Hollywood

There's something desolate, almost end-of-the-world like about Sandy Boulevard. After rush hour, it's deserted and you feel like only a handful of people survived some sort of apocalypse. It's an odd feeling. Sandy is an odd sight. There's a definite retro vibe, with washed out colors and early 60s architecture. It's ugly, yet photogenic. It gets prettier when you reach the Hollywood district.+


All photos were taken a week or so before I left Portland, before I headed out to the Oregon coast for a great weekend with my new friend Julie and her wonderful friends. When I took these, I already felt a pang of sadness because I knew I wouldn't be back for a long time, and now, it's bittersweet to look at them. 

Teen Challenge thrift store at 32nd & Sandy, 
where I took the bus to the campaign office most days. 

Very cute vintage store whose windows kept 
calling out to me, but I was good and 
remembered that my suitcase was too full 
as it was, and bringing back dinnerware just 
wasn't an option. And that typewriter wouldn't 
fit in my suitcase either. 

A taste of fall in mid August. 

Visual information overload: a gentlemen's club open 
and cocktail signs, a Buick dealership, 
a Budweiser sign in the distance on top of a 
skate shop, two street signs and a parking sign. 

Two businesses in one. 

Overlooking Cesar Chavez Boulevard, 
if I'm not mistaken. 

The very picturesque Hollywood theater, on 41st 
and Sandy. It was built in 1926. The architecture 
is really cool. 

A rodent, two cats and an Orthodox church (no, it's not the beginning of a joke)

My nickname in high school, and to this day, is Souris, which means "mouse" in France. A lot of my high school and freshman year of college friends said I reminded them of a rodent. Something about the way I eat entire pieces of fruit or look nervously glance around me. I also have a lot of affection for rodents, especially squirrels.

Brent told me he wasn't a big fan of the stop sign in the middle; I think it gives the photo a more urban feel.

Brent's neighbors had very tasty looking raspberries and strawberries, but they were also always around, so I never tried any. I should have stealthily gone by at night to feast on them. 

One of the things I do a lot is cry. I'm one of the most sensitive people you'll ever meet. If I see a dead animal on the side of the road, you can be sure that I'll think of it for days, or possibly months. My chest will tighten at its mere mention. I typically stop watching movies after an animal has been injured or killed. That's where I draw the line. Kill a person, and it pains me, kill an animal, and I get nauseous and leave the room. I don't watch wildlife documentaries for that reason. So when I saw this reward poster, and I read the last line "reward for kitty or corpse", the thought that someone could bring back that cute cat's corpse made my heart bleed. I stared at the poster, on the verge of tears, and thought about that line for days.

To leave you on a happier note, here is the single greatest sleeping arrangement you'll ever see.

Food, drinks and Laurelhurst Park

One thing I did a lot of in Portland was go out. I sometimes ate out with the campaign staffers after call time ended, and we typically unwound with a drink and some finger food, or real food when that was available. After 9 or 10pm, there aren't a lot of dining option in Vancouver, let me tell you, but there are always decent tortilla chips and salsa to have with a margarita, or cajun tots with some vodka-based drink. 

On one of those unbearably hot days in late July, I met up with Katie, from the Shaheen campaign at Random Order, a pie place on Mississippi. I had a piece of blackberry peach pie, and I have to say it was one of the best I'd ever had. They have a great pie selection, and it's a really nice place to hang out. Unfortunately, going from SE to Mississippi by bus takes forever, so even though I wanted to take my laptop and study there, I never went back. 

This was a decent Cosmo at a NE bar where Nicole, her boyfriend David, Melissa and I went one night. The bar had an impressively large beer selection (this was Portland after all, people are serious about their beer in Portland)

To be honest, the peanut butter dessert above was a little disappointing, but then, I'm not the biggest peanut butter fan. The decoration was nicely done, though. 

This was a margarita at Esparza at 28th and Ankeny the night before I moved all my stuff to Portland. 

One of the things I discovered in Portland was lemon hummus. One of my favorite quick lunches was hummus on pita bread with tofu, sprouts and cucumber, with a spinach, cherry tomato and feta salad. It was heavenly. I love Brent's plate. 

The time that wasn't spent in bars, in the volunteer room at campaign headquarters or at parades was spent walking around. I loved going to Laurelhurst Park. 

This was my first heron, ya'll. I was really excited. 

This house of very eclectic influences borders the park. I wonder what possessed them to throw in some Mediterranean influences into the mix. 

All photos taken with a Canon T1i (5OOD) except for the last one, shot through a Lomo LC-A+. 

Mississippi, Portland

My first week in Vancouver, I took a late afternoon trip to NE Portland with John, whom I was staying with. We decided to go to the Mississippi area because my friend Katie had told me good things about Mississippi.

Most of the houses on Mississippi were ordinary houses with original colors, but this one had an original architecture and really original colors. Don't you always want to see how very modern buildings look inside?

I'm not sure what this was, but those trees, banches and flowers were really impressive. The colors are lovely.

Those microphones dotting the "i"s are pretty damn cool.

I have a thing for fonts (if I were to do it all again, I would study graphic design), and this font was seriously amazing.

I don't know what Mexican iced coffee is, but it sure sounds good.

I told Brent that this is where I want our first Portland date to be, but he said he'd already planned our first date, so I suppose it'll have to be our second date. I want some badass dessert.

I don't care much for cars, but would kill for an old 50s car. The one above is just the right amount of cool and beat up. It's perfect.

Before walking back to the Max station, we stopped to get Hawaiian shaved ice. I'd never had shaved ice before, and chose a couple of exotic flavors I can't remember. What I can remember is how much I liked it.

One of the things I love about Portland is how relaxed people look. We didn't stop at any of those bars, and I regret that.

That brewery was impressive. We only looked at it through the huge windows, but I was amazed at the size of the tanks.

Public art at the Albina/Mississippi station representing arts in the community.