Having a hard time re-entering a five-day work-week? Did your Monday start with a bang? (Mine certainly did, ugh*) Then celebrate the middle of the week in style and/or drown your sorrows at the OurPDX meetup on Wednesday, December 2nd at Thatch.

We’ll be there just after 5 pm - which gives you plenty of time to enjoy a drink prior to the Web Innovators meeting at 7 pm at Cubespace, right? Or I’m sure a few of us will be there for a bit longer…

Thatch Tiki Bar
2733 NE Broadway
Portland, Oregon 97253

RSVP on Upcoming so we know to save you a seat, will you?

(* or, more accurately, the sound of what I’m now told must have been a huge rodent thrashing around in a closet in my house, eeeeek! Liberally sprinkled poison down the freshly-gnawed hole he disappeared down; plugged same with steel wool. Will buy drinks in exchange for good exterminator recs…!)

This is piggybacking on Betsy’s post about Black Friday and whether or not we opt to get up before the crack of dawn to get discounted products at the big stores around town.

My mother is one of those people who make it a tradition to awaken at a ridiculous hour the day after Thanksgiving to venture out to various stores in Baltimore that are open and hoping people will buy, buy, buy.

Not I. Never have, never will. Simply put, I’m an insomniac and the thought of intentionally altering my sleep patterns for shopping seems a step too close to masochism.

Since moving to Portland, I’ve been absolutely amazed by the amount of local artists and artisans who sell a variety of items. Sorry, but you’re not going to find vegan chocolate truffles at Wal-Mart. And that’s just one of many examples. (more…)

It’s the St. Johns pre-turkey twitter tweet meet at Leisure! We’ll be making turkey paper puppets, which well may end up in the Portland Code Trips vLog series. (You’ve been forewarned.) This series is the baby of @podcasthotel (aka Alex H. Williams), who is a proud St. Johns neighborhood resident. So am I. I expect several St. Johns “celebrities” to make an apprearance, schedules be damned. (You know who you are. Ahem.)

For the rest of you nay-sayers, I present to you the Top 5 Reasons You Should Haul Your Carcass to St. Johns (recycled from a post announcing a very fun Beer and Blog held at Leisure recently…hence the references to Beer and Blog…just roll with it):

1. Happy hour is from 4-6pm, as is Beer and Blog. Coincidence? I think not. Beer and booze are a $1 off and pitchers are $2 off, as are the bruschetta (applewood smoked bacon, marinated artichoke, build your own)
2. The Leisure Public House has a very cool bar that must be fondled. It is curvy and made of reclaimed wood and metal. The bar top is concrete sculpted and pleases me greatly. If you have a thing for functional art you have to check this out.
3. St. Johns is not “too far away.” Seriously, let’s put this misconception to rest! It is less than 5 miles from I-5 North, and if you get there via Willamette Blvd., your journey will mostly traffic light free with gorgeous views. (No views for the driver, though. Keep your eyes on the road, buddy!)
4. History rocks! This is a neighborhood full of character…and characters. We won’t be too far into the main retail district, but the building has some stories to tell. And some of them are even true!
5. The miscellaneous, yet delightful, discoveries: jukebox, generous outside patio, ping-pong table, bocce, wifi, and a sleepy and snuggly pub cat.

Happy hour runs 4-6 pm, and we’ll be there until 8pm. RSVP on upcoming.org if you’d like, or just show up. We’d love to Pre-Turkey Tweet Meet you in St. Johns!

This weekend, Barberama/Javarama will host two events. They’ll mark a new beginning of sorts for the shop. As previously mentioned, Barberama’s owner Nicole Cathcart put the salon up for sale a few months back. The salon now has a new owner, Brian Fuqua. To mark the occasion, the salon is hosting a party on Friday, November 21 from 7PM - 10PM.

Nicole is still around and is the proprietor of Javarama, which is conveniently in the same space as Barberama. Cool hair and good coffee can’t be beat!

In addition to Friday’s party, Brian and Nicole are hosting an open mic night on Sunday, November 23 from 8PM - 11PM. If you’ve got a song or poem you’d like to share with the world, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. There will be a PA system on hand as well as beer in case you need some liquid courage to get in front of an audience.

Last week, we learned that BlogHer wouldn’t be visiting our city in 2009. But guess who will be visiting? MEETin!

MEETin will hold its annual celebration in PDX next August 13-16.

In case you’re going, “Er, who?!?”

MEETin, an organization based in Washington, DC, has over 90 chapters across the globe with each chapter run locally by volunteers with the primary goal of bringing people together through various events planned through the site. (Disclaimer: I’m an active member in the Portland chapter.) The organization is free to join and open to people over the age of 21. There are all kinds of events and activities from dancing to volunteering to happy hours to checking out the opera, and much, much more.

And, even better, the Portland chapter is one of the largest and most active in the organization. There are nearly 10,000 members in our area.

The announcement of the 2009 celebration was made today with more details to be provided in the coming months.