Exploratory Search

Finally got out and about in the neighborhood on foot with my camera in tow. I love architecture and I have been trying to take some photos of the buildings around me.. but there's just something slightly depressing about this area. I had thought it several times, but someone reiterated Wednesday night that these apartments are just sterile.
I'm trying to turn my personal space into my own and bring character to it any way that I can. It's just so different moving from an apartment building built in 1910 in northwest portland (I love you, Trinity Place) to an apartment complex that was finished this year.. hey! 2010. Just made that connection. Character comes with age. Apparently, I like mine 100 years old.
I lucked out with my particular apartment. I have a balcony for my herb garden and my bike. I got upgraded to the north building after I thought I was getting the model unit in the south building. (This one is better in so many respects, or so they tell me.)
But the hallways are cold (in the non-welcoming sense) and the leasing staff is.... friendly? but not .... helpful? Case in point: when you get a package, you don't get any sort of notification from the leasing office. They sign for it and put it in a closet. No call, no email, no notice, nothing in your mail box. I think that's weird. If you're signing for something, I think you need to notify the recipient so they can come down and take it off your hands. So much for time-sensitive deliveries.
I guess I won't be overnighting any sashimi from SoCal any time soon.. though that sounds delicious.

Anyway.. so the neighborhood is interesting. There are all of these brand new buildings with their modern architecture and then you have wonderful old buildings like Fred's that have been here forever (and resent all the yuppies moving in) and this sweet storage-type thing.
I just liked this one the best.
It also got way too hot and humid walking around outside. So after about an hour, I gave up and came back home to the air-conditioning.

I'm hungry so I'm going to make myself some chili. mmm-mmm good.

I uploaded the rest of my backblips this afternoon. They start on May 28.