Settling into Portland

Now that I have found a nice shared place I have been seeking out things to do here. I love that whatever you have a passion for or desire to learn there are groups talking about it or doing it where you can connect and plug into.

Unless people out here have never lived in more rural areas or smaller cities in the east I don't think they understand my amazement of this phenomenon. Want to learn how to dance or attend ballroom dancing....there are places to go. Want to attend a talk or lecture on bio-diesel or how to convert your diesel-engine car over to veggie oil power...there are places to get info and groups doing it. Want to learn how to keep your money in the local economy and preserve independent businesses....there are groups educating on this topic and businesses getting involved in "GO LOCAL" programs. Want to learn about paganism or connect with pagans....there are pagan meetings to attend and groups to join. It just goes on and on......

I feel like a kid in a candy store : ) Last week I attended two talks about shopping locally and supporting the local, state and regional food suppliers and how to grow food year-round here and spoke at a nuclear power DOE hearing (the US Dept. of Energy wants to begin transporting US nuclear waste AND foreign nuclear waste into Portland and then transport it by roadway in tankers out to Hanford, WA where plutonium was once produced and where General Electric ran nuclear reactors and where nuclear processing took place.

Hanford is the largest Superfund site in the Western Hemisphere and is costing taxpayers millions and millions of dollars to clean up and make safe the nuclear waste that is located underground dangerously close to the Columbia River. To even think that our government should be allowed to transport more nuclear waste from outside the area when they haven't cleaned up what mess is there is INSANE. There were more than 120 people in attendance in Hood River (the DOE chose to hold two of their 13 nation-wide hearings in remote, sparsely populated cities Pasco, WA and Hood River, OR....for obvious reasons) and most all of them spoke against the DOE's plans. I did speak for my allotted 3 minutes and mentioned the fact that if nuclear power is so safe then why do the nuclear power companies have financial liability protection in the form of the "Price Anderson Act" to prevent them from taking full responsibility for any nuclear accidents that can and have occurred (3 Mile Island & Chernobyl)? I think US taxpayers are pretty tired of bailing out corporations (at least I am). I have owned two businesses in my life so far and no one bailed me out when I was having financial trouble or would even give me a loan without a VERY concise, detailed business plan (if I wanted to apply for an SBA loan).

I believe in capitalism but the problem is capitalism doesn't work. So, it looks like we should look for other economic models that EVERYONE will follow (NO EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE). I am thinking Socialism is the way we should go. I say that because it is Socialism that is saving Citicorp, AIG, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and possibly General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. It is Socialism that gave Europeans FREE healthcare from cradle to grave, FREE education from kindergarten through college, AFFORDABLE housing and mass transit and for most Europeans they get an average of 5 paid weeks of vacation a year. After WWII the western European countries gave all these things to their citizens when they had NOTHING in their banks to cover it. Why then if we live in the richest nation on earth don't we Americans have at least half of what they have??

Oh my.....I digress......I guess I have some things on my mind right now.....beyond just the scare of having nuclear waste being trucked along side me some day while I am driving on I-5 on a nasty, rainy day.

Well, luckily I feel that I live in a region where I feel that I am not alone and that the people around me really care about the same issues I care about and are willing to drive dozens of miles to some remote location on a Tues. evening to speak up for what is right and healthy for our community and planet. I am so lucky to live here.

I am off to learn some history this evening at Portland State University. How exciting!!! : )

Your sexy, smart and caring courtesan,

Emma : )

I'm Back....Online....Not in Fla

Hi everyone!!! Well, it has been a couple weeks since I last posted. A lot has happened in that time as you probably know. I have since moved out west to Portland, OR and the trip west was quite an adventure (if you have been following my blog for a while now....you understand that my life is one BIG adventure).

The day before I was scheduled to fly out to Oregon I changed my mind (a woman's prerogative as you know) and decided to drive west instead. Luckily, I was able to cancel my flight and receive a refund. I had been watching gas prices drop.....a lot.....and after doing the math I found that I could drive across country for as much as my one-way airline ticket (with the added $150 to pay to have my cat sit in her little carrier UNDER my seat....crazy airline fees!!!) cost me.

Not feeling pressured to leave so quickly (after arriving at my family's house a few days earlier from Florida) I was able to go through my personal items and select a few more things I would like to have with me and was able to set up my van for camping purposes. In a few days I was on one of my life-long dreams to drive across the country! Aren't dreams wonderful and even more wonderful to experience????

I drove the southern route going through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma (the picture is from the Route 66 museum in Elk City, OK), Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and up through California to Oregon (stopping in San Francisco to participate in their election day events...they always have so many great proposition ballot measures to vote on....Prop K as you know I supported....and the STILL controversial Prop 8 "gay marriage" issue....I am all for gay people to be able to screw up their lives like heterosexuals to get married (just kidding folks.....you know my sense of humor!!!). No, really....it will happen....whether today, tomorrow or next year......there are far more people in support of gay marriage than not in this country (certainly the young people don't care about preserving the "sanctity" of marriage on religious bases....so it is a matter of time)....we are just too brainwashed by the church to see the silliness of the whole situation.

Anyway, after election day I drove up highway 101 (a WONDERFULLY SCENIC STRETCH OF HIGHWAY along the coast) and revelled in beauty of northern California (the Redwood trees, the coastal beaches, vineyards all along the roadway, funky small towns with their old buildings ...some with the original marquee on them) . Nearing nightfall and still being about 120 miles away from Portland, I decided to treat myself to a luxurious evening in a hotel (I had been sleeping in my van & showering at truck stops for almost a week and was really tired of it). I got a "bungalow" suite overlooking the ocean at a quaint hotel in Gold Beach, OR. The weather was already too nasty to enjoy a beach walk (rainy, windy & chilly) but after having soaked in a warm & relaxing bathtub, I went out for a nice dinner, enjoyed a glass of wine and then cozied up with my cat in my nice big comfy bed with the gas fireplace cranked up. I felt as if I had died and gone to heaven!!!! I realize that as I age my body begins to demand more creature comforts...but I am fighting it all the way : ) heeee heee

So I arrived in Portland the next day and it is now taking me some time to get my life and my needs set up so I can get into the groove of being a "Portlander". I love this city!!!! I am so excited to be here and am already feeling at home! As for being situated for making new male friends here.....that has not happened yet. I am taking my time to feel connected to the people of this wonderful, magical city and to make sure my safety/freedom requirements and my comfort level is such that making new friends will flow smoothly.

Wishing all my friends a lovely fall day!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Emma : )