Author: Paul

Sharing the shiny bits of life since I can remember. I run http://greenergrassmedia.com/.
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Portland

Portland is a crazy place.

(We just returned from a family vacation that included a few days in Portland.)

I knew that I wanted to get to know the city ever since seeing Portlandia.

I was not disappointed.

Plus:
  • Powell’s is perhaps the finest bookstore on the planet. Besides stocking an amazing range of books (both new and used), they have the most incredible array of stuff from interesting water bottles to funky backpacks to weird socks.
  • Food trucks (often food trailers): a huge collection of semi-fast food outlets are all over the Portland, often in collections filling whole city blocks. Wide offerings of ethnic cuisine are available.
  • hipster lampShops: If I were rich, I would have gorged on the incredible variety of clothing, trinkets, hand-made art in many useful forms such as furniture and all manner of hipster-oriented stuff. One of my favorite shops was Boys Fort.
  • Bicycling: In spite of the generally dreary weather, bicycling is a huge part of life in Portland. Bike paths are prevalent across the city, and as our Airbnb hostess explained, bicyclists there often feel like they rule the world, whether or not that is the case.
  • The river: Bike paths go along the Willamette River, allowing you to explore the waterway without getting wet (unless it’s raining).
Minus:
  • Trash: There are very few trash cans around the city. Thus, trash accumulates in all the nooks and crannies. Seattle, in comparison, seems to have a normal amount of places to dispose of your waste.
  • Homelessness: I’m not sure what attracts so many homeless people to Portland. Denver, the city near my suburban home, seems to have a smaller homeless population. I have nothing against homeless people – drug addiction and mental illness are crippling – but perhaps Denver provides more places for the homeless to find a home. Or possibly Colorado has more restrictive laws governing homeless activities (like no sleeping on sidewalks).
  • Maybe a little too much indie-hipster-ness: Though I love supporting small businesses and appreciate creativity, I was almost overwhelmed at the extreme hipster-ness of Portland. One morning, I even wanted to visit Starbucks, believe it or not.

If you can, you simply must visit greater Portland.

Footnote: I only spent a few days there, so these are just a few surface observations.

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Assumptions

escape“Escape from your already fabulous life.”

That’s an assumption a luxury hotel chain made about all of us. Or maybe they are pitching to the group of readers who feel that they do have a fabulous life and don’t care about the rest. Or maybe they want the rest of us to think, “Well, my life isn’t fabulous – but I do like it!”

If your life is fabulous, why would you want to escape? I guess that living a life of ease, where everything is catered to and all wants met, gets boring.

We all need change. Kittens don’t stay small forever. God created seasons for a reason.

Embrace change. If it’s a hard change, see what you can do to find the beauty in the pure white snow. Even when it’s freezing outside.

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A tepid shower

shower head

Why would you want to take a tepid shower?

  1. If the water is cool enough that it’s slightly uncomfortable, you will use less water – because you’ll want to end sooner!
  2. It’s refreshing, particularly on a hot summer day.
  3. Your pores won’t open up and soak in as many soap chemicals.
  4. Some even say it relieves depression.

And there are many more reasons – as well as an explanation on that last one in this article. Disclaimer – some of the benefits apply only to men.

Finally, a hat tip to my son Jay, who got me started in this practice. I don’t take it quite as far as he does – my “cold” showers are merely tepid.

p.s. Here’s another list of the benefits of cold showers: link.

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Because I’m selfish

motorbike riders in Phnom PenhI love freedom. But when freedom costs me something that could be easily avoided, I pause.

For people living in the US, depending on your state, you can ride a motorcycle with out a helmet. It’s super enjoyable to zoom along with the wind in your hair.

But then that driver doesn’t see you, he turns into your lane – and your dreams of motorcycling disappear into years of surgeries, physical therapy and pain.

This is not theoretical – a good friend of mine experienced that. And he was wearing a helmet.

So here’s the selfish part of the equation… when the helmet-less rider ends up in the hospital with years of medical appointments ahead, it costs me. My insurance premiums rise.

The same holds true for bicycle riding.

I have to admit that I am not super rigid on that – sometimes when I go for a quick ride to the corner store on my (slow) mountain bike, I don’t put on a helmet. And yes, I know that most accidents happen closest to home.

So I leave it up to you where you draw the line between your freedom and your responsibility to society.

The photo is Creative Commons licensed by Sara y Tzunki (Cecilia e Francesco) and was taken in Phnom Penh.

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Great app – Prisma

This little app has given me more fun than the last three photo apps combined – Prisma.

Here’s the original photo:

Jay, pre-Prisma app

And here are some of the results (tap the right side of the image to get to the next one):

[supsystic-slider id=1 position=”center”]

So if I convinced you to try this app, here’s where you can find it: Prisma. Currently, it’s just available for the iPhone, but if you have an Android, you can sign up to get news about the beta version.

Special thanks to my son Jay, the model.

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airbnb plus hotels mashup

the indside of a fancy hotel room

You heard it hear first – my startup idea.

Business people who travel a lot often sleep in a large hotel room with two beds – and one is always empty.

What if they used a service like airbnb to get a roommate for their two-or-three night stays?

Potential problems and solutions:

  • You could get someone annoying. Solution: the app would allow you to cancel and pick a different room.
  • You’re an introvert and require your space after a draining day of conference activity. Solution: the app allows you to select a roommate who also values quiet and personal space.
  • Privacy. Solution: the app allows you to pick people of the gender you’re most comfortable with.
  • Getting the word out that this app exists could be a problem if hotel companies use all their negative marketing tricks to make the app look bad. Solution: have airbnb buy the app idea and handle the marketing. (Airbnb – are you listening? I’m open for offers.)
  • “I’d never use an app like that.” Solution: don’t.
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The beer can net

beer can net

When I was a sophomore in college, I was counseling a very young freshman about the ways to decorate a dorm room.

“Some people hang a net from their ceiling and fill it with beer cans. But that’s really tacky.” (I don’t know what word I used to say “tacky.”)

Less than a month later, I passed by his room and saw just such a net hanging from his ceiling.

Somehow he missed the part about “really tacky.”

Moral of the story – listen to all of what someone tells you.

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But is it good?

weird signage for littleton village, coloradoArt is very subjective. One person’s favorite is another’s hated reject.

But when art meets commerce – what used to be called, “commercial art,” there is another standard. It must communicate.

The artists behind the signage of the new Littleton Village, a residential and commercial development near my home, crossed the edge a little too far:

1. At each edge of the main corner’s signage area, there are two obelisks that look like something from a science fiction movie.

2. During the day, shadows hinder readability of the development’s name.

signage for littleton village, colorado

3. What’s with those white vertical stripes? Before the development name went up, I thought they were giant adhesive strips to adhere the development’s name. No. They are not lighted, either. And then there are a bunch of holes that look like ventilation for an underground chamber.

Whaaaat??

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Auto-Tune

speaker in a ceiling

Why not make things better than what real life offers?

That’s the idea Andy Hildebrand applied to sound when he was working for Exxon. His technology has been applied to alter the sound of a tune so that the pitch is always perfect. But like many good things, it can be overdone. A tune can be altered to sound like a robot is singing.

Many popular musicians love this technology. When applied minimally, it can improve a musician’s ability to hit a note properly. When applied to the maximum, it will produce that robot effect.

And I get to hear robots every day. The building I work in has a Muzak music subscription service, and they chose the Auto-Tune channel to play all the time – in the halls and in the bathrooms.

Thankfully, Auto-Tune does not intrude into my office. Never shall it pass those doors.

(And I’ve written about this before. It’s a subject that is near and dear to my heart.)

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