A New Twist on Art

June 12, 2008 - Leave No Plastics Behind (photos)

One of my friends back in San Diego, Tarja sent me a last-minute email about an art exhibit that one of her friend's girlfriends, Cheryl (she is the girlfriend of one of Tarja's old bandmates) was hosting and I jumped on the opportunity and headed over to Mississippi Street, a happening area in the NE part of Portland. I walked in and was met with some really good energy from a group of young people. See photos for some of the work that was displayed.

It's a non-profit organization art collective that aims to enlighten consumers on the impact of single-use plastic on social progress and the environment.

It didn't take long for me to apply for their visual artist program. I submitted the application on August 15th and was accepted into their fourth round of artists. The theme of this episode, "Haste Management" runs from August-October 2008. I join with other new and established visual artists, filmmakers, and performers/musicians and we get to present our unique experiences in November 2008 at Visage Gallery in The Pearl (NW Portland).

Here's the listing of bios!

http://plastic.cheryllohrmann.com/episodefourgallery.html.

I can hardly see where creativity takes me...

A Jewish Mother Lets Go...

June 3, 2008

My 6-year-old dog, Charlie's behavior was set in place long before I rescued him from the side of the road back in 2003. Fairly early on, he had shown signs of aggression and other fear-based behaviors. He nips at children (although this has changed), he barks ferociously at dogs 10 times his size, and his bark seems as loud as a siren at times. He's fiercely attached to me and makes it known. Charlie has taught me the true meaning of patience and compassion. It's humbling to say the least.

When people win him over, they feel extra special because he lets very few people into his world. Yet he's a very different soul with me. He has entertained me with his antics since the beginning. The way he does circle eights around the house, dances in circles when I announce "walk," and the way he sticks his butt up in the air and his paws down on the ground in downward dog fashion and makes the funniest sound I've ever heard....he's truly a riot!

In early June, I finally had to admit that I needed to learn the basics of dog language and that I had some learnin' to do. I had a behaviorist come to the house. After an hour and a half, I learned some basic ways to speak Charlie's language and to this day, some of those techniques have stuck. Our walks have become far more enjoyable.

Tonight, he fell asleep in my lap at my friend Nancy's house and let she and her boyfriend pet him....unheard of even a year ago. And the friends I'm making in my community....now that's exciting. We often come together in the common courtyard and watch our dogs play....or in Charlie's case, his attempts to play. He wants to trust and connect. And I'm slowly letting go of my overprotective nature of my relationship with him (hence, the title of this blog).

The Maven's Map - My First Book Interview

June 2, 2008

A book has been brewing for about 4 years now and what better place to craft my creative writing skills than in the Pacific Northwest....the misty mornings, the plethora of coffeehouses and bookstores, the creative and intellectual buzz of the population here.

I received my dictaphone (a digital taperecorder) about 3 days before my interview and scrambled to figure out how to operate the thing! I managed to pull that task off within minutes of my first interview.

My interviews are starting in the Shakti Rising community (I've conducted two thus far), my beloved community of sisters back in San Diego. These interviews will dovetail into interviews with humane educators.

Here's the synopsis of my book...the title will be explained in the introduction of my book.

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The Maven’s Map: Journeys of the Heart is a timeless journey of authenticity, truth, grace, sacredness, forgiveness, living from the heart, miracle-making, courage, hope, resilience, joy, humor, transcendence, legacy, finding voice and coming home to oneself.

It is a poignant uniting of two seemingly distinctive worlds: the path of recovery and the path of humane education – two cutting-edge, nationwide movements that are actively creating whole, healthy adults and community leaders. These individuals are doing “it” differently. The “it” is what you will read about in The Maven’s Map.

The Maven’s Map chronicles the stories of students and graduates from the Maine-based Institute for Humane Education and Cambridge College’s Master’s of Education and Humane Education Certificate Program (HECP) programs and apprentices and graduates from San Diego-based Shakti Rising’s Intensive Apprenticeship, Informal Apprenticeship and Advanced Apprenticeship Programs.

You will learn about their life changing models, why they work, and what the implications are for you and your life.

Your heart will be stirred and touched, your eyes will be opened and your world will be forever changed.

Puddles, Powell's and Pink Shoes

May 24, 2008

The night my mom came in, I could feel the muggy, low cloud coverage brewing into a storm. I got carried back to the countless Milwaukee summers of watching thunderstorms out of Grandma Sara and Grandma Ruth's apartment windows. There was always something incredibly cozy about seeing the flash and hearing the crackling boom that followed.

What's interesting to me is that lightning causes thunder. I always thought they were separate phenomenon! I've experienced 4 thunderstorms thus far and I was under the impression that I'd be luck to get 1 or 2! I'm in HEAVEN!

My mom's visit was a complete blast, despite the sleepless nights from Zoey's pacing (poor girl getting used to the apartment)!

The brewing storm slowly escalated into a heavy rain and the heavy rain turned into
a huge thunderstorm - we dined at Blossoming Lotus next to an enormous warehouse window where droves of customers watched the atypical downpour.

My mom and I dodged the rain as best we could, stomped through puddles laughing like little kids and hit the undercover of the street car stop. While waiting, 3 young boys talked about the physics of water and jokingly argued about why water hits the back of the body before it hits the front of the body. It was such a random conversation and we exchanged looks and laughed some more.

While my mom was here, we voraciously searched for furniture pieces that I was missing (mom is a thrift store maven), enjoyed a really nice meal at my house together, caught up on life, visited Powell's (largest independent bookstore in the world with over 1 million books!) and toured some of the reminiscent-of-Milwaukee inner NE neighborhoods. I found my first pair of pink shoes at William Temple Thrift Store and am in love!

Sense of Place

May 17, 2008

Over 7 years ago already, I was enrolled in Environmental Ethics course at the Institute for Humane Education and one of the most influential passages in shaping my sense of place was a list of questions from a David Orr book called "Deep Ecology."

Questions ranged from tracing water to the tap, to the phase of the moon, to the quality of soil, to native plants and animals, to length of growing season, to where our trash ends up.

Pondering my knowledge of place planted many a seed and was a major source of inspiration in my move to the Pacific Northwest. Every year that I traveled to Maine, my desire to have more of a connection to the natural history of a place grew exponentially.

When I learned that the one of the trailheads (Lower Macleay Park) to Forest Park (the largest urban park in the country) was a 3 minute walk from my front door, I shed tears. My dream of living this close to a green haven had materialized. I discovered that the Audubon Society was at the top of the trail (a 30-minute hike)and about a month after I arrived, they had a native plant sale. The Western Meadowrue won my heart and it still gifts my front door.

Culinary Delights

May 9, 2008

I decided to head to VegFest, an event that drew over 1,000 people and a vegan haven. I enjoyed a day of speakers, culinary demos, free samples and grassroots organizations doing outreach. It took me back to the many days of speaking at animal rights conferences in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. I miss the buzz of those events. The late nights in the hotel lobby, seeing my role models on stage...I digress...

Back to this event - I volunteered to assist raw chef, Jennifer Cornbleet from Chicago. I was blown away by the simplicity and quickness of the center stage dessert recipe, Flourless Chocolate Cake - walnuts, cocoa, and dates blended up, molded and topped with raspberries.

The highlight of the event was running into Eric Phelps, my former PETA co-worker from 9 years ago! And to think I almost didn't approach him out of shyness. I'm so glad I challenged myself because what friends we've become - what a completely unexpected delight it has been to get to know him.

We've dined out at many a vegan restaurant, and laughed, laughed and laughed, and Eric has become my computer, technology maven guru! I've learned a lot from Eric about taking myself and life less seriously and he's such a trooper. When I was sulking over not having anyone to watch Sex in the City with, Eric agreed to go with me (in exchange for watching Indiana Jones)!

Zarem Smile

I have not posted in over a month and that is almost impossible to believe. As I was combing through my recently added photos, I came across a photo of my first cousin, Avie and me that was taken the day he moved away from Portland. A job offer brought he and his wife back to Toronto where her family is and it was a bittersweet departure.

The photo was taken in front of the place where we dined on lawnchairs on the lawn and were served cold beers with the arriving, gorgeous dawn.

Though not the clearest image, you can see that Zarem smile shine through. It's characteristic of my mom's side of the family.

It was Avie's wife, Adrienne who landed the place I'm in now. I sent her on countless runs to check out potential living spaces and she never tired of it and actually enjoyed the process. She provided an air mattress to my friend, Sarah and I the evening we arrived in Portland , after over 18 hours of driving. She made meals for me when I first arrived, gave me her leftover canned beans and yummy sauces and introduced me to Urban Jews, a group of young Jew who gather for potlucks, community service and beach bonfires. Avie introduced me to the local soccer phenomenon, the Timbers. I'm eternally grateful to them for planting the seeds to many-a-fun time.

My Peanut of a Niece, Alyssa

One of the things I most look forward to since moving to Portland is checking email...even more than that is snail mail. I have to say, opening up my mailbox to personal mail makes my heart swell!

It takes me back to the days when my sister and I would tear down the hall at my Grandma Sara's apartment during Milwaukee summers and then proceed to fight over who would check the box. It was one of those standard slender, metalic gray mailboxes and I even remember the feel of the key. I have the same mailbox here!

My peanut of a niece (this picture was taken at the farmer's market I used to work at) just sent this message to me and it brought me such joy. Her misspelled words are even endearing.


By the way hows the weather today it was cool out or as I would say frezing . Moucha is good ,how about your pets and how about you? See any moves and what were they? I saw uptown girl it was sad,funny,entertaing ,and odd . In school we have testing but on the good side we have no homework but we haft to read . I just saw a small bug run across my laptop she was so CUTE. Right back -alyssa lv

Chubby Little Streetcar

I decided to jump into the public transit scene in Portland because I have spent too many days driving around and really want to gain a better sense of this city. I can hardly wait to get a bike! Sadly, my last bike was stolen out of my front yard in San Diego. Anyhow, I learned that there was a farmer's market downtown on Saturdays. Most of the FMs start closer to May, but this one had already started. I perused a map that my friend, Liberty left from her stay and hitched the streetcar from Marshall St. and NW 23rd to downtown. Most of that ride was in the fareless zone. I attempted to pay for the remaining pay-based far, but the machine rejected my $20 bill and so I rode free as no one checked on tickets.

The farmer's market was alive and pumping when I arrived! The air was filled with mouth-watering food smells, dogs were abundant, and the cutest quartet of young musicians played and sang folk. I read a book about writing one's life story and soaked up the war sunshine and munched on fresh arugula and locally brewed coconut-infused kombucha tea!

I'm off to see if I can plant some of the seedlings I got at the farmer's market~!

Lucky Lab

OK, Portland has officially sold me! Environment Oregon sent me an invitation the other night to help get marine reserves on the political agenda for Oregon. This would involve signing postcards and making calls to legislators. What better way to meet some new people and make a difference.

The meeting would be held at the Lucky Labrador and happened to be in the NW section of Portland, blocks from my apartment! When I arrived, the room was packed and people were intently listening to a speaker. I was invigorated and inspired.

I perused their menu before heading over and discovered that not only did they have an organic ale but that they had a vegan pizza to go along with it....The Vegan Villager...and boy was it tasty! It was just the crust I've been searching for. I ordered an entire pizza for myself and my fridge is now gifted with leftovers for days. :)

Shower Curtain Blues

Help, I need somebody, help! Not just anybody, help! Name that tune. In all seriousness, I need a shower curtain expert because I have the shower curtain blues. ;) I'm in a Most Good, Least Harm predicament! In all of the rush of moving, I shoved my shower curtain into a random box and it is now nowhere to be found. After 3 days of not showering (!), I caved and jumped in without a curtain!

Days later, a friend of mine wisely suggested I look in my Lifestyle of the Eco-Friendly program props (I used to use a shower curtain to talk about water use with school kids) and sure enough, I found a curtain, but the floor still got wet even with three towels to soak up the excess water! But this has left me in a quandary. What is an eco-minded person to do?

Regular vinyl shower curtains release chemical gases and odors from their ingredients and are manufactured with non-renewable and chemical resources...end up in a landfill where they don't decompose and could release dangerous substances into the ground.

So....my choices are:

use the curtain I have and....

1) get a PVC-based liner and find a way to clean it regularly (and find an effective way to clean bacteria) so it doesn't end up in a landfill

2) get a more eco-friendly based liner such as EVA which doesn't use chlorine in production but is still petroleum-based

or

3) purchase a new organic cotton curtain

4) purchase a new hemp curtain with no apparent use for a liner b/c hemp is reportedly anti-bacterial

5) make my own curtain and find a liner

6) find a curtain and liner on craigslist!

Now that that's out there....what about those shower curtain rings? ;)

Mimi's Visit

April 19, 2008

Marina, AKA Mimi is one of my mom's oldest and dearest friends. I've known her since I was 8-years-old. One of the favorite memories of her is being given a children's cookbook. I cherished it and still have it on my shelf. The recipe I carried the most pride in is for butterscotch square bars. YUM! She has a down-to-earth, approachable energy with a bit of sass! Laughter is always inevitable around Mimi.

I was delighted when Mimi said she was visiting. We spent about 1/2 day together - I took her to one of my favorite neighborhood spots, The Clearing Cafe - vegan paninis and brownies organic fruit smoothies - a 3-minute walk from my house. We had such a nice time catching up.

First Portland Adventures Continued...

April 11, 2008

I awake after letting myself sleep in and open my windows to discover it's a perfectly sunny day! I head over with Charlie on a little portion of Lower Macleay Park/Trail. Wanting to explore little by little so I have something to look forward to. I talk to Connie Poll, one of my mom's dearest friends from Milwaukee and we chat about the amazing Pinot Noir and grape growing culture of this region, the coffee shops, and Matt Cantor, a childhood friend.

I introduce myself to new neighbors, Martha and Bernie (my age, despite the sound of their names) who seem like they are moving into my unit (each building is a 4-plex), noticing they are from MA (we speak about the mayhem of the Boston culture – driving in particular). I eat leftovers from Blossoming Lotus. Yum. Grounding and warm.

Moises, the maintenance man comes over to look at my water filter. I email friends and family and notice just how quiet it is in the complex. Lawn mowing and things that normally bother me are not getting on my nerves here. I find a snail on my succulent plant and think of the snail-saving days of Shakti.

April 15, 2008

I contemplate not paying taxes to protest the cascade of ills I'm indirectly supporting through my tax dollars and then decide it's the "responsible" thing to do. I orient myself to the neighborhood. I take some different streets and snap photos with my eyes. I head to Food Front Co-op to get flax oil, visit the local vet hospital to get a feel for it and meditate at Wallace Park, a park a 10 minute walk from my house.

First Portland Adventures

April 8, 2008

Sarah and I decide to make our way to Paradox Café. This is the diner that I was lured into Portland by. I then take Sarah to Sweet Pea Bakery. Zoey stays in car the whole time. She seems much more comfortable there and I decide it's probably in her best interest.

Move in day. My former M.Ed. student, Sierra, my cousin, Adrienne, and Sarah start unpacking truck. I do a walk through with the grounds manager Eve. We return the truck and I get my first glimpse of St. Helen Road and the old industrial part of the city....train tracks, old warehouses, smoke stacks, etc.

I have lunch with Sierra and Sarah at Laughing Planet. Selfishly, I wanted alone time with one of my dearest friends in her remaining hours. We all find Coffee Time, sidewalk café/coffeehouse that allows dogs. It's like a labyrynth.

Begrudgingly, I take Sarah to the airport and decide I have to walk her in. I'm feeling incredibly vulnerable and needy and am despairing the pending loneliness. We find Powell’s in the airport. What a gem. We laugh at all of the spoofs on 50’s magnets. We have a cry fest in the airport and I feel devastated. In instant exchange of text messages gives me some room to feel sad and brings me instant comfort. I'm taken back to my freshman year of college when saying goodbye to the friends I was so closely bonded to was painful. Spoke to Hava briefly on way back. Came back to empty apartment and lost it.

April 9, 2008

My first official interview happened two days after I arrived! After getting lost on the way, I wandered down to the end of the hall and patiently sat in a chair waiting for an interview. It was with an organization called Garden Partners which uses horticulture therapy to heal elderly people. The ED of the org. compliments me and shares how impressed she is that I am able to move to a new city and interview 2 days later. The position would have entailed coordinating volunteers for the organization. The interview goes fairly smoothly, despite having not played the job search game for nearly 10 years! Oye vey.

I take care of getting my computer set up with Spiretech and get to meet Alex, the nice guy I've been talking to for some time. I take care of collecting information to file taxes. I read all of the Shakti letters and cards and cards from family and cry a puddle.

April 10, 2008

I meet my first neighbors, Eli and Anna, a sweet young couple and their dog, Toby – they look quintessentially Pacific Northwest with their fleece jackets on this cool morning. They talk to me about the inevitable adjustment time. I take a walk in Lower Macleay Trail and cry. My dream of being in a place this green and so close to my living space has become reality. I make a huge dent in unpacking and move some major furniture around. I take my first shower since I have arrived!

I find my way down to the Thurman Library and Trilogy Video store and French bakery, St. Honore (loved this feeling).

The Rakestraw’s see me on the way back to my place and I introduce them to the animals. We have dinner together at what will quickly become my favorite place, Blossoming Lotus in The Pearl.

Oregon College of Oriental Medicine - April 18, 2008

My first exposure to acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine was at Shakti Rising, a holistic recovery program for women (www.shaktirising.org) a couple years ago and my interest and intrigue in the approach and philosophy have grown ever since. I had experienced an irregular menstrual cycle since middle school and had caught wind of the effectiveness of TCM in relating a cycle.

I met Dr. Robin Tiberi at the Pacific Center of Health and immediately connected with her. I looked forward to the hour and a half long sessions where I'd have a quiet room all to myself, practicing deep breathing, talking heart-to-heart with a practitioner who really heard me. My cycle eventually regulated and then I made visits regarding my knee and stress level.

Part of my move to the Pacific Northwest was inspired by the presence of one of the most renowned schools for TCM and acupuncture. I attended an orientation within 10 days of arriving and while I'm not ready to jump into the commitment just yet, the field continues to tug at my soul.

I just returned to the school today to observe an herbs class. I showed up on a day that an exam was being offered and the hurried instructor tried to be as accommodating as possible. It was interesting just to watch the students and how they related to test taking. The class then did Qigong down in the garden and then processed a bunch of information on herbs and their indications. Cinnamon, fresh garlic, etc....I loved learning about how herbs play such a significant role in addressing the range of di-sease.