My new place

I recently rented a house in Hillsdale (a small community near Downtown Portland). So this is my first time living alone, ever. Can you believe it? I went from my parents' house to the dorm to living with roommates. Friends have told me that I should never live alone. They know me well enough to know that I am a people person but I have a tendency to isolate myself, bad combination. I must admit that's been true. I REALLY enjoy living alone, maybe a bit too much. :)

Some of you know that I'm a minimalist. I hate buying things and owning things, that's why I lived with people who had everything and I just moved in with my bedroom furniture. I am the anti-consumerist, or at least I USED to be. Lately, I have been a shopping fiend! I didn't even own a set of utensils. I had to start from scratch. It's been stressful and time consuming, but at times kind of fun.

I LOVE Craigslist. I found pretty much all my furniture there. So the other day, I called on a CL ad for a dining room table and chairs. I drove to the east side up to a cute little house in a fun neighborhood. I rang the bell and a tall thin guy, ironically named Craig, answered the door. I went there to look at a dining room table and ended up sitting there for an hour hanging out with this interesting guy. He told me stories of being a chef at the vegan restaurant he owned, rescuing greyhounds from the race track, being beaten up by police at a rally. We talked about politics and tatoos. What he didn't tell me but I found out later is that he's the spokesperson for a national ecoterrorist group! :) I just really enjoyed meeting someone who is living a passionate life trying to make a difference in this world. Of course we differ in our world view and in how to actually make that difference. However, I had to applaud that he not only had deep convictions but that he was willing to take action on those beliefs. Sadly, so many Christians (including myself) are falling into the trap of living the comfortable middle class lifestyle. We don't take the risks and pains to find out what we really were created for. We end up in jobs that we can do instead of passions we can't live without. I know, here I go idealizing again. Anyway, I just think it's fun cuz only in Portland can you buy a vegan restaurant table from an ecoterrorist activist/lawyer/handyman/chef. :)