If you live in close-in South East Portland you may have seen Arianna Cassiday running around the Hawthorne area Prefontaine style. She lives with her boyfriend Matt in the neighborhood. Like many people in our fair city, she's a transplant and an onion. The Brown graduate and Fulbright scholar is currently pursuing post baccalaureate studies at Portland State Univeristy in preparation for medical school. Today, SALDANATION is happy to talk to AC and peel away some of her many layers.
SALDANATION: AC, you hail from the Bay Area. You relocated to the Portland area within the last year from New York City by way of South America. SALDANATION has referred to Portland as America's sofa. How do you feel about the place?
AC: I'll be honest: for the first several months I was here in Portland, I was underwhelmed. It was February when I got here, and it was gray, and everyone rode their bikes happily in the rain and I just couldn't understand why. I couldn't see what all the fuss (and there was so much fuss!) was about. But then the flowers came, and the friends came, and then it was summer (and, wow, Portland can really do summer), and I realized I was beginning to really like it here. Part of what I realized was different was that things were milder here in Portland. My relationship with NYC was full of intense love and intense frustration. It took me a little while to realize that life here is just easier and more even-keeled. It's comfortable, like... a sofa.
SALDANATION: We here at SALDANATION feel it's safe to say that you love words. You studied Classics in college and you even worked in publishing. Why med school?
AC: I do love words. I wrote my college essay about reading the dictionary. I studied Classics in college because I loved the ways that in Latin, and even more so in Greek, the structures of sentences and of the words themselves in those sentences could convey beautiful nuance. Most of all, I loved the puzzle of translating. Publishing was cool because I got to just read stories and talk about them with people who were way smarter than I. Medicine might seem like a wacky non sequitur, but don't think it's so strange. I love stories and I love puzzles, and I think practicing medicine involves both on a regular basis. I am interested in people's stories, and I find the idea of solving diagnostic puzzles to be really, really exciting. I was also lucky enough to work with an awesome doctor-author when I was at Vintage who was also a really nice person, and she was both inspiring and encouraging.
SALDANATION: Why should men really think about the jeans they wear?
AC: Funny you should bring up men's jeans -- I've actually been thinking a lot about the subject lately. Men should pay attention to both their jeans, and maybe even more importantly, their shoes. Why? I personally think that a guy who puts thought into the jeans and shoes he wears sends a message that he has crossed from Boy Land to Man Territory. I'm not saying the jeans and shoes have to be expensive or have any fancy shmancy labels. I think it's more about caring for one's appearance a teeny bit, maybe admitting that as a proud young man, you deserve the best, and maybe it's time to retire those jeans your mom bought you in 1997. Also, good jeans are sexy. Why would you not want to find a pair that do your butt justice?
SALDANATION: You can run really far. You ran you ran the 2009 Portland Marathon, your first, with a time of 3:39:09 which qualified you for the Boston Marathon. Aside from physical fitness, what was the biggest benefit of your training?
AC: I haven't ever admitted this, but I thought running the Portland marathon was a little anticlimactic; the training was really the exciting part to me. Every weekend leading up to the big race, I was setting a personal distance record. It was powerful. I'd get really nervous on Friday night in anticipation of my big run on Saturday morning. I'd think, ok, wow, 18 miles... Can I do it? What if I die? I honestly feared death. But then I would just do it, and it would be done, and I would be even more alive than before I started. Training for the marathon was the most empowering thing I've ever done. The discipline and ritual of the training taught an important lesson, because I had to constantly have my eye on my larger goals (finishing the marathon, qualifying for Boston), rather than focusing on the dumb little things that stood in my way (uncomfortable weather, early mornings, tired legs). There was also this amazing moment I had during one of my long runs, where my body was getting tired and I felt like i might die, but I was able to say to myself, Hey, get real! You're not going to die. With that realization, I was then able to think to myself, What if you just keep going? Lots of life lessons there about perseverance through misery. So, really, the training was the cool part. I also got some great friends out of the deal. The race itself was was fun, but it was also LONG and, I think, the hardest thing I've ever done. That said, I'm training for another one, which is just over two months away.
SALDANATION: Imagine that you were magically transported to a small medieval village that is being terrorized by a Dragon. The villagers decide you are their prophesied hero. You try and convince them that they are mistaken but then you find out the dragon is made of Mozzarella di Bufala and the villagers are lactose intolerant. What wine do you drink while slaying the beast?
AC: Saldanation, do you know how I feel about mozzarella di bufala?
Let's see... My taste in wine is extremely varied, encompassing a broad array of varietals from around the world. Put another way, I am totally uncultured and pretty much enjoy any vintage that flows into my vessel unless it tastes like death. When I conjure the image of this battle scene in my mind's eye, though, I see myself sipping off of one of those juice boxes full of Bandit. I'd probably go with the Pinot Grigio, since I hear it pairs nicely with mozzarella di bufala.
Would I be allowed to eat the glorious beast after slaying him, or would that be insensitive to the villagers' dietary limitations?
SALDANATION: Eat like wind, Arianna! Eat like the wind.