Percolating

13th June 2009

Text

NEW TODAY: Joining the Gym

Okay, not entirely new, since I joined the same gym over a year ago. But I only went a handful of times, and it’s been so long, it feels pretty damn new.

Here’s why I loved it:

First, it was supremely comforting to see all the people at the gym on a Saturday evening. It seems I was not the only person in Portland without a hot date.

Second, the people watching! Not only do you see members of hot local bands and owners of hot local bars (in this case, Ron Tom from rontoms) stripped of all their artifice and sweating it out just like suburban moms on the elliptical machine, but Portland hipsters’ and nerds’ version of workout wear is the best! Some people are just trying to look cool: vintage Asics runners with no support whatsoever, retro sweat bands worn (I guess) unironically, American Apparel running shorts. And some people obviously don’t think about workout “gear”: My favorite fellow workout-er last night was a tall, lanky dude in cutoff skinny corduroys and worn out bowling shoe-style sneakers. That can’t have been the most comfortable outfit for getting active, but he was going to town, stretching with weights and pulleys, doing situps, racing on the treadmill. For some reason, there’s nothing more motivating to me than seeing someone who is so opposite the gym rat stereotype (and there were plenty of those) going fitness crazy.

Tagged: newdo something new everyday24 Hour Fitnessgymexercisefitnessworking outpeople watchingPortland

13th June 2009

Text

Do You Belong In New York?

I found this out today thanks to Time Out New York:

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
Only until you age out.
Sorry to say it, but you’re a temporary New Yorker. Sure, this city is awesome for running around and enjoying your youth, but you came here to work and play hard and plan on jetting at the first signs of crow’s feet or when your parents stop financing that party lifestyle of yours. Plus, if you ever decide to settle down and have kids, there’s no way you’re bringing them up in a studio. Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC.

Do you belong in New York City?

Hard to say how accurate this is since it’s designed for people who are actually currently living in New York, so I had to pretend a little bit. But it makes sense since I may have already aged out and have never lived there longer than those three months in college. I wanted to live in New York to have a media career and live the idealized version of that. Now that that fantasy is proving to be a hard reality, and I’m no longer so sure about staying on the media career path, New York isn’t so appealing.

In fact, my California roots have started begging for more attention lately – I’m finding myself fantasizing about living on the beach. What?? I always said I could never go back there! And how to hold both my love of New York (still, love, love, love to go there, just not sure about wanting to live there all the time) and this new fascination with LA at the same time when they are pretty much the antithesis of each other? This quote from an New York mag article about Letterman and the new West Coast Conan sums it up:

“On one side – Los Angeles, duty, convention, comfort, brightness, professionalism, and the friendly smirk. On the other – New York, rebellion, innovation, elitism, darkness, self-sabotage, and the scowl.

I want some of both. I embody some of both. It’s pretty easy to prefer rebellion to duty, innovation to convention. But I really like comfort and brightness – perhaps to counteract my own propensity for internal darkness and self-sabotage. Why spend your life with a scowl on your face? I’d rather be walking down a sunny street with a smile. Or at least try to.

And what about where I am now? What would Portland’s version of those six characteristics be? If New York and LA are on opposite ends of the extreme, could Portland be some happy medium in the middle? Or maybe it’s off that spectrum entirely? I couldn’t stomach the plastic existence in LA for long, I know. But I also couldn’t handle the intense elitism and pretension of New York. Maybe Portland simply isn’t trying so hard and let’s everyone just be who and where they are in the moment. The problem is that if you’re not so sure of that, you’re not sure where to go and what to do in this city. And it doesn’t push you to figure it out. And that is the dilemma.

Maybe I could just travel all the time until I find the answer?

Tagged: lifeangstwhat to do with my life?New YorkLAPortlandNew York magazinequizTime Out New Yorkwhere?