post-Nicaragua: Portland

17 julio Portland
So Matt drove me home (thank you, Matt Rae!). I waited for a couple of hours for a roommate to come back, but no one did. Set out my sleeping blanket and read until it was too dark to read. My phone had died before leaving for Nicaragua, so I begged to use Albina Green’s phone to call my parents, who graciously agreed to let me stay at their house. Got into work this morning still wearing the same clothes and toting my luggage. Saw my roommate’s extracycle, though, and he came by so I could make a copy of the key. Hip hip hooray for bike parking! Can’t wait to be with Sparky again. Checked out of work a little early to do that which I’d been dreaming of for a week – snuck a scoop of B&J’s ice cream into the new Harry Potter movie and vegged for two hours. It was just as great as I thought it was going to be! Very decadent. I did, however, remember the Bluefields mayor’s words about US decadence as I did this.

Pedalpalooza RideReport: Road Witch

RoadWitch.07

NAME of Ride: Road Witch Ride
LEADERS: Michael Jones and "the other" steph
CO-HAULERS: Dan Miller, "the other" Matt P., Donna, Flow, and BenFoote

DATE: 14 June, 2007
START time: 6:40pm
DURATION: 6:40-10:00pm (ish)
DISTANCE: <1km for sure!
NUMBER of riders: 20

SYNOPSIS of ride:
road witches are creative ways of traffic calming. WE WANTED TO CALM TRAFFIC! i mean, we wanted to c . . .a . . .l . . .m traffic.

we met up at Col. Summers Park and had a brief intro. to types of road witches that have been created the world over. a little discussion later, we (accompanied by Dan's portable tunes) waltzed our furniture- and astroturf-laden trailers over to Alder Ct. where we picked up a chair and loveseat lovingly donated/loaned for the occasion by the Jasper/Carl contingent. our caravan had just begun heading up the street when lo! what should we find but a coffee table and easychair set out for the taking! manna from heaven? you decide. a few bungee cords later and off we were in search of a fitting place on Belmont.

we eschewed a few mere 15-minute spaces until we came upon our new erstwhile parking spot in front of Tao of Tea. we rolled our bikes and trailers into the parking lot and unloaded our goods. within a minute we had moved into our new streetside living room and backyard, complete with carpet, floor lamp, table, chairs, and plant pots. the parking sign indicated that we could spend as much as an hour there, so we got comfortable. Donna got tea service from the Tao (their jasmine tea? highly recommended). theatre-goers who were on their way to see "The Wonder of the World" or "Uncommon Women and Others" stopped to ask what we were doing. one woman came up and said that our setup was just fabulous and that there should be more of this. grapes and tea and kudos from passersby made us feel quite at home, and the BC bikeazine reading material provided by Ron, our Canadian Ambassador to Pedalpalooza, allowed us to pass the time in relaxed fashion.

perhaps 45 minutes later, we packed up and headed to Hawthorne to spread yet more traffic-calming cheer. the Parking Fates smiled once again, and we found ourselves with free real estate in front of the Bagdad on 34th. according to the sign, we were allowed to be there until 5am! we moved in to our little humble roadside bungalow, and Guy immediately ordered pizza (for future reference, the Bagdad delivers to curbside residences). we stayed until a little after dusk and then packed up. Dan's sound system and Team parkXbike meandered back up to NoPo.

HIGH points: Dan's portable sound system! no house is complete without music. Flow stepped up to haul the TimoTrailer, and a few unwanted furniture items found a home. the company was great, too! a lot of good discussion and good times. everyone who passed by seemed curious but then appreciative of our parking job. you were all wonderful!! it was such a pleasure to park with you all.

LOW points:
it ended.

WOULD you do it again? If so, What would you change?
heck yes! in fact, some folks were talking about making this an event through the summer in different locations and using different themes. there was talk of starting a discussion/action forum in the future.

Some places included:
*Woodstock area
*West Burnside
*Alberta
*Stark
*Farmer's Markets

Road Witch ideas:
*Interior design exhibition streetside
*Children's reading hour with fenced carpeted area and pillows, preferably at a sunday brunch location populated by younguns
*More rooms! More locations!
*Knitting circle

Small Background on Road Witches
a road witch was originally a scarecrow-like affair with a traffic cone hat:http://www.wormworks.com/roadwitch/pages/whatis.htm
examples of road witches:http://www.wormworks.com/roadwitch/pages/trialcontents.htm
PARK(ing): http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parkingday/images.html
Walk to School Week:http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/walk_to_school_week_takes_crazy_twist_in_england.php

thanks to Jacque, Jonathan and Michael for online examples!

AaA: aAA bike move

as mentioned in an earlier posting, i'm moving to north portland as of the 15th of january and am hoping to do the move via bike. here's the information. if you'd like beginning coordinates, give a buzz and i'll send the info. your way! happy for anyone who'd like to join in this most auspicious event.

AaA:aAA

to A. . . and A. . . : an Alliterative Address

after allocating an adequate aepoch at Ashlee and Associates' abode, an adventurous about-face approaching alternate accommodations ascends. aliments available apres activity, and ale also administered after advance accomplished. alliterative accessories applauded (author's aunt to accord alliterative adverts).

(translation: after wiling away about 1 1/2 years at “the red door”, home to backyard movie nights, a new neighborhood with fabulous new roommates beckons. we’ll have tasty nibblins before the move and food accompanying tasty beverages at the end of our excursion, a refreshing way to celebrate a shared accomplishment. NOTE: it's going to be a longer bike move than some recent ones and a little uphill, but anyone with a backpack or trailer or baguette basket is welcome to come. grab a few coathangers or a spoon or two, and we can make a lovely winter parade!)

Commencement Clock: saturday, 13 january, 2007 @ 1:00pm

Beginning Bearings: SE 28th Ave. near the Clinton district

Ascertained Area: A. . . and A . . ., absolutely!

Dress Details: down-like, drenchproof digs describing down-to-earth dimensions and deftness definitely de rigueur.

Contact Coordinates: comment, compadre!

thank you, BonB

just found this write-up about a recent transportation-related film extravaganza at the Bagdad in the Oregonian by Joe Rose and repost it here. the apples he mentions were leftover donations from BonB the day before. i don't remember having been quoted in an article before. what fun!

and here's a poster for Junk to Funk on december 2nd. Ashlee, my roommate, has graciously agreed to wear my design, which means i need to spend this weekend making it look a little better than it does. it is going to be great fun, and i can't wait!

My Quilted Subscription

2 december marks the first annual Junk to Funk Fashion Show in portland. many other places have versions of this celebration of recycled couture, but i feel sure that our fair city whose patron saint seems to be the God(dess) of Sustainability, is ready to leap onto the stage with great fanfare. these are a few pictures of my submission. only 25 folks are chosen, so who knows, but it was great fun to make, and it is a fantabulous exercise in the whimsical. the skirt and tank top are made entirely from my subscription to "the economist" magazine, grocery bags and duct tape. i still haven't made the hat or the purse yet, and there are some bits of frippery on the tank top and skirt yet to be completed, but i look forward to making these. my roommate modelled them, but sadly the camera's memory card was on the fritz, and she is now housesitting and unavailable for another session. but there it is. what a wonderful event it is likely to be!

in other news, i auditioned for integrity production's upcoming show of "private lives" by Noel Coward. such fun! i could take up auditioning as a sort of pasttime. i met Morgan and Chloe, my auditioning partner and the play's stage manager respectively, and had a bundle of laughs playing Amanda an Sibyl. in truth, i'd had hopes of reading for the maid, Louise, but this was not to be. who knows if callbacks are in the future, but good people, good company, and a grateful opportunity. also, this morning's inbox was greeted with a timeframe for callback auditions for Francesca Sander's latest. also got a coffee brewing donor for Breakfast on the Bridges which is pretty swell (and what's more important is that we'll have the opportunity to publicize
JAMES BEAN COFFEE on 2nd & SW Taylor
which is owned by a great couple who are not only golden-hearted but can speak Chinese to boot!).

monthly gazette

so much to recall since the last posting! portland is a whirlwind of wondrous activity, leaving it difficult to participate and still allow time to sleep. here are some basic updates:

CASTAWAYS
we've started up the arduous yet hopefully successful venture to gain sponsorship, which could take us to china and hawaii. i only have eyes for china, myself, for reasons that are not difficult to ascertain. thoughts of visiting Rebecca wherever she is (and since her daughter is marrying a man with a different passport, so this could be anywhere) fill idle timed thoughts. more soon. in the interim, we've taken to asking everyone for bios which i get to collect and, oh yes, READ! you think you know a person after paddling in the same boat with them for a year . . .

PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
the bus project met their goal of registering 15,000 young voters. they did over 16,000 young and over 20,000 cumulative. way to go! it took thankless tasks like pub crawls, post-concert sifting, line hustling, pioneer couthouse square trawling, and a host of innovative questing i can't keep track of. just before the 5pm tuesday deadline, i hustled the street where i work downtown. 10 voters in 25 minutes. very cool, and yet quite sad. i wonder at a mail-in ballot system that disenfranchises the often-moving youth vote and negates the cultural aspects of the voting process even as it increases overall voting participation (and when the average age in the last primary was 62?)
Alex and i went out on the sunday before the tuesday deadline and headed up the:

Voting Bike Brunch Brigade - sunday morning a few folks met at Bus Project HQ and whirled out to southeast p-town to attack the unsuspecting, unregistered brunch-munching hopefuls on belmont. Alex and i registered at least 10 in a couple of hours with time to stop for coffee in between. today (tuesday, 17 october) is the last day to register voters. deadline 5pm. just thought i’d mention.

Candidates Gone Wild - Ben, Corey, Lauren, Adam and i sat in the audience for this little ditty, an evening of discussing the dense (of either meaning) ballot measures and heckling gubernatorial candidates. sadly, the republican abd democratic candidates felt unable to make an appearance (boo hiss), so we were treated to lambasting Saxton and Kulo's absenteeism as well as a better spotlight on the other candidates. Joe Keating is a wonderful fellow who's talent show entry included a headstand on a yoga mat.

PTT
i met with Mark Lear for an hour this past wednesday to discuss my "road user's manual" project, and he suggested as an alternative to research delivery truck and intra-city freight trainings which drivers are required to take every few years. this would be a great way to learn how the hell insurance companies work to ameliorate their liability risk. personally, however, i have to admit that individual drivers are less-than-adequately trained with ped and bike roadsharing laws almost nil, and these are the roadusers who are at highest risk of plowing into traffic that's not enveloped in tank-like cradles.

yesterday we went to our professor, Rick Gustafson's, house, and he took us on a tour of traffic calming installation in the portland metro area. fascinating! and there are some great people in the class, i tell you! we went back to his house afterwards where his wife had kindly laid oiut some nibblins for us, and we drank beer on his porch and kibbitzed for longer than we politely should have. he's going to sagrada familia in barcelona next week, which arouses a tinge of jealousy. gaudi! what a guy what a guy.

BIKEYNESS
a group of us are exploring the possibility of starting an umbrella nonprofit. don't want to say any more than this because the nuances of such a potential organization is rife with differing vision and questions. a good group of people and an interesting process.

Africa Women’s Bicycle Initiative at Mississippi Pizza saturday evening - i actually got there a little early because i was supposed to meet a friend whose sickness prevailed in the end and couldn’t attend. all the better for eavesdropping, my dear! the folks who were organizing the event sat next to me in the parlor and talked about last minute details. as with many events, there is an equal fear of just too many and too few people turning up. but it was definitely a baby bear event with the attendance “just right”. some bike helmets in the audience, small packs of “the youth”, some world travelers - a healthy mix. great music. i didn’t stick around for the auction and wonder how they did.

that's all i have time for today! trying to get a junk to funk submission ready and don't know whether i'll be able.

thank you, two devoted readers.

PTT: statement

just about to swing out to our second Portland Traffic and Transportation class, a joint venture by p.s.u. and the p.d.o.t. wonderful!
last week we got to meet Sam Adams, portland's transportation commissioner, who spoke for about an hour about the responsibilities, limitations and current proposals presented by his office. we have the greatest transportation manager on the planet!
our homework for today was to provide a statement of a possible final project we want to pursue. here's mine:

(nonbinding, preliminary, quite possibly logistically impervious)

Project Statement

AREA OF FOCUS

I would like to focus on road-sharing education, primarily between bicycles and motorists. Laws affecting bicycle/motorist usage are changing with far greater rapidity in the State of Oregon than most road-users can track. Misunderstandings in regard to rules of the road are one of the most frequent causes for frustration and collision between bicyclists and drivers. By promoting legal transportation education, we can create safer streets.

PROJECT

Driver and bicycle user manuals are two independent DMV publications with very little commonality, and I would seek to change that. We can provide an updated, integrated road manual offered by the DMV that can be used by all users of roadways in order to create mutual awareness of road-sharing rules. This could also involve developing an easily implementable system for continuing education, and here is the wishlist:

*integrated DMV Road-User Manual to replace Bicycle and Driver Manuals

*bicycle rule integration into DMV tests;

*requisite bike legal clinic attendance for all parties in bike-car collision cases;

*optional fine waives/reductions for bike-borne fines in return for bike legal clinic attendance;

*law change updates provided to media to be mentioned during traffic reports.

hmmmm . . . a little too bold? dependent on swiftly moving bureaucracy? and again i say hmmmm . . .

linfield debut

friday was one heck of a crazy day! i woke up at about 5am, and Sparky and i snookered our way to downtown in just enough time to get hot water for Breakfast on the Bridges, voter registration cards, and signs made such as "exercise . . . your right to vote" and "are you registered to vote at your current address? reg. cards available here!". on the way to work, Sparky and i telepathized to finally name our lovely bambina trailer. so next time you see that three of us, kindly tell Minerva what a cute trailer she is. she likes that.
so anyway, we got to the bridge, broke out some hot water and plums that Joan our FABULOUS volunteer brought to the office, registered folks to vote, then busted away to prepare for Green Empowerment's Board of Director's meeting. five minutes before the meeting, i called Gwen Leonard to say that my voice still wasn't back (curses!), and she informed me that i was already on the program for the dedication to the Vivian Bull Music Building at linfield. this is my fault, as i didn't call her the day before. luckily, Gwen suggested that i could sing a little chinese ditty, which is about all my voice could handle.
just after the Board meeting, mom called and agreed to drive us to mcminnville. we arrived just in time for the earlier concert to hear the glorious personages of Brian Bartley and Joe Theissen sing (they're performing in ragtime until oct. 25th, and they are not to be missed). one person couldn't make it through the parking lot of dundee in time for the concert, so i pinch hit. it turned out much better than i was fearing! i asked for the audience's forgiveness and offered in trade an introduction to the songs in chinese. thankfully made it through "Yue Liang Dai Biao Wode Xin" and "Mai Tang Yuan" without too garish a passaggio.
everyone was there! it was a reunion of about an entire town that i had been missing! Wynn and others from the first baptist church, Donna Root, two Susans, Tiff, Tom Gressler and the Marshalls (sounds like a great band), a number of other professors, a lot of alumni with whom i share fond memories, they were all there. i think i hugged everyone on the planet. after the dedication and second concert, Gwen took any performers who could stay out to sushi. what a great conversation. what an utterly fantastic day! mom and i were glowing all the way home, and i couldn't stop gleaming all saturday.
more about saturday soon, but i don't want to bore my two readers any longer.

SSS - six string samurai

if you are ever in a position to need a macguyver-concocted roadside entertainment system, consider the following triumvirate: "Organic" Brian Scrivener, "Tall" Steve Kirkendall, Aaron "Transportation Diplomat" Tarfman.
thanks to them, the sidewalk on 24th and alberta was home to a showing of "six-string samurai" at this month's last thursday. more to come, with any luck!

dragonboat sellwood

the varnish on my paddle dried just in time to use the New and Improved paddle on the waters during this weekend's sellwood race. the Castaways sported both a women's and a mixed team this year, and what a workout for the ladies! our first race was almost unbearably sluggish (were some of the men holding the back of the boat at the dock just so that we would appreciate them more during the mixed races?). our second race was almost 30 seconds faster, and we ended up with respectable times considering we had practiced as a group only twice before the competition.
the double duty definitely had a number of us huffing. a few times we stepped off the boat of one race and turned around and marshelled straight into the next one. no one can ever call us whimps! the stars of the day were, of course, Captain Darrell and Coach Fev, both sporting huge hearts and winning smiles straight through to a drinking foray at the Black Cat.
wanted to die sunday evening. very nearly did.

a fabulous bike move (and PDX100)

sunday was a duo-cyclical romp through the ins and outs of portlandia. to begin, we had the first ever portland century bike ride. folks could pedal their way to the 40, 60, or 100 mile mark, depending on their ambition and pain tolerance. i chose the 60-miler, which i term the "metric century" because it makes me sound slightly less wimpy. i didn't feel less wimpy, mind, but in repeating the phrase every half hour or so, i hope that history will treat me kindly. . . or overlook me completely, which seems slightly more likely (and i have only you to thank, my glorious two readers, for some passing notice. grateful and more grateful).

i rode for most of the way with Fillard Rhyne, who had the perfect bike and the perfect hair for the occasion. i felt as though the two of us were a peculiar sight, as neither of us were sporting spandex for the event. Fillard, if you don't know him yet, is a rather tall fellow with what could only be described as rich tresses, which was lucky for me since it was easy to spot him in a crowd. we set out from PSU a little before 9am after having wrestled with the other registrants. there were about 3 times as many participants as they were expecting, and the limited resources (water, gatorade, snacks, etc.) were an often sought and rarely found commodity, but i imagine such is to be expected on the first ride of its kind. i heard later that one of the big reasons for the massive over-registration was that many more people registered at bike shops than had been expected, and those forms didn't get to HQ until a few days before the event. next year will assuredly be more luxurious, but it was great to be among the pioneers of the pdx 100!

i got back to the finish line about 3pm and wound my way to the office to pick up my brand spankin' new bike trailer in time to help my friend my friend move her apartment. there were about 12 of us (?) with trailers and panniers and joy in our heart to be invited for the great Stuff on Bikes parade. our new little trailer (who does not have a name yet, but we are considering "Pluck" or "Minerva") had a big first week with a BTA bike move followed by delivering hot water for breakfast on the bridges with Elly's move as dessert! every one of the movers demonstrated awe-inspiring prowess at bungee-cording, stacking and scrunching every worldly possession she owns onto a team of eager bikes. the trip was incredibly short and followed by a long stretch of multi-course delicious concoctions created by Meisterkoch John.

at the end of the evening i was a tired, tired bicyclettist and endured a rather bad movie just because it meant sitting for 2 uninterrupted hours in air conditioning. sometimes even when the movie's terrible one is able to stay for comfort.