Anybody want a peanut?

Well it finally happened, I moved back into Portland! This time into a new part of town, on the east-side of the river in North Portland. (For you locals, it's roughly at the intersection of N. Alberta and Interstate Ave.) It's pretty close-in to the main part of town, and close to the MAX and several bus lines, so it's very easy for me to get in and out of town. It's also a more residential area of town, so it's quieter and the streets are calm. It's the perfect part of town to get around by bike, which is something I was looking forward to a lot.

About the place: It's a 4 bedroom house, I share the main floor with one person. A couple lives upstairs, and one guy lives in a day-lit basement room. It's not the biggest house on the block, but it is in very good shape and I think the social dynamics with the house-mates are all very good and healthy. There's a good balance of people knowing that they need to take care of there stuff, but it's relaxed enough that people pitch in where the see fit and don't sweat it if someone forgets to set off the dishwasher. I came home yesterday from reading my book (Democracy in America by Alexis de Toqueville) at a coffee shop and my housemates were playing Yahtzee. They invited me to join, then we all went out to Indian food on Hawthorne Blvd.

All in all, it seems like a great place at a good price and I hope to stick around a good while.

In other news, the job hunt is still on. I'm pretty much applying for whatever I find that I am (over)qualified for. In fact I applied for a job at a Lazy Boy store just yesterday, wouldn't mind hearing back from them and working there for a while until the architecture business recovers. Things seem to have bottomed out in the industry, but they haven't made much headway getting back to where they were a couple years ago. Right now I just need a part-time job to pay the bills until I can get back to practicing architecture.

Other things are going to occupy my time though. I'll be volunteering more at my church (Imago Dei Community) now that I don't have to take an hour max/bus ride to get to it. I also am looking to get back involved with Architects Without Borders, and there is still some follow up work to be done with my EMI Project in Kenya.

But even that won't take up all my time... which is really great. I want to get to know the east-side of Portland a lot better, try out the restaurants on Alberta and Mississippi, go to the Last Thursday art walks, watch movies in the park, do some bike riding and perhaps some hiking, and spend some good time reading again.

It's summer time, the best season in Portland. Time to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life," and put into motion all the grand schemes I made biding my time in Hillsboro.