Category: Structures

Stand-in camera not making the grade.

I broke my camera.  I dropped it, while putting away tools after working on this project.  It cracked and it was the crazy time of the year and I haven’t had time to take it in to see if it can be repaired.  Matt has lent me his camera and I’m thankful I have something, because having a camera at hand has become something that completes me.  But sometimes the shortcomings of the stand-in camera are maddening.

Oh, if you could only see the detail of this outfit.  His shoes were black leather, with grey spikes.  Not spikes exactly, more like studs.  But pointy, in triangles.  Then, the red pants and the grey sweater to tone it down, but combined with the gray bag and the hat to keep the interest going.  It was a picture of man-in-his-40s dressing perfection.  And all I got was this blurry picture.
 

And this one.
 

Hard times for readers of the Oregonian.


Our full-time movie critic (Shawn Levy) has been gone for more than a year, but this week we said goodbye to our theater critic, Marty Hughley.  Last week it was the music guy, Ryan White, a reporter I always read, even though I never listened to the music he was writing about, because he was such a good writer.

The point of having a full-time critic is that I get to know their preferences and that helps inform a decision if what they are talking about is something I might be interested in.  Having a bunch of part-timers is not helpful in getting anything done but giving a summary.

The thing I hate most about this transition is that the Oregonian refuses to acknowledge that they are settling for a lesser product.

Tour of ArtHouse!

We’ve watched it go up, piece by piece.  Now we get to see inside!  A woman stopped by school to invite everyone to the open house.  When I made the sad face because I couldn’t go, she scheduled a tour right then for us.  This was very exciting.

ArtHouse (this is from the press release) is a collaboration between project[triangle thingie that is not available to me on my keyboard], the Powell Family, and Pacific Northwest College of Art which will bring 130 students to the North Park Blocks.

Here is the view from the front door, looking at the courtyard.  The elevators are on the right.
 

A lounging space, overlooking the park.
 
Another space.  These spaces are designed to have rotating gallery exhibits.
 
The library. Powell’s donated the art books in the bookcase.
 
Lovely contrasts in the courtyard.
 
Behind that metal fence is bike parking.
 
There are two staircases, blue and green.  This (for those of you with colorblindness) is the blue one.
 
One highlight of the building is the huge amount of natural light flooding the hallways.
 
 
Sixth floor view, looking towards Burnside.
 
Each unit has a stackable washer and dryer.
 
Here are rooms from the three-bedroom demonstration unit.
 
 
 
 
 
The living room of the three-bedroom unit.
 
And from a different angle.
 
Big kitchen and that recessed, closet-like space has a bike hook.
 
Here’s a two-bedroom unit, which is not staged.
 
 
This two-bedroom is a corner unit and overlooks the park blocks.
 
 
Nice bathrooms.
 
Good amount of living space.
 
And a very nice kitchen.
 
Here’s a view from one of the studios.
 
And a staged studio space.
 
 
 
 
The roof of our school isn’t the most attractive thing.
 
Good closet.
 
The green staircase.
 
More of that natural light.

This was our only chance to see ArtHouse as the students start moving in on Wednesday.  There will also be retail at the ground floor level.  I’ll have pictures of that when it happens. 

Fabric Depot

This is where I buy a lot of my fabric, simply because it is so tremendously large.  Fabric Depot is (for my world) very far away from me. It’s a 20-minute drive or an hour on public transportation. But boy, is it fun when I get there!
 
In the summer you can shop outside and get great deals on clearance fabric.
 
Just one section of the store!  This is what I call the “fancy” material.  Bridal fabric as well as all the tulle and also material for workout clothing.
 
The pattern department is huge.  Aside from the usual shelf with pattern books, they have all these independent patterns.
 
Here is the fancy cotton, wool etc. section.  It’s such a big store they have to have huge signs hanging from the ceiling.

I regularly read Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing and often hear the lament from commentators, “I have no good fabric stores near me.”  So I feel very lucky to have Fabric Depot in my (extended) back yard.

Kids and “Allow Me.”

“Allow Me” is the name of the sculpture in Pioneer Courthouse Square.  I frequently see tourists standing next to it, taking photos.  Today’s crowd was a group of  what I would guess are middle school students.
 
After I took this picture one of the kids came over and stared at me.  I attempted to engage him in conversation to find out where they were from, but he wasn’t having any of it.

Soon after, their tour guide arrived and they gave her their attention.