Hazy shades of tofurkey

The Pacific Northwest is wet, grey, and just about freezing this time of year, but that doesn't matter when you're on a road trip with the Lipman kids. Or if you happen to be the Lipman kids on a road trip together. Weather be damned!

Turkey day in Portland: Unceasingly friendly and generous people; a long, delicious meal; a stroll in the downpour; Mad Hot Ballroom; a dachsund named Bill in a soiled argyle sweater.

The day after: Quality hours at Powell's, mecca of me and mine; a quick taste of the rambling, musky Edgefield cellar; a rainy drive to the next state over; David Sedaris on the stereo; Shopgirl on the screen.

Then the sun came out, and someone you know got shutter-happy. My bro and I woke up unrushed on Saturday morning, went for a pleasantly muddy stroll in the park, and made our way to Experience Music Project.

EMP is a Gehry-designed middle finger of a building on the edge of downtown Seattle—part monstrosity, part elegance, it somehow manages to work. Mostly.

Surrounded by a giant baby blue glob and an awkward red glob are swirls of the rich, beautiful, bronze and silver metal that characterizes the entire Bilbao Guggenheim exterior (visit here for more thoughts on that sister museum). The result is like finding a handcrafted ring stuck between two wads of gum. Gross, yes, but worth it.

We spent a while wandering around the streetside exterior, then headed for the main entrance. I'm lucky to have the brother I have for countless reasons, and here's another one: Turns out we're both fascinated by photographing ourselves in reflective surfaces. Here's what that gene made us do for a while:

We also scored on the exhibits they happened to be showing while we were in town. The first decade of hip-hop, a Dylan retrospective, and a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Let me just check my files, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much cooler than that.

And here's one of Avi with the man himself. Ain't they a pair of handsome devils?

Anyone with even a passing interest in music could spend a while at EMP, but we both lost museum steam after a couple of hours. So my good-natured chauffeur and his trusty pickup steed zipped us over to the heart of downtown, sparkly with lights just before dusk, to see the new Rem Koolhaas library.

It's wild. Truly. Here are a few glimpses that don't come close to doing the building justice:


It's just as much of a trip inside as from the street. I only stayed long enough to catch the view from a few floors—and take some pictures of the neon green and rusty red interior that wouldn't do much for you in black and white—but I'm planning to spend some time in there next time I head north.

After our adventures in culture, we had a nice meal at a vegetarian spot in Avi's neighborhood, then took a catnap before meeting up with some displaced New Yorkers for a drink.

Finale: Brunch with my brilliant and beautiful childhood friend Claire and her man on Sunday morning. Then the quick flight home, weighed down by books and wine and a full roll of film.

That's all for tonight's fireside travel tales. Sleep well, and dream of freakish modern architecture all along the watchtower.