If that's not enough? I'm a single parent with a more than full time job and two energetic and, um, overly-assertive kids. And yes, I do the volunteer thing, the community involvement thing, and the whole politically active thing - along with seemingly everyone else in Portland, that is.
I'd love to hear from you - please feel free to contact me directly at betsy at ourpdx dot net, or comment on any of my posts.
http://ourpdx.net
I'm a woman, a mother, a wife, a writer, a blogger, a podcast host, a volunteer, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a tattooed girl, a lover of gadgets and I nearly always wear black…
I'm Cami Kaos
http://strangelovelive.com
… and that’s how it all ended.
So she packed up her stuff and decided that after living in Los Angeles all of her life, this girl would move to the Northwest for a change of scenery. Oh yeah, and the boyo's family is here... there was that reason, too.
It’s not so much what I do to support myself that makes me me…which currently I am in-between; that’s all just part of the layers. However, if you must have something, here’s a short list of things that I am comprised of: I feed on music, speak my mind, live my dreams, refuse to grow up and breathe by writing.
…and that’s just the beginning…
http://reconcilingsaints.blogspot.com
Living the Gemini dream, I'm an oxymoron waiting to happen. I tend to wander in the night, which makes for excellent people-watching and amusing anecdotes. It helps if one is easily amused. I am the poster child for easily amused.
Here's hoping it's infectious.
http://
Been here in this fine city all my life - 37 years. Just the other day, I met one of the other 10 who also is a native Portlander and one of our friendly imports kept teasing us about how we always wax poetic about the city. Well, I love Portland and love to tell people about it. I walk most everywhere I go and take it all in. I can be contacted @ dieselboi at gmail.com
http://walkingportland.blogspot.com
FlexRex earns his living as Community Manager for HPC Systems at Sun Microsystems. When he's not managing Global Events, he keeps busy blogging and producing cartoons and parody films. You can check out his latest works: Seven Meals from Chaos, Jigsaw Falling into Place, and Bardo or you can follow him on Twitter.
http://overheardinpdx.com
I've lived in Portland for 15 years. Moved here after a 9 month 'mistake' stay in Los Angeles to work in the film industry.
Portland didn't have much of a film industry so I ended up finding my way into tech. After my tour of duty at Intel in the late 90's I brought my film training together with my tech and started DVD Talk (an online entertainment magazine). In 2007 I sold off DVD Talk and started on my path to being a full time professional writer.
I have 3 children, am vegan and have recently moved from the SW Suburbs of Portland to NE to get out of my car and start walking.
Follow me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/geoffk and visit http://www.onpdx.com
http://www.onpdx.com
Sometimes known to speak out of turn, falling over the edge of thirty and wreaking benevolent havoc in the local tech scene. That would be me.
I was born here! In Portland! That makes me a rarity.
You can also see stuff I say at lyza.com.
http://www.lyza.com
I'm an Oregon native who lives in the St. Johns neighborhood. I dearly love Portland, media of any kind, and baking for my delicious friends and family (and not necessarily in that order). There's no place like home!
http://www.iheartmedia.com
Metroknow is a writer, an artist, and a Pacific Northwest native. In addition to authoring several blogs and numerous Web sites, Metroknow has published possibly the most boring books that you've never read...those lovely pieces of disposable literature known as software programming guides. He is certified in a bunch of even less interesting computer science and security whatnots, and was the original writer of the official Xbox Developer's newsletter, X and the City, under the pseudonym The Xbox Cabana Boy.
On the personal side, "Plays well with others; Thinks too much" was allegedly written on his 7th grade report card, which by coincidence was possibly falsified in a failed attempt to obscure a D in Pre-Algebra.
Metroknow's artwork has been shown in the Los Angeles Times, the Pasadena Weekly, and solo exhibitions. His panoramic technical diatribes can sometimes be read in the internals of your computer, although, as with most of the things he's published, you'll likely never see them because you stopped reading when you saw the word "software." And he's OK with that. Otherwise, you can see much of his work on his personal blog, AlmostFit.com, or his new site, TooManyProjects.com.
http://almostfit.com
Motor Jeffries moved to Portland in 1996. He is a musician and performs with local bands. His interests include the PDX music scene, food, the outdoors, and travel.
http://
PAgent grew up on Puget Sound, and attended college in Portland. He returned to Portland in 2001 via extended stays in Illinois and Eugene, bringing with him a wife and two children. After 20 years without one, he recently got a wonderful dog. He is over-educated and introverted. He adores atrocious puns. In short, he possesses all the social awkwardness of a conventional geek and none of the technical prowess that generally makes up for it. Feel free to send him an email.
http://pagentsprogress.com/
Jeremy Towsey-French explores all things sustainable, local and/or community oriented. This includes (but is not limited to): energy use, transportation, utility cycling, car-free living, fuel (bio-diesel, oil, natural gas, etc.), solar power, walkable communities, community supported agriculture, gardening, water catchment, politics, religion, and odd things in between. Jeremy firmly believes that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
http://www.towseyfrench.com
I come from a food family. When we're together, we cook, eat and talk about food - it's an experience rather than a meal. I've worked in a gourmet shop, for caterers and in multiple restaurants, as well as in the tech industry for ten years.
My passions are trying out new restaurants, new types of food and new recipes whenever possible. I am also very curious about how food impacts our environment, and encourage everyone to learn about where their food comes from.
http://www.sassafrascatering.com/pages/
Boots....WIZARD BOOTS. Metaphysical Folk Singer/Freakpop Warlord/Alien Ambassador and now The Bukowski of porn blogging. Grew up in Northwest Arkansas, lived most of my adult life in Dallas, Texas and just started a new chapter here in The Great Northwest. I'm in love with life in Portland.....See you down at the pub my fellow Oregonians!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=26827534
