Things are speeding forward at a crazy pace - we had some Mug Drama this year, so we’re making them ourselves. Craig has assisted in the previous years, so he’s ein expert!
Check out our progress (including me combining drinking and crafting, dangerous!) at Craig’s blog, Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments.
I’m reduced to Flickr blogging, too much other crap going on! And I’m getting sick, too. Lovely.
Craig and I headed to Vegas for a vacation/family reunion. Many things tried to bring us down - 116F, Mesquite, Nevada, sickness, Buffet frenzy. However, we triumphed with a suite upgrade, $250 from the giant Wheel of Fortune, secret tikis and the ability to have fun even in Wal-Mart in the middle of the desert.
It was fun to see my family - some of whom I haven’t seen in 17 years - but somehow hard to wrap my mind around. My cousin Sarah was a kid when I last saw her, and now she’s sitting there with her seven-week old third kid. Where does the time go?
Being a California transplant in Oregon isn’t always easy. Though I haven’t really gotten much crap for it, people do comment on where you come from, and the Natives are always quick to speak up (we were at two parties last night and the topic came up at both). Frankly, I understand for two reasons:
1. I am a Southern California native, born and bred (3rd generation OC’er on my mom’s side!). If anyone understands the “people come from outside and ruin our standard of living” scenario, it’s SoCalers. So I’m not unsympathetic to the rising house prices, crowding, etc etc. But Jesus, we didn’t whine about it so much.
2. I love Portland just the way it is. I’m not interested in “fixing” what is “wrong” (with the possible exception of the Meth Thing - but mainly because tweakers apparently feel that I’m the perfect person to chat with on the Max). I like smoking in dive bars, I like strip clubs, I like slow service, I like the relative provincial nature of Portland. I like the Midwest Coast vibe, I don’t wish it had better X like Seattle, or better Y like San Francisco. I’d live there if I liked it so much.
I think this is where the non-natives begin the hate - they move here because they like somethings(cheap), but then they want to complain and compare it to death.
Moving to a new place is like a marriage: don’t get involved if you’re after an improvement project - love the person (city) in front of you.
In that spirit, here is one of my favorite imperfect Portland places (deliciously surly service, random and wonderful), Everyday Music (which I always feel like calling Empire Records).
On Sandy Boulevard, giant peeling sign. I should call and ask “What time do you close?”
Just a giant room, badly lit, filled with cds and dvds and LPs. They have giant bins of 50ยข records, out of which I have somehow purchased two copies of Frampton Comes Alive. You’ll see the Elusive Craig in his natural habitat on the left.
