A trip to Eugene, or Why sometimes you just gotta get out of Portland

     I haven't posted much on here of late, due to the fact that I've been out of town in Eugene visiting with my little brother, his fiancee, and my other close friends. So today I thought I'd make up for it by posting an old flyer from my days living in "The Euge", and  kinda talking about why sometimes its a great thing to get out of town for a while. Granted, I didn't drive across the country or anything like that, but even the 2 hours on the road in my new (to me) ride was a much needed break from the day to day of Portland. It was great running into old friends and seeing them making changes and generally improving there lives, and it was super fun meeting my brothers fiancee and staying with them for a few days.
     I'm particularly fond of Eugene, as it was my second "home" after growing up in Why-oming. Its ironic that when I first pulled over, I instantly stopped at the 17th and Lincoln, Cornucopia for a beer and some sketching while I waited for my brother to get off work and take me back to his pad. You would think I would have searched out a new spot, somewhere that I hadn't been before, but sometimes the comfort of familiar grounds can be a nice transition when you haven't been back for a while. This was my longest visit since my girlfriend and I last came down. She was attending a Ukulele Festival, and I was just generally bumming around. That's pretty much what I did this time, but, man, sometimes we all need that.
     We get a little too caught up pushing through projects, goals, work. We get bogged down paying bills, rent, whatever. I wholeheartedly support a quarterly, shit monthly trip to somewhere even if its just for the day. Get away my friends. Remind yourself of why you are where you choose to be, right now. Refresh your memory as to why you enjoyed those past places. Move a little because stagnation serves no one. I miss everyone down there, but I'm happily somewhere else in my life. However, I'm not afraid to admit that without a good stint in the granola, hippie, college town bubble that is Eugene, I'd never be here now, making comics, meeting kick-ass illustrators, and just generally taking my life in a better more progressive direction.  It's a process, a road, if you will, and sometimes it just fun to seek out those old haunts, get drunk with old friends, and appreciate where that stop led you to.

Get out my friends, while you still can!!
Daniel DePaolo