Hey Carrie - found this through largeheartedboy.com. Looking forward to reading your musings. I have a cat or cats on my shoulder at times, but not in public I must admit. As for my listening, the most recent additions to my library are Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations, Damon Albarn's Mali Music, and the I'm Not There soundtrack. Go figger.

Sent by Mike Dixon | 6:37 AM ET | 11-06-2007

Last night, as I read your comment about Portland being the city sponsored by the New York Times, I laughed at how true it is. I also wondered if you had seen that day's paper, with yet another story about your city. I live in the NYC area and their obsession has not gone unnoticed by me, but maybe it would to someone who isn't in college and hasn't had half of their 20-something hipster friends move there in the past few years.

Sent by Karissa | 7:27 AM ET | 11-06-2007

I am so glad to see someone else who seeks out albums simply for the purpose of filling the air with noise. Boxer is definitely one of those albums. Another favorite of mine is Broadcast's "Tender Buttons".

Sent by laura | 8:47 AM ET | 11-06-2007

I have a friend who works at NPR as a producer and she's referred to as "my outrageously attractive friend" to others. When I hung out with her and some of her co-workers, I felt like a troll. People who work at NPR make me feel very unattractive.

Sent by r.j. | 9:31 AM ET | 11-06-2007

Hi Carrie -
I understand your disappointment with the NPR hosts - I for one was expecting Ira Flatow to look like an exact replica of Alan Alda, as their voices are eerily similar. Science Friday will never be the same to me.

Sent by Tim | 9:44 AM ET | 11-06-2007

i was in portland and saw like two bikes. i think its a myth... do people who ride bikes listen to ipods whilst biking? i've always wondered about that cause with the traffic and what not you'd think ears would be important. sub-question: helmets- yes or no?

Sent by Lauren | 9:56 AM ET | 11-06-2007

The exact same thing happened to me about a year ago. NPR definitely has the brains and the bodies. Take solace in the fact that Madeleine Brand daydreams about doing scissor kicks while playing guitar.

Sent by Tommy | 9:59 AM ET | 11-06-2007

You would think that us New York City residents would be upset with all the outside city coverage but we are not. Places like France and Egypt share equal collumn length along side stories of dog fashion and no one cries. But I do get what your saying Portland does seem to have a fanclub with the "all the news that's fit to print" crowd but is that a bad thing? I mean I've read some of these articles and they are very pro Portland. As a Portland resident are you worried that thousands of Upper West Siders are going to flood Hollywood Portland? People don't move because of news articles people move for school or work or sometimes love. I mean people might love bike friendly roads so they'd move to Portland but is love wrong? Are you against love?

Simon,
I am all for love. It's just a curious thing to read about your city in a national paper. Portland, and the NW in general, has always felt like a remote outpost. Many of us relish the sense that we might be living an outdated lifestyle, or feel that we are too far on one end of a spectrum to appeal to the masses. Yet, here we are, week after week, being exalted for all of the things we take for granted. It's a nice compliment for sure, but maybe we're a city that needs to learn how to take one. -CB

Sent by Simon Dasher | 10:02 AM ET | 11-06-2007

Although there's not specifically a question to answer, or advice sought, I thought I would comment to show support and early like for this new blog. I can say this, which is at least somewhat related... another new record (I agree about Boxer) that I needed to appreciate as background first (an early go on headphones caused me to relatively freak out) is the Dirty Projectors cover of Black Flag. Carry on.

Sent by Jill | 10:05 AM ET | 11-06-2007

It took me a disgusting amount of time to get the 'Curb' theme song out of my head. When it finally happened, I was so happy, so content humming the 'Cheers' one. Tragedy struck when a friend's phone rang and it was that darn 'Curb' song. Ugh. Needless to say, I had to give said friend an ultimatum- turn your phone to vibrate or we can't hang out anymore. The song finally escaped my brain yet again. Until I just read your post.

Sent by Johanna Swalley | 10:19 AM ET | 11-06-2007

ever read the sunday real estate section of the new york times? it has this recurring column, spotlighting a neighborhood somewhere in or near the city. somewhere you might want to live. it goes over schools and transit options, rents, etc. portland falls into the same category in its way. as a new yorker, its like yes you *could* live there. but you won't. i mean you could, but you won't move, you'll stay where you are. your subway station, while run down, is better and familiar. you can bike your own streets if you want. the articles are there not to tempt you so much as to reinforce that you are the center of the world. you like knowing what your options are. new yorkers love to be the center of the world. but we're stubborn. and have superiority complexes. we'll never move.

also, airplanewise, new york turns into NYC. portland into PDX. whats with that. that x is so unsatisfying somehow.

Sent by k | 10:31 AM ET | 11-06-2007

I did the same thing with The National's ALLIGATOR.

Sent by jAKOB | 10:43 AM ET | 11-06-2007

i live in fort worth texas and i am very jealous of portlands bikability.

Sent by jacobjacobjacob | 11:01 AM ET | 11-06-2007

I totally agree, The National- Boxer is really good background music. I was recently in a large department store and heard ???Fake Empire??? playing as the background music. So, apparently we aren???t the only ones who think this. It always makes me happy to hear a band I like when/where I least expect it.

Sent by Amy R. | 11:11 AM ET | 11-06-2007

The NYT's obsession w/ Portland actually scared me away from moving there. A few years ago I began planning to move out west while living in NYC. Some delays came about, and then the Times began blowing the Portland horn, and I kind of figured I would be arriving there at the same time as many other people looking for the next great place, before it becomes the next great place, so I just moved back to Brooklyn. Has there been a big influx of new residents out there? Or has it stayed relatively sane?

Sent by PeteM | 11:30 AM ET | 11-06-2007

The Portland article in the Times made me (and I'm sure a lot of other NYCers) look askance at our own biking situation, particularly in Manhattan. There was an excellent New York Magazine article (http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/40345/) about Copenhagen traffic-planning sage Jan Gehl coming to the city and just eviscerating the bicycle situation here, in an understated Nordic way of course. Reading between the lanes (sorry), he says that it is not safe for seniors to bike in the city. Fair enough. So yes, I'm very jealous of the situation in Portland. Not jealous enough to move, but certainly jealous enough to wonder how New York could be improved. City subsidized bicycle storage? Repealing some of the absurd traffic laws that cyclists cannot safely follow anyway? With buses going 4mph and a congestion tax possibly on the horizon, it seems that something ought to be done.

As far as The National goes, after seeing them open for Arcade Fire at Radio City Music Hall earlier this year, I couldn???t help but feel that their production took some of the energy and immediacy away from their songs. Tell us what you thought about the latest Okkervil River!

Sent by Moiche | 11:39 AM ET | 11-06-2007

Hey Carrie -- so, I'm a person who wishes her cats would hang out on her shoulder (but not all 3 at one time). But I would just want to do that in my yard, not while walking around town.

Sent by Cora D | 12:06 PM ET | 11-06-2007

New Yorkers are suspicious, curious and indifferent about most things - especially cities who revel in an anything-friendly attitude. Any room left in Portland for a burned out New Yorker and her girlfriend?

Sent by Stacey | 12:23 PM ET | 11-06-2007

"Most recent album I learned to love only by listening to it as background music"

I cant tell you how many times an album has sunk in when I was only barely paying attention, only to have it become the best thing ever and then I cant have it as background music anymore, because I keep paying so much attention to every little detail.

good post... keep up the good work..

Sent by tim d | 12:29 PM ET | 11-06-2007

If you ever go to Williamsburg hipster central (Beford Ave exit on the L) you will be shocked by all the bikes parked there.

Also, as far as carrying your animals around with you, I think people are worried about their pets going crazy staying indoors all the time (I know I am about my cat). So that's why they take them for walks.

Anyway take care, good blog.

Sent by G. | 12:30 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Hey, thanks for the Madison shout-out! As a Madison resident, I actually am jealous of Portland, if only because I've never been there so it exists in my mind as the Platonic ideal of a hip place to live.

Plus, I'd love to be able to bike to work.

Sent by SkylarP | 12:31 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I'm in Berkeley, with family and friends in Portland. Portland is a fine city, although it rains too much for me to ever consider living there. But if I were honest, I'd have to admit the only time I've ever been jealous of Portland was in the S-K days ... I always assumed you played shows in small clubs four nights a week when you weren't touring. Do people in Portland feel the same way about, oh, Dr. Frank here in the Bay Area?

Sent by Steven | 12:38 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I will say that the only voice that matched the mental picture in my head was that of Will Shortz.

Sent by mathew | 12:48 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I have bookmarked your blog! My lunch break has taken new heights thanks to this.

Sent by Esme | 1:08 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I think the more pressing question here is how many Portland government officials are sleeping with people at the New York Times? I implore you to further investigate this issue and possibly uncover what could be the sex scandal of the century!

Sent by Chriso | 1:15 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I will take your word on looking at the hosts, I don't need to get caught in another internet cycle...
I think it is a case of yes all media is hot on Portland, and also I do think generally people from Portland like to pat themselves on the back with any opportunity given. The Willamette Week's article on all the press Portland is getting was rather funny, a way to say "stop with all the attention...seriously. please stop" (remember to stay playful and not serious when saying that outloud...but trying to let everyone think you are). But if you take a step back and look at what portland has to offer and what portland does it is something to be made an example of. Generally people in Portland have taken their heads out of their ass and are getting it right, while letting you know how great they are for it.
And why not say, there really has not been much that has turned my crank although the new M.I.A. album is most wonderful.

Sent by Luis | 1:16 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Meanwhile, Baxter Black looks EXACTLY as you would have pictured him.

Sent by Eric | 1:17 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I 100% Love this blog already. On the other hand, I do not like The National's new album. I even tried it as background music today and still just couldn't get into it, which is odd given my tastes.

A band I did get into while listening to them solely as background music is Mum. Fortunatley they are no longer background music and are now foreground music. Another is Do Make Say Think. They were background music of mine for a long time, I'd put them on to do menial tasks like dishes, general housecleaning duties etc... But once their album Winter Hymn came out with those booming horns and crescendos, I just couldn't use it anymore. I'm listening to them now...

Sent by Dan | 1:18 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I love bicycle friendly cities, like Pasadena, California, where I currently live. If more people biked to work, Los Angeles wouldn't have as much freeway congestion, and the air quality would improve. I haven't been to Portland, but I want to. There's an article in today's Seattle PI about that city adding bike lanes to it's streets.

Sent by TJ | 1:29 PM ET | 11-06-2007

To Laura who posted about Broadcast's "Tender Buttons"---right on! Totally amazing.

Sent by ALEX | 1:33 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Psh, if you want to see bikes, come to UC Davis. Anyway, I'm not in NY or any other notable city, but I suppose I'm curious since I clicked on the link... And the fact that I'm fascinated by and want to live in Portland eventhough I've never actually been there.

Sent by Jennifer | 1:36 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I can't neccessarily speak for the NYTimes but it's true that biking in NYC/Brooklyn is far more than mere recreation. Maybe Portland is the new Brooklyn.

Maybe lots of people originally from Portland now live in NYC, ride bikes, and write for the Times. I don't know.

And "Boxer"...yes! But it becomes much better when you actually do listen to it!

Sent by kp | 1:58 PM ET | 11-06-2007

It can be so difficult to verbalize why I respond to this or that music well but when I succeed it has something to do with wanting or not wanting to participate in the internal landscape of the artist (or perhaps the producer).

I often think that if i ever finally construct a personal profile for online dating it might have to mention that any positive regard for stevie nicks* as an artist would for constitute a major "dealbreaker" for me. This in the already tinyish pool of queer portland women. But then i have met people who have proved lovely who do not share my scorn, leaving me thusly reminded that even though love of music seems intensely personal there must be an element of accident involved.

*just my pet example

Sent by hari | 2:08 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Excellent, you're finally blogging!

I love the stuff you've been doing with Fred, and I'd love love love to do an animation with you sometime!

Sent by Scott Bateman | 2:10 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Another reader from Madison happy for the shout out from both you and the Times...I am not jealous of Portland, but then I've never been there, so what does that tell you? nothing. The Madison papers do spend some time mentioning Portland, I think the city as a whole is watching to see what Portland does, We have Portland-envy...I agree that this season's Curb is brutal, though still quite funny. Pretty, pretty good.

And as an aside, I wish I had the entire Misfits catalog memorized, I have like half of it down, but even then it's alot of mumbling on my part...

Sent by Jason | 2:13 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I'm really excited that you have a blog now! I plan to read it often, as the first two posts have been really entertaining.

On the topic of biking, I wish Boston would encourage biking more. Portland seems like a really nice place.

Sent by Dan G | 2:21 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I am proud of Portland. Northwest? More like NorthBEST.

Sent by tabletop_joe | 2:37 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Carrie's going to scoff at me (and probably everyone else who reads this blog will as well), but the most recent album I got into by listening to it as background music is the Shins' Wincing the Night Away. It's true, since that experience, I notice more and more little things that make the record awesome, and now it can not be on as background music, because I need to listen actively.

Sent by cyndi | 2:38 PM ET | 11-06-2007

i'm enjoying your posts so far... :)
you've made me laugh out loud about not being good looking enough to listen to NPR... now of course i must ira flatow looks like...

Sent by candice | 2:39 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Love love love the blog. It's my new lunchtime read as well! I never thought of finding music for the purpose of background listening, but, come to think of it, many albums, including Boxer, are background tunes for me. How frequently do any of us actually sit down and listen to music soley to listen to music? For me, hardly ever. I'm usually at least reading. Perhaps I should try it more often.
As for Portland...it's an amazing city and I love visiting. My band tours there from time-to-time and it's always a loved stop and we've rarely been treated better than by the P-town folks.

Sent by ben | 2:52 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I'd bike into work more if it didn't involve a 92.8% chance of getting hit by a car. DC drivers are the worst!

Sent by Adam @ NPR | 2:59 PM ET | 11-06-2007

as someone who grew up in portland (on a houseboat) and then fled the trees for the midwest (college) and currently lives in chicago, i am constantly checking up on the city that i love. the nytimes is certainly good for this although i am beginning to wonder what the next article will be entitled. in a perfect world perhaps it could be coverage of a protest in which portlanders declare: "LEAVE US AND OUR BIKING DINING COFFEE BEER ROCOCO RENAISSANCE ALONE!" overhearing people talking about your hometown in coffee shops and bars is irritating, especially when then talk about the abundance of plaids. but then, i was raised this way.

as for music that began as background and has entered the headphones: white rainbow's "prism of eternal now" is perfect for fire walking.

Sent by rita | 4:04 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Andrei Codrescu looks as stern and aggrieved as I'd hoped.

Sent by KG | 4:20 PM ET | 11-06-2007

When I lived in PDX and commuted across the Hawthorne Bridge on bike, we frequently outnumbered the cars.

The per-capita number of dog parks is also praiseworthy!

Sent by Michael | 4:22 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I can't really comment on the Portland thing, but I have a feeling that Portlanders' reactions to being name-dropped/profiled in the NYTimes is similar to those who work in the library field. As a library student who has been working in libraries for several years now, I can't begin to tell you how hot and/or bothered the library community at large was over that "Hipper crowd of shushers" article in the Styles section a while back, and the more recent article to a lesser extent. To me, getting compliments from the Times is kind of like 9th grade when the popular girl asks you if she can borrow a pen in class. You feel surprised, vaguely flattered, charmed, and excited-- but unreasonably so, when you think about the minimal provocation involved. the amount of time you spend thinking about it is confusing and sort of irritating. regardless, you sure don't care if she returns the stupid pen!

With that librarian article, it was on every list-serv and forward when it first came out, and everyone was all excited and pleased with the (rare) attention paid to librarians in a national mainstream paper. But then people started pointing out the inevitable flaws, citing that the article illustrates such a tiny and, ultimately, insignificant part of the profession (I imagine this is how some Portlanders feel?). Not to mention the article's ironic reinforcement of the classic old-maid librarian... ('see, *these* young librarians are different! they're actually *cool*, can you believe it?!!')

So anyway, wow, this response got way off track. But I wonder if the Portlanders have similar mixed feelings about these kinds of articles. I love the Times, but part of me suspects that they are just addicted to their sardonicism, and they can't help but infuse these types of articles with just a hint of smug condescension. but they *are* the new york times, so they can usually get away with it...

Sent by nikki | 5:14 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I planned to read this blog as often as possible, but never to post comments. After two days, you've broken my resolve, as I just had to give you props. I love Harold Ramis!

Sent by Dorian S. Kinney | 5:34 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Yes! Do Make Say Think: great background music. I've also been listening to Birdsongs of the Mesozoic (old Roger Miller/Martin Swope project). The National are on my list of bands to check out, though I haven't yet.

Sent by Joel | 5:35 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I can't imagine anyone will read this far... but just in case:

Alas, despite my better intentions, my last.fm profile tells me I've been listening to a lot of death metal and hip-hop... with some Secret Chiefs 3 thrown in and some Bach and sh*t.

Sent by joe | 5:49 PM ET | 11-06-2007

Adam @ NPR: "DC drivers are the worst!"
You clearly haven't biked in NYC, or many, many other cities in the US. DC drivers are generally polite. Sure, there are some real jerks, but biking here is far safer and stress free than NYC. There are also a large number of cyclists in DC. More cyclists= increased driver awareness= safer cycling. Hop on your bike and join us Adam, you'll make it safer for everyone, get some exercise, reduce pollution, and (above all) have fun!

Sent by Ben Hirsch | 7:55 PM ET | 11-06-2007

As a cycling/public transit geek, I know that I read somewhere that Portland leads the country in bicycle work commuters at a staggering 2 percent! Woohoo! But I totally support increasing bike usage as an effective means of getting to and from places. In Cleveland, where I live, the regional transit authority finally lifted restrictions on bikes and we can take them on all trains, even during rush hour! There are talks of creating a bike station, and we are getting a few more bones thrown our way. Why? Probably because of the leadership of Portland. I still love my crusty Midwestern utopia, but I keep cities like Portland close to my heart.

Sent by Jamie | 8:14 PM ET | 11-06-2007

I love Nikki's comments since I felt the same way about all of the hipster librarian articles. Yeah, yeah. It made me want to run away from my library degree.

I moved to Portland this year from NY and everyone thought I was crazy. The thing about NYers is that they like to learn and explore other places but not really move away. How dare I move away from all of the culture, music, architecture and people? The NY Times won't influence anyone with their love affair for Portland. Instead, I can email those articles to my former colleagues and pick and choose what I like from them and say...see..I'm not in the middle of nowhere. I'm really okay. They have beer, wine, places that serve normal food, and a few bands. They are right in that there isn't a lot of diversity in Portland.

Sent by E | 10:54 PM ET | 11-06-2007

As someone who was raised in Portland and is now a librarian on the east coast, Nikki's comment rang doubly true for me. When I first moved to New York 15 years ago, I always had to clarify which Portland I was from (not Maine), and then people would ask me if I pulled logs for fun in high school. Now I tell people where I grew up, and their eyes get wide and they ask me why I ever left. Lynda Barry had an excellent comic about this very phenomenon, and the accompanying sinking feeling, when Seattle became the belle of the press's ball in the mid-'90s.

Sent by laura | 9:33 AM ET | 11-07-2007

My brother and I were on a business trip yesterday and we had to laugh about your Ira Flatow/Harold Ramis comment... I refuse to look at those profiles! Ira will forever be Egon to me. Lovin' the blog!
Ciao!

Sent by David | 1:13 PM ET | 11-07-2007

chicago has been in the times but the writers are always a year behind on the christening of trends or hot topics.

Sent by trish | 1:44 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I too was born and raised in Portland and now live in Chicago. For 26 years I lived in the same 'hood (well, grew up in NE on 16th and Fremont and moved to the Mississippi 'hood seven years ago) and watched with awe as it blew up. And it's really no suprise- Portland, after all, is the land of milk and honey. And I'm glad to see all this press, too, but it's ultimately the reason I left. Someone asked if Portland is the new Brooklyn, to which I would say, "Absolutely!" There has been a MAJOR influx of people between the ages of 18-35 moving to town, and it just got too crowded for my tastes. But give it a few years, and the hubbub will die down, and people will realize that Nike and Intel and Adidas can't employ an entire city, and Portland will go back to being a sleepy little anomaly of town. One with lots of bikes, great food, incredible music, the best bookstore in the world, and not so much press. 'Til then, I'll be somewhere else.

Sent by Dixon | 2:54 PM ET | 11-07-2007

I'd generally concur that a single Times article isn't exactly going to cause an influx of New Yorkers to uproot and move to Portland, but I think these things have a cumulative effect. People -- at least some of us -- have a critical mass point where enough positive press about a place (and also positive experiences at said place) will probably factor into their decisions if moving is on the table.

Speaking personally, I have semi-solid plans to spend a few years in Portland after I graduate, and I'd be lying if I said positive write-ups in places like the NYT didn't have anything to do with that -- along with that Chuck Palahniuk book and even maybe a little Sleater-Kinney ditty called "Light Rail Coyote." Thin pretext for moving across the country, perhaps, but that's what youth is for, and I doubt very much I'm the only one approaching it from that perspective.

I can't speak for how New Yorkers feel about the Portland love, but I can empathize with a Portlander's (Portlandite? Portlandian? I really should have looked this up on Wikipedia) perspective. As a born-and-bred resident of Austin, Texas, itself a growing hipster enclave that's been on the receiving end of a glowing article or two, I know people in my town are routinely aggravated by positive press and the new citizens that result from it. Maybe Portland can take the compliment better then we can.

Sent by Patrick Caldwell | 2:25 PM ET | 11-08-2007

Well, I'm sure no one will read this far but I feel like commenting anyway. I have thought about moving to Portland for years, but have never gotten around to it. I feel like it would be a nice place to call home, but I don't know if I can handle moving to the city du jour for no other reason than some vague notion of quality of life. I endured my share of muted West-coast hostility when I first moved to San Francisco ("so, why did you come here?") only to hate it anyway, and I fear that Portland will inevitably go down the path of San Francisco. i.e. Become an inane hipster theme park dominated by its unceasing adoration for a few vastly-overrated local institutions, populated by non-natives whose only ambitions are lifestyle ambitions, who are bafflingly condescending despite being so five years ago.

It???s reaching a tipping point. Can the increasingly smug, less and less affordable boutique citiy still be accurately described as a refuge from the competition and superficiality of the metropolis? I can readily summon the reasons I chose not to move to New York after graduation, among them rapacious careerism, grueling work hours, expensive rental housing, and the incursion of fashion (and cocaine) into every aspect of life. But is your "quality of life" so much higher when you have to write obseqious and fawning cover letters to get a job bagging organic groceries? When cheap rent necessitates ingratiating yourself to some fire-spinning vegan with a made-up name who insists on using the pronoun "ze"

To answer your question, articles like the "Portland Bikes!"article make me give up on any plans I ever had to move to Portland. It's always too late, by the time something has made it to the newspaper of record. Wasn't it Gore Vidal who said that the mission of the NYT is to show up after the battle and shoot the wounded?

Sent by cs | 2:31 AM ET | 11-09-2007

Luke Burbank is a slammin' hottie. Weird.

I'm waiting for people to figure out that Milwaukee is cool. Hasn't happened yet. I suppose it keeps the rents low...

Sent by RainaB | 9:25 AM ET | 11-09-2007

Good call re: Boxer, aka my favourite album of 2007.. and then through Boxer I discovered Alligator, and now all I want to do is bathe in The National.

Regarding NPR and discovering the faces behind the personalities, I have gone through exactly the same thing with the CBC radio, aka Canadian Broadcasting Company and the closest thing we have here to NPR. Now I simply avoid their website at all costs.

Sent by Lauren | 9:59 AM ET | 11-09-2007

i'd be lying if i said that having a member of Sleater-Kinney say i'm too hot for them to date isn't why i got into public radio, because it totally was. i grew up in seattle worshiping the ground they played on, and the fact that one of them is even vaguely aware of my existence means that i have totally arrived. suck it Mrs. Rudeau who thought i had no talent in 12th grade radio class at Nathan Hale High, Sleater-Kinney thinks i'm hot.

luke 1, doubting teachers 0.

Sent by Luke Burbank | 10:04 AM ET | 11-09-2007

I too had the theme from Curb in my head yesterday. Well...I guess this was different days for us as this is an old post. I'm so glad you have this blog, new things to read are always good.

Sent by Arian | 10:40 AM ET | 12-06-2007

As someone who has lived in both Asheville and Portland and currently resides in neither, I'm relieved to be removed from the media's love affair with those cities. The benefits of both cities (bikeablity, yes, and the abundance of good food/music/landscape/haircuts/etc.) are sometimes outweighed by the attitudes of the residents. I never got over the feeling that the majority of people, myself included, in both Portland and Asheville felt like the city was (or should have been) a VIP room. Bike culture especially seemed to spring out of an us vs. them mentality--more about fashion than fun. Or maybe I just spent too much time feeling out of place at Tube.

Sent by Catherine | 1:42 PM ET | 12-13-2007