The Goodness Collective

Hei Fra Norge

2011-02-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

halo all,
I'm off to race tomorrow!
My stay in Norway has been fantastic, especially since I've recovered from the jet lag. My new dog team is so strong and enthusiastic, 400k should be easy for them. We've only done 3 real training runs but these guys are so much like mine plus there are only 8 of them so I've had no problem bonding with them.
The people have been fun to work with. Ketil, who owns the dogs I'm working with has been successfully running a sled dog tour operation/ racing kennel with his wife, Anguyak, for over 20 years. He has strong, fast happy dogs, really good handlers and a crazy training/ tour trail.
Anyway, we've spent the past few days preparing for four teams. Ketil and Nicolai, from Russia, started the 12 dog, 600k today. I got to spend some time exploring Røros, with the other handlers, this afternoon. Jon and I start the 400k tomorrow afternoon but we have to be there early so I anticipate a long morning followed by a fast weekend. Ketil wants us resting a lot so I'm not sure how we'll end up in the standings.
Wish us luck! I'll be done Monday!
Rachael
p.s. the website is http://www.femundlopet.no/

The 15th Annual Day Before Thanksgiving semi Potluck

2010-11-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

Anybody reading this post, consider this your invitation to the 15th Annual Day Before Thanksgiving Semi-Potluck at my home in the middle of the Badlands.
I realize that on thanksgiving day most people want to be with their families so I make dinner the day before and invite everyone that is dear to me.
Wednesday, November 24th dinner will start around 5ish but come out any time you want. the dogs would love to meet new people and I would love company while I cook.
Bring whatever you feel compelled to bring, a dish, a drink, an instrument, a friend, your shining personality, whatever you think will add to the evening.
Many of you know how to get out here many of you do not. For directions you can reach me at 480.8381 or 323.6947
I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it and will miss the rest of you.

Blessings,
Rachael

2010-10-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hello who ever is out there? Bendites? Portlanders? Travelers?

Every once and a while I like to check this blog to look back on past posts and just to see if in the off chance anyone else has posted recently.

I am currently in Northern Peru where I have been for the last 4 months. I am living in a small rural village working with youth, I have been teaching classes and working on projects related to health education. Please check out these videos for more details.

My current plan is to head back to the Portland area in December.

I would love to get updates from anyone and everyone who might be reading this. Shoot me an email or post on this site (brjabe@gmail.com).

Keep spreading the Goodness,
Brent Bellamy

2010-03-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! We have been sitting in this coffee shop in Guerrero Negro for a couple hours now, coffee buzzed, and decided to check out this blog that neither of us have looked at in so long. It brought back many fond memories. We hope you all are doing well and loving life. As for us, we certainly are... we are off to the ocean! Once again. Take care and much love!

2010-02-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to video blog this week. I discuss my journey with an “environmental vigilante”, named Don Pedro. He took me on a bike tour to his brother’s farm in the hills. Thereafter we climbed a mountain to get footage of the surrounding Juanacatlán municipality. I also talk about my internal struggle in working with a community exposed to intense pollution.

It was an incredible, powerful week!

I look forward to your feedback.

-Steve

Deodorant

2010-01-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

I've decided to make the leap:

I look forward to your support!

From Bali to Bend to Guadalajara, Mexico...

2010-01-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Goodness Collective!
Here's my belated update....enjoy!

After Cambodia, I spent 2 weeks in Bali before catching my return flight to the U.S. Thank you Felice for opening your home to me!

And so it was that I arrived to Bend, Oregon from Southeast Asia...

It was glorious to be among my dearest friends again:

It was lovely to arrive in time to be a part of the dance-off at MYC! Thanks Bri for the shirt and eyeliner!

Ashley Stone....oh, Ashley Stone. How I love you!

Trav and I reunited after our incredible Bali renedevouz. And he has my flask!

Adapting to Scarcity Fundraiser

Ashley Stone totally helped me with this poster, and Emily suggested the fabulous Lime green.

Lilli and Stacy rockin' it at the event!

Bri and Steve Poole! Stevo and I are self proclaimed twins.

Mikee was an incredible support! He worked raffle tickets like nobody's business.

Emily buying raffle tickets!

I recommend Bri as MC anytime, anywhere!

MOsely WOtta...doing a powerful reading!

Jenni Peskin, out for the A2S event after a year of no public performances...

She played a feisty and wonderful set.

Vasudeva performed through the second half of the event. And their rhythm went straight to my heart.

Two weeks later found me in Guadalajara, Mexico. I joined the Adapting to Scarcity Media Project and am the coordinator of both interviews and community outreach. I'll be focusing specifically in Juanacátlan, a community living along one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The pollution is so intense that we'll be wearing gas masks to film river footage. I could hardly handle crossing the bridge.

I'll likely be spending a few days a week there. Sarah will come out to perform interviews with me and Arthur will join both of us to do the flip camera/social media workshops.

My lovely little room.

My view from the veranda outside of my room.

Sarah and Arthur, checking on my unpacking progress...

And of course my traveling gnome that Ashley Stone gave me for Christmas.

Stay tuned! And write me if you're interested in being on my blogpost notification list: stevelfisher@gmail.com

For more detailed info check out my latest post and bio on the A2S site: http://www.adaptingtoscarcity.com/lang/en/index.php/2010/01/11/a2s-keeps-growing-steveo-is-here/#more-1115

This clip is my intro (using the low def. flip cams) to our collaborators, the popular education org called IMDEC (Mexican Institute for Community Development):

Much love to the GC community and especially to those traveling the world right now!

Adapting To Scarcity Fundraiser for Steve!

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

A glimpse into the past 5 months

2009-10-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Goodness Collective community

I realize that its been quite a while since my last post.

From Bali I eventually made my way to East Bali. Spun some fire with Mike and Tam...it was great to spend time with them! Mikee and I had an extraordinary day exploring Bali on our sweet scooters! His was a fabulous pink,and mine was not orange. Oh well.

I left Mike, Tam, Trav and Merrlie in Pemutaran Bali and headed on to Java.
Java is an intense, heavily populated island. However, I had some great experiences there.

This is Mt. Bromo:

And a Buddhist temple at the base of Bromo, clearly an active volcano. All of this in a predominantly Muslim country.

One morning I woke up and decided I was leaving for Sumatra. I went on a mission to find a cheap flight. For unknown reasons I decided to also check tickets to Vietnam which was my next destination after Indonesia. Tickets to Vietnam were even cheaper than to Sumatra. For a budget hound like myself, that was a serious dilemma. And I was only going to Sumatra to keep moving. I decided to go have lunch and think about it. Upon arrival at the restaurant I met a girl who, after 10 minutes of conversation invited me to do a three day scooter trip with her to see an incredible Buddhist temple:

and climb the most active volcano in Indonesia (it erupts every 7 years). She was leaving in an hour. So I had lunch, packed up, rented a scooter and was ready before she was. its in my top five experiences do far on this trip.

I never actually went to Vietnam. I flew to Bangkok instead where I encountered this sign:

and then on to Cambodia.

I was stoked to arrive here! The people were so engaging. I made some fabulous friends.

and ate some tasty duck fetuses.

Of course I went to see Angkor Wat.

But mostly, I was interested in finding a place to engage, and be a part of something. I did a bit of research in Indonesia and I found nothing that aligned well with my interests.

Cambodia was different. A week into my stay I found the Self Help Community Center (www.shcccambodia.org), and the wonderful village of Kra Bie Riel.

For the most part of that first month I stayed in the village with the director's family. It was beautiful time. No electricity, so for the first time in years I was going to bed consistently at 9:00 and waking up between 6:30-7:00. The latter only occurred as a direct result of at least five resident roosters who got started around 4:30 am and went on until 7:00 am. Every day held some sort of new experience. There was always a celebration to go to, a potluck at the community center or a festival at the pagoda. And if nothing else, some nights I would go down to the market and hang with a few locals, drinking rice wine and I would try to decipher their conversations.

While in the village I plowed a rice field.

Hung out with some talented basket weavers.

Ate good food!

Slept here:

---
Between then and now: I took a break from this blog post and walked down the street. I received a phone call from a Cambodian friend. He told me to meet him in 5 minutes just down the road. So I did, we sped off to a restaurant where a few government officials were hanging out. Fortunately I'd been briefed on appropriate Khmer behavior around officials. The one next to me was the prime ministers personal body guard. We had some chit chat in Khmer...and got along nicely. Before I left he promised me the full protection of the Cambodian government no matter what I got myself into.
---

I love lounging in my village neighbor's extremely comfy chair.

Community Center potlucks!

Seriously, these kids can cook! Spring rolls filled with mint, beef, flowers and beansprouts, meat stuffed omelets dipped in a fabulous peanut sauce, and raw minced fish with handfuls of ants chopped into the mix:

Rice wine (equivalent of moonshine)

Played some Wagon Wheel:

Recruited volunteers (Filipio from Italy)

Had fresh coconuts (30 seconds after I started climbing one coconut tree they politely begged me to come back down. Another astonishingly capable gentleman climbed the tree in less than a minute and retrieved the goods) :

After a month of that, it was time to go do a visa run. I decided to go to Laos.

So they threw me a "Steele(they can't pronounce the v) Tao(goes to) Laos" party.

A police officer stopped by for a few shots. But only after he was forcefully dragged into the group (ultimately he seemed ok with the idea):

The party was complete with a volunteer dj:

We danced a bit (I played it cool...there were alot of older conservative folks there)

And later on they brought in a five gallon bucket to give rhythm to some Khmer classics.

And then there was Laos.

The Mekhong was soothing and glorious!

I worked in a bar for a week.

Climbed some mountains and meditated.

Saw beautiful Buddha statues

Ate great food (this meal of fresh fish and sticky rice satiated myself and a friend ,$2 total)

Had a great bike ride!

There were U.S. bomb shells everywhere. They used them for decorations around their yard, they sold them for scrap metal, and placed Buddhas on them.

Tried a few bamboos grubs.

And then went back to Cambodia.

It was good to be back on my bike, riding the 40 minutes to and from the village.

An English teacher at the Self Help Community Center

Lunch at a friend's house in the village.

Some wonderful volunteers from Scotland. They're going to get a coconut tree.

And so here I am. I love the Self Help Community Center (www.shcccambodia.org). Their organic garden is extraordinary, the organization is amazing and their staff are rad. They give free education to over 600 children and live on incredibly low salaries. Their dedication is amazing. The director's goal is to help bring his community together and give them a chance to rise out of their current poverty. He also plans to have the cleanest village in the district, and he is well on his way.

My title is Volunteer Coordinator. I basically recruit/screen potential volunteers from the nearby city of Siem Reap. I also give them a bit of an orientation about the school and then upon their arrival I help coordinate what activities they will be a part of. There was a definite need for someone to fill this position. I have found that volunteers are often unaware of how disruptive they are. Unfortunately there is a mentality prevalent among travelers of going into rural villages, taking closeup shots of locals and objectifying the residents. This is sometimes hailed as "getting off the beaten track". Many volunteers do not realize that they do the same with the children studying at the SHCC. This is where I come in. It my job to keep disruptions to a minimum and entertain visitors that would otherwise take upwards of 6 hours out of the director's day.

I now live in the city in a small apartment room sporting a bed (with royal pink sheets), an indoor squat toilet and a large barrel from which I take my bucket bathes. The director, a great friend, shares the room with me (rent is $40 a month).

My days consist of waking up around 8:00, going out to a soup shop and having breakfast (I miss omelets and cheese, especially cheese!). I then hop on my bike and run a few errands before making the 40 minute ride to the village. My ride is generally amazing. There are two deep fried, battered banana stands on my route and rarely do I pass without purchasing one. The women know me well at this point and seem quite surprised on the rare occasion that I pass-up their stands. Also, there are almost always groups of students riding back to the village from morning classes, and my Khmer has improved to point where we can discuss their learning, talk about whether or not they've eaten already (as common as saying hello), and asking them where they're going. I arrive at the school and usually go over to hang out with my host family. Lunch is served soon after and depending on the scheduled volunteers for the day, I will have a nap in the hammock.
My afternoons are always busy with some new project that is happening at the school, as well as entertaining visitors and sometimes doing manual labor.

Email me if you want to know more. Seriously. They can use all the help they can get.

I love it here! I love the people, it feels like home. I can go anywhere in the village and I have friends. The food is glorious and the rice wine flows like a river. Life is rich!

A few of my highlights have been: going to the largest religious structure in the world, Angkor Wat, with 30 students and 6 amazing volunteers (packed in the back of a truck), the rowing team practice runs at the pagoda (Water Festival this weekend), speaking Khmer to anyone who will listen to me, my bike rides, having a beer with volunteers, a sunset stroll through the village to the surrounding rice paddies with the director, playing Wagon Wheel for an enraptured crowd of kids, and the list continues.

I'll be here for another month before I jet back to Bali to enjoy two weeks lounging and winding down. There after I'll make a month-long stop over in the U.S.

Up next, I'm headed to Mexico to work with IMDEC and Adapting to Scarcity (www.adaptingtoscarcity.com) to make a documentary film on the political and environmental issues around water scarcity. I'll leave January 6th.

I plan to do a fundraiser for my trip in Bend. If any of you want to help me organize it or have any suggestions please let me know!

I hope to spend quite a bit of time in Bend so hopefully I'll see some of you. I miss the Silver Moon. I miss my friends. I miss people who have known me for a few years. I look forward to being with my community again.

A shout-out to GC travelers all around the world.

Much Love to you all from Cambodia,

Steve(o)

Oh by the way, due to extreme impracticality, I finally cut my hair.

Goodness in Canada

2009-09-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hello my GC friends,

I've been meaning to update y'all for some time and now here I am at a starbucks in Ft S.t John BC, enjoying my first latte in I don't know how long; the boys have gone to the mall and I finally have the computer to myself.

For starters, we were supposed to start this thing back in June but we had to wait more than two months to import what Diego assured me was, "the best (support) vehicle in the world" from the UK. When the vehicle finally arrived I thought it was running funny. Two days into Canada we crested a hill in what seemed like the middle of nowhere and the stupid thing died.

One nice thing about Canada, is that people will always stop to help if you are in trouble. A couple, returning from their vacation in Alaska took Diego in their car full of luggage to an Indian reserve of no more than 100 inhabitants called Iskut. They took Diego to a small store and to our luck he met Jules, a heavy machinery transporter that works for the local mining companies. He pulled off the road put us up in his camper trailer for the night. Now this was my 9th time making this drive and the first time I had ever heard of Iskut, that is how I figured out that we were traveling on the wrong road. The previous night, Diego, trusting his GPS, programmed to the fastest route to Anchorage, took the Cassiar Highway which ultimately saves about 100 miles of traveling but it is a dangerous, narrow and desolate road.

After studying the situation, discussing options and considering where we were, it was obvious that we had no choice but to have the vehicle towed 300 miles North to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. We stayed with Jules for one more night and were off to Watson Lake by the next afternoon.

There were no hotel rooms available in Watson Lake so we slept in the car and trailer outside the mechanic's shop. First thing in the morning, the mechanic examined the vehicle and determined that the fuel filters were too small and that somewhere we had purchased, very low quality, high cost diesel complete with twigs, rocks and insects. The solution was to replace the filters and this time, make sure they actually fit. He ordered the right filter which was 300 miles away, in Whitehorse. When Diego went to the bus station to pick up the part, he was told that the driver did not load the filter and it would not arrive until Monday (this was Friday). Pat, the owner of the shop, lent us his personal truck, to go into Whitehorse and get the part ourselves.

We arrived in Whitehorse at 3am. We slept for 4 hours in a pricey hotel which I have to say was a pleasant change from sharing the back seat with Angel- I had never realized just how big she really is. In the morning we learned that there had been a misunderstanding and the part was, in fact, back in Watson Lake.

After that ordeal we finally got the vehicle to the point where we could at least reach Anchorage,. We crawled up at 30-45mph and spent the next few days looking for parts and a mechanic to work on this engine that is rare on this side of the world. On the positive side, I did get to see some old friends and explore downtown Anchorage more than I have ever had the chance to do before. When we had enough confidence in the truck to at least get us out of Alaska, we started riding at Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla.

We found some great camp sites on the way to the border but we never broke out the tents until we were well into Canada as it never seemed to be worth the effort. Most nights Angel and I slept in the back of the car or, "the nest" while Diego and Ernesto took the trailer. The night we decided to really camp, we were right on the edge of Marsh Lake and the Northern lights were out, it was amazing. Angel and I took the girls' tent, I did laundry and made dinner almost entirely from cans.

Our car troubles have not ended. the day after we crossed into Canada our trailer hitch broke which cost us a day and a few days later the best car in the world died again. It is sitting back in Watson Lake as we...um...speak. this time we have determined that the fuel injectors need to be replaced. We ordered new injectors from Argentina and rented a u-haul from Pat so that we could keep riding.

Our first night out of Watson Lake we saw 3 baby black bears near or on the road. After number 3 we called it a night. The next day we rode through 3 herds of buffalo. I have driven through many herds of buffalo, of course but never have I been so close to so many, it was incredible.

There is a wonderful hot springs halfway between Watson Lake and fort Nelson called Liard. We arrived there much earlier than I'd anticipated so we decided to just get in and out, no more than 20 minutes. Of course temptation got the best of us and what was supposed to be a twenty minute dip turned into a two-hour soak. I was only confronted about having Angel by the hot springs once, I told them she was a service dog which is not entirely untrue.

The ride into Fort Nelson was TOUGH with long steep hills, rain and a strong headwind. but we made it. We stayed with my friend, Buddy Streeper, the world sled dog sprint champion. I was able to get a sled dog/ puppy fix and the boys were able to play on their computers so everybody won. I also got to drive a golf cart and scare the heck out of the boys.

The terrain has eased up on us a bit, the hills aren't very steep anymore but as many of you who have driven the AlCan know, they never seem to end but that's ok. I can ride these gradual hills forever, I'm just glad the steep hills are behind us, for now. I hope we can stay ahead of the weather which, until yesterday had been fairly mild; we've had a little sun, a little rain, a lot of wind but nothing too serious however, Buddy said some big storms were moving in up North and yesterday morning we rode through 30 miles of freezing rain and I have a feeling it's going to stay with us for a few days. We'll see... Does any one want to join us now?

Hope all is well, much love

~Rachael

Goodness Abroad

2009-09-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow GC’ers from all around the globe,

I just had a sweet Goodness Collective connection in Lima, Peru. Cassie and I recently flew down to South America and met up with Amanda for a couple of days. We are now working our way to Sucre, Bolivia and will be studying Spanish for a while.

Check out my blog at:

brent-wander.blogspot.com

Be Well,

Brent

Good work for goodness sake

2009-08-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,
I recently got word of a short work opportunity that I though would be of interest to some, if not many of the people that share the goodness collective connection. A friend Valerie from Portland will be leading a group of Waldorf highs chool students on a backpacking/wilderness trip. She is looking for a co-leader for the week-long trip in September. Below is her description and contact info. Hope this lands on happy ears.
blessings,
Aaron

As part of our high school curriculum (Portland Waldorf School), we take each grade (9th-12th) on an outdoor experience for a week of school. The goals of our wilderness curriculum and field experience are to:

1) help students explore the ecological/economic implications of our use of natural resources and examine whether these pathways are healthy and sustainable,
2) Engender in students a sense of responsibility toward our natural resources,
3) help students gain an appreciation of the nature of reciprocity - i.e. how we affect the natural world and how it affects us,
4) Give students tools with which they can examine physical phenomena and
5) Provide opportunities for students to engage in self-reflection through the experience of nature.

Each grade, 9th-12th, has one week of class each year where they have a Wilderness Education program. In 9th grade students focus on wilderness survival skills: fire-building, shelter building, knots, cordage, along with other primitive skills. In 10th grade, students have a general introduction to Naturalist practices, focusing primarily on animals through tracking and bird language. They also do orienteering and sense of place/awareness work in this program. In 11th grade, students go on a backpacking trip where the focus is mostly on plants and habitats as a culmination of their Botany block and learning how to travel on foot. Students learn basic backpacking skills, along with leave-no-trace ethics and practices, food preparation & planning, and creating nature journals. In 12th grade, as the culmination of the program, students participate in a 24 or 48 wilderness solo experience.

I am looking for another lead guide to help me with the 9th grade trip this fall (Sept. 21-25). Preferable, I am looking for a male to balance out the teaching energy, and someone who has strong hard-skills in our craft and survival work, and who truly loves to teach, specifically working with adolescents. The specific and final curriculum will be decided based on the leaders collaborative skills and interest. Generally we focus on bowdrill fires, debri shelters, cordage, and begin other awareness and survival practices.

To learn more about our school and our education philosophy in general, you can check out our website: www.portlandwaldorfschool.org

If you have anyone who you would recommend as a good fit, please have them give me a call: 828.713.1965
My cell will be best, as I am away the next two weeks without anticipated email access.

my next adventue...

2009-08-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

After finishing last year's Iditarod- I was 45th by the way and it was very cold- I was so excited to get back up to Alaska and see what my dogs and I could do the following year. There were a lot of factors to consider and I wasn't sure how I would get back up there. In May I got may answer. I was presented with the opportunity to partake in an adventure that is, for lack of a better word, crazy (even by my standards). I am going to Alaska but not for dog mushing. I am tandem cycling from Anchorage to Cancun.

The goals of this expedition will be to raise awareness for global warming and to raise money for unicef. Good stuff.

The best part is that while I won’t be sled dog racing I will have my leader, Angel with me. She will be in a pet carrier, attached to the bike. So for the first time in her life, I shall be pulling her around!

We should start next week.

Of course I will keep you posted as we go. And if anyone would like to join us, riding in the support vehicle, riding your own bike or both, don't hesitate.

I love you all and miss you tons.

~Rachael

People/trance festival/Kuala Lumpur/goodbyes

2009-08-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'll be home not too long from now, in a month. I leave Bali in a few days to go be a photographer in Darwin Australia for a music/arts festival (in exchange for tickets of course). I'll be there 2 weeks and then back to Bali for another 2 weeks, returning to Oregon September 12 or so.

I'm looking forward to getting home. Parts of my community here are solid, but many are moving on right now. People come and go in waves here.

Uneasonably beautiful Bali.

n
Filled with unreasonably beautiful people.

Doing unreasonably wonderful things.

This is Bex, from Scotland, who is living with me for awhile at the Villa. She's a yoga and scuba instructor (not at the same time) as well as an excellent writer and a good friend.

Rob and Kavi. Rob and his partner Rachel own a beautiful piece of property that is slowly becoming permacultured. It slopes from a big house with rotating tenants to a river that is swimable and muddy.

Ubud street scene.

Alright, so I went to a trance festival. The Mayan Day Out of Time inspires these kinds of things all over the world apparently and it was supposed to draw quite a lot of people.

About 30 were there the night I went, 10 of whom were our group and we were mostly asleep by 11pm, but the music went on as we camped under the stars.

Upon arrival we watched the sun set behind Agung as Zack and Sam played thumb pianos.

Quiet time at the festival.

It was in the east of Bali, on the coast, maybe 2 hours drive away by motorbike. I went with Bex, Holger, and Brita on two bikes.

It was on the coast and swimming with everyone in the morning was one of the best parts. The water is warm and buoyant.

Zack on the Mbira, or Zimbabwean thumb piano.

Agung, from the east, in the morning, Bali's spiritual epicenter.

While many of us didn't exactly "trance", we occupied ourselves happily as the music thumpity-thumped. Atom and Allana doing acroyoga.

Allana is a remarkable hooper and photographer.

Holger, from Germany, is also staying with me right now.

Here I am wrestling with a yoga hammock. A sweet contraption, I think I'll bring one home!

Putu, daughter of the owners of a warung Bex and I stopped at in Candidasa. Obviously enjoys posing.

I think this dragon looks like it belongs on the Simpsons.

Stephen from New Zealand, telling me about Mayan calendars, red dragons, hemp seeds, solar flares, cerebral circuitry and similar common topics of conversation

Brita, from Germany, who stayed with me for awhile and just returned home yesterday. she teaches sports to kids and was a terrific acroyoga partner.

Bex, making malas for a yoga retreat.

I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to renew my Indonesian Visa. I figured I may as well take a couple of days to explore the city since I had to go anyway. I loved it! I stayed in a cheap place near delicious Indian curry houses and I walked circles for hours and hours.

Jay here, from England was my first encounter and regailed me with tales of scams and adventures from California to down the road in KL.

Detail of the Petronas Towers.

Street scene in KL.

As I sat in a park for 2 hours enjoying the comings and goings of thousands of visitors to Kuala Lumpur, I watched at least 20 people do this. Someone is photographing her so it looks like she's holding up the Petronas Towers. A necessary cheesy photo for most.

Other tower-holders included Indians in brilliant silk, a Buddhist monk, and Muslims covered in full-body black shrouds.

The famous Petronas Towers, twins that light up KL each night, the tallest buildings in the world before 2003. 1400 tickets are given out every day to go up them and they're gone by 10am.

They really are beautiful, as I acclimated to tall buildings once again.

I think I remember Sean Connery climbing this skybridge in a movie once.

In Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur. Zoom in and tell me this guy doesn't look like an older, Chinese Obama.

At the National History Museum. I spent a whole day in KL exploring the museums...worth doing for anyone if you have a layover or time to spend in Malaysia. There is a series of museums within a kilometer of each other on the west end of the city and they all are very well done. This is a 200-year-old Koran.

At the national planetarium. Malaysia is very obviously proud of their two Malay astronauts who were sent to the space station a few years ago. A quarter of the building was dedicated to them, including spacesuits, engines, videos of their training, and photos of their childhood homes.

Back in Bali:

The state of the garden at the villa: the herbs are delicious, the pumpkins and sweet potatoes are growing faster than I can trellice them, the tomatoes are starting to fruit, and there is a newly planted orange tree in the center. I hope to harvest some things before I leave next month.

Sam, in the permaculture center garden, with one of the first cucumbers of the crop!

Today I said goodbye to a few friends leaving Bali; we had a potluck a couple of nights ago. Jo left this afternoon, back to Holland. She's been an acroyoga partner and a big potluck fan.

Hernan (middle) is leaving as well, in the direction of India. The couple, Nacho and Belinda are Spanish, on holiday and have put out an invitation to their beautiful-sounding island home in the Mediterranean...hmmm...

Love to everyone! See you all soon--

--Trav--

I made it!

2009-07-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

The trip went well, with the exception of the uncomfortable concrete floors of the Taipei airport. I slept there during my 12 hour nighttime layover. I still have a partial belt of mosquito bites around my waist (I failed to tuck my shirt in).

Nonetheless, I am here in Bali and its beautiful! Trav is an extraordinary guide, and scooter driver. Until yesterday we were riding three on the scoot. Me, Trav and Kacy, (who is leaving today) I'll miss her fabulous puns...of course, there's always Trav to fall back on.

We now have our own scooters.

Trav's gardening project at the villa.

Much love to all, traveling and at home!

Vietnam

2009-06-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

First, one for Steve, who will be arriving in a couple of days! Orange on orange!

(note the intense bambgoo scaffolding on the construction site in the background).

I have to leave and reenter Indonesia every 60 days or so for my visa, so I chose to go to Vietnam last month to visit my friend Elisa (from Evergreen). She was working on a research project involving Agent Orange, dioxins, and the state of things these days. I slept in the Kuala Lumpur airport on a layover.

This is where I slept, on the grass. My yardmates were Israeli and Polish.

If anyone ever needs an overnight layover in Malaysia, I highly recommend the KL airport. It's the best hostel in town! There must have been 300 of us overnighters milling about all night, from every corner of the world, sharing benches, yards, and alcoves.

I arrived in Saigon and went to the train station to buy a 12-hour trainride north to Hue, where Elisa was. I had to take a number for the line to buy tickets. I was number 390. "Now serving #290..."

I've always wanted to travel by overnight train! I've had my fill. Not a souls on the train that I met spoke English and Vietnamese is not a language you learn in a few days (tonal).

This was one of my bunkmates, an obnoxious boy who had no qualms about crawling all over, yelling, slamming the door, and periodically staring at me for 20-minute spells. He looks cute in a still photo doesn't he?

Upon arrival in Hue I went to the Hotel where Elisa was. I got a 4th floor room. My balcony overlooked the public pool. The pool played dance hall remixes from about 6am to 10pm every day. I awoke some mornings to "Who let the dogs out?!" Thumpety thumpety thumpety thump...

Hue is the old imperial city, in the middle of Vietnam. It is near the demilitarized zone, the dividing line between the conflicting regions during the War. It was hit hard, but much of the amazing architecture and relics still stand, plus a few War artifacts.

Elisa introduced me to Nyoc Mia. Sugarcane juice! These women have stands all over Hue and for about $0.50 switch on their machine and press sugarcane through it with a little lime or orange. By the end of my week in Hue I was up to 3 or 4 glasses a day. Oh, so refeshing.

Elisa and I at a Pagoda.

In the old imperial city, a semi-preserved section of Hue where the old dynasties sat, these big frog things are scattered about. I don't know their purpose, but they seem to have successfully bred themselves all over the grounds.

This is Tia, one of the workers at the hotel where Elisa and I stayed. She took a liking to both of us and one day she and her friend put us on their motorbikes and gave us a great little tour of the nearby pagodas and such. We all went to dinner and they showed us "how" to eat Vietnamese food (which is incredible...but confusing).

Elisa on the roof next to our hotel balcony; sunset over Hue. Hard to believe if I'd been born a few decades earlier I might have been dropping bombs here.

Chnese remnants in the imperial city.

It looks like a chicken, but it's a giant foam-and-metal phoenix. It's getting overgrown, but two years ago Australian and Vietnamese artists created this 20-foot tall bird and a matching dragon for a parade.

Tia and I, saying goodbye and the ubiquitous victory "V".

Her friend (whose name escapes me right now). She's so short that we could get a good framing for the photo.

Elisa and I bussed to Hoi An, east and south of Hue, near Da Nang. We rented a motorbike at left at 5am the next morning to fing the Myson ruins. We buzzed through a trickle of rain that became real rain and got drenched, but the moistness enriched the moss on these ruins.

The ruins were well preserved until the 60's, when Viet Cong used them to hide out in. So they were bombed. Craters are all around, overgrown, and unexploded mines are in the area still.

Some artifacts have been collected by anthropologists and housed in one of the better structures there. It was quiet and misty as we strolled around.

Sanskrit? Some of these obelisks are incredibly legible (if only I could read the language).

Still at Myson ruins, a rich path through the woods.

Then back to Saigon for a day befor I flew back to Bali! I bought an instrument called a Dan Nguyet, which means "moon instrument." It sounds beautiful and looks a bit like a 2 stringed banjo. This is the girl that sold it to me after I spent 3 hours playing every instrument I could.

Kacy leaves in a week, Steve gets here in 2 days and Mike and Tam are here in a week! We've been getting our hands in the dirt and learning acro yoga and permaculture. Potlucks and portraits are sure to come soon!

--Trav--

San Juans Bike Trip

2009-06-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Amanda and I have just returned from a week and a half bike trip on the islands. It was a wonderful trip! My buns are quite toned.

My favorite spot: Spencer Spit on Lopez.

This was our base on a sweet organic farm on the San Juans that Amanda had previously worked on.

A marimba band at a wonderful potluck at another organic farm "Sweet Earth"

Cruisin'

I don't know where this is.

Our base for four days at Spencer Spit

Amanda on the road!

I harvested the clams from the beach that morning, the berries were from the side of the road, the peas from a work trade on a local farm.

One of the views at Spencer Spit on Lopez Island.

Relaxing after a day of biking some serious hills.

It was a glorious trip and a wonderful way to wrap up my time in the US before I jet off to Bali!

I would stand with you on a mountain...I would swim with you in the sea...

2009-06-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Here's some photos and faces of my time in Bali. This is the last two weeks; I'm working backwards through my photos and will try to get some of my trip to Vietnam and before that up soon.

Highlights of the last two weeks: we climbed Gunung Agung...we rafted the Ayung river...Kacy and I got certified to dive...I saw my first trance dance in a village in the north...lots of good food and people.

Kacy's here! It's wonderful to have her to share all of this with. I returned from Vietnam on the 1st and she arrived the next day.

Sunrise on Gunung Agung, Bali's highest peak and spiritual epicenter. Most things on Bali are oriented towards this peak, where the Gods like to hang out.

See the pyramid-shape? That's the shadow of Agung, taken from the top, stretching into the clouds in the west.

We slept in the temple at the base and performed a ceremony to ask permission to climb and well-being for all of the climbers.

At the top, finally...Agung is reported at 3400 meters and we started the climb at 900. Nobody told us how hard it actually would be and that we'd be scaling rocks on the top third. We started at 1:30am and got back down around noon, though we expected a 6-7 hour round-trip.

A set of offerings at the top of Agung.

Hayley, one of the four of us that made it to the top of Agung.

Tsiping; he was staying with our friends, Made and Jepun and wanted to join us on our climb of Agung. His family is from Taiwan, but he grew up in Paris. An all around good guy and a good photographer too. I hope to keep in touch with him.

Nyoman, a guide on Gunung Agung. He scaled the rock faces in flip-flops, carrying his water in a plastic grocery bag.

John and Alice, two Australians who I met halfway up Gunung Agung. Our party of seven split in half when some decided to go back down the mountain part-way. I stayed with them for a bit, then ran to catch up with everyone else. I met these two and a guide and continued up to the top with them.

Nina, from Australia. She's part of our weekly trivia team at the Fly Cafe in Ubud; her and her husband, Phil were introduced to me by Felice and Bruce.

This is Putu, our friend Legut's son, at the villa to play in the pool.

Felice likes to have wax sucked out of her head.

Felice, post-ear-candling, at the villa.

Kacy Spooner, also with clean ears, listening to the sounds of the birds singing and the rice growing.

Romance: Mango juice and papaya juice, a near-daily interaction with Kacy and I.

This is Wishnu, the son of the owner of the place we stayed in Pemuteran. He saw Kacy and I playing Dutch Blitz and asked to jump in. I know a few colors and numbers in Indonesian, so was able to explain it to him, and we went several rounds. But the end, not only was he able to play, but I caught him trying to cheat!

Kacy getting certified to dive in Pemuteran!

Luc and Keri, from Switzerland, in Pemuteran on a project top document frowth rates of coral within the BioRock project. They went snorkeling with us and gave us a fun little tour of the coral.

Nick and Suzy, from England, in Pemuteran doing a research project on sustainable tourism. Kacy and I were the first to complete their survey on the BioRock project.

Jessica and Greg, whom we met while getting dive certified in Pemuteran; from Vancouver, Canada.

Hayley, from England, here in Bali doing acro-yoga and enjoying life.

The beginning of a good day: a morning game of chess with a pineapple juice and a fresh coconut, which led into more chess over lunch and over martinis in the evening.

A young monkey in the Monkey Forest. I wish I had feet like them; a bigger one took Kacy's bottle of water from her, easily unscrewed the cap and held it up to drink out of it. He left it crumpled and ripped the label off, then cast it away and wandered off. Monkeys aren't eco-concious.

Monkey wrestling in Ubud's Sacred Monkey Forest. There are a lot of young ones tight now and they're super playful.

That's it for now! I'll try to get other updates and photos from Vietnam up soon. Love you all--

--Trav--

Saya jalan-jalan.

2009-05-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Selemat Sore!
So I, um...bought a digital camera. And I have a cell phone. A pink one. And a motorbike.
It took going to the other side of our beautiful planet to get these items, but I'll admit they're handy! I've been on foot until this point, which usually meant leaving my place early to walk the 3km into Ubud to get there before the sun got too intense, then hiding out in a series of cafes and such during the heat of the day, to walk back home in the late afternoon or evening.

But it's a gorgous walk and a lovely place. I've spent most of my time in Singakerta, near Ubud. I've gone up to Pemuteran once, where I'll return in a few weeks to get dive certified with Kacy and help out on a rather experimental coral reef restoration project (http://www.biorock.net/).

This morning I got up at 2:30 AM to hike a volcano. It was a 1 hour drive and we started going up about 4AM, to get to a viewpoint for sunrise. We were done by 9:30AM and I've spent the rest of the day getting home through a series of stops at fruit stands, bookstores, and food stalls.

I also hope to visit/work on a farm in the mountains that I get cacao from. I'm going to try and get there this week.

On the walk to Ubud, I pass this bridge demon every day. There are four of them, guarding at each corner. They're a common image on bridges, but I haven't found a specific name for this character yet.

Here he is with a series of offerings. These offerings, made of a leaf box (usually banana), a flower, a dab of rice, a sprinkle of water, a stick of insence, and other things depending on availability and the day are everywhere. They are placed at every doorway, intersection, statue, strange-looking tree, on motorbikes, cars, temples, gutters, water taps, etc. at least twice daily. As soon as they are placed, they are forgotten about. Luckily they're biodegradable because the gutters are absolutely full of them. The stray dogs and chickens eat the rice.

My friends Made and Jepun took Felice and I to Made's family temple, at the foot of Gunung Agung (Bali's biggest mountain). Jepun is a painter and they own a gallery and a guesthouse in Ubud. They are building this house in their family village (2.5 hour drive away) brick by brick, as they can afford it.

Felice and I went to the Bali Bird Park very close to my place; it has sevaral aviaries and a beautiful array of birds from around the tropical world. This one may have thought I was out to poach its eggs becaus eits red eyes never left me.

When I heard a deep, throaty, "Hello," I turned to find this Myna bird hopping about in its small cage. It made "whoop"ing noises and occasionally snorted at me.

Jepun and Felice, at Jepun's house near Mt. Agung.

Jepun and Made let us enter their village temple, without sarongs, which is pretty tabboo I think. Each village temple (often there are several per village...they're everywhere!) has three courtyards for different purposes. This was a very modest one.

You know...new camera=flower shots.

This is Pura Pasar Agung, one of the two temples on Mt. Agung. On the southern slope, one drives a very steep hill (we had to pause to enjoy the view...and let the car cool down), then climbs these 297 stairs (by my count). This temple is one of the biggest and highest in Bali.
Mt. Agung is the focal point of Bali; according to Balinese Hindus, it's where Shiva was born and lives. However, Shiva is apparently on vacation right now because it's okay to hike up to the summit of Agung. Next month the God comes back and it's off limits.

Inside the gates of the temple on Agung are the three courtyards of all temples, though huge. We were inside of a cloud at this point, and the peak above us was grey and the stairs below us faded into mist.
These three pillars are for Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu.

These guys are my favorite characters so far. Their names are Malem (left) and Merdah (right, with the bigger nose). They appear in shadow puppet plays as bumbling old men who serve as servants to the good and bad guys. Since these plays are often recited in high language which nobody speaks, they speak the common language and translate while acting as comic relief.

Merdah. They are seen depicted in stone form outside many gates to homes, temples, shops, etc. Their hands are often like this, in a sign of welcome.

Malem. Aren't they just the most adorable dimwited gatekeepers ever?

Outside the villa in the rain. We're surrounded by rice paddies on all sides; the rice comes right up to this wall.

At the Bird Park; this was a bird show and these two macaws wouldn't come back to the trainer. They looped us a few times and then took off over the distant fields for about ten minutes.
Eventually they returned, but one perched upside down in a tree and they cancelled the rest of the show (raptors were next and macaws could have looked like a meal).

Every house compound has a small temple, often a single small structure. This is the one at the villa, in the very corner of the property (the distance from your house to your temple is determined by your foot...some number of lengthwise steps plus one sideways step, to be determined by a priest).

There's cacao here! I've been grinding it and making my own chocolate; it's gritty since I can't get the proper stone roller for it here, but delicious. This was my first sheet of it. Since then I've been making fudge and cakes.

I don't know this one's story, but it's all over, often above entrances.

A seven-foot carving of a komodo dragon, complete with a fresh offering atop its nose.

Each temple has its own unique guards. Some are animals, some demons, some miscellaneous characters like this one. They always come in pairs.

You can't go 1o feet without coming across another statue or carving of some kind.

Bali has dogs everywhere. Most are white. They're not aggressive (though I'm told rabies is present in the south). They are simply everywhere, including the summit of Mt. Kintamani, the beaches of Kuta and Pemuteran, restaurants, internet cafes, rice paddies, gravel pits...everywhere. Most have no owners; many are mangy, some are mangled; but nobody intentionally harms them. They are respected and many live on the dabs of rice available in every offering in Bali.

This is Boomer, a 17-year-old Green Turtle in Pemuteran in the NW. He was part of a captive breeding program, where babies are hatched and released to help boost turtle populations. he kept returning to the beach with every release, so eventually they kept him. He's been there ever since and loves having his shell scratched.

One of the amazing fishing boats in the north, constructed of a wooden hull and bamboo outriggings. They're a piece of simple genious.

Under a restaurant table. Black dogs are less common.

This station on the Pemuteran beach is part of the BioRock project. Metal grids of various shapes and sized (domes, stars, boxes, etc.) have been dropped just offshore and have electricity running to them. The low voltage stimulates limestone growth and pieces of coral are anchored to them. Then, the coral grows! A 5-minute snorkel from the beach.

Sunrise in Pemuteran.

It's a flower.

Bruce and Felice, whith whom I'm living in Singakerta.

The back of the villa.

This is the Bale (buh-LAY) in our backyard. This is used in most family complexes (just about everyone has one) for socializing, eating, etc.

This is Made (mah-DAY). Most people in Bali are named Wayan, Made, Nyoman, or Ketut. It depends on birth order; if you're a first son or daughter, your name is Wayan, etc.
Very confusing sometimes, but great when I forget a name! ("Oooh, I forget your name...was it Nyoman? Oh, Ketut! I was close.")

That's all for now! I hope life is grand. Selamat jalan--

--Trav--

The first leg: Portland-Hawaii-Tokyo-Osaka

2009-05-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

Selamat Pagi-

Well, it all started long ago, in the mystical month of April. From the kingdom of Bend I shouted my farewells to all who stood with open ears. To those who stood with closed ears I simply waved and perhaps blew a kiss. I then, with my fair lady at my side, traversed the at-one-time snowy and treacherous pass to the distant village of Portland, from whence I climbed into the belly of a large metal bird and took to the grey skies. It was to be the first of many magical birds that I would soar within.

Arriving in Hawai'i, comnsidering the stereotypes of its beauty, considering its status as a destination for newlyweds, surfers, businesspeople, and other forms of tourists, and considering the fact that I just decended upon it from thousands of miles away, was completely antclimactic. I only took brief note of the warmth in Honolulu as I hurried to catch a transfer flight and absently notices the palms and other largely-leafed trees on the Big Island. I hopped aboard a flight to the Big Island, where my brother and his family live. I hadn't seen him in well over a decade and I'd never met my neice, nephew, or sister-in-law.

We stayed up for a few hours chatting. The TV was on and a McDonalds
commercial advertised "Spam in the AM". They aren't on the grid, so
their generator can power either one light and the TV or one light and
the internet. Blake showed me the knives that he makes. They told me
all about the island and how ready they are to leave and about the house
and what it's gone through. I was honored to be the only one on
Sandford's side to ever see the house before they sell it. I learned a
lot about what's happening on that island with politics, crime, drugs,
ecology, family, etc.

We went to bed and, when the lights go out, the light go out. They're
backed up to the jungle and I went to sleep to the sound of loud frogs
and an occasional sudden rainburst.
The next morning, I got a garden/yard tour. I was impressed the whole
time with what a strong family they are. They move and act as a little
pack, very cohesively. Blake and Hannah were great to chat with. Blake
showed me the musket he's building. We were up around 6am and left the
house around 7:30. I had to be at the airport at 10:00. They gave me a
quick flash tour, driving all over the coast, telling me stories of the
past few decades, about lava flows and vanished beaches, about tourists
and roads and surfbreaks and the limitations of the island.
I saw surf raging against rock, learned about the crime, the economy, the politics, the unreasonably loud frogs, and other frustrations of the island which have lead my brother and his family to abandon the island and move to Oregon; his children (one already out of high school) have never left the state.

The photo is of me, my brother Sandford, and my nephew Blake, taken by my neice, Hannah on the big Island.

That morning I flew to Honolulu, then to Tokyo.
----------

I arrived in Japan late. The flight out of Honolulu was late due to the plane's starter not working. Less consequentially, the audio system was broken and they started the movie "Marley and Me" seven times before they got it going. The flight was very light so I got a full row of three chairs to spread out on, and I certainly did.

They also fed us well. My vegetarian meal was surprisingly delicious. I did watch most of the movie, about a family and a dog, and I cried a little when old Marley died at the end. Luckily the lights were out and I could quietly drown my sorrows in my orange juice.

We arrived in Tokyo 2.5 hours late and all connections to Osaka had left. They did, however, arrange a small plane to carry the 16 of us to Kansai airport. Several agents were waiting for us and a young, stern, little woman led us across the airport to our gate. Several people lagged behind, but I stuck right with her, knowing she was my only line of logic for the moment. She periodically stopped for the slowpokes and at one point gave me a sincere "So, so sorry sir!" I said, "Not a problem at all, thank you!" "No, no, thank YOU! [something in japanese] Why are they so slow?? Hmph!" and she stomped her foot.

That little plane took awhile to leave the runway, so by the time I got to Kansai Airport in Osaka, it was 11pm. I wandered around for an hour or so, figuring out what my options were. Knowing no Japanese, I decided to check the Thorn Tree (Lonely Planet's travel forum site) regarding the airport hotel (there were internet kiosks at the airport, 10 minutes per 100 Yen). It was recommended for its convenience, so I got a room. It was far more expensive than I expected (17,000Y!!) but my only real option.

I checked in and got a room on the 10th floor (huge hotel). I took a bath and fell asleep in the tub. I turned on BBC news and got into bed at about 2pm. My mind was still coarsing with "did I REALLY just spend $170 on a room?" I kept rethinking the exchange value, "Maybe it was just $17." But BBC flashed currency exchanges periodically and a $1=Y100 is not a hard conversion.

After the missed flight, NWA agents gave me a form letter apology that says, "We have booked you accomodation." So I emailed them in hopes that they would pay me back for the room. They did and also gave me flight credit. It pays to complain.
-------------
I woke up just before 6am in the Kansai Airport hotel in Osaka, after just 4 hours of sleep. I went to the airport again (just across a bouncy treadmill-walkway) to explore.

I checked out around 7:30 and figured out the train system. I purchased a 1-day Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area pass, allowing me unlimited rides on JR trains.

I hopped on a random train and off I went, in the oposite direction of Osaka. The further from the airport I went, the less English was included on signs, including station markings.

There were gardens and small fields throughout the city and towns around it. They kept jumping out at me, surprising me amongst the concrete, brick, and roads. Almost every apartment building had ledges filled with clothing, drying in the overcast day. Many people wore dust masks, about 1 out of every 15 as I casually counted on the train. Lots of men in business suits and girls in school uniforms. I wrote a couple of haikus, which I never do, one about conductors who bow to the car upon entering an exiting each one.

I got off and on a few random trains, intentionally getting myself a bit lost. After all, I had all day. When it seemed I was really getting out into the country with zero communication skills, I made my way back towards the city of Osaka. I was the only non-Asian-looking person on any of the trains I rose on and I only saw what looked like 4 Europeans or Westerners, all of whom looked like travelers. I wondered what I looked like, a traveler or a casual city-dweller. I was intentional about walking and moving with confidence. raely stopping or slowing. I do that automatically, it allows me to see what I'm up against before attempting to interact or integrate. I do it no matter the language barrier, widening the territory with which I'm familiar.

I think if I went back to that region I could navigate confidently, though I'd probably move on to Kyoto and Kobe, and would love a friend present who could interpret. I hope I can see Ty next time.

The alleys of Osaka were a trip, narrow, busy, and full of colors and cartoon characters and happy music. There were intense smells (good and bad) as I walked past each door and stall, but I never slowed for fear of language issues. I navigated around many bikes ( I love their kickstands that are attached on both sides to elevate the bikes).

By 3:30 I was back at the airport and hungry. I got the aforementioned meal and checked in, once again the only obvious American on the flight. I've heard Japanese, Chinese, Bahasa, and, perhaps, Korean in the lounge and the plane. Every announcement is repeated infour languages (not Bahasa Indonesia) and it's funny to think that the English probably is really just for me.

Off to Indonesia, in the air, with nobody to talk to beyond "Hello" "Where are you from" and "Do you know (english/japanese/mandarin/etc.)."

-----

The white dogs of Bali probably don't believe in gods or demons. They do, however thrive, relatively, as they scour streets twice a day for the offerings that have been set out in front of every shop, home, river, on every statue, car, in every altar.

Each offering contains a little bit of rice; once the offering has been set and the essence has been taken by whichever spirit it was meant for, its usefulness and significance is nulled entirely. The rice is eaten by dogs, songbirds, chickens, geese, ants (so many ants) and who knows what else. Eventually, if it hasn't been kicked away or scattered by the wind, the remains of the offering is swept off, usually to a convenient canal or ravine.

Most of the dogs are loyal to nobody, reliant on everyone. They are patient and independent, accepted in many restaurants, a casual thing to swerve around as they lay on the warm roads. The white dogs of Bali know there are no gods or demons here, but that faith is what keeps them alive and aware.

More shortly!

--trav--

2009-04-01T18:43:00.001-07:00

Hello, Goodologists!

As I prepare to wander away from this continent for the first time, I'm finishing my photography/community project related to Bend.

Please feel free to explore my new website. If you haven't received the associated essay, email me or respond to this post and I'll send it to you. Hopefully it will also be available for a download on my gallery shortly.

Once you select the "Bend" gallery, wait a few moments for the photos to all load. When you click on one it should expand with information to its left.

Please don't try to print these photos; they're low resolution and small. If you want a digital copy of one, let me know and I'll send you a high quality version directly, with the permission of the individual.

www.TravWilliams.com

I'll be adding further community galleries when I return from Indonesia in the fall.

Love you all! Thanks for everything, and keep in touch! You're all important to me...and to a lot of people, I imagine--

--Trav--

Chez Cascadia Weekend

2009-03-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful, high energy weekend.
Our friends arrived Friday night and we descended upon a glorious Evergreen contra dance. The Bendite/Portlanders were in great form and added significant spice to the event. During breaks Brent had a large circle of intrigued Greeners watching his acro-antics with a few slender partners...

From there we brought a large gathering of revelers back to the hostel and had a music, dance party until four am. Saturday morning breakfast was late and fantastic... followed by an outing to the Evergreen forest where we played an intense game of capture the flag. Our backdrop was the mesmerizing Puget sound and a pebble beach covered with barnacles. Oh, and as with any proper semi-coordinated romping about in the woods, there was an accompanying handle of whiskey. There was high tech communication, cell phones being used to strategize and William, distracting his PBR guzzling prison guard with a tale of his birth in Arabia, and how he really is Armenian. The unsuspecting Olympian was nearly engulfed in the spell.....but Aisling brought him back in time to spy Travis just 5 feet away.

Thereafter we progressed to the Evergreen saunas and allowed our muscles to absorb the enveloping cedar scented heat.

Then of course there was the grand Chez Cascadia event. We had a bluegrass music jam (in the bunk room), firespinning (on the street), and a Talking Heads dance party (in the living room)....all at once. Sometime during the night we went from Talking Heads to an om circle after which a band assembled and a local caller called a series of Contra and Square dances. There was more...much much more..like multiple people taking turns wearing my bright yellow leotard with my gold speedo. Elise found my Grinch suit. She was incredibly adorable! The theme was Cosmic Cascadia Explorers.

By noon the following morning we were once again in the bunk room playing old time favorites... Josh was at the helm. Meanwhile Travis and his breakfast cohorts were preparing an amazing, honey chocolate, whipped cream, maple syrup covered french toast/scrambled egg extravaganza. All of this was supplemented with oversized mason jars of Mimosa, served in the bunk room which at that point had between 3-5 people on each bunk bed. Josh was officially served "breakfast in bed", he had not left the room all morning with the exception of a restroom visit.

It was classic, wonderful weekend. And for that Trav and I thank you.

Thank you all for being, for making community! And as William said during a pause in the om meditation:

"Oh, oh...god, please don't... stop!"

Rachel and Aisling, the best hostel Innkeepers ever!

Thank you Jonah, for manifesting Chez Cascadia.
Daniel's sweet guns!

Monica!
Peter!

Bunk room lounging
Robin Hood!
Tasha.

Goodness Collective Adventure: Exploration of the wild, Mysterious Northern Cascadia!

2009-02-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings Beautiful Friends!

Travis and myself are inviting you all to spend a weekend with us here in Olympia. Our friends have offered their entire hostel to us from Friday until Sunday afternoon. It is a magical house with 10 beds and enough floor space to host a large group of friends. There are full kitchen facilities, and any other amenities that one might expect at a charming hostel!

The total cost of the accommodations will be $350 and we hope to divide that appropriately among those who choose to stay. Based on the projected number of attendants, we expect the cost to be quite reasonable.

Sleeping accommodations will likely expand out to the living room floor so please bring appropriate floor-sleeping gear if you can.

Weekend activities include but are not limited to:

* A Friday night Evergreen contra dance

* Exploration of our beautiful city on Saturday

* A melding of amazing Olympians and Bendites/Portland Folk at a Saturday night potluck.You can expect a healthy dose of the usual music and goodness* that accompany the community potlucks we all love.

* Sunday morning: Waffles and Mimosas? (We may need a waffle iron or two)

"I'm bringing costumes, I love costumes, is there a theme?": Yes, There is! Bring costume befitting of explorers. Cosmic, Cascadia explorers.

When: March 13-15 (Friday-Sunday)

Where: Olympia, Washington (Chez Cascadia Hostel)

Why: For the love of community!

For those of you who wish to visit Travis and I while we are still in Olympia, this is your opportunity!

We look forward to having you here!

Steve and Travis

P.s. Please let me know if you plan to attend so that Travis and I have a general idea of how many will be visit

Chez Cascadia
323 Milroy St. NW
Olympia, WA 98502
http://www.chezcascadia.org/

Reflects

2009-01-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

And so it was...
That the new year came about, 2009. I have now spent nearly 5 months here in Oly. I still ride the Flaming Phoenix, Trav and I are still roommates (its been over 2 years now), and well, we still love potlucks.
Potlucks are different here. They happen every week and they rarely deviate in their presentation. Its Dinner with the Dead every Thursday, and Thelma's Family Dinner every Sunday on Steamboat Island. Good people there!

Trav and I are making plans to leave for Bali. He leaves in April and I'll be leaving in June.

I miss you all, and am inspired by your posts. I realize our experience in Bend as a glorious, and unique chapter. I had a flashback the other day: It was mid-July at the G.C. It was mid-morning and a few people were cooking a dank breakfast. The sun was shining, music was playing from the living room. All the doors were open and Beegs was standing on the back patio, pondering the state of his wigwam.

Below are photos of contra-dancing and a pumpkin carving party at our house. Trav is on the school contra dance committee. Its a glorious monthly event!

I also threw in a smattering of kitchen action and the inconic Wam.

Oh! Scotty and Amy's child arrived!!! I posted some photos below. Her name is Magnolia Roberta Rowles. Blessings to the new fam!

Much love and Pura vida!

More love from Alaska

2009-01-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

Well, good people, it has been a long, adventurous trip but we arrived, safely, at the Clam Gulch Lodge late Friday night. The water heater has been repaired, the dogs are out on their first training run in the hills (I had to stay down here to do a meet and greet with some Tustumena sponsors and man am I ever wiped out?). We have been enjoying sit-down meals with our friends and the hot tub is nearly ready for use. We are so happy.
Now that I have a spare moment, which from now until March 18th will be a rare thing, I must tell you about the amazing people and goodness we encountered on our way up here.
At 7am last Saturday, Dad, Aaron and I loaded our 24 best dogs into our truck and left for a projected 4-5 day road trip. The plan was to meet our friend, Gary, in Portland and Caravan through Washington and Canada together. When we reached Tok Gary would turn south and head for Clam Gulch, to prepare the Lodge for our arrival, while we headed north toward Fairbanks where Dad would run the first race of the season.
The first day was wonderful, we were given two care packages and a dozen hugs before we even left town. We met up with Gary, as planned and when we got to Tacoma Aarons parents were waiting for us with soup, sandwiches and cinnamon rolls. His mom also hooked me up with a month’s supply of tea.
The next day or so was pretty uneventful, with the exception of some Canadian border guards who were seriously hug-deprived. We would drive for four hours, let the dogs relieve themselves and rive more. Dad and Aaron would sleep in motel rooms at night and I would sleep in the truck with a dog.
The adventure started when the gas light came on. Two hundred yards later we were out. Dad pulled over and we got sucked into a ditch. We climbed out, surveyed the situation and came to one conclusion: this sucks. No more than 5 minutes later, a huge rig of some sort pulled up in front of us. The driver got out and asked us if we were ok and his friend came back with a tow rope. We were out within two minutes. It was scary to watch but it was done. We thanked our new friends; they thanked us for the chance to help and went on their merry way.
Now, what then to do about gas? We had a can with us and Gary was willing to make the 50 mile drive to Fort Nelson to fill it up. Dad, Aaron and I resigned ourselves for a 2-hour wait in the middle of BC. What happened next was unbelievable. As Aaron was fetching the gas can another man pulled up to check on us. When we told him what had happened he smiled and said, “I’m your guardian angel. Look in the back” In his back seat sat 6 full gas cans. We were saved.
A mile down the road we had a blow-out. We were stuck again. None of us even had cell coverage. Fortunately, at that very moment, 3 vehicles pulled up in front of us. These men worked for a natural gas company and were caravanning to a job site. They tried to help us make the spare work but there was just no way- we had the wrong lugnuts. When we had tried everything, the man in charge pulled out his sat phone and told one of his guys, still in Fort Nelson, to find us a proper spare. Gary drove ahead to meet the man and bring the tire back to us and our new friends waited until they knew that Gary had the tire. We said our thanks once again and then we were alone.
We were stuck there for about 3 hours. We fed the dogs, bundled up and waited. Nearly every passing vehicle stopped to check on us and offer us food and water. The temperature had dropped from about 15 to -20 but good gear, hand warmers and the wonderful star-jumps that Stevo taught me, we stayed pretty comfortable.
We spent the night in Fort Nelson and told Gary to go ahead after learning that we couldn’t get a new tire until the next day. We spent the day watching the news and wishing there was some way to get out of there before the next afternoon. And there was. A guy at another tire shop made some magic happen and we were out the next morning.
As it turns out the old adage, bad things come in threes, is true; the rest of Canada went by very smoothly.
We stopped at Liard Hot Springs for a much needed soak. We escorted a smart car through a herd of bison. And of course we checked on every stopped vehicle, we saw.
We made it over the border with ease but black ice, cars in ditches and horrid road reports forced us to stay the night in Tok and call off our Fairbanks plans. The next night we finally made it to Gary’s thrilled and relieved to finally be here, we let the dogs out for their final romp hit the sheets!
Now as if all of this was not inspiration enough, a simple occurrence last night confirmed my feeling that I absolutely must share these experiences with my dear friends, scattered around the world. Dean, my racing partner’s dad, invited us over for dinner. We watched some boxing, talked a bit about the upcoming races, he volunteered me to help him cook and as we were finishing our delicious salmon dinner, I heard a familiar tune resonating from the next room.
You guessed it! I jumped up and bolted into the living room singing “Running form the cold up in new England I was born to be a fiddler in an old time string band…”
What a perfect ending to a road trip that screamed, “Goodness Collective”

greetings from Mexico!

2009-01-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Well obviously people are busy spreading the much needed Goodness vibe around their various local and global communities. I myself am painstakingly holding down hammock status and a very strenuous schedule of surfing and fish taco eating. Someones gotta do it. I am glad to see the People are doing well. I love each and every one of you!

A-hole

Everyone!

2008-12-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Goodness People. I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for each one of you in my life. I am glad to know that even though we are spread across the map we are connected in some sort of way. Each one has had such a profound influence on each other and the world in which we are surrounded by. Thanks to everyone for being alive!

Jenna Jaunts

2008-10-12T09:49:00.001-07:00

Hello from afar my friends!

I’m in North Carolina, thinking of all of you in Oregon, Olympia ~ scattered across the country and around the world…Maine, Montreal, New Zealand, Nepal…the list goes on and will keep evolving with this dynamic community of ours *

Having travelled 3,000 miles in “the little Toyota that could” I feel like you’re a long ways away ~ but in reality, it’s just 3 hours difference, and unlike Caldera and the long stretches of highway in Wyoming and Nebraska with no cell phone service whatsoever, the satellites are alive and well in Asheville and surrounding communities : ) I’ve had the chance to touch base with a few people back home and I appreciate all the love you leave in messages ~ I hope to stay connected despite the distance. I’m happy to be in a place that is more conducive for communication and to be taking life a lot slower out here…

Of course, lots of stories and exciting updates from the road, the recording studio, and most recently from Franklin, the little town where I’ve landed for a spell. However! Before the time slips by at my little post here at the library, I want to share what first inspired me to write you ~ scribbled in a ragged notebook over coffee this morning.

Sitting alone here in my little cottage, rain steadily drip drops on the roof and melts the morning while I scribble away and sing another song about the red bird out my window. Then, Old Crow Medicine Show comes on, track 10 ~ We’re All In This Together. I LOVE that song, and it was the longest time before I ever heard it because I’d always skip straight to 11 (take a guess…) aaaaah. So after it plays out, I pick up my guitar and sing Wagon Wheel, a tribute to our friendship, time shared, and the community we created. It’s so interesting now to be alone in this place that was in the heart of our music making… Johnson City is just across the state line, Shana (who I travelled out with) is in Raleigh, Roanoke - the Cumberland Gap, they aren’t just places on a map or romantic stops along a song anymore…Playing Wagon Wheel draws me close to you. It’s a way of bringing our energy back together. I really can’t describe it ~ I can feel us gathered close together in a circle like we do ~ and everybody’s got their instruments, guitar, banjo, and the most beautiful voices brought together singing “Rock me mama like a Wagon Wheel…” I play through a few rounds where Stevo does a fabulous run on the sixstring and Travis picks the banjo like he was born to, and then…slow it down a bit and we’re all back in it together again, singing
“Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke,
I caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke
But he’s heading west FROM the Cumberland gap,
Johnson City, Tennessee
Now I gotta get a move on before the sun,
I hear my baby calling my name and I know that she’s the only one
And If I die in Raleigh at least I will die free ~
Soooo rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama any way you feel…”

You are truly some of the world’s most beautiful people and I’m grateful to have you in my heart and in music no matter how far apart life takes us. Blessings.
I must be off now.

Take care and keep in touch ~ I hope your toes are tappin : ) Much love from North Carolina * Jenna

And so it was...

2008-09-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

And so it was that the Goodness Collective closed it's physical doors. The house on Ogden Street, the wellspring of so much warmth (figuratively), is empty. It's clean. It looks like anybody could have lived there and anybody could
move in...excepting, of course, for the wigwam, which still holds its place in the backyard, a lasting testament to the unique mindsets of the individuals that have frequented the house in the past two years.

Not even two years! On the last official night of our rental agreement, September 11, 2008, Trav walked through the empty rooms, poked his head in the cubby and the basement, stared at the spot where his bed once lay, and climbed out onto the roof. He stared at the moon, felt the warm summer evening breeze, and shut his eyes, allowing flashed of memories to occupy his head; thousands of feet have passed through this house! Hundreds of costumes, laughs, chords, and embraces...

As the residents of the house and the community scatter to the four winds and seven seas, many of us can't help but reminisce a bit. So many friends! This is what community is; potlucks continue, we laugh together and we all continue to hold our values with each other and help each other out with whatever talents and skills we possess. The world will be a healthier place if we only allow ourselves comfortable human contact, hugs, and the sharing of stories. Keep all of your stories strong...

Thank you all...thanks again! The friendships, trust, music, art, and poetry that have been born of this phenomenon will last a long time and, hopefully, continue to be passed along. It's not about the house, you know. Keep having potlucks.

You're beautiful. Keep in touch and keep posting--

--Trav--

Having a Great Time Not At Burning Man

2008-08-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

As the dust swirls about the playa, the vans, busses, and bizarre creatures slowly swarm into the desert, and the first waves of heat begin to trickle into the already dopamine-laden minds of the Burning Man attendees...

We're at home. Drinking wine.

With abandon.

Steve and Trav have not been thinking of Burning Man. In fact, we did our best to purge our minds of the beautiful people, strange sights, and odd feelings that are to be expected there...

...UNTIL!!

Nooooooooooo!!

And so, being so rudely reminded of the fantastic experiences that their friends are no doubt having right now, Steve and Trav resolved to have a really great time at home.

They painted Arlo the Van and sat in it for awhile...

Then they decided to make their own little playa in the back yard with a Rototiller.

See how much fun Steve is having not at Burning Man?

Stomp, stomp...yaaa! Dust storm!

Just one of the amazing art installations at the Goodness Playa:

Luckily, before they had too much fun riding their bicycles up and down Ogden Street, Judy showed up at the common space to rally them for a very very sweet, super loud, wild, naked dance party at Townsend's Teahouse, after which Trav had his own little "Critical Go-Get-The Mail" bike race.

Hope you're all having a good time down there in Nevada. We were about to blow up the wigwam in a giant fireball, but Jon came home from work and said we couldn't. You guys are missing out.

--Trav--

The Goodness Collective's Midsummer Night's Potluck...LAST ONE!

2008-08-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Friends and Community Comrades-

Here it is...here I am...excitement and a bit of solemnity in my chest and my smile...this Saturday is The Goodness Collective's First Annual Going-Away Party/Midsummer Night's Potluck! Yes, it's our Last big party and we want to let everybody in the community know how much you all mean to us. There's a "For Rent" sign in our yard; some of us are moving things into boxes; the sun is soon to dip low in the sky as many of us part ways and scatter about the world this fall.

So, This Saturday, August 16, join us for a great little shindig at the house on Ogden Street. The theme, "A Midsummer Night's Potluck" should instill thoughts of the forest, of myths, legends, etc. Feel free to dress up accordingly...or don't, that's fine too. It starts around 6:30pm, but feel free to show up early and help decorate.

The date starts with Community Capture the Flag in Drake Park; meet at the amphitheater by the foot bridge by noon.

If you contribute a dish of food, please avoid disposable plates, cups, and silverware. We always run out and have to wash things, but that's better than creating trash, isn't it?

Some things to expect at the potluck include:

-A Live Musical Collage, hosted by David Bowers and friends; bring instuments and join in with our backup house band!

-Fire Spinning and performance;

-A salmon bake with the spoils of Brent, Steve, and Ian's Alaskan escapades;

-Wine tasting in the wigwam: Bring a bottle of wine to add to the lineup;

-Wing making in Tex's room;

-Some sort of art project in the garage (any ideas?);

-Story-telling and ballad-singing;

-Reminiscence;

-Lots of costumes!

-Lots of food!

-Friends!

You're all wonderful and you each contribute to our experiences in such rich, unique, wonderful ways. thank you so much. Hope to see you this Saturday! Expect a lot of fun--

--Trav

2008-08-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here I am exploring the possibilities of digitizing my photography: These are all recently developed from Summerfest and other outings around Bend. They're all still taken on film. These are the best portraits of the batch...click on them and blow them up for the full experience!

Jenna on the Summerfest Stage;

A bass and a banjo in love;

The bassist for Bellavia;

Dennis Plant;

Don Delach, playing the part of Marshal Dillon in Gunsmoke;

Simone;

Amy at the Sparrow's Farmer's Market Booth;

Anastacia at Summerfest;

Julie Southwell (one of the Sweet Harlots);

Laurel Brauns (the other Harlot);

Briana, Ashley, and Emily;

Malerie in the Steens;

Lilli minus one appendix;

Cook;

Pat;

Erika;

Jon, Karen, and an onion;

Laura and Niko;

Pearl with her hand in the Cherries;

Emily, having been insulted by a mango;

Erin (half of The Erins);

Cheri and Ritter at the Market;

Cody;

Cheri and Ritter again;

Ashley with something on her arm;

Bitterbrush Band;

Scott from Estrola, one of the grooviest groups in the area;

Frank from Estrola;

Shireen, the final piece of the group;

Erin (the rest of The Erins);

Jenny Harada;

Joe Schulte;

Tessa and Garrett;

Becky and Verda;

Whats-his-name...oh shoot...he plays banjo...

Rachael Karlin and Alicia;

Alicia and Josh;

Yes, Alicia and Josh again;

Steve's big public debut;

Alicia and Joe;

Allison and Sailor;

Jeff Cooney;

Malerie, who is far too far away;

Two from Emily Lewis, who works closely with a guitar and a breeze;

For those of you in the area, my portraits are still up at Sparrow Bakery for a week or so; and hey...don't you forget about the August 16th potluck! There's events and music shaping up, so stay tuned!

Thanks for looking; you're all important to me--

--Trav--

2008-07-30T07:35:00.001-07:00

Hello, Friends--

It's time to announce...(tear in eye)...the very last...(uncontrollable choke)...but amazing.....

This is your initial invitation to The Goodness Collective's 1st Annual Going-Away Party/Midsummer Night's Potluck!

Yes, The Goodness Collective, while remaining alive within all of us, is leaving it's hub at 632 Ogden this September! We're scattering about the country in a dramatic exodus and, because we love every one of you, it's our prerogative...no, it's our great responsibility to throw one...final...epic night of joy, friendship, and community.

Mark the date! AUGUST 16, 6:30pm!

Seriously, you all are important to me, to us, and to each other. The community that I've found here in Bend in the last few years is comparable to none and, while we'll find community elsewhere in this world, we'll never have this exact unique dynamic again. For better or worse, I will miss you all intensely.

The Midsummer Night theme is intended to invoke thoughts of mythical and foresty attire, but, of course you need not dress up for us! Simply kick off your shoes and come in. The firedancers and stilters will be there, musicians and jammers will come...bring food and whatever talents you want to share with us in a final cohesive bash!

More details to come, but make a little notch on your agenda.

Ah...I'll miss you--

--Trav--

Aw...Sad face:

2008-07-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

The crew has returned from fishing in remote and rugged Alaska! We had a good season and, as might be expected, enjoyed some classic moments together. The weather was wicked and wonderful! We experienced significant gales and swells.

These are a few of the cabins on our beach. Appliances are powered by either generator, propane or solar. The water comes from a spring on the bluff behind the cabins.

This is our cabin a hundred feet behind the the grey cabin shown above.

Hanging a new net inside our cabin.

An evening on the beach.

Rugged homies chillin' in a slew off the bay.

Midnight Sunset

Capt. Brent bringing us home after a day on the water.

Myself (left) and Ian (right) are attempting to pull the net over the bow.

We were successful after some strategical repositioning.

Taking a break in the bow.

It was great, difficult and beautiful! For most of the season Brent, Ian and I worked together. Towards the end the captains shifted strategies and the workforce of six split into 3 crews. Brent and I worked together and pulled some profitable and grueling shifts including a 30 hour hour shift.... 4 hours of sleep and then 20 hours and so on. We were commissioned to work a site across the bay and had no one to switch out with.

We enjoyed occasional downtime on the boat, and were forced to become progressively more creative with our entertainment. During slow days we had tea time, and we would set times for consumption of our sandwiches. In this way we were able to experience slight anticipation.
Then of course there was actual fishing. During one 30 hour period we caught over 10,000 pounds of fish. Thats a lot of fish and work!

Me, braving the elements.

It was a glorious month! Try it sometime.

As I predicted, the boat engine stalled as the propeller ground through the body of the dead Baluga. Filming was suspended in order to move away from the horrible stench of the carcass in a timely manner.

Sail away we me honey.

2008-06-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

d

Greetings people-

Just a little bit of what I have been experiencing. Mainly to make you all jealous. 275 miles on 3 gallons of fossil fuels.

GC non-comprehensive update

2008-06-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

And so we have arrived to nearly the middle of the Summer. The GC is of good spirit! Currently in residence: Travis, Myself, Ashley, Jon Begin, Tex, and our recent highly anticipated addition: Jenna Lindbo {{{ecstatic squeel}}}!
Scott Shaverdian left months ago. He found a wonderful job in Moab, Utah wherein he is teaching ecology to kids while rafting the Rogue. I think its the Rogue. Kelly left on a whim to sail from Florida to a foreign exotic country. Trinidad I believe. Allan Capp has been working for Cathrine Freer for a few months now, and recently returned to visit us after a vacation to the Hawaii. He meant to surf but the surf wasn't so surfable so he acquired a bike and rode his heart out, at the end of which a woman gave him fruit and some other delectables. Brent has disappeared into a Tundra North of the United States. He left with a windshieldless motorcycle, no food, and no beer. He chose to take a tent, some warm clothes, and lemon and cayenne pepper infused water. All of this fitted into a milk crate on the back of his yellow steed. He contacted me upon his arrival in Anchorage. He explained that he was well and that after cayenne and lemon water for a week, consumption of maple syrup made him "feel as if [he] could do anything in the world".
Colin Franger left us at the end of March. He is living in his blue love bus in a place called French Gulch. Eyewitness reports insist that he is in his element and truly loves working with the kids at an Adventure Therapy program there. A recent report from Franger explained that he is on his way to Washington to sail for 8 weeks. Beautiful Frang! Love him... we all love him... love his beard, love his cheeks. His frumpy head of hair. Miss you Franger!

We had a fantastic Mother's Day potluck! Mothers and fathers travelled great distances to be here. Trav's mom came... she carpooled with Simone's parents. Brent's parents traveled here as well as Franger parents. My parents flew from Florida to visit for the weekend. And then of course there were all the wonderful moms and dads from around town! We had great food, a mobile and seed ball project set up by Aaron, and themed rooms throughout the house. Begin's wigwam was, as usual, the hotspot. There was a line to get in and for quite sometime there were no less than twenty people within its bounds.
Speaking of the Wam, its leaning to the North quite a bit. Its been slowly but surely... leaning. Its still very livable however. Our landlord visited recently for the first time in a year . Upon observing the semi-permanent structure she turned to her boyfriend and said " Hey Todd, lets spend a night in the hut shall we!?" I insisted that they reserve, explaining that the Wam already holds appeal for multiple couples and ,based on past observations, agendas can tend to unwittingly "overlap". She agreed to reserve.

The Farmer's Market has begun for the Summer. I visited on Wednesday and left in a euphoric state! Vegetables were everywhere. Trav was running the Sparrow Bakery stand, live music was gently floating upon the fresh and whimsical breeze. Ahhh the days of Summer and her farmer's markets. Its such an iconic piece of the Bend Oregon experience!

Tex had her long awaited and highly anticipated 21st birthday. It was truly cause for celebration. We started at Parrilla's and two pitchers of Margarita (distributed among the 6 drinking participants). From there we rallied to Judy's party... after a brief engagement cruised downtown to enjoy some freshly baked cookies and scotch that Rachel Karlin and Ian presented. An hour later the crew went straightway to Anthony's. Neighbor Scotty was working the bar...and let me tell you, he worked the bar! The man has fantastic skills. During our time there Tex enjoyed a Spanish coffee which is wonderfully relevant to her visit to my favorite dive bar: Correy's. But first, we rode home and all assumed their most comfortable relaxed positions as Mr. Jon Begin regaled us with a stunning musical performance.
It was nearly 1 am when Tex and I rode to Corey's. As is my tradition, we had Maker's on the rocks with straws. We spent quality time singing to old jukebox classics, and... well drinking whiskey. Travis passed by around 1: 15 on his way to the Sparrow Bakery (he's the baker, I suggest the Ocean Roll croissant if you go). Rachel and Ian were there to celebrate with us the disconcerting flourescent lights indicating the end of the evening's festivities.

Updates in the last week:

Ashley Stone returned from India, and has taken it upon herself to cook delicious meals for the house!

Amanda just arrived two days ago with her newly upholstered Saab.

We persuaded Lily to pitch her tent in the back yard.

Matt Franke is returning to the cubby for the Summer. He has a full-time job too. Every night Matt walks into the house with his red lunch pail: shirtless, tanned, and tired. We love him!

We are well, and more joyful then ever to live in such a great community. There is a pervasive air of love and happiness in our home. And so the GC continues in effortless euphoria.

Come see us! I suggest arriving around breakfast or dinner time.

{For those of you who have access feel free to add more photos and goodness}

P.s. Stevarino, reporting from Anchorage (boat name: Pescado).
Brent, Ian and I disappear for the next 30 days.

Be well, do good work... and spread love!

hawaii

2008-05-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

Hello all just wanted to send some love from the middle of the ocean. Its great here, the surf has been pretty small but the weathers great and life is good. We went to the east side of maui and had quite an adventure. We pulled of on this really cool beach and watched the sun set, sitting next to a fire. Around 9 o'clock a local guy pulled up in a big lifted truck and very "kindly" told us no camping allowed, that this was a hawaiian beach and we needed to leave. He said he would be back in a hour with friends and it would be bad if we were still there. So in the middle of nowhere every place we stop is proably going to be in someones territory. We roll into this little village and there is a ymca community center. We stop and told these local girls our story and want to know where we can go and not get messed up. Come to find out we are smack in the middle of a really old small community fued. The guy that kicked us out has a bunch of followers that go around burning cars and beating people up. So short story these girls say we must stay with them and they take us back to their dome house on a 107 acre hawaiian comune. So we stay up all night hearing about the history of these people. Drinking and laughing, and telling stories with the whole family. They were amazing people to say the least. The next day we went the rest of the way to hana, but I didnt have much left in me so it was a long day. So Im off to hopefully find some surf for the next few days of my trip. Much love and see you all shortly.

I Think My Staph is Poisoning Me . . . I Think My Giardia is eating me from the inside out . . .‏

2008-04-08T04:01:00.000-07:00

(or: Everyone Uses Their Hand Eventually . . . )

Ah Nepal! What a kind culture, what a breathtaking place. A significant question was often exchanged between James and Ashley of, 'What the fuck are we doing here?'

As our time traveling together has ended, we look back upon the always captivating, usually random times we shared in Nepal and warmth fills our hearts as daal baaht and sweet tea often filled our bellies.

Our journey started with a Joyous hello to James as Ashley busted past the disconcerted, ineffective guards at the Kathmandu airport to a rare scene for Nepal - a wide open embrace as she jumped into his arms for an epic hug. Collecting fellow post-flight Westerners, James already had two friends in tow, plus Ashley had her San Francisco friend, Laura, making the cab ride from the airport a cosy and amusing one. (Imagine 6 people and 3 backpacks crammed into a car about the size of a VW! And not the bus.)

Ashley was already accustomed to the ensuing madness that is KathmanDONT after 10 days of tea drinking, volunteering, templeing (to temple?), and meeting interesting people. To James, it was an overwhelming sensory experience of sights, sounds, smells, and scenes. The next day, we were both ready to leave. We ventured up north, winding through and into the mountains, onward as a group of four (the soon to be aptly-named 'Wanker Bear' joining us), to the cool hillside village of Nagarkot, where a trance festival celebrated Shivaratri (Shiva's birthday). Unfortunately, Ashley's system was running in reverse, sometimes forward too fast, leaving her ill in the hotel as James, Laura, and Wanker Bear danced their faces off till sunrise. Ashley counted her blessings breathing fresh air as she enjoyed the display of stars in the night sky.

Upon leaving Nagarkot, we drifted back down to the Kathmandu valley to visit an 'ashram'. Ashley, ever wise, left after half a day due to a gut feeling that it was not where she needed to be, leaving James and Laura behind. After Ashley's departure, James had his own 'gut feeling', as he constantly found himself running off, yet again, to the squat toilet, giardia running amok. Two days later, all were reunited at the illustrious Pokhara as James and Laura finally managed to both come to their senses and health, able to make the knuckle-biting, bone wrenching 7-hour bus journey.

In Pokhara, we, ever the indecisive, traveled a wormhole of time. Dazed and Confused by a week unaccounted for, we weren't quite sure of what was done and couldn't quite seem to get to where we didn't know we wanted to be. Laura decided one afternoon to take on the endeavor of the 3 week Anapurna circuit trek, leaving the next morning. Happily alone, the decision was easily made to begin our own trek, destination: hot springs. The next morning, we embarked sometime after sunrise on an entertainingly unsuccessful busride, as James realizes two hours into it that he's forgotten his park pass for the Conservation area. Disgorged in Some(No)where Nepal, we returned by taxi to Pokhara, retreived said pass, hopped a taxi to the wrong bus station, walked the 2 miles to the other station, and got on another bus that stopped after a mile to be thrown ON to another, already full bus. So full, in fact, that we find ourself upon the roof, nestled in amongst the plastic cargo. We, ticketholders, seatpayers, sit uncomfortably through rain, sun, and cold as we listen ironically to the bleating of the goat who managed his own space inside the bus. An extra hour stop to change a flat with an amazingly bald spare, we finally began our trek as dusk settled in the mountains.

Over the next few days, we (Ashley's throbbing and pussing staph-infected toe and all) hiked straight up and straight down, six billion stone stairs in all, through villages of friendly smiles, magical hobbit-filled rhododendron forests and waterfalls, encountering breathtaking views of 26,000+ foot peaks. Tired and sore (toe still throbbing), two days were spent in Tatopani, enjoying good food and hotsprings before returning again to the vortex of Pokhara so Ashley can (finally) see a doctor to kill that pesky staph that had been slowly poisoning her for a month. Momentum rolling, our itch to do more lands us in a guide shop, to leave the next morning on a three day rafting trip down the Kali Gandaki. We find ourselves part of a hilarious group, representing Iran, Canada, Spain, Russia, Alaska, and of course the US and Nepal - 35 in total, madness ensuing down the graceful and amusing Gandaki. Our time was filled with laughter, comforts and thrills, accentuated by blue skies, star-speckled nights, and one short-lived thunderstorm. The nighttime drum rhythms of Nepali folk music and Iranian love songs, we felt deep gratitude for who and where we were (and are). An uncomfortable bus ride back to KathmanDONT brought us to the nighttime spectacle of the Boudnath Stupa, arising early in the morning to walk amongst the prayerful pilgrims, Tibetan Buddhists, juniper incense teasing our noses, the bell-shaped Stupa glowing in the morning sun.

The next morning, like that, we found ourselves back in Kathmandu, 24 hours to go, one spliff left. We are two Librans with no plan, no decision. Love fills our hearts as our arms are open to the world, we maintain faith in the Universe. It always provides.

Much love to you all. We miss you terribly. Much time was spent in the previous 4 weeks reminscing on the wonders of Burning Man and our magical group of friends we are proud to call family. We are so blessed to be a part of our country, our state, our city, and especially this beautiful community we find ourselves a part of in Bend . . . cuddle puddles and kisses aplenty when we return.

xoxoxoxox

Ashley n James

2008-03-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

Namaste All,

So there are those who might say driving a motorcycle is too dangerous wherever you are. There are others who would say driving anything at all in India is maddness. Me, I say no time like the present. Before renting my little Bajaj 100cc I'd never been on a motorcycle before in my life, and I was pretty nervous about driving it in general. But after a few days of stalling and jerking on starts, I've got the hang of it and I love it. Honestly, there is something about the lawlessness of the Indian traffic that makes it simple and elegant to just weave through a path of least resistance. There aren't really "lanes", sounding your horn is a matter of polite necessity, and no one stops at intersections rather they just go through and dodge eachother. The main rule of the road is "Might makes right", so if it's a bus or lorry coming into your lane, you better get out of the way. I've made some excursions out to the country, and the freedom I feel cruising with warm winds in a foreign land is something spectacular I wish I could share with you all. I'm definately thinking well of everyone back in Oregon, and missing the mighty Cascade ridgeline, but with respect I think I'll stay here for now =)
Much love and peace to you all,

Ethan

The 2nd Annual Housewarming Potluck

2008-03-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends--

Well, it's that time of the year again isn't it? The weather is warmer (sometimes). it's time to do some spring cleaning, we're all looking forward to outdoor escapades in out shorts and sandals...and we at the Goodness Collective are celebrating over one year in so-called existence!

It's our 2nd Annual Housewarming Potluck/Crazy Hat Party, March 15...this Saturday! Yes, I know it's St. Patrick's weekend and some of you have solemn family events that you're expected to attend, but let this be just one of your weekend outings.

Yes, it's also coming up on finals week...you weren't going to be studying Saturday night anyway were you? Relax...study on Sunday, or bring your study group and talk about O-chem and physics on the porch if you like.

You, our friends and members of our community, are truly appreciated. As another year passes, we routinely recognize the significance of our wonderful community. Thank you so much for everything.

Bring some food if you can and instruments if you please! Please, no disposable dishes, silverware, etc. Starts around 6:30-ish and will likely wind down very slowly until we're reduced to a pile of happiness by the fireplace singing ourselves to sleep.

See you this Saturday! Much love; take care--

--Trav--

One thing to say

2008-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

I have but one thing to say this beautiful day:

If you finish a weekend outing covered in paint and chocolate...it was probably a good weekend.

Now...are your calendars marked for the March 15th 2nd Annual Housewarming Potluck/Crazy Hat Party?

--Trav--

The Badlands need some Goodness...

2008-03-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hello to all...
As many of you know, I work for the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) as the Wilderness Coordinator, and thus spend almost all of my time focused on getting the Oregon Badlands designated as Wilderness. So I'll be the first to admit that I’m a little biased when it comes to protecting the high desert… but I have a hunch that those of you who’re reading this are similarly biased.

The Badlands is a high desert gem just 15 miles east of Bend that locals have been working to protect as wilderness for years. We have an exciting window of opportunity opening up this spring: Senator Wyden is finally willing to take a second look at introducing legislation to protect Badlands wilderness, but we have to act fast! This campaign really needs an infusion of Goodness… so I hope you’ll all be able to help. Wilderness only happens when folks like us speak up and tell our elected officials that we want it!

I’ll keep this brief, so if any of you have questions please call me anytime: (503)891-1635, or have a look at ONDA’s website: www.onda.org

Some things you can do to help

Come to our volunteer meeting this Tuesday (TOMORROW), March 4 @ 7pm at the Central Oregon Environmental Center. At the meeting, we’ll be talking about the variety of volunteer activities in more detail and kicking off our letter writing campaign to Senator Wyden. If you can’t make it to the meeting, just shoot me an email and update you on the goods (gena@onda.org).
. Write an email to Senator Wyden telling him why you think it’s important to protect our high desert. I just set up a nifty comment system set up on our website, so just click here to be redirected to the comment page.
Go for a hike in the Badlands and bask in the beauty of the high desert! Don’t forget to tread lightly and take a friend!

Thanks guys!

Gena

PS- Good luck Rachael! Know that all of us are thinking of you and visualizing you and the dogs running the perfect race!

He's home!

2008-03-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

It was dusk when he walked up the front steps. I was on the porch recliner and still waking up when he asked (with his helmet on) " Is this The Goodness Collective?" I told him it was, and suspected that a housemate had invited a couch surfer. "Who are you? " I asked. He removed his helmet with a flourish, revealing his signature, beautiful blonde dreads.

Brent is home!!! He rode from Vegas on a 750 Honda Nighthawk steed.

2008-02-25T03:07:00.000-08:00

I was begining to get a bit worried after being in Nepal for a week with out having seen a clear view of the mountains. However my fears were laid to rest.

I'm not gonna lie the last two post brought tears to my eyes (especialy the potty thoughts comment). You guys can't be sending anymore posts like that, otherwise I might be home sooner then expected. Thank you Steve for the amazing picture you brought to my heart.

So I figure there aren't to many places back home where I can get a stright razor shave for 15 cents so I thought I'd give it a shot here. Not to worry I am still hairy as ever I just got a bit of a trim job and neck shave.

I love you all and I am thinking about the snuggle puddle that you might be in right now at the GC wishing I was there.

Brent

So we can remember

2008-02-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2008. We have been here a year.
I came home late one night a few days ago, and after snuggling into my sleeping bag I turned over and said: "Hey Trav, you awake?" He replied a disgruntled "Yes!". Of course he was, since I had just awakened him. We started laughing, and he proceeded to critique the delivery of my question. After having given the appropriate feedback he asked what I wanted. "I just realized that we have been living an amazing life for a whole year" I said. We spent a good 20 minutes discussing our great fortune.

Its rather chilly here today. I don't know whether I should be writing this outside where the sun shines randomly or stay inside our wonderful cold house. Either way my fingers will function at 75% of their capacity.

Ashley Poe arrived at our house yesterday from her sabbatical. It was wonderful see her again!

Neighbor Allison has proposed to her girlfriend. The ring she gave was her great-great-grandmother's wedding ring. She expects to move to Portland eventually, and suggested that the GC take over her house. Perhaps we will. We could use another house.

Most of the house rallied to the contradance at the school near our house. It was glorious!!! There must have been upwards of 50 people there, and we all danced for nearly 3 hours. The current house trend suggests that the outing will become a tradition.

Franger leaves in a month, and we will miss him. I know its early to be sad but, dumpster diving will not be the same. His exclamations of delight when finding red peppers, and acorn squash will be sincerely missed. Not to mention when we have the great fortune of finding delectable pastries. We generally eat them on the spot.

Valentine's Day was glorious. I think Frang was the only one with a date at the party. Travis scored big with an anonymous store "Non-profit Organization Compost". He has connections in the compost department there. It was a non-consumerist potluck so folks were asked to bring whatever they already had. Trav made an amazing full-course meal! There was pumpkin squash, delicious grapes, apples, and all sorts of other delectable dishes. The main dish was, of course, quinoa.

We've been spending more time on the front porch recently. It was quite warm last week. Jenna serenaded a porch couch cuddle puddle of five the other night. Not surprisingly, many of us were rendered silent for a few moments thereafter.

Begin significantly improved his wigwam in the past few days. He acquired a tin snips from Allan and opened up the draft. The smoke dissipated significantly according to Beegs. He also put another blanket up in front of the door, which has reportedly increased the warmth of the beloved Wiggie.The GC had a great show on KPOV the other week.

And tonight, Colin is carving chopsticks, Travis is curled up on the couch with his feet tucked snugly underneath my legs. Ryan Adams is singing Sweet Carolina. Some of us are humming along. Tex just arrived home, we have no idea where she's been. Beegs has already retired to his Wigwam. He made a fabulous vegetable curry for everyone tonight. Kelly is on the floor browsing jobs, because he's tired of working on the mountain. Scotty is still singing along with Ryan Adams. We haven't seen Allan for an hour or so, but he did bring home some delicious bread from Dilusso's (as is his custom since he works there).
The house has a feeling of contentment, deep joy, and love.
We salute the world travelers in our lives: Brent, Tessa, Ethan, Ashley, Dylan, Cheri, Brianna, James, Rachael Scdoris and the rest of our wonderful friends abroad. We love you and send you sweet vibes!

*Colin Franger has insisted on receiving public recognition for some of the photos taken above.

Talent Show Cancellation!

2008-02-23T14:48:00.001-08:00

Cancellation!!

Unfortunately, due to a relatively low bit of interest/excitement, we will be delaying the Leap Day Knack and Aptitude/Talent show.

Please check back in four years, the next leap day for updates on this very important celebration.

Rumors have it that a fair amount of stuff is going on that weekend, so we hope you find something to enjoy!

For those out there preparing talents, knacks, etc. we apologize humbly, sincerely, and acutely.

However, look forward to the Goodness Collective's 2nd Annual Housewarming Potluck/Crazy Hat Party!! March 15...now THAT is something you shouldn't miss!

Sorry to disappoint! To distract yourself, please gaze at this giant fireball:

2008-02-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

Brent- We think about you when we use the potty.

Thinking of you from Katmandu

2008-02-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

Namaste Friends and Fam,

I made a quick move striaght up to Nepal. I went from beautiful beaches packed with pasty tourists, to the cold mountainous air of the Himalaya. I am currently staying in an apartment in Katmandu that Dylan and Cheri have rented for a couple months.

It's been nearly a year since I have been in cold weather, and the mountains and chill bring a familar feeling, certainly reminds me of being back in Bend. I gave away my shoes back in Israel so my toes are a bit cold, I might need to remedy that soon and buy some more clothes as well.

Much Love as always,

Brent

Lance Won the Quest Again

2008-02-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys, this is so cool- not a surprise but cool, nonetheless- my good friend, Lance Mackey won his fourth consecutive Yukon Quest, this morning. My other good friend, Ken Anderson finished 2nd, 15 minutes behind Lance. The first time Lance won the quest (2005) he broke into the top ten in the Iditarod. Last year he became the first person to win the Iditarod and the Quest in the same year. Ken has finished as high as 3rd in the Iditarod. We'll see what happens!!
As for the rest of the Quest teams, they are still out there and there is still a lot of race left!
~Rachael

Two Weeks To Go!!

2008-02-19T15:12:00.001-08:00

My time in Alaska is just flying by. I can hardly believe I have been here for over a month. Joe and I are having a great time, training, getting our teams to travel together and learning each others’ tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The last few training runs have been phenomenal. My usual partner, Tim and his family have been wonderful, helping us get ready. Tim, despite his broken leg, has managed to train a top-twenty team for Joe. We are training every other day, running 30 to 50 miles, Tim and his kids help us get ready then he rides a snow machine out on the trail and tells us which way to go and at the end of the day, Joe and I have a meeting of minds in the hot tub.
Last week we did food drops, which is a very exciting process. First we gather and bag all of our personal stuff- anything we might need, for ourselves for ten days: extra clothes, chore gloves, food, etc- about 150lbs for each of us. Then it's on to the dog stuff. Each of us packs about 400lbs of kibble into 16lb bags. Then we each pack about 1,200lb of meat and fish into 10lb bags. All of that goes into big woven plastic bags and is trucked up to Anchorage where it is sent out to 18 checkpoints along the trail. Food drops can be very stressful but Tim having already done 25 food drops has a way of making it fun. His wife and two younger kids came and helped us bag stuff up and provided some good comedy for us as you can see.

Yes, Daniel has allowed Marissa to wrap him in shrinkwrap and spray paint a target on his chest. In fact, it was his idea.

Over the weekend we did EKGs and blood work on our teams, a long, tedious process that must be done every year. We were at the Vet clinic virtually all day, drawing blood, micro-chipping the dogs and trying to get 46 Alaskan huskies to be still- what a riot.
Now all we have to do is figure out our final 32 dogs, do the final vet check and go. We only have 11 days before the big race. I am so excited.
I miss you guys, loves and hugs for everyone
Happy trails ~ Rachael

Holy Cow!!!

2008-02-11T07:21:00.001-08:00

I was walking on the beach and something caught my eye, there she was lying on the beach naked as ever for all to see, I had to get a picture to remember this sexy sun bathing beach beauty.

Ashley and I have parted ways, and I worked my way over to the West Coast state of Goa. I have met up with a friend of a friend who is running a coffee shop here. I think I am going to help him out a bit, and crash in the coffee hut at night, at least for a few days. I think I will head north before to much longer and meet up with Dylan, Sherri and Ritter in Nepal.

Things are going great, much love as always

Brent

Namaste from Mysore

2008-02-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,
I was just telling a friend here about the group of inspiring people I communed with in Oregon, so I come to the blog, and find out the GC is hosting a talent show. How I would love to attend!
I've been in India about a week now and I've had some troubles sure, but this is good here; this is where I should be now. Coming to India is the realization of a dream, and I feel so open in this experience. I have a couple posts on my blog, with a some pictures and many words, so please investigate if you are curious (ethanburns.blogspot.com).
I hunger for news of life in Bend, and like all who wander from its sanctity, I think often of the GC community. Be well my friends, and much love,
Ethan

Leap Day Pseudo-Talent Show!

2008-02-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Do you have any talents? Oh, I'm sure that you do! Come show them off at the 1st Quad-Annual Goodness Collective Leap Day Knack and Aptitude Show!

Yes, friends, neighbors, boys, girls, kitties...if you can sing, recite poetry, knit engagingly, stand on your head, break-dance, swing, juggle, touch your tongue to your ear, do impersonations, or anything else mildly entertaining, let us know!

We need participants and maybe some help conceptualizing a stage of some sort.

This is to draw attention to all those groovy skills, knacks, and talents we each possess on a day that only occurs once every four years...
...so let us know; sign up, and enjoy yourself. Need not participate to attend.

The day only exists for our enjoyment, the way we see it:

Friday, February 29th, 6:30pm.

AND!...>>>It's a POTLUCK, so showcase your food skills, loves, etc. too!

See you there! Email goodnesscollective@gmail.com to get in on the action.

Overseas GC Connections

2008-01-28T01:47:00.000-08:00

So I showed up in Mumbai about a week and a half ago. I knew that Ashley (for those who don't know Ashley is a friend from Bend who also is traveling in India) was going to be flying in two days later. So I tried to meet her at the airport but somehow we missed each other, then for the next two days I was trying to connect with her but emails got delayed and we were having a hard time meeting up. I was getting a bit frustrated because I really didn't want to spend that long in a big city (population of nearly 13 million). So I was walking down a street right at dusk, wondering if I should forget about meeting Ashley and just continue with my traveling. As I am crossing the street guess who is on the other side smiling at me...yep straight from Bend Oregon to the streets of Mumbai Ashley Stone. Turns out we weren't even staying on the same side of town, she had met some new friends and was just going for a walk around the city.

We both had in mind to go check out a place called Auroville in Southern India. We are currently staying at a Botanical Garden/ Seed Farm, volunteering in exchange for a grass hut to stay in.

Ashley adds that she misses everyone terribly and loves you all greatly.

Much Love,
Brent and Ashley

Hi from Clam Gulch

2008-01-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

Hello good people! I have been down her, in Clam Gulch, for the better part of a week now and it it absolutely beatiful.
I would write more but I have a 200 mile race tomorrow and it is past midnight. I will let everyone know when I am done and give you a proper update. I just wanted everyone to know that we are here, my new partner is wonderful and I miss you guys. Your wonderful music will keep Joe and I company for the next 200 miles.
Wish me luck.
Much love
Rachael

Goodness Collective Live Radio Debut!

2008-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

Attention! attention! Here ye! Hey!

On Friday, January 25 (that's this week), the Goodness Collective will be gathering in the KPOV studios and jamming for a couple of hours on the air. If anyone out there traveling the world, living in Portland, or anyplace else is around an internet connection, you can tune in via the website.

Either tune in to 106.7 fm in Bend or go to www.KPOV.org and click the "listen now" button and you'll find yourself listening now.

It all goes down from 10:00am to noon, Oregon time, on Friday. You can all tune in and call in to say hi and maybe even get on the air. 541-322-0863. Email me with questions, comments, and concerns: twilliams@fastmail.fm

Listen!

-Trav
Goodness Collective media coordinator-

Nothing really.

2008-01-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

"Ahhh Begin looks good in the mountains."

----Tex Kokes----

Howdies from Asheville

2008-01-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends, Howdy. Guess what? The snow from Oregon followed me accross the country, 3000 miles to Asheville. Well, we don't have enough snow for a Snow Family yet, but this is North Carolina and we'll take what we can get. The drive went well; my Sister in Davis, CA showed me around at her gory pathology office, and my 6 year old cousin in Nasheville TN showed me her sweet new Robo Raptor toy. Back in Asheville I'm looking for balance between getting my shit together for India and relaxing and enjoying my time. I'm not having an easy time of it. I'm feeling way stressed, I miss ya'll, and on top of that we had to put our dog to sleep yesterday. I'm not predicting a nervous breakdown or anything, but I'll admit to being somewhat depressed.

I know that I left the house quietly, and I'm truly sorry if anyone felt slighted by the lack of a goodbye. I apologize for having become insensitive to leaving, and for generally doing a poor job of farewells. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my time at the house, and I consider myself very fortunate to have been a part of the Goodness Collective. There was a lot of pain in leaving you all. And there will be a lot of joy in seeing each of you again.

I have finished something I am eager to share. I made a blog of my own (ethanburns.blogspot.com), filled it with pictures and stories from my past, and now it's ready to continue with tales of adventure from India. Go ahead and cruise back through time and see where I've been, and check back to see where I'm going. Hopefully, this will be a good blog and you will enjoy checking it. I will, as well, continue to post here at GC.com once in a while.

Ahh sweet sadness... I reminiss already. Writing Oregon makes me feel like I'm there, on the couch, writing these words. Begin plays guitar. There's a fire. Travis is cooking quinwa and Tessa and Tex are being girly, laughing with femininity. I feel joy to imagine the house and its occupants, and with that joy in my heart I give a BIG HUG to you all. Many thanks. Be well, With Love, Ethan.
Thank You All

Relevant article

2008-01-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I found this article to be fairly relevant to the GC. Minus the dirty dishes, Punk culture and Gothic references :-)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/garden/03punk.html

Sunsets Temples and Scooters

2008-01-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

Hello Family... Just wanted to check in and say that all is well from SE Asia. My time here is running out however I fly to India in less then a week, soon to be meeting up with Ashley. Latly my life has consisted of exploring temples and beaches.

To anwser your question Travis. I actually brought in the new year at a local Cambodian club in Phnom Phen. I met an French NGO worker and we cruised around the city to find the most exciting looking place to bring in the new year. We wanted to experience a Cambodian New Year celebration so we stayed away from the foriegner spots. At first I couldn't figure why the place felt a bit different. Everyone was super friendly and touchy feely, which is not like anywhere I have been in SE Asia, most local people don't really touch each other at all when in public. I thought this is cool its just like being back at the GC (kind of). Then we went to the dance floor and things got really interesting really fast. Turns out it was nearly all Cambodian men. We later find out that the club is a very well known gay pick up bar. And yes Alyssa, I did get a new years kiss but just one and it was just on the cheek(from the NGO girl).

Thanks for the post from home. Its always good to hear about quality gatherings coming from the home base. Of course I would expect nothing less coming out of the GC. Rachael I wish I could have been there to see you off, Blessings from Thailand.

Much Love as always,
Brent

Music and love!

2008-01-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

It was Rachel Scdoris' going away party. She is off to conquer the Iditarod!
We had a small gathering of perhaps 20 people. There was the usual variety of instruments and great singing. The energy was incredible! Many of those present knew the songs so it was a glorious chorus of joyful people (Brent, it was NW Jefferson style). We wound the night down with Jenna singing Trapeze Swinger amongst others. Anyone that has heard Jenna sing knows how soothing and wonderful her voice is. The fire crackled and we were all sprawled out in raptured silence.
It was a marvelous night at the Goodness Collective. To all of you in distant lands we missed you and love you!

In other news: Beegs' wigwam has become the new hotspot.

Hola Mi Familia

2007-12-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hey crew... I am in Cusco having a dreamy time...today I started spanish lessons and am staying with a family who are willing to help me figure out the language, which at this juncture is a lot like telling a blind kid how to build a model car. However the people are warm and friendly. I will be arriving in the new year a few hours ahead of you and will definatly tell it to treat you right. I have made some new friends and this evening I will be partying in the PLaza De Armas as thousands of Peruvians run through the streets in yellow knickers symbolizing prosperity. I am currently appreciating my new friend Cipro who I had this misfortune of meeting after buying food from cute lite old ladies in the streets...but I am on the up`and up and soon my intestines will be partying less and I will be partying more. I love you all so much and th radiance of you shines brighter than the Peruvian sun 3300 meters in the sky. After my classes I wil be heading out of Cusco towards Machu Pichu and then hopefully the Jungle...>Love you all...I`ll keep you posted...Glad you are all having such an epic time...

that time of year

2007-12-29T06:58:00.001-08:00

Well hello to all you stinking beautiful people. Looks as though the holidays are being done up in perfect style. My holiday plans changed a bit along the way. I am currently smack dab in the middle of them Ozark mountains. Yes, I cut my central america trip short a bit and came to the old home for the holidays. Its been a few years since I spent it with the family, and I do have a new little nephew I need to make occasional apperences for. So basically my trip consisted of weeks and weeks of surfing hours a day, some volcanos, lots of gallo pinto and amazing poeple and stories. Ah, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I will just have to make a seperate trip later to visit the rest. I heard there is good surf in El Salvador and I want to experience Guatamala without being rushed. But with that said I shall be spending the new years here in the middle country, then returning to that oh so beautiful land of mountains and bendites. I look forward to kicking off my shoes on the porch and stepping foot into the goodness company.
much love and even more love
allan

Merry Chrismas to the GC

2007-12-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

I spent my Christmas Eve swimming in the Mekong River, jumping off cliffs, and mountain biking around Don Det Island, followed by a beautiful sunset Lao dinner and party on the beach lit by the full moon.

I got to say the G.C. gathering looks off the hook, and you all look smashing. Everytime I check the blog I grab the attetion of who every is siting next to me at the internet cafe and brag about my friends.

I Love and Miss the whole Bend crew,

Brent

Snowflakes and Slippers

2007-12-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the slideshow was the best option since the website was giving me some difficulty with image posting.

The Goodness Collective has successfully hosted yet another gathering of beautiful inspiring people. Costumes were beautiful and many pairs of slippers were present. I have seen many of my friends in extravagent costume, but it was quite pleasant to see everyone in satirical formal wear. The house residents (in the photo above) were in fine form and hosted in classic GC fashion.
The food was of the greatest quality! There was ample food for the party as well.
David Bowers and Julia brought amazing energy to the event! There was the mellow beginning and then the fantastic last half wherein at least 15 people created a train and danced around the house. I believe the song was called "Locomotion". Dancing was unavoidable, and fully embraced throughout the night.
Then of course there was the slight disruption wherein Nick and myself acquired a few burns from attempting to blow flames. There were a few problems that contributed to the accident. First, I had not practiced it previously, and thus ignorantly stood next to Nick. Secondly, the wind was not in our favor, and lastly safety for the act was not adequate. Nick acquired more burns, but as of this posting he has been healing with miraculous speed. His left arm is still wrapped I believe, however it appears to be healing nicely. For myself, my face is almost entirely clear and my chest (I didn't have a shirt on) is coming along perfectly well. Tam has been monitoring both of us. We were accessed by a medical team and they agreed that there was no need for medical transport. Nick and I returned to the gathering after the appropriate evaluations and everyone continued to revel in the love and energy of good folks.
Someone brought a portable hookak! It was well recieved and was passed around for quite some time!
The house was quite full by around 8:00 and it was amazing how many people were able to fit in the kitchen and common space.
The wigwam was the relaxation area. There was a fire in the stove and christmas lights created a beautiful ambience. Loretta was playing guitar when I visited, and there must have been around 5 people enjoying the quiet.
And of course there was the cuddle puddle on the couch. They were all Kitties. We tend to find each other as the mayhem of any party subsides. It was a great night.

The Goodness Collective thanks you all... we send you love and sweet vibes!

And so it is, and so it was.....and there we were . -James

I am there...feeel mee!!! Touch my Mullet!!

2007-12-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

Have an excellent formal... I love yous....All of U's... I will fly in on my private...hairdo...

Edgefiled never new what hit it

2007-12-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

Crew you have all earned a degree in Mayhem...Leisure Class 2007...congrats!

TEX-ASS

2007-12-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hello bright and shiney northern hobbits...I have wandered to the land where styrofoam still roams I am doing the best I can to fit in withthe locals...upon landing I ingested Chik-fil-a...I am not sure of the long term sideffects of my behavior but I figure the large dose of merriment and fungus should keep me from smelling like old spice before I make it out of here for PERU! Thank you all for such an epic send off! If I were a large red squirell I would pick all of you from beneath the acorn tree...I would hide you in the trees and keep you safe from wind and snow...then each day I would take turns nibbbling on each and everyone of you!!! I am looking forward to seeing all of you dance when we are old! LOVE as bright as a thousand camel hairs falling towards the sun! XOXOXO!!! Love you !!!

No Snow Here

2007-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, It's quite pleasant in the North. I jumped on a bus and came all the way up to a town called Pai. Upon arrival I decided to get outside of the town and look for some where I could pitch my tent. As I was walking past a house next to a rice field an english women (Sara) came out and started a conversation with me. Eventually she offered her yard to me and later gave me access to her home as well. Turns out there is quite and large community of foriegners who have taken residence in this area. Through Sara and other people I have met many of the guest house owners, hotspring managers and various other people involved in the

community.

I've gotten some pretty sweet tips on hidden water falls, villages, and hotsprings in the area. Sara is also hosting a meditation group that I have been invovled in. There is even a posibility of house sitting for someone else for a while.

I'm stoked for the upcoming GC event I hope to hear all the deets and see the photos.

Allan you are a stud I can't wait to be reunited with you to share stories.

Trav make sure and give my love to the guest of honor.

Love Always,

Brent

Nicaragua

2007-12-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well hello beautiful people. It sounds like life is good for everyone. The warmth and love moving around the ogden house is ever so enviting. And Brent sounds like he is torn apart by options. At this moment I´m hanging out in Granada, and as many of you have experienced its a pretty neat town. Before Granada I spent a few days on Ometepe. What an incredible place. I hiked Madera and had some great views of Concepcion. While we where on the island Concepcion started blowing large clouds of ash. Which I guess is somewhat normal, but the size of the cloud was not. Even the locals where looking at each other with concerned faces. Before that, Jim and April and I met a guy in San Juan Del Sur. We stayed at his house out by Playa Madera and I had a few splended days of surfing. The waves where great and the sunsets too. I also went spear fishing with Matt, the guy I was staying with, which was very cool. So with all of you in my heart I´m off to find some more waves. This whole ocean thing seems to have gone to my head.
much love
allan

Winter Formal

2007-12-06T20:04:00.000-08:00

That's the fire burning in our house on a cold, late fall day. Today the rain turned to sleet/snow as I walked down the COCC hill.

And so, with all that chilliness coming to town, with school out, with people traveling back and forth this month to visit family and friends, with the holiday season here, with sharing and goodwill on our minds as the year begins to dwindle...

It's time for The Goodness Collective's 1st Annual Winter Formal/Slipper Potluck!

Yes, dress up (but be liberal with that idea!) and bring your slippers because nobody likes cold toes crammed into narrow pointy shoes. There will be music, fun, terrific food, and maybe even some contact improv dancing.

Please see the attached fliers for details. There will be music all night, including your own if you bring instruments...bring a dish of food if you can.
PLEASE avoid disposable plates, cups, silverware, etc!

Also be aware of food allergies and preferences...make whatever you like, but let me know if the dish has wheat, meat, nuts, or dairy in it, just in case.

Hope to see you! Dec. 16, Sunday, 6:30pm-??, at the Goodness Collective (our house on Ogden) in Bend.

Here we see Colin cutting his hair in eager anticipation of the big night...

So join us, have a lot of fun, and take care--

Trav

Thai Or No Thai?

2007-12-05T01:24:00.000-08:00

So I made it to Thailand, it is certainly a change of scenery over here. I have been in Thailand for nearly a week now and I'm now thinking that I would like to try something else, perhaps a different country. From what I am observing so far, I'm not so sure Thailand is the place for me right now. Don't get me wrong it is quite beautiful here, and there are alot of amazing things to do. But I'm not really feeling comfortable here, I think maybe the very strong preasure seeking vibe put off by the mass quantities of tourists is throwing me off a bit. Don't get me wrong the splunking, sea kyaking, deep water soloing, cliff jumping, frisbee on the beach, Thai food, island hoping, hiking, and snorkeling had been incredible.

But I'll keep you posted.

Steve thank you so much for teh GC update, it appears that things are better then ever over there. Much Love to all for the GC, I miss you all.