I've a new computer and it automatically capitalizes the first word in any sentence (even if it's just a fragment). This is useful in a business context but driving me nuts otherwise. I like to not use capitals and my words look strange this way. The new computer and the new capitals go with the new life which goes like this: I wake up at 6am, I'm at work by 8, I have meetings and prepare documents, eat lunch, type a lot, move little pictures around, read more documents, and go home at 5:30. And, oh yes, 'home' is a hotel in Portland, Oregon.

I needed money, I took a job, and it's actually really fun -- hard in the good way. Strange to go back to a business office at a giant corporation with endless meetings and jargon, to talk about engagements and POCs (proofs of concept), RFPs (request for proposals), CRDs (customer request dates), and Deep Dives (this one was new to me and refers to getting into the details of something -- let's do a deep dive of that at 4). So my life is work, again, like it hasn't been in four years. Change is good. I like the perspective shift.

Portland is of course *nothing* like New York. In fact it is unlike anyplace I have ever been. Not even like SF which I thought it might be... West coast living is spacious and comfy. Cars don't threaten pedestrians, in fact they are legally obligated to stop even if you are walking against the light, and everyone smiles and says excuse me (if you get too close to them, which as far as I can tell is like 2 feet). The buses are clean, on time, and even have computerized schedules at the main 'bus mall' pick up sites. The trams work on the honor system, i.e. no one really checks to see if you bought a ticket. And the weather, the weather... when people ask how the weather is I have one answer -- 55 and rainy. It is always 55 and rainy. But that's not really true; it's more just fun to complain.

The reality is the weather is astonishing -- even more than in San Francisco it changes moment to moment. I never realized how many different kinds of rain there could be -- big drops, little drops, warm drops, cold drops, drops at every angle, sometimes seeming to come from the ground up. There are a thousand shades of gray and a few varieties of mist (from low clouds, from fog, from general humidity) and spectacular sunsets for a few minutes when the sun drops below the cloud lines behind the mountains. There are three near-by volcanoes (one that erupted the day I arrived, endless miles of forest, and lakes and rivers everywhere. It's like sporto-hippie paradise -- and affordable!

I haven't gone out much or really hooked up with the few friends and friends of friends I have out there, but soon enough. Im still just trying to get my bearings, get into the job and deal with the onslaught of culture shock. This week I'm in New York (got back yesterday) and its great to be here. I walked outside the terminal at LaGuardia to the deafening cries of an overcrowded city -- horns and yelling and engines and I loved it. I loved the traffic, I loved the smell, I loved all the languages and skin colors. I loved the subway, the graffiti, the grime, the loud conversations. MMMmmm.

Love and greyscale



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