Portland Pit Stop

The Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland, Oregon - the location of my next internship and the reason I'll soon be moving to Portland! I spent a 2 1/2 days there recently checking things out and loved everything I saw. Portland Center Stage undertook the renovation of this historic building making it both the first historic renovation and the first theater to receive an LEED platinum rating (i.e. really really green). That's their company fleet, the little blue zipcar in front. There are so many exciting things to say about this place, but I couldn't possibly list them all here. Let's just say I'm very excited about where I'll be working and who I'll be working with.
One block away from the theater (which in Portland is 200ft) is Powell's Books, the world's largest independent bookstore. This is one of three rows of the theatre section, a section usually dedicated to the tiniest deepest recesses of book retailers. This section was less than half Shakespeare. I love the guy, respect his work, but honestly, it was great to see so many other playwrights represented. Laying out on the end of one of the shelves was a book on Julie Taymor; I expect to be spending a lot of time and money at Powell's. They even have an art gallery upstairs currently dedicated to paintings on black velvet.
Also within a block of the theater are a gelato shop, a Whole Foods, an Anthropologie (that's cool clothes for all you boys), and a microbrewery! Heaven.

I honestly didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have while I was in Portland. I was furiously taking notes about neighborhoods and things I liked about them, but I did make it to the zoo.
These fruit bats put on a pretty good show. I didn't spend as much time at the zoo as I really wanted to because I'm pretty sure every elementary school student in the greater metro area was there with me. It was terrifying and very good birth control.
Did this little appaloosa try to get away? I don't know why anyone would literally bolt a plastic toy to a curb, but this is a major drawing point for me to move into this neighborhood which already has a lot going for it.

Look for many many more Portland pictures in July...