New Experiences
Seattle. Last weekend, Ian and I drove up to Seattle to catch a Mariner's game with my buddy Sov, who flew up to meet us from Salt Lake. The drive to Seattle from Portland takes almost exactly three hours if traffic is unimpeded, and it was. That is, right up until we actually reached the city. Then, due to one of those annoying city races where they close down city streets, we had to detour in nearly stand-still traffic for an hour until we could finally find a parking lot that would take cars all day. (Lots of parking lots in Seattle seem to have a 1-2 hour limit for some reason. That makes sense for roadside parking, but I don't get it in parking lots.) Once we finally ditched the car, we met up with Sov near the two enormous stadiums in the southern end of the city. I was pleased to notice a restaurant in that neighborhood called Berliner Döner Kebab. Next time I am in Seattle, I will be sure to check it out to see how it stacks up to my own local Döner shop. We then toured Seattle mostly on foot, but also on bus and monorail. I think Seattle is a really fun town to play tourist in, but I think that's also one of its main drawbacks as far as livability goes. So many damn tourists everywhere. Portland gets tourists, but not nearly to that extent. After we tired ourselves out seeing the sights, we headed back to the stadium for our baseball game. The Mariners lost to the Marlins 2-6, but it was a very action-packed game, which is really all I ever want out of a ball game. (I am known to applaud either team for making a good play -- don't care if it's "my" team or not.) I had a good trip, and it was great to see Sov. Next time I'm taking the train to Seattle, since it stops mere blocks from the stadium.
Last Thursday. I guess it's probably strange that I've lived in Portland for two years but only just attended my first "Last Thursday" yesternight. Last Thursday is kind of like a thing Salt Lake has called Gallery Stroll, where all the local art galleries open their shops with wine and cheese for foot-touring. But Last Thursday is Gallery Stroll times about a thousand. It takes place up on NE Alberta Street -- kind of a cool little strip of coffee shops, bars, boutiques, and food shops. The street is closed down to automobile traffic, the businesses and local artists put out their wares, crazy people juggle fire, and musicians good and bad release their music into the atmosphere. It's a cool thing, but it is very well attended, which makes Last Thursday a little beyond my comfort level. You don't feel like you can linger too long in any place because there are so many people moving about like cattle, and you feel like you have to join the flow. The only time in my life when I felt more crowded was when I went to Bumbershoot music festival and literally could not move without touching somebody. I could move without touching people at Last Thursday, but inevitably some people were touched, and that is something that I don't really like. Touching people, I mean. I'm not a touchy person. I like my space. Space is a definite issue at Last Thursday. But it was cool to do once. I think I'd be happy to hang out in NE Alberta on any other day, which is saying something, because it's on the dreaded east side of the river (which I don't really like going to in general). And the affair kind of reminded me of one of my old roommates, so that was nice.
Top 25%. Well, it's official: I have made it into the top 25% of my law school class. (I am number 62 out of 258, which is technically the top 24%.) Now I have a new goal: top 20%. Not sure if I can make it by the time school ends, but I'll give it a shot.
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Last Thursday. I guess it's probably strange that I've lived in Portland for two years but only just attended my first "Last Thursday" yesternight. Last Thursday is kind of like a thing Salt Lake has called Gallery Stroll, where all the local art galleries open their shops with wine and cheese for foot-touring. But Last Thursday is Gallery Stroll times about a thousand. It takes place up on NE Alberta Street -- kind of a cool little strip of coffee shops, bars, boutiques, and food shops. The street is closed down to automobile traffic, the businesses and local artists put out their wares, crazy people juggle fire, and musicians good and bad release their music into the atmosphere. It's a cool thing, but it is very well attended, which makes Last Thursday a little beyond my comfort level. You don't feel like you can linger too long in any place because there are so many people moving about like cattle, and you feel like you have to join the flow. The only time in my life when I felt more crowded was when I went to Bumbershoot music festival and literally could not move without touching somebody. I could move without touching people at Last Thursday, but inevitably some people were touched, and that is something that I don't really like. Touching people, I mean. I'm not a touchy person. I like my space. Space is a definite issue at Last Thursday. But it was cool to do once. I think I'd be happy to hang out in NE Alberta on any other day, which is saying something, because it's on the dreaded east side of the river (which I don't really like going to in general). And the affair kind of reminded me of one of my old roommates, so that was nice.
Top 25%. Well, it's official: I have made it into the top 25% of my law school class. (I am number 62 out of 258, which is technically the top 24%.) Now I have a new goal: top 20%. Not sure if I can make it by the time school ends, but I'll give it a shot.
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