Seen on a locker at PSU:

I’ve been near a lot of dogs lately.  For the last three days, I’ve been helping Ras take care of Ian and Erin’s dog while they’re in California for a wedding.  (Ian is one of Ras’ best friends.)

Moose (the dog) was a real handful at first, but we’ve both bonded.
Today, Ras and I met up with Niang, Ras’ friend and former “boss” at U of O.  I use the term “boss” loosely because she’s such an easy going and laid back person.  She came over and brought Chinese pastries to have with coffee.

Right: Ras and Niang and their “deep in conversation” poses

After catching up, we went over to Niang’s house and visited her two pugs.

 

She even taught them to dance with each other.

Election results are in, and surprise, surprise, Democrats win in Oregon.  What I did find surprising were the statistics about library use in Portland.  The voters passed a levy that would provide more than $30 million a year over five years to pay for library operating costs.  The average cost for homeowners will be $11.13 a month ($133.56 a year).

In 2004-05, the last year for which national numbers are available, county residents borrowed 19.4 million books and other items, according to Penny Hummel, a library spokeswoman.  Portland libraries have the highest circulation numbers of any system in the nation.

That’s more than Los Angeles (15.7 million items), New York (15.5 million) and Chicago (6.9 million), Hummel said.

Just this morning, I saw at least 25 people waiting outside for the the downtown library to open.  I use the library a lot myself - going about twice a week.  Speaking of books, Portland also has the largest bookstore in the nation.  (Powell’s Bookstore has about 1 million new and used books on its shelves.)

I visited the Portland Japanese Garden three days ago, but haven’t been able to upload the pictures on Flickr yet.  I’ve got two midterms tomorrow that I’m cramming for, so the pictures will have to wait until later.  Here’s a sneak peak at one of the photos I took.  It’s now my desktop wallpaper.

I went downtown today to buy a bag and another lens for my camera.  I was itching to try out my new purchase, so I headed to the Portland Rose Garden near Washington Park.  It had been awhile since I’d been to the garden, and I took a wrong turn on Vista Road.  It turned out to be a good thing that I did, because I managed to get this beautiful shot of Portland.  Near the right hand side, you can see Mt. Hood.

I also learned recently why Portland has the nickname of “Stumptown“.  It’s due to Oregon’s logging history, and the fact that the buildings in Portland aren’t as tall as other cities.  Some say the city planned it that way, so as not to block the views of the mountains.  Portland is also known as the “Rose City” and hosts a Rose parade and Rose Festival every spring.

Reds.  Some berries and a little boot on top of a fence post.

Since I was alone, I turned the camera on myself to do some test shots.  So, just in case anyone’s wondering what I look like lately… Still the same, I think.