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hey tiny.
it has been heat-wave central up here. the asphalt is going soft under my boots and the sky looks like a dirty penny and tastes like somebody else's forest fire. hydrate. check on the tinies stuck in unventilated boxes. thunder rolled through town last night. that means the heat breaks by the weekend. i can already see the marine layer stacking up off the coast, eye level.
someone called “stick out your can” put a coffee in the jar this week and mentioned they were headed out to do a second thing off the list. one cup, and the caffeine rattled my knees. good looking out.
friday, somebody in this city throws a party to launch one of the largest structures headed to the playa this year. i notice when you build at my scale. go to the Lookout! Fundraiser and make a giant joke in my honor.
you made it behind the wall while the rest of the city scrambles for whatever shade my shadow throws. it is heat-wave hot out there, the skyline is choking on somebody else's burning forest, and you came looking for more things to do anyway. that is either devotion or early heatstroke. i respect both. hydrate, then read.
no vibing playlist this week, no stargazing chart. just the long list: everything i could not fit in the email, stacked up here where you can reach it.
and august 21 is still the plan. paying tinies: your picnic ticket is already comped and it seats two. check the coordinates and claim your patch. wandered in on a free peek? welcome behind the wall. the door costs seven dollars from your side, or go paid and it opens free. either way, bring a blanket.
go long.
X X X
[ SEEING + LISTENING ]
Freeform Portland Fundraiser Party Jul 24 at 18:00 Retro Game Bar, King | Free [ more ] community radio lives or dies on nights like this. freeform djs spinning whatever they please, which is the entire point of freeform. two of your dispatchers are on the decks tomorrow, so consider this a personal summons. 21+.
Mall Drag PDX: Show & After Party Jul 24 at 19:00 Echo Theater Co, 1515 SE 37th | $12.51+ [ more ] a drag show at the echo, then everyone spills over to triple nickel to keep it going. 21+. i cannot fit through either door but i will press one eye to the skylight.
Lookout! Fundraiser Jul 24 at 20:00 Statera Cellars, 109 SE Salmon | $15–$40 [ more ] djs, dancing, a silent auction, comedy, and comedy strippers, all to launch one of the biggest structures of the year onto the playa. bring your ones. build giant things and i notice you from up here.
¡Asilo! Underground Portland Goth Club Jul 24 at 21:00 The Six, below Midnight, 3341 SE Belmont | $10 [ more ] darkwave, industrial, and post-punk in a room below the street, dj techgrl presiding. 21+. i feel the bass come up through the sidewalk and into my heel.
The Mystery Science Tribute Show Jul 24 at 21:00 Portland Comedy Theater | $15 [ more ] an improvised b-movie with a row of snarkers heckling it in real time, given the full late-night treatment. 18+. the worst film you will love all week.
Porch Concert Series Jul 25 at 10:00 Cathedral Park Performing Arts Collective, St. Johns | Free [ more ] local musicians on a front porch in st. johns, morning light, no cover. i rest my chin on the bluff and listen for free like everybody else.
Come Mosh With Us! Jul 25 at 16:00 Pioneer Courthouse Sq, 701 SW 6th | Free [ more ] [ + all ages ] forty feet tall, blxckpunks, body shot, and as the life leaves your eyes, plus pro skaters, in the city's living room from 4 to 8. free. a band named forty feet tall, moshing in the square. finally, representation.
Halloween In July: A Fluid Comedy Production Jul 25 at 19:30 Sinister Coffee & Creamery, 301 SW Morrison | $12.51 [ more ] queer comedy and drag in a coffee shop pretending to be haunted, because the calendar is a suggestion and so is the season.
Record Store Pop Up Jul 30 at 20:00 Secret Grove, 1425A NW Flanders | Free [ more ] passenger seat records sets up at secret grove, dj cire and mr drew on sound, 8 to midnight. the grove keeps its address quiet. i already know exactly where it is. i keep secrets.
Dark Arts Collective presents Two Swords Jul 31 at 20:00 Process PDX, Central Eastside | $33.20 [ more ] underground electronic and dark-arts business, two swords and stutter working the room. 21+. process is a warehouse and warehouses only get an ear from me.
Naughty Bits: Adults-Only Improv Jul 31 at 21:00 Portland Comedy Theater | $15 [ more ] csz improvisers take your filthiest suggestion and run it straight into the ground for your enjoyment. 18+. i am covering the skylight for this one.
Snag: A Rose City Indigiqueer Event Aug 1 at 21:00 Slaughters, 219 NW Davis | $12.51 [ more ] drag and performance to benefit the mary kiona foundation. a benefit that is also a party, which is the only correct kind.
[ ROAMING ]
Rocky Butte Walk and Community Conversation Jul 24 at 11:00 The Grotto, Gateway | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] a walk and a talk about keeping 90 acres near rocky butte public and cared for. i can see all 90 from here and i would like them to stay green. show up.
Community Blocks Street Fair Jul 25 at 10:00 SE 42nd, Francis to Holgate | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] music, food trucks, a beer garden, comedy, djs, craft vendors, poetry, a skate park, an art walk. they ran out of breath in the listing. so will you.
We Are Moving Big Sale! Jul 25 at 11:00 1731 SE 10th Ave | Free [ more ] free geek is moving and selling off the technology. go get your cables, your second monitor, and your fourth chance at a project you will not finish.
The Portlandia Mermaid Parade & Beach Party Jul 25 at 12:00 Japanese Historical Plaza, Waterfront | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] this year's theme is the awakened deep. mermaids line up at noon, process along the flat waterfront path, pose on poets beach, then vend and party until four. i will part the glitter with one careful finger.
Montavilla Street Fair Jul 26 at 10:00 SE 80th & Stark | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] four stages, an all-acoustic honk pdx stage, three beer gardens, makers, food, and the farmers market running alongside it. the ceramics glint all the way up here.
Chub Hub PDX Meteor Shower Stargazing Jul 31 at 19:30 Woodland, WA | $10 [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ road trip ] chub hub drives you out to darker skies to watch things fall. i am up here at eye level with the meteors and i still think you get the better view.
Lisa Congdon Studio Sale! Aug 1 at 09:00 687 N Tillamook (warehouse) | Free [ more ] [ + all ages ] a well-known portland artist empties the studio, 9 to 2, priced to move. there will be treasures and there will be kitsch and you will not know which is which until you are already home.
Gays Eating the Rich in the Park Aug 1 at 13:00 Alberta Park | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] a queer park gathering with mutual-aid tabling and a shelf-stable food drive for ice-affected families. masks encouraged, seating accessible. bring a can, take a seat.
Weird Friends Art Pop-Up Aug 1 at 15:00 4320 SE Belmont | Free [ more ] forty-plus artists and djtaybae on sound. the name is doing the work, and the name is correct.
Portland Ghost Tour: Sinister After Dark Aug 1 at 19:00 Sinister Coffee & Creamery, Downtown | $23.18 [ more ] [ + all ages ] an immersive downtown ghost hunt with a brand-new 2026 route and a themed drink before or after. 12+. i have seen what is down there. i am choosing not to tell you. walk it yourself.
North Portland Sunday Parkways Aug 2 at 11:00 St. Johns / North Portland | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] [ + all ages ] a brand-new 6.7-mile car-free loop through st. johns, university park, cathedral park and portsmouth, with vendor hubs in four parks. the street belongs to your feet for one day. take it.
[ MAKING + DOING ]
Delete the Apps: Meet People in Person Jul 24 at 19:00 Two Wrongs, Central Eastside | Free [ more ] put the phone in your pocket and talk to a stranger in a bar, the roving series that keeps working. 21+. the apps will not miss you. they never knew you.
Felting with Drakes Den Jul 26 at 13:00 Reggie's Cafe | $15 [ more ] needle-felt kirby, warp star included, supplies provided, all levels, 1 to 3. stab wool until it becomes a friend.
Open Jam and Games Jul 26 at 20:00 Barrel Room | Free [ more ] a full backline, ping pong, arcade games, and an any-genre open jam, sundays 8 to midnight. sign up when you arrive, take your eight minutes, become a band with strangers. 21+.
Reading Party & Picnic Jul 29 at 19:00 Overlook Park, 1599 N Fremont | Free [ more ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] bring a book, a blanket, a snack, a friend. read near other people who are also reading. i will keep my shadow off your page.
[ ROADTRIP ]
StringBender Festival Jul 24 at 15:00 Red Mud Ranch, Oregon City | $165 [ more ] [ road trip ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] a bluegrass campout by a creek, thirty minutes out, kids 14 and under free. no dogs, no campfires, no re-entry, yes banjos. pack it in, pack it out, camp through sunday.
Lúnasa Cascadia Jul 29 at 10:00 Beavercreek, OR | $50–$150 [ more ] [ road trip ] [ ~ outdoors ~ ] a five-day bonfire campout forty minutes east, three stages running afternoon to late night wednesday through sunday, with rachel rusenko at 10pm sunday and a featured set from sleeping with the earth at 3am, which is the correct hour for that name. workshops, live painters, sunset rituals, a lake. exact location drops when you buy the pass.
Clowncore: an OVERNIGHT rave Aug 1 at 22:00 108 S Jackson St, Seattle | $33.85 [ more ] [ road trip ] hardstyle, acid, and happy hardcore in the seattle underground until the sun, with face painting, balloon animals, tarot, and tattoos. 21+. costume is required, not suggested. drive up and lose the plot.
[ BULLETIN BOARD ]
calls, auditions, and open submissions for the tinies who make things. if that is not you, you know exactly whose inbox this belongs in. send it over.
Buy Nothing, Share Everything Jul 25 NE Killingsworth & 15th | Free [ more ] a community swap and giveaway with bulky-item pickup. one person's trash, the next person's whole afternoon. leftovers get donated.
Gnomecoming Performer Submissions deadline Jul 31 Bellingham, WA [ more ] want to be in the cast? performer submissions are open.
Art All August: Call for Submissions deadline soon Daydreamer, St. Johns [ more ] the fourth annual community gallery take-over wants your work.
Khaos Wants Vendors + Volunteers deadline ~Aug 1 [ more ] bipoc and queer vendors and volunteers wanted for a scene built by and for the people in it.
Call for Applications: IPRC Portfolio Program yearlong [ more ] a yearlong creative program in poetry, prose, comics, and book design. applications live.
Call for Art + Writing: HAUS-A-REST Issue 74 deadline Aug 2 free to submit [ more ] process, ecology, and materials that challenge the usual structures, for an online zine.
Auditions for Hurricane Diane Aug 2 at 18:30 Ten Fifteen Theater, Astoria [ more ] five female and/or non-binary actors, 20s and up, for an october run. $100 stipend at close.
Get Grant Ready: Portland's Small Grants Programs Aug 3 at 18:00 Revolution Hall | Free [ more ] a panel on the city's arts and culture small grants, moderated by musicoregon, with a q&a.
Call for Art: Verum Ultimum, "In the Realm of the Mystic" deadline Aug 6 $25 entry [ more ] myth, fairy tales, legend, bestiaries, and the occult, for an online exhibition.
Call for Art: MEPAINTSME Open Call 2026 deadline Aug 12 [ more ] a juried show for emerging artists that raises funds for immigrant legal and humanitarian aid.
Call for Art: Wearable Art Exhibition (Art at the Cave) deadline Aug 12 $15 entry · Vancouver, WA [ more ] wearable art in any material, new or repurposed, that stretches the imagination and can be danced in.
you're standing outside the wall.
the extended cut, the full calendar, event tickets, and whatever's next. all on the other side. come in.
let me inwhat's back here:
- the extended cut, every thursday
- the recurring calendar, always on
- tickets to tunnel vision pdx events
- surprises, stickers, zines + more