New Frames

When I'm not here, I'm over there

I'm not on a self induced hiatus (note to Kaza.)  Between running my business, getting ready for a huge trade show in SF (no Clyde Drexler in my booth this year... darn, he attracted a ton of business to the booth...,) among other things, it's tough to keep a blog going, let alone read one.  When I do blog, sometimes it's here at New Frames and sometimes it's over at the Onward Oregon blog.  If it seems like I haven't been around here in a while, chances are all three of you will find me over at the OO blog.

Today I posted an entry on former Governor John Kitzhaber's health plan and how it might relate to small businesses in the state.

A few days ago I wrote about how Gordon Smith hearts uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff (kiss kiss.)

And finally over a week ago I posted an entry on the real story behind the failed biofuels bill in the last Oregon legislative session.  We can all thank Karen Minnis and her friends from the petroleum and auto industries who stopped by to say hi while the biofuels bill was being debated.

Can gay marriage be a populist theme?

My most recent entry over at Onward Oregon's blog is on gay marriage and how it might be possible to win this fight in the state legislature.  I've found Paul Hackett's approach to the issue quite intriguing.  If the name rings a bell, you might remember that he ran as a progressive Democrat, and almost won, in a special congressional election last summer in Ohio's extremely conservative 2nd district.  He openly supports gay marriage and isn't the least bit shy about it. 

What I've discovered in reading and listening to his interviews (free Salon day-pass required) is that he never discusses gay marriage as a single issue.  He ties it together with other issues that might matter to people who would otherwise totally oppose gay marriage:

I don’t need Washington, D.C., or the government in my private life. Period. I don’t need them to dictate to my wife the decisions she can make with a doctor. I don’t need a Washington politician to tell my neighbors what they can do in the privacy of their bedroom. And I don’t need Washington politicians to tell me what guns to keep in my gun safe.

Who would have guessed that it would be possible to tie gay marriage into a populist message!  But Hackett does it successfully and that's something Oregon's forward thinking politicians should also be doing.  Remember, Ohio was one of the eleven states, along with Oregon, that had an anti-gay marriage initiative on their ballot last year.  The same people who voted against gay marriage in Ohio's second district voted for Hackett, despite his vocal support for gay marriage.

If the progressive movement in Oregon can find political leaders who can comfortably do a Hackett in the rural areas of Oregon, we just might be able to win the legal right for gays to marry through the legislature.  But I'm not sure the leadership in the Democratic party in Oregon is willing to have their candidates discuss gay marriage in the next election.  Too bad, because in discussing it, particularly in the way Hackett does, voters begin to become more accepting of it.  That's progress.

Basically, gay marriage doesn't have to be the hot button issue that religious fundamentalists are making it.  They've been controlling the debate and Paul Hackett has shown that progressives can.

Introducing Onward Oregon's blog

Onward Oregon, Oregon's premiere grass-roots organization for pragmatic movement progressives, has just launched a blog, which, hopefully, will provoke ideas for future initiatives and legislation, encourage discussion about the urban-rural divide in the state, act as a forum for resolving difficult issues plaguing the state, bring more attention to the organization's e-mail action campaigns and, lastly, help increase membership to the organization.

Currently there are three bloggers on the site, one of whom is yours truly.  The other two are Peter Bray and Kate Gawf.  Aside from blogging at Onward Oregon, Peter also runs his own blog, Land Use Watch, along with a satirical website about Measure 37.  Kate also has a blog, Ride My Handlebars, and has made a commitment to riding her bike as she waits for a clean car to hit the market.

A few more bloggers will be added soon so that Peter, Kate and I aren't carrying the entire load and to increase the diversity of ideas offered on the blog. 

So, stop by for a visit at the new blog at Onward Oregon and share your thoughts in the open comments section on each post.

Been workin' at the farm

Aside from keeping up with my small bidness, I've been out helping my mom on her apple farm in Ridgefield, WA.  It's harvest season!  So I haven't been posting much, as you may have noticed.  Instead, I've been pulling weeds, picking basil, planting beets for winter... Perhaps you've had the pleasure of eating produce from my mom's farm if you've ever had a dinner at Ciao Vito's (22nd and Alberta.)  If you haven't eaten there, it's absolutely the best. 

Speaking of farms, there's a new blog in town: Land Use Watch, owned and operated by Peter Bray.  Most of you know I break out in hives when I hear the words Measure 37.  Well, I think Mr. Bray understands.

Speaking of farms again, stop by my mom's booth at the Portland Farmers Market this Saturday:  Old World Apples.  She always starts at the market in August, due to the nature of her crops.  That's why you haven't seen her there this year, but she's on board now.  If you say, "Hey, I love your daughter's blog!" she just might give you an apple ;-)

Wir werden morgan nach Berlin fahren

I'm off with the hubby for a much needed vacation.  He's got a week long meeting in Berlin, so I decided to join him since I lived in Germany for two years.  We'll take an extra week after his meeting to go to Prague and Vienna.

The last time I was in Berlin the wall was still up.  It was such a strange city at the time because one side was lively, exciting and non-stop, while the other was dreary, lifeless and chilling.  What really stood out to me on the east side was how many of the buildings were still in disrepair from WWII.  The great thing is, we'll being staying in a part of Berlin called Die Mitte, which used to be East Berlin, but is now a thriving community filled with galleries, theaters and great dining.

I left Germany in the Fall of 1988, one year before the wall came down.  During my two years in Germany, I never once met a German who believed that wall would ever come down.  And when I went through the check-points to get to East Germany, I too was convinced the wall was permanent.  So when the wall fell in 1989, I was utterly astounded and wished so much that I could have been in Germany with my friends to celebrate.  It was a brief moment in history when suddenly it seemed as if the world was going to be at peace and humanity had taken a great step forward.   Thinking back on that time today makes me well up inside.

In any case, this blog won't have much goin' on in the next couple of weeks.  I'll try to do some photo blogging and add a few entries while traveling.

xoxoxo to all my faithful readers!

Got tagged on the Book Meme

Preemptive Karma tagged me the other day on the book meme that's traveling around in blog-land. This was their response when tagged.  Here's mine:

You’re stuck in ‘Fahrenheit 451’. Which book would you be?

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.  I think Roy was only 26 when she won the Booker prize for this extraordinary novel.  Her characters are unintentional rule breakers of social norms who suffer severe consequences as a result of their actions.  Roy, herself, breaks writing rules by turning proper grammar and spelling into a book full of unique language and expression.  I've never read anything quite like it.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Sure, lots, even two in one book:  Kabir and Maan in A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.  Interestingly they're both quite different from each other:  Kabir is the hardworking student who looks hot in his cricket gear and Maan is out of control, but hopelessly in love with a courtesan, whom he can't have.  I'm an Indophile, o.k.!

What is the last book you bought?

Against All Enemies by former anti-terrorism czar Richard Clarke.

What are you currently reading?

I just finished Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff.  A neighbor gave it to me and I just gave it to a friend who works for me periodically.  It's one of those books that you've got to pass around.

And now it's time to pass this book meme onto some fellow bloggers:

Lana at The Casting Scoop - If you're interested in the world of casting, Lana's got it all on her blog.  She's Oregon's best casting director!

Andrew the Activist Kaza over at Kazablog, an up-to-date blog on all that matters in Oregon.

And finally, local geekster, Drewish who likes to post pictures of his projects on his blog.

Skiing in fresh snow... but it's Spring

Many of my friends know I did not enjoy the sunny warm winter this past year.  I spent a lot of time kvetching about it because all that sun and warmth meant one thing: (well, several actually, but for now...) skiing on rocks and grass.  Yesterday, however, was different.  It's been snowing in the mountains and the past few days have been recording several inches of snowfall along with cold temperatures to keep the snow in place.  My mom called me on Wednesday and said, "Let's go skiing tomorrow!"  And so we did.

As we drove through Zig Zag on Hwy 26 we noticed a light dusting of snow, and the higher we got the whiter it got.  It was a winter wonderland on April 14th.  Up at Meadows it was cold and windy and the skiing was great, just the way it should have been in January.  We got a mix of sunshine and snow, my favorite.  We skied so hard my thighs were burning on the last run of the day.  I could hardly walk to the car.  But it felt good, really good.

I did wonder what all those teenagers were doing up there on a school day.

Taxes, business,... I miss blogging

Sorry I haven't been around here in the past few days.  My business is growing and it consumes a lot of time.  And then there are the tax forms.  We used Turbo Tax for our personal taxes, but doing my S-Corp taxes for federal and state take quite a while.  I know, I should hire someone to do my bidness taxes, but believe it or not, I actually enjoy doing them.  It's an opportunity to take stock of the bidness. 

Speaking of taxes, I have to award some kudos to the tax assistance people at the Oregon Dept. of Revenue.  They're pretty knowledgeable and have always been able to answer my questions, so if you need to call them, don't be afraid.  They're very nice and helpful.  Recently I received a letter from them informing me that I owed $700 more from my 2002 taxes.  After spending time on the phone with the ODR, researching my QuickBooks and tax files, I was able to figure out it was their mistake.  I sent them a letter explaining my position with supporting evidence.  Last week I received a letter from them that stated a correction had been made and I owed $0.  Moral to the story:  When you get an envelope from ODR don't get sweaty palms and heart palpitations (especially if you own a business.)  Just stay calm and breathe deeply because it's much easier to put the pieces of the puzzle together when you're not in a state of panic.  I'll admit, though, that I did panic at first because with the biz growing I don't have a dime to spare.

In any case, I'll be back on the blog soon.

Click to enlarge!

Daffodils

Click to enlarge!

Bidness is growing

My apologies for not posting anything for the past few days.  There's a lot of bidness going on with my bidness.  I just got a distributor in California this week, which is something I've been trying to do for eons.  The distributor just placed their first order with me on Friday. 

New Seasons Market is running a promotion on my products.  They did the same promotion last year and just a few days into it my distributors called in a panic because some of the buyers were panicking because they were selling out of the product.  I had to meet my distributor the next morning at 6 to get product to them so they could get it on the shelves. 

Well, you'd think people would learn from past experiences.  On Wednesday I called my distributor to make sure they had stocked up the stores well.  They said they had and that they stocked more than last year.  I asked, "Are you sure that will be enough, because we've been promoting the product a lot since last year?"  They said they were confident there was enough product.  So on Friday afternoon when my cell rang with the caller ID displaying my distributor's number, I knew they were calling in a panic, just like last year.  The Concordia New Seasons had already sold out of some of the products and it wasn't even the weekend yet.

Anyway, the problem has been solved.  I suppose it was a good problem to have, but it wasn't one that I had written into my schedule.  Yesterday afternoon I had planned on tying up loose ends, finalizing the first order with my new distributor in California, and blogging.  Instead I spent the afternoon putting out a fire, tied one loose end, told my new distributor that I would have to talk with them on Monday and crossed blogging off the list.

I won't be able to do much blogging during the upcoming week, but I'll try to squeeze a few things in, like how Measure 37, among other things, is causing me to wake up in a cold sweat every night!

Thanks for your patience.