Occupy the Bus Stop

On Tuesday, at the bus stop, someone had posted three large flyers/posters (approximate size 18"x24").  They were glued to the glass of the bus shelter.  I can't recall seeing this method of posting flyers in Portland.  They are usually stapled onto utility poles.

The three posters were very artistic and well-designed.  All three are from the Occupy movement and you may have seen them around your neck of the woods.

• Poster 1: Rainbow starburst on one side with the text 'General Strike' in the middle.  The other side was black and white with a floral patterned background, and 3 mask faces above the words 'Occupy Jakarta'.  Something like this one:

• Poster 2: Colors of gold and brown on both sides.  One side said, 'Decolonize Wall Street' with a picture of a Native American.  The other side had a large leaf/flower/flame design.  There was more text on both sides, but mostly picture.  Kind of like these:

• Poster 3: The Occupied Wall Street Journal.  I didn't have time to read any of it, but I really like the message on the back side which said, 'The Revolution will not be branded but it will be beautiful.' I like the sentiment.  Here's what it looked like:

On the first two posters, the light shining through blended the images beautifully.  All three were very well-conceived and stylish.  I imagine that you have seen them around your own city or town or on the interwebs.

Today they had been torn down.  Probably not by Trimet, our transit authority, because the glass walls of the bus shelter had not been washed and the ragged remains of the posters were still there.  Whoever tore them down threw the paper on the ground.  What had been beautiful was now simply a mess.  A bigger mess than just leaving them on the bus shelter.  

What prompts a person to do that?  A sanctimonious feeling of righteousness?  Or did they disagree with the message?  I've seen plenty of people who have made it their mission to tear down posters on poles and they do have an air of outrage and smugness about them.  But the people I have seen doing that regard the posters as trash and they put them in a trash bag.  They don't throw them on the ground.  They see themselves as a litter patrol, working on urban beautification.  I realize that not everyone will have the same taste in art and design.  But, if you don't like it and you tear it down, don't throw it on the ground.  Put it in a trash can, you heathen, and don't make our beautiful city trashy.  

You know it wasn't part of the 1% out there eradicating all evidence of the Occupy Movement.  Some maladjusted, hostile, disenfranchised hater who doesn't have anything better to do than rip down posters...  that's just sad.

A couple more things

Yes, dear readers, I've thought of a couple more things to update regarding my perambulations around the Rose City.  I know you are waiting impatiently for updates, I can tell by all of the eager comments you leave...  wait, what's that you say?  You've never left a comment?  Hmm.  You probably don't send your grandmother thank you cards either.  That's all I'm saying (at this point).

But, to get down to bidness...

That Damned Hill

If you worked on that damned Hill, or if you still work upon it, you must remember the two enormous water tanks at the bend in the road, just past the lonely apartment building in the dell.  Yes, I thought so.  Do you remember what they look like?  Ok, obviously large and round, thanks genius!  They were tan with water stains and black mold and frankly they looked shitty.  Now, however, they blend right in to the environment since they have been painted a lovely dark green color.  A color that always make me think "Norwegian Wood", you know, the Beatles song.  In the dark of night, when I am leaving the Hill, you can't see them at all.  The pumping station between them is still tan and stained looking, though.

Hawthorne Bridge/Grand Avenue


If you've crossed the Hawthorne Bridge lately you've noticed the construction in both the east- and west-bound directions.  At the east end of the bridge, the City, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to take out the rather convenient and efficient traffic moving turn lanes.  So, picture this: as you are traveling east-bound over the bridge, and over the elevated street section, you descend to Grand Avenue.  If you were to head north, you would get in the left lane and swoop down in your own turn lane to merge onto Grand.  Well, not anymore.  There's a curb there now and you'll have to queue up with the cars traveling up Hawthorne in order to make your left turn.  Same thing in trying to get on to the bridge in the west-bound direction.  There was a designated turn lane from Grand onto the bridge approach.  These are both being taken out.  I can only surmise that it is because of the east-side streetcar -- even though the streetcar tracks are on the other side of Grand.  I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of the streetcar.  I love public transportation but that damned streetcar bugs me.  They are super slow, for one thing.  The one that traverses the Pearl?  Yeah, you can walk faster than that.  I've tried it.  They might get up a little more speed on streets with fewer pedestrians, but by and large more buses would be a better investment.

Well, that's it for now.  There's probably more going on, but I haven't been keeping good track of things.  I'll do better, really I will.  And so will you.  I know you are reading this drivel; I do check my stats, you know.  Go ahead and leave me a comment!

Oh!  One more thing!  Just got my hair done...  what do you think???