Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Colour:Solstice


Everyday, everyday, that's the theme this year, a (perhaps-too-briefly) considered notion for routine application, producing anticipated and unanticipated effects - direct and side...

but, hey,
Everyday = All We Got, and that's surely and enough-of-the-time quite a bit, and for us here at Verde it means that we continue slouching toward some greater something or other

________


So, here's some fun that we had, not that very long ago in someone's perspective, tho we've certainly experienced
4 things per day each and everyday since then so maybe it's been a lot longer than that, depending on the shoes you wore during those 67...
On January 17th, we participated in a sunday matinee by Portland's own Teatro Milagro.
Informed by Spanish and Latin American art and artists, Miracle's signature works celebrate the vibrancy of Latino aesthetic, blending movement, dance, and music with poetic language to create visually stunning and visceral theatrical experiences.

The original production, El Ultimo, explored issues of environment, culture, race and class, set in South America. Teatro Milagro approached us about participating in a bilingual environmental fair in their lobby, after the show - they didn't have to ask us twice, and we called our partners at Friends of Trees, Hacienda CDC, and SOLV to participate in the fair with us, and we bought tickets (graciously discounted by Teatro Milagro) and arranged transportation for more than a dozen participants in Hacienda CDC's Expresiones program, an after-school program for middle school students living on Hacienda CDC's affordable housing properties. 82 people attended the show and the fair...

Check out the scene:

Mapuche Forest Spirits

















TM Actor
Omar Vargas




















Verde Outreach Worker
Pedro Moreno

















Pedro with Expresiones students, sharing information on Verde's activities and the connection between protecting the environment and making a good living
















Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Turnstyled, Junkpiled

happy new year, my favorite one, I've been remiss, and/so I've lots to share with you. Let's start with November, not too long ago, really, only, ummmm, 2 months:

[my dear, you have to believe me, I know I can do better, I can change, I'm trying to change, you have to believe me, I know I can do better, I know I can change, I know it seems like I keep making the same mistake over and over and over and over again, and over again, but this time is going to be different, I promise, just wait (wait?!), you'll see...]













...
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well, so november was a mi-t long time ago, or just as far away as the blink of an eye, depending on how long you've been alive, or what's happened to you between then and now (and ain't it something how feats of snow can make even an unfranchised convenience store look like a beauty queen...)

thus and then, I'm leaning toward the blinking perspective.

thus and then, in November, we had a very nice and important event, a City of Portland Council hearing to approve a 5 year tree planting contract with Friends of Trees and Verde, a program named the Grey-to-Green Urban Canopy Project & Community Tree Planting Campaign.
This would be good work, and give Verde the chance to hire more people to work at Verde Landscape and Verde Nursery.

But, the really exciting thing about this hearing, held on November 26, was the audience, the people who offered testimony - Verde Landscape Crew Members, and our brothers and sisters from the Latino community, the African-American community, the Native American community. A hoped-for-something-realized - the brown, the black, the red, all testifying in support of an environmental policy precisely because this policy (and future ones like it) offer known job, job training and entrepreneurial opportunities to their communities.

We'd very much appreciate it if you check it out on this video; the contract portion starts at 2:40:45, and the good procession runs for about 25 minutes.

We'd very much appreciate it if you stop watching when that big-eared goof with the thrift store vest and polyester pants starts running his mouth...