Q. How Many Hipsters Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb? A. It's A Pretty Obscure Number & You Have Probably Never Heard Of It

What a beautiful evening yesterday, 60+ & sunny. The Husband & I went to a favorite & quintessentially “Portland” spot- the Bye & Bye in the Alberta Arts district, with large roll-up garage doors, a huge back patio, & a large cement bar, great jukebox, tons of bike parking, & a staff that's as nice as they are easy on the eyes. This joint is a vegan saloon with terrific food that is frequented by the hipsters in their early 20th century farmer garb, body piercing & tattoos. These vintage clothes wearing, kickball-playing, getting-drunk-all-the-time, contemporary-literary-fiction-reading, $200-jean-wearing, Ivy League graduates have taken over Portland, which seems to be a newly discovered neighborhood of Brooklyn. I of course, adore them, & feel lucky enough to hang with them without being a poser.

The hipsters need a pint of PBR after their hard day of band practice or running their baby clothing boutiques & vegan cupcake bakeries. The Bye & Bye is owned by a group of cute & very inked guys, who live together in a house near by (sort of a vegan hetro commune) & have a furniture making business, The Husband has done business as a designer with John, one of the owners, & we couldn’t feel more welcome if we were in our 20s, female, & wearing frilly vintage house dresses & a nose rings.

I forgot how stiff the drinks are at Bye & Bye. The Husband & I each had the aptly named cocktail- "Bye & Bye," served in a giant mason jar. It is deceivingly light & refreshing while packing a really mean punch. We returned home & ended up passed out by 7pm. I woke up at 2am after dreaming about the great drinking song- Drinking Again by Dinah Washington. This kept me up for another hour as I riffed on drinking songs, including my personal favorite, & on occasion theme song:

The Dead Kennedys- Too Drunk To Fuck


plus:
Dinah Washington- Drinking Again


Andrews Sisters- Beer Barrel Polka


The Ramones- Somebody Put Something In My Drink


Brad Paisley- Alcohol


Jimmy James & The Vagabonds- Red Red Wine


Loretta Lynn- Don't Come Home A'Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)


Van Morrison- Moonshine Whiskey


John Lee Hooker- One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer


Billie Holiday-Gimme A Pigfoot ( And A Bottle of Beer)


Jerry Lee Lewis- It Was The Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)


Oasis- Cigarettes & Alcohol


Dean Martin- Hey Brother, Pour the Wine


Ron Sexsmith- Dandelion Wine


Dwight Yoakam- This Drinkin' Will Kill Me


Katrina & The Waves- Red Wine & Whiskey


Loudon Wainwright III- The Drinking Song


The Thrills- Ain't Got the Money to Pay for This Drink


Johnny Cash- The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea


The Magnetic Fields- Too Drunk to Dream


Beck- Beercan


Norma Waterson- God Loves a Drunk


The Replacements- Beer for Breakfast


Eartha Kitt- Lilac Wine


Randy Newman- Marie

Kiss- Cold Gin

The Doors- Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)

Jimmy Buffet - Margaritaville