I never regret going to Iowa State for undergrad, although now i feel desperated to leave. If it's not iowa state,
i probably will never realize that there's such desire in me towards, art, theater, and nature. and i dont know if i
will go on this backpacking/couch surfing trip to discover myself.
i did have noticed my desire towards art, but the experience of being in portland convinced me. When there's so much choices
lay in front of me, every choice made mean not only a decision, but a desire.
the first day that i am in portland, within 2 hours after i got off the train, 2 blocks away from the apartment, i ran into
my first concert in Portland. It's one of the summer concerts held by Portland art performing Center. so i sat there started sketching
and enjoying some music ( does this sounds really nerdy????)...but anyways, so i was drawing this view, and there's one building
that shows up a slice of itself in my view...so i was looking at it, trying to get some details. the little small windows,
yellow color, with some orange pillar at the front. right at that moment, i realized, that was the michael grave building.
holy cow! i was so proud of myself....ahahah...ahahhaha....
so the next day i went to the japanese garden in washington park in the morning, and fortunate enough to make my way out to
Columbia Gorge. i actually biked and hiked thru 6 waterfalls, and made some friends. definitely amzing and worth going
trip, plus biking is huge here in portland, if i dont at least bike in portland...that's a fail. i came back to have dinner
with kathleen and Maggie at the japanese restaurant, that was amazing too, very well made sushi and noodles. Sake is great..
and strong as well.
then we went to check out the art show on 13th street that i heard about during my trip to columbia gorge. alright..the
rest is hillarious,....me and Kathleen, the 60+ year old lady ran after the street car ....right after we got on the car
i realized i left my phone in the japanese restaurant. So we got off right away. T-T.....what a panda...so anyways..we finally
made it to 13th street, for a while, we thought the art show was over..since it's already like...after 9pm...we didnt know
how long the show is gonna last.but we kept walking...and the show is still there!!! lots of artist, set up their onw boucher,
put up their art works and try to sell it to people. artwork on display includes: paintings, photography, sculpture, jewlery,
clothes...multimeida print etc. i was most impressed by a painting of a night sky, and a metal giant sculpture. the former is
composed by 3 different pieces, all dark blue, with a couple of tree branches, and that was it. although sounds stupidly
simple, i found it breathtaking in viewing it. The image was present so simple, but the content became rich through the
viewing of audience. the last sculpture is a circle..with a hole in it, and it's moveable. with the same boldness, the sculpture
is more playful. It's so simple, but i never get bored looking at it. if one turn it around, it can appear to be almost another
sculpture.
we came back late that night and i was all pumped up and happy.
the next day, i was gonna head to Eugene that late night after Carmen concert--another free opera in the amphitheater of Washington
park. so i went to the chinese garden first in the morning, had some tea there. The tea i had was amazing, the best i have
ever had. it's called the rose pedal black tea. i always like the bitterness of black tea. it cleans up my body system,
wakes me up with it's bitterness, and calms me down with it's warmth. with the smell of the rose, it's just fantastic, so feeling
being loved. and when i was drinking tea and feeling being loved, and at the same time fail to get a hold of any crater lake
day tour....i decided to stay in portland for one more day to watch les miserable. it happens to be touring when i was there,
and i have beening wanting to see it for 10 years. unbelievable. so after that i went to the portland art museum..and then Carmen
afterwards. Carmen was great, the music of Carmen has always been stuck in mind ever since childhood.. this is more of a family event, that
lots of parents take their kids or grand parents over to listen to the opera. great solos, though i think i had more fun watching
the family hanging out than listening to the opera........such an ignorant panda.
i got back to town, and right after i got off the light rail, i ran into another show!! it's again one of those series summer
festival events, and this one is called flicks on bricks, cuz the pioneer square was made of brick. i thought it was a concert at
first...but turns out that it's a show. They blowed up a huge air screen and put up: WEST SIDE STORY. how exciting!!!!
altough it's an old version of the show, i have never remembered myself enjoying a show that much, i am totally into it, and
not quite noticing whats going on around. i cheered up with the dance, and fascinated with the story line. Although i did notice
something....at a couple times of the show after dance, the audience will clap. I found it very amazing. there's hundreds of
audience sitting on the steps of pioneer square, but have you ever thought they will clap??? do you ever clap to a TV show???
i found that the show was great enough that people spontaneously react to it, and at the same time, this is a group of great audience
that knows how to appreciate art. I also noticed one beggar who is an old lady. she walked around asking for money to get
dinner. She was almost scary looking...reminds me of the ugly bad lady that offered snowwhite a poisoned apple... but regardless
of her ugly looking, and her empty stomach, she would dance/move with the music show.
i think the portland people are born in the world of art. ( this is not quite making sense....)
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