weaktwos

I'm here. I have a Suzuki SUV for my rental. I'm staying in the Mayflower Hotel. It's a tad posh, but not too posh. They stuck me in a room with two queen beds. I hate it when that happens.


I'm meeting a friend for dinner tonight, and if all goes well at the office, the world will be my oyster 'til Sunday.

Now to find lunch and go to work!

Well, I suppose it has been a few days since I updated...where were we? Oh yes! We were in Portland. I have many pictures to display, but we'll get to those later.

Monday was a travel day to Portland. We made it in about 9 and a half hours. We arrived at the hotel and promptly hit the bar and eatery, for we had not eaten our dinner.

After three days at the Kennedy School, I strongly endorse the facility. It's a great getaway. Anyway, on to Tuesday.

We woke up, guzzled some coffee, and met phinnia at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland. We lunched and savored some Beignets and had a fine conversation chaser. After our bellies were full of goodness, we hopped the 17 bus to "Lush", a fine purveyor of bathing and skincare products. We acquired various goodies. I'll be taking some nice baths soon.

Since rays of the Sun of Good Fortune were shining upon our shoulders, there was a thrift shop next door. In this darling thrift shop, there were cookbooks that provide inspiration for more books like the Gallery of Regrettable Food. Of course, I bought them. Six bucks for sheer technicolor dreck is a steal. Thanks for a great time, phinnia!

We then returned back to our cars, back from whence we came. taogrl and I high-tailed it to Powell's City of Books. We took advantage of the reasonable parking on site. We may never do that again, though.

Why?

Because Powell's Parking Garage is a Pinball Machine. And your car is the ball. Thanks to the "cozy" nature of the garage, and my precision driving skillz, I nearly "pimped my ride" in a less than desirable fashion.

Powell's. Powell's. My heart only beats for Powell's. It's labyrinthine design allowing one to lose themselves in the bookshelves. What a way to get lost. Those who are resourceful will eventually find the coffee shop, as well as a fast track to the book-purchase-induced poor house. Which reminds me: One of McMenamins' hotels was formerly a poor farm. I'll have to arrange for a Poor Farm and Powell's run in the future.

From Powell's, it was time to admire our spoils at a gaming/net cafe called "Backspace". If you're into gaming of many sorts, head there. Nifty little joint.

Guster's Portland concert was better in some ways than San Francisco. Great fun. I made a note of the songs in the set. I'll transcribe them later, as I wrote my notes in the dark.

Wednesday morning was an early start. We breakfasted and then caught the bus to the Portland Museum of Art. Were a city a house, the art museum is like the living room. They have a fascinating contemporary art collection.

This is one of my favorites:

Richard Notkin's "The Gift". It's comprised of many ceramic cubes, some are dice, some are skulls...

We then meandered around town, stopped in at the Doc Marten store, hung out at a coffee shop and read, then headed back to the hotel. There, taogrl called her Aunt and scheduled a visit. It was a fun evening, complete with an exchange of old pictures of taogrl's grandmother and her grandmother's twin and other family members. One in particular featured the twins and an older sister, Nannie. No one was smiling, but Nannie had a small smirk. In addition, Nannie looked like a linebacker with a girl's hairdo and a bow. But I didn't say that outloud. taogrl did, though. After her aunt left the room. If I were drinking a beverage at the time, it would have frothed forth from my nostrils.

Now we are back at the hotel, sipping nightcaps and catching up on the Internets.

Sleep well, Kings of Livejournal, Princes of blogging.

I had to be pried out of bed this morning, despite the fact that my internal clock played a nasty trick on me and had me wake up at 7am. I managed to nap for another 2 hours, thankfully.

Coffee is procured and being absorbed. My packing list is formulated. I just need to actually pack (goes quickly with the list), clean out the litterbox and hit the road to pick up taogrl

9 hours up to Portland.

If anyone has any recommendations on things to see/eat while in Portland for a few days, help a sista out.

So far:
Powell's
Roseland Theater (for Guster!)
Perhaps the Portland Art Museum

Of course, Kennedy School has a restaurant and pub on site, so if that's tasty, we might not need much else. :-)

I have Guster Tix to Portland, and will be travelling come the end of March. Anyone have recommendations on a good little hotel to stay at?

There's a $163 round trip fare to and from Atlanta for Dragoncon, but I would have to stay through September 8th, which is 3 days longer than the conference. Sheesh. Of course it would cost me more in hotel fees if I were to stay that long.

Piffle. I see a $400 ticket looming in my future.