[aye carumba!]
even in portland...
{SCENE EXT. residential city street; view of sidewalk from across the street; wide angle; guy appears from off screen LHS carrying grocery bag with bottles, ear-buds in ears - head bops to music, ray-ban-style sunglasses on; woman appears from off-screen RHS in spandex running pants, tank top, head band, wrist-band - carrying a name-brand coffee cup, designer euro-style sunglasses on; both walk towards each other...}

the sun hangs still new and steamy from the remains of evenings dew as i
spy a power-walking 20-something with name-brand coffee cup/enima in her hand
(she looks like a single shot, 1-pump-vanilla, non-fat grande latte kind-of-gal)
she looks disdainly at me, even from a distance, and does not return my cheerful smile
me, carrying home the 2 new bottles of recently liberated/purchased cheap-ass-wine
at this tender AM hour; i just keep on smiling as Joe Strummer howls thru my headphones
and keep on smiling like a retarded person whose just pissed themselves.
the distance is closing between us, and the cars pass by on the street
she takes another look at this pretty-boy with the 3-days-worth-of-scruff on his face
i can almost hear the horse-like snort of disgust blast out her flaring nostrils
coupled with that cold, hard look of the judgmental hanging flat in her eyes
my smile nearly breaks into a chuckle my eyes would betray if not shielded by my shades
i nod my head as i pass and smile 10-times-brighter at the thrill of spite
a roll of her eyes, of the minimal sorts; the last declaration of contemptuous looks
then she's gone...
off to her jazzercise-yoga-yogurt-bubble-bath-retreat
back to her ikea-brand matched living & dinning room sets
and the luke-warm marriage to a similarly dull drone of a nameless cubicle workspace
onwards and forwards to chemically glaze her store-bought urban garden front yard
to the PTA meetings, city council meetings, neighborhood association meetings, etc ad nausem;
to make up new rules and regulations to increase both property and childrens values
out of my sight, and soon out of my mind - a taste of the OC pretension of home
slow-motion-run as i turn up the broken walkway to my non-association associated home
my front yard bares the scars of the decade's worth of neglect of the prior tenants
over-grown, ill-placed, and poorly groomed shrubbery infested with a spiders galore
entire genetic lines of un-known species lay hidden within clumps of dead leaves
plop down on the front steps amidst the scattered remains of cigarettes & newspapers
crack the cap of the cheapest-i-could-find bottle of red red wine
take a good long pull and look out on the world and think:

even in portland...
people suck just as bad as they always do and do everywhere
even in portland...
the human tendency for passing judgment on others still reigns supreme
even in portland...
Oprah leads a gaggle of stay-at-home-soccer-mom's in a Pied-Piper-ish way, to where?
even in portland...
the ugliness and depravity of our once-great-society shows thru...

thru the veneer of sustainability and so-called 'green' technology
thru the haze billowing from the just-outside-of-town-wood-mill/factories
thru the poster-perfect presentation on display every day downtown
thru the see-thu sugar coating of the last dance of a dying dream...
even in portland...
i live my life as i wish to be;
despite and in spite of everyone else
i am, and must be
ME