Stayed in a hip little hotel in the middle of downtown Portland. The best thing was being within walking distance of all the fun things that orbit around the center of the Rose City.

Is Belmont the best little neighborhood in Portland?

For some reason I labeled this picture as a roller coaster, but it’s a ferris wheel and I’m not going to apologize for it. I had a poem tailor made for this space but it flitted away into the shadows. Oh, well, it will return again but a different flavor. I took this picture with a piece of aluminum foil and masking on my 28mm lens. I was trying to get a holga-like vignetting thing going on. I like the random shape and focus effects better than just making a shadow in photoshop, but that’s just the way I roll.

Several people stopped in the parking lot of the Ghost Mall in Aberdeen, drawn in by the flashing lights and the sound of straining steel cables. There was a brisk business being done at the win a goldfish stall. The local pet store had mysteriously run out of 15¢ comets and now there was a bubbling tank full of golden morsels, and yours for a mere $2 and a bit of luck.

Here is a chance to live off grid, a short walk from a huge nature reserve in Hawaii. Check out the acre of land for sale at The Beauty of Hawaii.

The prodigal son returns with his own fatted calf, throwing dollar bills around in the wind. These bills start to litter the ground making some people think that the sidewalks will soon be host to new faces and brighter days. When the sun goes down, the lichen and the moss return from the shadows and begin to leach the green from the bills making them worthless.

I have been there. I have taken a drink from the ever flowing spring.

Glancing through the dirty window at the remnants of forgotten kitchens.

I think that the failure that is Bush II should already have some ‘history books’ written about it.

My contribution to this effort will be:
The Bonfire of the Currency
The fiscal follies of G. W. Bush

“Hey, can I have my Ipod back?”
“This is your Ipod?”
“Yes”
“Really?”
“Yes, may I have it back?”
“Well, I’ve been listening to it all morning and I thought that we had hired either a gay stripper or a 12 year old girl.”
“Funny, can I have it back now?”
“Do you listen to Radio Disney in your car?”