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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240616
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240902
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SUMMARY:Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Archive
DESCRIPTION:Avalokiteśvara from the Ajanta Caves \n  \n  \nOpen Road Meditation & Mindfulness Community \n  \nIn September of 2020\, Open Road board members–Bill Faricy\, Deborah Buchanan and Katie Radditz–along with Howard Thoresen and I\, inaugurated the Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Community\, for people who live in prison and for those who don’t. If you are interested in meditation and mindfulness\, you are welcome to join us. The idea of the Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue is to provide support and encouragement for your spiritual practice–that is\, whatever gives your life meaning. \n  \nWe are not promoting any religious tradition. We will just be sharing our thoughts\, experiences\, questions and friendship in order to support and encourage each other in living more peacefully and mindfully. To begin\, we will be using Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh as a jumping off point for dialogue. As we go along\, we will use other inspirational texts and poems\, along with everyone’s personal ruminations. \n  \nI will coordinate the writings of prison residents through the Open Road post office box\, and use email for everyone else. To begin\, everyone is invited to find one of the 365 meditations in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book that inspires you and write something in response to it. You can use other sources of inspiration as well. \n  \nOn the 15th of every month I will send out what I’ve collected from everyone to all the participants. You are free to respond to what other people write\, or just ponder it. \n  \nHere is the first Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on September 15\, 2020. \nHere’s the second Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on October 15\, 2020. \nHere’s the third Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on November 15\, 2020. \nHere’s the fourth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on December 15\, 2020. \nHere’s the fifth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on January 15\, 2021. \nHere’s the sixth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on February 15\, 2021. \nHere’s the seventh Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue\, published on March 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15\, 2021. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15\, 2022. \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15\, 2022 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15\, 2022 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15\, 2022 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15\, 2023 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15\, 2024 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15\, 2024 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15\, 2024 \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15\, 2024   \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15\, 2024  \nMeditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15\, 2024 \n  \nHere are two meditation texts:  \na talk on Beginner’s Mind by Shunryū Suzuki (1904-1971) \nthe earliest Zen text\, Hsin Hsin Ming\, by Seng Ts’an\, the Third Zen Patriarch (529-606 A.D.) \nIf you’d like to join our merry band\, email me and let me know. \n  \nJake was in segregation (solitary confinement) at Two Rivers prison when he wrote this: \n\n49 – What is a leaf?\n \nIs one of my favorites! In segregation we have paintings that are of different scenes. At first it was cool\, then I and others got over it. But since putting this wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh in perspective you see more than a painting. For it opens my eyes to the time\, the painter\, the painter’s years of art skills\, everything down to what makes paint…paint. There are so many miracles that came together to make these paintings! It’s amazing. Now I try to be mindful of what miracles come into place to make people I meet\, foods I eat. Being conscious of what had to come together to create your best friend or your favorite food gives you much more appreciation for how they come to be in your life .\n \nThank you for giving me a chance\, Johnny. I’m really working on myself. My goal is day by day. (Today be less ego-oriented.) Trying to not care who judges me for being me. Because that’s not my problem\, I am happy and peaceful. It’s been a sacrifice\, but as I’m learning sacrifice is the way to a peaceful life!\n \nPeace Love Happiness\n \n–Jake\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \nMay all people be happy. \nMay we live in love. \n  \n–Johnny Stallings \nExecutive Director\, The Open Road
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/open-road-meditation-mindfulness-archive/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240801
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240905
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SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding  8/1/24
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nAugust 1\, 2024 \n  \n        I put on my glasses \nto see the fog \n         more clearly \n  \n—John Brehm \n* \n  \nWalking Through a Wall \n  \nUnlike flying or astral projection\, walking through walls is a totally earth-related craft\, but a lot more interesting than pot making or driftwood lamps. I got started at a picnic up in Bowstring in the northern part of the state. A fellow walked through a brick wall right there in the park. I said\, ‘Say\, I want to try that.’ Stone walls are best\, then brick and wood. Wooden walls with fiberglass insulation and steel doors aren’t so good. They won’t hurt you. If your wall walking is done properly\, both you and the wall are left intact. It is just that they aren’t pleasant somehow. The worst things are wire fences\, maybe it’s the molecular structure of the alloy or just the amount of give in a fence\, I don’t know\, but I’ve torn my jacket and lost my hat in a lot of fences. The best approach to a wall is\, first\, two hands placed flat against the surface; it’s a matter of concentration and just the right pressure. You will feel the dry\, cool inner wall with your fingers\, then there is a moment of total darkness before you step through on the other side. \n  \n—Louis Jenkins \n* \n  \nWhat did the zen master say to the hot dog vender? \nMake me one with everything. \n  \nI was reminded of that joke because of the ending of a stop-action animated film we just watched\, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On\, about a one inch snail who has lost his family. It was sweet\, funny\, odd\, and unexpectedly touching. \n  \nBut I thought you’d especially like this excerpt from the end of the script\, in which Marcel is sitting on a window sill\, the window is open a crack\, and a breeze is blowing past him: \n  \nThe wind blows through Marcel’s shell\, creating a LOW PLAINTIVE HUM. \nMARCEL: Can you hear it? That’s it. That’s going through my shell.  \nWIDE ON THE ROOM  \nIt’s a normal laundry room. But in this moment\, in this afternoon light\, in this breeze\, we feel something transcendent.  \nMARCEL (V.O.): It connected me\, I felt\, to everything. Because if I wasn’t there the sound would never exist. I felt like everything was in pieces but when I stood there\, suddenly we were one large instrument. I like to go there a lot. Because it reminds me that I’m not just one separate piece rattling around in this place\, but that I’m part of a whole. And I truly enjoy the sound of myself connected to everything.  \nMarcel sits on an eraser\, looking out the window. His shell HUMS with the wind.  \nCUT TO BLACK  \n  \n—J Kahn \n* \n  \nI replied to J in an email: \n  \nThanks\, J. \n  \nSounds like my kind of movie. \n  \nWith the ending they are trying to say something very simple\, which is difficult to put into words–and is the most important thing in the world. \n  \nIn Act 3 of Our Town\, Emily feels that feeling and is brokenhearted that other people aren’t feeling it. \n  \nI don’t know if it is what Tom Waits is talking about in this song\, but the song is very evocative of something\, in any case: \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-c5L_45_gA \n  \nThat Feel \n  \nWell there’s one thing you can’t lose \nIt’s that feel \nYour pants\, your shirt\, your shoes \nBut not that feel \nYou can throw it out in the rain \nYou can whip it like a dog \nYou can chop it down like an old dead tree \nYou can always see it \nWhen you’re coming into town \nOnce you hang it on the wall \nYou can never take it down \n  \nBut there’s one thing you can’t lose \nAnd it’s that feel \nYou can pawn your watch and chain \nBut not that feel \nIt always comes and finds you \nIt will always hear you cry \nI cross my wooden leg \nAnd I swear on my glass eye \nIt will never leave you high and dry \nNever leave you loose \nIt’s harder to get rid of than tattoos \n  \nBut there’s one thing you can’t do \nIs lose that feel \nYou can throw it off a bridge \nYou can lose it in the fire \nYou can leave it at the altar \nBut it will make you out a liar \nYou can fall down in the street \nYou can leave it in the lurch \nWell you say that it’s gospel \nBut I know that it’s only church \n  \nAnd there’s one thing you can’t lose \nAnd it’s that feel \nIt’s that feel \n  \n–Tom Waits \n  \nAnd then there’s this poem\, which was in the April 1\, 2021 issue of peace\, love\, happiness & understanding. It’s good enough to share again: \n  \nNirvana \n  \nnot much chance\, \ncompletely cut loose from \npurpose\, \nhe was a young man \nriding a bus \nthrough North Carolina \non the way to somewhere \nand it began to snow \nand the bus stopped  \nat a little cafe \nin the hills \nand the passengers  \nentered. \nhe sat at the counter \nwith the others\, \nhe ordered and the  \nfood arrived. \nthe meal was \nparticularly \ngood  \nand the \ncoffee. \nthe waitress was  \nunlike the women \nhe had \nknown. \nshe was unaffected\, \nthere was a natural \nhumor which came \nfrom her. \nthe fry cook said \ncrazy things. \nthe dishwasher. \nin back\, \nlaughed\, a good \nclean \npleasant \nlaugh. \nthe young man watched \nthe snow through the \nwindows. \nhe wanted to stay \nin that cafe \nforever. \nthe curious feeling \nswam through him \nthat everything  \nwas \nbeautiful \nthere\, \nthat it would always \nstay beautiful \nthere. \nthen the bus driver \ntold the passengers \nthat it was time \nto board. \nthe young man \nthought\, I’ll just sit \nhere\, I’ll just stay \nhere. \nbut then \nhe rose and followed \nthe others into the \nbus. \nhe found his seat \nand looked at the cafe \nthrough the bus \nwindow. \nthen the bus moved \noff\, down a curve\, \ndownward\, out of \nthe hills. \nthe young man  \nlooked straight  \nforward. \nhe heard the other \npassengers \nspeaking  \nof other things\, \nor they were \nreading \nor \nattempting to \nsleep. \nthey had not  \nnoticed  \nthe \nmagic. \nthe young man \nput his head to \none side\, \nclosed his \neyes\, \npretended to \nsleep. \nthere was nothing \nelse to do- \njust to listen to the \nsound of the \nengine\, \nthe sound of the  \ntires  \nin the \nsnow. \n  \n–Charles Bukowski \n  \npeace\, love & that feeling \n  \nJohnny \n* \n  \n6-29-24 \n  \nDear Johnny\, \n  \nIt’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon & my work is finished for the day. My mind is always full of thoughts of life outside the walls of prison these days\, all of them good. It sometimes occurs to me that my past life feels like it was just a dream & that I’ve never been out of prison. I’m sure that one day my whole life will seem like one long dream. Who’s to say that it’s not just that? \n  \nI had a bunch of flowers left over from the plots & I asked if I could place them along the window sills here on my new unit. I was given permission to do so. Now the whole front of H Unit is covered in bright-colored flowers & I’ve gotten a lot of positive comments! It feels good to make things beautiful here. What I’ve done with plants & flowers\, Johnny\, you’ve done with people in and out of prison. Once I’m out\, my plan is to do what you’ve done\, plant seeds in people and help them to reclaim their lives. Well…we will see what happens once I’m out. Maybe a few friends & a good job & happiness in a simple life would be more my speed right now. \n  \n7-1-24 \n  \nHere is something nice that I’ve been thinking about for the letters we all share. Being in a cell lets me have personal time to think and write. \n  \nGood things are what I need to rent space in my head. My waking life is full of dreams that come to pass. Never again will I take for granted the world that is waiting beyond the walls\, razor wire & glass. I try to bring the beauty of the world outside in here. \n  \n7-9-24 \n  \nThe way we all think and express how we feel about the kindness we see and share with each other in the group letters we compile for me is sweet as honey dripping into my soul. We are on the path to the core of the golden world\, all of us are the shining ones helping others to find this world as well. \n  \nI love the Mary Oliver poem that Ms. Jill Littlewood shared with us called “The Summer Day”! And to you\, Ms. Littlewood\, I must say… \n  \nI do not know who made the swan or black bear\, or the grasshopper\, or you\, or me. What I do know is that if all of my days were like the one summer day in this poem\, it in itself would be bliss. Most of my days are spent in a greenhouse and I do have grasshoppers. I even have a rock chuck who eats my kale! My prayers are to life & love & joy and friends. I speak them to the morning sun and to my coffee. With my one wild and precious life I simply plan to be content. \n  \nHarvesting saffron in the summer morning sun was a gift today. Most of the time these days it does not even feel like prison to me anymore.  \n  \nMy mind is always on what it will be like to have a different scale of freedom in this world…. My perception of freedom is I’m sure quite different than most. \n  \nWell\, I love you Johnny & will talk to you soon. \n  \nGood things Always \nRocky \n* \n  \nJune 23\, 2024 \n  \nJohnny\, \n  \nThank you for the copy of Every Day\, Holy Day. I really appreciate your doing this for me. Life at OSCI goes well. I’ve been here over 30 days now; still settling into my routine\, but much here is differently-same. (More of a reasonable and calm state\, yet still a carceral environment with a few “toughs” to keep things interesting.) I find I’m exposed to far fewer people here. It’s not just a smaller population\, but each unit is more isolated than it seemed at TRCI\, including overlapping at meals and pill-line. Each keeps to one’s own “people” or unit. All-in-all\, it’s much nicer here! \n  \nTopic: Joy. Moments come when the heart dances in the light. So much more than the experience of fun\, or even happiness\, joy erupts when the inner sphere scintillates in its completeness. An experience touches us to the depths of our souls\, and in that moment we are graced with a vision—if only fleetingly—of the flawless wholeness and perfection of all. Then the heart fills and flows over\, even amid the brokenness of the world. \n  \nWeek’s mantra: Mouth filled with laughter\, ears with shouts of joy. \n  \nPractice: Step away from your busyness and savor several moments every day; feel the joy that is available to you.  —from Every Day\, Holy Day by Alan Morinis \n  \n“Heart dances in the light…joy erupts when the inner sphere scintillates in its completeness.” Such an image! To touch the “flawless wholeness and perfection of it all.” (I struggle today with RA [Rheumatoid Arthritis] stiffness and pain\, in addition to allergy congestion.) The step back; the step to smell the roses; it’s developing the awareness of life’s variegated moments as they pass. Some as “happy little clouds.” Others pendulous with precipitation\, yet to be deposited on earth. No matter my opinion of the moment—good\, bad\, etc.—moments for experiencing joy abound. I have but to develop my awareness. \n  \n—Michel Deforge \n* \n  \nPeace Love Happiness and Understanding… \n  \n…can be hard to come by in this blistering hot\, suffocating weather.  \n  \nI have been angry at the weather: Whoever heard of ‘heat domes’ until a couple of years ago? Whoever needed ‘cooling shelters’ until a few years ago? The heat wave would cool naturally in a few days—-well\, not anymore.  So I’m mad at Republicans\, corporations\, anybody who calls climate disasters ‘natural’\, etc. etc.  \n  \nBut then it boils down (haha) to me\, personally\, of course. Instead of enjoying my coveted 5-7 a.m. reading and coffee time\, I have to go out at 5 a.m. to water my gardens\, put shade covers on the hydrangeas\, do whatever garden work I need to do before the heat hits again. Or\, most aggravating of all (poor me)\, I have to get a bike ride in at that time and finish before it hits 80 degrees at 9 a.m.! That ‘poor me’ should not be in parentheses; this is serious stuff. \n  \nSo with that merry attitude\, I hopped on the bike yesterday at 6 a.m. It was 58 degrees\, and felt…deliciously cool!  Well\, that’s not gonna last\, I growled. But it was\, in fact\, deliciously cool\, and fresh. And with cool and fresh I breathed in the almost tangible fragrance…of green. The emerald green of grass-filled meadows. The nearby meadows of one hundred lovely sheep\, all browsing heads down munching on the meadow. I love those sheep. ‘Hi sheep!\,’ I called\, as I always do. A few of them looked up\, and I could swear they nodded at me. But how can they be enjoying themselves with those hot\, wool coats on?\, I grimaced. It felt good to have other creatures to commiserate with\, even though the sheep didn’t appear to realize they were miserable. \n  \nAnd then…and then…the sun rose from behind Bald Butte and bathed the fields in gold. It backlit the patches of Timothy hay and the nodding heads of wheat in a shimmering light. Golden wheat\, sky blue chicory\, pearly pink sweet peas lined the road. \n  \nThe birds exalted in the sunrise—-the soft staccato of the mourning doves\, warbling meadow larks\, the chirping and twirping of all\, cheering the arrival of the sun. Before I could stop\, I found myself chirping and twirping and cheering this heavenly morning along with all the other creatures.  \n  \n—Jude Russell \n* \n  \nThis poem was published in Gary Snyder’s book Turtle Island\, in 1969–a time when America was in a great divide of culture\, politics\, generations.  A time of war\, protests. The poem is like a timely marker\, to engage in creating a more peaceful world.  \n\n\n  \n  \n\n\n\nI Went into the Maverick Bar\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\nI went into the Maverick Bar   \nIn Farmington\, New Mexico.\nAnd drank double shots of bourbon\n                         backed with beer.\nMy long hair was tucked up under a cap\nI’d left the earring in the car.\n\n  \n\n\nTwo cowboys did horseplay\n                         by the pool tables\,\nA waitress asked us\n                         where are you from?\na country-and-western band began to play   \n“We don’t smoke Marijuana in Muskokie”   \nAnd with the next song\,\n                         a couple began to dance.\n\n\n\n  \n\n\nThey held each other like in High School dances   \n                         in the fifties;\nI recalled when I worked in the woods\n                         and the bars of Madras\, Oregon.   \nThat short-haired joy and roughness—\n                         America—your stupidity.   \nI could almost love you again.\n\n\n  \n\nWe left—onto the freeway shoulders—\n                         under the tough old stars—\nIn the shadow of bluffs\n                         I came back to myself\,\nTo the real work\, to\n                         “What is to be done.”\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n— GARY SNYDER\n\n\n\n\n  \n\nNot surprisingly\, yet remarkably\, Johnny and my husband Bill recognized immediately the last line. It is the title of an 1863 novel written by  Nikolay Chernyshevsky. “Chernyshevsky’s novel\, far more than Marx’s Capital\, supplied the emotional dynamic that eventually went to make the Russian Revolution.” (Wikipedia)\n\n\n\n  \n\n–Katie Radditz
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-8-1-24/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240903
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240911
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240610T214559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240918T190328Z
UID:4749-1725321600-1726012799@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Charles Erickson\, artist
DESCRIPTION:  \nThis theatrical prop (above)\, including myself in the foreground\, is an introduction to my present series of paintings about the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.  \nIt is about the mind and the five organs of sense–eye\, ear\, tongue\, nose and skin–represented by the five painted portals. \n  \n“That call’d Body is a portion of Soul discern’d by the five Senses\, the chief inlets of Soul in this age.” \n–William Blake\, from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell \n  \nOne portal is on the left\, and one is on the right. There are three portals in back. The portal on the left is the ear\, the portal on the right is the eye. The ear and the eye are cognitive senses\, rich in information\, and accessible to language.  \nThe central portal in the back is skin. The other two are tongue and nose.  \nSkin\, unlike the other sense organs\, is all over the body–so it was called sensus communis in the Middle Ages. There is a reason skin is in the middle. It’s a unifier\, in the same way that the mind is a unifier. There is a central axis between the mind and the skin. \n* \nHere’s a passage about the transformation on Mount Tabor\, from the gospel of Luke: \n  \n28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings\, he took Peter and John and James\, and went up into a mountain to pray. \n29 And as he prayed\, the fashion of his countenance was altered\, and his raiment was white and glistering. \n30 And\, behold\, there talked with him two men\, which were Moses and Elias: \n31 Who appeared in glory\, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. \n32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake\, they saw his glory\, and the two men that stood with him. \n33 And it came to pass\, as they departed from him\, Peter said unto Jesus\, Master\, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee\, and one for Moses\, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. \n34 While he thus spake\, there came a cloud\, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. \n35 And there came a voice out of the cloud\, saying\, This is my beloved Son: hear him. \n36 And when the voice was past\, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close\, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen \nLuke 9:28-36 \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \n \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/charles-erickson-artist/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240903
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241013
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240903T170527Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240903T171359Z
UID:4925-1725321600-1728777599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:Paintings by Jake Scharbach at Froelick Gallery
DESCRIPTION:painting by Jake Scharbach \n  \nJake Scharbach’s paintings will be exhibited at Froelick Gallery\, September 3-October 12. \n  \nThe First Thursday Reception is September 5\, 5-8 pm. \n  \nHe will give a talk at the gallery on Saturday\, September 7th\, at 11 a.m.  \n  \nFroelick Gallery is at 714 NW Davis\, in Portland.  \n  \n  \n  \nJake is Nancy’s nephew. We’re very excited about the show!   \n  \n  \npeace\, love & happiness   \nJohnny
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/paintings-by-jake-scharbach-at-froelick-gallery/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240903T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240903T170000
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240903T232447Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240903T232447Z
UID:4973-1725350400-1725382800@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:¡Bibliophiles Unanimous!   9/15/24
DESCRIPTION:  \n¡Bibliophiles Unanimous!  \n  \nFriendly online conversation that starts out with books and…meanders.  \nHere’s the Zoom link:  \n  \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/87614013058.   \n  \nSeptember 15th\, 3 pm:  Books That Changed the Way You See the World \nOctober 13th\, 3 pm: Favorite Poems & Poets \nNovember 17th\, 3 pm: Oddball Books \nFree
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-9-15-24/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240905
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241003
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240905T234946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250718T140259Z
UID:5018-1725494400-1727913599@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:peace\, love\, happiness & understanding   9/5/24
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE OPEN ROAD \npeace\, love\, happiness & understanding \n  \nSeptember 5\, 2024 \n  \n  \nBroken and broken \nAgain on the sea  \nThe moon so easily mends.  \n  \nUeda Chōshū \n _________________ \nWe Are All Going into the Future Together \n  \nJohnny has framed this newsletter – Peace\, Love\, Happiness and Understanding – to give readers a sense of joy. He has asked me to write about being a futurist\, an optimistic futurist\, knowing that it is part of my practice to find good things in the world. Every day I try to find signals of hope from what is emerging – in the news\, online\, in conversation and from observation.  \n  \nTwo things about the future: there are no facts (as if we needed proof given our recent political stories) and\, the future belongs to all of us. We are going into it together\, learning as we go.  \n  \nWhen I connect to people who think about the future we construct and play games as we set up scenarios that might come into being. Here is a recent one: millions of people will be migrating from too-hot-to-live-in places to places that aren’t as devastated yet. I’m in Oregon so people will be moving here for sure. How do I feel about that? What can/should I do? What problems and possibilities are there in this scenario? \n  \nMy first thought is\, “Wait. What? People coming here to my block? I don’t know them – they could be from anywhere.” I sit with this and then think how much I have and how much I’d like to share. I begin to think about how my neighborhood could embrace a new family. Could I put a small house in my yard? Could I find friends and neighbors who would pool money to buy a place they could gift this family until they could pay rent? Could I move in with one of my kids (or vice versa) and give a displaced family somewhere to get a new life started ? Could a group of friends build a house like Habitat for Humanity does? And then I start to get excited about exchanging ideas and culture with new people. As a teacher\, artist and grandma I’d love to teach their kids art\, or sit in their kitchen smelling their cooking\, or share some of mine. My granddaughter could meet their daughter and who knows where that could go? \n  \nThe futurists I hang out with are part of an online community started by Jane McGonigal. Years ago I read her book “Reality is Broken” because my boys were spending so much time on video games and playing Warhammer and I didn’t understand their fascination. Jane’s book opened my eyes to the foundation of games: to make a game you set a goal and then put obstacles in the way. Think golf: you could just walk over and put the ball in the cup. To make it a game you have all kinds of complicated rules involving special equipment\, spaces\, time\, scoring. And though golf doesn’t interest me I began to realize that as an artist I set up rules to play by every day. Will I use watercolors or acrylics? Big brush or small – arm motion or wrist motion? Abstract or realistic? Political or decorative? And so on. What this has to do with futurists is the real game\, the underlying game\, is “What if?” What if I use only blues? (Picasso’s Blue Period.) What if I accentuate B&W contrasts and shadows? (Think film Noir.) What if I put lots of mirrors facing each other and walk between them? (Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms.) \n  \nArtists make up their own rules and play by them. Artists and futurists ask “What if?” to guide them to new places. \n  \nIn our online group\, urgentoptimists.org\, we look ten years in the future and imagine: \n  \n“What if there was a huge climate event that knocked out food production across a wide band of the earth?” \n“What kinds of new holidays and celebrations would you like to be part of?” \n“What impact will AI have on medical care\, education\, business\, art\, politics?” \n“How might we meet a new pandemic and what have we learned from Covid?” \n“Tomorrow is the last day of trash pick-up for everyone\, forever. What have you (and your town/city) done to get ready for this moment?” \n  \nJane’s recent book is “Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Be Ready for Anything.” As a game developer she knows how to make learning interesting and inventive. For Urgent Optimists she designs a scenario\, like the ones above\, and we are prompted each day for a week to write and post journal entries from the future (usually ten years\, so 2034); or create an artifact (design a poster for the new holiday “Ancestor Appreciation Day”); or contribute to a poll that asks how we’d feel being in 110 degree weather for a week.  \n  \nFrom all around the globe people answer Jane’s prompts as if they’re in 2034 and this is their reality. They share hopes\, fears and cautions. They sleuth out signs that whatever-it-is is starting to happen now. Many places around the world have had 110 degree weather for a week and more\, and that number is increasing. Where do we see signs of solutions?  \n  \nThis is foresight as a verb. Once your mind has gone to that place\, no matter what question it is answering\, you have a different way of imagining the future. You’ve imagined the people you are connected to in that future: your family\, friends\, neighbors\, city\, country\, globe. Everyone and everything plays together: mycelium and birds and streams and avalanches and a girl eating a corn dog at the county fair in Nebraska or a boy eating yak-on-a-stick in Mongolia all come together – the yin and the yang of the great wheel of fortune. The murderer who types on a computer and the one with a sawed off shotgun. The baby blessed and the baby abandoned. The open road and the closed cell. We are all going into the future together. But since there are no facts\, you and I are just as expert at drawing a picture of it. We are all immigrants in the future\, dancing as we go. \n  \n—Jill Littlewood \n* \n  \nLike all the other hippies\, back in the day\, I spent a lot of reading and re-reading The Whole Earth Catalog. It was a kind of Bible to us. It was a way of finding out about things before there was an Internet. A futurist and inventor named Buckminster Fuller was prominently featured in its pages. He invented the geodesic dome\, and many of us dutifully did our best to build them on our hippie communes. As a young man “Bucky” had spent a lot of time imagining the future\, what problems might arise\, and how to solve them. He hoped that by getting a 50-year head start on the problems\, by the time they arrived we’d be ready for them. Maybe we could even prevent some bad things from happening. A book of some of his speeches was titled Utopia or Oblivion. Those were our choices\, he said. Since oblivion is not very interesting\, he decided to devote his intelligence\, imagination and energy to utopia. \n  \nFuller invented something he called “The World Game.” The object of the World Game is to “make the world work.” Anyone can play. Maybe everyone is already playing it\, but some strategies aren’t working out too well. \n  \nIf you imagine you have enemies\, you might prepare to fight. You might actually fight. If you imagine you have no enemies\, the world is not such a scary place. Instead of imagining a world of warring nations\, we might imagine that there is one human family. We might take it a step further and imagine that we love everyone—including plants\, animals\, clouds and stones. How would that feel? \n  \nI asked my friend Howard what he thought the future would be like. “Like the present\,” he said.  \n  \nWhen I asked Jill which of Robert Crumb’s visions of the future is most likely\, she said\, “All of them.” \n  \nAt this moment on our big beautiful planet\, everything imaginable is happening right now\, and many things that we can’t imagine. The newspaper reminds us of the wars and other catastrophes. Meanwhile\, birds and butterflies are migrating\, children are playing\, bees are spending their days pollinating flowers\, mammals are falling in love\, puffy white clouds are floating by. It has ever been so. \n  \nNot only do we not know what will happen next\, we don’t know what is happening right now. Somehow\, our eyes\, brain and nervous system present the appearance of a three-dimensional colorful world to us. Somehow\, my heart keeps beating. Somehow\, I digest my food. I don’t know how any of these things work\, but they do. The whole ecosphere\, including us\, is a complex example of what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “interbeing.” In the future\, I predict that everything will continue to inter-be. \n  \nSome of the ever-changing happenings are wonderful. Some are terrible. Personally\, I want to be on the Fun Team. I’d rather be kind than mean. I’d rather be happy than sad. I’d rather be good than bad. I’d rather have friends than enemies. I’d rather be part of the healing than part of the wounding. I’d rather live in love. \n  \nIn the future\, as in the past and present\, there will be injustice. And tragedy. There’s no way around it. We’re all gonna die! That’s the way this game is played. Life and death go together. While I’m alive\, I want to live! I want to live a life rich in meaning—with lots of friendship and laughter. I often think of the words from a song by Laura Nyro: \n  \nAnd when I die\, and when I’m dead\, dead and gone\, \nthere’ll be one child born\, and the world will carry on\, \ncarry on. \n  \n—Johnny Stallings \n* \n  \nIt is Sunday\,—-September 1st! Thank god! Finally! The sun\, although hot\, is slanting at its oblique\, golden angle\, and the heat is less intense. Goodbye to the hot\, flattening blasts of July and August. The nights are cooler; the sun is rising later and later\, and setting earlier. I love the darkness. \n  \nI am driving and listening to All Classical. They’re playing Autumn\, of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons; Autumn Divertimento by Constantini; September Song by Kurt Weill…well\, someone else obviously is happy about this month\, this season. \n  \nMy chrysanthemums are blooming\, russet red\, sunshine gold; the tomatoes plump and ripe. \n  \nI am euphoric\, incandescent with joy. Peace love happiness and understanding coalesce into one moment of palpable transcendence. Sometimes there are these moments. I feel enveloped by abundance and love and joy. \n  \nCould this moment be aided and abetted also by the fact that I am re-reading (for the third time) the sublime Becoming Duchess Goldblatt? No doubt about it. For those of you who have not read about the Duchess\, I would just like to quote some of the (anonymous) author’s words. Words that are nothing less than the beauty that comprises peace\, love\, happiness and understanding. I won’t go into the ‘plot;’ it’s too complicated.  Here we go: \n  \n“My lifelong training as my father’s child has been instructive here. How do you love everybody? Surely you can’t love everybody. Surely some people don’t deserve it. \n  \nI used to ask my father about this all the time. \n  \n‘I’m not sure what you mean by ‘deserve\,’ he’d say. “You love people because they’re people\, because they’re human beings. Not necessarily because you enjoy their company\, which is one kind of love\, but because you recognize they’re inherently worthy. Every person is inherently worthy. I’d argue it’s your obligation\, regardless of whether you think it’s your job to decide if they’ve earned it.’” \n  \nLyle Lovett figures into the story (really!)\, and he offers thoughts about the Duchess:  \n  \n“Duchess is such a unifying force of nature. That’s your book\, as I’m sure you’ve already considered: how we can all be connected\, how we all are connected by the most basic and most powerful of all\, love\, and the acceptance that comes with it.” \n  \nThe Duchess/anonymous author as a young girl being chastised by a nun: \n  \n“I didn’t make eye contact with her. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. I kept my eyes down\, but I heard every word she said\, and I knew she was dead wrong. I knew in my bones\, had always known\, that my brother would eventually commit suicide\, and I knew he was a child of God just as much as anybody else\, and I knew that when he died he would be welcomed into heaven. If she’d ever seen despair up close\, she would know what I knew\, that God understands the nature of a broken heart. The saddest people will always be allowed to go home first.” \n  \nSo with these heartbreakingly beautiful words\, I leave it to you to enjoy\, cherish\, love\, and celebrate this book and this season. \n  \n—Jude Russell
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/peace-love-happiness-understanding-9-5-24/
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240913
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20241116
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240904T012436Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240918T215713Z
UID:5002-1726185600-1731715199@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:¡Bardaphilia!  FALL 2024
DESCRIPTION:Leonardo DiCaprio & Claire Danes in the Bay Lehman film “Romeo + Juliet” \n  \n“All the world’s a stage\, and all the men and women merely players…” \n  \n¡Bardaphilia! \n  \n If you don’t already love Shakespeare\, this class will remedy that. And if you do…you know there’s nothing more fun than reading the plays and poems together with friends. Actor and director Johnny Stallings (stallingsjohnny@gmail.com) is the genial host. \nFriday evenings\, 7-9 pm\, at Taborspace\, 5441 SE Belmont \nSeptember 13th\, Muir Hall: Shakespeare the Storyteller (with special guest J Kahn) (This was changed to an online event because of Covid exposure.) \nOctober 25th\, Artspace Room: Measure for Measure \nNovember 15th Artspace Room: Shakespeare on Film \nThis is a FREE Open Road Event
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bardaphilia-fall-2024/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240915T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240915T170000
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240903T232946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T220033Z
UID:4976-1726412400-1726419600@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:¡Bibliophiles Unanimous!   9/15/24
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \n¡Bibliophiles Unanimous!   \n  \nFriendly online conversation that starts out with books and…meanders.  \nHere’s the Zoom link: \n  \n https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87614013058.   \n  \nSeptember 15th\, 3 pm:  Books That Changed the Way You See the World \nOctober 13th\, 3 pm: Favorite Poems & Poets \nNovember 17th\, 3 pm: Oddball Books \nFree
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/bibliophiles-unanimous-9-15-24-2/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240921T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240921T210000
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240903T213806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240904T004310Z
UID:4967-1726945200-1726952400@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:The Marvelous Adventure of Cabeza de Vaca   9/21/24
DESCRIPTION:The Marvelous Adventure of Cabeza de Vaca \n  \nJohnny Stallings reads Haniel Long’s version of this astonishing true tale\, followed by dialogue. \nThis is an Open Road Event. \n  \nArtspace in Taborspace\, 5441 SE Belmont \nSaturday\, September 21\, 7 pm \nFree
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/the-marvellous-adventure-of-cabeza-de-vaca/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240926T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240926T213000
DTSTAMP:20260425T003228
CREATED:20240923T212333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T230449Z
UID:5106-1727379000-1727386200@openroadpdx.com
SUMMARY:An Iliad  9/26/24
DESCRIPTION:  \nOpen Road Recommends: \nAn Iliad \nBefore taking this show on tour to prisons in Wisconsin\, Vermont\, Maine and Oregon\, Paul Susi (actor) and Anna Fritz (cellist) perform this powerful play by Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare as part of the Risk/Reward Festival.  \nThis is a great show! DON’T MISS THIS RARE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE IT!!! \n  \nEllen Bye Theatre at Portland Center Stage\, 128 NW 11th Ave. \nSeptember 26\, at 7:30 pm  \nGet TICKETS \n 
URL:https://openroadpdx.com/event/an-iliad-9-26-24/
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