Competitive Reading

As its name suggests, the new television show “Portlandia” is set in Portland, that rainy bastion of free public transportation, adult kickball leagues, and thriving feminist bookstores. The show satirizes the peculiar combination of self-seriousness and prolonged adolescence that’s come to be identified with Portland, in the same way grunge music and slacker culture were associated with Seattle back in the nineties. Really though, “Portlandia” evokes a world that will be familiar to most denizens of left-leaning urban America. A few days ago, in a desperate bid to avoid writing something or other I had due, I spent some time watching clips online. One moment in particular struck a little close to home:

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