Dear Oregon-
Happy anniversary! No, I didn't get you anything. What do you have for me? Bupkis. Fine. At least we're even.
So normally I don't acknowledge you so much as I do just plain Portland, claiming as I did in my 10th anniversary post entitled PORTLAND IS MY LAND. I'm sure the rest of the state feels a bit slighted. Sorry. It's like having a favorite child. Mike and Carol Brady probably preferred a kid or over the other in their bunch. (Peter seemed to be a bit of a dick and don't get me started on Cindy)
The harsh truth of the matter is that I've never lived in Portland. Oh, I say I do, but it's a big fat frickin' lie. I've worked in Portland for much of the two decades I've been here. I actually made an effort to make that my location of choice. But damnation alley, I'm stuck out here in the 'burbs like a wood tick in the coat of a collie. I've resided in Beaverton of all bloody places for the first ten years and Hillsboro after that. Before you go scrambling off to Google Maps and I lose you for good because you're bound to find a link there to something better like, well, anything, I'll merely inform you that Beaverton and Hillsboro are west of Portland on the way to the coast. Okay? They house Nike, Intel and a bunch of blithering idiotic suburbanites who won't get out of my goddamn way no matter how red in the face I get from screaming at them to do so OR ELSE (There's nothing to back that up besides intense scorn, but it makes me sound tough) But here I am and here I'll stay because for the time being, that window has closed even though it's not locked. I've made it work and it works for me. There's more out here than meets the jaded eye. That's my rationalization and I'm sticking with it.
Hillsboro and the Beave never really won me over like Portland did though, well, eventually. My missive to P-Town (DISPLACED IN THIS PLACE) explained my early struggles. This initial period of adjustment took some time, partly due to me but mainly because the Rose City hadn't found its identity yet. It sat in the shadow of Seattle and boy, was it pissed. Slowly but oh so very surely, Portland found its voice and a star was reborn.
And it's worn its celebrity status well for a long damn time. But with that power came great responsibility (Excelsior! RIP Stan Lee) and all the trappings of celebrity in the 21st century. The late but not so lamented TV comedy PORTLANDIA brought us into the national spotlight more than anything, making us the source of ridicule while forcing us to look at ourselves with something more than ironic scorn. That show hit the bullseye more than a few times but soon tore the target itself into a pulpy mess.
We attracts me to this place more than anything is what PORTLANDIA mocked the best which was that it is a gathering place for people who don't belong anywhere else due to their eccentricities, uniqueness, arrested development and downright freakishness. Kindred spirits (and lost souls) abound in a place that actually encourages us to belong to a club that would have us for members. Sure, we go way out of our way in our pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of quinoa,but when we find it, we nail it. The food scene alone is a testament to that and has us a destination to rival in the United States. It can be a little too precious sometimes, but so what? It's not always just the journey. The destination ends up being oh. so sweet.
What's been good for Portland been good for the state, though the opposite is true as well. The problems that have accumulated in the course of these growing pains have been painful to endure and have been ignored to the point of crisis. Affordable housing and homelessness continue to increase without any viable solutions to help stunt their growth. Crime has grown to an insufferable degree and political dissent, understandable or not, has become a way of life. In the midst of this is a growing concern that the weirdness we celebrate has created a mutant strain from unfortunate side effects like something from (gasp!) Big Pharma. Hopefully we can weed out the chaff and find our way before we ruin what we've built and become merely a meme come true.
Twenty years ago, we came here for family, one that I cherish with every fiber of my being and found
another in the process. I'm pleased this is where we landed in this, the land of soy milk and raw honey, not to mention legal weed, fantastic beer, amazing food, ultra grand vistas, a political philosophy I can tolerate and geeks aplenty all this in this crock pot I'm proud to call home. It really is where the heart is, to be so painfully sincere yet without a touch of irony, thank you very much. I do love it here, Oregon. I have a lot of you to explore and a desire to do so if I don't procrastinate too
much before I kick. I believe I'm here to stay and proud to be, dadgum it. You've been good to me, but it hasn't been easy. I reckon that's the point, isn't it? C'est la vie.
Happy Anniversary to us, Oregon
Your pal
Scott
Happy anniversary! No, I didn't get you anything. What do you have for me? Bupkis. Fine. At least we're even.
So normally I don't acknowledge you so much as I do just plain Portland, claiming as I did in my 10th anniversary post entitled PORTLAND IS MY LAND. I'm sure the rest of the state feels a bit slighted. Sorry. It's like having a favorite child. Mike and Carol Brady probably preferred a kid or over the other in their bunch. (Peter seemed to be a bit of a dick and don't get me started on Cindy)
The harsh truth of the matter is that I've never lived in Portland. Oh, I say I do, but it's a big fat frickin' lie. I've worked in Portland for much of the two decades I've been here. I actually made an effort to make that my location of choice. But damnation alley, I'm stuck out here in the 'burbs like a wood tick in the coat of a collie. I've resided in Beaverton of all bloody places for the first ten years and Hillsboro after that. Before you go scrambling off to Google Maps and I lose you for good because you're bound to find a link there to something better like, well, anything, I'll merely inform you that Beaverton and Hillsboro are west of Portland on the way to the coast. Okay? They house Nike, Intel and a bunch of blithering idiotic suburbanites who won't get out of my goddamn way no matter how red in the face I get from screaming at them to do so OR ELSE (There's nothing to back that up besides intense scorn, but it makes me sound tough) But here I am and here I'll stay because for the time being, that window has closed even though it's not locked. I've made it work and it works for me. There's more out here than meets the jaded eye. That's my rationalization and I'm sticking with it.
Hillsboro and the Beave never really won me over like Portland did though, well, eventually. My missive to P-Town (DISPLACED IN THIS PLACE) explained my early struggles. This initial period of adjustment took some time, partly due to me but mainly because the Rose City hadn't found its identity yet. It sat in the shadow of Seattle and boy, was it pissed. Slowly but oh so very surely, Portland found its voice and a star was reborn.
And it's worn its celebrity status well for a long damn time. But with that power came great responsibility (Excelsior! RIP Stan Lee) and all the trappings of celebrity in the 21st century. The late but not so lamented TV comedy PORTLANDIA brought us into the national spotlight more than anything, making us the source of ridicule while forcing us to look at ourselves with something more than ironic scorn. That show hit the bullseye more than a few times but soon tore the target itself into a pulpy mess.
We attracts me to this place more than anything is what PORTLANDIA mocked the best which was that it is a gathering place for people who don't belong anywhere else due to their eccentricities, uniqueness, arrested development and downright freakishness. Kindred spirits (and lost souls) abound in a place that actually encourages us to belong to a club that would have us for members. Sure, we go way out of our way in our pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of quinoa,but when we find it, we nail it. The food scene alone is a testament to that and has us a destination to rival in the United States. It can be a little too precious sometimes, but so what? It's not always just the journey. The destination ends up being oh. so sweet.
What's been good for Portland been good for the state, though the opposite is true as well. The problems that have accumulated in the course of these growing pains have been painful to endure and have been ignored to the point of crisis. Affordable housing and homelessness continue to increase without any viable solutions to help stunt their growth. Crime has grown to an insufferable degree and political dissent, understandable or not, has become a way of life. In the midst of this is a growing concern that the weirdness we celebrate has created a mutant strain from unfortunate side effects like something from (gasp!) Big Pharma. Hopefully we can weed out the chaff and find our way before we ruin what we've built and become merely a meme come true.Twenty years ago, we came here for family, one that I cherish with every fiber of my being and found
another in the process. I'm pleased this is where we landed in this, the land of soy milk and raw honey, not to mention legal weed, fantastic beer, amazing food, ultra grand vistas, a political philosophy I can tolerate and geeks aplenty all this in this crock pot I'm proud to call home. It really is where the heart is, to be so painfully sincere yet without a touch of irony, thank you very much. I do love it here, Oregon. I have a lot of you to explore and a desire to do so if I don't procrastinate too
much before I kick. I believe I'm here to stay and proud to be, dadgum it. You've been good to me, but it hasn't been easy. I reckon that's the point, isn't it? C'est la vie.Happy Anniversary to us, Oregon
Your pal
Scott
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