I've named this mindless meandering my Mary Tyler Moore walks.
Although it's much too hot right now to fling a wool hat in the air, I find it easy to adopt Mary's upbeat attitude while weaving through the byways of our sweet city. When my brain feels as outdated as an IBM computer, these brief breathers allow my hard drive to cool down long enough to catch up with the rest of the world, or at least a good chunk of Northwest Portland.
(Frankly, I'm tired of writing about queer marriage. I'm so tired of it that I would rather pull each and every one of my pubic hairs out if it means I get to avoid the subject for at least one week. But I digress.)
A good MTM'er requires only one thing: solitude. It's also good to pick a path that you don't generally travel. Lately, I've found myself between the Pearl District and the Brewery Blocks, checking out the gay-owned Vault Martini (226 NW 12th Ave.). It's the closest thing we have to a good hotel bar downtown without the hotel, and Vault's Cajun martini lights my carb-free fire.
There's also Hive, the furnishings store (820 NW Glisan St.), and Urban Fauna, the pet store (235 NW Park Ave.), two former Old Town spots in new digs. And I'm still in love with Jamison Square (forget what the rich condo dwellers say about all the kids playing in the fountain).
I find myself, once again, appreciating Northwest 23rd Avenue, after years of staying away. Sure, parking is still a bitch, but the shopping has improved and so has the coffee, specifically Java Vivace (2287 NW Pettygrove St.), which downplays rumors of ghosts and goblins that the previous tenant bragged about, while improving the quality of the avenue's corporately sponsored bean scene.
I'm also completely smitten with the skin-obsessed Kiehl's (712 NW 23rd Ave.), the metrosexually savvy Blake (2285 NW Johnson St.), and a new soap bar called Lush (803 NW 23rd Ave.). Although Lush may share the same name as a Portland nightclub, the newly opened scrub shop is actually a way-cool British cosmetics grocery chain with more than 230 "beauty delis" worldwide. It sounds odd, but once you smell the handmade, toffee-scented "Honey I Washed the Kids" soap, you'll be hooked just like me, even though it's about $30 a pound. Ouch.
But it's not all about shopping in the "La-Di-Da Districts." Some of my best and most frequent MTM walks don't involve any cash whatsoever, just a mood to move and a desire to see the city in a fresh light. It's strange that after more than 20 years of dragging my ass all over town, I'm still discovering new stuff. How cool is that?
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