Exploring North and Northeast

saturday i drove around exploring neighborhoods in north and northeast portland. one observation i have is the lack of obvious poverty. i drove through one development of neat two story houses, all sided in complementary colors. the street was full of older cars parked on and around frequent speed bumps. i saw a community center, little kids playing at a playground while their older sibs played a pick up game of basketball, a mural--hold on a minute! this was the projects!

i tell you, these were the most beautiful projects i had ever seen. i saw no graffiti, couldn't smell any urine--i would live here! i wish i had pics, but i was driving. if i had pulled over, someone would have sold me drugs. nonetheless, they were really well done. i found out later they have a community garden so that the underprivileged kids can 'see good for the work of their hands.' every week, anyone can go there and help themselves to fresh organic produce. why don't they have that in ivy gardens?

later, i drove to N mississippi ave for lunch. i parked my car and strolled around. i really appreciate the unseasonably dry, sunny weather at times like this.

besides numerous shops and regular restaurants and coffespots, the neighborhood had its own outside food court. it was set up between a brewpub and a handful of food trailers and street vendors. on the left is one of the pretty housing developments--"the mississippi treehouse". lofts above, shops at street level.

to the right is the neighborhood version of home depot--"the rebuilding center". it only sells reclaimed materials.

over a lunch of smoked salmon eggs benedict and a nice salty bloody mary, i asked my bartender about job prospects. more bad news. she advised me to frequent a place until they needed help. basically, be a stalker.

after lunch, i went looking for an internet cafe to post, but could not find one to save my life. on an impulse, i went to the mall and bought a netbook laptop at radio shack. hey--i saved myself the sales tax by buying here. i ended up having difficulty using it, but. . .whatever.

ttyl