I was born and raised around Buffalo, New York. It’s a city that has shaped me in many ways and is one for which I still have some affection, mainly extending to the inhabitants who are its true secret sauce (though the chicken wings are pretty good, too).

Given its unique geographic location—nestled along two of the five Great Lakes, far west of the bigger east coast cities and a stone’s throw from the Canadian border—it’s a weird amalgamation of east coast attitude, the slower and friendlier pace of the midwest, and a sprinkle of southern Ontario-lite with similarly intense hockey fandom and the overwhelming preference of Tim Hortons (“Timmy Hos”) over any other coffee chain.

And yet. I have always felt like more of a west coaster at heart.

So it didn’t surprise me too much that I immediately felt at home during my first visit to Portland, Oregon in the fall of 2017 and made it my official home a little over a year later. All the “greenness” encompassing the myriad definitions of the word (environmentalism! lush plant life! legal weed!), vibrant creativity, Keep It Weird ethos (fading with time through the process of gentrification, to which I have regrettably played some small part), pockets of quiet, enthusiasm for food and drink, and chill friendly vibe.

If you want to get to know Portland better, I recommend the Portland Community College Community Education course catalog. Sure, there’s Portlandia (I’ve only seen a couple episodes myself), but why watch the parody when you can go straight to the source?

The course listings and descriptions read like a strange mini-portrait of this city and its qualities, quirks, character flaws, and contradictions that make it a beautiful and sometimes complicated place to live.

Here is a sampling of some of the course offerings this spring that caught my eye:

• 90s Throwback Hip Hop Dance
• GYROKINESIS
• Strings and Things: Care and Feeding of Acoustic Instruments
• Histories of Drag Performance in Portland - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Photography: Polaroid 600 - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Felting for Stop Motion Characters - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Nonfiction Considerations in Graphic Novels and Comics
• Collage From Your Junk Drawer
• Self-Care Zines: Writing to Heal
• Poetry Writing for Plant Lovers
• Spring Bicycle Tune-Up
• Ancient Whole Grains
• Chowders - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Mexican Street Vendor - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Tasty Tapas - ❌ Sold Out
• Make Boba Tea - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Celebrating BIPOC Winemakers - ❌ Sold Out
• Rose All Day - ❌ Sold Out
• Sheep and Goat Care
• Backyard Chickens for Beginners
• Mushroom Foraging for Beginners
• Dungeons and Dragons - ❌ Sold Out
• Competitive Scrabble(R): Strategies for Success
• “Changes”: Exploring Civil Rights Through the Lens of Tupac
• Hawaii: Low Cost Options
• French Conversation for Wishful (or Wistful) Travelers
• German Pronunciation Clinic
• Latin Conversation: Level 1 (“There’s nothing dead about this language”)
• The Mysterious Tarot - ❌ Sold Out
• Learn to Juggle! (In the Qigong and Tai Chi category???)
• Foam Rolling 101
• Bringin’ Flexy Back
• Reiki Level 1
• Energy Healing 101
• Herbal Medicine Crafts
• Plant Shamanism
• Photoshop Digital Scrapbooking
• How to Make Online Meetings Less Terrible
• Learn to Draw Sacred Geometry! - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Drone Pilot Basics
• Get Grants!
• Demystifying the Anatomy of Real Estate Transactions
• eBay: The Basics of Selling! (“Includes Tips, Tricks, and the Traps.”)
• Empowering the Female Investor - ⚠️ Almost Full
• Where Does All My Money Go?

I’m registered for a 6-week course called Ukulele Beatles and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m still pondering, but haven’t yet pulled the trigger on, the aforementioned Drag History course. I am glad to live here.