-Chris
This weekend I'm at a conference of the American Society of Mammalogists in Portland OR. This leaves most of the hard work of packing up the old apartment into the storage unit to Beth (sorry Beth!).
Meanwhile, I get to spend five days in what is now my new favorite city, looking at slide shows of adorable furry things. Scientists are not supposed to admit that they study mammals largely because they are adorable. I mean sure, they are ecologically important and all, but they're also super cute.
The following story may tell you about all you need to know about Portland.
I arrived at the airport around midnight, and hopped on the commuter train into town. I thought I had the whole thing all planned out, with printed train maps and schedules. But apparently my schedule was out of date, because I ended up in the middle of East Portland, on the wrong side of the river, around 1:00am, at which point the trains had stopped running, leaving me stranded. So I asked for directions of a passing pedestrian.
Portland is known for it's hipsters, and I had found perhaps the most quintessential, and friendliest hipster in the city. He was slightly drunk, but was heading in the same direction, and was more than happy to lead the way to the Portland State University campus, where I was headed. And so for 45 minutes, I followed a very talkative, inebriated hipster on a guided tour of the city, before finally arriving at the dorm where the conference attendees are staying. So thank you anonymous hipster, with your vintage tweed jacket.
