Life Notes: 10/24/2007

October 23, 2024 by

Personal History – 10.24.2007

A bunch of Habo friends did 30-year summaries after not having seen each other in a long time. Here’s mine from that time.

Hi everyone, well, I find myself with a moment to try to summarize the last 30 years. 🙂 I just read Sue’s and Tami’s, and I’m sure I’ll get to the others, too.

let’s see.  Graduated from NYU in 1984 and fled the country with $2,000 and a guitar.  Back to the holy land for 3 months and a neat little gig at a resort for some of it, then a 6 month or so trip through Europe – Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, and England.  I busked (played guitar on the streets) to pay my way, made lots of friends, and had one of those time-of-your-life experiences.  Came back to the States and went to work for Peterson’s Guides for a couple of months and then worked as a surveyor for a couple of months before heading back to Europe – this time to the UK, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, and ending in Paris for about 6 months total.

I went back to the States and thought I’d try my luck with DC and using my pol science degree. That didn’t exactly happen, so I ended up being the head waiter at a new restaurant (Owned by a Moshnik), then worked at the Hyatt and then for Wang Laboratories as a Jr. Secretary.  This was before the time of e-mail, or much else in the high-tech world, but they had e-mail.  On secretary’s day, I sent a note to 2,500 other secretaries in the company, and had some fun chats from that one note… that was in 1986.  During this time Tammi and I dated a little bit, too 🙂  Spent a year in DC, then moved in with Adam Laden in Hoboken, NJ.

That started a 3-year stint of temping – mostly in the investment banking and perfume industries.  I worked for a while in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center – amazing views, sunsets… and feeling the building sway.  Actually, during my NYU days (80-84) a friend and I went and wandered around on floors of the WTC that were not finished yet, that was a trip.  anyway, $18/hr. to do word processing was good money in the late 80s and kept me in sushi and my fine place in Hoboken.

in 1989 I realized it was time to go back to Grad school and applied to a bunch of places, but then a friend from NYU was suddenly single and suggested we go to south America for a trip together.  got shots, put off grad school in my mind, anyway, and we headed off to Venezuela.  About 3 weeks into the trip, which was much like a honeymoon, and I figured this was the beginning of a new relationship that could last a lifetime, she decided to head home and heal from the relationship that had just ended for her.  I was heartbroken, traveled for a little while longer, but then ended what was supposed to be a 6-month trip and came back and started grad school at Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ.

This is where I met Susi.  Weiss.  from Germany.  an exchange student.  A very beautiful and smart exchange student from Munich.  Well, we hit it off and eventually started something that ended up lasting the next 5 years and beyond in some ways, though I’m currently out of touch (back in touch in 2020’s).  grad school was in international relations.  After one year, Susi was heading back to Germany and so I followed.  ended up in a small town called Konstanz, on the Lake Bodensee in the SW of Germany.  I played music to pay to stay, in restaurants and cafes.  stayed for 6 months and then moved back to the States to finish my degree, then back to Germany for another 9 months and back to the US to take an exam and then ended up back in Munich, where we lived together for 2.5 years, almost got married; almost bought an apartment, but in the end, I’m glad it didn’t happen.  Germany is a nice place except for some of the obvious problems.  Dachau being close by… the language…

Anyway, I came back to the States and didn’t know what to do.  this was 1995.  Ended up traveling to Costa Rica with Elisa, she of the previous Venezuela trip.  this time the tables were turned – she was into me, but I was not into her.  great trip, though.  spent 3.5 months there.  amazing place.  played probably the best music of my life, actually.  learned a lot.  got better at Spanish.

I came back and rented a place in SF for a month.  Then, Susi came over and we toured the Northwest.  somewhere in all of this, I learned Re-evaluation Counseling, during grad school.  That has made a big impact on my life.  It’s also called RC or co-counseling.  That’s one of the reasons we toured the Pacific NW, to practice co-counseling in Seattle.  I ended up moving to Seattle after the trip was over and that’s also where I reconnnected with the high-tech world.  I started with a job with Keane doing tech support for Windows 95, then onto a position as a contractor with Microsoft, a great place to work.  since that time my work life for the past 12 years has mostly been as a software tester – I test to make sure software works like it’s supposed to.  It’s often very easy work, often very isolating…

Seattle was also really good for me as an activist.  I learned a lot, fought some amazing fights – against the FAA, closed down a VA medical waste incinerator, led an effort to keep a Latino community center afloat and thriving… and led an outreach effort in a minority neighborhood with my girlfriend of the time, Freddie, who I lived with for 3 years and went out with for 4.  She is an incredible and strong woman.  It was a tough relationship in some ways, but a very committed one.  After Freddie, I went out with a woman named Tracey who I’m still close with.  Tracey is an angel, faerie, or something like that.  A very sweet and gentle person, that lasted about a year and a half, but was precious.

I have lots of pictures of that time up on the web.

Eventually, I grew tired of the intensity of politics in Seattle and the difficulties I was having in my activist life and also felt I wasn’t really finding my partner there, so I decided to move to Portland, Oregon, where I now live.  I’ve been here for 5 or 6 years…  and, I think I’m home.  I love it here.

Right when I moved here, I got together with a woman named Erica.  someone who is chemically-sensitive, so I learned a lot about that world.  and, she lives in a co-housing community, where I eventually moved in.  So, got to re-experience life on Kibbutz US -style.

That ended after about 3 years.  it was probably the toughest relationship I was ever in.  I think there’s part of me that’s just done with really hard relationships.

I’m kind of in one now, but I think it might be salvaged, cause I feel like I’m with a life partner.  her name is Eecole.  she’s really quite incredible.  vibrant, we love to dance and sing together.  musical.  cares about the world.  we share a lot of friends and are part of a very tight dance community.  we dance together at least every Sunday.  that’s another story for another day, but it’s quite incredible – I’ve never really felt so close to a group of people perhaps since habo days…

and now, sitting listening to radioparadise.com and thinking of what I  have left to do today, and also how much I’ve left out.

Burning Man.  I could write about the 8 times I’ve been there and how that’s shaped my life.

Ayahuasca and my recent journies in that arena.

travel that I’ve left out – Thailand, Hong Kong, VietNam, and various road trips around the US.

the fact that I don’t have kids.  Eecole would like to have some.  we’ll see if we get to that stage.  I’m open to that with her.

most recent work was with the Bonneville Power Administration, as a contractor making the most money I’ve ever made.  $46/hr.  So, I was able to save about $30K and now recently laid off from that gig, collecting unemployment and pondering.

also was just in my first major car accident, so am doing chiro, acupuncture, and massage to heal from that.  I’m fine, but a little shaken still and the accident was 3 weeks ago.

Life has been really good for me.  and this has been a great exercise for me, thanks for taking the time to read.

it’s put me into a nice thoughtful place.

Albert

 

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Sisters Folk Festival 2024

September 30, 2024 by

Lizzie No

Sisters Folk Festival 2024 – What a Hoot!

I’ve been hearing about the Sisters Folk Festival for years. Back when I attended Burning Man religiously – I’d usually come back to Portland and then consider – heading back out for the folk fest and then forget where I left my mind for a couple of months 🙂  So, this was my first year, and what a fun surprise. What a delight! Shades of the Vancouver Folk Festival (which is generally my gold standard for this type of music event) + Central Oregon + high desert = cowboy boots and saloons. Women in dresses – grass growing where it doesn’t belong.

Pics

We started our adventure (Eecole and me) with a sweet visit to my friend Kieran (great picker and good friend) outside of Bend – you can see from the pictures that we got out into a couple of nearby parks and saw some sweet scenery.  We arrived at our weekend home (a parking lot in front of a high school) on Friday, parked Eecole’s camper and then headed into town. Our first venue was The Open Door – an intimate setting – we stayed for 3 acts: Lizzie No, The Pairs (shades of The Wailin Jennies), and San Miguel Fraser – all wonderful and we lucked into front-row seats for the evening! It was a cold night of off-and-on sleep for me – outside in a tent.

Saturday morning Kieran, Erin, Eecole, and I had breakfast and played tunes until it was time to go into the fest. Saturday featured some more intimate workshop-style offerings, so we got to hear more about the background of the performers. I think for me Saturday night was a big highlight – I stood in line to get good seats for a showcase type of performance. That was well worth it as I just loved what we saw Saturday night at the Dave Carter Songwriter Showcase. Everything that followed was equally stunning, too – Especially Kittel & Co. and Vasen.  Vasen, a group from Sweden featured a guy playing an instrument that he built – something ancient. I spent the whole performance watching him play and just wondering what I was seeing. This:

The instrument is bowed. The two men playing also just sent us all into a dreamland and when they were done it was time to bike back to the parking lot (about 2 miles away) in the chilly and windy night. We were battered by a cool wind all night and I didn’t sleep that great.  But hey, you’re at a folk festival, right, so you roll with it.  But boy do I need a new sleeping bag and possibly it’s time to buy/rent a van for these events!

Sunday, breakfast (a hot shower in the High school!), and a few tunes before we packed everything up and drove into town for a couple more performances. I felt lucky to score a great seat at the Open Door where I’d begun the weekend. I watched The Lowest Pair and Peter Mulvey. Peter is someone from whom I want to hear a lot more! What a character.

So, that’s a little bit of my trajectory, but I have to say that the volunteers and organizers really thought this event through in a lovely way. I always felt welcomed. Also – the sound was delicious. I tend to gravitate towards the smaller stages, knowing I’ll get to hear a more intimate experience – and that the sound was so dialed in – I can’t remember a time where I’ve heard such a well-dialed-in mixing. If you’ve ever read my revues of other festivals – I usually complain that the sound is too loud – I’m looking at you Pickathon, Beloved, Strummit – pretty much everything I attend these days – the volume is too loud. This was not that – and I am so so grateful. I might even return just for that aspect. The fact that they also curated a collection of musicians from all over the place that were new and delightful – icing on the cake!

Also, the lighting was lovely. At every stage! The daytime weather was delicious. And though we drove through a fire on our way to the festival, the air was clear all weekend. OK, time for a couple of improvements:

The festival could do more outreach before the festival happens (via an email newsletter) to encourage attendees to:

  1. Be super careful not to have car alarms ready to kick off – this happened a number of times throughout the weekend and was a noticeable disturbance. This could be improved through education.
  2. Learn how roundabouts work – they are yield situations – not necessarily time for stopping

Lastly, I suggest the festival ask the local municipal airport to see if planes can take off and land – not over the town (this didn’t happen often, so I imagine they have a choice). I mean I think they should do this always, but esp. when you have thousands of people outside listening to intimate music. Something tells me the right letter could make this happen. This festival obviously has some presence in town and I bet for one weekend small planes could avoid flying over the town.

Otherwise, wow, kudos to the festival organizers. It was very well done. I had a great time and I learned about a bunch of new musicians I hadn’t heard of before.  Next year I might even come to the songwriter camp that leads up to the festival.

Thank you! Albert Kaufman, 9.30.24

 

If you like photos, here are some of our time there. And here’s the Spotify playlist of all the artists.

MC Mike Meyer welcoming us at the Open Door

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OCF 2024 – Resources

July 16, 2024 by

Resources: OCF Booths and more

One of the lenses I see the world through is a marketing one. So, part of my life at festivals is seeing what is going on marketing-wise. Sometimes I can be helpful to a vendor or learn something myself. So, in no particular order – here is some of what came out of my bag this morning and the attached memories and stories. If you see any mistakes, please let me know @ albert@albertideation.com! Thanks. I also did a more overview write-up – that’s here.

  1. Vestiks amazing shirts!
  2. Harm Reduction Resources: from 8 til late – Rainbow Connection – Xavanadu – this ties in with the big contingent of healing resources and health education that happens here.
  3. I keep a list of Vendors I email about marketing once or twice a year – if you’d like to be on that list, click here.
  4. Todji Kurtzman – one of the artists this year. He had a piece in Xavanadu – todji.com for more of his incredible work!
  5. Someone from Lost Valley Education Center led a fun workshop on how to throw a block party – including 7 tips to throw an epic block party handout. It included an Icebreaker Bingo card which I used over and over again for the rest of the day.  They are at lostvalley.org – this was in Community Village on Sunday afternoon. Lost Valley is also hosting a Conscious Growth Convergence September 27-29 – looks lovely.  More info at consciousgrowthconvergence.org
  6. A friend mentioned Johnny Franco and Brother Dan – and their serenading of the audience. I didn’t see them, but she sent a video.
  7. Rebecca Bashara – metalsmith/designer – These folks were near my home booth, L12 – had these lovely stones lined up on tables and on a model that changed during the day. Very lovely.
  8. Then there’s the booth where you wish your Mom was there. Wooliza Fiber Arts was that one for me. Incredibly lovely woven pieces. wooliza.com
  9. LyndaFeman Ceramics – I always love to stop by and see what Lynda has going on. She usually has at least one fancy menorah! This year’s was delightful
  10. I’ve been stopping by and saying hi to Astrologer Mark S. McNutt for years. I loved hearing that he’s very full up in his work. It’s great when any solopreneur is so popular they don’t need to do much marketing. astrowizardry.com 
  11. I have a newsletter for friends and family called The Eleven – you can sign up for it here. + Smiles from this year’s event.
  12. Autumn Higgins – Ceramics, Art, Custom Pottery – Someone showed me a coffee mug they’d purchased from Autumn, and then later I happened upon her booth. Beautiful work! autumnhiggins.com
  13. Stage Coach Farm & Forge. I’d never seen this person’s work before. Hefty skillets and cookware. Damn, these things are heavy and will last several lifetimes. I’ve actually never seen anything like it. stagecoachforge.com
  14. One of my favorite parts of the whole time I’m at Fair is finding things that are being done elsewhere (I’m looking mostly at you, Eugene) that we might be able to bring to Portland. bringrecycling.org/classes is in that category.
  15. Raising Resilient Bees – digginlivin.com/book – there were a few bee-related booths – this one from Energy Park. I also purchased some of their propolis. Yum!
  16. Creative Spirit Collaborative – A Eugene-based group.
  17. Rabblebox 3-stringed guitars. Neato!
  18. Got feedback for OCF 2024? Online: https://tinyurl.com/4sjxtrp9 or, by mail: 442 Lawrence Street, Eugene, OR 97402
  19. If you walked the 8 you likely saw Jeff Eichen taking photographs with a tripod. He’s often dressed in green and he’s hard to miss. He’s doing good work to help those who have records due to cannabis use. Check out releaffoundation.org 
  20. How did Jenny Leis’s card get in my collection? Your Enthusiasm is Contagious – says her card. I was actually speaking to someone who I want to connect to her work in facilitation, training, and consulting. And for now: jennyleis.com
  21. Ah, this next one is special. The Eugene Environmental Film Festival! The woman in Community Village who was sharing about this event offered me a t-shirt which I’m wearing proudly. What she is doing is fantastic and I may travel to Eugene for this this fall. This is also where I heard the phrase “platform maker” for the first time. More about that as I learn more.
  22. Another one that my Mom would love. Wood ‘n I Weavings!
  23. Evan Burnette – Local Art Glass – lovely work!
  24. Pure Love Chocolate – This was their first time at the fair and they rocked it.  zero sugar.  yum!
  25. Wileyware, Booth L12 – We had fun and sold many glasses. I added to my collection and saw so many friends and laughed so hard – thank you, Marcia Wiley!
  26. L49 – James Island – Trees of Light Lamps – beautiful.
  27. I spent a lot of time with Joshua Morton. I believe this next picture is of his work. It sounds like he does a lot of good in the world – proceeds from his art – he donates his money from this event to a college scholarship fund for students in his area. Enjoy

Honorable Mentions – areas I visit a lot every year: Energy Park and Community Village – rock on!

Thanks for visiting – stay in touch! Albert

OCF 2014

OCF 2017

OCF 2022 – a very short and different fair

OCF 2023

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About Last Night – Portland Folk Festival 2024

January 13, 2024 by

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.

 

 

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Pickathon 2022

August 10, 2022 by

Pickathon 2022 – a Review

Earlier this Summer I wrote a short piece called Gentle Guidance about how to enjoy this summer’s offerings – as I knew they’d be different and we’d be different. Earlier this Summer I had planned to attend the last String Summit – then I got Covid and had to sell my tickets. I thought that attending Pickathon might assuage some of my remorse and sadness, but like Charlie with the football, it didn’t have quite that effect. I’ve attended Pickathon 3 times before and I thought my visit in 2017 would probably be my last – sadly, much of what I found missing/wrong that year seems to have continued to be part of the festival. But Pickathon does a lot well, too – so I’ll start there before adding the “room for improvement” section.

First of all a little bit more back story. This year there was a very welcoming and friendly Pickathon FB group this year. This was something that was missing the last time I attended, and I was grateful to find it. This group led me to the purchase of a weekend ticket for $300. I also posted that I was seeking a parking pass and a friend reached out and sold me his for $70.  That’s also where I found a Spotify playlist featuring music from all this year’s performers.

Positive: the Pickathon ticket system allows easy transfer of tickets between people – well done!

I dilly-dallied around on Friday and then saw a message that Pickathon had oversold their parking and that parking at the festival was sold out and that people should instead make their way to the Clackamas Transit Center and they’d be shuttled from there. OK, minus one point, but luckily in my case I had friends near the festival I was staying with – so headed to their house and got a personal shuttle to the festival. Once there I was able to get my wristband and parking pass in about 20 minutes of standing around in a weaving line. Great – soon after I walked into the festival and started finding my way.

In 2019 there had been a terrible accident when 2 Guildworks workers had fallen to their deaths after the festival as they were taking down the collection of white fabrics that had flown over the main stage area every year for years. I somewhat expected that that area would have had some sort of memorial, but instead, it felt very empty and simple compared to other years. I met a few friends on the way which was nice as I was traveling solo.

One of the cool things about Pickathon is that it takes place at Pendarvis Farm which is a big property with a lot of woods on a hill. So, all of the stages are on hillsides – either in the woods or in a clearing. There are pathways everywhere and you can go get lost in the woods which is where thousands of participants and volunteers make their homes for the weekend. When I first attended in 2007? or so I recall hardly anyone camping – and even then it was tough to find a place that was level. But nowadays people come early and bring shovels and brush hooks and make camp all over the place. There are also lots of hammocks.

Positive: there are some really fun art pieces that are great to look at during the day and I’m sure are even more fun at night when they’re lit up.

 

Positive: by every music stage there is a DJ stage – when there’s no live music playing a DJ steps up and plays tunes. Most of the DJs are from local stations like KMHD and XRAY.fm – some of my favorite music in 2017 and this year came from the DJs! The DJ stations also had the best fidelity – surprise surprise 🙂

I spent Friday wandering around – seeing some folks I hadn’t seen in a while and trying to avoid breathing in too much dust along the pathways. A couple of people had put together a singles and solos meetup @ 4 pm – and I went to that and had a fun time with those who attended. It reminded me a little of my time at WDS – attending Meetups for a couple of days straight.

Highlight: I got to see Yasmin Williams perform. She’s quite a talent and she also mentioned on the stage that she attended my alma mater – NYU. In all my years of attending musical events, I’d never heard a performer mention NYU before – and my heart nearly leaped out of my mouth. My NYU years were pretty special. It sounds like they might not have been as good for her – but still, it was a fun moment.  The juice/smoothie place at this stage made me ginger carrot apple juice which was delicious!

Another Highlight should have been hearing/watching Nubya Garcia on my favorite stage – The Woods Stage. And here’s where we get right back into a central problem with Pickathon (that I talked about in my 2017 write-up). It’s the same issue I have with many music festivals. I sat for an hour with a new friend leading up to this show. The DJ behind us was from KMHD and was playing some delicious cuts. Eventually, though it was time to get the band ready to play. The sound people spent about a half hour testing out the bass and drums. I think it makes sense to take the time to get it right – but it was the volume that was the problem. Why subject an audience that is there for the music to testing out drums and bass turned up to 11? And this seems to be a common occurrence at Pickathon.

Then, there’s the volume level of the music, in general. A friend send me a video from Pickathon 2010 yesterday and it was so subtle and lovely. You would probably not ever hear that anymore at Pickathon. I sure hope someone at Pickathon reads this – or, perhaps take a freaking poll?  Pickathon goers – do you want to hear all the music at such a high volume that you and your kids should probably be wearing significant ear protection all weekend? People – save your hearing! There’s also the general cacophony aspect – if you click on the fun video image above – you’ll hear DJ music playing at the same time as a nearby stage is playing – this was happening a lot.

It’s Really Simple: Turn Down the Volume

I have a couple of other minor suggestions – but the above is my main beef and probably why I’ll not return. Pickathon does a great job of picking interesting music for all of us – but then makes it challenging for (me, at least) to enjoy. Of course, that leads to people having conversations over the music – but that’s another story.

All that said – I actually had a pretty fun time on the day I attended. The next morning I woke up and thought: do I want to do the push-me pull-ya dance of being attracted to go hear some music only for it to be too loud to handle? And I decided that my one day was going to be it. An interesting part of that is that as I consider my time at Pickathon – there really is so much good going on there. The family area is lovely – and there’s so much encouragement for people to bring their kids (wear earplugs!). And there are a lot of great volunteers and the community that come together to make this big festival happen.  That’s fun to watch.

I imagine that this year’s festival was super challenging to put on. Pendarvis Farm is in a section of Happy Valley that is filling in with McMansions at a quick rate. It used to be possible to park right next to the festival – but that property is being filled in right now and was not available. So, we’ll see if Pickathon tries it again at their current location or ends up moving elsewhere.

Finally, so much would be improved if someone just got serious about the sound levels. I’d come back in a minute and probably camp for the weekend. But I won’t be back until Pickathon makes some sort of public announcement about this issue – which I doubt they will. No one likes to admit publicly they are doing anything wrong. I get that.

I’ll probably add to this review as I think of more things – and until we meet again – enjoy the music! Albert

PS – I am open to feedback – please leave a comment below or write me. Thanks. Also, if you enjoy my writing and thinking, I publish a few newsletters which you can sign up for here.

 

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New and Good November 2019

November 21, 2019 by

What’s New and Good?Sunset in Newport Oregon

Hello from Lake Albert gone! I’m sitting in our sunny dining room on November 21st and it’s a fine morning. Coffee to my left, laptop to my front and a collection of house plants I’ve gathered over the years. I also like collecting glass orbs and have quite a few strewn around the living and dining room.

But that’s not why I’ve gathered you here. Mostly, it’s just to get in the habit of writing more. Less FB posts and one-off newsletters, and more writing writing 🙂  Yes, in preparation for January and February when I intend to do some longer pieces – namely my autobiography! Yes, it’s 11 chapters long and of course includes info about hitching across the country in 1981, a year living on a kibbutz in Israel and my involvement in Habonim which led up to that; 14 years of attending Burning Man into one chapter – we’ll see how that goes. Some of the chapters could probably be books of their own, but this will be an Albert taster. I’ve actually made a deal with myself that I will not attend Burning Man again until I can hand someone either a copy of the book or a thumbdrive of it or digital download code.  Or, the other thing that opens the gates to the playa would be me bringing a giant art piece I have in mind. But that’s a much bigger lift.  We’ll see which wins – but my current plan is to bring some form of the book forth next. I have the free time for this, and the stories – encouragement welcome!

Last night we hosted a Higher Thought Cannabis Game night here. Get your game today! It’s a really fun way to gather with people and share insights and thinking. All sorts of stuff gets discussed.  I’m constantly surprised at what comes up. You may remember my earlier mention of this game in my Cards blog post of last year. Since that time I’ve become part owner (15%) of Higher Thought and I’m also helping Aaron Trotter out with his empire of decks over at Illustrated Playing Cards. I really do think the decks in my post are possible ways for people to move themselves forward. I think it helps people when groups share knowledge. It almost reminds me of the days of yore when we’d sit around the campfire and tell stories. Perhaps it’s time to go back to that practice so that we can get our societies on better footing in preparation for dealing with climate change and other big challenges headed our way. That’s where my mind went to last night, at least.

So, I’m moving. At the end of the year I’m renting a friend’s house for 2 months (Jan and Feb. 2020!) and then I’m not sure what comes after that.  Very likely more Portland. I’ve had this thought lately of starting a “we’re staying” club. No matter how bad the traffic gets. No matter how many noobs from elsewhere come and move in – we’re staying!  We could have buttons and patches. I think there’s a value when we decide to stick it out and not do the typically American thing of moving when things get challenging. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve been here 18 years and there’s also something to be said for more sunshine 🙂  And warmth.  That’s partly what drew me to the PNW – warmth – so I wouldn’t have to brave the East Coast winters. But today’s very unusual sunshine is reminding me that more of that certainly would be nice.

To perturb my life I’m going to fly back East for Thanksgiving (that is the sweet part) and then drive back to Portland via points non-snow-covered in early December. That’s the perturbing part. I did this drive about 20 years ago and I’m excited to give it another whirl. I hope to visit friends in Chicago, Austin, Santa Fe and possibly California.  I definitely want to visit Summer Lake hot springs, too in Eastern Oregon. We’ll see what the weather and various visits have to say about all of this as I get underway around December 2nd.  If you living the middle of the country somewhere and would like a visit, please get in touch!

K, that feels good. Off she goes.  An Albert update!

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