The morning began with a beautiful train ride after goodbyes w/Cassandra which were bittersweet. Has been so nice to catch up, and we hope it won't be as long again until we catch up next time!
So, I arrive in Portland & make my way via bus to Ally Spotts' home. I didn't know Ally but she was a friend of Tommy's via some story about music & him playing drum for her friend Sharaya? She is pretty fascinating actually - she'd just returned, the day before I arrived, from Alaska, the last of the 50 states she and Sharaya traveled to together. Here is a pic, which I cannot take credit for (stolen from her FB):
You should read her blogs: Packing Light (on the 50-state travel) & Ally Spotts (subtitle is 'Quarter Life Crisis: Averted' & is much about dating...& yes, I did tell her she needs to chat w/the IKDH girls in Brooklyn!)
So, of the few folks I know in Portland, Cory Kaufman (who was on my 'brother floor' back at Moody Bible Institute) is one of the most talented, and I was on a mission - both to catch up w/him & meet his fam, and to beg him to let me use his photography in one of my future poetry chapbooks. I was successful on both counts! Please see Exhibit A below which shows some of his photographical awesomeness:
The following pics also show his adorable family: he & his wife Debbi, along w/their kids Rachel, Ben & Charlie (not sure I'm listing the twins in the right order there!), and his mother-in-law Esther who was by for the eve, w/their darling dog, Smokey.
Finally, as he was showing me some recent projects, one of them is that he is now designing & making hammers for hammered dulcimers. I thought they were very pretty. Here is a pic.
He is available for your hammered dulcimer needs in the Portland area & is looking for folks to play with. You can also view his website which features the hammers here.
Cory drove me over to the night's show and when I arrived at the venue (the Hawthorne Theater), I connected up with Tommy & our mutual old friend Laura Kucera who lives in Portland. Here are some cute pics of them:
We met up with another friend of theirs and wandered over to a smaller version of Powell Books to kill time before the show, which is supposed to be a solid mile of books or something! Since I was only in town for 1 day, it was nice to at least get 'a taste' of it. There was also some Stumptown coffee consumed and discussed. This is big Portland news, and they are reportedly opening a store in Brooklyn soon.
The show itself was excellent. I danced a good bit, couldn't help it. I told them afterward, it was such a 'complete experience' I wanted to say "Amen!" at the end.
My friend Rich Blatt, who came to the show, droveth me home, & we stopped for hot dogs & discussion of the years btwn now and the other concert we met at once about 7 yrs ago (or so) - The Violet Burning, somewhere in CA. Nice to catch up. He is recording a solo album right now - I have never heard him perform and the music player at myspace is not working now - but if it ever is, you can hear him at www.myspace.com/theirondog.
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