"Mystery, Mayhem and Muslin in Portland"
by Jefie
This was my third time attending a Jane Austen Society of North America AGM. After going to the ones in Toronto (2002) and Chicago (2008), it was quite a treat to travel to Portland and meet up with my university friend Sylvia for the 2010 AGM dedicated to Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey". I must confess that because of all the fun I'd been having in Portland, I didn't exactly feel like sitting down for presentations at first - but there were some very interesting speakers this year, and it felt really good to reconnect with the literary world I sort of left behind when I completed my degree. We met some really nice Janeites, and I even left the conference thinking about attending next year's JASNA AGM in Fort Worth. Hmmm, Mr. Darcy in chaps, now that's an interesting thought!!
For more information on the Jane Austen Society of North America: www.jasna.org.
Flowers of Spring & Summer
by xeberus
Portland is known as the City of Roses, but there's a lot more than just roses growing here. Visitors to our city are always pleased with the abundance of blooms in spring and summer. Both the city govt. and the populace take pride in the flora on display. In the spring wander the neighborhoods under a canopy of pink and white petals on dogwoods, cherries, hawthorns etc. Look down at the tulips planted everywhere along with iris, crocus and others. In the summer perhaps roses take the prize, but you'll still find a huge variety of blooms around all over town. Besides the residential neighborhoods, check out the Chinese gardens and the Japanese gardens for spring flowers and late irises.
Divide & Conquer
by IncogNeat-0
Update: September 2007
Portland is bisected by the Willamette River, dividing East from West. Locals pronounce it WIL-lam-it; Easterners seem to prefer Willa-met. Willa-met it is. Majority rules (It's WIL-LAM-IT, dammit! - Funnybeee!).
There are no markets of any consequence on Market Street that I am aware of, nor does Division Street divide anything from anything else. Burnside Street does that, dividing North from South. There are thus four distinct districts. NW, SW, SE, and NE.
Less distinct is North Portland, odd man out east of the river. Everything west of Williams Avenue is in N Portland no matter which way the streets run, and however they run they are all named, not numbered.
Numbered Avenues elsewhere generally run North & South. Whether numbered or named, as some are, most avenues are aligned to either Magnetic North or True North. Thus, on a clear night you might get a good view of the North Star, Polaris. Don't try it in the downtown core, though. You are more apt to need a magnetic compass then a pocket telescope.
Named Streets, at right angles, generally run East & West.
Hoity-Toity fancy-Pants Boulevards go wherever they damn well please.
Community Gardens
by glabah
If you only have the money to live in an appartment, but want to be able to grow things, especially things to eat because you don't trust the local food supply, what do you do?
Thus, the city of Portland has the community garden program. This program sets aside sections of public land (usually part of a city park, but until last year the largest of all city gardens was on private land, but was removed when the land was developed). These gardens are divided up into small plots, which may be rented by individuals by the year. People may use those plots of land to grow any legal crop or flower or other plant.
The community gardens are usually identified with city of Portland parks signs, as seen in my (rather abused and vandalized) example.
Community Gardens Office office phone number and mailing address is listed below. The web site is for the non-profit organization "Friends of Portland Community Gardens".
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
by mtncorg
The Trail Blazers are Portland's one sports team that registers on the national stage. Now in their fortieth year of existence as a franchise in the National Basketball Association, the Blazers command a lot of local attention. Only once have the Red and Black won the NBA championship - a glorious year, 1977 - but they did make it to two other Finals - 1990 and 1992. The team has shown a lot of intermediate success in other years, as well, qualifying for the playoffs 26 out of 39 - soon to be 27 out of 40 - years in the league. Many very good basketball players have played for the team over the years with those that the team considers to be among the best, having the honor of having their numbers retired to the rafters of the Rose Garden. Ten players have had that honor conferred upon them - seven from the Championship team, two from the other Finals teams and one from the initial era of the team. There are four former team members enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame and two former coaches, as well. The Blazers play in the 19,980 seat Rose Garden - 20,580 with standing room counted - and they regularly sell out. Both the team and the Rose Garden are both owned by Paul Allen who earned his fortune side-by-side with Bill Gates at Microsoft. Allen, who lives north in Seattle, can be found cheering on his team many nights at his courtside seats. He initially wanted to buy the local Seattle Supersonics, but they weren't for sale at the time, so he has spent some of those Windows dollars down here. The present team is a young and promising squad that could be poised for the near future. Tickets can be a difficult thing to come by depending upon whom the Blazers' opponent is - ie the Los Angeles Lakers games being the most popular - but you can find some tickets normally on craigslist. You probably need a ticket or access to a television/radio.
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Waterfront 2010
My friend Sylvia at the Lan Su teahouse
My friend Sylvia at The Melting Pot
Lost Bird Project visits Portland
