Jason Wakefield is ruining Portland.
So, it has been a while since the last post. I have been weary of writing because of the whole homeland security incident. (Don’t know about this? Email me.) I have been wondering if I should write about my adventures with friends and frankly without leaving vicariously through them, I don’t have much to write about. But during this self-imposed exile, I have had some big changes in my life. I moved to Portland, OR. I live alone for the first time. I don’t have the internet yet, and am struggling to make it through each day alone (without internet that is).
So I have been living alone for three days now and it’s an adjustment. I went from a house with four kids to a dorm with 300 to a house with two people I really didn’t like, to a Fraternity with 60 guys, to living with a roommate and I have become pretty accustomed to people being around all the time. It still feels like those times when your parents left for the weekend, and you thought, “yes! I am going to have a blast!” but after the first couple hours of snooping through rooms you shouldn’t, you just get bored. At night you are used to the noises and rustling of people around, and you come to find out that it’s not noises that keep you awake but silence. This is compounded by the fact the contents of my apartment consist of two folding chairs and a blow up mattress.
So about the title:
Let me tell you, I didn’t expect there to be so many hipsters in Portland. They all have greasy hair that covers at least one eye and needs constant adjusting to let people know that life is hard, super tight girls jeans, their belt buckles are off to the side and they are all in bands. If you don’t believe me look them up on myspace. They’re on there. Right now. Really check it out. This will still be here when you get back. I mentioned this to someone I work with and he explains that Portland is the cool city people want to live in because it’s affordable and people can live their lives and be left alone. “Seattle’s cool” someone mentions. I quickly explain how Seattle is over priced…. I am not going to go into the conversation. But the conclusion is that Seattle was cool in the early ‘90s (remember Nirvana, Singles, Flannel, Heroin, Junior High?) but the influx of money from nerdy types wanting to be cool had made it unlivable to cool people so they, and all the strippers, moved south to Portland. Now the nerdy people with corporate jobs want to be cool and are all moving here and inflating the prices, ruining Portland. Sorry.
Oh so if you make it to Portland, let me know. I have a floor.
So I have been living alone for three days now and it’s an adjustment. I went from a house with four kids to a dorm with 300 to a house with two people I really didn’t like, to a Fraternity with 60 guys, to living with a roommate and I have become pretty accustomed to people being around all the time. It still feels like those times when your parents left for the weekend, and you thought, “yes! I am going to have a blast!” but after the first couple hours of snooping through rooms you shouldn’t, you just get bored. At night you are used to the noises and rustling of people around, and you come to find out that it’s not noises that keep you awake but silence. This is compounded by the fact the contents of my apartment consist of two folding chairs and a blow up mattress.
So about the title:
Let me tell you, I didn’t expect there to be so many hipsters in Portland. They all have greasy hair that covers at least one eye and needs constant adjusting to let people know that life is hard, super tight girls jeans, their belt buckles are off to the side and they are all in bands. If you don’t believe me look them up on myspace. They’re on there. Right now. Really check it out. This will still be here when you get back. I mentioned this to someone I work with and he explains that Portland is the cool city people want to live in because it’s affordable and people can live their lives and be left alone. “Seattle’s cool” someone mentions. I quickly explain how Seattle is over priced…. I am not going to go into the conversation. But the conclusion is that Seattle was cool in the early ‘90s (remember Nirvana, Singles, Flannel, Heroin, Junior High?) but the influx of money from nerdy types wanting to be cool had made it unlivable to cool people so they, and all the strippers, moved south to Portland. Now the nerdy people with corporate jobs want to be cool and are all moving here and inflating the prices, ruining Portland. Sorry.
Oh so if you make it to Portland, let me know. I have a floor.
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