Hi there, 

Do you see that video up there? Please click on it! It was made for me by Deb Rodney and Nolan Calisch of Flying Point Moving Pictures. I'm so excited that it's here - and that it was so easy and fun to work with Deb and Nolan. Deb is offering a one-hour free consulting session to discuss making a video for you or your business. Also, those groovy bumpers (tech for the beginning and ending pieces of the video) - were expertly done by my friend, Andros of Starchild Interactive. 

I live and work in a magical realm of gifting, barter, trade and money and somehow it's all flowing well right now. 

A week ago, Eecole and I took a trip to Manzanita, Oregon, where we rented a lovely beach house for 4 days. I posted a set of photographs of my time capturing this sunset - one of the lowest tides I've ever seen, and well, enjoy :)

It's day 5 of the snow/ice combination here in Portlandia which has many of us hunkered down and coming to a stop. I feel so grateful that I don't have anything pressing where I have to leave my neighborhood. And there's definitely a part of me which is appreciating the slowed down pace so much - that I wish it wouldn't end! If you've been following my newsletter for a while, you probably know that I'm a big fan of everyone working a lot less :)  I so love that people are getting more time with their families; playing board games; getting bored together; cooking; and spending less time commuting and working. Yeah for more leisure time! I heard a story on NPR last week that was talking about how China shuts down for 2 weeks to celebrate their new year. Completely shuts down. The only things open are restaurants - and many people don't come back to work for weeks or months after that.  I wish we could find our way to at least one 2-week long shut-down of our economy in the U.S.  Europe is another great example: people start with a month of holidays, generally.  And work their way up from there :)  When I lived in Munich for a couple years, my company started me with 6 weeks of holidays (plus, the Bavarians have about 2 weeks of religious holidays...), which makes for a much more relaxed pace of life...  So, if it has to be the weather which slows us down? OK, so be it! 

In other recent news, I hosted a webinar last week - and had 90 attendees who stuck with me for the full hour and a half. If you're curious, it's on-line, here. The first hour is all about how to use Constant Contact. If you can find the sections (at about the one-hour mark) that I did on FB and LinkedIn, they're pretty useful :)  I have a feeling I'll be doing more of these - if you have a topic you'd like me to cover, please let me know! 

And now it's time for something cute and wonderful. My friend, Natalie singing Stand by Me. 

Stand by Me - Natalie Staggs

Yeah, sometimes life is just that precious :)

I hope life is treating you well.  

With gratitude,

Albert 

Portlandia, Oreganic