one year down, a bunch more to go

This weekend marks one year since I moved to Portland.  To some people that might seem arbitrary, trivial even, but to a guy who lived in one place his entire life, it’s pretty big news.

So how’s it been?  It’s been good, mostly.  It’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of homesickness, a lot of contemplating very seriously whether or not I should move back to Boise.  My friend Paul said, “Give  it a year.  You have to live here at least a year.”  And at the time I thought, Oh, maybe … but now it’s been a year.  And I feel alright.  Not great, but not terrible.  I’ve felt both of these this past year, and both of those feelings were a little scary.  I miss my friends back in Boise.  I wish I had more friends here.  I have yet to find a group of people here that I can relate to the same was I relate to my friends back home.  No offense to my friends here, you’re all great people, but you’re just not the same, and it’s my responsibility to acknowledge that and say, Hey, it’s time to make new friends.

The most important thing here so far is that I’m making money, more money than I’ve ever made before, doing something relatively menial, with a company that sometimes drives me up the wall, but is usually pretty cool.  I got myself wrapped up with a movement that I never really wanted to be a part of, but fortunately they’re all cool people who understand that and allow me to be as close to, or as far away from, said movement as I’d like to be.

So for starters, I want to thank my brother Russ and my sister-in-law Iva for taking me in (they continue to take me in, since I live with them) and helping me get a job and all that.

Secondly, I’d like to thank Paul, Missy, Guin, Jeff, Shelby, uhhhh … Gabby, I suppose, the two Nates, Emyli, Kaitlynn, Megan!, and everyone who lives around these parts (or in Seattle) and who also I guess is on /orate (except for Megan), for being awesome friends and giving me the boost I needed to stay here in the first place.  Honestly, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you guys, you unknowingly helped me tackle my homesickness by being around and getting me out to see shows and just do stuff.

My life in Portland has been one of good beer, good food, and good shows.  I have a job, I was in a play that paid me more money than I’ve EVER been paid for acting.  I just did a commercial.  The jobs are trickling in but I have a feeling they’ll start increasing.  The only problem now is me: I need to get out there and Get Shit Done.  But all in good time, I say.

I forget where the hell I was going with this blog post.  This is not uncommon.

Anyway, I no longer feel freaked out living here.  I’ve settled.  I have a routine now.  Bus, work, bus, home.  Rinse, repeat.  Sometimes eat a burger.  It’s not perfect but at least it’s something.  Next step: apartment, bicycle, maybe a car.  Girlfriend?  No, mustn’t say that — a watched pot never boils.

Okay this is wavering into “pretentious blog” territory.  Good night all, and here’s too another year in Stumptown.