"Life is partly what we make it, & partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” Tennessee Wiliiams

The Bagdad Theatre (note the spelling), a great old movie house from Hollywood's Golden Age, on Hawthorne Blvd. Part of my "Steve's Tour".

I have only been blogging since January, but I have already made some really great friends & acquaintances with fellow bloggers. They are a very interesting & diverse set of characters. Earlier this summer, I met the fascinating, handsome & talented Will of Designerblog & his equally charming husband Fritz. I had worried a bit about loosing the magic or possibly disappointing Will by meeting in person. While on a visit to meet his brand new granddaughter in nearby Salem, we spent a lovely summer evening in our Boys’ Fort, getting to know each other & staying up late telling theatre stories. It was a lovely visit & I feel blessed to have new friends that live in New England. I look forward to seeing their house & compound some day.

The reservoir at Mt. Tabor in SE Portland. Mt. Tabor is a city park in a derelict volcano cone right in the middle of Portland.

Another blogger who I read every day- Mark of Tales Of The Sissy had introduced us, via email, to his good friends Jamie & Michael who were new to Portland after relocating from Washington DC. We had enjoyed sharing food & drinks with these 2 young men this summer. It is invigorating for 2 old guys to make friends with the younger set. They are a fun, opinionated & funny couple. Last night, we took the bold step of meeting blogger Mark & his handsome husband- Joe, who are visiting Portland from the Delaware seashore. We had marionberry martinis at the boy’s house in NE Portland & then went out for Thai food. Yesterday, I took the out-of-towners on a tour of “Stephen's Best of Portland”. I never enjoy my adopted city more than when showing it off to visitors. So far, meeting fellow bloggers in person has been an extra special treat. I enjoy hearing the stories of other people, their lives & experiences, & it is a really lovely to put a face, indeed a cute face, to the writer of a blog I read almost every day.

A "must" on any tour of Portland is the stunning Japanese Garden.

"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."
Tim McGraw