Rocky Butte Roundup (A.K.A. Where Santa Claus Spends His Summers)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Last night on one of my rare evenings off of work, I called up some friends to go for a ride. (I on a little 49cc yellow scooter, they on their red Kawasaki Ninja 500 motorcycle.) I suggested going somewhere to watch the sunset, and they instantly recommended Rocky Butte - a landmark bump on the earth from a long dormant volcano, and the only elevated ground in northeast Portland.

After a scenic ride up to the top we were surprised to find nearly a hundred bikes and their riders pulling off an impromptu sunset after-ride party at the top, complete with a portable stereo blaring dance music, potluck dinner, and all the locally brewed beer that could be pedaled up - in true Portland fashion.

After taking my 70th look back at Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens basking in the sunset to convince myself they weren't just a figment of my imagination, the night was topped off with an impromptu air guitar performance by Santa Claus himself, who, despite popular opinion, is actually a thin, middle aged Japanese man who wears a fanny pack and enjoys spending his summers in Oregon with a bunch of beer drinking, bike riding Portlanders. It appears that he records his good times on home video and then watches them up north during the winters when he needs a break from toymaking. (Probably with a Deschutes River Brewery Cinder Cone Red Ale in hand.)

Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:04 PM 4 comments  

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Alaska in Portland
Saturday, April 12, 2008

Whenever I tell people I was hired by Alaska Airlines, they often ask, "are you going to be a pilot?" and I have to laugh - do I look like a pilot? I could always pull a Frank Abagnale Jr. if I wanted to. No, I will be a customer service agent at the airport. So if you are flying through Portland on Alaska Airlines, I'll be the guy who checks you in, takes your luggage, or supervises boarding the plane at the gate.

I am very grateful to have this job - it's with a great company, and my workplace is only a mile from my house! Believe it or not, even though my employment resume is pages and pages long, this is my first "real" job, meaning, full-time with benefits. I don't remember the last time I saw a dentist.... The sweetest benefit (besides getting paid at regular intervals) is that I get free unlimited standby flights anywhere! Me, my parents, and my non-existent spouse/domestic partner and kids all fly free! (I'm currently taking offers for hooking up or being adopted.)

Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:32 PM 6 comments  



Charles Darwin, Nintendo, and Starbucks, Or, Why Portlanders Are So Creeping Nice
Saturday, March 15, 2008

People in Portland are so friendly I get weirded out, like I'm part of a giant game show where the goal is to slowly wear me down and make me have a good day. Sometimes it gets downright creepy.

Case in point - this afternoon I'm exhausted and just want to be home, but I have to visit the bank. So I walk into Wells Fargo on Sandy Blvd. and EVERY person I make eye contact with nods back and smiles. As I near the counter with my deposit slip, the three open tellers loudly greet me and beckon me to come to their window. I finally settle on the cute blond lady kind of bouncing up and down. As soon as I hand her my check, she starts happily humming some tune and asks, "don't you ever get that song stuck in your head?" I mumble back that no, I don't, and then quickly look over my shoulder, half expecting to see birds perched on the fluorescent light fixtures, chirping away. She asks me about my weekend plans. I finish my business and head for the door, determined that their goodwill should be lost on me. I glance up at some loan officers as I exit and they nod eagerly and smile at me; one goes so far as to attempt the slightest bow and wish me a great afternoon!

I tried to explain this away as a fluke in the weather, but no - it was cloudy and rainy most of the day. Then I thought it must be a new corporate policy within Wells Fargo to be extra nice, but no - these were loan officers. They would never fake something like that. I finally came to the conclusion that this was yet one more example of the sometimes creepy niceness (hereby referred to as, "creepceness") of Portlanders.

Upon further research, I learned that this behavior is actually quite scientific - even Darwinian! Because Portland is so cloudy and rainy, only those with extremely nice and friendly traits were able to survive. (Everyone else was killed off or moved to southern California.) After generations of reproducing this effect, we now have a race of people who are naturally selected to withstand the often melancholy climate by innate niceness and friendliness!

But someone will say: (enter the scoffer) "if that is true, then what of the Seattle chill? Why aren't people friendly up there?" My only hypothesis is that when the unfriendly people were dying off and moving away from Portland (thereby purifying, or, nicifiying the gene pool), those same crotchety types in Seattle, instead of moving away, bought a Nintendo and a lifetime supply of Starbucks and decided to stick it out, thereby ruining it for everyone else.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:44 AM 5 comments  



Temporarily Employed
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I found work today! I'll temporarily be working for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Portland, on the phone recruiting volunteers for their annual fund raiser. I figure it's better than telemarketing in a number of ways - I'm not selling or asking for money, and all the participation is going for a good cause - research for the cure and sending local kids with MD to camp this summer. I can live with that for six weeks.

I'm moving out of Church of the Servant King this week, where I've lived my first month here in Portland. I'll be moving into the basement of some new friends until I can find a room to rent (now that I have income!).

These photos were taken from the edge of a bluff about 300 meters down the street from where I'm staying. I look east to Mt. Hood and south to downtown. (For my dear friends in Minnesota: it was a sunny t-shirt day today, at a toasty 62 degrees.)

Next post: all about Mosaic and Evergreen - two Christian communities I'm exploring.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 8:27 PM 4 comments  

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Hospitality, Church Dating, and Documentary
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Random updates:

A community called Church of the Servant King has graciously offered hospitality to put me up until March 1st.

I'm still looking for work and permanent housing/roommates.

I've started church dating, and have been going steady with one called Mosaic. (Church shopping is such a coarse word when we're talking about making a serious commitment!)

I'll be up at Camp Ghormley this weekend with a possible visit to Yakima Alliance on Sunday.

My friends with InnerCHANGE in San Francisco (I lived/worked with them summer of '05) have put together an excellent 13 minute documentary that chronicles the life of one of their homeless friends, Laura. I met her briefly this last summer and I think her story is extremely valuable for anyone wishing to understand homeless/street culture better. Watch it here on their blog!

Posted by Benjamin Washam 2:23 PM 3 comments  



Nebraska Shots
Sunday, February 03, 2008

These are some photos I took at a crane sanctuary about 50 miles west of Grand Island, NE on the way out. (Watch full screen)

Posted by Benjamin Washam 5:14 PM 3 comments  



Arrival in Portland
Friday, February 01, 2008


I made it! I spent last night at my sister's place in Portland. I'm a few days behind in posting the last days of my journey, but they will be up shortly. (Along with a sweet photo shoot from Nebraska.) Check back soon!

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:41 PM 0 comments  



Salt Lake City, UT
Thursday, January 31, 2008

I am writing this post from the fabulous public library in Baker City, OR. I-84 has been closed due to snow yet again. I don't know how long the closure will last, but I might not reach Portland today, which was my unspoken goal. After being held back in Rawlins, WY the night before last, I was determined to make it into Salt Lake City. On Tuesday I crossed the continental divide at 7000ft. and breathed a sigh of relief. Little did I know that the last long descent through red canyon walls into the Salt Lake area would be the most treacherous section of the day. Now I see why the city was host to the winter Olympics!

I spent the night with the family of a random friend who happens to live in Romania. She received my desperate e-mail the morning I left Rawlins and called me from Romania to say I could stay with her parents in Salt Lake City! I was well taken care of, and the city was truly a sight to see. The large building on the right is the Utah State Capitol.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 4:07 PM 2 comments  



Attack of the Suicidal Tumbleweed!!! AAAAAAH!!!
Monday, January 28, 2008

Doesn't the title of this blog sound like it could be a song from a Sufjan Stevens Wyoming album? (He hasn't written one yet, so maybe I could do it!)

I was cruising along I-80 in Wyoming with blue skies and warm sunshine for most of the day. The ground was covered with snow and the combination of sunshine and blasting winds polished the land until the entire place looked like an extra-terrestrial landscape of snow dunes covered with a smooth glaze of ice. It was quite magical!

One of the most surprising things about Wyoming is the tumbleweed. In fact, it far surpasses even the wildest caricatures: literally dozens of suicidal tumbleweeds dash across the interstate every mile, timing their crossings to coincide with the passing of the infrequent and unsuspecting vehicles. They usually heading directly for your front tires. Wyoming is mostly ranch land along I-80, resulting in barb wire fences that frame both sides of the road. So many tumbleweeds have lodged themselves in the fencing that it feels like driving down a corridor walled with tumbleweed drifts.

By 1pm the wind had picked up significantly, gusting up to 60 mph across the road and whipping rivers of snow across the road, trying its best to throw my little Sidekick off the road. At 3pm, on the wings of this terrifically fast cold front, a giant blizzard swooped in and literally blacked out the sky and whited out the entire field of vision. A state trooper zoomed ahead of me and closed the freeway, forcing everyone to exit and turn around. On the advice of some seasoned truckers, I turned around and headed a few miles back to a small town I had passed with a few motels. Unfortunately the driving was too treacherous to take any pictures, but I did get some shots of my first experience in a cheap motel. "Best Motel" of Rawlins, WY, to be exact. Yikes.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 8:01 PM 1 comments  



The "Route"
Tuesday, January 22, 2008


View Larger Map
My Tentative 7-Day Route:

Thursday, 1/24: Depart Minneapolis; arrive Grand Island, NE

Monday, 1/28: Depart Grand Island; arrive Rock Springs, WY

Tuesday, 1/29: Depart Rock Springs, WY; BARELY MISS the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City by 1 stinking day! Arrive Nampa, ID

Thursday, 1/31: Depart Nampa, ID; arrive Portland, OR. Find homeless shelter or a friend's parents house to stay at.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 3:31 PM 4 comments  

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Adventure
Monday, January 21, 2008


ad·ven·ture (ād-věn'chər) n.

The original meaning of the word in Latin (aventura) was "to come about" or "to arrive." Closely related to the Latin word advent, "a coming into being." Only in the 1300's did the term take a turn through "risk/danger" and "perilous undertaking."

Almost without fail, whenever I tell people about my road trip move to Portland they refer to it as an adventure. When they hear that I don't know where I'm staying, that I don't have a job lined up, and that I'm going anyway, they say it's an adventure. They intend the latter meaning of the word - risk, danger, and the unknown. I had always considered my journey simply to be an advent - the next step to make something happen; to bring the next chapter of my life into being. Maybe this is the main difference between someone who is an adventurer and one who is not. A non-adventurer sees only the risk and the unknown, while the adventurer, though not blind to the risk, instead sees an opportunity (dare I say, calling?) to action: to create something new with his or her life.

If you had asked me a month ago if I was an adventurer, I would have said no. Recently, however, my answer has changed. I've seen the story of my life in a new way - that I'm not usually guided by the voice of God or by a specific open door, but by a God-given sense of adventure that drives me into new territory.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 2:27 PM 0 comments  



New Photo Collection
Thursday, January 17, 2008

This Christmas I put together the first printed collection of my photography. Here you can see a digital sneak preview of 60 or so shots. I hope you enjoy looking as much as I did shooting!

Click here to watch full screen. (Highly Recommended)

Posted by Benjamin Washam 11:46 PM 3 comments  

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