megolomaniac

I have a thing for evening photos of skylines. I love them. Portland and Missoula are both great places for such photos, since they have a river going right through downtown that reflects all the lights. But Portland has WAY more lights, obviously.

The other night I was driving home from Book Club, going over the Morrison Bridge (the best one for views of the city), when I realized it was the perfect night for photos. It was clear; no clouds, no haze, no nothing.

I don’t have a fancy camera at all, but I drove down to the waterfront and took a few photos. It’s nights like this one that make me wish I had more reasons to own a nice camera.

Galen indulged me this evening and we went to ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo, something that I’ve been wanting to do for years but never managed to fit in my holiday schedule. I think we may have been the only group there without young children in tow (we even ran into Galen’s sister and her toddlers), but considering how ridiculously excited I was, it was pretty much like Galen brought his own child.

Here are some of the highlights:

Galen and me in front of a wall of lights:

A hummingbird:

An alligator swimming:

Flying pigs (this was the best shot I could get):

And, of course, Galen laughing maniacally next to a radioactive tree:

Hippo Hardware: Check.

Blazers Game: Check.

Bad family photo: Double check.

This has gone well.

Tom is coming!

That’s right – my dad is coming to visit this weekend. And I am no small amount of stoked.

Top Five Things I Want to do with my Dad this Weekend:

1. Go to Hippo Hardware. It is the Tom in me that appreciates that place.
2. Go to the Japanese Gardens. I’ve never been there except one time when my dad came to visit me in college and we tried to get in 15 minutes before closing time. When they said no, we tried to climb up on a park bench to see over the walls. I think this time we might buy tickets.
3. Go to a brew pub… Can’t decide… Hopworks? Rogue? Ack!
4. Go to the ReBuilding Center. He may find something he didn’t even know he needed (highly likely).
5. Catch up, have fun and laugh. You know… the usual.

Any other suggestions? These probably all won’t happen, but they seem like good ideas!

Remember this post? Well it turns out Sam Adams wasn’t the first one to prove that Portland mayors are just as colorful as Portland citizens… and maybe a little more corrupt.

Connie McCready’s and Bud Clark’s are my favorites. Man, I love the Willamette Week.

Galen and I are headed to Hood River, Oregon, this weekend to celebrate our six month anniversary.  This “anniversary” may not seem like a big deal to you, Internet, but to us it’s the biggest deal that’s ever dealed.  So we’re celebrating.

Anyway, I was talking to my friend Annie from work yesterday about what there is to do in Hood River, and she said that she really liked the town, but the more she talked about it, she couldn’t quite figure out why.  Hood River is the windsurfing capital of the world, but Annie doesn’t windsurf.  They have interesting historical landmarks there, which she hasn’t visited.  They grow many varieties of fruit, but she hasn’t toured the orchards or tasted the goods.

Then Annie and I came to a joint conclusion, which is that we like to live near people who do things like bike, ski, climb and windsurf… But we, personally, do exactly none of those things.

And the more I thought about it… The more I realized that a lot of the things that typical Portlanders do… I don’t.  But I like typical Portlanders.  I like watching my friends run triathlons and relays, but I hate running.  I like that Portland has a strong bike culture, but I barely ever use my bike.  I like cities with laid back people who wear Patagonia and Timbuktu and have Nalgenes in the old grey-and-blue style (or white and blue, for a throwback).  But I would like to meet those people for beers after they get off the slopes.

And then, as if the world knew that I was having this revelation, as if it knew I had just figured out that I loved Portland although I seemed to be the exact wrong person for the place…

I was walking through the Pearl District last night, which was First Thursday, and a nice-looking man asked me if I was “from around here.” I happen to love giving people directions, so I stopped and said yes. And then he asked me if I could point him towards any of the museums or art galleries that were part of First Thursday.

If there’s anything I dislike more than running, it may be museums and art galleries.

“The idea… The fact that there is a place like this that people are keeping alive… is a sign that there is good in the world.”

- Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the Wind, talking about Powell’s Books.

It’s that time again, folks!

It’s kind of perfect timing, too… I could really use some extra juice in this here blog.

So, to get us going, here are some photos from my awesome Halloween weekend:

Galen the Lumberjack and Mego the Mechanic (yes, that patch does say “Mego”)

Evel Knievel and a Fat Nun

Zombie Doctor (what are pink scrubs for, anyway?)

Betty Draper from Mad Men

And…
The winners of the award for best costume (two years in a row):

Silver weather balloon

Silver weather balloon and Heene Residence Garage

Silver weather balloon… and Falcon Heene Hiding in the Garage!

I’ve mentioned before how my mom taught me to celebrate the Jewish New Year by doing Tashlich and celebrating change and fresh starts. This year, I may have outdone myself.

Aside from the national change I wished for eleven months ago, I have also witnessed significant changes in my personal life. I moved to an area of Portland with which I’m relatively unfamiliar, to live on my own for the first time in 26 years. I got a new job. It may be in the same building with the same coworkers, but my duties and reporting structure have changed. I started seeing someone new, and he’s fantastic. Pretty dramatic compared to last year, when I think I cleaned out my closet and washed my car.

Speaking of Galen, he very sweetly agreed to do Tashlich with me this year. For those not familiar, this is a Jewish tradition I’ve compared before to a mix between Poohsticks and Confession. I don’t consider myself particularly religious (I would say “spiritual but not religious,” to us a phrase I learned from Match.com), but I do love tradition and Tashlich really resonates for me. The basic gist is that you take bread to a body of water and throw a bit in for each of your sins (or as I like to think of it, “areas for improvement”). Then they float away down the river and you get to start fresh without them hanging over you. How can you argue with that?

So Galen and I went down to a dock on the Willamette River, armed with a few slices of bread and a year’s worth of baggage. After we sat down and threw a few pieces in, some Canada Geese came over and started eating the bread. We joked that the birds were going to get sick later, but didn’t think much of it.

Then the geese came up right next to us and waited for us to throw bread directly into their mouths.

Then a few seagulls appeared.

Then there was a staggering number of seagulls circling overhead.

Then the seagulls and the Canada Geese were all cawing and squawking and fighting over our sins.

And then we hightailed it out of there. As we were leaving, I turned to Galen and said, “Next year, we’ll throw them from a bridge…”

I just saw this and thought it was kinda cool. The people at Travel Portland put this video together to “promote Portland to convention delegates, meeting planners and tour operators.” I just like it because it reminds me of some of the reasons I love this place (and some things I still need to check out – like the Japanese and Chinese gardens!).

The only thing I would change is the music. You might want to listen to it on mute while your favorite tunes play in the background.