Truth About Portland II - Oh those darn hipsters!

Yep, Hipsters. A lot of people really hate them hipsters. What's funny is a lot of people don't even know what one is.

Portland does, truly, have a good population of hipsters. It's so ubiquitous and "normal" now that I, personally, have trouble telling the difference between a real one and a fashion one - not that I try to or even care. People are going to do what they want to do and that's OK. Who am I to try to direct or burn calories over that?

As a matter of fact I know quite a few and am friends with a bunch of people that others would denote as a "hipster". Some of them even do the things that haters say hipsters do! OhMyGod! I've even been denoted as one myself... then I remind them I'm too fat and old to be a hipster.

I'm not going to go on about what hipsters do or are. Not my place nor my interest. What I am going to do here is type out some things that "hipsters" have done in Portland that I have received joy from or love. Some of these things will dispel tropes I hope. If not, oh well.

1) Meat
You know what delicacy I love? One of those weird ones that others may find gross but I love because I grew up eating traditional Thai food made by my Thai Mother (Juke Martin - RIP) and am not adverse to "parts"? Roasted beef marrow on a bit of toast.

Here, in hipster-haven liberal-ass hippy-infested Portland, OR I can go to a few restaurants and order this. Is it Applebees? Outback? Sizzler? Even Ruth's Crisp? Nope. All are independently owned restaurants that source locally from boutique farmers. I'm sure the bull was named too and his marrow was delicious. Did some cattle-barons invade and foist this dish upon us? Nope. Hipster chefs did. Hipster chefs and their heavily Hispanic staff.

It was hipster-y farmers that bought (or leased) land and brought us farm-fresh ingredients too. Before that it was the typical farmers but it was the young hipsters that broke that urban-rural wall and got us good produce and meat in our indy restaurants. Created a whole new business atmosphere that was, as per media sources, on the brink of collapse. <<<I don't know how true that is but all my life I have heard the plight of the farmer.

2) Old Knowledge and Skill
I can take a black smithing class. I actually did last year.
This May I hope to take a weave English Ivy into a basket class with my wife.
I've taken a class on what kinds of weeds we can eat that are around us in the city.
I've learned to use a sewing machine and to apply stitches to a wound.
I can start a fire with friction or pre 20th century tech.
I can filter water without chemicals or modern process.
I can pickle though canning is still a concept to me.
I can build basic things from wood.
Someday, when I can save the money as the class is pretty pricey, I hope to take a butchering class with my wife.

All not fully recognized via hipsters but all pretty much put on the table by hipsters and made available to me.

I just read an article how small game hunting is making a come back... and by hipsters. Pretty neat.

3) Art
I like art. I wish I was an artist sometimes but I have little talent in that direction. I can craft but I'm no artist but I do enjoy it in it's myriad of forms. Hipsters do a lot of art. Sometimes they do it for cheap - as in "I can afford to go see that" cheap.

This creates a relationship that is deemed unique in Portland. I doubt it's just us though. Me, a lower-middle class guy, can patronize the arts! I can afford that picture for $20. I can go to the show for $15. I can buy that print for $30. Sometimes that money goes into the pocket of a friend which makes the deal sweeter.

I went to go see the band Sleep a month ago. It was incredible. More than half the 1500 people there were hipsters. Tickets for me and Gretchen were about $75... affordable.

There's still "big" shows here, like if some famous band came through and the tickets were $60 or something I might go... that depends. I think the most expensive show I went to recently was Morrissey last year.

4) Hobbies and Events
Big comic cons came to Portland the last few years. That's fine but it's not for me. I don't like to spend a lot of money to stand in line. The things at those big cons I have very little interest in. I stood close enough to Stan Lee to punch him once and got my picture taken with Ron Pearlman and my Dad. The year before I kind of high-fived Lou Ferrigno. Then I bought Alien patches at the last one I went to last year which, frankly, I could've got off the internet for much cheaper.

Around the time the big cons took foothold the small ones that have been a Portland Institution disappeared. Why? I don't know. they were gone though - namely the Portland Comic Book Show.

Why did I like those? I could get in for cheap.There were a ton of comics and other things to peruse that I wanted and could afford. It was a bit more intimate and genuine.

I went to one in the early 00s. I rode my bike, got in for $5 walked around and looked at a lot of stuff. I got a good stack of old comics at 25 cents per comic, half a box of unopened Betty Page cards from her beach collection, and some guy was selling of his Lord of the Rings Rohim miniature sets so I got those. The suckiest part of that whole thing was riding home in the rain with those boxes of Riders of Rohim minis. I got home, dried off, popped a PBR, and read some old Avengers stuff.

That whole opportunity died a few years ago.

Now we have Frankenstein's Comic Swap at the Eagle's Lodge every 3-4 months. Who started that up? A local and somewhat large comic company? Nope (though I do love them). Some famous TV stars or movie star? Nope. It was indy comic store Cosmic Monkey (my FLCS by the way) and officiant of my wedding and friend Tim Goodyear! Hipsters? You can decide that but it sure as Hell wasn't some yuppy from Beaverton that did all the work to organize these things.

These same kinds of people also hold HP Lovecraft Festivals, showings of rare or popular movies, and host great parties and concerts.

Speaking of parties... back in my party days some of the greatest parties I ever went to were with or hosted by hipsters.

5) Fashion
I've debated this one. I don't really think hipsters = fashion. I think some hipsters are into it but not that fashion is hipsters. Also, I'm not much into fashion myself so what dog do I have in the fight?

Tattoos! I have some and so do some hipsters. If not for the trend in American Traditional (i.e. old sailor tattoos) there would not be such a choice in style. I'm not mad that kids get sailor tattoos, some are but not me. I've even earned some of those old sailor tatts and have a few. They look good kids, be proud!

Beards and mustaches! Love them and have them. Always rocked some form of the combo. A lot of people hate on lumber-sexuals but not me. Makes me feel OG.

As a matter of fact a lot of what is cool now for men is a modern interpretation of how I dressed in the 90s. Makes me feel good. I never looked as good though.

Of Note:
The other night I was at one of my Friendly Local Game Stores and, for the first time for me, I noticed 2 women, looking kind of hipster-y, playing War Machine. Not one guy within 10 feet of their table, hours at the table. Now, the question can be brought up was it 2 hipster girls playing War Machine? Was it 2 women playing War Machine that was in touch with hipster fashion? After a few seconds of that I stopped thinking about it and accepted it as 2 women bucking the trope of nerd-boys playing War Machine. More power to them.

As a matter of fact on any given Saturday or Sunday I have been to Guardian Games there has been multiple tables of game players that could be stuck dead in the middle of the "you're a hipster" spectrum. Men in striped tank tops and neckerchiefs and neck beards and women with full sleeve and chest tattoos in Slayer t-shirts. It's all good to me.

All this said, things annoy me too. But that's human, people do things and it annoys some people and my annoyance is not stemming from hipsterdom. That will happen and a good thing to do is get over it. I'm sure I do some pretty annoying things too.