Haagan Dazs Halo

Peterson’s customer Brian Wagner is a hero and a life saver. On August 27th, 2008, Brian rescued a blind gentleman who was engulfed in black smoke, from his 4th floor apartment, just seconds away from certain death. Please take a look at a close up shot of what the Fire department had to say about his actions by clicking this link here.

Thank you Brian.

The gentleman pictured below, is Andreas. He stopped in our Morrison store last night to say hello to his brother Xavier, who was working security detail at the time.

The minute I saw this amazing haircut, I asked him if I could photograph it so I could share it with the world!

I mean what a work of art! The individual who created this masterpiece is named Demarcus, a.k.a. “Luck”, who is attending the Beau Monde Beauty School right now. So if you want your own masterpiece, that’s how you can get ahold of him.

Andreas is currently attending Community College, and tells me he divides the rest of his time between working, sleeping, and playing football.

Thanks Andreas!

It seems everyone in Portland comes from somewhere else. (There are a few natives left.) Some come from big cities or exotic lands. Others come from places that elicit a “What? Where?” 

How about Woods Cross,Utah?

Beth Mitchell arrived in Portland October 20, 2005. She will be heading home October 19, almost exactly three years later. Beth will be missed. She brings a smile with her when she visits, and leaves one with whomever is working. Beth plays scratch-off lottery tickets, and does pretty good. She always brings her ID, because no one believes she’s really 31.

Her favorite games are the $2 Crosswords. On this particular night, the scratch-off rack was sold out of Crosswords. 

“Lucky there’s a Family Guy!”…

Come back and see us anytime, Beth. We miss you already.

Cool Customer

We would like to introduce you to one of our all time favorite customers. Her name is Riki Dennis. 

If you look up the word ‘nice’ in the dictionary, this is what you’d find. 

Actually, to describe Riki as just being a nice person is actually an understatement. Riki is truly an inspiration. More on that later.

Riki comes in our Yamhill store several times every day to refresh her diet soda at our soda fountain, maybe pick up a snack or two, plus she usually grabs her boss something “chocolatey” like a Dove® candy bar or something comparable.

She works right across the street at TicketsWest, hooking people up with tickets for a wide variety of artists, venues and events. So for example, if you want to go see ‘The Faint’ playing at the Roseland.

Press Play to listen to music clip by ‘The Faint’.

Or you just can’t miss the ‘Monster Truck Spectacular’ like the one pictured below.

Want a good time hockey puck? How about tickets to see the Portland Winter Hawks in action.

Or for some good clean family fun, TicketsWest can get you in to see ‘The Peking Acrobats’ performing one of their many jaw-dropping acrobatic stunts like the one pictured below.

Then you need look no further than TicketsWest for all your Concert/Event/Venue needs!

Okay, so why plug TicketsWest so profusely? Because Riki works there. And we want Riki to continue working there, because there is this other ticket agency that I won’t name, but everyone knows about that is monopolizing the entire Ticket buying experience, and they are swallowing up all the little guys that are also trying to make a living selling tickets, and yes TicketsWest is owned by Red Lion Hotels, but still. So the longer they continue to stay in business, the longer Riki will be making her frequent visits. And, as mentioned, We like Riki. Did we mention that she is a really nice person? 

Originally from Southern California, Riki moved here to attend Portland State University and has since obtained a Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies, and is now working on her Doctorate in Education.

As an aside, Riki is Transsexual. 

Yes, She used to be a He. But it was obvious to her that she is a she and now she is, and always was. And now she is much happier that way, and we are happy that she is happy. And that’s the way things should be don’t you think?

Now, as to why she is so Inspirational.

Example, yesterday evening at the Yamhill store, I was talking with Riki about what topics I should include for this writing. First thing she said was “dumpy, middle-aged transsexual” with a big grin on her face. I said, “should I write that?”, she said “sure why not.” Her sense of humor shows no bounds.

So as we’re discussing, another customer overhears us talking, we’ll call this particular customer ‘Mrs. Narrow Mind’. Actually, she wasn’t even a customer, she was merely standing inside of our doorway to get out of the rain while waiting for the MAX train. So, Mrs. Narrow Mind was a woman about a decade or two older than Riki, and it’s obvious by her body language that she does not approve of Transsexuality, and it wasn’t long before she started interjecting her opinion into the matter. “Oh” she says, “You mean they let gay transvestites attend college?”  One insult after the other comes out of Mrs. Narrow Minds mouth. And here is one of the things so inspiring about Riki. All those insults, and Riki was as polite as can be, responding to each and every insult as if she were actually being complimented. And not in a condescending way either, but in a genuine and heartfelt manner, without a trace of malice. 

I can only imagine the turmoil a person goes through growing up labeled as one particular gender, but knowing deep inside that they are really of another gender. Some are fortunate to have friends and family that understand their situation and love and respect them just the same. Those are the lucky ones. Then there are the times when transsexuals have to deal with people being rude and objectionable (like Mrs. Narrow Mind).

After experiencing all the things Riki has had to go through, and maybe still goes through, and isn’t one bit jaded, and is in fact such a genuinely warm, friendly, and caring person is what I find truly inspiring. 

Thank you Riki.

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.
       - Helen Keller

This is our friend Terry. He works the night shift at Michelle’s Piano Co. here in downtown Portland. Terry has lived in the Portland/Vancouver area for about 12 years now, and says he likes living here because it’s a fairly clean city compared to most.

Working the night shift can be a daunting task, and to help get through those long nights, Terry doesn’t mess around. He goes straight for the hard stuff, as evidenced below.

Terry throwing caution to the wind.

Coffee House Roasters “Hi-Rev”® Cappuccino contains something like 101 mg of caffeine per 8 oz. serving. So it definitely packs a pretty good punch. And for those 2 or 3 people out there that don’t do the caffeine thing, there is also French Vanilla and Hot Cocoa to warm up your innards. Which will come in handy when we start getting cold weather again here in the NW.

And if you do decide to go for the Hi-Rev® Cappuccino, perhaps you will hear a song like this bouncing around the inside of your skull, as I often do, after consuming mass quantities of caffeine.

The very first thing that this particular post requires for maximum effect, is for you to play the Youtube video that is below. While this video is playing, then continue reading. Or course you don’t have to, but we think it adds to the ambiance of the post.

Now, as Dean Martin serenades, take a look at this handsome couple who happen to be Newlyweds. Click on their picture to biggify.

Can’t you just feel the loving glow radiating through your monitor? 

Here we have Matt & Anna Smart. They stopped in to our Morrison store on Tuesday night to buy a few things on the fly, as they were in quite a rush to get wherever they were going. Aaaaahhh Love, isn’t it grand?

Both Matt & Anna are native Oregonians and have lived here their entire lives. 

When asked what qualities they most appreciated about Portland, they replied “Public Transportation.” which seems to be a popular answer. They also said they liked the fact that there are a lot of “open people” here in Portland. Which is good news for us, because we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We hope that means they like us too. =)

As promised, below is more video footage of local musician Timothy Horner playing the violin.

He plays his violin almost every day for the passersby and people waiting for the MAX at the SW 10th & Yamhill MAX stop.        

I have recently become acquainted with Mr. Horner after having listened to his music quite frequently as he plays right around the corner from Peterson’s on Morrison.

He tells me that donations for his music have gone down drastically in the past few weeks. So I felt compelled to share his talent with everyone in hopes to gain him a little exposure and possibly help him acquire a gig or two.

Timothy provides Violin Lessons, if you are in the Portland area and would be interested in contracting his services in this regard, you can email him at: portland dot violin dot lessons at g mail dot com.

He also does gigs and can play a variety of styles to fit your needs to suit the occasion.

Video shot in Downtown Portland, Oregon. SW Yamhill & 10th, across from the Downtown Library.

Sept. 2008

 
Violinist Timothy Horner from geno heleen on Vimeo.

 
Timothy Horner Violinist from geno heleen on Vimeo.

Timothy Horner from geno heleen on Vimeo.

The night shift at Peterson’s is an interesting time. As we have said before, folks from all walks of life come through the door. Upper crust, working stiffs, city folk, suburbanites, the residentially challenged; they are all welcome. In the evening we see a lot of service industry people, as well as clubbers looking for a good time.

Alx is a self-described ‘temp’, both in employment and residence. He spends time between Oregon and Alabama, and stops by to catch up on the latest when in town.

When I asked Alx what he liked most about coming to Peterson’s, he said “The interesting people you see here.”

Scary? Nah. Although if you walked in and saw Alx reading the latest issue of Fangoria, you might do a double-take!

Peterson’s started as a newsstand and morphed into more of a convenience store as time went by. We still carry a large selection of current magazines, as well as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Need this week’s tabloids? We got ‘em. (Sadly, no more Weekly World News. RIP. Waah!) Sports, entertainment, outdoor, automotive? Check. On your way to somewhere and want puzzle books and crosswords? We have a whole rack full.

Fangoria and Heavy Metal too, unless Alx gets there first!

This is Mary, a long time customer of Peterson’s.

Originally from Pendleton, Oregon, Dave now resides in downtown Portland. He usually pops in at least once a day, and has done so for the last four years.

  

Violinist Timothy Horner, originally uploaded by genogenogenogeno.

This talented musician visits our Morrison store frequently. Usually after performing for a few hours around the corner for the waiting Max riders and people passing through. He has soothed my eardrums many a time while on my lunch break, and I always find my state of mental being relaxed and realigned when I return to work afterward.

As part of our mission to promote the local community, we are honored to introduce you to this fine musician. You can usually find him along SW Yamhill, between SW 9th and 10th, across from Art Media and next to The Real Mother Goose.

We will be posting more video footage of Timothy Horner playing his violin in the next few days. But for now here is a quick sample.