Last night was amazing for many reasons. I got to see several new recently met friends, meet a few new ones in-person for the first time, give Tarot card readings for the first time ever in Portland, and then got filmed for a minute on Channel 8 KGW news when the news van covered the event and interviewed me. So there was a lot of "wow" factor going on. Then walking down Alberta street after packing up my vending table to see the absolute Mardi Gras circus of people, music, art vendors, dogs, and even llamas, it was so much to take in!

I miss Eric so terribly much, and talk to him more often than my minute-based cellular plan will accomodate (oops!), and send him good Portland-based job ads I find that is in his field of work. We talk about the money required for him to move out here, how long that will take, what kind of month-to-month temporary housing he'll have to find until my 6-month lease is up, and what kind of work we'll both be doing, I guess, to make it work out here together. Its one hell of a plan that is formulating, and anything worth doing won't be easy, but we'll figure it out, step by step.

Today I've got a bit of a migraine headache from all of the heat and excitement of last night, so taking it easy, feeling lazy. I have to wake up before 8am tomorrow morning for that retail job interview. So I'll have a nice quiet dinner by myself tonight, do more journal writing, and then get to sleep early. Tomorrow is very busy. I have a job interview at 9am, a meeting regarding Portland Fashion Week at 1pm, and then a Pirate/Zombie party to attend later that evening.

So like, I think the universe is telling me that I made the right choice in relocating to Portland.
Goddess bless, I am blessed, May we all be blessed.
Namaste.

lolz i was on TV tonight...

http://www.kgw.com/video/thesquare-index.html?nvid=385178


that is all...

WHO:        Beatnik Betty (me), the newest Oracle of Oregon! 

WHAT:      Tarot Card Readings for $10 a pop, and some spiritual books for sale.

WHERE:   Radio Room Art Square, 'Last Thursday event', 1101 NE Alberta

WHEN:      Today, 5pm-10pm, or until the heat kills us all.

WHY:         Because I'm new to PDX and want to meet you all. What better way than to read your cards for you....


Read this blog-article written by some peeps (http://TheseGentlemen.blogspot.com) back in the DC area before I left town, and gave some of my final Tarot card readings to friends and strangers.... 

http://enlightened77.livejournal.com/929792.html

MSNBC: Portland’s ‘young creatives’ tough it out
Many well-educated adults willing to stay in hip town even without a job 

I've considered myself a "cultural creative" type of person for many years,
since I learned what the term was. 
It makes sense that I've flocked out here, despite tough times. 
There is a mecca of creative genius here to work with. 
Something amazing will be born from this city.
 

 http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/res/1285732843.html

My friend Mitch doesn't have internet connection in his house currently, so I'm using the WIFI connection at a bar/restaurant up the street from my house, Cactus Jack's.  I'm enjoying a beer and some uber-cheap taquitos for an evening snack while catching up on my computer-related tasks. Everyone is so friendly and out-going here. I've already made acquaintance with a nice young woman here playing lottery games who used to live in Washington DC herself just a few years ago, a GW graduate. Its great to start meeting the neighbors, right?

I arrived late last night, the final leg of my trip being from Seattle to PDX on one of those tiny airplanes that seat less than 30 people. A flying school bus. Mitch picked me up and he took the long way home from the airport, stopping to visit with a friend of his in Vancouver, WA (crazy how its like right there!) and giving me the scenic route home. I looked up out of the car window at the stars and admired in humble adoration the dark sapphire sky. The west coast has the most amazingly grounding feeling to it. For an earth sign Virgo, I'm feeling right at home, nesting in the strong safety of the mountains nearby, and being washed pure by the gorgeous waterfalls that I have yet to see in person, only in postcards.

First, I am adjusting to West Coast Time, relaxing and letting it sink it that I am here, and no longer there. That the airplane trip was one-way. That I just flipped my life upside-down, inside-out. I stopped by the grocery store this morning to pick up a few staple food items for the fridge. Eggs, bread, cheese, yogurt, juice, spinach, onions, etc. I'm going to have to survive on very little for a few weeks as my funds run very tight. My dad will be arriving with the Penske truck and my car towed behind by tomorrow night or Saturday morning. Then I will have to unload, unpack, and get everything organized and settled. I look forward to having my own bed mattress set and pillows and, well, everything else I own. The next item on my agenda of priorities is continuing to learn the lay of the land, getting together with friends who I've connected with ahead of time via internetz, and friends who happen to be in PDX passing through for business who want to get together. Lauree M. will be around this weekend, so hopefully she will be able to stop by before heading back to DC. I'll spend the weekend unpacking and hopefully will be all set-up by the start of the week. That may be ambitious, but we'll see how it goes.

Finally, most importantly, I am following up on all professional leads and hitting the pavement with my resume of experience and looking for a job, any decent job, preferably in my field, to get a stream of income coming through. I can't sit idly on my ass for long, I'm not that type of person. I've always been a worker bee and haven't been without employment since I was 14 years old. I hope to be working, perhaps at least part-time, by August 1st. The jobs I was reluctant to take in DC because they were too low-paying or not in my field are now something I'm more willing to deal with here in Portland, as I won't be rotting away in the humid heat or getting worn down by the pretension and bureacracy. I'm being energized and re-filled as we speak, in fact! The mountains and fresh air and beautiful slow sunset is bringing my aura to life again. Look at me, and I am no longer grey, I am shining silver!

Day #1 is going well. I miss Eric whom is still living his DC-area life in Northern Virginia, and we've talked a couple of times on the telephone, saying we miss each other but also injecting the encouragement and comfort we both need into our words as we speak. The timing of everything was strange for us but then again, maybe its exactly the kind of shocking shift that may be a painful process but has rhyme and reason when all is said and done. Eric has been a great support as I prepared this big life-shift, and although a long-distance relationship isn't what either of us would have ultimately wanted, we see the worth in trying, waiting, working through it until he can work out his own journey here. The Oregon Trail has called to both of us, and I so violently ripped my roots so quickly from where I was to make the change, but I tell him to take his time, think clearly and thoroughly, and make this change the 'right' way. Do all of the research needed and make all of the necessary preparations without tripping over oneself or causing such a shock to the internal system.

I am happy to be here, happy to be living in Portland, in the Northwest, on the West Coast. Its slowly hitting me. Its slowly sinking in that I've made such a life change in such a short time-period. It feels good, joyful, energizing, fulfilling, relaxing, healing, and a break from the uptight tension I've accustomed myself to for the last decade or more. I'm happy I made this brave leap of faith to change the scenery I was trying to function within. I am proud of myself for being brave, for being a pioneer.

I am here, I am woman. No need to roar. Just purring, softly, under the Pacific skies.

I leave Washington DC in just 10 days to relocate to Portland, OR.
I'm starting to get choked up, thinking about all of my friends here, all of the people I love. My stomping grounds, my watering holes, my sacred places.

Breathing heavy, heart pounding.
These moments are amplified as I watch the sand drop through the hourglass.

I'm taking myself, everything I've built, everything I've become, and planting it somewhere new in the hopes that I will continue to grow stronger and be nurtured.

I want to wrap my arms around DC and kiss it on the forehead.
I'll breathe my last goodbyes into the Chesapeake air over the next week.
Then it is time to be delivered into this brave new world I've chosen
and bloom brightly.

OK, so it would be super helpful if everyone who lives in Portland, Oregon (or nearby surrounding areas) could leave a message here and say hello. Also, if you have some LJ friends who also live in Portland area that you think I'd get along with, I'd love some journal recommendations. 

I'm psyched for my relocation. Packing the truck up and leaving July 15. Should arrive in PDX around July 20.