Thoughts & Deeds

I grew up on the Puget Sound, with sea water in view and the sound of gulls in my ears each day. Mine is a coastal folk, whether from Scotland or Ireland or Sweden, always near the water if not on it. The ocean delineates the boundaries of all I know, a comforting velvet rope marking the edges of my life and the adventures that will take place once I get from here to there.

I’ve never lived more than two hours from the Pacific Ocean. Not being near a body of water that large is like sleeping alone in a king size bed – when you’re in the middle of it you can’t stick your foot or arm out and know “ah yes, there’s the edge.” Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the ocean is my main geographical reference point. I know its shape as British Columbia becomes Washington becomes Oregon and moves on through California to become Mexico and South America. It tells me that our borders don’t matter, that the sea endures when these borders change and are washed away by the next tide.

Whether it’s on a sandy beach in Oceanside or the black pahoehoe of Hawai’i, facing the enormity of the ocean is sublime. No matter who or what we are in life, we all came from those briny depths. Oceans contain us and give us form, challenge us to cross them, soothe us to sleep, threaten to unmake us.

Without them, we are nothing.

Sure, it’s supposed to be sunny and 80 in Portland on Monday, but today it’s a grey, wet April day. To keep things green and growing, I’ve lined up some of my favorite songs about rain to encourage the rain to stick around this month. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sun, but April was made for rain. … more

One of the things I appreciate about Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland, is that he’s tech-savvy. Like President Obama, he’s hip to the tools the internet has to offer. He has a Twitter account, a nice little mayoral website, and ran a good election campaign. His use of technology makes him feel accessible, and that’s important to me. … more

This isn’t a snow town. We’re more a rainy and cold sort of folk, and when the “white stuff” hits PDX we all panic a bit. Now, I’m a native lowlands northwester and never learned to drive in the snow, so I’m not sure what excuse all you transplants from the midwest and east coast have. But it’s true, in Portland all it takes is an inch of snow and you’ll be snowed in. … more

One of the wonderful things about running a creative agency is that on the rare 70 degree mid-October day you can play hookey and enjoy the sun. You can’t take a gift like this and stay inside in the Pacific Northwest. No! It’s an imperative to get outside, recharge, enjoy the weather and get some vitamin D. … more

I’ve been lucky over the years to work for companies and in offices that allow me to bring my dog to work. Portland is definitely a dog-oriented town and having pooches in the office seems like a right and not a perk for many people. At past jobs, I knew things were really going downhill when dogs were banned from the workplace; it starts with banning dogs and ends in reduced benefits or salaries and a generally demoralized culture.

One of the many great things about running my own business is that I can bring my dog to work whenever I want. Often, my one dilemma about bringing Josie – my loveable, energetic 3-year-old German Shepherd/Lab mix – is that having her at work means driving my car instead of biking. I hate driving to work, even though the parking is free. It makes me feel so lazy! And it means that Josie doesn’t always get the exercise she needs in a day, so she’s antsy under my desk all day.

A few months ago, Kathy and I wondered if we could combine biking with exercising Josie and experimented with tying her leash to my seatpost and going for a spin around the neighborhood. Success! Though that worked pretty well, it didn’t feel that safe. So we bought a Walky Dog bike attachment, which is the most amazing dog exercise gadget of all time. We started taking Josie for bike rides whenever she really needed a good dog-speed sprint. A tired dog is happy, well-behaved dog! This got me to thinking about biking to work with her, since she’d get to run three miles each way, I’d still get to bike, and we’d combine her morning walk with my morning commute. Win-win-win!

Yesterday marked our inaugural Bike n’ Bark ride to the office. It worked! Josie was a pooped pooch for a good while at the office and had a lot of fun running home. I love that I have enough bike routes options for getting to work that I can choose one that’s safe for me and the dog. I love living in a city that makes biking a priority. I love living in a dog-friendly town. And I love that people smile when they see us!

Josie and I will definitely be biking to work more often!

I used to be a bus commuter. It was better than trying to drive to work in bumper-to-bumper traffic then have to pay for parking, and at least I could read while I sat (or stood) in a cramped bus. Depending on where I worked at the time, my commute took from 30 – 60 minutes each way. I sure got a lot of reading done, and met some “interesting” people along the way. I also learned a lot about patience, tolerance, and holding my breath when “Cat Pee Lady” was on the #15 bus with me yet again. … more

As a native Pacific Northwester, I know just how fleeting good weather can seem. People complain about all the rain, more rain, and also the paucity of warm sunny days. The northwest is a land of transplants from other regions, many of whom apparently believe the myth that the weather in the northwest sucks. Perhaps it’s my native webbed feet or my naturally lower body temperature, but I love it here just the way it is. … more

Portland is a small small town in some ways. Working in the interactive industry only seems to exaggerate the smallness, since everyone has worked with everyone somewhere along the line. If I had a nickel for every time I met a prospective client who turned out to be best friends with a friend, friends with a coworker, cousin of a teammate — or what have you — I’d certainly be rich by now. Life is like Alice’s relationship map on The L Word; we’re all woven together more tightly than we think. … more

The pop/synth band Freezepop has a catchy little tune about casual bike thieving that I’ve always found entertaining. But as “they” say, it’s all fun and games until someone loses and eye, or until someone steals your bike. I’ve been the target of theft a couple of times over the years, mostly related to a Honda Civic I used to have. It’s a pretty icky feeling to know that some loser/meth head has crawled all over your stuff, looking for money or things to steal. But somehow that’s less irritating than having your bike stolen. … more