Adventures in living.

By the way, that was Vanessa again. Mommabelle is neato indeed, I'm glad to have a mother-in-law like her for sure. Like Vanessa, there's nobody quite like her! I'm going to tell you the amazing tale of our anniversary Monday, but I'm a-needing to get into the work groove at the moment. Soon enough. Yep, that's right, I'm working on my first client, creating some marketing magic, mmm...

Mommabelle

or momma b or ma or mom as I often call her.

I love my mom. I'm thinking about her today, and perhaps, three hours southwest of here, she will be reading this post after I'm done writing it.

Here's some reasons why I love my mom - she's funny, intelligent, wants to make a positive difference in the world, is following her passions in life, loves to give me money and gifts, is emotionally supportive, we have lots in common, and she gets me. Did I mention she really makes me laugh?

I'm also proud of her, for taking care of herself, for going to school in her late 50's, for being willing to transform and heal herself. Whether she realizes and acknowledges it or not, she is a good role model. Thank you mom.

Does she drive me a little nutty too? Sure. Do I have those moments where I think - oh my god, I'm my mom? Yes. But who doesn't pick up their parents behavior, consciously or not? We are all doing the best that we can at any given moment in our lives.

That's all. Just wanted to praise her.

Change is in the air

I'm sitting here looking out our broad front window, and there's not a sky in the clouds. It hit me last week, that I, for the first time in eons, live in a place that follows the seasons. By that I mean that when the calendar says summer, it's warm. Hot even. You know, summerlike. And when it's Fall, it's brisk, cool, shifting. Whereas in SF and Oakland, my two most recent homes, summer often means foggy mornings, and perhaps whole days, then September through October or so it's often warm, even balmy.

Here, like clockwork, it went from being in the 90s, no clouds, to shifting down 20+ degrees, clouds aplenty, a stiff wind musclling its way down the street. And I like it. I did however learn that here too we have an "Indian Summer," a bonus chunk of warm times, in October. Where does that term come from? Hmm...And then, for the first time ever in my life, I'm going to be in a place where there's actual snow. Snow! I know, East Coasters (or elsewhere that there's snow-ers), go ahead and roll your eyes, but I'm looking forward to it.

Against the trend of the seasons, I declared that this would be week of seeds that I've planted around in various places beginning to sprout, and now they have. I've been asked by Janaia, the woman behind Peak Moment TV to go in her place to the APPLE (Alliance for a Post Petroleum Economy) town hall meeting, this time focused on food and farming. And now I, manning a prominently placed table and offering videos on the subject, have a great excuse to talk to lots of people and get my face seen, being the stunt double for the woman who founded this organization. And she's said that she wants to know more about what I'm up to, have to offer, so that she can direct work my way, and perhaps collaborate together. Neato, eh?

As if that weren't enough, I also heard from a woman who got fwd'd the introduction about myself I wrote a month back on the local progressive people listserv, who has a nifty sounding service called Project Simplify. More on that later, when I have more to say. But I can say that things are definitely looking promising, ripe.

See what happens when you make your intentions clear?

Ok, back to working on my first client project. Go GreenSmith go!

Splling

Boy, my spelling skills were knocked akimbo (or some such other word for "sideways") last night. I just had to get down all that happened, before diving into the week. Ah well, you got the gist, I hope. Just helped a friend move their office, and now I'm a-setting down for some serious teeth to food action...

We slept for 11 hours last night...

...and damn was it nice. Oh and before I get into things, that was Vanessa who last wrote. Not that I don't think Tori is the bee's knees, but I want to make sure credit is given where it's deserved. And ok I'm vain, don't want my oh so masculine image to be tarnished being mistaken for a gushing Tori fan. We did, however see a great series of interviews with her tonight, while in the process of bouncing around Youtube watching videos that move Vanessa. She is quite a woman, I must say. And for me, not the musician part. She's a very intelligent woman, her, with some juicy morsels of thought to chew on.

So anyway, eh hem, where was I? Oh right, discussin' the merits of Budweiser, or some such manliness. Grrr and shit! :-9

Ok who am I fooling, I am Paul, a most kick ass individual, who is working on being the best person I can be. Yes.

This morning we woke up after having had the kind of day that you just can't plan for. One that makes me glad we moved here. One that happens when you take away all the busy-ness of the past few months, taking away all wedding, pre wedding, shower, seeing massage clients, princessing around the Bay Area, etc that between the two of us, resulted in our being away just about every weekend since we've moved here, making for this never quite settled, never quite really here state of being. Always some motion, always some to do, always transitioning back to being here.

And then...this weekend came along, and everything just aligned to this most beautiful exploration of this place we now call home. It started Friday with us going upupup the hills, around the deep into the trees and into the home of this couple who was hosting a presentation by Janaia Donaldson, this wonderful woman who I connected with before arriving here, who does a show called Peak Moment.

She had created this slide show, with video snippets interspersed, talking about all the ways that communities can "go local." As in their energy needs, economic, food, social and on. It so eloquently and inspiringly made the case for living in a more sustainable manner, without going into a big heap of "shoulds" or fingerwagging. Enough statistics and info to spark interest and awareness, but avoiding the bonk you over the head mode of operation that many environmentally oriented people/videos try to do.

Janaia was both on the screen and in person, narrating this, and the assembled group of people were so moved and inspired, they were asking questions and making suggestions in the middle of it, and some great conversations happened afterwards. I was so glad to come across such a thoughtful, engaged group of people here. Truth be told, I was feeling a lot discouraged, after my initial encounter with several groups of what felt like disjointed, ego driven or just plain not deep in it people. Here were some people that I could see connecting with, and even if I didn't, it was good to know they are out here. I did, in the end, connect with a good handful of great people.

Saturday was the day that I had signed Vanessa and I up to volunteer in the Great Yuba Cleanup. It was a morning with people cleaning up nature spots all over Nevada County, and as it turns out, all over the world, apparently the largest single simultaneous event of it's kind in the world. It was, I believe, my first time volunteering for something like this. Perhaps even my first time volunteering for anything of a public nature. Don't quote me on it, I can't say for sure. But I can say for sure that it felt great doing it. We were a group of six or so cleaning up Deer Creek, underneath the freeway in Nevada City.

Apparently it's a place where homeless people hang out, but it was quite clean, given that. Living in the Bay Area, I have seen much much worse, believe you me! You have to keep track of every little piece of trash, literally ticking off the number of pieces and in what category. So we alternated who did the ticking and the picking. Apparently these statistics have been used for such things as San Francisco's banning of styrofoam containers.

After we finished, there was a big picnic in our honor (400+ people in all!) where they feed us, and then had a fashion show by the Haute Trash group. I've heard so many mentions of them, and now Vanessa and I got a chance to see for ourselves - They make clothes out of trash, in most amazing ways. For instance, the MC wore a dress that was made out of a popped raft, the edges draped nicely on the ground, and two of the perky inflation points positioned most saucilly right where nipples might otherwise be. I can't even recall all of them, but some I do were a pair of shorts with discarded cds broken and mosaiced on there. There was a "mermaid" dress made of hundreds of yogurt lids. And all sorts of other great creations, showing how you can repurpose what was once bound for the dump.

From there, we walked around downtown Nevada City where there was a sidewalk sale happening all over town. At one point, down the street and away from the main drag and all by itself was this shop, whose name I forget, but above it was the fading sign from it's goldrush past, saying it was an Assayer. We asked inside, and were told it was the place where gold miners in the 19th century would come to get it weighed, then get paid, kind of like the modern day recycling drop off spots that homeless frequent for that 10 cent deposit we all pay. Vanessa and the woman in the store got into all sorts of conversation, with the woman in the end offering to help us when we decide to shop for a house, telling us where the wells are good (yes people use on site wells for water here, in many cases), where the weather is not, etc. This, from a shop owner who we clearly weren't buying anything from at the time. Yes, we're not in Oakland anymore...

After this, we left in search of the Mountain Bounty Farm, where we had seen in a flier the previous day was having a Fall Harvest celebration. V didn't have the directions on her, and fortunately (we thought) someone looked them up at a cafe we were at earlier. But arrgh, curse you Mapquest, you led us astray, yet again! We ended up on this gravelly, bumpelly road that seemed to be leading us nowhere, quite well. Beautiful, yes, but also frustrating. We went back the main road, and continued on to Mother Truckers, this little health food store that acts as a big hub for the area.

They told Vanessa where to go, and it was, alas, much simpler (and completely elsewhere) then Mapquest directed us. It's Google Maps for us, always. So we make our way down, and just when it seems, uh oh, here we go again, down a dirt road, there is this bright and cheerful sign for the farm, pointing the way. We go there, and where once there was nothing but us, now there's cars, parked on either side for quite a while. We walk in, and in amongst the trees was this gorgeous farm, live music happening, and all manner of zesty folk mingling about. It was one of those look over at your wife, and grin moments, like wow, is this real? We live near this? Wowww!

They had the most amazing produce, of the hugest proportions. One flowering plant was, I kid you not, 10 or so feet tall, one with orange/gold flowers, the other maroonish. We were told they were called Moulin Rouge. How fitting, they were so outsized and dramatic. Down amongst the celebration they had about a dozen varieties of tomatoes from the farm to try. I'm no fan of tomatoes, but the Green Zebra ones got me. Literally green zebra striped things, they looked so cool. I still didn't eat, but Vanessa enjoyed like crazy for me. Thanks V ;-)

We also got to be salsa judges, as they were having a contest for that. Wow, such an amazing assortment, from across the spectrum. From supervivdly colored and flavored to muddy and cloudlike chocolatey ones, it was a treat indeed. A bluegrass band was on, and it was a treat to see 5 guys just working it so well together, voices, instruments, facial expressions. I could go on for days about all the sensations, people, and plants there, but just trust me on this one: It was a treat indeed, and inspiring to see such an amazing creation, nestled in the trees of the Sierra foothills, and from the looks of it, doing quite well.

Oh, and I almost forgot the link between that and the last part of our day: a $20 bill. Found among the rows of produce, just laying there on the ground, ripe for the picking. Vanessa got a big grin, and we ended up seeing the movie Shark vs. Eagle at the pocket sized Magic Theatre. It was, that night, a one woman operation. She ran the snack booth, took our ticket money, then closed the curtain and ran the projector. It even had an intermission, which, dang it, I think all movies should have, so you can fluff your butt and stretch. Civilized, it was. The movie was quite quirky, and I liked parts of it, but was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more of the comedic talent that I knew the lead had, being one of the duo Flight of the Conchords.

Today, well today just rasseled our plans to work on our businesses and be productive to the ground. Literally. In the afternoon Vanessa and I decided to take out here banana leaf mat and a big long pillow, and have a good lay down session on our lawn. Wow, how refreshing, doing...nothing, in the middle of the day. A proper Sunday, indeed.

Well I must go now, Stella (my cat) is asleep in my lap, her head and paw laying on my forearm. Ah, what a life I have :-)

Oh and I've now officially gotten my first consulting client..stay tuned. It's been nice to be able to introduce myself as a Sustainable Business Consultant. Ha, that's right!!!

good night.

Falling in love again...

...with Tori Amos. Oh my good goddess, she is amazing. Tori has been a role model of mine from way back to 1992, and whether old or current, her songs have always helped me remember who I am. I feel so moved, touched, mischevious, alive, empowered, and grateful whenever I listen to her. Go to youtube and check out A Sorta Fairytale, dvd version or Butterfly, live. Ah, I can breathe again.

Must run off now...

Peep peep!

Have been meaning to write a thing or two for a time, but well, life's been happening. But you may notice that we've a spiffy new coat on for the Autumn. Although the colors are more Summery. No matter. Purty, ain't it? Haven't figured out the html enough to get rid of the designer's name upside down there. Ah well. Meanwhile have a look at the birdhouses that someone I know via the 1 Giant Leap bb makes, made from materials salvaged from the tsunami in Sri Lanka, to benefit the people there. It's a fashion show, straight outta the Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley yo! :-9



You can investigate further about their multiple projects at www.p2prescue.org

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Ahhh del.icio.us!

woop woop, woop woop...

warning, warning, geek alert, geek alert!!!!

Although there is some zingy funness embedded down below, so don't skip, lest you miss it...

I just love del.icio.us the social bookmarking site, both for my being able to agilely bookmark online, accessible anywhere (rather then just your computer) and actually make use of later the nearly 2000 bookmarks I have. They're now searchable by tag, viewable as simply a list or as a tag cloud (tags are different sizes depending on how many sites you tagged with that, well, tag) and I was able to import all the bookmarks I already had on my browser, and del.icio.us autotagged those, going by what they'd been tagged by others already, and by the title of the folder you had them in in your browser's bookmarks. But going to the del.icio.us site itself (You can use www.delicious.com just fine) you can see what's currently popular with other people. Or search for sites by tags, arguably a more robust, current, accurate reflection of what you're looking for versus the algorithm driven Google. Thus the "social" part in social bookmarking.

It was while tiptoeing through the popular sites of today that I came across an intriguingly titled one that said Hip Hop Violin. It's a Youtube video, and for the first minute, I was impressed. An obviously talented violinist, with a dj behind him mixing. Perfectly in sync, it was all so...smooth. Overdone. Began feeling more "look at me" then interesting to listen to. Then...I noticed to the side in the related videos, another hip hop violin video. I clicked it, and up pops this pixieish woman. She proceeds to jam along to a Black Eyed Peas song. Musically interesting for sure, but then she adds these most unique dance moves. A potpourri of the recognizable (a bit of ballet in there) and...I don't know what. Great, really fun to watch, and she's clearly having a great time to. Check it out here.