America the Diligent (Weeks 4&5)
So I must say… I pretty much love the North West… I mean I love it a Lot! Three amazing cities, all of which I could probably picture myself living. Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco!
In Seattle we had the fortune of being hosted by the sexy Unicorn Booty boys, Nick and Kevin. I think they enjoyed our company as much as we did theirs. The first night was low key… dinner and geeked-out conversations about comics (Kevin and Nate) and web/video technology (Nick and myself). The next day Kevin sat down with us to do a to share his inspiring story. He spoke about his growing up as a foster kid, being homeless, surviving a serious heart condition, and losing everything in hurricane Katrina. He certainly hasn’t had it easy, but things are looking good for him now… Later that night we had a fundraiser at ‘Lobby Bar’ followed by a night out on the town, ending at R Bar. At some point in the night I was fortunate enough to be introduced to delicious Dusty Hauck of Scenic Boys fame… Much of the night remains a blur but I do recall telling Kevin that I wanted to move to Seattle, and that sentiment is still strong.
Kevin & Nick
Our New Unicorn Booty Bumper Sticker
The following day was spent filming the van video, touring downtown, and grubbing in the seaport market area. We ended the day with apocalyptic mini golf, inside an old prison that’s currently used as studio space for an artist collective. Loads of fun!
Pike Place Market
Smash Putt Apocolyptic Mini Golf
Giant Jenga
Oregon was next, Portland to be exact. My friend Paul back in Philly used to live there and had hyped the city so much that my expectations were high, very high. We arrived with barley enough time for a sandwich and soda before one of our events began. The screening/reading was held at Lent’s Commons, an awesome cafe/multi purpose space, owned by one of Paul’s friends name Ryan. I was quickly impressed with Ryan, not only is he a cutie, but he’s also quite the handy man. Unsatisfied with the projection setup, he grabbed some tools, headed down to the basement and quickly assembled makeshift easel and screen for a projection surface… It was perfect!
Lent Commons Reading/Screening Event
Ryan & Peter
Angelica & Greg
By the end of the event I had met several more of Paul’s friends in addition to some folk that Nathan knew from his Ad agency days. who treated us to dinner at some high-brow asian fusion spot… it was interesting tho I can’t say I enjoyed it. Our next move was to hit the streets… But what is there to do Portland? Strip Clubs of course! First stop was Magic Gardens, a total dive with a couple of surprisingly attractive ladies, not model types but definitely a class above the venue they were performing in. The straight bar didn’t last very long tho… Ryan, Myself, and Nate ushered ourselves over to Silverado. I don’t know what to really say about the place, but if you’re ever in portland for a weekend and you like guys, then I recommend paying the boys there a visit; There’s something for just about everyone. The next couple of days consisted of touring the downtown area, getting a video story from Portland’s Mayor, attending a vigil for the recent rash of suicides, chatting relationships with my new bestie Kathleen, staying a night at a gay retirement community, an event at the ad agency Wieden & Kennedy and yes another visit to Silverado!
Nate with Mayor Sam Adams
Vigil @ Pioneer Courthouse Square (National Coming Out Day)
Kathleen Smiles
On our way to San Francisco we made a pit stop in a town called Ashland for a night. Thanks to our new friend from Wieden & Kennedy, Emily, we had a place to stay… with her mother. Our jaws dropped once we discovered that her mother was also David Fincher’s mother. Seriously! Her name is Clair and she’s one nice lady. She made us breakfast the next morning before sending us on our way.
Claire Fincher
San Francisco was loads of fun. The first was pretty laid back until our van got towed. Some how we managed to block someone’s driveway and for that favor, they had us towed. When all was said and done… we had taken a $500+ hit… WTF San Francisco!?!? That’s a lot of money for being towed… an absurd amount if you ask me. We had one of our better ifd fundraiser the next day @ Lookout Bar. We raised a decent amount of money which was needed to offset the losses from the night before. In addition, in four hours I was there I only paid for one drink… I won’t even try to tabulate the number of drinks consumed. After stopping in this bar called badlands and shutting down Q-Bar, we made a couple of new friends… all in the search for an after party. No Dice… We ended the night at a cheap Travel Lodge that our buddy Kyle from Salt Lake City was staying at. The next day I took some me time and visited my college buddy at his office (yardbarker.com), did lunch, and then wondered around the Market Area… before returning for our reading/screening event at Magnet where we met-up with Kyle and his wonderful mother, Gay Lynn. The next two days consisted of grabbing a couple of video stories, one from the Council Man currently holding Harvey Milk’s seat, Bevan Dufty; visiting the golden gate bridge and finally rounding out our adventure with a tour of City Hall during a SWAT Team hostage exercise. Oh did I mention going to a party called “Cock Fight”? Yep… went to that too!
Our host Torr
Bay Bridge
Yardbarker Jeff & Mimi
Gay Lynn w/ the Pink Boots Kyle
I’m happy to be at the Golden Gate Bridge
Nate with Supervisor Bevan Dufty
Me @ City Hall
On the way out of San Francisco we took in the majestic sights along the Pacific Coast Highway. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
Next Up: Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Grand Canyon, and Alamogordo.
Remember to follow follow more happenings at…
50statestorytour.com
@Diligent
Nick vs USA
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