In keeping with my pledge to give rides to anyone who needs one to try and pay it forward for the semester I didn't have a car . . . there was an email across campus asking if anyone was going to Portland because our visiting artist (here for two semesters from Liverpool, England) needed to pick up some supplies for a faculty art show next week. So I replied that I needed to go and could squeeze it in on Saturday. All I really needed in Portland was to pick up my shoes at the shoe repair. I had dropped off 6 pairs to be polished, waterproofed, re-soled, have taps added, etc. and told the shoe repair guy I would pick them up next time I was in town. I dropped them off on July 2nd! Good thing I wore tennis shoes all summer. But now the school year was starting and I needed some real shoes and they were all in Portland. I really didn't have time to go to Portland 'cuz I needed to get a lot of school work done, but I needed the shoes and Jeremy, the artist, needed his stuff before Monday. So we had planned this quick trip to Portland on Saturday. Then he had a chance to hitch along with the student excursion to New York City. For $45, leave on a bus at midnight Friday, arrive 9am Saturday, take a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (tickets for that were included), split up and do your own thing for the rest of the day, leave at 11pm Saturday night and get back Sunday morning. I had even been tempted to sign up for that price but had decided against it. So Jeremy went on the bus tour and I went to Portland by myself and picked up his package of stuff and my shoes. I arrived at University of Southern Maine at the Area Gallery at the predetermined time and called the number I had been given. "Go on inside and wait in the gallery and I'll meet you there," the security officer said on the phone. So I did and this is what I found. The entire gallery was filled with an exhibit of Jeremy's work and Jeremy's name was painted on the wall! Wowser! I can't wait to meet this guy in person and find out more about him and his work. :-)
BTW, I successfully picked up my shoes as well. They look really great. This guy Steve works out of his garage in a residential area of South Portland. He's really nice and now I know that he does really good work for a reasonable price. After that, I treated myself to a little shopping and got 2 sweaters and a jacket. I just have to get used to traveling 4 hours round trip to run errands.
