Brandon, thanks so much for covering for me!

It didn’t start raining yesterday until 2 o’clock. That left me plenty of time to wander around Pearl, which is indeed a sort of gentrifed ghetto. I just don’t see who is going to be moving into the scads of million-dollar lofts that they’re putting in everywhere. Tax collectors? I spent about about two hours in EM, Everyday Music, which is a massive record store. I found out later that I’d only seen HALF of it. Maybe I can go back. I picked up a really cheap used copy of the second album by Pole.

I had a donut and coffee at Whole Foods and looked through the weeklies. One had a listing for the reading, and the other had a full-fledged quarterpage review of 100SP. The good news: it’s a very intelligent, articulate piece. The bad news: he didn’t exactly like the book. Sample quotes: “… a fascinating concept that is greatly indebted to the ideas of experimental composer John Cage … a reader’s enjoyment hinges on whether he or she demands that a narrative contain a discernable beginning, middle, or end, or, on the other hand, finds pleasure in the very unraveling of the storytelling convention … {100SP} winds up as little more than a gimmicky presentation, in which readers have the option to hit the random play mode on an already disconnected string of episodes.”

Actually, I do agree with some of the things the reviewer brings up, but my whole point WAS to unravel storytelling convention. And I like his review. If I knew nothing about the book, his review would make me want to read it. I think one of the things that people sometimes forget is that when you’re a writer, even a bad review can be thrilling if it’s well-written.

I met up with Kevin Sampsell and we had lunch at this charming little diner called the Byways Cafe. Very 50’s, with old luggage stacked on shelves and a poster for “The Long, Long Trailer.” Good turkey burger. We talked books for quite awhile and then we walked around. It’s insane. Powell’s is four floors and several thousand square feet of books, and yet there are at least three OTHER bookstores within a five-minute walk that are also doing a great business. Apparently, per capita, there are more brewpubs and strip clubs than anywhere else in the US. So these Portlanders basically read, go see a strip show and then have a beer. I bought a few books at Powell’s. I could have spent all day there.

After lunch I was dead tired so I came back to the house and slept for a few hours.

Last night we went to dinner at this old-style Chinese joint called House of Louie and then had cocktails and this ultraswank lounge called East. They were playing lots of good soul music, and I had a drink called the Orchid that I will be mixing up when I’m back in Chicago. We all went to bed eary.

The rain has lifted which means that I can now go for a walk. Elizabeth suggested I walk down 33rd to Hawthorne, a bohemian-type area that also has an amazing pastry shop. A brioche or croissant has my name all over it.