Loving Your Local Businesses

DiMarco'sHere are 3+ Ways to Love the Businesses that are near you

There are lots of reasons to support local businesses. By shopping locally, for instance, we keep our money in our community. It also lessens the amount of (often noisy, often diesel, often idling) delivery vans clogging our streets. These are some obvious reasons, but I’ve been finding more gold in them there hills – read on for some further insights!  Here are 3+ ideas of ways to look at local businesses that you may not have thought of.

  1. Try this: Physically visit local businesses. If you need something, great. But even if you don’t, walk into your local businesses. Meet the people who have created little worlds all around you. Each local business has turned its shop into something special. Even if it doesn’t look like anything special is going on, hang out for a minute and I think you’ll see what I mean. Often it’s obvious. If you walk into a terrarium or flower shop the air is suddenly fresh and lovely. If you walk into a cat store, yes, we have one! Gifty Kitty on Mississippi. Go! When you walk in and are surrounded by all the joyful creations and the cat energy – it is transformative. Pistil, right down the street is very sweet, too.
  2. Get off track. It’s fine to take an afternoon and wander into a few stores. I like to find a good corner, but most are good – and walk into each store. Last week that included the Hollywood Market, Seven Virtues, Seagrape Apothocary, and Centaur Guitars – at 28th and Sandy in NE Portland, Oregon.  It was a delightful collection. My home set is Marino’s Coffee/Tropical Hut (little fishies, snakes, geckos)/Village Merchants – “well buy low and sell low”. – an amazing treasure house. These are located at 41st and Division in SE Portland. When Schavone’s is open it’s also a must-see Portland piece of history and fine “diner” food.
  3. Help any small business out. Leave them a review somewhere. Platform Examples
      1. Yelp!

      2. Google My Business

      3. Nextdoor (wow, hard to find a link!)

      4. Facebook

      5. Alignable

      6. these are links to my review sites – click on one and then use the search function to find a business you like.
    • But even better – get to know the owner/people who work at a small business and become friends. The rest will follow from there.
    • Bring gifts 🙂 I once brought the staff at Trade Up Music croissants from Le Petit Provence (they liked that)
    • Say, thank you. Take your time. Make a connection.

For Richmond, Portland, Oregon, USA, and Earth here are some of the small businesses I’d recommend visiting. I’ll do them in a clockwise fashion. This ties into the Birthday Game.  Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

TPK Brewing – Gamer (D&Dish) paradise. Live edge wooden tables. Great place to meet someone or cook up a revolution

Hinterland – Food cart pod 50th and Lincoln. The railing facing West is lovely at sunset.  5 food carts. All quite good.

The patio is across the street @ the Breathe Building. Yoga and all sorts of other goodies are going on again and there’s also a Burmese restaurant which is lovely. Esp. in warmer weather.

The Lot food cart pod – BenBearBeer holds this cart in a good way.  They have great tunes. Instruments on the walls.  Lots good to say.  5 food carts, all great. I love the Middle Eastern food. Namu. Yum!

Ethiopian Restaurant – just S. of Division and 50th (which should be repaved yesterday)

Mekong Restaurant – Delicious

The Typewriter Store!

Landmark Saloon – a great place to gather outdoors and covered. Spring, Summer, Fall – I go then. Has live music, blues, and country.

Across the street – the Bead Store.  Also will help you with attaching things to coats 🙂  See my bejeweled coat pulls.

Le Petit Provence. Fresh croissants and a whole more.

The place with the patches

The Bike Emporium – fun bike store – great place to get your bike fixed

Vintage shop

Trade Up Music – everyone should be visiting their stores. There’s also one on Alberta and 19th.  Especially if you are not a musician – buy some egg shakers!  But for musicians – and children – a fun place to visit.

Pic at the top is of DiMarco’s which has the best Philly-style food that I know of that is within walking distance for me. 45th and Hawthorne

The Turning Peel – a new restaurant featuring personal pizzas and a lot of lovely decor. I ate there yesterday and had a fantastic lunch. Can’t wait to return!

Stumptown Coffee (strongest coffee around) – 45th and Division

Marino’s Adriatic Cafe – best tasting coffee in town – 41st and Division – they use Caffe D’arte beans (which you can also buy by the pound). Belly Dancing on 2nd Saturday of the month

Tropical Hut – pet store – little fishies, geckos, snakes, mice – great for kids

Schavone’s – great “diner”. Only open on Thurs.-Sunday now, but still great food and it feels like you’re stepping into 1940’s Portland

Village Merchants – amazing thrift store at 41st and Division. Also, a place to consign things.

MyVice – Lincoln and Cesar Chavez – one of my favorite breakfast places in Portland. Delicious food. Lovey atmosphere

Joe Bike – great bike store next to MyVice

Cesar Chavez/Hawthorne headed East towards 51st

There are a ton of fun places to visit along this stretch – I’m only going to mention ones where I think it’s possible to gather with a few people for a meal or it’s a store one just must visit.

Opening to Life – a healthcare place – but also has a nice dance studio in the back (possible gathering space) – I just took an improv class there.

Bamboo House 40th and Hawthorne (N. side of the Street) – great food and a good gathering spot – spacious

Next Level Burger (vegan) 41st and Hawthorne

Fat Straw – Bubble Tea – 42nd and Hawthorne – potential gathering spot

Ladda Thai (vegetarian) – next to Fat Straw – easily possible to move tables together for a group – very tasty!

Common Grounds Coffeehouse – great coffee, busy place, 42nd and Hawthorne.

Roosevelt’s Terrariums – 44th and Hawthorne – across from Kure. Amazing place – great oxygen and inspiring. Also holds classes in terrarium making

Khao Thai – 46th – quiet and tasty. Great place for a group to gather

Por Que No? 47th – Best Mexican food around. Fun space

Space Room 48th and Hawthorne – huge place. Fun interior. Great place for breakfast or to grab an outdoor or indoor pint.

Quarterworld Arcade – across the street from Space Room.

Mellow Mood – pipe and bong shop – but also home to the best glass work in this field. Also features a very interesting interior.

Sapphire Hotel – 50th and Hawthorne – opens at 4 pm. One of the best date spots in town.  Great food. Lovely decor.

Albina Press – great coffee.  Chill atmosphere.

And back to TPK Brewing – see above!  A loop has been made.  Enjoy! 

I’m planning a funconference in this neighborhood – a series of daytime activities on a couple of days this Spring. There may also be a virtual component. To learn more…

 

If you’re Single and seeking – start by loving your city!

kmhd.org

kmhd.org or 89.1 on the radio in Portlandia

 

Love Your City

If you’re Single (or not), Love Your Home

Love

I’ve been pretty much single for the past 6 years.  I had a thought yesterday while out running errands, that for those of us who are single and seeking, we might as well offer some love to our hometown. I’ve been doing this ever since I moved to the Pacific Northwest (Seattle in 1995 and Portland 2002-present). This region is pretty easy to love and has caught many peoples’ eyes and hearts. I’ve never lived anywhere in the world (maybe besides NYC) where I’ve heard more people say “I love Portland”. My previous partner and I used to say this out loud frequently, and it’s still true. I love Portland. I also love Portlandia 🙂  Feel free to comment below. One day I’ll write an article on that, and perhaps it’s all related.

As someone who has chosen ideation as a profession, I think in concepts a lot. Sometimes I consider myself an amateur sociologist. An inventor. Here are some of my ideas over the years (feel free to borrow from this list in any way you choose – my work is Albert-source 🙂  The concept I want to share here is the value of loving your place. We all hear the message on repeat that you have to start with loving yourself. I believe that is true and it probably makes our lives go better and makes us more attractive for prospective matches. But perhaps we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I can love myself (eat well, rest, hydrate, exercise, etc.) and also spend time loving my town.

Ways to Love Where You Live

My version of this has been this list of ways to make my neighborhood and region more livable. I use my marketing skills to share these ideas with anyone who will listen. The result has been a quieter, sweeter slice of paradise than I envisioned when I started.  A friend once offered to bring me to his town to teach his town council what I was putting out into the universe. That didn’t happen (yet – looking at you, Antioch, CA), but maybe one day. And that’s left me to keep trying to make where I live better and better. It’s worked. My neighborhood of Richmond, Portland, Oregon is kinda dreamy. Maybe it always was. Maybe what I did didn’t have the effect I think it did. There’s no easy way to quantify what I’ve done/said/activated towards. But I have a hunch that even lessening the amount of gas-powered leaf blowers has been a huge help to our community.

As an aside, I have this idea of creating a postcard that says – here are 11 ways to make your paradise a little more paradisical. I know there are great challenges in our midst – homelessness/drug addiction/mental health problems. There are people working on these issues and everything I’m suggesting in this article will just make that work go better. Do you think people who live on the streets are helped by glaring LED lights or gas-powered leaf blowers? No, it just makes their lives even worse.  So, back to that postcard.  There are thousands of places that could be improved by easy changes that people can make – see the article I link to above.  Now back to loving our City.

If you’re single and seeking – by loving your home you’re exercising your heart. You’re possibly being out in the world picking up garbage; planting a tree; starting a new community garden; removing graffiti – and who knows who you’ll meet while you do that. Maybe you’ll decide to serve on a neighborhood council or run for office as a way to share your love. Maybe it could be through mentoring a small business on how to improve their lighting or helping paint a wall.

And just like everything in life, you may make a mistake. Or two. Not everyone is up for receiving help. Not every offer you make in the world is received in the way you’d hope. Don’t give up. Write back if any of this resonates or if you have ideas to add. Thanks!

For a better world,

Albert

PS – I’ve been adding songs to the end of my newsletters and so … here ya go!

PPS – I’m going to expand into ways to show your love to local businesses here.

About Last Night – Portland Folk Festival 2024

Portland Folk Festival 2024

A fun thing happened last night – and it couldn’t have without a lot of different things coming together at once. It all started with an email yesterday afternoon.

I was preparing for an evening of pre-storm pj’s and a movie. Cozy. Warm. Home. Instead, I said “Yes!” and off I headed into a night of fun and adventure. Normally, receiving some gifted tickets to something wouldn’t warrant a blog entry, but there’s more fun to share.  On the way to the show, I got a follow-up email that there was a second ticket available. This led to me scrambling to find someone to go with.

I turned to my Constant Contact mobile app (I was on the bus into town at this point) and sent a note to my “Tag along at the last minute” list – to see if anyone wanted to join me. That only turned up a friend from Seattle saying hi. But the fact that I could do this felt very fun and sometimes it works like a charm.

I got into the Crystal Ballroom and there were vendors and seating and fewer people than I’d ever shared that room and dance floor with. It was super sweet and people were in a great mood. The music was lovely, too. I got to hobnob with some Portland music legends – Worth, and Louie Longmier – both folks I’d been wanting to meet over the years. The artists also seemed really pleased to be playing for this festival. The Festival raises money for homeless projects around Portland.

Music Portland was there and I got to speak with one of their board members, Rose Gerber, who shared what the organization needs volunteer-wise. I may plug in and help.  Also, $ raised by the event is going to All Good Northwest.

I ended up talking to the folks at Shady Pines Radio and they invited one of their staff to take the extra ticket and she showed up with a big smile on her face!

At the end of the night, the person who had gifted me the ticket introduced herself and we shared a Lyft home.  What a fine way to spend the evening than home alone! And a Folk Festival – in Winter! I hope they do a Summer one – I’ll help and volunteer!!!

They’ve canceled tonight (Saturday’s show), but intend to pull it all together for Sunday. I’ll likely go! Join me!

It all started because someone I don’t know but who is on my email list (who receives my newsletters) reached out to me. Albert smiling.

PS – I did some live streaming (not fantastic quality, but hey) on my Facebook account here.

PPS – Here’s a Spotify playlist of the many groups that play this festival!

Plushrooms! the vendors were great!

Here’s a write-up of part two which was smooshed into one day a few weeks later. It was a great day and I took some pics and videos located here.

song a day

you can give Song a Day a try. A new song every day for 232 days.

 

 

Why I Ran

To the SE Examiner (March 5, 2023)

I wanted to share why and how I’m running for the upcoming Multnomah County Council District 3 Special Election Race coming up soon!

I first learned about the vacant seat on the Multnomah County Council through an article in the NYT featuring Ana Del Rocio who was the first candidate to declare in January. I have been thinking about running for public office in Portland for years, but this special election which has a very short time frame coincided for me with a time in my life when I am available for the time and effort to run a campaign. I always figured my first run would be for the Portland City Council, but when a door opens at the right time I figure it’s time to open it.
So, I paid the $50 filing fee, filled out the paperwork, and got started building albertkaufman.com in WordPress. I have been working for the past 15 years as a marketing professional, teaching small businesses and nonprofits how to use email marketing and social media. Given that this is a short-window campaign, I figured I would be able to lean on those skills and my name recognition in the region instead of paying people to do that work. I also feel that money is part of the problem in our political system so I have chosen not to take donations for this race. Friends who are politically savvy have advised me that this is a questionable move, but it has given me a lot of freedom to call the shots and not run my campaign by committee. Speaking of money, I next had to write and then file my voter’s pamphlet statement and pay $100 to have my 325 words printed and distributed! For a general or mid-term election, the cost for this is $300.
Next up has been reaching out to organizations for their endorsements. I had a great interview with the Oregon League for Conservation Voters (OLCV) where I learned about that important group’s priorities and I got to share my thoughts about the environment. It also brought forth a memory that I had somewhat forgotten about. When I first moved to Oregon in 2002 one of my first jobs (and a great way to learn the lay of the land) was as a canvasser for OLCV. I spent months walking through East Multnomah County sharing information and talking to voters.

I have interviews with the gray Panthers and the firefighters coming up this week, and I’m looking forward to talking and learning. That’s what this campaign has really taught me – about various perspectives. Depending on the organization, the priorities can really differ. Then there are my priorities. I’ve been a community organizer in Portland for years and I have started and worked on many campaigns. Some have been initiatives and some have been supporting candidates. Then there have been campaigns to plant more trees and ban gas-powered leaf blowers (qcpdx.org). I guess I love politics and organizing people to take action.

I thought it would be valuable for people to know what kinds of things are involved in running for office. I wish more people would take the step forward and throw their hats into the ring. This area has attracted some very smart and capable people. Our lives would be improved by having more people considering spending some years in public service.
Here’s to a better Portland – we can bring our region into a better future together. I just know it.
Sincerely,
Albert KaufmanAlbert Kaufman - Multnomah County Commissioner District 3 Candidate

Chopra

Silent Awakenings – Deepak Chopra Retreat 2023 – Austin, TX

Good morning, Yogis! Well, here is a tale I’ll tell about my recent trip to Austin, Texas to attend Deepak Chopra’s final Silent Awakenings retreat. I think it was actually the last retreat that the Chopra organization is organizing (they held these for many years) due to the costs of putting on such a show! My story begins a few months ago when out of the blue I got an email from someone I used to know in Seattle, Washington. She and I helped with the ZPG chapter (Zero Population Growth, now Population Connection), and she must have been on my email list for all of the years since she reached out to me to ask me if I could help her sell her $4,700 ticket to an upcoming retreat that she couldn’t attend.

I answered that I’d be happy to try. So, for the next couple of months, I tried a variety of approaches – reaching out to the Chopra organization to see if they would buy the ticket back and sell it to whoever was on the waiting list; joining multiple Facebook groups (including many having to do with Deepak Chopra) and posting repeatedly that there was a ticket to this retreat (that led to some interesting revelations about the world of international retreats); and reaching out to my own vast network to see if anyone was interested. Then we lowered the price a couple of times and I repeated some of the steps – all leading to no takers. Eventually, I suggested to my friend that if no one was interested and she gave me a little lead time I would attend the retreat and that’s what ended up happening. 

One of the coolest group projects I’ve ever seen. At the bottom, I’ll post how this turned out. We all participated (200 of us) in creating this mandala throughout the week on the way to and from our silent meals.

In June of 2023 at the Breitenbush Summer Solstice Retreat, I met a new friend, Sundeep (who lives in Austin) and before the retreat, I spent a couple of days staying with him and enjoying his company and fine hospitality. It was a nice way to acclimate to Austin (105 degrees) and see a little of the town. Sundeep also lent (it turned out it was a gift!) me this fine outfit which I wore at our final closing ceremony on the last day of our silence together. 

On Saturday, September 9th, Sundeep dropped me off at the Lost Pines Hyatt Resort and Hotel about a million miles from nowhere. I registered for the retreat and checked into my room and said goodbye to my friend. I felt a little like a young kid being dropped off on the first day/night of sleepover camp, except my bed had lights that went on as I walked through the room and my room had two luxurious queen-sized beds and a beautiful view of a hummingbird garden down below. For the next 7 days, we were on a somewhat tight schedule featuring delicious food (pretty much all vegan and gluten-free), yoga, morning primordial mantra meditations, more yoga, more food, talks, and lots of time to think and enjoy the property. I would have enjoyed the property a lot more if it had been a little cooler, but I did make some time to visit the steam bath and take a ride on the lazy river. 

There were lots of highlights throughout the week. I am not a frequent meditator, though I do spend a fair amount of time with myself and my thoughts. But this week pushed me into a new level of quiet and being with Albert. On Monday I got up for the 6 am outdoor sunrise yoga which was followed by a 7 am group primordial mantra meditation on a hillside overlooking the Colorado River. It was the only day I chose to get up that early, but it was really a very beautiful experience. The woman teaching yoga all week was delightful and I had many opportunities to hear her lead yoga classes throughout the week. Most days also featured talks by Deepak Chopra during the day (these were often highly theoretical (reminding me of Nassim Haramein). Somehow the day talks also caught me when I was a bit sleepy and I generally didn’t get that much from them. His evening satsangs (also talks) where he would answer questions that attendees posed were a lot more interesting to me. Deepak is a fantastic speaker – he knows a lot about a lot of subjects and is able to weave his answers together in surprising ways. I especially loved when he would talk about his passion for New York City where I attended college (NYU) and I still have so many great memories of it. 

Speaking of speaking, one of my highlights of the week was the main presenter, Brent BecVar. Brent led us in meditation training and also shared some of his wisdom, as well. I intend to follow his work in the future. He also performed music at the end of the week – some lovely Beatles songs which we all sang along to as we came out of silence for the first time. 

My personal highlights were these:

  1. Spending the week in silence around 200 people was something I had never experienced before. We came and went sometimes with a nod, but a lot of the time just “ignoring” one another. Every once in a while I’d catch a smile here or there or hold open a door for someone, but generally, for 6 days I was on my own. By the end of the week, I had a lovely feeling that I’d never noticed before – a feeling of not being judged by anyone. I had gone into the retreat with a little bit of an imposter feeling, but by the end of the week I realized that everyone was in a similar boat – no one was looking at how you were dressed; and no one knew each others’ personal stories – how we came to be there; what we were thinking – nothing. It was a huge revelation to exist in such a space. 
  2. Eating silently. Earlier in the Summer I’d actually put out the call to folks at the Summer Solstice Retreat to see if anyone would like to sit in silence together while we ate. I didn’t manifest it then, but boy did I get my fill at Silent Awakenings. It was really quite something – we’d line up at a couple of rows of buffets, take our food, and then sit in a giant ballroom (or outside once the temps came down) together, but alone. The first couple of meals were a little bit awkward for me, but after the first day, I was down for this type of dining. It enabled me to focus on the delicious food and my own thoughts. There was a strong encouragement by Brent for people not to bring their phones with them into the ballroom where we’d meditate, and this pretty much carried over to the space where we ate. Even with this message repeated, inevitably someone’s phone would go off in the middle of our meditations. 
  3. I really enjoyed learning and practicing the meditation style that was taught. We did the same meditation each time, and now I’ve learned it well enough that I’m practicing it at home. Doing this meditation really allowed me to drop in deeper and I appreciated the soft and gentle approach that our teachers guided us with. 
  4. I had a thought about my Dad during the week. He used to spend hours looking out our screened porch at our cabin (Camp Smiley). I never knew what to make of that, but this week I realized in a way he was meditating. That made my thoughts about him a lot softer.  I was also able to let go of some of the charge that a family member’s anger towards me has had in recent years.

So, that’s a little peek into my week. If you have any questions for me I’d be happy to try to answer them. I’m sure I’ll be adding to this report, but I wanted to gather a few thoughts to share with friends and family. 

I so appreciate this opportunity that my friend gifted me with. It’s given me lots to think about. I feel like my life path has been altered a little bit. I feel at the beginning of a life reset. I still feel very contemplative. I notice that I’m making some slight changes to my life already to change course a little. I tend to have a thousand activist projects going at once and I’m recognizing that that needs to shift to make room for some other parts of my life, such as romance and possibly travel. I feel softer. Quieter. And more curious about meditation and other worlds that I don’t know much about.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Ohmmmmmm

Here’s how the communal mandala turned out at the end of the week.

There was also a table set up which people could add to during the week – this filled out quite a bit by the end of the week and was a beautiful reminder of the nature around us.

If you’d like to keep up with me, signing up for a newsletter is your best bet! Welcome.

Primordial Sound Meditation

Questions asked by the facilitator (or self):

  • Who am I/What am I?
  • What do I want – What is my Deepest Desire – What do I want?
  • What is my purpose? How can I serve myself and the rest of humanity?
  • What am I grateful for?(leave space for the answers to come)
  • I am (followed by your first and last name)
  • I am (followed by your first name)
  • Silently repeat I am
  • Silently repeat the Sanskrit equivalent AHUM (about 1 minute)

Meditate using your primordial mantra for 15-30 minutes.

Then the facilitator speaks the following intentions – releasing them into being (waiting about 15-30 seconds between each of them)

  • Joyful Energetic Body
  • Loving, compassionate heart
  • Reflective, alert mind
  • Lightness of Being

Continue resting for another minute

Take a few deep breaths, Start to move, and stretch gently.

When you are ready, open your eyes slowly

Namaste

9.25.23 – More pics and context.

Oregon Country Fair 2023 in Review

OCF 2023

It was the best of Fairs it was the worst of Fairs. Every Fair is unique and this one certainly was that, too. Everyone has a different time at this Fair, too. It takes everything you arrive with, magnifies, twists, and takes it all into a kaleidoscope and brings it back to you for your amusement or derangement. It’s good, bad, and ugly! I had a time at the Fair this year. One of my fave fun things to do is to share some of what I learned or who I met at the Fair as a way to stay in touch with them and introduce you to them, so without further ado – and in no particular order – here is some of that! Photos by Mike Meyer! And if you want to see lots more photos and videos – check out the OCF Unofficial Group (I’m an admin on there!). And if you somehow found your way here and would like to get monthly updates from me about the life and times of Albert – Sign up here for The Eleven – my monthly newsletter. OK, now, on with the show!

A card found among the various business cards: “I have come to bring out the beauty you never knew you had and lift you like a prayer to the sky.” – Rumi

Well, it was the 11th – so, the rest of my story came out in newsletter form. – Enjoy! The Eleven, July 2023

OCF 2022 was a very short one for me.