portland

Portland, a cozy mix of friends and food.

Portland is such a beautiful city, and I love it each time I go back. I loved it when I was 16 and driving up from Corvallis to see a show, excited at the city and the cool kids and the zines and the places catering only to youth. And I still love it now that I'm older and not so fazed by the hipsters but appreciative of the liberal views, old buildings, and good city planning.
And good coffee.
And books.
And bridges.
And art.

While in Portland, I ate some good eatin', including the Farm Café and at a little Mexican tienda and restaurant on Lombard in St. John's. I had a beautiful roasted veggie sandwich made by E. at Valentine's near Burnside while listening to boring self-indulgent noise music. Sadly, I didn't make it to Nicholas' or the Delta - too much to eat, too little time. I managed to hit Powell's for a minute, and to walk around the stunning St. John's bridge while visiting friend and amazing illustration artist Davey at his studio. I bought some prints of his there, at bargain prices for such beautiful work.

We ate burritos at the tienda, which displayed many many piñatas, which I excitedly snapped since I spent so much time this winter making them for our Xmas party. Most Japanese people don't have any idea what a proper piñata looks like, so it was fun to be in a shop full of them.

Also got to see dear friend M., whose wedding I attended this summer in Tangent. We had coffee at Tiny's and caught up - M. is in law school at Lewis & Clark, reportedly the best environmental law school in the U.S., and full of idealistic, non-asshole students. Which is really nice to hear after reading about all the cutthroat bullshit over at opinionistas. His wife H., a great painter, is studying to become an art teacher. They're cool and I want to be like them.

Got to also hang out with they lovery-dovery J. and C. The wonderful J. is awesome (I really enjoyed her visit when she came to Tokyo last year) and C. is a cool writer who sometimes does pieces for publications like Bitch magazine. They're cool and I want to be like them.

And I got to see R. and meet her wife S. R and I have been friends since we were 15 and she's awesome. She's a rabble rouser and S. works at an animal shelter and plays with puppies all day. They're cool and I want to be like them.

My friends are so cool and that town is so cool. I really miss it sometimes and think I'll be back there someday.