April 28th 2011

Well it's one of those strange times really - one of the things I have come to learn with this project is that approaching a stranger a) takes a lot of confidence, b) can be soul crushing when they say no, c) strangers say "no" a lot more when the weather is bad in Portland. Which these days seems to be every day! The rain also makes strangers a lot less talkative, which is a shame, I love collecting the anecdotes of my strangers.
However, less of the complaining - I'm up to stranger 81 and it's exciting times, over 4/5 of the way there and soon I won't know what to do with myself. Hopefully, I'll wrap the project up this weekend at Saturday Market, but lets just see what the weather's like first....

xoxo - Sian

Stranger 81:
Name: Thomas
Age: 33
Thomas was playing the buckets outside of Pioneer Place. He somehow managed to match the beat to our conversation, timing it perfectly so every time either one of us spoke, he took a smooth pause to listen or answer. I was impressed with his skills. 

Stranger 80:
Name: Andrew
Age: 27
Andrew was too absorbed in his music to stop and talk properly, but his guitar playing was beautiful so I didn't mind. 

Stranger 79:
Name: Officer bill
Age: 62
Officer Bill is a retired police officer who worked in the police force for 32 years, having worked in LA, San Jose and as a US Marshall. He is currently working as Portland Patrol downtown.

Stranger 78:
Name: Kristina
Age: 23
Kristina was meeting up with some old friends at Pioneer Square when I took her picture. She was happy to pose, however seemed slightly frazzled as she was making all the plans for the day.

Stranger 77:
Name: Mikaela
Age: 17
Mikaela would like to write and illustrate children's books when she grows up. 

Stranger 76:
Name: Nikki
Age: 16
Niki currently lives in Vancouver, WA and has never moved before. She hopes when she goes to university that she'll be able to do a year abroad. 

Stranger 75:
Name: Larrie
Age: 53
Larrie is a high school photography instructor who was at Pioneer Square today taking pictures of "The Incredibells" hand bell fundraiser. He has been in both an avalanche and a terrorist attack. He travels a lot, and he said that traveling can sometimes come with a price. 

Stranger 74:
Name: Samantha
Age: 15
Samantha really likes cows. 

Stranger 73:
Name: Matthew
Age: 15
Today, Matthew was setting up to ring handbells downtown. He really likes the colour red. 

Stranger 72:
Name: Gregory
Age: 18

Stranger 71:
Name: Ryan
Age: 18
Ryan was helping his handbell group, "The Incredibells" set up for their fundraiser in Pioneer Square. 

Stranger 70:
Name: Stephen
Age: 16

Stranger 69:
Name: Michael
Age: 45
Michael had just dropped his car off at the car services down by Lincoln and was taking the MAX downtown - he felt a bit weird having to use public transportation as he normally takes his car.