Random Skickisms #3

I was at Tom's, the sports bar a few blocks from my house, to study and watch the Giant's game. My game wasn't going to be on for an hour or so, so the manager asked me what games I wanted on in the mean time. He was flipping through and I saw Detroit. I asked him to put that game on, and when he raised an eyebrow at me I exclaimed, "Hey. I have not watched them yet, and I want to see how bad a 1-7 team looks."

Note: This took place back when Detroit had only won one game after losing their first seven.

The guy sitting at the table directly across from the direction I was sitting looked over at me. I smiled, and said, "You just gotta just feel sorry for them, don't you?"

He gave me the weirdest look and then asked, "Are you a Detroit fan?"

I said, "Oh no. I am a Giants fan, which is why I love Detroit this year. They make my team actually look good."

He gave me the same weird look and then turned back to the TVs.

Well a while later a few of his friends arrived and they asked for a hockey game to be put on. I had my nose in a book so I did not look up when they arrived, but it was only after a few minutes that I overheard them talking about the baseball game...

And that is when I realized that they were all Detroit fans.

I could have kissed the manager when he came over and asked if it was alright if I moved because the only available TV for him to put my game on was on the other end of the bar.

Random Skickisms #2

I was at the bus stop when this guy sat down next to me and immediately asked me who I was voting for in the school elections. I told him I did not know and probably would not be voting since I had just started at this school and had no idea who the candidates are or what the issues were. Turns out, he was not someone campaigning for anyone, he was just a guy who likes to hear himself talk. He only asked me so that he could then dive into a lengthy monologue of who he was voting for and why. I turned forward and tuned him out until he all of a sudden asked, "Well your Christian, right?"

I won't get into how many ways that question was so wrong, but anyways I said, "Uh, yeah. I'm Catholic."

"Oh! I use to be Catholic too, but then I found Jesus Christ and was saved and became a Christian."

I couldn't help myself. "I think you missed the point."

"Oh, no. I use to listen to hip hop on MTV, but now all I listen to is Christian rock."

"Yeah. You missed the point."

He stopped talking to me. :)

Random Skickisms #1

Throw me into a new city, new school, new places and around new people and I am bound to have more "skick moments" than normal...

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have econ class, a break, and then statistics. During my break I head to the computer lab to work on and print out class work. So Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually the day I have multiple cups of coffee and a constant tired and brain-fried look on my face. Just the other day after leaving the computer lab, and while chanting over and over in my head a statistics formula, I headed over to the area outside where I usually eat my lunch. Today though, some group had decided to put up huge posters of aborted fetuses and anti-abortion propaganda. I had my head down so I did not notice these until I almost ran into a person standing in front of them handing out fliers. I snapped my head up, looked around, and in a total dazed and confused voice said, "But that is where I eat my lunch."

I think I actually grossed out the person handing out fliers with pictures of mushy dead fetuses on them.

Portland: Update

So when I last left off I was coping with loneliness superficially with a shopping spree at IKEA...

Well, I have a good looking apartment if I do say so myself. :)


I have not explored too much of Portland. Mostly because the weather has been unusually bad this spring and Portland is a very outdoors type of city (can't quite figure out how that came about in a northwest town). I also have a tendency to start chatting with people and then staying in one place for hours so I end up only exploring a small chunk at a time.

Portland is definitely more of a town than a city and I get the feeling the people here want it that way. So much so that anything seeming metropolitan or urban is shunned. The vibe of this town will take some getting use to. The people here are a lot more personable than in Seattle, and that I definitely like; that really was my main gripe about Seattle.

I live two doors down from a great dive bar where I know most of the regulars already, but also meet someone new every time I go. Really chill place where everyone goes to sit around and talk with everyone, and I mean everyone, and play some pool.

Just a few blocks away is a sports bar with amazing pizza, a great happy hour, and every sports package. This is the first season in years where I have been able to catch most of my Giant's games. Murphy's Law that it also one of their worst years, but actually now that I think of it, maybe that is a blessing in disguise because I am just so overjoyed to be able to watch my team that the pain of their suckyness is dulled. We'll see later on in the season...

As for the area as a whole, I am told by people that I either "live in the ghetto," or that I live in the only diverse area of Portland. The truth is Portland is super white, to the point that "diverse area" means that only 50% of the people are white, and Portland is soft. Here in "the ghetto" people leave their BBQs outside and they are not stolen, people at bars insist on walking you home because "it is dark outside," there is not a single place with bars on the windows, and a man across the street who belches is considered "a thug up to no good." I shit you not.

All in all it has been an experience. I am not falling in love with Portland, but I can live here for a few years.