I realize now that there is huge information gap on this blog since I haven't talked much about what it's like to live in Portland. So while much has happened to me personally I will save that for a different entry and dedicate this one to a mini dissertation on Portland life.
My attitude towards Portland has changed a lot since I first moved here (see Jan/Feb archives) and was enamored with the idea of living with my new boyfriend and creating a home with him and meeting new people and generally starting over- again. Since that time I have done some of what I set out to accomplish, and other goals have been pushed to the back burner due to, well, life. Much of what I did accomplish (Pretty Little Love Song trailer, Record Label Stuff, etc) gave me a pretty good tour of Portland's good and bad sides. The good is mainly that there are a lot of great individuals working in the film industry here- a lot of super kind and talented folks who actually
LIKE working on indie projects as well as normal budgeted projects. They appreciate the nature of indie film and it's pro's and con's. The downside is mainly in the rest of the population (musicians are a completely different blog altogether btw).
In Cleveland, there is almost no creative underbelly to speak of- and I realize that statement will crate a furor in Cleveland blog world if any of them still read this-
but it's true. And the reason I feel I can say that with some authority as I have lived in sevearl states and cities besides Cleveland, whereas most Clevelanders are lifers and (travelling NOT included) haven't spent a significant enough amount of time in other American cities to analyze thier own city objectively in this regard.
However, in Cleveland people are exactly who they have always been, and by this I mean they generally feel no need to fit in to the commercial/advertising schematic of American life and for this I applaud the city. They are Clevelanders through and through, which 95% of the time is just awesome.
Portlanders, however, are from all over the country. They are from Alaska, indiana, Idaho,
Buffalo (of all places, there is a huge contigent of people here from
Buffalo), Boston, Virginia, etc, and mainly, California. The displaced Americans here are Americans who like the following things as a
general rule: VW's, Vegan/ Vegetarian food, members of the same sex, microbrews, using the word "organic", hiking, hiking apparel, snowboarding, using the word "green", using the word "culture" or "cultural" or "cultural diversity", biofuel, apple computers, activism or environmentalism (they are synonyms here), and
marijuana.
Now- I am not particularly ANTI any of the preceeding things on this list, and certainly I am not against environmentalism, biofuel, or homosexual activity (the latter more than a little hypocritical of me).
Actually I take that back, I am anti a few things on that list- Microbrews (The germans got it right hundreds of years ago, your version tastes like wet dog hair), VW's, any use of the words "organic" or "culture" (neither one of them MEAN anything in the context whichthey are used. THe definition of organic is "Carbon Based". All lettuce is Carbon based.)
My central point here, if you have made it beyond all of my tangents, is that the general population in Portland is what I like to refer to as "liberal facist". In lamens terms this means that I have a hard time finding a deli (in Oregon I should say "deli") where I can order a sandwich with mayonaisse on it. No one carries mayonaisse. THAT is liberal facism. They have alfafa sprouts, 3 kinds of mustard, avocado, and god knows what else, but very rarely, mayonaisse. I like mayonaiss on a sandwich.
One other item on the list above needs to be discussed briefly as well- marijuana. Now, it should be said that I am not neccesarily
opposed to marijuana use either. Or even the idea of it being legal- Alchohol and tobacco are both about the same threat level to me as weed. BUT, this entire town is
stoned. Which if you are a stoner, it's heaven. I am not a stoner. I am flakey enough on my own, even after 3 cups of coffee and a prozac, I'm flakey. I don't need to make it worse by smoking a bowl. When an entire town is stoned, no one drives the speed limit, and I mean AS FAST AS the speed limit, phone calls are rarely returned in time, deadlines are suggestions, everyone is an artist with a part-time job and 6 roommates.
The guy at the employment agency didn't care that I didn't call him back until a week later.
I'm from the east coast where if you don't walk/run down the street you are considered lunchmeat for muggers, you talk to three people at once on the phone,and NEVER stop for stop signs, LET ALONE a pedestrian.
Portland is not a city. it's something a stoner friend of mine from college dreamed up while playing Nintendo.
