THURSDAY 9/28

Storytelling in Cambodia
Oregon Book Award winner Willa Schneberg reads her poems based on the year she lived in SE Asia. 23rd Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd, 224-5097, 7:30 pm, free

FRIDAY 9/29

MC Chris—Dungeon Master of Ceremonies
King of the nerdcore rappers, songwriter of "Eating's Not Cheating," Adult Swim regular, and comics-nerd extraordinaire MC Chris will be in the house of Bridge City Comics, "signing autographs, talking comics, and doing whatever the hell he feels like doing." Bridge City Comics, 3725 N Mississippi, 282-5484, 6-7 pm, free

SATURDAY 9/30

Bruce Campbell
One Bruce Campbell (If Chins Could Kill; Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way) fan's decision-making litmus test is the question, "What would Bruce Campbell do?" So don't try to stop me when I storm the Bagdad stage on Saturday, begging Bruce to gimme some sugar, 'cause I already asked myself that question and decided it was a great decision. (CF) Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne, 777-FILM, 5 pm, free

SUNDAY 10/1

Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney
Lopez (the greatest living American landscape writer?) and Gwartney have edited Home Ground, an unusual "dictionary" of landscape terms from writers such as Barbara Kingsolver, Truman Capote, Jon Krakauer, and many others. The book contains over 850 descriptions and 100 drawings in an attempt to describe visions of the horizon. Lopez is a phenomenal speaker, and fewer subjects are closer to his heart, so this should be a slam dunk. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free

MONDAY 10/2

Cindy Sheehan
Sheehan, whose son was killed so that Dick Cheney and his friends could become wealthier than you and I could ever imagine, requested an audience with the president who led our country into this unwinnable war. Bush, underestimating the convictions of a citizen who lives according to principle, blew Sheehan off, and much of the media succeeded in portraying her as a nebbish loon, rather than as a woman who lost her child and insisted that an explanation was the basic courtesy that her country could offer. Do not buy into apathetic hipster backlash: Cindy Sheehan is a woman of courage and dignity. Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne, 777-FILM, 7 pm, free

TUESDAY 10/3

Storytelling in Cambodia
See listing for Thursday's reading. In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth, 232-6003, 7 pm, free

The United States of Arugula
Have you ever wondered when "chevre" became a noun of common usage, when radicchio replaced lettuce in restaurants, or when it became cool to request Turbinado instead of sugar for your coffee? So has author David Kamp, and he's written a book about it. The United States of Arugula investigates the recent surge in "foodie-ism" (ugh) in America, and discovers that it's easily traceable to a few renegades. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free