Let me repeat…

Okay – gotta hurry off to get ready for another early morning meeting, but let me just say once more about my previous post: I’m so very very sorry. I HAD TO GET IT OUT OF MY BRAIN! And into yours. Believe me – seeing it was much worse than reading about it.
And in other news – I HEART PORTLAND! I know I’ve said that before about Seattle, and DC, and New York, and of course Chicago… but this time I think i mean it. Portland is like your old friend from small-town elementary school who’s still super sweet and smart, but has grown into a really cool adult who likes to go out to eat at great restaurants and always seems to know stuff about bands you’ve never heard of. Portland is awesome like that. And the downtown area feels a little like Main Street USA at Disneyworld. Cobblestone streets and white lights and all. Except instead of Disney characters walking around, there are a lot of homeless people. So that made me homesick for Chicago.
Oh, and I think people are really trusting and law-abiding here – what up with driving the speed limit, yo? And what up with the honor system on the MAX lines? Is anyone ever going to ask for my ticket? Suckers.

18 Responses to “Let me repeat…”

  1. adena Says:

    Isn’t Portland FUN!?
    It was such a pretty day yesterday, too. I’m glad you got to see it when it’s not raining.
    My brother drives one of the Max trains. There TOTALLY is an honor system, but they have spot checks. Inspectors that come on and ask to see people’s tickets occasionally. And if you don’t have one, you’re kinda screwed.

  2. brandon Says:

    don’t worry. proceeds from public transportation go to social services. so for every 10 tickets people refuse to pay for, we get to kill a homeless person to balance the budget. everyone’s happy. no one gets hurt.

  3. sizzle Says:

    i can’t wait ’til march. it’s going to be so much fun!

  4. Rhea Says:

    Thanks. I am STILL thinking about that terrible act you described yesterday. Have fun in Portland, Jen.

  5. Churlita Says:

    Have you seen any farmer’s blows since you’ve been there? I bet that’s make you even more homesick for Chicago. Have you asked for a pop yet and got really confused looks? Just call it soda and you’ll be cool.

  6. shari Says:

    It makes me so happy that you are on the correct time zone right now! Y’know… you COULD MOVE to the Pac. Northwest — we’d “nice” the Chicago right outta you in no time.

  7. Anonymous Says:

    Cripes, your description of Portland is so great and it makes me really homesick :(
    And . . . I was caught on the max once sans ticket! Yikes!

  8. Long Story Longer Says:

    Sorry the comment above is me! Not anon!

  9. adena Says:

    Churlita is wrong you know…
    “Soda” is a California thing. I grew up here in Oregon, and grew up calling it “pop”.
    Then I moved to California, and got ridiculed for calling it Pop.
    I got used to calling it soda, and when I came back to Oregon, it stuck. So, now when I ask for soda, I get dirty looks, because it sounds like I’m a California transplant. And Oregonians are churlish about Californians.
    Damn Linguistics.

  10. claire Says:

    I appreciate the additional apology. I still feel…tainted. Ew!

  11. teahouseblossom Says:

    Yes, I’ve heard that Portland is an extremely civil city.
    If I were a homelss person, I’d live in Portland.

  12. churlita Says:

    Sorry. I stand corrected. I always thought the pop/soda/coke demographic was: From the West Coast to Colorado you called it soda, from Ohio to the East Coast you called it pop, and in the South you called it Coke, even if you’re drinking Mountain Dew. Now, if I ever make it to Portland, I won’t sound like such a foreigner.

  13. jenny Says:

    Ah, back from sunny (no, really!) Portland into the icy embrace of Chicago! The only good thing about leaving is that I’ll be back there again in 6 weeks – yippee!

  14. Long Story Longer Says:

    Sunny? Now you’re just rubbing it in.

  15. asia Says:

    I was within running distance of you!

  16. sandra Says:

    Are you trying to make me jealous about TequilaCon??

  17. Mocha Says:

    This is why they won’t let you back into that entire city. You just blew your cover. Those nice people have HAD it with you.

  18. Don Says:

    Your description of Portland is the best. Wouldn’t it be great if we all went there on bidness at the same time? I was there for Halloween. I don’t remember if I blogged it. Prolly not.