Portland, Maine
Name: Glen Mies
Age: 26
Occupation: Gallery Assistant
Location: Portland, ME
Hometown: Kingman, KS
Transportation(what is transportation like in your city?): There are buses that I’ve never ridden on and taxis. I drive my truck all over the damn place. I like to drive. Everybody else here is a crappy driver, so it’s frustrating.
Food spot: There is an Eritrean restaurant that is tasty and a few good diners. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find good Mexican food here.
Drink spot: Ruski’s Tavern is the best bar that we’ve found so far. It is small and not loaded with cool people. They have a bright green women’s bathroom and a great jukebox, filled with butt rock. Also, they serve gigantic hamburgers and good fries!
Chill spot: I suppose Arabica is a good place to relax and has good coffee, but I’m not too big on chilling, personally.
Shopping gems: There are many bookstores, one of the best being Longfellow Books. If you’re looking for clothes, I would recommend Material Object and Find. There is a large immigrant population here, so there are several obscure little shopping marts. For example, if you’re in the market for pig’s blood, I know from a friend that you can get all you ever wanted from the Halal Butcher. I hear they don’t like to serve women, though. There is also a gallery, right downtown, that supposedly sells good weed.
Favorite thing/place/person/location: My favorite thing, here, is my truck. My favorite place is the apartment that Lisa and I will be moving into in a couple of weeks. It is right downtown and much bigger than the one we live in now. It also happens to be in an old hotel, named the Wadsworth. I like the fact that we will be living in the Wadsworth. Lisa is my favorite person, here. I also have a great professor, Peter Schellenberger, who makes photographs with old dinnerware that contains radioactive material. I suppose my favorite location is downtown and Old Port, which are adjacent and full of little shops and eateries and the occasional teenage pregnant girl with a cigarette in her mouth.
What is the character of the people/landscape in Portland, ME? There are a lot of homeless and poor people around. Lots of motorized Rascal scooters putting about the downtown strip. In the summer, you see many young men without shirts and who move about as though they are high on drugs. There are also a large number of African immigrants. During the school year, you will see art students smoking cigarettes. Most of the folks that I have interacted with have been friendly and helpful.
