It's Time.

"You have been telling people that this is the eleventh hour.
Now you must go back and tell people that this is the hour!
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your Garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to yourself.
And not look outside of yourself for a leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing very fast.
It is so great and fast that there are those who will be afraid.
They will hold on to the shore.
They will feel that they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know that the river has its destination.
The elders say that we must let go of the shore,
push off into the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open,
and our heads above the water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time we are to take nothing personally,
least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do,
our spiritual growth comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones that we have been waiting for."

- The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

"Do You Guys Want Some Advice?"

09/30/2010 Moon in Cancer

Today was a great day out on the streets except a song that you can't sing was stuck in my head. We talked to some extremely rad people and got a lot of good and fun work done. I was pretty intensely aggressive for the last few days, so I brought along a Moonstone to put a little yin in my yang and calm the nervous system a bit. It worked and I'm glad that I did it. The people that we talked to today were generally rad. We knocked on a lot of empty houses and met a lot of cool people. Highlights.

*We met a lady that was really into weeding, which is not an asset that many people we've talked to have had. In fact, she might be the first. Definitely the neighborhood wants this lady as a friend.

*We met an older gentleman that was watching Wrestling on the TV. We talked to him for a while and he had a pretty intense twinkle in his eye. During our conversation there was a point that he said, "I'm not paying any attention to anything you're saying right now." I looked to where his gaze was directed and a very beautiful woman was walking down the street. I laughed, and he did too.

*We talked to a couple with the last name Richmond. We were pretty sure that this couple was related to the founders of the neighborhood, but were disillusioned. They're from California, so our dreams of personal recollections of the neighborhood was dashed to the jagged rocks in front of our eyes.

*We talked to a lady with the loudest Clothes Dryer I have ever heard outside of some early industrial laundromat. She liked fruit trees and wanted a neighborhood basketball hoop.

*Our last conversation was a 19-20 year old that's just about to go out into the world as an Americorps volunteer. He knew everything there was to know... We kept asking questions about what he'd like to see in the neighborhood, he kept kind of answering. Then he said the words. "Do You Guys Want Some Advice?" Cyd and I immediately and instantly said "No". We just really didn't want his advice. But sometimes advice is so close to the surface that it just has to come out. He did preface by saying that he worked for Grassroots Campaigns Incorporated as a canvasser for an unspecified length of time and he "averaged $100 to $200 a night".

He went on to let us know that we should shorten our "rap". We proceeded to let him know that we were well aware of traditional canvassing methods as between Cyd and I we've had about 12 years of canvassing experience between us. But we were actually working to have conversations, not just extract the largest amount of money we could out of the neighborhood for our "cause". So we talked a little longer to explain the project, to which he replied "Oh, that's a pretty good idea", to which we replied "Of course". Have a good time in Americorps kid! You are not a Jedi yet.

Back to the Streets

09/28/2010 Moon in Gemini

Today, we're getting ready to head back to the streets after a short hiatus where we created a task list for the project that's been decided by the community. That was quite a fun project, and I'd like to give a shout to all the people that helped to make it a success. The next step is to go out and talk to some community members in order to build some excitement and fill some of the vacant volunteer slots. I personally am tired of development, and want to get down to the nitty-gritty of implementation and promotion.

We're definitely hoping to get some help from the fine members of City Repair on this project. We've sent quite a few e-mails out to the community, including some e-mails that we didn't mean to send out. They weren't pornography or anything, they were just these random automatic e-mails that came from the project management software we were trying to use. That was a big oops. Sometimes development doesn't go the way one wants it to go.

I've been feeling super excited lately about the potential of the project to be a success! The reality is that most of the people we're talking to are definitely into the ideas, and our job is to combat the basic inertia that's inherent in human nature and move people towards concerted action in their own communities. The reality is that if we don't work to organize ourselves we tend to be organized by our fears or our prejudices. This process of being led by our fears tends to take us headlong into dark chapters of our collective history. Fascism, Witch Hunts, Religious or Racial Persecution, Repression, Regression and War. I'll leave it at that for now.

The Sickness and the Health

09/23/2010 Full Moon in Aries

Wow, I've been feeling sick for the last couple of days. Not sure exactly what's been going on, but if I had to describe it, it's like I was a computer with a typically stable power source that got unplugged and had to operate with a compromised battery. But feeling better now, and even though I was sick, I managed to accomplish some good work with the help of Cyd. This whole week has been given over to developing tasks and ways to track what's getting done with those tasks. Hey everyone, if you want to get involved in a Portland project that needs some help to get off the ground click here.

Basically, the project is to bring attention to the crosswalks in the Richmond Neighborhood in a creative and artistic way. A real "Reclaim the Streets" moment is possible through this project, and we're excited to get it off the ground. We've created affinity teams that can operate independently and help to inform each other about what's going on. For more on the teams click here So here we stand, getting ready to create an e-mail to send out to all the people we've talked to in the neighborhood so far and to get this thing started. Welcome everyone, to a new season of getting things initiated. Also known as fall.

Twas a Lovely Meeting

09/18/2010 Moon in Aquarius

Jupiter conjuncts Uranus today. And it was good. We had a meeting at Owen Spencer's house today, where we brought a bunch of food, and had a very solid meeting structure for the day planned, which kind of fell apart in the third quarter. (That's a football reference) It was a pretty good turnout, I think around 18-20 people and we all got to know each other and got to talk about some of the project ideas that had come from the community. It really fun to be there, we had a circle up, where we said our name, one thing we loved about Richmond and checked in. That was really good.

After that we announced the three top ideas that had come from the community, we broke into small group discussion about each of the ideas. The three top ideas were better crosswalks in the neighborhood, a community generated art project, and community gardens. What ended up happening is that the crosswalk group and the community artwork group ended up blending the two ideas. That was amazing because both groups did that independently.

So when we came back to the main group and people presented their ideas, there was almost unanimous buy-in on the combined project from all those that were in attendance. Some of the ideas that were floated were really cool, like a community regenerated crosswalk project on Division, where the lines in the street are highly visible and are also pieces of community generated art. I thought this idea was rocking! I also thought that the ease with which the group was able to pick out salient points, and connect to bigger pictures and to possible organizations that could help us were amazing too!

At the end of the meeting we cleaned up and talked about a potential game night at Owen's house on Thursdays, which was very exciting because I've heard that they have Munchkin. There was a lot more that happened, but our next step is to get all that information to all the people that were in attendance and offer to share the developing documents through google docs.

All in all, a great day, and a pretty good meeting regardless of the picture that I placed at the top of the page.

A Day to Remember

09/14/2010 Moon in Sagittarius

Today was great. For a lot of reasons, but mainly because today is the 9th anniversary of my wife and I becoming a couple. We celebrated this day a lot more before we got married in 2007 and had a more formal date to give ceremony to. But enough about me, what about the project? We went to Owen's house to talk to him about this weekends neighborhood meeting. We also talked about the potential of social media to get kids in trouble in their adult life. I'm of the opinion that the more you can own the dumb decisions of your youth, the less power they have over you.

The canvassing today was a little bit hard, Cyd and I were unable to match our energy very well, which led to a few awkward moments. We did talk to a person that had gone to Burning Man where I got some advice on how to build a proper shade structure if I ever want to go in the future. That was pretty great. I got onto my bike a little before 9pm today to come home and celebrate my wife and I's time together, that was great too. In general it was a good day.

DIY Development

09/09/2010 Moon in Libra

It's development time! Woot! I'm spending time with Cyd creating systems to pull people that we talk to at the door immediately into actionable community participation. It's fun. Part of me would rather be out knocking on doors, but it's definitely important to get the systems together so that we're not wasting energy, as that would be rather unsustainable of us. Today was honestly great, there was lots of conversation, lots of love, and lots of strategy. I got to see some old friends that I used to work with in the Greenpeace office.

Other than that, we are gearing up for getting down. We talked to Owen today, and it looks like he'll possibly, with housemate permission be able to open his house up for the meeting that we're planning on Saturday the 18th to decide which project to move ahead with. There are some really good ideas, including community gardens, intersection repairs, murals and many more. It seems like things are coming together and I'm super excited about it. I'd love to see more people in Richmond follow this blog though. Not because of narcissism, but because the links I've been finding are really fun. It's awesome!

Fall of the Pyramids

09/07/2010 Moon in Leo

Today, Cyd and I hit the streets running. Well, not actually running, but at least walking with light steps through the driving Portland rain. The first person we talked to was awesome. His name was Owen, he was a transplant from DC, and just understood in general, intuitively what was up and where things were going. A lot of people feel like the faster we get connected to our communities, the stronger we're going to be as some of the large scale economic and ecological problems start becoming more and more manifest. Change is always hard, but to change before you're forced to is always better than waiting until it happens to you.

I guess that the biggest thing that I've learned lately is that a lot of illusions that have held up our society as it currently is are starting to be dispelled, sometimes forcefully. It seems to me that we've got to realize that we are one people, and we are on one planet, and that division must give way to unity if we're going to go into the future with standing with dignity, rather than limping from all the pyramids falling. The age of the pyramid is ending at this time, and I for one, will not help build more, or give my sweat to helping them stay up.

Today was great out on the streets. I got wet from the rain, but my spirits were very high. I've been seeing more and more signs from the public that this work is useful and that it is wanted, and now we must just use our magic and intellect to make sure that we create the opportunities for community to get together and start the process of doing. The vision is great, but the vision must become action, and the action must become habit, and then the habit will steer an entire communities destiny. I would choose a destiny of interdependence and community involvement anyday over a destiny of alienation and separation. But that's just me.

Searching for Regeneration

08/31/2010 Moon in Gemini

It was the last day of August, and it was a bit rainy. Portland weather has been weird, and I still feel like we might get a summer that stretches a bit into the fall. Today was a pretty good day. I've been away from this blog because I have not been doing the work in the streets for a little while. If you didn't read the earlier posts, my wife and I were expecting a baby, but the baby stopped developing. All last week we were waiting for the remnants to begin their journey out of her uterus, but unfortunately, that has yet to come to pass.

I did go out to the streets today, and talked to quite a few people. The problem that I'm having is that I'm a bit depressed not only about my personal situation, but also about some of the intense economic news that's been coming out slowly lately. Sometimes you can feel long-term developments coming to a head, and you realize the importance of doing something about them. The reason that I'm out in the streets talking to community members is because if we don't stand up together in response to crisis, we end up just reacting to it when it happens.

What's awesome is the amount of good people that are out there. I talked to a lady for a good length of time today that had lived in her community for a long time. She talked about wanting to get a side-yard garden going, and would love to get some help from the community to make that happen. She was really nice, but I had to keep apologizing because I could tell that I was not conveying excitement in my voice, because my heart hurts. So, I will work to regenerate some emotional energy tomorrow and then go back out on Thursday with energy.

Saturn Squares Pluto

08/21/2010 Moon in Capricorn/Aquarius

I am betting that at least a couple other people felt this one. Saturn squaring Pluto is a big deal, click on this link if you want to see Astrology way beyond what's written in the daily papers. Life gets hard during these periods of time. There's a lot of weight to them, and it's hard not to feel a little bit crushed beneath it. I know that I'm feeling it. It seems to me that we cannot continue on in the ways we've grown accustomed to. I'm seeing a lot more people in my circle really struggling to make ends meet and to set aside enough of time for family or friends.

Today Kelly starting her herbal regiment, and we hung around the house talking about what we were feeling and getting warm-hearted visitors from our circle of friends. We might have even made a new one, as our neighbor needed some people to talk to and came over to be part of our experience and part of our life. It was a good day, and a lot of illuminations sprang forth over the course of the day.

But as the day progressed and the desired effect of the herbs was not happening, we realized that it would a little more time, and we needed some patience for this endeavor. I realized fully that I probably wouldn't be able to go to the Potluck, and sent out an a.p.b. to some people that I thought might step in to take my place. I hope that some of them come through, because I'd really like to be out there participating and talking to the community. But sometimes you're caught between a rock and a hard place.

Chalk it up!

08/20/2010 Moon in Capricorn

Mercury Retrograde began today. Cyd and I got to work on getting ready for the next big step. We're having a meeting on Sunday with the community. The meeting will be a Potluck and we're hoping that some people show up even though the weather people are pretty sure it's going to rain. We've got to get together some kind of container for water, but if needs be, we can just buy a few gallons or use our Brita's. Today, by working and putting one foot in front of the other, I was able to keep my mind focused on what's in front of me rather than what's behind me.

We talked to a few people today in the Southwest quadrant of Richmond today. There was a lady that was very interesting and informative. She lived close to a new development of condo's and had worked with the Richmond Neighborhood Association to make sure the community's needs were being taken into account. She went to a lot of meetings and organized her community, but when life threw her a curveball that demanded more of her time, the energy that she helped to generate dissipated. It goes to show that leadership, and spearheading are very important aspects to community organizing. Although it didn't seem to be the case with her, it is easy for people that are involved in activism of any sort to experience activist burnout.

Also today, we talked to a couple that are expecting a baby not too long from now. They were awesome, and talked about their desire to see more gardening in their area, they were willing to give up their yard for raised garden beds, but didn't have the gardening skills to make it happen. They were both very interested in living as low of an impact life as they could, which I thought was admirable. After the conversations that we had, we realized it was important to go out into the community and advertise the Sunday meet-up.

To do this, we needed two things:
1. Sidewalk Chalk
2. Our legs

For #1 we used some given sidewalk chalk, but realized that wouldn't be enough, so we purchased some. We left the message of the coming meeting by using #2 and walking around the areas that we had organized and writing a short message in chalk on key corners that would likely have a lot of foot traffic. We're not putting any big expectation into turnout, but we're hoping to have enough neighborhood participation to get some projects and events going.

Setting Up a Potluck Meeting

08/19/2010 Moon in Capricorn

Today we worked on a community meeting coming up this Sunday. It should be a good one. It's from 2pm to 4:30 pm in the grassy area of Richmond Elementary School and there's still a lot of work to get ready for it. I'm excited for the meeting, but am wondering if my emotional state will be conducive to being a good participant. I hope that the answer is yes.

I talked to a lot of family and friends today and they gave me a lot of support. That was really nice. I think that's my post for today. I hope that tomorrow I have a little more time to write.

Sorrow is a Form of Grace

08/18/2010 Moon in Sagittarius

Today, I didn't do any organizing of the community. Today, I grieved. I went with my wife to the midwife today and she was unable to find our child's heartbeat. She sent us off to get an ultrasound, and the results were pretty conclusive. They were sent to the midwife who called us and let us know that the baby had stopped developing about a week ago. We laid in bed and cried together and held each other.

The reality of the situation is staggering and raises a lot of questions. The first question is always "why?" Unfortunately, this question is a hard one to answer, because it's one of the mysteries of life. But knowing that this particular kind of sorrow has been shared by millions of people throughout history gives me strength. The hardest part for us as a couple is that we've told lots of people, including our parents about it, so now, each conversation with our circle is like picking open a fresh emotional wound.

Tomorrow, I will be back out in the community because the only way to go is forward, with one foot in front of the other. I do recognize that the sorrow that I feel at this point in life is a form of grace. By allowing the pain of this experience to be fully felt, I know that we'll be able to experience a deeper sense of joy in the good moments of our life. I will see you all on the streets of Portland, and I look forward to healing amongst my fellow human beings.

Partnership and Progress

08/17/2010 Moon in Sagittarius

Today was pretty good. I spent quite a bit of time working on putting this blog together in the morning, and linking some funny and random things to it for the unadulterated joy of it. There were some text conversations and some huge postings from Dwayne that I haven't had much of a chance to get into. I heard from Cyd that our wiki is up which is very exciting and there will definitely be some work put into that soon. Other than that, I ate food and drank coffee while putting stuff together.

Then, after Cyd got home from getting some awesome chairs, I went over to his house and kept listening to the same song over and over again. It was Bassnectar, and the song was called Boombox. It was great. Then Cyd and I prepared for our day of grassroots organizing by admiring his new outdoor reclining chairs. They were pretty amazing, I didn't get in because I didn't want to put them through a weight test too early.

Then it was out to Clinton Street with a side of SE 43rd to go talk to people and have good conversations. They were very good conversations too. One of the first people that we talked to was getting very excited about industrial hemp and its' potential uses as a replacement for a lot of the things that we use petroleum for at this point. We also talked about community coming together, the party Beloved, and the way that the financial system has brought our country to some really interesting times.

Then it was down the road to more exciting conversations, including a person on the street that had a great idea of starting progressive dinners in the neighborhood. Plus, I met lots of really cute dogs. But I have to say something. I was in a coffee shop in the neighborhood, and the barista said something that made me laugh and wince at the same time. She was getting a new car, and I asked what kind she was going to get. She said she wanted to get an SUV, because "she was a bad driver", her quote. I was a bit boggled, I asked "But what if the person you hit is in a smaller car?" She implied that at least she would be ok. Good for her I guess...

Working off Division

08/16/2010 Moon in Scorpio First Quarter

Today was interesting. It started out with a text conference with Cyd, where we talked about some of the things that we’d like to develop next for the project. My work is to figure out Blogs, to make the receipts a little better, and to look into leads for sharing the screen-printer that City Repair used for the VBC shirts! That’s some damn fun work to be doing. After our conference, I had to get ready to go out to meet my wife at Alma Midwifery, as we’re going to monthly prenatal check-ups. This particular check up was a little scary, as the midwives had trouble finding our little baby’s heartbeat, but we researched it and found out that it’s a pretty common occurrence.

The streets were pretty great today. I met up with Cyd, who had been going through a kind of rough day. It was hot out today, I saw it hit at least 99 degrees in Portland, but it could have been higher in places. Then we canvassed together. The first people we talked to invited us into their house, and actually were interested in going through the process of thinking about what their needs and assets are. That was refreshing, to see real participation and thought applied to the project from a participant. They talked about having a dork block party, which I thought was one of the better ideas that I’ve heard. Have a party, where people play the games and watch the shows that they love but they keep in the closet. Bring your inner dork out of the closet!

We talked to a union organizer that is willing to volunteer next, and connected to him about the fact that instead of the major media focusing on the big pictures, they’re working to divide us. We used the mosque at ground zero as an example of the little things that divide us. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but some issues are just used to divide us and inflame our sensibilities. Then those fires are stoked over and over again to focus us on what divides us from each other. These kinds of processes create vast gulfs between us and our neighbors. This kind of division that’s manufactured through the media echo chambers is actually bad for us as humans.

Then we talked to a RAD couple, that were excited about us stopping by and were in fact waiting for us. That was amazing. I’ll let Cyd tell that story. Suffice to say, it was amazing and reminded me of the reason that I wanted to do this. It’s not about the people that don’t want to participate, it’s about the people that are willing to participate, and even more about the people that are excited to participate. We found some of those people today and it was amazing.

It's Friday!

08/13/2010 Moon in Libra

Today was an interesting day. My approach was not working, but I kept with it over and over expecting different results. That was not the way. The way is to change the approach. I need to connect with bigger picture stuff, like Peak Oil, Disaster Preparedness, and Shared Resources. We live in a world that needs tighter bonds within community to begin to approach the magnitude of the problems that we’re facing. We live in a time of major transition, and maintaining the illusion that everything is just fine is only laughing as our car goes over the cliff. I am not afraid of these things, as a life lived in fear is not lived fully. So, I will look for big pictures that people are willing to talk about and link those into community involvement.

I’m going up to Wy’East tomorrow, named most recently Mount Hood. I’ll be camping with close friends on an alpine lake. I need this break to regenerate energy lost in the initial week. It’s always been hard to face the community on a day to day level, but I’ve decided to allow for the opportunity for the community to break my heart. I think that sometimes we forget the Universal Sorrow of the human condition because we live in our bubbles. The human spirit can be degraded or updated, and I’m hoping for the latter. But if I’m not willing to accept pain from my interactions, I am probably not doing it right.

I am excited for this project because of spirit and soul. We can soar together as a community if we are willing to dispel our illusions that keep us separate. I believe that we have the capacity to evolve, and that the time that such evolution is necessary is fast approaching. I believe that our evolution requires learning to trust and depend on our neighbors and our communities again. I also believes that it requires a deep personal commitment from every community member to help make this possible. Responsibility not just for one’s self or one’s family, but responsibility for as much of the human family as we can manage.

Meeting People is Easy

08/12/10 Moon in Libra

Today was a day. Took Cyd to the DMV and he took his driver test with my car, therefore getting one of his needs met with one of my assets. He can now cross a need off of his list and that’s pretty exciting! After we got back from the DMV, our energy got a little deflated because of e-mail correspondence with the person from the Richmond Neighborhood Association that was supposed to write us a letter of support. Even though the board had already voted that they were willing to write the letter of support, it has turned into a very slow and conflict laden process because of an individual. You can’t do much about that, but we’re hoping that the problem is resolved soon.

Because of the low ebb of energy, Cyd and I canvassed together today. We basically did our callbacks from the last few days and were able to talk to a few more great neighbors. The highlight was a really awesome person associated with urbanedibles.org who really engaged in the process and was not only willing to volunteer, but was willing to open her space to the community. She has hay-bales that act as archery targets and I thought that was one of the coolest things I’ve seen so far in the neighborhood. But more than that, she had a lot of ideas about how to make the community better, one of which was a community sauna. Obviously, for that to happen, someone in the neighborhood would have to want to use their land to make it possible.

Towards the end of the night, we met Aaron, a person that I first met at the Village Building Convergence this year. He was randomly riding his bike through the neighborhood and he stopped when we saw him. We three held an impromptu conference on 44th and talked about some of the big, scary issues that we face nowadays. It came down to whether humanity has the capacity to transform towards sustainability fast enough to avoid the forced change of crises piled upon crises. I believe we do, but only if we are able to make common cause with each other and strengthen our communities. That’s just one citizen’s opinion, but I think more and more people are realizing the strange fruits we are harvesting because of a life out of balance.

Finding Success and My Voice

08/11/2010 Moon in Virgo

Today was great, I took my Snowflake Obsidian out with me instead of Citrine. It seemed to be the right fit for the day. I felt grounded and alert, with a little less free floating energy, and a lot less anxiety. The anxiety comes from knowing how good this project could be for the community, but recognizing my own imperfection as a messenger of the project. I don’t want to fail in gaining community involvement, and I think that it will become easier to communicate what we’re doing succinctly as we go along.

The highlights of the day for me were meeting an employee of the Water Bureau that was all about giving grunt labor to projects and events which we will definitely need to manifest the things that we want to see. Also, I talked to someone that cared about what we were doing and I was able to unleash a little of the emotions I feel about it without getting so intense as to scare her away. She was really nice, and asked challenging questions, which I welcome in our outreach. Challenging questions show that people are thinking about the ideas that we’re bringing to their doorsteps. To all of the people in the community that participated, even if it was brief and it ended in nothing tangible, thank you!

I started the day by doing a short canvass with Cyd, and ended it doing a partner canvass with Dwayne. I realized how much I enjoy partnering up when going out in the community. It must be the ability of a partner to keep one’s spirits up during the lulls and low points of the evening. I saw some people eating dinner on a table in the parking strip in front of their house. I didn’t want to interrupt their feast, but I thought that these are the kinds of events that can bring people together. When we break bread together, we participate in an age-old tradition of kinship and hospitality.

So I guess I’ll leave it at that for the day. In future postings I will be sure to talk more about what drives us to do this organizing work, and why it is so important to us. We don’t want any secrets between us and the community that we’re working in. We want to be as transparent as possible and are always open to suggestions and comments. Thanks Richmond, for all the connections, and for all of the love.

Second Day, Second Story

08/10/2010 Moon in Virgo.

And I felt it. Lifted today at Loprinzi’s. Ate some food and drank a smoothie at Lyric. The day out in the streets was hard. I was having some trouble connecting with people, but I think that when we hold some events and prove the worth of the project, a lot of them will want to support it. The people were all pretty great. Everyone was polite and treated me with respect. So great job Richmond! That is not always the way that it is when your organize in the community. I was trying to figure out how to talk about the project. I was living a bit too much in my head in the community tonight as I worked this out.

The participation in the project was awesome tonight. Many people agreed that the community coming together was important, and that understanding the needs of the community was important to be able to fulfill them. But the problem was, nobody that I talked to tonight was willing to make a sacrifice to fund it. I didn’t feel like using the objection cycle and focusing it on money again and again, but the reality is that if we cannot fund Empowering Community Organization, it cannot last. But I believe that as people start seeing results, and start connecting to their neighbors more, and participate more, we could see a lot of the people that couldn’t give today deciding to change that particular vote.

I felt like I was not a great messenger tonight as well. I could have done more to inspire the public, but it’s kind of hard to fake fire. I know that I’ve just got to catch stride to do better. Highlights of the night included meeting a recent transplant from Minnesota that was ready to jump into community and better understand Portland. She was awesome. There was a DJ that was very down in the hood. I heard he spins some mean Drum and Bass. He’s ready to volunteer like crazy coming up. I met someone who sold me and Kelly a Moonstone at the Gold Door. That Moonstone was more than worth the price paid. Plus he’s always super nice in the store. Met a guy named Wolf, he’d done some organizing for a project in my home town of Bellingham. I liked everybody I talked to today. A lady from St. David’s told me a bit of the history of the neighborhood. I should follow up and see if she wants to tell a story. Wow, so life is good and I’m super happy that Cyd did well. I’m thinking that we should spend some time together every now and then in the field. Keep each other up.

CR:ECO Launch Day

08/09/2010 New Moon in Leo

It was launch day, I got up early for me and went about the business of getting ready. Then I drove up to Cyd’s. Should have rode my bike. It would have been more in keeping with the spirit of the project. Once I got to Cyd’s house, the first project was a walkabout through the neighborhood. That was a good time. We saw a lot of really high level gardens around houses that I feel will be exceptionally good conversations for us in the future. I mangle the English language. It’s a thing.

Then, we got to work producing the final materials of our project. The data entry, the printed material for binders, our name badges. I got to laminate some sheets of paper today, and that was actually a little bit of a pain in the butt. It was the cheap style of laminate, it came in two sheets and you had to carefully place the sheet that you wanted between them or you got bubbles and creases. I did it successfully once and almost successfully twice. I gave the good one to Cyd, and kept the janky one for myself. So, anyhow. Binders were completed, and it was approaching 4:30 and we had forgotten to eat. We went to Pepino’s and ate fast.

Then at about 5:00, it was organizing time. Unfortunately, we only had until 6:15 because the Richmond Neighborhood Association meeting was coming up. We had big plans for that, but as they say, “the best laid plans......”. But the canvassing was awesome. We canvassed together and I remembered why I love grassroots organizing. We had good conversations with people in the community, and had more participation in the needs/asset mapping than I expected. About half the people we talked to were willing to share skills with the community. We met Grant Writers, Furniture Builders, and Journalists. We realized that the need for finding out what our resources are as a community can be fulfilled with our dedicated work. That was the highlight of the day.

Then, after an hour of community bliss, it was time for the community meeting. We were hoping to get a chunk of seed money from the Richmond Neighborhood Association, but there was enough dissent and controversy that the main thing that we got from the Association was basically a statement of support with possible funding for a specific project down the road. If we’re finding the ideas from the community of what they want done, how can we say what the community will choose? We can’t, but the whole point of this project is to help community envision a better future and then help create it. It always seems nebulous until it manifests. Then it just is.

Also, met a really awesome artist that wants to do a mural on the Fred Meyer on Cesar Chavez and Hawthorne. It’s very much about the cycle of our food, from farm and farmworker, to the store, to the eater of the food. It highlights Cesar Chavez, and it has real potential to be an instructive and beautiful project. We should talk about that. I gave the artist my e-mail. Well, that’s about it for today. It was a launch, and was not perfect, but it just might have been good enough.