Happy St. Pat's and Look what I found!

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Happy St. Patty's Day!

This is the March 2018 version of my monthly newsletter The Eleven. If you're new here - welcome aboard - it's where I share my thinking on a wide range of topics and hope to entertain and educate and increase the good. Hop off anytime via the unsubscribe link below - or, add to the goodness in your life by updating your profile and trying one of my other offers (Business, music, trees, whatever you fancy!)

I've got to make this one brief because I'm expecting a knock on the door. Why is the 11 late this month? 1. I was in Philadelphia for my sister's daughter's bat mitzvah on 3.11 - but really - I wanted to share with you that image up on the top right. I had a feeling it was coming and I think it bodes well for this country and this world.

This is a map of the 18th congressional district of Pennsylvania. A district that our idiot leader won by 20 points in 2016. The arrows indicate the shift in voting towards democrats in an election that was narrowly won by Rep. Conor Lamb. So, when we work to remove gerrymandering; register to vote and vote; and work to stop Republicans from repressing the vote (and Russians from meddling in it) - things improve. I know - the candidate the R's put up was a creep - but still, my home state did something good and sent a big middle finger salute to 45.

In other news I continue to have a real passion for the Nextdoor platform. I wrote about Nextdoor a few years ago and am way overdue for an update with new things I've learned, but let's just say it is THE best neighborhood organizing tool that's ever existed . I highly recommend using it to drive positive change in your neighborhood. My current "tactic" is to begin conversations about how we can make simple positive changes - and then bring the conversation up from time to time adding in new information (new people keep joining the site, so it's also good to teach on an on-going basis). I've been adding these topics to my website, too. Here's a great example - City Parking .

Many complain about Nextdoor - it's too full of missing kittens and various arguments. But if you want to interest a few thousand of your neighbors to do something differently, and you can make a decent enough case - your neighborhood will change. I've been thinking of this as how to adjust my neighborhood via the senses - so far - Audio ( less using the car fob to lock/unlock one's car ; more playing instruments, Visual (what are the best choices for outdoor lighting?), and Smell is to come (don't burn your garbage; do plant lovely smelling plants like daphne...). I also have ongoing conversations regarding planting more trees and keeping existing ones standing and a few others.

Feel free to borrow any of my pages on these topics and post them to Nextdoor in your neighborhood with a short introduction and see what happens. I think my neighborhood has gotten quieter as less people use their fobs to lock their car doors. Quieter City, anyone? Yes! If you have a topic to recommend - by all means - send it my way.

I hope your St. Patty's Day is great! This woman was wandering the streets of Philadelphia last weekend - I thought her sash said "miss me!"

Much love,

Albert

PS - write me and tell me how your life is going.

PPS - new favorite song - Sailing to Philadelphia !