16 June 2009

You are Brilliant and the Earth is Hiring


"You are brilliant, and the earth is hiring."



Commencement Address to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3rd, 2009 By Paul Hawken


When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was "direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful." Boy, no pressure there.

But let's begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don't poison the water, soil, or air, and don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food but all that is changing. There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn't bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING.

The earth couldn't afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here's the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don't be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done. When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, "So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world." There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums. You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of the United States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.

There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity's willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. "One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice," is Mary Oliver's description of moving away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the living world. Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if the evening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness of strangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specific eighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to create a national and global movement to defend the rights of those they did not know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown Granville Clark, T homas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood and their goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people in the world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists as liberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They were told they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty. But for the first time in history a group of people organized themselves to help people they would never know, from whom they would never receive direct or indirect benefit.. And today tens of millions of people do this every day. It is called the world of non-profits, civil society, schools, social entrepreneurship, and non-governmental organizations, of companies who place social and environmental justice at the top of their strategic goals. The scope and scale of this effort is unparalleled in history.

The living world is not "out there" somewhere, but in your heart. What do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can't print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering.

Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich. The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago, and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90 percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and without those other microorganisms you would perish in hours. Each human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the universe exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science would discover that each living creature was a "little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars of heaven."

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past. Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television. This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn't stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn't ask for a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn't make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

20 May 2009

Caldera Catalyst

Hey all ... here's some photos of the Caldera Arts Center where we'll be holding Catalyst 2009. It's really tough to describe how gorgeous this spot is and how peaceful and chill it is and we'll have the place all to ourselves for the whole weekend!

A shot from the inside of the retreat center. The whole place smells like fresh wood!

In the library where we'll have some fireside chats and some chill music and hanging out late night.

The main hall with nice stage for music and talent show and workshops and a mega fireplace. Candlelit dinners anyone?

Gorgeous grassy spots to chill

Green green green

An outside shot at the retreat center w/ lots of shade and places to kick it

You can see some of the tipis in the woods back there across the lake

A couple of the A-frames (notice the decks on the creek)

Another A-frame

Inside one (kitchens, bathrooms) (limited first come availability)

Inside an A-frame, they all have 2 levels with a loft upstairs

Killer decks for morning coffee

NIIICE looking spot. Check out the shingled doors!

Some of the tipis (each sleeps 3 or 4 w/ kids) with the bath house on the left

Blue Lake ... deep and cold and clear

Epic big dock/deck with 50 feet of water underneath and sizzling sunbathing and morning yoga opportunities

Some of the tipis ... lake is behind them

Afternoon snooze in the grass? Picnic lunches every day

The dining hall looking out

If you'd like registration info, get in touch! info@thegrove411.net It's going to be an amazing weekend!

13 May 2009

Chickens!

That's right ... we've embarked on the joys of urban chicken ownership. Highly recommend it so far. They're quirky and adorable. Dumb as can be, but very easy to like. I went out to the back yard this morning with my coffee and my robe and just watched them kick around in the dirt and look for bugs and it was ... kinda better than TV. No commercials. And they turn compost into eggs!

AW!

All different colors. All different personalities. No names yet. Soon.

Adolescents. They won't start laying until late summer.

Chez BokBok, urban chicken townhouse designed and built by yours truly out of recycled and found wood, old futon frames, etc.

25 March 2009

eMusic



You know ... a little new music in your life goes a really long way. And it's never been easier to connect with incredible shit, never been easier to make it or get it.

I'm a big fan of eMusic. They're pretty much the #2 online retailer at this point ... and they have DRM-free stuff of solid quality (bitrate-wise) for pretty damn cheap. They do a monthly subscription system where you get so many tracks per month and it works out really well. They mostly do indie labels and artists (whereas iTunes and Amazon carry major labels) and they have some incredible stuff.

I'm also a big fan of buying music vs. downloading it for free. Its never been easier to pay for music and know that it goes mostly to the artists not the middlemen. And digital music is cheaper w/o the CD. And you know ... when you pay for something you kind of enjoy it more. Or you have the proper respect for it and that feels good. And it also keeps you from just downloading gobs of stuff that you don't ... have any connection with or time for. That cheapens it.

That being said, I'm going to give a few copies away of this or that ... and I might just grab something here or there that's on a blog (and is free as such) or on a friend's computer but I do want to spend some money on music. Honestly there isn't a lot that makes more sense to spend money on. Music is art and you should surround yourself with art and pay the proper respect to the artists.

And as I was saying to my man Dan tonight ... the great thing about music ... is that no matter how into it you are there's always going to be 1000 things you've never heard of and hell, genres you didn't even know existed, even. And you know, some of that shit is going to be incredible. Even if you were just picking at random (which you don't have to).

My entire life has been a progression through so many artists and kinds of music ... there have always been new things I've discovered and never knew about that are amazing.

It's like ... there's gold fucking nuggets just waiting for you in the field ... you just have to look a little.

You know ... those albums that are just classic ... that almost define an era for you ... like the Beastie Boys' Check Your Head or Nine Inch Nails' Downward Spiral or Pearl Jam's Ten ... ? Or whatever they might be for you? Those experiences with music are still happening with new stuff all the time if you make the time to connect with it.

Anyway ... eMusic is nice cuz you just get three or two or four albums a month and you can really enjoy them and keep 'em coming easily. Direct debit from your account like $15/month or something. Easy. Certainly there's a lot of other quality distribution methods including the humble CD store ... but yeah. Do it! Nothing like some great new music.

12 March 2009

Phoenix in March

Mesa/Gateway airport is melllllooooo.

Cardinal Dome

Peoria Sports Complex (spring training baseball)

Padres lost to the A's very badly

Dorks

More dorks

Green grass, 75 degrees, Mike's Hard Lemonade, flip flops .. in MARCH!

Phoenix is chock full of beige brand new corporate strip malls for miles and miles. Where they get all the water to support a giant sprawling city in the middle of the freaking desert (and I mean desert) is ... both both a scary and amazing thought.

More of same.

Downtown


PLUM Cocktails & Merrymaking

This is a blurry photo of Erica & Corey's PLUM cocktial catering booth at the recent wedding tradeshow. They're looking to do a very cool presentation and super interesting drinks for events. Kind of like a little mini mobile Grove ... as I'm doing with the food booth. [Get in touch if anyone needs a bar or catering.]

Foto del Dia

11 March 2009

Ocho



Saying goodbye to a good friend. He was much loved.

Watchmen



Got a chance to see Watchmen last night ... and DAMN if I didn't really love it. I mean, it's definitely not for everyone (which would explain a lot of the criticism of it) but I thought it was a pretty great film. Definitely dark, and subversive ... but really sharp and intelligent and a very nice homage to the source material, one of the most loved graphic novels of all time. As far as superhero/comic book movies, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. Great characters, interesting themes, awesome music, great settings and costumes ... really interesting integration with actual history and just a totally immersive overall feel. Damn damn DAMN good movie. And well worth seeing on the big screen. I'll probably see it twice in the theatre. Good shit. Killing it at the box office. 55 million this week ...

Official trailer HERE

Website (well worth checking out)

09 March 2009

Animal Care and Cruelty

Been reading a lot lately.

Here's a good article by David Foster Wallace (author of "Infinite Jest") on eating lobster.

Here's one from Gourmet about advances (and resistance) in chicken care/slaughter.

If you're going to eat meat, you should really be as informed as possible.

We're getting some chickens in about a month (hens ... egg layers ... ) here at the house so we can have organic nonrefrigerated eggs (chickens turn compost into eggs!) from humanely raised birds. They taste a hell of a lot better, are way cheaper than buying storebought organic ... and the birds get to live in a way that they're meant for ... not stuck in an awful industrial system.

BTW, we do have a semi-humane mass producer of broiler chickens here in the Northwest ... namely Draper Valley ... marketed locally I believe under the Ranger label. Not perfect in their approach by any means but better (and more local) than Foster Farms.

BTW, about lobster ... if you're going to eat them ... ice water first (or the freezer). Some people talk about a knife to the forehead but there's no real reason to believe that works because of the diffuse nature of the nervous system. Some people also say that warm water for 5 minutes knocks them out. Just don't boil them alive ... that's fucked up.

07 March 2009

Pirates!



I'm kinda fascinated by the whole modern piracy thing in general ... but this article is just really nicely written. Go Vanity Fair!

04 March 2009

Vietnam Then and Now

I've been wanting to spend some time in Vietnam ... and Asia in general. Interesting piece HERE on the Vietnam of today (on one of my favorite blogs) and what it might say about our intervention then and today in Iraq.

Some of you may know our friends Amy and Brandon ... who are currently on a grand trek through SE Asia. Check their FLikr photos HERE and read about their adventures HERE.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of travel. Eric Ozrelic is on his way to Machu Pichu at the moment ... follow along HERE.

01 March 2009

Netbooks



So ... there's kind of a cool product hitting the shelves these days in the computer department ... they're called "netbooks" ... and they're basically mini-laptops without optical drives that are purposefully meant for people on the go and on a budget and who don't really do anything on the computer but surf the web. They're big in Asia and Europe and getting more common in emerging places like Brazil and Russia ... just starting to hit the shores here in the US.

They don't have DVD or CD drives and run WindowsXP or Linux ... they often don't even have hard drives but some do and they're basically designed to run everything on the web (or in the "cloud"). If all you really do on a computer is use email and a couple of small applications and mostly everything you do is on the web, these babies can be had for like $300-400 new. They have 8" or 10" screens and are basically kinda disposable. Perfect for travelling. You host all your content on the Web (photos, music, etc.).

There's nothing that runs Mac OSX right now (yet) so ... I'm not personally interested in anything that runs Windows ... but pretty cool none the less. There's versions in Asia that are super cheap and energy efficient that just have flash memory and run on the super efficient Intel Atom chip. Look for battery life to go through the roof and cost to plummet .. making computers available to tons of people worldwide that never had them before. Good or bad, it's happening.

Fashion Sighting



We stopped into the Lloyd Center mall the other day just to peruse around a bit and when we were in Macy's we saw a group of African American dudes just going nuts in the Polo section. Three of the four of them were already wearing bright colored Polo or iZod shirts ... and they were going through the selection like kids in a candy store.

Really? When did urban black guys go preppie? I felt like I was in some alternative universe. Why modern black dudes would be so stoked for crusty white guy golf wear ... is ... just beyond me. I wore that stuff when I was a 16 year old young Republican in the 80s ...

Wierd. It's like ... fashion just has these distinct cells that you can just buy into ... and suddenly you're wearing all this 80s shit ... or all this iZod/khaki shit ... I wonder if there'll ever be an original concept to happen or if we're just going to be endlessly recycling these stupid ironly-laden fashion trends.

And the ethnic thing is just kinda wierd. This is clothing created by people who don't let black people into their country clubs. And that's what you wanna rep? I don't get it.

PING PDX

Got a chance to check out Andy Ricker's new place in Chinatown (in Portland) this past weekend. As you may know ... Ricker is the guy behind Pok Pok ... the place on Division that went from Asian street food shack to Restaurant of the Year with its obsession for the details of great Asian food.

This time Ricker teams up with a couple of Wyden & Kennedy design gurus to revitalize a space in the old Hung Far Low building on 4th and Couch ... part of the ongoing revitalization (gentrification?) of Chinatown ... now that the Pearl is built out and full of new glory.

OregonLive story HERE. Apparently the idea behind Ping is part Japanese drinking pub and part SE Asian coffeehouse-cafe. Ricker does the food, W&K nails the design elements.

I would say that Pok Pok is easily the best Asian restaurant in the city ... so we were stoked to try the new spot. Ricker really gets the details right.

Loved the room (high design meets sustainable building and recycled everything). Food was great and fairly interesting and unusual. Prices were high, but not impossible. Staff was friendly and cool. Small plate focus. Lots of cool cocktails and N/A options. Overall a really nice job. Totally dug it.

Erica's a big fan of their drinking vinegars. Seltzer water and flavored slightly sweet vinegars. Spozed to be good for you. Delicious for sure.

Cool design featuring reclaimed wood from the basement of this 1917 building.

Pork skewers in the Thai style

Grilled fish balls ... ubiquitous in Thailand ... very mild & delicious

Counter seating beneath a commissioned light sculpture ... the entire bar evokes blue collar Japan perfectly and plays against the hip design elements elsewhere.

Hum bao steamed pork bun didn't disappoint.

Interesting collection of old radios reclaimed from an abandoned Chinatown repair shop.

4th and NW Couch, Chinatown PDX