I will start with an apology to the likes of Aaron Draplin and other Portlanders who are unhappy with (…or LEERY of…) the Vermontification of Oregon. I guess when you combine enough transplants from one area of the country in a new one, they begin to recreate the societal norms of the zone they hailed from.
What I am finding is that between the career, relationship, client/ agency drama and overworked creative friends around here, Portland is starting to feel a lot like Burlington did. Recent transplants from Burlington have landed mostly at Nike, after stints in southern California. Many Burlingtonites made it here directly from creative agencies to work at Nemo, Merrell, Keane, Adidas or freelance themselves. All in all, Burlington, Vermont has supplied over 50 creative, action sportsy, account/ project management-types and product-minded people from similar jobs back east in the past 5 years.
I was going to begin the creation of a Burlington family tree. But I don’t want to piss people off by publishing everything I know about them on Vinceland. But don’t think I didn’t consider it. All I can say is, I am glad there is such as familiar group of people living within a drive of each other in Portland, all working in similar positions and industries as we all came from back east. There’s something nice about it, and kind of amazing as well. We have collective power and a support network. We all get along for the most part, we all seem to enjoy the warmer weather, we all see each other on a mostly regular basis.
But there’s something that’s not quite right about the re-mingling of old friendships, work histories, and love bi-angles. I am not sure it’s helping any of us achieve what we came to Oregon to find: Growth through change. I can’t even believe I am saying it, because I am the dude clamoring for routine every day. I avoid surprises of any kind and hang on to daily standards as if tomorrow will be the last time I’ll get the chance to do the same exact thing I did today.
I wonder if we’d all have met more people, learned new things, picked up skills along the way, had we not stayed so close to the familiar. I wonder if the dramatification of relationships, the publicizing of career paths gone bad (why publicize the good and jinx it?) and the generally incestuous Burlingtonification of Portland will continue as we all tread warily close to familiar trails with familiar stories. The gravity and comfort of this friendly group seems to be drawing us all into a vortex of weekend plans, monthly engagements, never-ending text message/ email trail madness. I know we’ve all drawn outsiders down with us into the wormhole that is Burlingtonitus. I can name them, but I won’t.
Consider this a warning to those on the fringes of this web we Vermonters weave, this virus-like expansion of creatively minded, marketing and product management ladder-climbers. It’s an eternal connection, another lifelong guilt trip on your mind, another link in the chains that keep you bound from learning and new experiences. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but it’s my damned site and makes a point that’s been stuck in my head for weeks.
PS: I got really mad at a woman in traffic today and tried to yell “Fuck Off!” at her after she yelled something at me. My window was only open 2.5 inches which hopefully allowed for some form of expletive to reach her fat-ass, redneck ears. But it forced me to yell with my head half-cocked sideways in order to position my mouth for the most volume and hate spewed her way. Well, my verbal release did not do enough to extinguish the force inside that comes from a rare place in me, the place people associate most with other Scorpios. It’s the revenge place.
Anyhow, sorry for the angry tone of this recent entry. Sometimes I feel like the big, green Hulk inside…and words are my pounding.
22 responses so far ↓
1 Nick LaVecchia // Mar 7, 2007 at 6:26 am
York, ME. Quiet, coastal, and no Burlington transplants besides Mike and I.
2 Mike McCarney // Mar 7, 2007 at 6:32 am
What town is Gaetano living in?
3 draplin // Mar 7, 2007 at 10:57 am
Unhappy with all you Vermonters? Not the case, you bear. Not the case, at all. I expect a retraction! I demand a special post dedicated to the positive diplomacy I try to offer to all transplants and greenhornes I’ve met in the last year or so.
When did I say I wasn’t happy with the Vermontifying of Portland? I merely noted the wildness of it, and, odd predictability. I mean, fuck, Burlington “ain’t all that” so, it’s to be expected. People outgrow that shit.
Here’s the thing: I know turdz from the Burlington’s “creative elite” who have badmouthed “everywhere else than Burton-ville.” I enjoyed a good laugh and shook my head. I left that town saying, “Tell you what, motherfucker, you can have this place. Tell Jake hi.” Yawn…….
Here’s the fun part: Fuck Burlington. Fuck fleece vests. Fuck jam bands. Fuck dancehall. (I mean, it doesn’t get any fucking worse than that.) Fuck Ivy League master degrees and the sense of entitlement that goes with it. Fuck college kids. Fuck Burton. Fuck “big.” Fuck mouthpieces aimlessly stomping out “everything else” with carefully-manicured business plans, bottom lines and bottom feeders.
Remember, I moved here from a shitlick Midwest. I “Michiganized” Portland in my own little way. Now it’s yer turn, you man mountain!
Welcome to Portland. Enjoy it. Start kicking the town’s ass. You have landed in a town that has a sense of hope, with so much opportunity and you have a new life with a stunnin’ wife and a house and dogs and talent. For fuck’s sake, Coulter lives here!
If I were there, I’d rip yer face off with a snarling, wriggling Gary, and then, take you out to lunch to Tosis on Sandy Blvd.
I love you.
//draplin
PS: And whoever’s got words on the contrary can direct them to: likewecare@draplin.com.
4 wifey // Mar 7, 2007 at 11:04 am
holy shit draplin…. you’re alive. : )
i think vin has reached “change” capacity after everything that’s changed in the last year. he just needs to go fishing.
mccarney- that was the best post ever.
5 Nick LaVecchia // Mar 7, 2007 at 11:59 am
right right…..and Gaetano goddammitt!@
Technically he lives in York…we live in YORK BEACH BITCH!
6 jen // Mar 7, 2007 at 2:21 pm
you’re the one that moved down the fucking street from me.
ha.
7 Tara // Mar 8, 2007 at 4:59 pm
You need to do the family tree for sure! Get on it. Go ahead…Piss ‘em off.
8 Vince // Mar 8, 2007 at 4:59 pm
From Geoff Raeder via MySpace:
So it sounds like we should move out there?! Although this Portland is pretty rad, and even has people from Burlington. There’s a good crew from St. Mike’s here in town. Many towns have been “Burlingtonized.” People in Jackson use to joke about it all the time.
I often think that Burlington had its heyday and I was there to witness it. There was a great scene or friends, snowboarding was peaking, etc. But maybe it still exists amongst a different crew of people and I know nothing about it.
Take care Vin
9 J. O'Shea // Mar 8, 2007 at 8:01 pm
vermont is and will always be a wonderful place.
plus, burlington still has one of my favorite people i’ve ever met, steven crafts.
i love the dirty side of portland along with the all the positives that are far too many to mention.
everyone should move to rome, ny. houses are hella cheap. some houses in utica, ny cost the same as a decent car. of course, they’re prolly shite holes, but the $4.99 12-packs of utica club would go great in them.
i love you a lot.
J
10 Tara // Mar 9, 2007 at 6:40 am
I knew a guy in college that was from Rome, NY. Mike Roe. Know him? small town for sure. His parents still live there.
11 J. O'Shea // Mar 9, 2007 at 9:40 am
I grew up with Mike. He lived a block away from me until we went to school in VT. He’s been a good friend of mine for about the last 30 years. He’s having twin daughters soon.
Rome is going to be the new place to be. It doesn’t even know how cool it is yet.
J
12 wifey // Mar 9, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Rome = Yawn.
13 Vince // Mar 9, 2007 at 6:36 pm
The F-word = Holy fuckin’ yawn…
14 Stephan Cunningham // Mar 9, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I could have sworn that everyone thought of Oregon as the West Coast Vermont when we were in college…
15 Chuck // Mar 10, 2007 at 11:31 am
There’s still room in Philly.
16 J. O'Shea // Mar 11, 2007 at 1:33 pm
vin, which F word? the sexual one, or the grey’s anatomy one?
i can picture you being a big fan of that show.
F those Fs.
xo.
17 Vince // Mar 11, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I will watch Top Chef, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Project Runway. But I have never watched Grey’s Anatomy…
Wait, what the -F- does this have to do with “Becoming Burlington”?
18 J. O'Shea // Mar 12, 2007 at 8:05 am
I don’t know. You’re the one who brought up the F word. I was just trying to get clarification about which one.
The word “McDreamy” makes me more angry than anything else I’ve heard in years. I also don’t like when former geeks become hunks (like Anthony Michael Hall did briefly).
I have never watched any shows about doctors.
Can you do a Grey’s Anatomy post so we can all comment in more detail? Just Kidding. F that.
Please do a Bear vs. Shark post. I can’t stop listening to Terrorhawk. I can’t believe that I had the chance to see them in FRAMINGHAM and I didn’t go.
Watch Frontline. Best show on TV.
Heading to Utah.
Lots of love,
J
19 Breed // Mar 15, 2007 at 9:06 am
Because of all you muther f’ers newly transplanting yourselves, I was forced to move out of the city I journeyed to 3 years ago to start a new life, and retreat to the Mt. Hood National Forest … hold up in a cabin … and buy a gun.
(you’re all welcome out here, by the way. really, it gets lonely in the woods — stop by on your next trip to the hill)
Breed
20 Chuck // Mar 16, 2007 at 11:33 am
Unabomber style. Booyah.
21 More Verbal Afterbirth at Vinceland // May 17, 2007 at 10:16 pm
[...] Why bother keeping up with this site? Because I get to spill my guts, have some fun and piss some people off. [...]
22 Liberty // Jul 9, 2011 at 12:19 am
I really wish there were more airtcles like this on the web.
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