I'm chasing a ghost.
Well, I'm back in Portland now. Truth be told, I've been home for a week now. I kind of checked out after my vacation. Columbia was simultaneously awesome and draining. I came back feeling a little strange I guess. Hard to explain I think.
It was really great seeing everyone, I got a nice cross-section of the local bands I missed and wanted to see; it turned out to be a pretty good week to come back for a spell. Of course, it wasn't without its drama, or weird feelings, or weirdness in general. Maybe it's to be expected sometimes. I mean, how much can really change in 3 or so months? You would like to think somethings had changed, even within yourself.
Although, I do feel things have changed for me, maybe not for the best and beyond the obvious. I think perhaps I have been spending too much time alone, faced with little else, I had definitely adapted to being my own entertainment and my own facilitator of whatever strange manner of conversation I can have with myself. I found myself a little dumbfounded when it came to what exactly to talk about. There's only so long you can speak about certain things and I'm no longer hip to the going-ons in Columbia. In addition, I began to get really self-conscious about talking about Portland past the usual answers to the usual questions like "How is it?" or "How are you liking Portland?". I didn't want to be all "Portland this Portland that". I guess I just figured, does anyone care? Does anyone care about a Lebanese restaurant that they will most likely never eat at or forget about immediately? Perhaps I'm being a little too self-aware.
The haunts were still the same and I felt like my rut was neatly kept in its same condition. It was pretty easy to fall back in. There's the excessive drinking area, the friend drama add-on, the bars again, that fucking asshole that I really hoped I wouldn't see and yet, saw twice, and then there's the good stuff that makes it seem worth it.
The drama or not, I love my friends and it was really great to be around Jace and Katie again. It was even nice seeing Jon (once we got our business covered). Nathan was having a weird week I think, and I didn't see him very much nor did I really get to spend any quality time with him. And of course Shotwell, who I was very glad to see and hang out with. I even got to see Lisa a few times, which was great, but admittedly a little bittersweet. I'm not sure how/if I want to explain that any further.
By the end however, I was pretty ready to get back to P-town. I missed my apartment (more specifically my bed) and I missed my new comfort zone. The flight back was a mess. I had gotten around 2 hours of sleep before I had to be up and in a car towards Kansas City. Take that plus a 4 hour layover in Denver, where I accidentally bought a 7 dollar pumpkin beer (which was delicious) and paid $8 to use the wireless internet of which I got to use for maybe 30 minutes due to low battery. Shit!
Once I got back, it was just a week full of relaxin and maxin. Plus 2 great shows!
Andrew Bird with Cass McCombs @ The Aladdin Theater Wed. Sept. 27th
In a word, AMAZING. To think that I nearly missed this still give me the night terrors. I showed up after a lengthy bus ride into SE Portland and the show was sold out (only after some girl came up to me and asked me if I was from Columbia. She was a student at Rock Bridge when I worked there, weird!). Emilie had a ticket, so I figured I would at least wait around and say hi meanwhile keeping an eye out for anyone holding an extra ticket. Emilie finally showed up and I was still ticketless, so we stood and talked for a while and then finally like a kiss of fate, a lady walked up to me and asked me if I needed a ticket.
The show itself was incredible. Cass McCombs was pretty awful, but Andrew more than made up for it. I could have lost a limb earlier that evening and he would have made up for it. He played a handful of new songs and wow, his next album is going to be killer.
M Ward with Mike Coyenkendall @ The Crystal Ballroom Sat. Sept. 30th
In another word INCREDIBLE. Once again, I didn't think much of the opener, but M Ward was just jaw dropping. He began the set with his cover of "Let's Dance" but done with a full band and went through a lot of his catalog. Possibly the coolest part was that most everything was played with 2 drummers (one of which was Rachel from Norfolk and Western/ex-Decemberists). The guy is just spot on live. His voice sounds the same as it does on record and his songs were tweaked slightly as to give it a good performance live. Without a doubt I would go see M Ward again and again.
I also saw MC Chris again this week, which was fun I guess. Nate got me on the list and I was sort of drunk when I got there. So why not go to Dante's (easily the worst venue in town) and buy their expensive beers? Guh. MC is always fun though.
To cap everything off, I got my grades! I'm managed a 3.6 GPA last term and I've ended up with a cumulative of 3.8! Yay! Not only does this put me on the honor roll at Ai but I also won a nice merit award (which was an award of $400!). Woo!
And now I'm back at school, in my new term. 2 days in and it's not so bad! However, I am taking Math (bleech), but at least I'm taking some other classes that will be a bit more fun.
Anyway, this post is really long. I should really post more often to cut down on these long posts.
Take care,
m
It was really great seeing everyone, I got a nice cross-section of the local bands I missed and wanted to see; it turned out to be a pretty good week to come back for a spell. Of course, it wasn't without its drama, or weird feelings, or weirdness in general. Maybe it's to be expected sometimes. I mean, how much can really change in 3 or so months? You would like to think somethings had changed, even within yourself.
Although, I do feel things have changed for me, maybe not for the best and beyond the obvious. I think perhaps I have been spending too much time alone, faced with little else, I had definitely adapted to being my own entertainment and my own facilitator of whatever strange manner of conversation I can have with myself. I found myself a little dumbfounded when it came to what exactly to talk about. There's only so long you can speak about certain things and I'm no longer hip to the going-ons in Columbia. In addition, I began to get really self-conscious about talking about Portland past the usual answers to the usual questions like "How is it?" or "How are you liking Portland?". I didn't want to be all "Portland this Portland that". I guess I just figured, does anyone care? Does anyone care about a Lebanese restaurant that they will most likely never eat at or forget about immediately? Perhaps I'm being a little too self-aware.
The haunts were still the same and I felt like my rut was neatly kept in its same condition. It was pretty easy to fall back in. There's the excessive drinking area, the friend drama add-on, the bars again, that fucking asshole that I really hoped I wouldn't see and yet, saw twice, and then there's the good stuff that makes it seem worth it.
The drama or not, I love my friends and it was really great to be around Jace and Katie again. It was even nice seeing Jon (once we got our business covered). Nathan was having a weird week I think, and I didn't see him very much nor did I really get to spend any quality time with him. And of course Shotwell, who I was very glad to see and hang out with. I even got to see Lisa a few times, which was great, but admittedly a little bittersweet. I'm not sure how/if I want to explain that any further.
By the end however, I was pretty ready to get back to P-town. I missed my apartment (more specifically my bed) and I missed my new comfort zone. The flight back was a mess. I had gotten around 2 hours of sleep before I had to be up and in a car towards Kansas City. Take that plus a 4 hour layover in Denver, where I accidentally bought a 7 dollar pumpkin beer (which was delicious) and paid $8 to use the wireless internet of which I got to use for maybe 30 minutes due to low battery. Shit!
Once I got back, it was just a week full of relaxin and maxin. Plus 2 great shows!
Andrew Bird with Cass McCombs @ The Aladdin Theater Wed. Sept. 27th
In a word, AMAZING. To think that I nearly missed this still give me the night terrors. I showed up after a lengthy bus ride into SE Portland and the show was sold out (only after some girl came up to me and asked me if I was from Columbia. She was a student at Rock Bridge when I worked there, weird!). Emilie had a ticket, so I figured I would at least wait around and say hi meanwhile keeping an eye out for anyone holding an extra ticket. Emilie finally showed up and I was still ticketless, so we stood and talked for a while and then finally like a kiss of fate, a lady walked up to me and asked me if I needed a ticket.
The show itself was incredible. Cass McCombs was pretty awful, but Andrew more than made up for it. I could have lost a limb earlier that evening and he would have made up for it. He played a handful of new songs and wow, his next album is going to be killer.
M Ward with Mike Coyenkendall @ The Crystal Ballroom Sat. Sept. 30th
In another word INCREDIBLE. Once again, I didn't think much of the opener, but M Ward was just jaw dropping. He began the set with his cover of "Let's Dance" but done with a full band and went through a lot of his catalog. Possibly the coolest part was that most everything was played with 2 drummers (one of which was Rachel from Norfolk and Western/ex-Decemberists). The guy is just spot on live. His voice sounds the same as it does on record and his songs were tweaked slightly as to give it a good performance live. Without a doubt I would go see M Ward again and again.
I also saw MC Chris again this week, which was fun I guess. Nate got me on the list and I was sort of drunk when I got there. So why not go to Dante's (easily the worst venue in town) and buy their expensive beers? Guh. MC is always fun though.
To cap everything off, I got my grades! I'm managed a 3.6 GPA last term and I've ended up with a cumulative of 3.8! Yay! Not only does this put me on the honor roll at Ai but I also won a nice merit award (which was an award of $400!). Woo!
And now I'm back at school, in my new term. 2 days in and it's not so bad! However, I am taking Math (bleech), but at least I'm taking some other classes that will be a bit more fun.
Anyway, this post is really long. I should really post more often to cut down on these long posts.
Take care,
m
posted by mwelch at 7:27 PM
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