Portland Town- Four Hours, Nine Dollars and a Story

IT HAS BEGUN. 
Portland, OR has heard my foot Tambourine. 

Yesterday I went to downtown Portland, OR and playing guitar in Pioneer Square for about 4 hours. I made  a whopping 9 dollars after bus fare. HOWEVER, I met some wonderful people. So, here we go.

This is me, Yuri, and his girlfriend Ika. 

As I found a spot to play in Pioneer Square, I asked this artist if he was cool with me playing a little ways down from him. He said, "Oh yes, I absolutely support the arts in Portland." He comes up to me a few minutes later and asks for my name. He writes it down, and heads back to his spot. 5 minutes later he comes back to me, hands me this: 

WHAT??? How flippin cool is this thing?

He says, welcome to Portland. :) I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said, "Your music is pay enough." -----This is 10 minutes into playing. I could get used to this town. 

SO, Yuri and I talk throughout the day and I find out he is a world traveler who starts little businesses where ever he goes. In Portland, his business is this wire art. He teaches 3 people out on the street to do it, lets them keep the profit their work makes, and eventually he'll move on, it seems, spreading efficient ways for people to make money as he goes. I said, "Its like - give a man a fish and feed him for a day, TEACH a man to fish, feed him for life." Cool stuff. Cool cool stuff. 

Also, he played my guitar like a LUTE

So now is where I just start listing off names. 

---Alex - She was this awesome girl giving out tea samples at Teavo, a tea shop in pioneer place mall. We just started talking about traveling - she's from Arizona, only been in town a month, and was very interested in the show I'm doing out here, Midsummer Nights Dream with Oregon Adventure Theatre https://www.facebook.com/events/472729896095023/ (shameless plug)

---Paul - had a guitar, gave me several tips on where the good spots to play are. Also, he gave me some bubble gum as a tip. 

---Jeff - who gave me two of my nine dollars, Said, "Yeah my name is Jeff, but every one just calls me Moose" haha. 

---Leah - met her about 3pm, she loved my "Betsy" song. She said she comes downtown for drug treatment and she's been clean and sober for a good bit. YEAH! As she was walking away she said, "Welcome to Portland, We're glad you're here!"

Have I mentioned I'm in love with this town yet?

Then there's this guy:

See that yellow sign the guy with the green backpack is holding? It says SMILE on it. He just walked around all day waving it around, making people smile. 

When I realized I had only made 9 dollars in three hours, I decided to start walking around playing 2 song sets for groups of people that looked like they would throw me some dollars, which, usually, is always profitable. I rolled around pioneer square, played 4-5 two song sets for different groups, and had only one more dollar and a free drink coupon for Starbucks. 

SO, defeated, but smiling, I headed to the Willamatte River to find out if there were people hanging out in waterfront park. Which, there were. I played for two more groups of people, didn't make a dime, but, judging by their reactions, made 5 people's days. 

One group recorded me playing a song on their IPhone. They said they'd email it to me, but things like that don't usually come through. SO, if I do eventually get it, I'll post it. 

RIGHT HERE.  

(So lets pretend you just saw me sitting with a bag over my should, a guitar in my lap, my guitar case shooting up over my head on my back, while playing a lovely tune.) 

I hopped a bus, and headed home on the bus, and met a guy named Seth, my age, carrying a Unicycle. Now, if you don't know, I'm learning how to ride the Unicycle. Here is a very informative video of my Progress as of day three, hour four:

Coming along nice eh?

At any rate, he and I started talking about what I was going to do while in Portland. Hit the Gorge, hit the Coast.... and then the guy sitting next to him chimes in. Now there are three people, including myself are having a nice conversation on the bus. It goes on for 15 minutes, till I get off the bus. The second guy gets off the bus with me and we continue to talk as we walk home. He lives less than a mile away from me. 

The moral of this story - is that people here talk. Just like I do. They start up random conversations with random people just for the sake of talking. That's it. WHERE DOES THAT HAPPEN? 

It seems like this town is a bit of a dream come true. 

Alright friends, that's all for now. 

Tonight I go to Voodoo Donuts, tomorrow I go to a busker street festival in Alberta, and Saturday, a Vaudville show. 

If you don't hear from me again.... it's because I've joined the Circus. 

Yours! 

Ryan