Philly Dame

A new feature continues today at Philly Dame. Based on the series One in Eight Million by the New York Times, 1.5 Million to One will profile a Philadelphian each Wednesday to ask some questions about our city’s past and future.

Jess Ward is a kick-ass librarian, a burger club leader, a photographer, and a wonderful food blogger covering all things Philly at her blog, Fries With That Shake! Jess’s enthusiasm about the Philadelphia restaurant scene is utterly contagious — and she was kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions about writing, music, and Philly. (You can follow all things Philly hamburger related over at Jess’s BurgerBaroness Twitter account.)

You’re sitting on a bench in Rittenhouse. What book are you reading and what music are you listening to?

(Jess Ward) I’m still obsessed wtih Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca so I would probably be listening to that. I would probably be reading Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways To Stick It To The Man by Rich Fulcher because I’m always trying to learn new ways of sticking it to The Man. And I am on a serious Mighty Boosh kick these days.

(Jess Ward) The clothespin no question. I love that clothespin and I find the LOVE statue kind of irritating. Isn’t that terrible? I hate LOVE or something. I think I just like to imagine a world of oversized objects. I think it would win in the fight because it is much larger and intimidating. It could also squish the LOVE statue to death. Oh man I want to see this fight happen.

I think 9th St. is an obvious choice but I’ll still pick it. I would begin at Sang Kee with their amazing wonton soup. Stroll down to the Italian Market and pick up fresh mozzarella. And finish off the trip with some tacos on Washington Ave and pick up a banh mi for the walk home. What a tasty stretch of pavement.

I love the diagrams that Sara does over at Girls Can Tell. She does a lot of food and kitchen related diagrams like home canning, kitchen aid mixers and burgers! I like her work because they are hand-screenprinted housewares so not only are they awesome to look at but they are actually useful. I like my art practical.

What’s your favorite Philadelphia website?

When I’m not stuffing my face with burgers, I also enjoy a good laugh. I try not to do both at the same time because I might choke to death and that wouldn’t be very funny. Well maybe a little. So when I need to know what funny things are happening in Philly I like to visit Comic vs. Audience. It is a Philly focused comedy blog. It has a great database of Philly based stand-up comedians and sketch and improv groups. Also a good source for finding what funny people are visiting our fine city.

Thanks Jess! Once again, Jess is the owner and operator of Fries With That Shake!