More Portland...

Saturday we got up at around noon, and were soon met downstairs by Chris, Trey(?), and Heather from Beta-lactam Ring. They took us to a hip cafe called Paradox, where we swilled coffee and had some interesting (in a good way) food. Jen got the vegan meatloaf. I got the vegan sloppy joes. I also got some sort of smoothie that had bananas, molasses, and peanut butter in it. I was better than it sounds. Afterwards we split up, with the Beta-lactam guys taking Steve of to some hip-hop record stores and the rest of us going to Powell's City of Books. We bought less than would be expected, but picked up the all important gifts-for-the-kids-at-home. Willow pooped so much that people in the restroom offered to come to Jen's aid. The coffee shop was being renovated, so our thirst soon guided us across the street for some cold drinks. You would have thought that Portland would have reasonable weather, but it was very muggy, especially in the center of a city block spanning bookstore. Overhead, clouds threatened rain. Then, after inspecting a couple of nearby record stores and a Whole Foods (which had kombucha drinks in four packs! Our local one doesn't. I just checked.) we went back to the hotel where Steve was wearing his hands out signing records and cds.
A short time later we were at the Cobalt Lounge, where the record release party was slated to happen. Then came the bad news. Willow wasn't old enough to be in bar. They were pretty serious about it too, so I drove Jen back to the hotel. She told me to go back and have fun, which I somewhat guiltily did. My guilt was mitigated by the fact that there was a nice looking restaurant/cafe next to the hotel. Jen and Willow could have a girls night out. Back at the lounge, I decided it was just as well that they didn't let Willow in, because evidently in Oregon people are still allowed to smoke in bars. There was already a big line of people, back catalogue in hand, waiting to meet Steve. He was generous with his time, and people seemed happy. After awhile, since we had already met Steve, we decided to go back and hang out with Jen. When we arrived back at the hotel we found that she had indeed eaten at the place around the corner. She let me have some of the leftovers, and they were fabulous - some sort of tempeh/hummus/couscous dish. The only problem was there wasn't a fork. We left Jen to her luxurious time alone with the baby and went out to eat at a very bad pizza place. The pizza tasted like it had been taken out of a display window somewhere. Then, our stomachs theatening to rebel, we lurched back towards the Cobalt lounge. Steve was still holding court. I decided that I'd better go get some sleep so that I could drive us home safely in the morning. M. decided to join me. G. opted to go see Barbez and Eric McFadden at Dante's around the corner. He went with Mary, who we had met a couple of weeks previously down in our neck of the woods.
To sleep, to sleep....

More tomorrow.

cds I listened to while rushing around in the darkness: Six Comm ~ Mother Destruction "White Rose 'live'", Vintersorg "Cosmic Genesis", Voivod "The Best of..." and "Angel Rat", Sixth Comm "A Nothing Life" and "Content With Blood", and El Monte Aranos "Allied Cooking But Not As You Know It!"