Jason Traeger

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Anyone who knows me knows I've never been one to revel in the past. I'm the last one to cast a misty-eyed glance back at the "good old days". In my experience the people who take this angle are usually the ones who weren't there. Whatever mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities I've had the pleasure of having, I was wherever I was for better or worse.

This blog is not meant to romanticize any choices I made or any particular era. It's simply a place where I share stories and take stock of where I've been as a way to figure out where I might want to go next. I'll celebrate some people along the way, some of them you'll know or know of, others will be new to you. I'm glad to have known every one of them.

The posts are in no thematic or chronological order. The date at the end of the post's title refers to how the content of the post relates to me personally. I make no claim about the accuracy of my recollections I only promise that I'll be as honest and accurate as I can be. If you were there and you remember things differently than I do, or you find evidence that contradicts my memory (I wouldn't be surprised or upset) feel free to let me know.

Rather than editing the posts for historical accuracy, I'll put ( * ) next to any parts that have been challenged or updated for that reason.

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March 20, 2012

portland olyw

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN, FRED ARMISEN AND ME OLYMPIA 1996

Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen give me a shout out @5:07

The video tells the story as well as I could. The “Lois” they mention is the singular musician, songwriter, and counter-cultural maven Lois Maffeo, a delightful human being I am very fortunate to call my friend and was fortunate to share a house with when Fred stopped in town with his band Trenchmouth from Chicago sometime in the 90’s.

This might sound like 20/20 hindsight but it is absolutely the truth, I was one of the (probably 1,000+) people who suggested Fred Armisen get into comedy. He was and I’m sure still is a great drummer but more than anything else that struck me in meeting him was just how deeply FUNNY he was.

I’ve always sought out artists, creatives, and original thinkers for my friends so naturally I’ve encountered many, many absolutely hilarious people. Fred however had “funny” the way Elliot Smith or Kurt Cobain had songwriting. The same way Carrie Brownstein or Kathleen Hanna had charisma. The way… well you get the idea…he made ya laugh.

Final disclaimer: if you like Portlandia I’ll take full credit for setting the whole brilliant thing in motion. If you don’t like it then remember I was only a very small totally incidental footnote in the whole disaster.

Thanks for watching.

Video from the web. Thanks to my friend Kendall for pointing this thing’s existence!

4:53pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvIJJWKW

(Notes: 3)