Spotted in Lake Como

Photo Friday: Venice Shopkeeper

A Night at Powells...

It was a great night for local and national small press at Powell's Books, this past Monday. Smallpressapalooza's audience was kept entertained with five, full hours of non-stop readings.

Me and my fellow 'zinesters were in full force that night.Our 'zines look pretty sweet on a Powell's podium, don't ya think.
Moe Bowstern reading from her 'zine, Xtra Tuf.



After a nice intro from Justin Hocking of IPRC, I read my story, Behind the Label, from Bumpstart #2. I uncorked a bottle of Barbera 'd Asti for the thirsty audience before my reading. Much love to Powells for allowing me to serve wine in their fine establishment. I was told that only Douglas Coupland and I have quaffed wine during our readings at Powell's Books.



Never miss a photo op.

The wine went fast that night.


Portland scooterists hobnobing at Powells.

James and Debbie Boehne, Canadian scooterists who introduced me to the Portland scooter community pose with some fine wine. Thanks to all who attended the reading; it was a great evening.

Smallpressapalooza 2009!!!

Powell's City of Books is hosting their annual Smallpressapalooza this coming Monday.

What's Smallpressapalooza, you maybe asking yourself?
It's a five-hour marathon reading session by local and national small press publications.

I'm very excited to be taking part in the event and will be reading from my latest issue of Bumpstart at 7:15pm. There may be "scooter wine" available for quaffing. Come on by, it starts at 5 and goes to 10pm.

Photo Friday: Piaggio Museum

For Bumpstart #2, I tried squeezing in as many photos as possible from my scooter adventures in Italy. Some didn't make it into the issue, so I'm going to post a few here every Friday. For this Photo Friday, I will be taking you on a virtual tour of the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera.
The museum is housed in Piaggio's old tool and die shop.Piaggio didn't just make scooters. Here's their train in the front entrance to the museum.This is the famous "Dali Vespa". Two Spanish students rode this Vespa around the world in 79 days. During their travels, they met Salvador Dali who went to town on their scooter with his paint brush.


In this photo, you can see his crown signature. "Gala" was Salvador Dali's wife and muse.

A small portion of the Piaggio Archives.

Here's some of the Vespa models on display. They almost look like toy models stacked on top of each other.

Overhead view of the museum's array of Piaggio goodies on display.

Hmm, wonder if they're hiring...

Be sure to hit the gift shop before you leave.
Ciao for now. Karen

Into the Facebook Vortex

Sorry I haven't blogged lately, February and March have been busy months for me and Bumpstart. I also got sucked into the Facebook vortex. Since I'm on there so much playing Mafia Wars, I made a group for Bumpstart Magazine. If you're on Facebook, be sure to join in on the fun.