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Hello, and welcome to The Eleven, my monthly newsletter. Each month I write news of my life, add in some pictures, a few links and a call to action or two. I hope you're enjoying receiving this and if you have any suggestions for how to make it better, please let me know!
It has been a fun time recently around the Happy Clam and in my life. We had a great visit by Marcia Wiley and her Wileyware last weekend for the SE Artwalk @ KORU hosted by Art and Sharon - amazing photos by Annie Eshaia. The event reminded me just how special my life and community are. Imagine having your artist friends gather together in a large mansion with food and drink flowing and your favorite people coming by to visit all weekend. It was a lovely thing and a great example of just how rich we are.
Then there was the tree planting yesterday. Kowabunga! I have been serving as my neighborhood coordinator for Friends of Trees for the past couple of years. For this year's event I decided I wanted to pull out an old "trick" and get some t-shirts made. Well, after having done this a few times, I was not prepared for just how beautiful they turned out this time round.
Artist and designer, Alan Rahi and his partner worked tirelessly to silk-screen 150+ shirts for us. We had about 150 volunteers, plentiful food, planted a bunch of trees in 4 Portland neighborhoods and also had fantastic music at lunchtime by my friends, Maria, Steve and Heather of the Ten Spiders! Also a highlight were the crew from Friends of Trees. Jesse, Erica and the rest of the team are a shining example of just how good a volunteer event can be. They coordinated an incredible amount of people, trees, trucks, food, and made it all go so smoothly, wow! Also, big ups to my housemates Eric and Marai for driving the big rental truck to the tree source and picking up our trees - we couldn't have done it without you.
I'm actually blown away when people serve. When people volunteer. When people give up their time to do anything that is not directly related to their own welfare. It reminds me of this talk I saw recently on TEDx about generosity. For a call to action, please consider coming to one or both of the house concerts I'm organizing at the end of March/beginning of April! Last week I saw a talk by Charles Eisenstein, who writes and speaks about sacred economics, and one of the things he touched on was how we used to be much better at entertaining ourselves - how in the past people would play music together for each other and with each other more. In that spirit, come sing together with Dana, Paul and Katya at the shows below. All of the house concerts we've had in the last two years have been beautiful experiences and I imagine that these will be fantastic, too. If you don't live in Portland, please consider hosting a house concert at your place - I'd be glad to support you in that effort. Having live music in your house = priceless. House concerts are easy to organize, the money all goes to the musician (= happy and well-paid musician) and your friends will thank you! |
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Dana Lyons and Paul Cienfuegos - 3/25 @ The Happy Clam
Singer-songwriter Dana Lyons is on tour with his eighth CD "Three Legged Coyote." Dana is best known for his hit comedy song "Cows With Guns." which reached #2 on the Australian Country Charts and was on Ireland's top 40 for over six months.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI
Dana is a long-time environmental and social justice activist and has toured raising money and awareness for many causes around the world. Dana's concerts are great for the whole family and include a blend of comedy, ballads and stories from his travels around the globe.
Paul Cienfuegos will give a spoken word presentation on the influence of corporations on our democracy and how we can create local ordinances to work toward stripping the corporations of constitutional rights they were never meant to have. Fascinating work that is going on in communities all over the US as we struggle to take back our democracy.
Paul's website: http://paulcienfuegos.com/
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Katya Chorover - House Concert - April 1st
I'm happy to bring Katya Chorover to town for a house concert @ Mary's place on Sunday, April 1st. The Address is 2512 NE 21st Ave., Portland, Oregon and doors will open at 7pm. Click here for more information and to hear some examples of Katya's music! Here's a little blurb about Katya. "The real star of the album is Katya's voice. Her singing is so clear and beautiful, with just the slightest hint of a rough edged twang. Despite being a native Bostonian, then a long-time Seattleite, there's a natural grace to her country sound. Her love for roots music is evident throughout the new album, and her poetic songwriting coupled with a deep traditional sound has garnered her a devoted fan base. As she opens with the words "Big big love, big big heart, big wide spirit sets you apart," we can only feel the same big, big love right back at her, and we're sure you will too. |
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I hope your life is going well and that you are healthy! Contact me for any email marketing, social networking or collaboration that you are interested in doing together!
Have a great month,
Sincerely,
 Albert Kaufman
PS - My sunflower project continues - let me know if you'd like seeds to plant this year! |
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