chervona & enjoying my day off

Whew! I attempted biking around the city today at was fairly successful at it; I didn't get lost, get hit by a car (or almost get hit, no car-related trauma at all), and found a convenience store before I dehydrated. I'm still a little fearful but I'll get past it the more I do it.

First Thursday was pretty fun. Lindsay, Brandon, Sean and I got a semi-late start to the show in Pioneer Courthouse Square. It was pretty packed when we got there so we didn't stay long. The music was pretty, not totally right up my alley but still nice. We back-tracked to 13th and walked towards the Pearl District. We saw a nice exhibit with glass work, it was so tempting to touch it. Lindsay says at her first show she will let people touch the work, I suggested that you give out texture samples for people to handle. I wish more art was touchable, and not so much like that massive iron sculpture in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park which had oodles of warnings about how fragile it was. There was a nice Alice in Wonderland inspired show in a real estate office, more illustration than fine art (but that is fine by me, illustration is what I want to do after all).

13th quickly gave way to blocks of tents and tables of local artists selling paintings/jewelry/hats/gauged jewelry/cookies. I only had a few bucks in cash which prevented me from buying a silver necklace and a flapper-esque hat. Both looked great on me but I would rather buy food than jewelry and clothes I probably wouldn't wear that much (I wish I had my camera, would have been nice to get a shot of me in that hat, it was super cute). Roaming the market made me wish I had a job so I could be a little spendy, but if I had a job I'd be a little more spendy food wise (gosh I could really go for some Ben & Jerry's). There was a great band playing near PNCA, a Russian Gypsy/folk/jazz band, Chervona. I donated some of the few bucks I had and grabbed their CD. While listening to them, David showed up and asked me to dance, which amazingly I did. I'm not normally one to dance, and certainly not in front of a large group of people gathered around street performers. We danced for the rest of the song; the moves I remembered from the Swing/Ballroom class I took a year or so ago. Despite my shuffling and embarrassment, it was great fun! I hope to see this band preform again.

The exhibits in PNCA were not anything new to me, I've been seeing them for the past week. But this time one of the installations had its audio turned on and the howling was annoying. Somewhere near the hat stand I had lost track of Lindsay and Brandon, but they were going out to dinner after so no biggie. I didn't feel like walking around more so Sean and I decided to catch the streetcar back. Walking past the West Cafe we decided to have an impromptu delicious dinner. I had the Quesedilla Salad and he had, as per my suggestion, the Granny Smith and Grilled Chicken Salad. I didn't quite like all the parts in my salad, but it was overall tasty and filling the parts I did eat. We finished off with steamed milk and whipped cream, mine was chocolate and Sean said "surprise me" and he got hazelnut. A nice warm treat to end the day on.

Had a very nice night sleep, the adjustment to the city is going pretty well.

As I wrote earlier, I decided to take another whack at city biking today. I planned out my trip and made direction notes so I was super prepared. My plan for today was to get a proper bike lock, to make my comic run, pick up tickets for Cats from Japan, and see how easy it was to get to and from PNCA from Goose Hollow.

Description of my route: Turned right after walking my bike out of Goose Hollow, biked up a hill, turned right on Columbia, continued on Columbia till 12th, turned right on 12th, continued on 12th till Salmon and turned right on Salmon, arrived at bike store on 10th & Salmon. Headed East on 12th, turned right on Everett, turned right on 4th when I realised I passed 5th, looped around block, went down Davis, turned left on 5th and parked my bike in the hallway outside Floating World Comics, which is located between Burnside and Couch on 5th. Went West on Couch, turned right on Broadway and continued straight. Crossed the Broadway Bridge, Broadway Y'ed into Broadway and Weidler, I went straight on Weidler and turned left on Williams. Continued straight and then turned right on Russell. Stopped at Wonder Ballroom. Headed West on Russell, turned left on Vancouver, turned right on Broadway. Crossed the Broadway Bridge again and turned right heading towards Lovejoy. Merged onto Lovejoy and turned left on 13th. Stopped at PICA. Continued straight on 13th, turned right on Jefferson. Continued straight on Jefferson, went down the hill and turned left on 18th and left again on Clay. Arrived back at Goose Hollow.

The Kryptonite lock that I bought is magnificent, works like a breeze. Ain't nobody taking my bike now!

Had a great comic run at Floating World Comics. Picked up Doktor Sleepless #2, The Boys #10, Y the Last Man #58, American Virgin #18, and 30 Days of Night: Eben and Stella #4. More comics than I was expecting to be in my box, but I can't complain about having more Ellis and Ennis. Five issues do not amount to much dough, don't worry mother. Also once the Eben and Stella arc end, I am taking that off my subscription, it just doesn't hold my interest anymore. And Y the Last Man ends in about three issues, and Pirates of Coney Island has yet to have the final few issues published (grr!) so really Doktor Sleepless, American Virgin, and The Boys are the only comics I'm buying on a once-a-monthly basis. I know and realise I can't crazy-splurge like I used to, but if anyone wants to visit and be the enabler they are more than welcome to! FWC has a spectacular indie/zine/self published section. They have a great selection all around, but their "Trillian really wants this and hopes it will still be there when she gets a job" selection is phenomenal.

The Broadway Bridge climb was killer, I was exhausted as it finally went downhill. The grocery store on Williams was a god-send, as I didn't bring any foot/liquids with me. Turns out Lindsay's voucher didn't work at the Wonder Ballroom, I had to take it PICA to redeem it. Got my ticket just fine for the Cats from Japan show (not about cats). The return was easy, as it was downhill. Ran into Laura at PNCA (not literally, just sort of chatted and gave off the general impression I was someone with somewhere to go). At PICA I found out the voucher would not work for events at The Works (things that take place at Wonder Ballroom). The WONDERFUL FABULOUS people gave me a "get into one show at The Works" ticket, I don't think that was their policy they just did it to be nice. I am thinking about sending them a thank you card, a general "you guys are supremely awesome and nice" sort of thing. I'd give them Banana Bread, but I'm all out.

13th is a slow hill heading south, but I made it up all right. Long day, even though all in all it probably didn't take me more than two hours to make the trip. No plans for the rest of the day, probably hang out with Lindsay or something.