Something different, from October 25, 2008.

I wanted to post something different, completely different from basketball and my neighborhood. So, here it is, a store window display at Brooks Brothers, downtown Portland, on SW Morrison near Pioneer Courthouse Square. TriMet's MAX Red and Blue Lines traverse Morrison westbound at this particular point. What I like, in particular about this photo, is the story the three windows tell, in image and text.

The leftmost window features the word "Before ..." and a mannequin ironing a dress shirt, complete with a can of spray starch.

The center window features the words "Say good bye to your iron." and a galvanized trashcan stuffed with an ironing board, iron, and at least one unironed dress shirt.

The rightmost window features the words "The Brooks Brothers Miracle Non-Iron Dress Shirt 3 for $199" and a chrome-plated clothing rack loaded with more than ten dress shirts, hanging equidistant from one another.

From my side of the street, reflected in the windows and seen at the bottom of the photo, between the petunia planters and the stone curb across the street, you'll find among those gray bricks one of the rails that the MAX wheels rest on as the cars roll along--the perspective precludes the other rail's appearance in this photo. Trust me, the neither the rails nor the curb wave as the so wonderfully do here!

Lomo-ish Chef Walking East on SW Morrison

I took this photo on October 23, 2010, as I rode by the Scottish Rite Center at 1512 SW Morrison Street, while riding home on the MAX.

It appeared that Portland's Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts had just held an event of some sort, maybe an awards program or a graduation--I saw several much younger men in white chef coats, most wearing a tall white chef hat and a medal around the neck hanging from a blue ribbon. They stood outside, talking with what might have been family members or friends.

It was this man and his hat that grabbed my attention. Although the photo is blurry due to both of us moving in opposite directions, I still liked how it turned out. Before posting it, however, I had fun at Picnik, finally deciding on a special effect called Lomo-ish because I particularly liked the over-saturated colors that appeared when I tried it.

Then I got curious about Lomography. To Wikipedia via Google where I found this: Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, "happy accidents," and alternative film processing are often considered part of the "Lomographic Technique." Users are encouraged to take a lighthearted approach to their photography, and use these techniques to document everyday life ... Similar to Eastman Kodak's concept of the "Kodak moment," the Lomography motto of "don't think, just shoot" presumes spontaneity, close-ups, and ubiquity, while deemphasizing formal technique.

Imagine my surprise when I read these statements and realized that I had a sort of Lomo photo to begin with, digital not film of course. Too me, all it needed was the over-saturation. Serendipity, that's what I call my happy accidents, my own don't think, just shoot photos. Gotta love it.

By the way, I figured these chefs were from Le Cordon Bleu because I could see enough of the logo on this chef's jacket to match it with the logo at their Web site.

Working in sunshine, whoa oh.

A Clean Scapes man concentrates on moving those leaves off the sidewalk on SW Morrison. I shot this photo from inside the MAX train on my way home, early on December 3, to take Mama to a doctor appointment. Usually when I go by here, whether on the MAX or on the bus, it is already dark. So it was a real treat to see this action happening in the bright sunshine and to be able to get the photo.

For you, a part of what I see walking to work

Friday morning as I walked part way to work, this view particularly appealed to me. It's about 7:05 AM, PDT, and we're looking east down West Burnside on the left and southeast down SW Morrison on the right. Some mornings when I walk down Everett to Third, I'm walking at the same downward slope you see on Burnside. If I decide to walk on Morrison instead, then go due south to take Salmon down to Third, I walk slightly uphill before it levels off and then slopes down towards the Willamette River. Either way I walk, I make good time, take a few photos, and catch the bus that takes me over the river to work. I love to walk in Portland, and I'm curious to see how I can work it out to walk as much as possible during the wet winter.

The pale peach-colored building in the intersection is one of two triangular-shaped buildings that I've noticed in the sharp-angled intersections on the south side of Burnside. At its closest end, it houses a pizza place; at the opposite end, there's a bar and grill. I believe the upper floors are apartments. The tall, many-windowed building behind it is the Civic, a brand-new condo building. In between it is the rust-colored shorter building, the Morrison. They represent an interesting concept, new to Portland, as reported recently in the Portland Tribune. You can read about it at http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=118945870998628300.

Here's a bit from Wikitravel about how Burnside and the Willamette River work to delineate parts of the city: Portland is divided into five sections. Burnside Street is the north/south split. The Willamette (pronounced will-LAM-et) splits Southeast and Southwest, but the river takes a turn north of Burnside. Since Mother Nature doesn't care much about straight lines, the city decided to split what would be the Northwest quadrant into Northwest (West of the river) and North (East of the River), then divide North and Northeast at Williams Avenue. All Portland addresses contain their designating sector inserted between house number and street name (i.e. 3719 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) This will make it easier to figure out where things are. If you hear Portlanders talking about Southwest or Northeast, they're probably talking about the section of the town rather than Arizona or Massachusetts.