Wednesday, April 24, 2013

an edgy farewell

Portland is weird.

And the denizens of Portland are proud of that fact.  Many of their car bumpers sport the "Keep Portland weird" slogan.

That is one reason I usually stay at the Aloft hotel when I am flying out of Portlandia.  It is slightly edgy.  The type of place Generation X and Y types hang out and feel cool.

That is apparent from the darkened hallways decorated with retro cloth stretched over fluorescent lighting.  Offering young people who stay here just enough of a "decorated by a college dorm guy" feel to avoid the feeling of having completely sold out by accepting that financial adviser job.

It should make me feel ancient.  But it doesn't.  I may be in my seventh decade, but I still see that twentysometing guy looking back at me most mornings in the bathroom mirror.

For dinner, I had a rather mediocre (and overpriced) plate of beef brisket served up by Famous Dave's Barbecue.  The place was filled with people far rounder than the young, sweaty crowd in the Aloft fitness room.  But the conversation at the table next to mine -- a guy and two multiply-pierced gals in their twenties -- was pure Portland.

The guy was talking about a girl they all knew.  He listed off a litany of her dramatic and mean moments, and then hit this home run.  "She is a drag queen stuck in a woman's body."

I cannot top that one.  No matter how I try.

Instead, I will close with two of Portland's icons joined in sunset matrimony.




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