Hello gentle reader, and welcome to PretentiousPDX!

If you’re reading this, chances are that you’ve clicked here after reading my profile on either  Thought Catalog or ReadWave. While you’re obviously more willing to click on random links than the average bear, I’m guessing you may not have the attention span to troll through every article on here. So here’s a quick rundown of what we’re about:

PretentiousPDX is a tongue-in-cheek pop culture and music blog, with an emphasis on the vagaries of living in the Hipster Capitol of the World: Portland, Oregon. In addition to running this site, I also write the live music blog for 94/7, a local alternative radio station. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

But enough formalities. Which articles should you read? Here are some of our greatest hits:

POP CULTURE

Instagraming Our Way To a More Mediocre World – The post that started it all.

Yume Meets a Mathematician –  Math isn’t everyone’s strong suit.

Hell Is Other States – I took a trip to Idaho, once. It was pretty ridiculous.

With My Clique, Part I – Our guide to forming your crew.

MUSIC

Learning To Love The Girl Next Door… A Little – Our take on Carly Rae Jepsen & Taylor Swift.

Your Cheatin’ Heart – Infidelity on the Radio.

Train in Vain – When A Mediocre Band Gets Worse.

A Day Late and a Nickle Short – I listened to every Nickelback song ever made. It was about as bad as you’d think.

Live Free or Cheap – The article that got me involved in the concert-reviewing game.

Eye Candy Alternatives – Writing about crappy pop music starlets is like shooting fish in a barrel. But that doesn’t stop me.

PLAYLISTS

In Bleak Mid-Winter – A Winter Playlist

bittersweetheart – A Valentine’s Day Playlist

With My Clique, Part II – A playlist to pregame by

SERIOUS STUFF

Departures – A movie review… that’s also about my dad dying. If you liked “3 Women You’ll Love in Your 20’s,” this may be the most similarly confessional article I’ve written.

Byrd, In Paradisum – A tribute to a man you’ll never meet.

Things We Lost in the Fire – This would’ve been a Thought Catalog article, if I had written it a couple of weeks later.

So there you go. Happy reading!