My summer vacation
[Part Three]

July 14, 2003
Driving to Portland. We stopped in Mount Shasta for coffee and water. The landscape was so pretty that it made me wish that we were camping instead. We continued up north and I took over the driving from Ashland. I stopped us in Grants Pass for lunch...Taco Bell. We stuffed ourselves cheaply and regretted it later. Drive, drive, drive. Nearer to Portland Leon took the wheel again and Amy organized a karaoke excursion. We were to stay at Seamus's house. A friend of Amy's, who used to live in SF. We got there and introduced ourselves in a barbershop quartet fashion, which really, more people should do. He and his housemates were wonderfuly nice and more than happy to accompany us to Chopsticks for karaoke. The Evening Lighes met us there. Of course the DJs favor the regulars and only some of us sang. Ed and Matthew did a knock out version of Unbelievable by EMF and our host Seamus did Punk Rock Girl by the Dead Milkmen like he wrote it. Leon and I did our usual Nuthin' But A G Thing. I'm the capital S, oh yes, the fresh N-double O-P, D-O-double G-Y D-O-double G ya' see. Before too long the smoke really got to me and my tattoo got all puffed up and itchy, as did my eyes. We left and walked back in the balmy Portland night.

July 15, 2003
We woke and had a late breakfast with Seamus at Cricket Cafe. So many vegetarian choices! I loved it. Next we went shopping on Hawthorne, record shops, clothes shops. We ran into Radio Dept. and the Evening Lights who were also out shopping. It made me think of that movie Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn where they all go to Paris, feign like they're tired and vow to reside to their rooms, but all sneak out, go sight-seeing and eventually converge under the Eiffel Tower, sing a song and do a dance in perfect sync. Well, okay. It wasn't really like that, but we could have made a musical about it. I got a call from Marty at the Stranger. He was so gracious to help us and the Evening Lights get added to a show in Seattle. We put John on the task of cancelling Everett. Why play there when we could play Seattle? Much props to Marty. He even got us in a print ad out of thin air. We tooled around Hawthorn for a bit, digesting breakfast then walked through the neatest neighborhood, back to Seamus's for a nap before the show. I always really like Portland when I visit, but I just can't see myself living there. I love Sacramento too much; there's a lot of comfort for me in knowing someone everywhere I go in my hometown. In Portland, I'm a stranger, I'm lonely. We loaded up the van again and headed down to the club. A few of the Evening Lights were standing outside already when we pulled up. John was not satisfied with our parking job, so he directed Leon to re-park. That's John. Matthew accosted us with sour candy spray. The Blackbird was a nice sized club. They had food and a full bar. We ordered food (long story) but didn't get it for 2 hours. Hungry, we set up and played, but I guess that's better than playing on a full stomach. We couldn't hear eachother on the stage, so I got lost a few times and messed up. The Evening Lights made some lude gestures in my direction during our set and so I messed up again. Sometimes, when I'm done playing, I really don't know what to do with myself. I wandered around the club for a bit, used all three ladies restrooms to make sure I didn't miss any good grafitti, drank some beers then decided to watch the bands. Amanda from Free Loan Investments bought and donned one of shirts, then played a song with the Pipas as their drummer. I had to take a photo. Afterwards, Amy tried to organize a party but everything sort of fell apart, so we said our farewells to Aerospace and we went back to Seamus's and fell asleep. I was really kind of bummed out about this show. I didn't see many locals, the food made me ill, I couldn't hear anything on stage and it was over too late. Though some things I will recall fondly: Dr.Christer, spanky dances, shouting Matthew's name and fainting during his bass solo, and the Pipas and the song about the email.
Our next day would be spent tying up Portland and moving on to Seattle.