Portland Past vs. Portland Present

After my SCU whirlwind extravaganza and a delicious crab cake benedict (V had the Carnitas benedict) at Bill's Restaurant in Santa Clara, I was off to Portland, OR. I lived in Portland after college for two years. It was a very specific time in my life. We had so much fun drinking beer and listening to bands. My hair was long, I wore satin pants without undies sometimes and strutted my stuff.

My crush that first year was Jonathan Cook, who was a Jewish hippie who treated me badly, had a nice package and had dreadlocks. I was the envy of many girls I knew, who had no idea he liked men. My first clue was when he walked into my office with sweatpants and no undies. I made out with him at my birthday party that year. That's another story.

I started out living with five interesting characters. We were together in a year long volunteer service program called JVC, which stood for Jesuit Volunteer Corps. When I was home that summer after college graduation, I got a letter describing my housemates. While this is not accurate, this is how I now remember it:

Suzie Baldwin (Suzanne) - Suzie graduated from St. Michael's College in VT and will be doing a second year in Portland as a JV. She's a spitfire, a bit of a know-it-all, and ultimately won't find it funny when you hit on her future husband at Chris' wedding in three years.

Jennifer Kiely - from Newtown, CT and a graduate of Providence College in Rhode Island. She's an 80 year old woman in a 22 year old body. She uses phrases like "dog's age" and "darkie." You'll have one huge fight where you both blow up because you aren't putting up with the other person's shit. She'll ignore you on FB when you're in your thirties and she has children.

Erica French - from Texas. She'll be the person you connect with right away. She's got big hair, she's Latina and she'll be out of your life in three weeks when she realizes that she really likes her credit cards and hates the poor.

Sharon Goebel - Sharon's from Indianapolis and went to Marian College. She'll turn the other cheek when you make her take you to Burger King for a secret snack after you've told your entire house that you're now a vegetarian. Then she'll disappear for years, only to reappear on FB with a stepdaughter and six weeks from marriage.

Chris Flanagan - graduated from St. Michael's College. Chris is the guy in the house. The Irish Catholic guy who might be the template for the guys you have a crush on and eventually end up with years later. He will forever be recognized for his famous "I will not walk on eggshells" speech. You make an effort to see him at least once every two years when you're close by on business. He's the person you're most in touch with years later.

Eric Loo - loves to sing and dance. He's gay, but will tell you he's bi when he meets you. He'll probably piss most of you off because he thinks he knows it all and he's got a superiority thing. He will go from Catholic school boy to whore in a matter of weeks. He'll give up on the volunteer thing to go work in the cutthroat world of advertising where he'll have a new set of fancy friends, but will always have you in his heart. Even as he travels to New York and eventually makes it back to LA.

Now when I drive down the streets of Portland and see how much has changed - an American Apparel on Hawthorne Blvd, the emergence of a real food scene, the Pearl District - I remember the ghosts of Portland Past. And I head into my Portland present, which is basically my brother experiencing some of the same things I did. But he's older than I was when I lived there and he's got a lawyer wife and a three month old baby.

I remark at how easy it still is to get around. Only 10 minutes from his house in Brooklyn to the Pearl District. Even at 1 pm in the afternoon. I live in LA. That's remarkable. And I hear the names of neighborhoods which have hit their gentrified height and didn't even exist when I lived there: Alberta and Mississippi. But it still feels good to be surrounded by the wind and the chill as I walk with my little baby niece in a baby bjorn and get congratulated on my new little arrival.

So in Portland Present, I am a cute straight dude with a baby attached to my front. I laugh and thank the man.