October 17, 2008, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's, an easy walk from home

Solo time. Sound so low that my skin vibrated with the deep timbre of the saxophone.


I walked to Jimmy Mak’s at 221 NW 10th Ave. (between Davis and Everett), just 12 blocks from the apartment where I used to live ...


... on a great Friday evening filled with funky, outta sight live music and a house packed with fans of the band.


You see, I knew the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, having enjoyed them outdoors a couple of times in my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.




Women came on stage at the invitation of the band ...

... to dance ...

... and groove to the music.

Impossible to remain still. Fine fun.My older son Lamont joined me once he got off at 3 Doors Down Cafe, the restaurant where he used to work. Always great to enjoy live music together, always.

After the show he walked me to the bus stop a few blocks away on Burnside in front of Powell's Books. Not long after, I boarded the 20 and rode on home.

Man-made instances of the secondary color, green.

The drums on stage with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's, a fine jazz club within walking distance of where I live--how fortunate.


Handlebars and the frame of this bicycle, man-made greens, as well as the cloth in the baby seat. By the way, I actually saw a lady standing near this bicycle with a baby strapped to her chest. I have to tell you that, while I am in favor of bicycling, I just can't get used to folks riding on busy thoroughfares, especially with a baby on board. It strikes me as dangerous, asking for trouble, irresponsible. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she rode up to the Hawthorne corner on a side street. But, to tell you the truth, those particular side streets are narrow, often with vehicles parked on both side, and busy. But, I digress. Back to green, known for its calming impact.


The background of the signs at Kelly's, as well as the neon in the signs.


The trash can and these bike racks at Powell's Books, on another extremely busy thoroughfare, West Burnside. Hopefully these riders rode on side streets, too, but again to tell you the truth I've been in autos and buses going slowly along behind bicyclists riding along in the traffic, on the two-laned street which is often bordered with park vehicles.


The rolling waves in this fabulous mural with a terrific message: Practicing nonviolence is a way of life.


The green paint on the Pinecone. I wonder if the building is apartments or condos? I hope it's still apartments because surely that's what it was built to be.


1929 Ford Roadster, seen at the Cruise In at The Bomber.



Fireworks from July 4, 2010, as seen from the Willamette River, downtown Portland, Oregon.


A truck parked across the street from the Cruise In at The Bomber.

Light at the end of the tunnel ...

...let me explain. Besides things like family and fun thankfully taking up some of my blogging time in good ways lately, I've had some camera-to-computer downloading issues/frustrations and then additional uploading from computer to Flickr issues/frustations.

I had dealt with all of that pretty well and intended to spend a good deal of time Sunday, during the NASCAR race at Atlanta, working on a series of posts about one of several wonderful things I've been able to do in Portland recently, maybe the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Jimmy Mak's Jazz Club or Michael Cully's Puppetry at the Oregon History Museum or Sharon Wortman's Bridge Walk involving the Morrison and Steel Bridges across the Willamette. I had a bounty of specials to choose from, as well as the unique every day things I notice all around town, until Sunday morning.

When I opened Honk, my precious little iBook, and then opened iPhoto, there was a message that read something like, "For iPhoto to run, the iLibrary needs to be updated," and I really only remember seeing OK highlighted as a choice, so I clicked on OK. In seconds all of my photos disappeared from the iPhoto Library, all 6992 of them. I sat here, stunned into silence.

To tell the truth, my calmness at this unreal turn of events totally shocked me. I didn't wail, holler, sob. I knew that I had many, many photos at Flickr already, so I accepted what had happened and then promptly downloaded my three full memory cards into Honk and started putting photos onto Flickr.

Now for the light at the end of the tunnel part of this tale. Today on the bus ride home, I talked as I often do with a young man who is a few years younger than my younger son. When I told him what had happened, he promptly said, "Why don't you use Finder and search for the jpg's?" So, I did. And I found gobs and gobs of photos. It will be some time before I know if I have found what disappeared on Sunday, but I'm some kind of hopeful! And blessed!