The Jupiter Hotel

Hey all. I spent Friday night and Saturday with my BFFs S&M. S&M invited me to see the bluegrass band Railroad Earth who performed at the Crystal Ballroom. What a fun night. We had lunch on Friday at a deli, Kenny and Zukes, checked into the Jupiter Hotel and then headed to the Crystal for the show. We ended the evening by having a late dinner at the Doug Fir. What a nice evening of Portlandia. I highly recommend The Jupiter. If you live in Portland and have guests who want a chic place to stay direct them to The Jupiter, those that don't live in the City and need a place to stay, you'll have fun at this place. Every door is a chalk board to draw on, wonderful patios, very white walls and the decor is very IKEA. I was like, "Am I in the Showroom?" I've been to hundreds of hotels in my time and I've never seen anything like it. What fun!

The show was quite fun and I didn't really know what to expect. So many shiny happy people everywhere. I have never seen so many people at the Ballroom. S and I sat in the lobby of Lola's room (second floor) during the second set and watched the colliding cultures. There was an '80s DJ in Lola's, and many folks were dressed up in '80s fashion. We were very caddy. I bought a CD from Railroad Earth, which had the song "Peace on Earth" on it. Love this song. I told M it reminded me of the bluegrass songs I grew up with in the church, without the religious conitation. I am still a fan of bluegrass. I would love to see Dolly in concert sometime.

For those of you who are clubbers, you must hang out at the Doug Fir, which is attached to The Jupiter Hotel. Despite the fact I felt like an old man, it was fun feeling like I was apart of the cool young people. We ended the weekend at McMenamins Barley Mill, which was celebrating their 25th anniversary. Jim joined us for a lovely lunch. I felt out of place as I was the only one of our group without a master's degree! M just received his diploma. I have such intelligent friends. Congratulations Matthew! I wasn't going to write his first name, but this is such an accomplishment, I had to praise him using his name. Above is a photo of S&M. I told S I would protect her anonymity, hence all the initials (S doesn't want to be Googleable, like me). She did give me the approval to publish her picture, doesn't she look fabulous! They are are sitting at a booth at the Doug Fir, notice the logs to their left. Great decor.

Check out these cool websites to the left. Love to you all.

Colorado Rockies

Take me out to the ballgame. I was in Denver the first part of last week for a meeting, and one of our activities was to go to a ball game. Rockies vs. The Braves. The Rockies lost. Many folks were surprised I had such a good time being it was a sporting event. For me it's about the whole experience. Junk food, fun people, music during the whole game, and lots of people watching.

New Friend

Hey! What a great weekend this last weekend. I saw a hilarious play, met a new friend, and spent a day with Melissa, Adam and Oscar.



First, on Friday Jim and I saw The Little Dog Laughed at Portland Center Stage with Marcia and Michelle. What a fun night of theatre. Brilliant production! Very funny. I am sure it'll be a movie soon, as it was just like watching TV. Those of you who don't go see plays, you must! Nothing like live acting.


Second, on Saturday I spent all day in Downtown Portland with my new friend Takako, who's from Japan. She road Amtrak from Tacoma to Portland. She really should have taken the other transportation company serving Tacoma and Portland, but I won't go into that. Jessica, living in Tac, WA with her husband Steven and two children, asked if I'd entertain Takako during her vacation to the NW of the US, and I did. This was the last leg of her trip. We spent 1.5 hours waiting on Broadway for the Grand Floral Parade. We found our spot early as I thought it would be far more crowded. Sorry Takako. Regardless we got to know each other very well. I am always impressed when someone is funny in another language, other than their own. The Rose Festival parade made me proud to live in such a great city. After the parade we had lunch at the Saturday Market and shopped. I bought some toys for kitties, which they love. Here's a photo of Takako holding the American flag, which was given to me by a charity. Should we be proud of our country? I am proud you all nominated Obama!

Lastly, on Sunday I spent the afternoon with Melissa, Adam and Oscar. What a peaceful day. As a perpetual bachelor I am always overwhelmed when I hang out with a baby or children. Still overwhelmed three days later. What great parents. I've added a photo of Oscar in his pink onesie, which Jim gave to Oscar. Melissa and Adam dressed Oscar this way in honor of my visit. I hope they are okay with me publishing this photo. I really, really hope Oscar won't mind when he's like 18.



Writing this from Hermiston, OR. Sean's road is his home, his home is the road.

Ross the Intern

I've spoken to a few of you about my obsession with Ross (the intern) Mathews. Well here's a video from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he's a correspondent. He's much smaller now from his stint on Celebrity Fit Club. I hope you enjoy. Thank you Adam for showing me the short cut. --Sean

Willis Creek - Broken Bridge Farm

My grandparents bought seven acres of land over 30 years ago in SO OR on Willis Creek Road. The property was known to all of us as just Willis Creek. My Uncle Mike acquired this property about 10 years ago and renamed it Broken Bridge Farm. I am hoping in the future to use it as a commune for the tormented Gays, as a retreat, you know? The Purveyors throughout the years have been my Aunt Toni and her partners, Mike and Family, Lisa and Robert Holt and back again to Mike. This is the land where I learned: to drive, shoot a gun (yes, a gun, I was actually a good shot), ride a horse (Ancara) bareback I must say, and to garden tomatoes and many more veggies. Short story: this is also where I learned to use a lawn mower, one of those self propelled mowers that pulled me along as if it was driving itself. Well I mowed over one of the recently planted evergreen trees (if you look at the one handed photo of me you can see the mature trees in the background). Grandpa Lou flipped out (first time I saw him angry), which caused Grandma Ann to come rescue me from the wrath while I was crying down at the barn. In hindsight it was a lesson well learned, as I now know how much that trees cost. I instantly learned how to control the mower. A few weeks later they bought a riding lawn-mower, which was good. Anyway, Mike still lives down here and there are still a lot of broken bridges. I took the weekend off from work to visit family. And my boss Kim allowed me one more day, which I appreciate. So I am writing this on a Monday.

I am actually camping down here to have a place to stay while I am visiting my 2nd cousin. You read about Laylee (which Grandma “Aunt” Debra is calling her) in the blog below. Re: My first retraction: Lisa Piccolotti’s new last name is Holt due to her marriage to Robert Holt, who is a great guy, he reminds me of my dad in a lot of ways. Don’t you all think she should keep the name Piccolotti? I think so, although this may be the feminist coming out in me.

The fascination and passion for this place has been rekindled for me. I have learned another lesson all these years later: We must all be conserving water and other necessities, as I am hauling water to the toilet in the house and filled the water tank in the trailer twice. Think about how much water you use. It is taking me one 5 gallon bucket to fill the tank. Oh and also, kill your television. There is no telly or cell phone service down here, which has actually made the weekend quite peaceful although I am missing NPR. I've been listening to SAM. . . one of those nation wide radio broadcasts of pop music. Horrible morning show!! Much love to you all.

Sir Tom Jones

How much fun was this! Panties thown on the stage and all! I couldn't stop laughing. Here is a photo of me and the ladies Sue, Cindy, TC and Barb. This viewpoint was inspired and created by TC. I Must buy one of his CD's soon.