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Welcome to The Eleven for November, 2008. If this is your first newsletter from me, welcome - I will review what's been up for me for the past month and make a call to action on something I think is important. If you'd like to unsubscribe, feel free to click the button at the bottom of this e-mail.
It's been a great month - I'm excited about Barack Obama's win as well as Jeff Merkley's. In fact, though Obama in the White House is going to mean a huge change (think Supreme Court, head of the EPA, State Dept., etc.), in a way I feel equal satisfaction over winning a Senate seat in Oregon for the Dems. It was known early on that Obama would win Oregon and the Merkley/Smith race was going to be much tighter, so that's where I put my resources - and Merkley won! Gordon Smith, the Republican, has been painted by the media (our paper endorsed him) as a moderate R, but he has been a Bush rubber-stamper, like the rest of them except when the R's didn't need his vote, he would vote independently...
We woke up on Sunday, October 26th to find out that our voting party made the front page of the paper!
The voting party was a lot of fun - we had a number of first-time voters and a number of first-time Oregon voters. There was a lot of great discussion and we turned a chore into community-building fun. At the end of the night, many of us went to the mailbox and mailed our ballots together. I wish everyone was able to vote-by-mail as we do in Oregon - I think it's the best system going - gives one time to consider the issues, talk to others, and creates more space for this important activity that only comes around every year or two.
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| Albertideation Launches! |
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 Today is my half-birthday and so...
I'm launching my website and company, Albertideation. I offer individuals and businesses help
with social networking, marketing and ideation - brainstorming mixed
with marketing. My sliding scale is $30-90/hr. I recently wrote an article comparing social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) to rooms in a house which I hope will clarify how these sites can be useful. I welcome your feedback and if you have
a social network that deserves mention, please let me know. I imagine social networking will replace e-mail and other
forms of communication - it tends to be easier on the eyes and has more
facets - such as music and especially pictures, which makes it more
interesting and user-friendly.
Albertideation needs a logo! If you have logo-creation
skills, please let me know.
I'm continuing to work with the Tummy Temple on on-line wholesale sales of their products, such as Diju
- targeting on-line health-food stores. And, I've come to like
Constant Contact so
much, that I have become a local biz representative for them. If you'd
like to try a free trial of CC, click the link above - you get 60 days
of free e-mails to 100 people at a time. That got me started
and I find the service an easy and colorful way to keep in touch
with friends and associates.
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Action Action, we want action!
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There's a interesting game called The Game of Real Life. It's based loosely on The Game of Life, that many of us grew up on. It's a lot more fun, and a lot more accurate. There are many great life lessons that it teaches players, but the main one that I've come away with repeatedly is that you have your health. If you don't have health, you deteriorate and die. We all die eventually, anyway, but there are lots of things that we can do to stay healthy and increase our chances of living big, vibrant, healthy lives such as eating well, getting enough rest, and exercising regularly. The book, Younger Next Year recommends one hour of vigorous exercise every day for anyone over 50. It's a great read with an important message.
So, why health? We're in an economic downturn, we have a new president and Congress and there will be lots to do regarding all of that and I could write to you for hours (see website going forward...) about how we'll need to continue participating and acting in the political and social arena - NO DOUBT - Yes we Did! and Yes, we will do :) ! And my sense right now is that our personal health is key to making the world a better place. We are going to need our strength and mental health in the next period more than we've ever needed them. If we're not healthy, then we're not going to be able to enjoy our time on this planet - and instead of playing with our grandchildren or grandparents :) - we'll be nursing a sore X, Y or Z and getting sick a lot. So, my call is - spend some time thinking about how to improve your nutrition, health and wellness.
Nutritionally this is a great website to get started. I recommend getting their weekly e-mail. When was the last time you took a yoga class? When we're in better shape, our minds are clearer and we have better attention to tackle the things that are in front of us. Like healing a planet :)
Clutter and things we don't need are also unhealthy to have in our lives. I recommend this as a time to give away that which is no longer serving you - Freecycle is a great way to move things around - so those who will find your items useful will get them and they'll be out of your way.
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Up and Coming
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1. I've been involved in Depave for a few years. There's a short slide-show and movie about what we do, here.
We'll have a meeting on Thurs. 11/13 to talk about next steps for Depave in Portland @ SuCasa, 3136 NE Flanders St. 7pm. Come join us!
2. A group of us are putting on an evening about how we can support each other during the economic downturn. We'll gather on Thurs. November 20th @ 7pm at the Awakenings Wellness Center, 1016 SE 12th Avenue
Several of us have felt called to pull our tribes together to discuss how we can help each other through these challenging times. While we may be excited by the prospect of president-elect Obama taking office in less than two months, we also know that thriving during the years ahead will involve all of us coming together as community to share our resources, our creativity and our strength. Come share and discuss ideas on how we can help each other stay healthy, warm and loved through this time of financial turmoil.
In the spirit of sharing, please bring whatever abundance you would like to share with others in the community. Edie and I will be bringing our walnuts, pesto, salsa and herbal tinctures to pass on to all who would like them.
I'll cook soup on the afternoon of the 20th, get in touch if you'd like to help cook.
This month's recommended reading: Michael Pollan's article Farmer in Chief.
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