by sylvia rodemeyer
his month I will finally journey to the cultural hub of my generation: the wonderful, almost mythi- cal city of Portland, Oregon. The city, now made significantly more appealing and rife for parody due to the last two seasons of Portlandia, has been on my radar since high school. May marks the first time I will experience the “Dream of the ‘90s” that’s aptly described as being alive in Portland in
the television show’s theme song. Over the years Portland has been home to indie queer icons and allies Carrie Brownstein, Miranda July,
TR INDIEAVELS:
AND FLAVORS OF PORTLAND
THE SIGHTS SOUNDS
Courtney Love, Janet Weiss and recently, K.D. Lang. The sheer amount of literary and musical creativity that has come out of this city is reason enough to be curious. Not to mention the existence of world famous bookstore Powell’s, which spans a full city block and could take up the entire duration of our trip exploring the aisles, if I let it. We have our weekend so jam-packed with amazing LGBT-related events; I’ll have to tear myself away. We arrive early in the afternoon on Friday, May 11 with time to check
into our room at Hotel Jupiter, a charming boutique hotel that is at the heart of some of the hippest Portland sights and sounds, including the drool-worthy Voodoo Donuts, famous for their bacon maple bars and their cereal-topped donuts. After enjoying a sweet treat, we are thrilled to have the opportunity
to check out Sossity Chiricuzio’s Dirty Queer open mic, an event that celebrates queer sexuality every 2nd Friday of the month at In Other Words. Afterward, the party continues at the ever-popular BENT, a down and
dirty queer dance party every second Friday of the month at the Foggy Notion. The DJs spin everything from hip hop to electronica, ‘80s new wave to punk in addition to featuring photo-booths and other perform- ers to keep things interesting. After resting up and finding some independent coffee at Pied Cow
in the morning, we’ve dedicated the afternoon to exploring the iconic places in Portland, including Portland Underground—a series of tun- nels that link prominent buildings in the Old Town area, the Pittock Mansion, The Grotto Gardens and the Hawthorne District thrift stores.
We’re lucky to be in town at the same time as noted queer author Alison Bechdel. She published her comic
Dykes To Watch Out For throughout the last two decades and made a splash in 2006 with her graphic novel Fun Home, and is releasing a follow up called Are You My Mother? which she will be signing and reading from Saturday, May 12 through Powell’s. We leave bright and early on Sunday morning, but if I enjoy this weekend as much as I anticipate, I will be making plans to go back to Portland as soon as possible.
28
RAGE monthly | MAY 2012
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