Portland Part One

12/30/08 - Tuesday

We walk into Burbank airport as the PA system plays "The Power of Love". I'm in a fog from last night's sleeping pill, which is actually good, because I'm too hazy to have a meltdown over travel chaos.

8:00AM - We're in flight, and the women two rows behind us won't shut up. Their kids aren't making a peep. These women have their amps on eleven, they sound like a copy of OK! magazine read aloud. They won't stop talking about Jacob, Bela, Kristen, and "New Moon" (I later learn that New Moon is one of the Twilight novels). They used the word "exactly" a lot. Is this the new trend speak? I thought the new trend speak was "You stay classy, fill in name here." We couldn't even hear the flight attendant's explanation about the oxygen masks and what not.

12:00PM - Corned beef reuben at Kenny and Zukes. Excellent.

1:00PM - shopping at Powell's books. The store is huge. Ursula buys a bunch of stuff. I decide to come back later to go on my shopping spree, buying a copy of Salem's Lot. I've read it before, but this time I want to break it down for analysis. I am made of fun.

3:00PM - stopped by Floating World Comics, one of a few shops I had hoped to visit. I picked up the new Mister X book, a copy of the Omega book by Jonathan Lethem, and The Caterer, which is kind of like Sealab 2020 after a judo chop from Bob Burden.

3:56PM - In the lobby of the Ace Hotel in Portland. We're only staying here for the night, but I could see booking another night at the end of the week; pretty cool digs. "Killing an Arab" is playing on their PA system. There is a photo booth in the lobby. Sitting diagonally from us on another couch is a guy who went to UMD with me. I can't remember his name, but I remember that he used to play ballad-y sort of songs on an acoustic guitar at the experimental stage nights where I used to read spoken word stuff. He still has a pony tail. He doesn't recognize me; I decide not to bother him.

6:30PM - Messed up going to see the Auteur at the Living Room theatre, grabbed some dinner at Clyde Common. Maybe a little too much beer...as you can tell by this choppy post.