Portland
For my first 10 years in Portland, I lived in the same house and used the same four bus stops: One to go east, one to go west, one to go north, one to go south. The bus stops to go north and south frightened me. Their street was too
Politics
Oregon State Measure 60: No. School districts should be allowed discretion in determing what policies are best for their students. Oregon State Measure 61: No. Judges should be allowed discretion in determining sentencing for crimes. Oregon State Measure 62: No. Lottery proceeds currently fund job creation, economic development, and education.
Politics
Oregon State Measure 54: Yes. A little bit of Constitutional clean-up that I'm glad we're doing. Oregon State Measure 55: No. Is pretending that the old district lines are still in force any less confusing a way to deal with redistricting than the current way? Oregon
Politics
Oregon Secretary of State: Kate Brown (D). By default. Her two opponents are, respectively, an amateur and a naïf. Oregon State Treasurer: Ben Westlund (D). Westlund's opponent, Allen Alley, touts his business experience, but when I look at how his company, Pixelworks, was doing when he resigned as
Politics
The Republicans deserve the broom. United States President: Barack Obama (D) United States Senate: Jeff Merkley (D) United States Representative, 3rd District: Earl Blumenauer (D)
Portland
A man in his late 50s or early 60s, sitting with stocking feet on a rocking chair on the porch of a Craftsman house on Southeast Salmon Street on a cool late-summer evening. A traditional American scene, like something out of Norman Rockwell. Except for how intently he was texting
Commerce
The east side of Portland is littered with ugly two-story apartment buildings of early '60s vintage. If you live in Portland, you know what I'm talking about: The long, low bricks; the rusted metal stairs; the fading pale paint; the ratty parking lot; the juniper bushes. So
Portland
Few things are as bracing as leaving work in the evening, looking into the distance, and noticing a pillar of thick black smoke rising from the street you live on. Fortunately for me, the fire was about two miles down the street from my house. And the wind was blowing
Politics
Seen this afternoon at The Original Pancake House: A guy wearing a Ronald Reagan t-shirt with a McCain/Palin button pinned to it, and carrying a copy of Barry Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative. I resisted the temptation to walk over to him and say: "Dude…you&
Portland
I have two new reviews on Yelp!: Glowing Greens in Downtown Bluefin Sushi Bar in Hollywood
Food
The best, best, best, best, bestest thing about having my weekdays off work this week is that I can eat at Pine State Biscuits without waiting in line for an hour.
Life
One positive to riding home this evening on a packed, slow-moving TriMet bus in 102-degree heat while wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt: When I got home, weeding the shaded side yard in 90-to-95-degree heat for an hour and a half seemed like a vacation. Was that one positive worth