An opportunity for public figures to talk to whomever, without ever having to put any particular name on a public calendar. Where the real deals are made baby.

That reminds of an old Frank & Ernest cartoon where they are gazing up into a nighttime starlit sky. Ernest says something like, "Looking up at the vastness of the universe, Frank, reminds me of how small and insignificant you are."

You, too, Ernest! Me, too, Frank!

There is a gala affair in our city, concerning raising food for the hungry.
The juxtaposition of an elaborate evening, an occasion to dress and jewel up, wine and a special dining experience versus those who need food. . . .
Somehow sitting there and eating knowing this event is focused on going to feed those who are have perhaps have never tasted such a morsel would make me feel. . . On this one, I think I would have to pass and donate the money.

I have written before about the artists in our community. If you look throughout the pages you will find that those in theater and visual arts are entertainment for these affairs. The visual artists donate work for these people to bid on to raise money for concerns. The artists whether in theater or visual, are for the most part not that endowed with cash. I have often thought that a percentage ought to be given to those artists that donate, instead throughout the years, they have given of their work to help the community when some of them could use support. But some elite in our city will then go on trips and bring back art from this or that place, much more prestigious to say that a painting is from a New York gallery. . . or they may just have more time on trips to view art? I don't want to lump all in our city in that camp, but it does go on.

Used to have the "society" section in the daily newspaper. Been replaced with the obits. (Perhaps I repeat myself.)

Meh, not so much - Young white folks and older white folks.

Portland really hasn't changed that much.

A couple of observations:

1) The headlines are clear evidence of a mutual m****tion society. Not enough to perform charity for selfless reasons, you've got to get your picture taken and be dubbed a "mover and shaker" or "a luminary" . . . a legend in your own mind.

2) With so many "movers and shakers" in attendance at the opening of the new SoWhat restaurant it's a wonder one of those empty towers didn't fall and crush them all.

3) The only thing the site lacks is an agony column: Dear Peal, perhaps. Field such questions as:

"My corporate shark husband died and left me several multi-million dollars. How do I get my name put on a building?"

"Our imported Karelian Bear Dog just swallowed one our olive forks and I have an upcoming fundraising dinner next week. How will I ever find one to match my pattern in time?"

"I'm meeting Homer Williams for drinks this evening. Should I buy or should he?"

"I'm thinking of leasing naming rights for the Rose Garden Arena. On how many TriMet stops and signs does that get the name of my company and can I charge people to take pictures of the area building?"

Old Zeb: Before my plans changed, I saw the demise of society stuff at The O as a retirement business opportunity, especially weddings etc. Actually publishing a paper for the egotistical, even at a copy shop, was going to be expensive. The internet was less widespread then. Doing it all electronically should make a bundle.

"1) The headlines are clear evidence of a mutual m****tion society. Not enough to perform charity for selfless reasons, you've got to get your picture taken and be dubbed a "mover and shaker" or "a luminary" . . . a legend in your own mind."

My kid hates Facebook/Pinterest/Insta posers her age, because all they wanna do is engage in various activities (rock climbing, surfing, etc) so that they can quickly post the pic to show how cool they are. Not to enjoy the action, but to pose and expose.

Just like their "mover/shaker" poser parents, who donate time and treasure to all the hip and worthy non-profits, and expose to the rest of the world just how great they really are.

Mutual admiration (or whatever) society, sad but true.

Harry, I had to stop visiting one of my favorite coffee shops near home because of the heavy infestation of the self-entitled who don't tip, don't bus their dishes, and would buy a single fancy coffee and inhabit a table for hours babbling nonsense about their latest exotic vacation, expensive purchases, pilates class, or investments or acquisitions (mostly at the expense of other people). It just made me tired and sad. Plus there is rarely anyplace to sit there anymore so it's off to Starbucks. These people live in their own rarified bubble world where the little people do not exist except to be used or eliminated if they get in the way.

Harry, I had to stop visiting one of my favorite coffee shops near home because of...

That sounds like why I stopped going to the original Stumptown Coffee on Division a couple of years. It's positively insufferable now.

Echh.

We used to smoke dope, drink beer and rock out on the roof of the apartment building that was next to the Tasty Freeze on 21st and Flanders. At that time NW Portland was a mixture of low income housting and light industrial. I worked in a warehouse there. There were lots of low end taverns too, with good options for lunch. My how the times have changed.

My grandfather owned one of those taverns, and they lived on Flanders in the block west of 21st. My uncle built the grocery store around the other corner on Glisan.

Some years back I spent a few hours walking around that neighborhood with my father while he described times & places past. Wish I had that all on a mental-replay tape. Definitely a working class neighborhood. Always was amusing to see it become the It Area before being supplanted by the Pearl.

Sally and others - It's still a good neighborhood and you can't beat the proximity to downtown. But it's becoming increasingly unaffordable. I live a half block from what used to be the entrance to the 1904 Lewis & Clark Exposition. The Fairmont was built at the same time as a place for visitors to the exposition to stay and they came in droves! There were bushels of streetcar lines running to the area which was then known as North Portland and pretty much nothing but swampland and small farms. It industrialized later but there were still magnets to draw the public: The Vaughn Street Ball Park, etc. At one time Solomon Hirsch owned most of the area around the base of the west hills, extending cross Vaughn. The Nicolai's owned other sizeable pieces. In the 1980s, the Fairmont was known as a drug hotel and housed a lot of the down and out. Physically, it hasn't changed a lot and now the young and desperate pay too much to live there and share bathrooms. All the apartment buildings are run by management companies and those that could be were flipped to condos before the market went into the toilet. Expensive townhouses abound where there used to be small businesses or vacant lots. And, more and more, older houses are being torn down to erect hivelike rental buildings on 23rd, a street lined with restaurants and high-end chain stores that - for the most part - don't provide any really necessary services. We lost our only hardware store several years ago but you can't take three steps without passing a coffee shop. This used to be a blue collar neighborhood; my dad grew up here and tell me the stories as well. Now only a few of the places he remembers remain.

I once worked for the largest specialty embossing and engraving printer in Portland on NW Irving. That building now houses condos. Most of the large printers who used to dominate NW Portland are gone now.

Thanks, NW Portlander. I still love that and other neighborhoods. They are what I call the "great walking town" part of Portland.

I moved to Chicago for a couple of years after college. One of the things I wanted to see was the stockyards. You could sort of see where they had been, but imagination or remembered readings of the past had to fill in 99 percent of the gaps from the current reality.

It's a lot like that with Portland, also. From my family history I know what a working man's town it was. The changes are a panorama. Some for the good; some not so much.

I just hope someone writes all the histories. Oh, for a time machine of this and other places.

Hello, I'm Elisa Klein, the editor of PortlandSocietyPage.com. I'm glad my site caught your eye, Jack. You’ve got a lot of interesting content on your blog.
I’m a journalist and have volunteered with many nonprofits. Over the past ten years coverage of nonprofit news and events has dried up—there’s little time on TV and not much reporting in the Oregonian. It’s frustrating. I launched my Wordpress site in September of 2011 and have posted 458 stories. PortlandSocietyPage.com is a free public platform for nonprofits to share their good news. I’ve created the most robust nonprofit calendar in the Portland area. I’ve got direct links to hundreds of nonprofits, and our event coverage is always free. Sometimes people submit photos and information and other times I take the photos and write the stories myself. I have a handful of advertisers and so far have not turned a profit, but I’m not complaining; passionate people who care about their causes keep me going. Yes, you’ll find stories about black-tie “Galas” on http://www.portlandsocietypage.com/, but you’ll also find inspiring coverage of Oregon Special Olympics, The Miracle Theatre Group, Dress for Success, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the happenings of many other nonprofits struggling to stay afloat. Development officers are desperate to get out the word about their projects. The SEO value of having a website link outside of their own sites is also considerable. As far as putting the spotlight on nonprofit supporters, many people donate anonymously, others want credit for their gifts, but at least they’re spending their wealth improving society and not gigantic boats in the Caribbean. Kids playing at the Boys & Girls Club gym don't resent acknowledging the couple who funded their new locker-room, why should anyone else? We could use more publicity about generous donors in the media and less about celebutantes like the Kardashians.
The term “society page” does have some preconceived connotations that are not always favorable, but the highly-charged term caught the attention of a popular blogger like you. Hopefully, with our diverse topics we're dispelling the stereotype that a “society page” only highlights the wealthy and politically connected. Portland society is collaborative; it’s filled with people who recognize how their positive efforts have a synergetic effect on the entire community.
I’ll look forward to reading your blog and hope you’ll give PortlandSocietyPage.com a chance, too. Sincerely, Elisa Klein

Elisa Klein,
Thank you for your response.
We keep up on city livability, financial, political issues that this blog provides.
I will speak for myself, I admit I have become quite critical in writing about those matters because of what I have witnessed in our city, city hall and hearings, etc.
I do realize that people in our city volunteer and give to the community and that many more are not in what some referred to as the "entitled" ones. It might be good to have this blog be read by more as to understand what so many here consider as serious concerns.