Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
well, portland, oregon and sloe gin fizz
portland, ore., is a beautiful city. here are eight reasons why!
1) the unbelievably blue skies, lush greenery and calming waterways
some of my friends who grew up in the pacific northwest and canada have lamented to me how southern california just doesn't make them feel alive. i didn't really get it. now i feel like i know a bit better. there's something about bright blue skies and leafy green trees that just lifts your spirits. and makes you feel just more ... alive! coming home to the smog and dust of LA made me feel a bit sad, although i do love LA for lots of other reasons.
just looking at these pictures makes me happy.
2) the food
the food scene is a ton of fun. unlike food vending unfriendly LA, portland has turned the food stand/truck phenomena into a quirky city feature. lots of food "pods"--designated parking lots for permanent food stands--dot the city. and plastic chairs and picnic benches parked in front of the stands create a lively, communal dining atmosphere. portland probably isn't the best foodie city, but you can find some pretty good stuff that is CHEAP.
case in point: this awesome hainan chicken rice stand. so good.
3) the coffee
you can get a wonderful, unpretentious cup of coffee for $1.25. what a revelation! i always feel a bit intimidated at local coffee roasters, like intelligentisia, where i feel like the baristas are judging my coffee noobness and the price point for a cup of coffee usually begins at $2 or $3. stumptown coffee in portland though is a friendly place with helpful baristas.
4) the bikes
i would like to buy a bike now. it's incredible how bike friendly the city is. free bike maps point out the best routes. the city has designated bike lanes, bicycle boulevards and bike racks galore. and more than 30,000 people commute into the city each day on bikes! i spent one day trekking around the city on a rental bike, and it was the best. thing. ever. environmentally friendly, good for the body and good for the soul.
5) the books
portland is home to the greatest used book store, powell's books. you can spend hours perusing their shelves and wandering in and out of their nooks and crannies. i came away with some pretty good finds.
6) the quirky humor
portland doesn't seem like a city that takes itself too seriously. just a few examples--we visited the world's smallest park, mill ends, that's inhabited by little leprechauns. it's only 24-inches in diameter and has an ever-changing landscape. when we visited, we saw menacing dinosaurs and other creepy crawlies.
we also got some lip-smacking jalapeno lemonade at a food stand called the chili pie palace that makes its food with just 94% love. flipping the numbers, the proprietor told us the percentage can change if you're just not feeling it some days!
7) the casualness
going out in LA means at least throwing on a nice top, some make up and heels with your jeans. not so in portland, which is refreshing. we showed up at one of the city's hippest bars, clyde common, looking like a hot mess after a long day of wandering around the city but were still welcomed in for a drink. there's just something unpretentious about portland.
8) the eco-friendliness
aside from the huge support for biking, portland is eco-conscious in other ways. many of the eateries use paper and plastic goods made from recycled materials, and divide their waste bins into compost, glass, plastic and trash. there are wonderful open spaces and parks throughout the city. and lots of buildings have green roofs and are made from recycled materials, like the ecotrust building and a little hostel we passed by.
portland's tagline is "the city that works."
i must say, i'm inclined to agree.
1) the unbelievably blue skies, lush greenery and calming waterways
some of my friends who grew up in the pacific northwest and canada have lamented to me how southern california just doesn't make them feel alive. i didn't really get it. now i feel like i know a bit better. there's something about bright blue skies and leafy green trees that just lifts your spirits. and makes you feel just more ... alive! coming home to the smog and dust of LA made me feel a bit sad, although i do love LA for lots of other reasons.
just looking at these pictures makes me happy.
2) the foodthe food scene is a ton of fun. unlike food vending unfriendly LA, portland has turned the food stand/truck phenomena into a quirky city feature. lots of food "pods"--designated parking lots for permanent food stands--dot the city. and plastic chairs and picnic benches parked in front of the stands create a lively, communal dining atmosphere. portland probably isn't the best foodie city, but you can find some pretty good stuff that is CHEAP.
case in point: this awesome hainan chicken rice stand. so good.
3) the coffeeyou can get a wonderful, unpretentious cup of coffee for $1.25. what a revelation! i always feel a bit intimidated at local coffee roasters, like intelligentisia, where i feel like the baristas are judging my coffee noobness and the price point for a cup of coffee usually begins at $2 or $3. stumptown coffee in portland though is a friendly place with helpful baristas.
4) the bikesi would like to buy a bike now. it's incredible how bike friendly the city is. free bike maps point out the best routes. the city has designated bike lanes, bicycle boulevards and bike racks galore. and more than 30,000 people commute into the city each day on bikes! i spent one day trekking around the city on a rental bike, and it was the best. thing. ever. environmentally friendly, good for the body and good for the soul.
5) the booksportland is home to the greatest used book store, powell's books. you can spend hours perusing their shelves and wandering in and out of their nooks and crannies. i came away with some pretty good finds.
6) the quirky humor
portland doesn't seem like a city that takes itself too seriously. just a few examples--we visited the world's smallest park, mill ends, that's inhabited by little leprechauns. it's only 24-inches in diameter and has an ever-changing landscape. when we visited, we saw menacing dinosaurs and other creepy crawlies.
we also got some lip-smacking jalapeno lemonade at a food stand called the chili pie palace that makes its food with just 94% love. flipping the numbers, the proprietor told us the percentage can change if you're just not feeling it some days!
7) the casualness
going out in LA means at least throwing on a nice top, some make up and heels with your jeans. not so in portland, which is refreshing. we showed up at one of the city's hippest bars, clyde common, looking like a hot mess after a long day of wandering around the city but were still welcomed in for a drink. there's just something unpretentious about portland.
8) the eco-friendliness
aside from the huge support for biking, portland is eco-conscious in other ways. many of the eateries use paper and plastic goods made from recycled materials, and divide their waste bins into compost, glass, plastic and trash. there are wonderful open spaces and parks throughout the city. and lots of buildings have green roofs and are made from recycled materials, like the ecotrust building and a little hostel we passed by.
portland's tagline is "the city that works."
i must say, i'm inclined to agree.
Monday, July 05, 2010
here and now
just some food for thought. really love the idea of the present being the past meeting the future, how we are continually shaped by our histories, the people who have crossed our paths, the experiences we've had.
"Taking time to remember is a rare thing these days. Most people never do this. In failing to do so they diminish the depth to which they can truly live the present. Our present is really the past meeting the future. There is no such thing as living the present moment unrelated to the past and future. That is too shallow and narrow an existence. What gives depth to the present moment is the whole reality of the past. This enables us to begin to recognize the patterns in our own lives, to begin to discern future directions.
What has happened in and to you throughout the past year, or the past ten years? What have been your moments of grace, of contemplation, of temptation? There is a cycle of grace that manifests itself in our lives in people who speak to us, events that happen around us, things we do in the world. So often, people are not aware of these movements in their lives, of the on-going development of their lives. We need to time to recognize the rhythms and the movements."
--Edward J. Farrell
"Taking time to remember is a rare thing these days. Most people never do this. In failing to do so they diminish the depth to which they can truly live the present. Our present is really the past meeting the future. There is no such thing as living the present moment unrelated to the past and future. That is too shallow and narrow an existence. What gives depth to the present moment is the whole reality of the past. This enables us to begin to recognize the patterns in our own lives, to begin to discern future directions.
What has happened in and to you throughout the past year, or the past ten years? What have been your moments of grace, of contemplation, of temptation? There is a cycle of grace that manifests itself in our lives in people who speak to us, events that happen around us, things we do in the world. So often, people are not aware of these movements in their lives, of the on-going development of their lives. We need to time to recognize the rhythms and the movements."
--Edward J. Farrell
Thursday, July 01, 2010
free love
someone just passed on this youtube clip on people giving free hugs in italy, and it made me tear up! it's a bit cheesy, but i think it shows how much a little human contact and care can go a long way. pretty wonderful how God made us for each other.
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