PDX Pride

And some yarn bombing in Laurelhurst Park where I chilled between events:



So, against my better judgement, I went!

Overall, it was improved from last year. I will post more later. We are in a serious heat wave and the event had one water station, and it was empty and not refilled. There was free coffee. Wine and beer tastings were easy to get to, but I couldn't get near enough the few food carts to see which might have water.

I am pretty toast right now. I did bring a bottle of water, but no way to refill. Afterwards I was so hot I actually went in a nearby water fountain.

Also, a lot of nearby places that might sell water were closed. Chipotle closed early due to 'lack of staff'. I guess that part of downtown is just like that right now. I took the light rail to a Target just because I knew they'd be open.

PDX Pride

Because I'd rather go and have regrets than stay home and wonder.

I went. It was okay. Then, yeah, the heat got to me and it wasn't great. The lack of water was really odd. Some of the food carts probably had some, but the only way to find out was to stand in line and I didn't see people walking around with purchased water. If I had, I would have asked where they got it.

I was dressed in a very unflattering way to help with with the heat, a worn athletic shirt because I knew it would be more comfortable. I looked terrible, but oh well. I was trying to stay cool avoid burning, etc.

They had actual walkways and uneven areas were filled with sand:


Compare to last year:



Obviously the weather helped, but those new walkways would be amazing in any weather.

Also, a lot of things that annoyed me last year where fixed. For the most part, if a trans booth or group was for kids only it was actually made clear... for the most part. The change makes me think this was a problem a lot of people had.

The main problems were heat related. A lot of people running the booths were checked out. One rep mixed up who was in line and who was cutting and got angry at costumers of a well know brand. I walked away from a lot of booths because the people were just done and not playing attention.

I did enjoy the 'Celtic EDM' performance with the ASL interpreter dancing to show the beat because there were no lyrics. I bought some stickers to support my local Rocky Horror Shadow Cast who are still going after all these years. I won a rainbow bracelet with a Trimet (local transit) logo on it at the Trimet booth. Annnd that I am not bothering to post a picture of it or of most things, or even write this in an organized way, yeah, I am still beat from the heat.

After, I went to Target, bought a liter bottle of water and killed it. Then I went to Laurelhurst Park to rest for a bit. There was a performance of Love's Labor's Lost going on. Then I went to Crush's highly promoted block party and like last year it was hilariously crowded. They had a bit more space, but it was also physically impossible to enter the bar or the outdoor area. Then I went home and crashed.