Back from my lovely weekend in Portland. I didn't have take the chance to write anything down, so this will be a pretty quick sum up of a couple fun filled days.
Thursday:
Got my bags all packed. Ma and I swung through town and ran a couple errands and arrived the the train station with plenty of time to spare. I worked on some macrame. On the train I started and completed a necklace for Heather. Off the train, I got some sunblock for my foot tattoo (need a small bottle to always have on hand) and went to Powell's. At Powell's I picked up the first book in the Wild Cards series. Daniel Williams met me there and from Powell's we went to Utrecht and met up with Heather Birdsong when she got off her shift. We had dinner at Little Big Burger. It was delicious. We wandered around down town a bit and had a beer and dessert at Bridgeport. It was a nice evening with two awesome people. Rollyn picked me up downtown and we went back to his place, where I spent the night.
Todays Portrait Is: Matthew Inman
Friday:
I left Rollyn's fairly early. Madeline picked me up and we went back to her place for late breakfast and hanging out. At 1ish we went to run an errand and meet her mom Kate at the NW Film Center to check out Madeline's little brother Jackson's animation that he made during a summer program at said Film Center. His stop motion video was totally great.
We four returned to the house. Madeline and I watched some telly and when Tina arrived we all went to Gustav's for dinner. What a nice treat. I had the Shepard's pie. Mmm, good! Jackson, Madeline and I walked back with full bellies (it was a nice day for walking and they live near to Gustav's). We finished up the Life on Mars series and started Ashes to Ashes, and watched some Doctor Who and also the Michael Fassbender film Hunger, which was amazingly directed. We watched half of the 8th Doctor Doctor Who movie before falling asleep.
Saturday:
I wasn't set to meet up with Karen till much later in the evening, so I enjoyed Madeline's company for much more longer. After breakfast, I taught Jackson how to macrame. Madeline had to run an errand for her parents, so Jackson and I took a walk and got some candy and frozen yogurt (he is my kind of kid, excellent taste in sweets). We all got back from our excursions at the same time. We took Madeline's dog Pepper for a walk as well. Our time concluded with a cheap matinee of Source Code at the Laurelhurst. It was solid, nothing too exceptional but well made.
Madeline dropped me off at The Grand at 7pm. Karen is a bartender there and was also having a bit of her birthday party there. I ordered a few drinks from her and tipped her well. She made my drinks very strong. Mel, Phil, Lacey, BT, Tony, Asha, Robin, Abby, Jim, Sivonna, and Jon all showed up. Tabitha was the karaoke disc jokey (or KJ for short). I sipped my booze heartily and danced. Karen returned home with Jim and I before the rest of the people arrived for the after party. I took a bit of a nap upstairs and woke up at 1:30am, when it was time for me to go to my prepared futon. Missed the rest of the party. Oops.
Sunday:
I was the first to wake up in the house, so I lounged about and read comics. Karen made a lovely breakfast scramble with tortillas. Mmmm! I finished the comic while she took a rejuvenating nap. We headed down to the studios and I took down my thesis show. Ran into Beth, Dom, and Morgaine and gave them all hugs. All that work and my thesis fits in a crumpled paper bag. Hmmn.
Karen and I sipped orange juice and 7Up in the park and chatted about this and that before deciding that we should go to Ikea. We swung by her house, picked up BT and his things, dropped BT off at the IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) and off we went for meatballs! Yum, the meatballs were soooo good. Karen got some camping stuff. I got a little something something. Back at her house, we watched some Futurama and Sherlock. At 5:45ish she dropped me off at Robin's house.
Robin lives in such a beautiful place, though it is intimidatingly immaculate. For dinner, her parents made pizza. As in...a pizza stone in a grill with home made crusts (five crusts, six slices each) with home made sauce and tons of elegant and delicious toppings. A couple family friends were there as well. Since I had eaten a big meal not too long ago, I could only manage two and a half slices. Good eats though. Very good. I patted my stomach heartily. After dinner, we went for a walk with her dog Emma around the neighborhood. Robin and I both own similar styles of Palladium shoes. Just in different colors pretty much. I knew they looked familiar! A bed was made for me and we had some tea and made her birthday cake. We watched a bit of Poirot but we were both very tired so we tucked in early.
Monday:
I got out of bed at 10am. Probably the best night sleep out of the weekend. Breakfast was fried banana and toast and tea. Mmmm. We took another walk, sans dog, down to Broadway and roamed the shops. Back at the house we chilled, had some cupcakes that were made from the extra cake batter, and then got to making a birthday dinner. Burgers! Except I wouldn't be able to eat any of our efforts. Diana came over as well to help out. I had to leave to catch the train before dinner came on. It happens, oh well.
Portland was very muggy the last couple days. But I packed just the right amount. It was certainly weird being in Portland. Being a guest means being on other people's whims and schedules. And not having a home in a city you've lived in for four years is odd as well. Hmm.
On the train I read Wild Cards (edited by George R.R. Martin). Ma picked me up. We got in quite late so the parents went to bed right away. Pretty soon I'll be getting my wisdom teeth out, I reckon.
