Sounds like a children’s book, doesn’t it?

Well, it’s not.

OK raise your hands if you’ve seen/ are a fan of Facebook’s “Portland was built on an ancient unicorn burial ground” ?

Mmm-hmm. That’s what I thought.

The claim is:  “It is common knowledge, that Portland Oregon was built on an ancient unicorn burial ground, and is clearly why Portland is as artistic and magical as it is.” I have evidence that it is getting out of hand!

Apparently EVERYONE in Portland is inspired by Unicorns.

Perhaps this masterpiece was put there to show that no aspect of Portland has been untouched by the magic of the ancient unicorns.

Whatever it is… do you really want a Thug Unicorn in your neighborhood?

…

Well… I do kind of like it there.  It makes me giggle.

Still, let’s get one thing straight — this doesn’t mean I’m becoming a member of  “Portland was built on an ancient unicorn burial ground”.

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Don was (and is) my favorite letter carrier of all time.

OK, it’s not like he’s gone or anything, but I really miss him. See, his route was changed and he no longer shows up at our letter box with his trademark great smile and kind words.

He always asked how I was doing. But, it always felt like more than that. He sincerely wanted to know how we were — how our son was doing. He delivered scads of magazines (most of which have been cancelled) and junk mail. He piled packages up on our front stoop. He picked up boxes in good and crummy weather. Yes, it is part of his job, but he did it with a super attitude.

What I always enjoyed was the friendliness. If Nonna (my son’s grandmother, my mom) sent a package from New Jersey, he’d comment on how there “was something fun for Ollie.” And, on the days that my son was at home, I’d bring him out to see Don. It was great fun to see both of them smile at each other. Ollie knew that Don was (and is) a good guy and it made my day to see how much they enjoyed each other’s brief company.

But, the thing that makes Don so nice was one day a few weeks ago. I was finishing packing up a box to be sent to the east coast. I wasn’t 100% done and I scrambled downstairs and outside to ask him if he could wait a minute to take the package. After a big grin, he said, “of course. Take your time.” I ran back upstairs, taped up the box and printed out the label — all of which took much more than “a minute.” As I walked outside I apologized for being longer than anticipated. Once again, the big smile, the calm demeanor with this response:

“No problem, Doug. You’ve always been one of the favorite stops on the route. I’ll wait for you as long as you need.”

THAT is just flat-out cool.

I’m certain that my new letter carrier will be just fine. And, the good news is that Don is still around the neighborhood a little bit, so I’ll be able to see him every so often.

But I will miss our daily chats and his wonderful disposition and kindness.

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If we are not part of the conversation or listening to the conversation, then what are we here for? For me the conversation takes many forms today. My personal preferred way is face to face. But that’s not always the way it happens or needs to happen.

We have at our fingertips tool after tool to have a conversation with people that we might not otherwise be able to have a conversation with. Those tools seem to grow in number as much as in controversy, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Yelp, Brightkite, Text … do I need to list more? And any site you can go to that offers a tool or tools to communicate or measure communication is about listening to the conversation.

Yesterday, I saw this tweet:

So, of course I click the link for OregonLive to read Anna Griffin’s post on OregonLive. “Sam Adams needs to toss Twitter and get back to the big picture for Portland” By Anna Griffin. Really? I disagree. I sometimes wonder what people are really annoyed or mad about when they write something like this? He is the Mayor. Twitter is one of the most transparent communication tools today!

“This is attention-deficit governing, driven by insecurity and enabled by the iPhone. In the short term, it creates the false sheen of engagement. Over the long haul, it’s no way to build public support for the hard and expensive decisions to come.”

False sheen of engagement? Engagement is engagement, Twitter is immediate and it’s timely. And why not use any tool available to build public support?

It would be like me saying: “I think the radio creates a false sheen of engagement because they are driven by sales and their advertisers have agendas contrary to mine. So Mayor Adams should dump any communication with radio.” Right — dumb, ill advised and limiting. Not to mention narrow-minded.

I find it so curious that people will participate in the very thing that they are complaining about. Instead of accepting the change and adapting to progress they fight it. The conversation is going to happen whether any of us want it to or not. So will we participate in it and use it for good? Or will we fight it and try to limit how we connect and tell others how they should communicate?

Email opened lines of communication like never before. We could read an article on line, email the author, and they would respond. Now we can mention a favorite author or individual on Twitter and the chances of you getting that “@someone is now following you on Twitter”, is pretty high. They are listening! And they’d better be!

If you’ve read the book “Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time” by Susan Scott, you are familiar with “Our careers, companies and relationships succeed or fail, gradually then suddenly—one conversation at a time.” and “No one engages; nothing changes.” If you haven’t read the book, I recommend it!

Susan writes, “Yes, the conversation is the relationship. One conversation at a time, you are building, destroying, or flatlining your relationships. It is possible, however, to create high-intimacy, low-maintenance relationships – one relatively brief conversation at a time.”

Are you listening to the conversation?

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On Tuesday, January 5th, we woke to the alarm at 4:15am

Holy crap, what were we thinking? Last time Dave (aka @chefchopper) and I crawled out of bed that early, we were sprinting to make the redeye ferry off of San Juan Island and back to our beloved Portland. We are NOT early morning people.

We have, however, though some bizarre twist of fate, become fitness people. Granted, both of us did the sports thing in high school (and college as well, for me), but in recent years? It’s been all about short dog walks and long sprawls on our +5 Couch of Lounging. The last thing we ever expected was to become role models.

This changed in September when an opportunity to join an indoor fitness “bootcamp” landed in our laps. We’d already started taking slightly longer walks with the dog, but this… this new thing was daunting. Aerobic, even! The first workout? I think I nearly passed out three times. Second workout? Crash and burn in the break room. Third, fourth, fifth, I started to notice improvement. And by the third week, Dave started to drop pounds.

And pounds. And more pounds. As of this date, just over four months into it, he’s lost 74 pounds. (I know, it’s a guy thing…) Me? Two pants sizes. And I have this crazy thing happening called a firm core. As in stomach muscles! I haven’t had those since high school!

When Dave was 40 pounds down, I posted before and after pictures on Facebook. Our trainer immediately asked for copies and the next thing we knew, Dave was the new poster boy at the gym; up on the mighty wall of success. And rather than rest on his laurels, he kept going, sometimes even saying the craziest of things, like “I’m looking forward to exercising today,” or “I love BootCamp!” Soon he was over 60 pounds lost and looking (if I do say so myself) pretty darned good.

Which brings us to the morning of January 5th. See, our trainer managed to snag quite the deal for his business: a New Year’s Resolution fitness segment on KGW at Sunrise. The trick was to get all of us out there in the chilly pre-dawn, showing off our fit selves for Drew Carney and his camera man. And Dave – Dave had to be there because he was a featured success story.

Didn’t wake up quite so early that morning? No problem. Our exploits have been preserved for posterity on Drew Carney’s blog:

I do, however, feel compelled to point out an important behind-the-scenes fact:

Our usual workout (which burns in the neighborhood of 900 calories) lasts an hour. KGW’s crew hung out for two hours — and did we rest between each segment?

Hell, no. When you see Drew talking and all of us working out in the background, you might expect us to be thinking “Whee! We’re on the TeeeVee!” Nope. What we’re actually thinking? “Please stop talking now. We’re been at this for three minutes solid…must rest… please… for the love of God…stop… NOW!” We never knew quite when we’d be on camera for the next segment so we just kept going. And going…

I’m still in awe we made it this far, and Dave even more so. More than once he’s said to me, “If I’d known it felt this good, I would’ve done this years ago.”

Too true. I’d like to think that all it takes is getting over that initial hump of agony, but it’s not always that easy. Sometimes we have to trick ourselves. Or just push through the pain. What I do know is how we did it, and though this might not work for everyone, I figure what’s the harm in getting a little self-helpy for anyone out there with a fitness New Year’s resolution.

1. Start where you are. Six pushups is your limit? Start with six. Don’t go all Lou Ferrigno on your first day out. Dave wants to start running and I’m still working up to it after months of training. I have bad knees, so I start where I am: walking.
2. A little discipline goes a long way. We didn’t go for gimmick diets (do not get me started on those two miserable, constipated weeks on Atkins years ago… really, do NOT), and other than watching portions and cutting out a few excesses (life is too short for cheap beer), we just took the time to think about our food choices before making them. What ever you do, do not give up all your favorite foods. You’ll just want to splurge on them later.
3. The scale isn’t everything. I admit. I’m still working on this one. See, I’ve only shed about 20 pounds compared to Dave’s 74. It’s a girl thing. (Right? RIGHT?) I’m gaining muscle weight and firming up and that’s what’s important. The weight loss is a by-product of getting fit, not the other way around. I need to remind myself of this. Frequently.
4. But… but… but… I’ve already failed! No you haven’t! It’s still January, you donkey. Get back on the horse. It doesn’t matter when you start, or where. Just start somewhere sometime. It might be easier than you think. (Dave once owned the nickname Laziest Man Alive ™, and for good reason. Now look at him. Freakin’ Posterboy.)

So, who wants to share their 2010 fitness goals? Misery loves company, right? If you’re on Twitter and you want some cheering on, use the hashtag #getfit2010. We’ll be there, tweeting our aches, pains, successes, and failures for all to see. And I promise, if I start eating French fries every day and gain those 20 pounds back, I’ll tweet about that, too. But if Dave gains those 74 pounds back…nope. Not gonna happen. This isn’t a diet or a training regimen with a termination point. It’s a long term lifestyle change, and figuring that part out? That’s success.

(Editor’s note: We welcome MizD to the OurPDX family of authors! You can find her on Twitter as (wait for it…) @mizd.)

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I’m going to follow the lead of my (soon to be) great new friend Zanger!

On January 6th, I woke up and had a stark realization.

I’ve been unemployed for 16 months?

Then I went to lunch with a former colleague. Now I am employed! I’m going to step back a bit and return to recruiting. It’s been the foundation of what I have been doing for almost 20 years. Wow, another stark realization! But it has been what I’ve liked best about the past 20 years.

I’ve been navigating my employed life over the last several years with two ideas — philosophies if you will. Both quotes that I have imprinted in my brain with no recollection of who said them in order to give credit where credit is due. (If it’s you, let me know…)

“I have a job, but I am not my job.”

“It’s not your fault you have a crappy job, but it is your fault if you keep that crappy job.”

That last one stopped me and my former co-worker and dear friend Colette, dead in our tracks in 2003. Think about that for just a second or two. Ah, 2003 … dot … com …bombs. No more candy bars delivered to the office (thank you, Kozmo.com!) No lackey picking up my dry cleaning. No Agency.com. No 800.com, I’ll have to buy those electronics someplace else? No more Reach and Frequency from Elvis & Bonaparte? No more Chrome Data (well some form of that is around), or Emerald Solutions. No more CyberSight or NineDots. It was that dot com thing that started running words together — wasn’t it?

The day one of the principals of an agency who was a client of mine called to ask for a meeting, I thought here we go! The pendulum is swinging in the other direction. Yeah … no. He came in and asked if I could help him find a job. So I did. That was strike three. He was the third principal of a client in as many months that came to me asking for help finding work. Someone who normally would ask me to find them talent.

WALL … WRITING.

For some this might sound extreme. In my world, I think not so much. Hey! It is my world! Of the nine jobs that I have had in Portland, eight of them I got through my network. The one job that I applied to and got on my own was five months in the bowels of hell with the spawn of (insert reverb echo here) SATAN.

In all fairness one was a stopgap job in retail. And one was my own infamous grueling two-week dot.com adventure. Where I made more money in those two weeks than that 90-day retail job. The new job, #10, is with a former colleague.

Wait, does my alarm clock still work? I’ve been telling my friends for a few months now, that I’m going to have to find work, cause I just can’t afford to be this happy. But there seemed to be no work? And I think going online and applying to jobs is such a waste of time. This from a recruiter, someone who has for years helped others in finding work, getting work and keeping work at some of the coolest places in Portland.

So all of that history leads to this: in Portland (maybe anywhere for that matter) you are better off getting a job through your network than applying via those, yes I’m going to say it, annoying crutches they call applicant tracking systems. Yes I understand, sometimes you have so many people applying to a job that you need help sorting it. But I am on a journey to prove that if you are a proactive and engaged recruiter (answer your phone, return calls and reply to email), you will not need to sort through hundreds of resumes.

Better yet, you will not have to post a job ever again!

So I’m now shifting to focus on IT recruiting, and I’ll admit there will be ramp up time. I know where the best footwear and bag designers are, so I will have some re-acquainting and networking to do. But I challenge you to doubt that within the year my network will have expanded. I will be a force — and I will only need LinkedIn and my address book to fill open positions.

Portland is a small town. No matter how many people move here when the unemployment number rises! It will remain small and you should make it your personal mission to network yourself into your dream job with your dream company without applying online. There is a networking group for everything. And if you don’t find one that fits you, create one!

I say it can be done. But you go ahead and grumble how busy you are and how tired you are, that you’re slammed. And complain that your company just doesn’t give you the resources to do the job. Which is probably true. From my experience those who say they are “slammed” and so busy, are slammed and busy saying they are busy and slammed. You will never catch up or get your stride this way. You have to dig in deep to level off.

So there, I said it. Now beat me up. I’m ready. I also promise you that in a year, if I have not been able to do this. I will say you were right … maybe.

(jgx is another new author at OurPDX. Please welcome her!)

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I have a reputation of being somewhat critical. For example, I often see people on the highway who I think are driving like idiots. In response, I mutter to myself, call them names under my breath, and point them out to my kids as an example of how NOT to drive.

But today I was exposed to someone who is a genuine public danger: I was on I-5 northbound at around 1:00 pm, when I saw a car swerve into view in my rear view mirror, appearing there as if by magic. They quickly moved up to within 2-3 feet of my rear bumper. Mind you, this was at highway speeds.

I slowed down a bit to encourage them to stop tailgating, and after a few moments they abruptly swerved back into the left lane, where they again sat right on the bumper of the car in front of them.

Over the next minute or so, this driver abruptly changed lanes several times trying to move up through heavy traffic. These were violent lane changes that caused the car to heel over to one side, then rock back and forth on its suspension. The driver would always zoom up to within a couple of feet of the car ahead of them, and then they would dart through the next opening that was just barely big enough for their car to fit through. And this all happened at between 55-65 mph. I watched slack-jawed, absolutely convinced that I was going to see a fiery wreck happen right in front of me, but in a few minutes they had swerved through enough pockets in the traffic to zigzag their way up and out of sight.

Like I said, I often see bad drivers. But I rarely see drivers that I know should be off the road because of the danger they represent. For your own sakes, keep your eyes peeled for a dark red Isuzu SUV, Nevada license no. 363 UTP.

And in all seriousness, if you know this car and/or driver, you need to stage some kind of an intervention. Take away their keys, flatten their tires, or something. If they continue to drive the way they were driving today, they WILL kill themselves, or worse, someone else. It’s only a matter of time.

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(Consider this my introduction.)

Yesterday, I woke up and had a stark realization.

I’ve been here for 17 years.

On January 5, 1992, I drove a beat-up Chevette (is there any other kind?) into Portland from Denver. I remember it well. I actually screamed out loud when I saw the “Entering Portland” sign on I-84. I had no plan — had no idea what I was going to do but, dammit, I knew that Portland was the place for me and I was excited.

My first week here included: Tavern and Pool, Pub At The End Of The Universe (twice), The Hotcake House (at what time, I really don’t recall), Forest Park, Mount Tabor and constant hanging out on Hawthorne, where I was living at the time. The first job started a couple of weeks later. Come on, I was 22 years old and too busy having fun.

So, here we are 17 years after falling madly, deeply in love with Portland.

I now have a family and so many incredible friends here. To say it has been a blur would be an understatement. To say it has been sublime would be one as well. It’s sweet to wake up every morning and know that I live in a place where possibility is encouraged — where taking chances is appreciated. This is where you can stub your toe, maybe trip a little and have an army of people help you pick you up and shepherd you on to the next thing you believe in. The communal, entrepreneurial spirit here is unlike anything I’ve seen.

And we need it now more than ever.

As I write here, you’ll find that I’m a bit of an optimist and I think that 2010 will be something special for all of us in Portland. There are some days when it’s hard to believe — but I can feel it.

And I’m certain that I’ll wake up next year on my 18th anniversary here with just as big a smile on my face.

(Editor’s note: We’re happy to welcome Zanger to OurPDX. Happy anniversary!)

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I’ve known my friend Roger Devine for years, so I’d already be celebrating his birthday in some small way this year. But now? I can invite the rest of you to the huge party he’s now throwing himself!

Why? Roger — one of the partners involved with Tofino Auctions (the product used for the 30 Hour Day auction, among others) — is a truly stellar human being.

(Yes, he’s a friend, so I’m biased. But any one of a number of impartial sources will testify about his stellar-ness, I’m sure!) And he’s decided that he’ll don a tux & throw a party to benefit the recently displaced Marysville School instead of soliciting gifts for his own bad self.

Here, from his email earlier this morning:

This coming January 7 (it’s a Thursday) is my 44th birthday. I’d love to have you come celebrate with me!

I’m doing something a little different this year, and it’s really all Kirby’s fault. (Note: Kirby is Roger’s 11 year old son and also a stellar kid, even though he’s currently driving his parents bonkers in that pre-teen kind of way…!) After the Marysville School in SE Portland burned this past November, he suggested that my company, Tofino Auctions, donate a license to use our software to throw a benefit auction to help in the rebuilding. I agreed, got a bunch of other auction-industry vendors to agree to donate their services too, and recruited a wonderful volunteer team. It’s going to be a great event.

And it’s on my birthday. The Ambridge Events Center agreed to donate the space on 1/7 (it’s easier for them to donate a Thursday than a Friday or Saturday), and I realized that a big event with catered dinner, where I get to wear my tux – that would actually make for a pretty fun birthday party!

Plus it solves the whole gift conundrum – my request to all my friends is to purchase a ticket to the auction (they are $30, and it includes dinner) and attend to help me celebrate and help us rebuild the Marysville community. No other gifts, cards, etc. needed.

Here’s where you can go to buy your ticket:

Thanks!
Roger

I’ve already bought my own ticket. I know that I’ll see some of the usual public school supporters. And yes — you can buy a ticket yet not actually attend if you just want to give to Marysville. But I’d love to see you there as well! (Turoczy, don’t you have a tux….????)

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Whew. I’ve been to a lot of malls in the last month. Usually my goal this time of year is to avoid all shopping malls like the H1N1. I hate crowds and loud noises. I’m also not a fan of pushing, shoving, grabbing, kicking and biting — and doing all of that just to buy someone a gift tires me out something dreadful.

Of all the shopping malls on my Santa visit list, I was dreading Bridgeport Village the most. Going to Bridgeport Village always seems like such a huge undertaking. I have to drive down I-5, make sure to take just the right exit, and then drive around the sprawling Italian Villa layout in search of parking.

And let’s face it, there is just something douche-y about the place. Who builds an outdoor mall in Portland, Oregon anyway? At every other shop or so there are little bins of bright yellow loaner umbrellas that just scream, “We admit it. This was a bad idea.”

Much to my surprise, however, Bridgeport Village has far and away the best Santa experience. Hands down and without a doubt.

First of all, Bridgeport Village Santa lives in a house in the middle of Center Court. Right next to Santa’s house is a large gazebo where various artists perform holiday tunes for your enjoyment. Next to the gazebo is a caramel corn vendor and behind Santa’s house is an old timey candy shop.

Everything in Center Court is lavishly decorated with trees, garlands, boughs, twinkly lights, ornaments, ribbons and these nifty teddy bear topiaries.

Bridgeport Village is not messing around. Even better, they manage to post Santa’s hours and prices on their website. Not many shopping malls do that.

Santa was very busy with visitors and I was a little bit concerned that I would not be able to get a decent photo of him. It’s very hard to see into Santa’s house and it seemed kind of creepy to take photos of Santa and the little ones through the windows of his house.

I took the photos anyway, but I didn’t feel great about it.

I was milling around outside when Santa came out of his house for a little fresh air. I mustered up the courage to go over and talk to him. Not all Santas like being approached on their downtime and I didn’t want to piss Santa off so close to the Big Day.

I greeted Santa and asked if I could take his picture. Santa smiled and said, “I don’t know, can you?”

Hmmmm. This Santa is a bit of smart ass. I like that.

I explained to Santa that I’ve been blogging about the various local Portland shopping mall Santas and that a lot of places frown upon taking photos without a little money up front first. Santa laughed and gave me a little side-hug. We chatted for a bit and then Santa graciously posed for a photo in front of his house.

“Make sure to tell your readers that Bridgeport Village has the best Santa,” Santa kidded as he hugged me again and wished me a Merry Christmas.

And I can tell you in all honesty that Bridgeport Village really does have the best Santa. He’s warm and generous and cheerful but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I loved that about him. Some Santas get a little too caught up in the celebrity of it all, in being a Big Deal. Nothing is more annoying than someone who thinks they are a Big Deal.

So there you have it. I’m done with my Behind the Beard series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I would have liked to make it out to Mall 205 and Jantzen Beach Center – but there is this little matter of my day job. Maybe next year.

I wish I had some words of wisdom to close with, but I don’t. Instead – I’ll wrap this up with my favorite Santa photo this year. It’s my adorable little nephew and his first visit with Santa.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and wish you nothing but the best for 2010.

(Special hat tip to Barry Johnson for the Behind the Beard headline. Thanks Barry!)

Santa Out!

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If you are like me, you don’t accept change willingly. I’m still in a minor state of mourning over the loss of the Pixie Kitchen and the Organ Grinder – the two places that held the most magic for me as a child. A Motel 6 now stands where the Pixie Kitchen stood and the Organ Grinder has become a Super King Buffet. Change may be inevitable, but it isn’t always for the better.

Frankly I’m kind of glad that I had never been to the old Meier & Frank Santaland because it would just be another thing for me to talk about like a sentimental old lady.

The old Meier & Frank Santaland was in operation for some 50 years, delighting children with a kid-sized monorail that made trips around the ceiling of the 10th floor of the downtown flagship store. The monorail made its last trip in 2005 and then that portion of the building was remolded into a boutique hotel because Portland is in desperate need of more boutique hotels for its booming tourism industry. Yes, I was using sarcasm.

Meier & Frank is now Macy’s and Macy’s has brought back the Santaland. On the surface, this seems like a good thing. After all, Macy’s is somewhat synonymous with Santaland. Think Miracle on 34th Street, or the Santaland Diaries, or the big Macy’s parade in NYC where the King of the Shopping Mall Santas makes his annual televised debut. But the purists know that the new Macy’s Santaland is no match for the beloved Santaland they knew as a child and perhaps have taken their own children to.

But I guess we must live in the now and learn to love what is. That’s what all the self-help gurus are always saying anyway. We all know how solid their advice is.

Macy’s Santaland is located in the basement. There is no better way to say that. I guess they figure the children won’t notice the low ceilings.

Once you get over the basement factor, Santaland itself is delightful. They make good use of some of the old Meier & Frank animatronics giving the place a very chic vintage feel. It’s very very pretty and I can imagine that the little kids will just love it.

I can’t tell you much about the Santa himself. The posted signs make it VERY clear that you are not to take a photo of Santa unless you have paid for a photo of Santa. You can’t even get a very good look at Santa unless you are in the photo line because he is tucked away in a small, windowless, low-ceilinged corner – far away from the casual passerby.

I did manage to sneak over to the SantaCubicle for a quick up-close glimpse. Santa was by himself and he looked miserable. Much like the modern day employees of large corporations, I don’t think Santa likes being in such a tightly controlled environment. Santa is there for the enjoyment of paying customers only, not any enjoyment of his own.

But that’s progress for you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch Judy Garland sing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas while Tootie cries in Meet Me in St. Louis. Christmas nostalgia doesn’t get any better than that.

And if you still find yourself longing for the old Meier & Frank Santaland – you can still visit their website.

Next up – Bridgeport Village Santa
Previous Santas – Pioneer Place, Washington Square, Lloyd Center, Clackamas Town Center

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