Streetcar

Yes, a streetcar but in San Francisco still, not Portland. Portland will happen tomorrow, Monday March 1. In the meantime, here's another shot from San Francisco that could have easily been taken in Portland. This woman is a vendor at the Civic Center Farmers' Market.

Saturday not in Portland

But in San Francisco...

Back to Portland Monday...

Trip To Oakland

That would be California not Oregon. This is the weekend to attend a shower in San Francisco and visit my cousin Stephanie. The lead image is from Jamison Square just before I boarded the Red line to PDX.

After my cousin picked me up at OAK, we went up into the hills of Oakland passing this hair salon.

Once home, we had to take Eddie, the boarder collie, for a walk and came across Cameron who I've known since he was six. He's styling in his red jacket. Dinner was at Old Weang Ping,

a Thai restaurant where you have to knock to gain entrance. Food was great though.

Portland Art Museum ~ Disquieted and Quiet

Here are the four corners for the Museum Stop along the Portland Streetcar line. The actual stop is in the middle of the block. I chose to use the four corners to the south for this post. The Portland Art Museum is in the upper right. The structure to the west of it is the Elliot Tower, an upscale condominium building.  To the southwest is Safeway (follow the link to all of the images and you'll see a cross section of Portland residents) and to the southeast you'll see the streetcar crossing the intersection.

Disquieted is the current special exhibition and it is an over the top show of modern artists and their view of contemporary life. I'm fascinated with different types of hair so was pleased to see the fellow in the image below entering the museum quite likely to check out the Baldessari, the Gurskey, the Kruger and any number of other artists whose work is currently on display.

For a more tranquil approach the three people below were spending their time reading. One is at the museum, the other two in the park across the street. To see all of the images, including a squirrel with all fours off the ground, click here.

People Along the Streetcar

A subtext for today would be not just people along the Streetcar line but homeless and "street people".  The alternative universe from those who go to work every morning in the buildings along the streetcar here in Portland. Although the sun peeked out from around the clouds this morning it was a bit chilly, right around fifty degrees. Although I enjoyed this woman's tattoos seeing her in a dress with spaghetti straps gives me the shivers as I sit in front of the fireplace writing this post.


If you're a reader of Portland Through My Lens, you'll recognize the fellow in the first image. Heading down to Broadway alongside the Schnitz is where I usually see him with his sleeping bag draped like a long cape. Today's is perhaps not quite as regal looking as some of the others. The second image is of a street person who I think I've seen before. She normally is wearing a rather large head covering. We'll see what happens in the summer when it's warmer. The third image is of a group of young street people with their pets. You have to wonder where they'll be ten years from now. For all of the images from today, click here.

Bright Colors on a Grey Day

How much happier can a color be than yellow -- perhaps orange but not many others? The woman on the left has happiness nailed and will be smiling for many days. Also of fascination on a grey day were Closed Signs. The Pearl has many variations on this theme. Today, I'll feature two from there and one from the Bucket. Shut seems so appropriate for an area referred to as the Bucket. The Bucket, for whatever reason, is what the area between the Pearl and Northwest 23rd is called by various mapping services. For all the images from today, click here. One or more of them will be of interest to you.

Near Portland State University

If you take the streetcar south on 11th, you'll get very close to this little park between 11th and 12th on SW Market. Today, this bookcase sat there large as life waiting for its old owner, a new owner, perhaps some books, maybe some other goodies. How did it get there? We'll never know for certain.

Very near this park you find an owl sitting on a window ledge doing its job as described by the person who lives on the other side. Its commute isn't long and it seems quite content with life. Windows can definitely be portals to understanding the occupants behind the pane. For the photos from today, click here.

Mr. Owl has a job. His job is to drive away squirrels and rats, possums, pigeons. Those animals are all afraid of Mr. Owl's big yellow eyes.

Streetcar Home from the Symphony

Voice from the Couch and I were able to get tickets to see Angela Hewitt playing Mozart with the Oregon Symphony today. She was great but I also did enjoy the last two movements of the Berlioz and the Webern, especially the Webern. After the concert, I missed catching most of the violinists as they left the concert hall but did capture three of the cello players and two of them with their cases. The other highlight was the street person who asked me to take his photo after his friend told me that was what he really wanted me to do that. To see his image and the others from the day, click here. All in all a great day ending with a cassoulet I had cooked this morning.

Sunny But Cold

Ah, the sun was out all day. These chairs outside of an ice cream shop in the Pearl speak to the wind chill factor. Cold but sunny. Very cold ~ the wind was from the east. For all of the images from today, click here. You'll get an idea of how chilly from the two images below. Those two are enjoying their books but are definitely not dressed for a warm day. The flags on the Fremont Bridge are not wavering in the wind.

Light and Reflections

The rides on the Streetcar today seemed to be exactly between when people arrived at work and went out on break. As a result there were very few people on the streets. The early morning light and the reflections that resulted were most everywhere however ~ it just depended on when the sun came around the "tower". The image above has wonderful reflected color. So the day was not a complete loss.

There are other reflections and shadows over there on the set at Flickr (click here), but the one that stands out is this one from the Lawrence Gallery advertising their Dali collection. Reflected light and shadows to keep your eyes busy.

Sun Also Means Photographers

Yesterday's post was entitled Sun Equals People. Today was the second day in a row for sun in Portland. Meetings and homework kept me from being out capturing images as much as I would have liked. During the 20 minutes I was able to be out, I saw at least ten people actively using their cameras, not just carrying them but actually pressing the "capture" button.

Think about the world around you as wild images to be caught and tamed by your camera. This woman had been doing just that. While I was standing looking across the park blocks, she turned and set her tripod and seemed to be pointing the camera directly at me. Probably not the case, I was just part of a larger picture and she would undoubtedly wait for me to exit her frame. I, on the other hand, thought about Barbara Kruger taking a photo of the person taking a photo of her in front of her sculpture of J. Edgar Hoover and Roy Cohn. That's when I captured this woman in red. Perhaps she was doing the same and I'm in hers as she is in mine, a shared reality.

For the rest of the images, click here.

Sun Equals People

Voice from the Couch and I were walking towards Jamison Square when this bicycle goes past us. I'd say zipping but with three kids on the back that might be an exaggeration. What we both can say is that this scene reminded us of our two weeks in Laos in 2008. Every third bicycle had at least two children on it and some three and four.

Here's another shot from Jamison Square itself. Everyone was having a grand time today. For all of the images in the sun, click here.

Noticings Along the Streetcar

The Portland Streetcar stop at NW Northrup and NW 21st Avenues sits on the northeast corner. Today's lead image is from that stop ~ use your inner GPS combined with the directional letters and you'll have a good idea as to what's around you.

Two other images from today are a study of the difference in the neighborhoods. The first is from what is affectionately known on the Noticings.gs site as The Bucket ~ that seems to be an area that has been listed as near the Pearl, in this case to the west along Lovejoy. The second is from an optometry shop on NW 9th Ave in the Pearl.

 

The last noticing of the day was actually the first. A glorious sky greeted me as I set out on my adventure this morning. For all of the sightings today, click here.

                                     

Portland on President's Day

Ah, the sun. It was a fine day around noon here in Portland on President's Day. Teachers' Park is just a block from the street car line. This is the view looking north. Enjoy it now because soon a very tall building will be where the sky is. While sitting there taking in the sights, Raylene and I each had a cup of butternut squash soup. The chef had prepared it with just the right amount of coconut in it. Yummm. In a few months, the actual restaurant will open in a building that is part of the park. In the meantime, this food truck is kept quite shiny and truly reflects the quality of the fast slow food or slow food fast however you want to place those words. 

Looking south there at Teachers' Park you'll see an apartment building undergoing restoration. Right now it has sheeting across the front. On stormy, windy days that sheet billows as if it were a sail. Today it reflected light from the Fox Tower as did the buildings behind it.

The next image is from Cafe Cello. I love this window. For all of the images from today, more people and reflections, click here.

Valentine's Day

This couple in the Pearl seemed so much in love or like or just celebrating Valentine's Day.

Plenty of people were on the streets today -- the sun was out and it was Valentine's Day. The woman reflected in the window at the Ace Hotel (below) was actually standing on the street corner and appears in a number of other images on the photo set over there on Flickr. 

The fellow sitting on the suitcase across the street from the Ace spent quite some time studying his map of Portland. 

For all of the images from today, click here.

People Along the Streetcar

Two of the people on the streets of Portland today. Click here to see them all.

Friday Before Valentine's Day

As a public service in case any of you have overlooked that this weekend has one of the major holidays of the year in it, the image of the day is from Verdun, the chocolate shop in the Pearl, here in Portland. It was yet another rainy day (is there any other kind you may ask). As a result colorful umbrellas are opened here, (the Flickr set) for your viewing pleasure.  They join another Valentine motif as well as a few waiting dogs including this one who was well curated with his surroundings. Also note the blue hand on the tree.

Faces on Walls and in Windows

Windows always make for interesting images. They frame a still life on the other side and that subject can be quite varied. In addition to life on the other side of the pane, windows reflect the world around them on the outside. And as you move, the scene inside and the scene outside the window change -- making for endless hours of entertainment, provide your own music. Here is one window (on NW 12th b/w Glisan and Flanders) with two larger than life faces. The faces seem to be in keeping with the Disquieted theme from the upcoming exhibition at the Portland Art Museum.

In addition to the other images from today (click here), the one on the brick wall below can be viewed in person outside of Hot Lips at the Ecotrust Building in the Pearl. It has a similar style as the one over on Savier although that one is much smaller.

Umbrellas, Left ~ Umbrellas Right

Umbrellas were up everywhere today. Here's a shot of the smallest of them all. Of course, there were the large economy size (click here for all of the bumpershoots), but there were also the intrepid souls who had bicycled.