GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a
COLUMBIA BAR
Hangover Cure
By RYAN HUME
Photo by Matt Love
Oregon Youth Authority North Coast Correctional Facility in Warrenton houses
a continually rotating population of up to 50 young inmates between the ages
of 14 and 21.
A G LIMPSE I NSIDE
An occasional feature by MATT LOVE
North Coast Correctional Facility
I sat in the back of the room and waited for the poetry slam
to begin at the Oregon Youth Authority North Coast Correc-
tional Facility in Warrenton. Ten boys from the Klaskanine unit
volunteered to perform their works in front of peers and staff
in a judged competition. I had been invited by the principal of
the facility’s high school, South Jetty, and having staged many
poetry slams in my teaching career, instantly agreed.
A spoken word performer named Madgesdiq, (real name An-
toine Stoudamire), from Portland hosted the event and warmed
up the room with a hypnotic piece called “Time.” Just moments
before the show started, he told me he works with youth to, “help
them understand the power of writing and the inspiration to heal.”
That about sums up my entire teaching philosophy, and I felt that
in meeting Madgesdiq I’d met a brother in writing.
The slam unfolded. I jotted down some lines:
• I’m drowning in shallow water, as shallow as it comes.
• Set me free from the crystal curse.
• I remember those nights with no purpose.
• I want a rose to grow from the concrete.
• I lay in the devil’s playground, but I don’t play.
• Black babies turn to black holes.
• My life is a picture, but not big enough to paint.
• I never learn from mistakes; it’s why my life isn’t a piece of cake.
The students’ English teacher even got up and threw it down
hard, a powerful woman’s blunt call for respect from men, in-
cluding the young men sitting in a circle right in front of her. They
listened. Heads nodded. I was watching what poetry had be-
come for these incarcerated young men and what it should be
for all high school English students but so rarely is. Why is that?
The slam concluded. Two boys tied, and they went back up
and spontaneously riffed to decide the title. One scored higher,
but both were declared winners and won a new pair of Nikes.
I had to leave, but not before I wrote these lines:
I thought I’d see posturing,
I didn’t see a pose.
I thought I’d hear clichés fire and roar
I heard nothing but original metaphors.
Matt Love is the author/editor of 14 books about Oregon and teaches at Astoria High
School. His books are available through bookstores or nestuccaspitpress.com
relief that sounds both satisfying and
maybe even a little restorative.
It should be noted that Angostura
bitters, while easy to digest, contain a
scant amount of alcohol, and, of course,
the healing properties of sausage gravy
are already well known throughout the
land.
If you ended last year right (or very,
What you’ll need:
very wrong), chances are you started
A big pile of biscuits and
the new one with a less-than-stellar at-
titude, a vampire-like sensitivity to light gravy*
4-5 dashes of Angostura
and a queasy noxious feeling spilling
from every pore. This is no way to stick cocktail bitters
Soda water
to your resolutions.
Ice
Of course, the best way to avoid a
hangover is to skip
Directions:
overindulging in the
Add bitters to
first place. And as for a
soda water and ice.
cure? Well, really, the
Stir, and enjoy with
jury is still out on that
your biscuits and
one, but who better to ask for
gravy.
a recommendation than the bar
manager of a restaurant that
—Recipe courtesy of
serves brunch? (Oh, brunch: that
Matt Lessnau, bar manager,
slow, casual crawl back toward
Pickled Fish, Long Beach,
civility after a night out.)
Washington
Matt Lessnau, of the Pickled
Fish in Long Beach, Washington,
*Pickled Fish does a
skipped over two popular no-
unique spin on the stan-
tions of hangover treatment —
Submitted image
dard biscuit and gravy by spik-
the hair of the dog and exercise
— but combined two others — the ing their gravy with fennel sausage and
greasy breakfast and the fizzy drink — harissa, which is a garlicky North African
to come up with a recipe for hangover chile paste.
Open 7am
Daily!
Regional selection of beers, wines and
vintage cocktails available.
243 11th Street, Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-1787
Join us on a 7-week journey where parents and their
children work together to strengthen the family unit.
Thursday Evenings
February 4th-March 17th, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Broadway Middle School
1120 Broadway St., Seaside, OR.
Nightly Raffle Prizes
Free Dinner from 5:30-6 & childcare
for younger siblings provided.
To register or for more information, contact:
Northwest Parenting (503)325-8673 x 2
$25 per family - Scholarships A vailable
This class sponsored by
P O SITIV E
D ISCIPL IN E
S TRATEG IES
Beneficial for parents & caregivers
with children ages 5-10
Looking for ways to increase
cooperation, ease hassles and
reduce misbehavior?
Thursday, January 21st 6:15-7:30 p.m.*
Astoria Elementary School
www.AstoriaCoffeeHouse.com
We cater your event!
Weekly Specials: 5-8 PM
Sushi & Martinis Mondays
Taco & Margarita
Thursdays (3 Buck Tacos)
Strengthen your relationship
as a family!
This one-time FREE workshop will provide
you with skills and tools including logical
consequences, avoiding power struggles
and how to build healthy self-esteem.
S E R V I N G B R E A K FA S T,
LUNCH & SUPPER
European Style Coffeehouse by day,
intimate bistro offering neo-regional
cuisine by night.
STRENGTHENING
Families PROGRAM
for parents/caregivers
and youth 10-1 4
Follow & “Like” us on Facebook
*Arrive between 6:15-6:30 to
sign children into free
childcare and enjoy
refreshments.
Program begins at 6:30.
Se habla español
January 14, 2016 | coastweekend.com | 19