Run Portland

[East Coast Hustle]

Oh, and I didn't get your PM until this morning and I'm all tied up today watching the Final 4 games but we definitely need to grab a beer together sometime soon.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

How the fuck am I in Ladd's addition. I was supposed to be going North. Goddammit, I know I was going north. Do I really even want to go back up to B-Side? Maybe I ought to do the irresponsible thing and head to Seattle. Goddammit I was going NORTH, I know I was. I'm throwing the rest of this in Nigel's "Tell me about your life thread," just as soon as I get to wi-fi. Starting to...there are bad days. Growing pains I keep telling myself, but fuck I need to vent. Maybe I ought to head back to Corvallis and show my daughter how to settle. Maybe I should tuck my tail, run back to Foco and hide. Fuck it...B-side...got to be to work on Monday.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

Feeling like I'm hitting my stride here now.

Last night I just went exploring. I'm trying to stay more and more off the GPS so I can learn to find my way around here. I found my way to a familiar 7-11 last night and had a gratifying little chuckle when I realized that my first night in town while I was trying to find the part of Beech St that Nigel suggested, I ended up on Beech right by 82nd and Sandy. I had no idea what "inner" meant back then. Any guesses where I accidentally picked up the hooker? Encouraging as hell that between 3 weeks ago and today, I've already sloughed enough ignorance to be able to laugh at how dumb I was "way back then".

I'm still "camping" but other than losing my park and ride sites (2 cars, 4 transit cops--the response to someone sleeping in their car) the going is pretty easy. I've got the cash and income now that I could grab a weekly, but between the flavorful selection SE 82nd and Flavel has to offer (I'm told that area has a colorful nickname) and my bed-bug/flea/tweeker/and usually hooker-free passenger seat, I think I'll wait a couple of weeks and be a bit more choosy. Plus, "I live in a Subaru" is a pretty effective response to sp'angers.

Next week I get to head down to Corvallis for my daughter's birthday. So glad I'm not going to spend that 1200 miles away. I'm more worried about the boy than I thought I would be. This can't be easy on him. It sure as fuck isn't on me. Before I left he told me "I don't want to see you go, but everybody understands why it has to be this way." As much as it heartens me to see how mature the boy is at 15, it also kinda ouch.

The long and the short of why I'm here, he's in a situation I trust implicitly, surrounded by extended family he's super-tight with, and cared for by a mom that is strong, smart and ferocious in defense of the best interest of her children...she (my daughter) is in a situation 1200 miles from anyone but a few of her mom's old friends, cared for by a mom who, for all her devotion and practicality, is all-too-often a walking bag of daddy-issues that my daughter, all-too-often, has to bear the weight of...currently with the new baby and the step-dad who's only every two beers away from...the reason why I won't be more than a phone call and a short drive away. Son's mom told me shortly before I left, "every woman I've ever known from a background like mine, has eventually been faced with a decision between their kids and the man...every one of us (including her for a few years) has made the choice without even understanding the options. You need to be in Oregon."

So here I am--and as much as I try to keep this some light, thrilling experience, the truth of why I'm here weighs pretty heavy on me every time I spell it out like that.

Next entry--Light, thrilling experience...Truth is, I actually do LOVE this gorgeous, grimy, friendly-to-a-fault, wickedly intolerant city...and I'm just getting to know her.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Dude, yeah, you don't want a place on Felony Flats!

What's your monthly budget, and do you want to rent a room or an apartment? I forget.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

Dude, yeah, you don't want a place on Felony Flats!

What's your monthly budget, and do you want to rent a room or an apartment? I forget.

Right now I'd be capped at about 500 which puts an apartment a bit out of reach, from what I've seen. Got a couple of interviews next week, though, so that may well change very soon. I keep an eye and an ear open but I'm only two weeks from having the cash on-hand to have a lot more options. No sense of urgency, really. All things considered, I'm living easily as posh as anything you'd see in "Better Subarus and Gardens" magazine. I've gotten to know the "neighbors" at my squats, the friendly businesses, what a hooker flagging down my car looks like, and quite a bit more in a very short period of time--which helps a ton. That hyper-aware, paranoid and overwhelmed shit was so last week. 

Only real pressing issue I had was that for a bit the isolation was truly fucking with my head. When I found myself riding the max and unable to stop laughing out loud at my own thoughts, I decided I drastically needed to meet people from outside the Wal-Mart parking lot or work (where I have to be a bit coy about my situation)...so I did. Portland, and Oregon in general has this community thing that makes it really easy to belong. That's not a quality I've seen in such abundance in most other places I've been to.

...if you know cool folks looking for roomies, though, I'd be all over it. Not looking forward to trying to figure out if I could live with someone after reading a Craig's List ad and spending a 1/2 hour chatting with them, much less so since my daughter's a part of that picture.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well, I ask because my current housemate is out of here June 1. That's a ways off, but if you were interested and it seemed like you were going to be a good mesh for the household, I do have a hide-a-bed in the rec room that you could crash on rent-free until then. It's me and three kids, but we are rather quiet people. I have been told I am easy to live with, surprisingly.

I'm looking for $550, utilities and internet included (which is about equivalent to $450 + 1/3 of utilities but I hate doing it that way) but if that's prohibitive I can come down. "Knowing" you from here and the fact that you are a parent doing what's best for your littlest makes you significantly less creepy than other internet strangers!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

How the fuck am I in Ladd's addition. I was supposed to be going North. Goddammit, I know I was going north.

I've gotten turned around so many times in that neighborhood. That's some good city planning though—I think it was designed that way to prevent people from cutting through instead of taking main roads. It's super-effective.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

How the fuck am I in Ladd's addition. I was supposed to be going North. Goddammit, I know I was going north.

I've gotten turned around so many times in that neighborhood. That's some good city planning though—I think it was designed that way to prevent people from cutting through instead of taking main roads. It's super-effective.

Laurelhurst is also designed to keep people out, to the extent that it used to be walled and gated. There's another, less-known section designed for the same purpose in Woodlawn. It's not as pretty, but it's tremendously effective in terms of "OH GOD, WHERE AM I AND HOW DO I GET OUT???" People get sucked into it thinking that Rosa Parks goes through.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

Well, I ask because my current housemate is out of here June 1. That's a ways off, but if you were interested and it seemed like you were going to be a good mesh for the household, I do have a hide-a-bed in the rec room that you could crash on rent-free until then. It's me and three kids, but we are rather quiet people. I have been told I am easy to live with, surprisingly.

I'm looking for $550, utilities and internet included (which is about equivalent to $450 + 1/3 of utilities but I hate doing it that way) but if that's prohibitive I can come down. "Knowing" you from here and the fact that you are a parent doing what's best for your littlest makes you significantly less creepy than other internet strangers!

Ummm...hmmm...Hell yeah. I'll PM you my phone number. I'll know on Tuesday for sure about the new job. If I get it, then 550 is totally doable.