nun goes to Portland, flushes toilet

[sistawendy]

Visited the 95-year-old Grandnibs in Portland. She's as deaf and neurotic but lucid as ever. What she doesn't have as much of as ever are stamina and mobility, and it's starting to wear her down. There's only so much anyone else can do about that, and it's sad to watch.

The Wendling loved Portland's light rail. I want some too now. I had to give him a volcano rain check, though.

Powell's damage: about 40 lbs. of books. It had been too long. Their parking garage is hilariously dangerous to life & property. Viva la MOO kroo for book recommendations.


I'm not the first person to observe that Portland is a mix of hippie epicureanism with a nannyish, politically correct collectivism. ("Honored" citizen tickets for MAX?) It's a little disquieting how easily those two go together. If you've got any ambition, Seattle's a better place. Would a bigger city be even better? Only by virtue of its economy, I think.

The people in every city have their own look, I've noticed, with orthogonal dimensions like funk, frou-frou, frumpiness, and formality. I see more PiBs per capita in Portland than Seattle, but at the same time I see more people in suit vests or baggy drawstring pants. More funk, and yet perhaps more frumpiness.

It seems to be harder to have fun while keeping out of the way of bums in Portland than it is in Seattle. What explains that? Size? Sprawl? Economics? Policing?


Unhip & suburban though the Abbey may be, there are plenty of things I love about it: size, floor plan, short commute, etc. Because it was built in 2000, though, it has 1.8 gpf toilets that too often don't quite do the job. Many of you are wearing BPAL right now; I'm wearing bleach. I'm so going out tonight.

Comments

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Powell's, and yes, I entirely agree with the Portland demographic observations.

[wormtorturer.livejournal.com]

I visited Portland for the first time last month, and yeah, definitely agree about Powell's and the Max. I spent more on books than I have on any other shopping trip not involving required texts. What the heck is up with those "Honored Citizen" tickets? My self-esteem is good enough not to be insulted by "Senior & Disabled" tickets everywhere else. Is this place just Beta Colony transplanted into the Pacific Northwest? Reminds me of a cross between Arcata and a real city. I hadn't noticed the ambition or lack thereof. People seemed to be cool about me dressing goth, and I thought I could get used to living there. There are No Jobs where I live now so I gotta move when I graduate, although Big Cities are rather stressful for me. Kind of overwhelming for someone with ADD and sensory processing disabilities, y'know. (Maybe I just need to stick to the "short bus" towns.)

It was nice being in public places and riding the Max without having to hold my nose. People in Portland seem to bathe more than my neighbors do. Even though the bums can get free showers, they don't seem to--and a lot of the "housed people" here don't want to waste water or use deodorant. I know tuition went up, but that's not a good part of your budget to cut.

The Hosteling International in the Hawthorne District is a great place to stay, btw. I liked that whole area very much, and hope to catch a movie at the Bagdad next time I'm up there. (It's a magnificent restored theater that shows movies for $2 and sells beer & pizza to eat while watching.) I want to stroll around the side streets under the arching trees and admire people's restored homes and colorful gardens.