Weirdlandia

So I say that because I actually hate the whole "Keep Portland Weird" and "Portlandia" hipster phenomenon. Sure, I guess that is kinda the way that this city has tried to create itself as a vibrant up and coming city attempting to attract young profesisonals.

The truth is it should be "Independentlandia."

But I guess that slogan isn't as easy to sell! But think about it for a moment; Powell's City of Books; an independent book store that puts the box stores to shame. A place where you can literally and figuratively lose yourself in books. Yes. Literally. The place is freaking huge. And, much like the box stores, you can find just about anything there, books, magazines, CD's and a plethora of book paraphernalia like book marks, book ends, the whole gamut of knick-knacks related to books.

But the thing is I think that everyone assumes Portlanders are all like the caricatures they see on television. Maybe if I were young, single and pursuing this thing called writing, maybe then I would be exactly what the stereotype says I should be, but I am none of those things.

One sterotype I am glad to keep; I am a beer snob. Yes, I like microbrews. Yes, I hate those old fashioned American lagers even as I love their commercials. I am drinking a Hop Valley Alpha Centauri Imperial IPA. And man do I love this beer; plus, hey, it's 9% Alcohol by volume. That's a damn good beer! Such a snob that I even have a specific glass made for certain types of beer and, like the wine snob I recognize the wonderful aroma that the glass enhances of this beer. And? Your point?

Despite all the strange idiosyncrasies mentioned above and many more yet to be mentioned, Portland really is not much different than most cities. Every city has their quirks, be it Los Angeles and the plasticity, or New York and their attitudes, all cities are their own snowflakes. But what keeps them all similar is that in general people get up every day; they dream; they work; they live; they love and they laugh. At the end of the day, people get together to celebrate their friendships and their lives together.

Some people here live in suburbs and some live in the city. Some people are in suburbs trying to catch that city feel in specific developments.

the point of this ramble? While television and other forms of mass media are selling you a picture of a city of weirdos, the truth is, this is a city just like every other city. every city has its weirdos; Portland just stopped hiding from theirs and began to embrace them as a perfect symbol for all the great uniqueness that is inside of us all.

In Californication there is a little segment about a secondary fictitious author who wrote a book titled "The Artist Within" which said that there is a creativity inside each person and that they just had to "let it out."

On television, it was seen as hokey, and maybe it is, but the truth is that each person can be creative if they choose, but not everyone can be an artist selling their spirit to a muse that leads them down some strange paths indeed.

The best thing about being a writer in Portland? All the damn beer!