Back in 2001, a small group of friends and I were having a bbq celebrating my new house in North Portland. I got it for a really good price from an old lady who lived there for 50 years or whatever. After a few beers, I said, "NoPo" instead of North Portland. My friends were impressed and started calling it from that day forward, and it spread like wildfire.

I also came up with the phrase "cool beans" back in '97 over a couple of cocktails with a date. My date rattled on and on and on about their life and I sorta zoned them out. After a while, I would just wait for them to pause and utter something like, "That's cool" or "cool" until at one point I saw the people sitting next to us order a bowl of chili. As my date droned on and on and on, I stared at the bowl of chili and while wondering what the ingredients were, I mindlessly responded "cool beans" to my date. A legendary phrase was born at that very moment while looking at a bowl of chili and listening to my date go on and on and on and on.

You're all welcome.