The Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley. They called it Ojai, which derives from the Ventureño Chumash word ʼawhaý meaning “moon.”

“Most cherished in this mundane world is a place without traffic; truly in the midst of a city there can be mountain and forest.”

- Wen Zhengming (1470 -1559)

(Pictured above: The Moon Locking Pavilion in the middle of Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden with the US Bancorp Tower, aka Big Pink, in the distance.)

27 weeks and counting…

For my birthday today, my little girl “gave” me/herself this adorable onesie (sp?).  I don’t know how she found the time to do so with all of that sleeping and kicking in Kim’s belly.  Needless to say though, it made my day.

Oh yeah, did I mention…it’s a GIRL!!

Kim and I just got back from an incredible trip up to Portland.  We’ve long romanticized the City of Roses, based on all the good things we’ve read and heard about the place for some time now.  Given our high expectations, it’s kind of amazing that it not only lived up to the hype, but in many ways, exceeded it.

That said, we certainly picked the right time of the year to pay a visit.  As our shuttle driver from the airport told us, “Portland has two seasons – winter and August!”  So we probably didn’t get the full picture in regards to weather.  Honestly, if it weren’t for all the rain and gray skies that the city normally deals with, I think we would be moving there sooner than later.  Why does there always have to be a catch?!

Our reason for finally visiting Portland, was that Kim attended the first all vegan blogger conference, Vida Vegan Con.  Fortunately, we were able to bookend our trip with a few extra days for the two of us to enjoy and explore the city together, but I still ended up with a significant amount of  time on my own.

Rather than mainly shooting stills on this trip, I decided to have some fun filming video whilst on my craft beer tour of the town.  Right before we left LA, a good friend turned us onto the new sketch show Portlandia, which is absolutely fantastic, and I ended up using their opening titles sequence as the inspiration for my own little piece I’m calling – Ode to Portland(ia)

I mean, we’re having a baby!  (Kim’s just doing most of the work.)  The lil guy/gal is due out this January, and we’re very excited to being stepping off the cliff into parenthood…

“The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

- Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

- Dalai Lama

(Above: Members of Peaceful Uprising shut down a major intersection and train crossing in downtown Salt Lake City following the sentencing of Tim DeChristopher.)

You law abiding citizens
Come listen to this song
Laws are made by people
And people can be wrong
Once unions were against the law
But slavery was fine
Women were denied the vote
While children worked the mine
The more you study history
The less you can deny it
A rotten law stays on the books
’til folks with guts defy it!

- Peter, Paul & Mary

(Above: Peter Yarrow sings with members of Peaceful Uprising outside the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, during the sentencing of Tim DeChristopher)

“If… the machine of government… is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”

- Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobediance, 1849

(Above: Members of Peaceful Uprising take over the federal courthouse steps in Salt Lake City, following the sentencing of Tim DeChristopher)