Salmon Street fountain

During the afternoon break, I took a walk along the river. There were almost as many children running through the Salmon Street fountain as there were last time I was there, although it was typical warm but breezy Portland weather and not the smothering heat and humidity we had last year. It reminded me of warm days in San Francisco, growing up, when on any of the rare days when the thermometer edged above 70 degrees we'd beg to put on our bathing suits and run through the sprinkler until our fingers pruned and our teeth were chattering.

The setup

I was a caterer in a former life, so I have some idea of the enormous amount of work involved in pulling an event like this off. Just plating the food takes time and many willing hands when you have to do it 600 times. Then the plates have to be actually delivered to the tables -- er, beds.

I never worked an event where the tables and chairs had to be built first, though. These beds came from Ikea, so there was a certain amount of assembling involved. Kudos to the team behind this -- we got to just sit on the beds and eat and talk and laugh. They made it possible.

Proof of accomplishment

"(E)steem and admiration of all who behold it until the end of time."

Make it so.

Worldwide waffles

I'm not in the habit of going to bed with strangers. And definitely not in public.

But this morning I found myself in bed with three people I'd just met, in the middle of Pioneer Square in Portland. Not that anyone noticed -- ours was just one of 168 beds full of pajama-clad new acquaintances, gathered to set a world record for the biggest breakfast in bed party.

It was the kickoff for the 2015 World Domination Summit. Like everything else at WDS, it was organized down to the smallest detail. It was a ridiculous amount of fun. And since the beds and mattresses were donated to charity afterwards, it had an element of community service as well.

As for the world record, yes, that's an actual thing. And yes, we smashed the existing record of 388 people with a few hundred to spare (take that, Shanghai!) I know that I always assumed that if I were going to be setting world records, it would probably be something in the performing arts, or possibly track and field. (Major joke here, for anyone who actually knows me.) But breakfast in bed is an area where I have extensive experience, although unfortunately I usually have to make it before I can eat it, and I can honestly say that I performed my record-setting duties with aplomb.

We all had to start eating at the same moment, and then continue to eat the yummy veggie burrito and yogurt parfait for five additional minutes. While remaining on the bed. It was tricky, but all the training paid off, and I'm proud to say I did it. We did it.