Impact Fusion

The bus stop was empty when I got there at seven in the morning. It was pouring thick globules of water from the clouds. My friend called it rain but it was too ugly for that. She was there with me. She had a thing about pulp fiction novels and had about six of them on her at all hours of the day, hiding them always in a big and black canvas bag that was covered in flair. Guadalupe had a favorite piece of flair among the buttons. It was an old button used at a promotional gig in the eighties for a waffle house in Illinois. The Waffle House it was named. She also had buttons of band concerts she had been too since she was thirteen and clever.

We waited at the bus stop. We watched the cars go by. I should say I watched the cars go by, because all she did was read one of her detective stories. I do not remember what it was about, but the colors on the book were sepia in tone from age and the many hands that had touched it throughout the years, looking for a pulpy novel to pass the minutes at a bus stop.

I looked beyond the book to find an advertisement for a company that did organizational development. The colors were the same as the colors on the book, and the type was almost the same too. Old fashioned and meant to draw your attention to it. Guadalupe told me to stop reading over her shoulder, so I turned my head to the other side of the bus stop to find a poster about management training program. It again had the same colors. Splattering caused the edges of it to weigh down, soggy with the weight of trying to hold itself up until it eventually dropped from the pins holding up its fragile self. The bus came after that.

Guadeloupe went on but I stayed outside a bit to put the poster up again as I saw many hand before me had already done from the fingernails marks and oily fingerprints too. The bus was gone when I turned around, its noisy take off obscured by the globules. Guadeloupe was there though, informing I was lucky that she had one detective novel left in her bag.

I grew up in Pittsburgh and ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always heard my friends talking about their summer trips to Niagara Falls, they’d say things like how the American side isn’t as beautiful as the Canadian side, or the falls are wearing down so much that if I didn’t go, I’d probably never get a chance to see them. It seemed as if every one I knew had seen Niagara Falls.
 
Now that I’m all grown up, I did some research on-line about the Falls, and found out that yes indeed the Falls are disappearing, but disappearing in geological time, which mean a vast span of time, so I still had a chance to see the Falls. While on-line I booked a room at one of the Casino hotels of New York to double-down on my fun: Falls and gambling. The hotel had some great offers and was not far from the Falls.
 
When I arrived, via bus from JFK, and I found that even after 45 years, my school time friends were correct about the American side not being as pretty as the Canadian side. There are several huge empty manufacturing sites, treeless streets, tons of souvenir shops within sight of the falls, and basically more concrete than green.  However, there is urban renewal happening, but it seems like the renewals are on geological time. But, just the same, I’m so happy to be here, and to finally see the great, magnificent falls.
 
The State Park is pleasant and man is Niagara Falls the most powerful force of nature that I’ve ever witnessed. The roar of the water and the sheer mass of water is a very tangible sight of pure energy. A true wonder to behold. I really liked how I was virtually the only English speaking person on my tour on the Maid of the Mist boat ride. It seems as if the entire world comes here to witness the falls.
 
When I made it to the Canadian side, I have to admit that the Canadians have taken care of their side really well. There were casino’s on this side too, but I headed back to my hotel for the day and relished in the fact that I too can now say that I’ve seen Niagara Falls.

It it true? Could there be ghosts lurking around Fremont California? There are a few stories out there and they grow as you move to some of the other surrounding areas reaching the San Fransisco Bay. Its not surprising with the  crazy history that was left behind over time. Think about the Mission San Jose alone. There are some cemeteries around the Mission that have the remains of some early Jane and John Does’ as well has former priests, nuns, frontiersman and brave soldiers. There have been plenty of Native American graves discovered as the area has been developed. Even today there are remains found during construction. All of these who died here lived in some tough times. The Spanish moving into the territory and dislocating the Ohlone Indians. Then the Gold Rush came with its slave labor dying in the mines and many dying from sickness. There seem to be some ghosts appearing who are from those early times of establishment.

I love to hear the stories of how the ghosts manifest their activity. There is one person who had lived in a place in Fremont for two years said the ghost that lived with him started out small and then got rather pesky. I love it. At first there were things happening like general rustling sounds to toilet flushing. Then after a while the ghost would wake this person up in the night and follow him around the house as he felt the presence near him. Then there is the seeing of an apparition outside windows. It is all rather interesting.

Could there be something in the spirit of animals too? Like the story of some people seeing the remains of a deer and then not being able to start the car. Sometimes I think it is much easier to just believe it is all in the creative minds of people. But what would be the fun of that? While you stay in one of the elegant hotels of spooky Fremont, visit the Mission San Jose and see if you can experience some chilling activity.

A hibachi-style Japanese food, a pirate cruise, and a southerns version of a German Beer Fest is what we experience in one weekend during our vacations in Tampa, Florida. We threw out our itinerary, which made our vacation richer that we would have ever imagined. We found ourselves enjoying the flavorful local cuisine along with family-oriented tourist sights. What’s was the best part is that none of the sights we saw had anything to do with a costumed mouse, and we got to stay at one of the better West Florida hotels.The flavorful local cuisine was at the Japanese steakhouse, which was only a skip away from the University of South Florida. It’s family-style dining and it allowed us to participate with the chef and some other guests in a romantic and yet child-friendly environment. Our dinner feed a family of four and a price that fit our family-style budget. The fried ice cream desert is highly recommended by all of us.

We got to see the Old Towne Classic Car Show while in Tampa. Apparently, it goes on every Saturday night and it features well over a hundred classic cars. It costs nothing to park or get in, and there’s was plenty to do for my entire family, because not only do they show classic cars fully restored, they have shops, outdoor drinking and dinning. Later, we checked out Jimbo’s BBQ that’s outside Tampa in Lakeland. It’s a traditional southern BBQ place with low, low prices. All the dishes are literally finger-licking good and it’s all cooked to perfection. The service was fast and friendly, which we miss living in a big city. My children weren’t too sure how to take genuine southern hospitality, they thought it was some kind of trick. We assured them that this is how most southern states treat people.Now, onto pirates.  We took the Captain Memo’s Pirate  2 hour Cruise, which is again a family-style adventure and it serves free alcoholic beverages! The cruise departs from Clearwater and it’s filled with fun and beautiful scenery. The crew is small, but their enthusiasm is tremendous. Captain Memo is very energetic himself and very funny. The crew take charges of the children while the adults can sit back and relax. It only cost $35 per person, but with all the money we’ve saved by not going to the bigger Florida attractions, we could well afford this marvelous cruise.We were so glad we did something different and unusual, it was surprisingly refreshing and fun.

It took me a full year to save up and spend a couple of thousand dollars, but I’m finally here, sunning on a stretch of beach below the Santa Monica Pier. Perfect!  I had a early start this morning to make it to the airport by 5am! I arrived at the airport 2 hours before my flight, but it really wasn’t necessary, I was about the only one waiting in line, at first. My plane was packed by the time we took off from Heathrow!

My flight wasn’t bad, the flight attendants were great. I didn’t want to sleep to beat the jet lag, which I’m feeling right now, so I kept myself awake for a good 18 hours. Tonight is when I’ll crash to make up the time. When I arrived in Los Angeles and hopped in my car hire, I thought I’d find it easy to drive on the wrong side of the road, but it was really weird, but, I’ll have plenty of time to get used to it since I’ll be driving down to San Diego in a few days. I used the cars mapping system to find my Santa Monica hotel. After unpacking and a shower, I was off to find some food. Ironically, the very first establishment I came across was a British pub! My waitress was kind enough to inform me of the ins and outs of the how the tax and tipping works, so now I’m thoroughly educated.

So, here I am now, on the nice sandy beach of Santa Monica. It was exactly like what I thought it would be after watching all the episodes of ‘Baywatch‘, except no Pamela Anderson. Santa Monica is all that I expected it to be, and a lot more. The Pier was loaded with buskers performing all kinds of interesting things. Reminded me of back home, really, but the sun was shining and the weather is perfect, 72 degrees! I’m wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops; something you wouldn’t see me in back in London.

I’m about to crash, so I’ll wrap-up here and head back to my hotel room and sleep for a good 12 hours!

The arts are supported in Portland.  That is the simple statement of a simple fact.  All of the businesses, from the cafes to the best Portland hotels, and the restaurants to the city streets and sidewalks, one will find themselves by art on display and art for sale.  Many people in the city take classes, whether they are working artists or those participating in hobbies, at either the Art Gym or the Museum of Contemporary Craft.  Both institutions offer a wide selection of classes, forums and discussion groups throughout the year, for all age groups and levels.

One of the institutions that has been supporting the world of the arts for many years is the Portland Saturday Market. Located on the borders of Old Town and Chinatown, the market offers locals and visitors not only many various objects of art, but in the world of the culinary arts and live music too.  This is a non-profit organization that was created by Andrea Scharf and Sheri Teasdale, two artist who in 1973 would travel each weekend to the then closest market, in Eugene.  They decided then that would create a market place in downtown Portland, closer to home.

They spent weeks going around the neighborhoods of the city, to the jam and jelly makers, the local farmers and to the artists, asking for suggestions.  This was a collective and collaborative effort right from its inception.  All of the feedback was positive, and the market opened with the mission of provided local artists and crafts people the resource to benefit economically, as well as bringing all of the locally and handmade products into one convenient location for the rest of the people wishing to buy locally.

Over the years, with the support of each other and members of the community, the market has become extremely well organized and as such, extremely well attended each weekend.  While staying in the city, be it on vacation or for business, the market is one place you must find the time to attend.  You will not be disappointed, and chances are you will find some bit of Portland to bring home with you.

Matt and I were off to New York by Greyhound bus. We arrived at the Port Authority in New York City, which is my least favorite transportation system hub in the entire United States. It’s a terrible place, but it is the gateway to the best city in the entire world. We made it to our New York USA hotel located near Central Park. Our first stop after checking in was to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which was perfectly amazing. We enjoyed it more than we expected to and there was a terrific exhibit about color and how it’s used commercially. I really can’t describe it any better than that really, but take my work for it, it was cool. The permanent collection was awesome and breath-taking.

We had dinner at a restaurant next door to MoMA’s and I think there was at least 8 pounds of cheese on the pasta! Scrumptious. Afterwards, we hit an Irish bar and didn’t get back to our hotel room until the wee hours of the morning. I think before we closed our eyes, I saw the sunrising.

The next day, not too late, after we spent some time in Central Park, we walked all the way to Times Square, which was really fun. We visited Strand’s bookstore, which is huge and awesome. We continued up Broadway and checked out the New York Public Library and Rockefeller Center. For lunch, we ate a sandwich at Wichcraft, which I really enjoyed, but Matt thought was stupid. Anyway, after eating, I took a trip to Pain Quotidien, which is on the edge of Gramercy park and ordered a cheese muffin and a latte. So very tasty! Matt went back to the hotel and muttered something about grabbing a power nap. I decided to see a Broadway show ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ and tomorrow, I plan to take Matt to see ‘August: Osage County‘, Matt’s been wanting to see this play ever since it opened.

Matt and I plan to move to New York once we graduate and get our work visas. Hopefully, both won’t take too long to achieve. We just love this city, there’s no place better in the whole world.