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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2015)
Vendors Street Roots • Sept. 25-Oct- 1,201« Page 6 VENDOR PROFILE Ambush Poetry by Dan Newth Brad Neal When you’re standing at a bus stop Someone breaks into rhyme That’s Ambush Poetry It’s not about the poet or imagery of the rhyme. It’s about communicating an emotion or state of mind. That friend or stranger internalizes. I do it when I sell papers talk with a clerk in a store or meet a stranger in the dark while looking for a place to sleep The response is usually surprise and then a smile, but it might be a threat of violence! That’s Ambush Poetry Answers to puzzles on page 15 3 N 9 I ^(g n CONTRIBUTING WRITER he waterfront where you might find Brad Neal today is a long way from thé waterfront where he spent his time as a kid. Brad grew up in rural Missouri. “My mom and I were bom in the same town,” he said. “I grew up working on a farm. It was the family thing.” * While Brad remembers being worn out from the work, he said he learned a lot from being a part of a self-reliant family. “We especially had to rely on ourselves during the winter when you couldn’t reach anyone else because of the icy hills.” During the summer, Brad would escape from the farm.* “AU I had to do was walk down a big hill through the tree line, across a field and through the set of trees, and there was the river. I have a lot of memories there.” The setting was idyllic, but Brad struggled with living in a small town. . “Growing up in Missouri was one of the best and worst experiences of my life,” he said. “I didn’t really fit in there.” Brad described himself as an idealistic kid with a different way of thinking than the people around him. “Everyone was set in their ways,” he said. Brad didn’t fit the mold, and he faced - btrhymg^and-r reputation that was liaidto’*" break out of in a place where everyone knew one another. At his high school graduation, Brad remembers thinking, “Why did I put up with this?” and he decided to chart his own path. After living in several Midwestern states, Brad made his way to Oregon five years ago. He has been in Portland the past six months, and he has finally found a place where he can have his own way of thinking » HH lv ' * ■Or introduced Brad to electronic music and he realized “I want to do this.” While music is Brad’s biggest passion, he doesn’t want it to be his job because “that wouldn’t make me happy.” He gives all his music away. “Music should be a free art,” he said. “It’s like graffiti artists; they’re not . looking to make a buck off of something. They just want to show HL art I think that’s the way it should L be.” While Brad continues to pursue bis music, he also plans to go back ■T to school. He’s not sure what he will study, but he wants to get the credentials to get a career that “I can stand long enough to provide a better life for my daughter. That’s all I care about It’s not about me ■■■ anymore.” As Brad prepares to I return to school, Street Roots has become a classroom for him. | “You hear a lot of I people talk, and you I can tell a lot of people are from different places, JB and that is a j* positive By experience f because you are I always learning,” r Brad said. “That’s ■ what I like about being here at Street Roots: learning.” JE _ Brad loves the OB openness he’s found here in contrast to his ■ hometown, and that is ■ what he hopes to receive J from others. “Don’t ever judge a |k book by its cover,” he ■ said. “Not everything is what it appears to be, ever.” k ■B HF HP IHHk y w 3 a) a (3 n y d o « j 3 n s s v 3 1 H r X iai 1 1 V (W| H Z ignmiDiDiDD ) H li M A V a. >i o V Â BY SCOTT JACKSON and that is not stuck in the past. Brad particularly loves Portland’s music and art scene. He enjoys the experimentation. “If you just try, you can find people doing really interesting stuff all A over the place,” he said. A musician SM himself, Brad rails jQ| against the commercialization of music and W believes “music is starting to lose its touch.” In school, a Jj^H friend N V d 10131® N X O (~l O N d w o n d o i wo .1. a o 1 V i o COFFEE CENTRAL CITY Out of Luck? S)xinJi.uulLSb»fMd. Sourcing & roasting craft coffee to benefit programs at Central City Concern. IN STORES Free Counseling for Gambling Problems Call 503-239-5952 Ö«adia New Seasons Market, Whole Foods, Food Front Cooperative Grocery, Green Zebra, Chuck's Produce and Will Leather Goods. AT YOUR OFFICE Interested in serving Central City Coffee at your office? Get in touch with us and we can help you make that happen. 503226.7387 ON OUR WEBSITE Buy Central City Coffee online and have it shipped directly to you or a friend. Follow our Facebook page for updates and specials. centralcitycoffee.org facebook.com/CentralCityCoffee coffee@ccconcern.org VENDOR WORK ADS Farmer Shaun: If. you need gardening, clean-up or any general labor services call Farmer Shaun. 971-222-9938.
