[liff] Linking Park, Portand, Oregon

(Nota Bene: there is an offical "adult" cuss word in this post. You have been advised).

I'm going personal on this post. Hope all y'all don't mind.

Portland is pretty much the center of my universe.

I've always adored Portland. Though I'm a native Oregonian (one of only about 24, as far as I know) I was not born in Portland. I don't make a secret of it, but I keep that fact in the background, since I get this feeling it makes a dent in my local-boy mojo.

I was downloaded about 50 miles south-southeast of here, and grew up as a child of the teevee, waking up to Ramblin' Rod but never getting the chance to go (as I found out later from some people, it wasn't exactly an epochal experience–not a bad time, but hardly the tear-up we say on KPTV every day). I often have said that the only real mistake I ever made in my life was not being born here; somehow the worst day I have in Portland beats the best day I could have pictured having anywhere else.

Now that I'm a Big Boy™, and computer lidderate, and terribly impressed with my own words, I keep what my tens of readers peruse each day. Not too bad actually; I get to be a member of a community and even if my aim to be Your Arbiter of Local Taste™ doesn't play out, in 30 years (assuming there's still a civilization then) I'll be able to say "Remember the day? When we still had electrcity an' all? Yeah, I had a blog."

Anyway! The point of this whole thing (and I do have one) is that I had a very gratifying experience today, local-blog-linkwise. And I don't usually announce who I link to (though reciprocation is always a given), because...well, I'm actually not sure why not. Maybe I think I'm being too much of a braggart or something. I'll get therapy.

Anyway! I happend to, in my random reading of the digest list at OrBlogs, stumbled on this post on Metroblogging Portland (which I stop by occasionally because of its witty design and wittier contributors) and noticed that a bit of shameless self-promotion would have been a-ok.

Well, as Jeff says, if you don't toot your own horn, nobody else will. So I self-promoted, which is also something a designer just needs to do (see, I worked design in here! In Yer Face!!!...eh, 'scuse me. Sorry).

Yesterday was the most heavily trafficked day this 'blog's seen in a while. First of all, thank y'all for stopping by. Made my day (it was a pretty good day all round, but that was definitely a high point).

There have indeed been blogs I've added to my own blogroll (the local part is accessable under the heading "Blogging, Oregon Style"). There are a bunch there, and I get round to reading all of them by and by (dialup will force you to budget your time, you see), some, lately (Preemptive Karma, FURIOUS Nads!, for example) getting more reading than others (nothing personal to the rest of you–there are only so many stops I can make per day).

As a direct result of the Metblogging posting, I've added a few today:

• Metroblogging Portland (aber naturlich)
• Welcome To Blog

In the last week, Miles at documented life sought me out and linked to me because he liked the cut of my jib (I was considering recutting the jib, but because if Miles, it stays the way it was for now). Naturally I linked back, and if you haven't seen his site you should; speaking of witty design, this is right up there at the top. Another early site that linked to me because he apparently appreciated my wit was Mover Mike, Pril reciprocated after I linked (lady bass players rawk, did you know?), and homopoliticogeek (who's site seems to be gone-wa in a paraticularly strange way) linked for no announced reason (which was incredibly flattering). Taylor Street Purple (one of the cleverer blog titles I've seen) also falls into this class.

I was particularly pumped when a local designer linked me: Jeff Fisher's Blog-oMotives. Jeff Fisher is one of my personal heroes; an article in TheO a few years back about him was one of my direct inspirations for attending PCC to get a degree in Graphic Design (I have other local heroes; you'd be surprised what a big design town Portland is. Or maybe you wouldn't, who knows, but these folks happened long before our now-vaunted addiction to "the creative class". Not that I'm totally against that; I'm trying to get some of this economy addicted to me, but I'm digressing again).

Ever notice how finding someone linked to your blog without telling you feels like finding a lost $20 bill ion the street?

And, to finish off (for now), a good review always lifts one's spirits; over in the comments of that Metblogs posting I got the following prop from dieselboi (who I've had in my blogroll for a while)

I think Zehnkatzen Times and Laurabush.info are the shit!

I understand the compliment, and I appreciate the association.

I love living in Portland. Word.

Technorati Tags: Portland Oregon, Portland Blogs