Sagittarius Full Moon Fire Ceremony 2013

Cascadian Dreams

Sagittarius Full Moon Fire Ceremony 2013

Every full moon, or close to it, we have a full moon ceremony.  It's kind of like church to me.  This one was on Friday the 24th of May and was a full moon in Sagittarius.  

Sagittarius is the sign of the centaur archer.  Symbolic of the human and animal natures coming into alignment.

This ceremony was on a Friday after a long week, but I wanted to be there because I play my drum and chant and burn away aspects of my life that are getting in the way of growth.  On the drive out to Cortina's house, the person that hosts the party there was an awesome rainbow. 

It was cooler in person.  The rainbow lasted about an hour. 

So, that was great.  Felt good to be driving towards a rainbow and a ritual that I'd participated in quite a few times.  It was also Kelvin's first full moon ceremony. 

When we got there, it was Cortina, Wesley, Zach and us. 

Wes, Kelly, and Cortina. 

Other people started showing up, and we moved towards starting the fire.  The rites themselves are pretty simple.  You light the fire, chant and drum, and throw a stick that you put your worries in into the fire.  This fire ended up with about 13 people around it, many for their first time. 

There's always food and a jar for donations. 

The fire itself took off very quickly this ceremony.  If one believes in omens, then it suggested that the participants were very ready to let things go.  

The sacred fire. 

I participate in this event, because it's good to participate.  It helps me take stock of my life, the things I'm holding onto, and helps me set some intention for the next month and hang out in community.  These are important things for me.  

What I really liked about this fire was the fact that it was Kelvin's first and he was great through the whole thing.  Afterwards, he got hungry as per usual, but during the fire itself, he barely vocalized at all, instead he just stared at the fire and the community around us.  

I tried to burn up my projections in this fire.  The places where I misinterpret reality based on my own desires or feelings.  I think it was a good first step.  Next month is the Capricorn Full Moon, and I'm sure I'll have something practical to let go of then.  

I missed quite a few people that are usually there, and was more somber than usual because I usually drink a lot more wine.  Altogether, it was a good start to Memorial Day weekend.  Special thanks go to Cortina for hosting this event. 

May the fire continue to burn. 

Drunkventures: Urban Farm Collective Benefit Show

Cascadian Dreams

Drunkventures: Urban Farm Collective Benefit Show

On Saturday, May 18th, there was quite a show in the neighborhood.  Being that I live in a mostly industrial area, there are often shows thrown in my neighborhood.  Last night The Builders and the Butchers, Alameda, and Dustin Hamman played.  The party was to raise funds for The Urban Farm Collective. 

But it was kind of rainy, so we had to do a little prep.  We set up some tarps. 

Chris working on getting a support structure for the tarp.

I helped where I could, smoked a bit, and helped to tie off some ropes.  I need to learn knots a lot better. After a while, we got the tarps pretty well set up, and I realized that they were Cascadian colors.  Maybe the support beam was from a Douglas Fir. 

The setting up is almost complete. 

After it was set up, we went on a mission to get a keg.  We got it from The Beermongers. It was a Southern Oregon IPA of some sort.  After getting the beer, I headed home for a minute to check in with my wife. 

On the way, I stopped to smell the roses. 

Then, it was back to the party.  My friend Danny had a few PBR's that he offered in trade, so I started drinking.  It was around 8pm that I started down that road.  We built a fire at PALS Clubhouse, and watched as the bands started rolling in.  I played some music from my phone on baby computer speakers as everything was being set up. 

At this point, two of my good friends showed up.  Steve, a good friend that I know from middle school, and Bill, who I've known since at least 2002.  We began to drink.  I was already feeling pretty salty and happy.  When I'm drunk, I'm sometimes likened to a viking.  I become aggressively happy.  I mess with people a little bit, but in a pretty friendly way.  It usually works out.  

So, my friends came, and I switched from Pabst to IPA's.  Pretty much immediately after getting our first pint, Dustin Hamman came on.  He was incredibly good.  Incredibly good.  A highlight of his set was a singalong about not being able to pay the boatman at death because he'd already spent his coin "getting to the other side".  He also does an amazing mouth trumpet.  I sang along, and became slowly more viking during this set. 

Dustin Hamman plays guitar and sings. 

Then, it was back to the keg.  Another beer, and a few vicious Jello shots later, Alameda came on.  During the Alameda set, my friends August and Lauriel came by and we chatted.  It gets a little bit more fuzzy from here on out, but there were conversations with people about dominant behavior, I communicated non-verbally with a deaf person, and yelled "It's not that fucking hard, just love each other" to the crowd.  Though I am already blessed with a pretty low filter, it often becomes non-existent under the influence of the cups. 

What a familiar card!

After chatting it up with people, I just wanted to dance.  I live under the firm belief that personal space does not matter as much during live music.  Not everyone shares this belief, but I'm a vocal proponent, and in viking mode, a loudly vocal proponent.  I'll bump up against bodies and try to get the sweaty masses swaying.  If people get mad, I usually hurl a quip or two their way and then continue to dance and move.  I began this during the Alameda set, and continued when The Builders and the Butchers came on, with short breaks to chat, and help my friends feel welcome.  Every once in a while I took a picture. 

The highly photogenic Adam and Amy. 

Ultimately, I want a concert to dissolve into a giant happy collective, but personal bubbles don't always allow that sort of thing to happen.  But a concert generally leans Dionysian, and the Dionysian is all about the breakdown of boundaries.  If people don't want to move with the music, they should move to the edges and let the miasma of motion occur. 

It was about one in the morning when I finally headed back to the homestead with Steve and Bill.  When I got home, I asked Kelly to set up my friends with places to sleep, then I flopped onto the top of the covers of the bed, and fell into a deep and dehydrated sleep. 

Village Building Convergence: A Very Portland Experience

Cascadian Dreams

Village Building Convergence: A Very Portland Experience 

So, the Village Building Convergence is almost here.  It will be the 13th annual experiment in the process of the community coming together to transform spaces into places. 

This Year's Flyer.

The Village Building Convergence is a project of City Repair.  You might ask, what is City Repair?  On the website, they are described as such. 

"City Repair is an organized group action that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. City Repair facilitates artistic and ecologically-oriented placemaking through projects that honor the interconnection of human communities and the natural world. The many projects of City Repair have been accomplished by a mostly volunteer staff and thousands of volunteer citizen activists.

City Repair began in Portland, Oregon with the idea that localization - of culture, of economy, of decision-making - is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places, we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication, empower our communities and nurture our local culture."


In local Portland culture, City Repair is most known through their works, and the biggest work of City Repair is the Village Building Convergence.


You know those paintings in the middle of the street?

Like this one?  This is the Sunnyside Piazza.

Those paintings are from a crowd-sourced volunteer project of the Village Building Convergence. But it's not just paint, it's also projects like the following.

A cob oven and mosaic built on SE 61st and Clinton.

These projects happen because people from the community come together to help them happen. The Village Building Convergence starts in the neighborhoods with lots of shovel and paint work in the neighborhoods, and then people meet up at the central venue, which will be The Alberta Abbey this year.

It's really fun. You should check out The Village Builder, find a spot near you where a project is going on, and pitch in!

PALS Nursery: Back at Capacity

Cascadian Dreams

PALS Nursery: Back at Capacity

Our roomies are home.  After a month of travel, they have returned home.  They brought their baby with them.  Our roomies are great.  I guess I'll just tell the story of the neighbors turned roommates and the foundation of PALS Nursery. 

Leah, Chris, and baby Ira.

The House

Perhaps it is best to begin at the beginning.  In mid to late Summer 2011, Kelly, Our friend Tom and I moved into a house.  It's in the industrial district of the Hosford-Abernathy neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. 

The PALS Nursery. 

Here's the house.  At first we wanted to call it the Eagle Hut, but that was way too close to the Eagle's Nest. 

So the poor house remained unnamed.  But after we moved in, we heard sound coming from our neighbors and decided to investigate.  

Our neighbors were rad!  They had big parties, and the police never showed up because the houses were too close to the train to really justify a noise complaint.  Plus, all the neighbors were down with having these parties happen.  

One of our neighbors was Chris, who seemed to be the driving force behind PALS Clubhouse. A sometime venue for local bands, a place with a fire often burning, and not a bad place to play Risk. 

The clubhouse was happy that we weren't shitty neighbors and many days were spent enjoying each others parties and getting to know each other better. 

Much of the connection culminated at PALS Fest in 2012.  Chris was nice enough to host a Cascadian SpeakUp during his yearly event.  It was really, really fun. 

Micaiah speaks about Cascadia. That's me holding up the tarp. 

A SpeakUp is a place for people to talk about issues that they care about.  The Hawthorne Hostel SpeakUp   was the first, and the Cascadian SpeakUp was the second.  We should probably have another one. 

At the end of PALS Fest 2012 I was sweating and dancing in a sea of incredibly blissed out people. That was a good night.  The Bevellers played, The We Shared Milk, Fanno Creek, Animal Eyes, and many more.

But the show being awesome isn't important.  What's important for the bigger story is that Leah was pregnant, and although the PALS Clubhouse was awesome, it probably wasn't the best place to have and raise a baby.  At that point our roommate Michael, who rescued an old lady from a burning house was feeling the wanderlust, and we had a room coming open. 

During a conversation at PALS Clubhouse, the idea that Chris and Leah could move in with us and everyone would be happy came up.  It was a good idea and caught on. That was in fact what happened. 

Leah with our cat Skookum

One day, it came to us that our house should be called PALS Nursery.  Now, with two babies, four parents, two turtles, and two and a half cats, we are back at capacity. 

We are blessed to live in a house with such love and general cooperation. 

Cuteness to lead you out. 

Earned Sick Days Campaign

Cascadian Dreams

Earned Sick Days Campaign

During my work with the Oregon Working Families Party, one of the key campaigns that we worked on was to get the Portland City Council to pass an Earned Sick Days policy for all working Portlandians.  We were part of a coalition called Everybody Benefits.  My goal was to build up a canvass team to go out into key neighborhoods around Portland, talk to people on their doorstep, and get them to sign on to a letter to put pressure on the City Council. 

The Earned Sick Days Team in an Early Incarnation.  

We talked to people in several zipcodes in Portland.  They were 97211, 97214, 97215 and 97219.  We knocked on about 10,000 doors, talked to about 4,000 people and got about 2,500 signed letters to the council.  

After collecting all of these signed letters, on February 25th, we went to City Hall to deliver the signed letters. 

Cortina, a single mom talks about why Earned Sick Days are important for her family. 

Then, the canvass team followed up by calling about 1,000 people we had canvassed earlier and getting about 800 of them to make calls to the City Council.  Amanda Fritz was an absolute champion on this issue, and called a series of hearings.  I went to one of these hearings with my canvassers and was able to hear many people speak incredibly passionately about the issue. 

The City Council chambers were packed.  

After the hearings, the City Council got to vote. 

Earned Sick Days for Portland passed 5-0 on March 13th, 2013, even though the Oregonian editorial board was dead-set against it. 

This is why I organize. 

Mother's Day 2013

Cascadian Dreams

Mother's Day 2013

Often on Mother's Day, I travel up to see my own mother. She's awesome, is named Kathy and lives in Everett, WA. But we were just up there a few weekends ago for a baby shower, and we did not feel like another long car ride. So instead, we went to the Labrynthe.  

On the Porch of the Labrynthe, a community house in SE Portland

The people in this picture are people I like to refer to as my tribe.  This is part of the inner circle of that tribe. All these people are wonderful.  I'm of course partial.  The children connected to these people are not shown for they are out playing in the yard. 

The Labrynthe is a community house.  It is run by a Matriarch.  That Matriarch is Naomi.  

This is Naomi.  She is a great Matriarch. 

Naomi is pregnant.  She will be a mother sometime in December.  I believe she will be very good at being a mother because she is a Pisces with a Leo Moon.  My mother is a Pisces with a Leo Moon and she is pretty awesome at being a mother.  Therefore it follows that Naomi will kick ass at this task as well.  I'm not always logical, but I'm almost always right. 

Mother's Day at the Labrynthe was celebrated with food, champagne and orange juice.  I would like to thank Caylee and Skye for the excellent brunch. It was delicious.  Eggs with spinach, biscuits, mushroom gravy, bacon, potatoes, and scones.  I ate everything.  We brought a salad, but it was forgotten.  This took the "la" out of our salad.  

Back to Mother's Day.  There were four mothers and one mother to be in attendance, so I took a picture of them. 

M.I.L.H.  Mothers I Like to Hug. (L to R) Cortina, Kelly, Skye, Amber and Naomi

Also, we cast a spell on Caylee using a magic flute.  Here is a picture of the spell being worked. 

Caylee gets hexed with fertility. 

My highlight of the day was when I was told by Christian, Skye's son, "I like you."  This is Christian. 

Christian, a rad little kid. 

Happy Mother's Day!  To the expecting mothers, to the single mothers, to the mothers of many, to those who fill the role of mother, to my child's mother, and to my own mother.  To all the categories of mothers that I forgot.  We grow in your bodies and you grow in our hearts. 

Who I Am- Part 3: Primary Relationships

Cascadian Dreams

Who I Am- Part 3: Primary Relationships

I'm a breeder.  I have not always been a successful breeder, but recently my family became three from the efforts of two. Yes, I'm talking about sex. 

The Schultz's (L to R) Kelly, Kelvin and Michael 

This is my wife Kelly Elaine Schultz, and my son Kelvin Herald Schultz.  It was partially the desire to have a record for my son of the life of his father that made me want to create this blog.  We've yet to get him a Cascadian onesie, but we will eventually make that happen.  But, first things first.  

Love

Kelly Schultz- Born 03/28/1978  Total Aries. 

My wife and I met in 2001, working for OSPIRG canvassing.  She was often my field manager, and we'd sit by the car after dropping the newbies off and talk about all manner of things.  She has a bright and sunny disposition and is optimistic about most things. This is a good balance to my more cynical nature. She now works at the Better World Club and is awesome at her job, even when it's annoying. 

I woke up on her couch on September 11th, 2001.  There were explosions on the T.V. and buildings falling down.  I was very confused as to why there was a Jerry Bruckheimer movie on the television, but I found out later it was terrorists who hate our freedom. 

Anyways, three days later Kelly and I were officially a couple.  September 14th, 2001 was the official start of our relationship.  This September, we will have spent 12 years of our lives together. We've gone many places, done many things, and met many people together. 

Early Kisses

How does it go?  First comes love, then comes....

Marriage

Eventually, after many years together, we decided we might as well tie the knot.  We did this on March 22nd, 2008.  It was a very religious ceremony, but there was lots of beer.  Plus, the gift to the Groomsmen was flasks full of Maker's Mark whiskey.  There were some drunk and memorable speeches.  Here was our wedding party. 

Good friends all. 

The ceremony was performed by my dad, who is a pastor with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  There were about 75 people there, friends and family alike. We had friends do all the main parts of the wedding, photography, food, music, all of those things.  It was a community event. 

On our special day!

After we left for our honeymoon night, the wedding party continued and turned into an after party.  I know it was a good wedding because the best man caught his rented tuxedo on fire. We traveled through the American Southwest for our honeymoon.  It was a good adventure, although long road trips are probably not the best thing in the world for our relationship. 

Then comes....

Baby

After a few false starts, Kelvin came into our life. 

Kelvin Herald Schultz- Born 03/05/2013 at 12:55pm. 

We were trying to have a home birth, but his heart rate was slowing down during contractions and our midwife from Alma Midwifery recommended that we go to the hospital.  At the hospital, complications continued to present themselves and Kelvin was born by Cesarean Section.  He was held up, covered in blood and screaming.  It was pretty epic and primal. 

I was lucky enough to get some time off when he was born and we had amazing support from our community.  He is a healthy baby now, and he's beginning to smile.  Here's his latest picture. 

I know I'm biased, but isn't he just the cutest? 

Today is the first mother's day for me and Kelly in years that's not a little sad.  Kelvin's face is the face of victory. 

Who I Am- Part 2: Affiliations

Cascadian Dreams

Who I Am- Part 2: Affiliations

Often, after you meet someone, you try to understand who they are through their affiliations.  This is the getting to know you part of a conversation. 

Not my real affiliation.  Or hers either. 

One part of being human is the groups that you hang with, the places you go and the things you do.  

Some of the easiest affiliations to explain are the professional affiliations. One can learn a lot about a person through what they have done for work.

I currently work for the Oregon Working Families Party as a canvass director.

I am on the board of a local non-profit called City Repair. 

Before that I did a gig with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance where I started and ran a door fundraising operation. 

Before that, I worked for The Telephone Outreach Project, as a caller, which is currently in the midst of forming a union under CWA Local 7901. 

Before that, I worked for Greenpeace as their Portland canvass director. 

Before that, I worked with The Fund for Public Interest Research as a field manager.  This was canvassing door to door for OSPIRG, the Sierra Club, Environment Oregon and a few other campaigns. 

Before that, went to college in Portland. Concordia University, and I majored in English. Therefore, there is no excuse for the grammar and spelling mistakes I make except pure laziness. 

As you can see, I've been involved in a lot of environmental and labor fights over the course of time. I train and employ canvassers.  

You just saw my resume. 

Who I Am- Part 1: Introductions

Cascadian Dreams

Who I Am- Part 1: Introductions

When you first meet somebody, here's how it often goes. 

First you see them. 

Who the hell is this guy?

That's me, my name's Michael Harold Schultz.  I'm excited in this picture because it's a crew beer night.

I respond to Mike, Michael, Schultz, Schultzy, Schultzypoo and Mikeypoo. 

My name Michael Harold Schultz  means basically the war leader in charge of collecting the dues for the lord, who is constantly approaching the question "Who is Like God?"  I try to live up to that name.  

Then you might ask "What do you do?" 

I am the canvass director for the Oregon Working Families Party.  

A canvass director organizes campaigns to fund raise and/or organise in a community. I'm very often in charge of collecting dues for the organizations I work for.  Weird, eh?  

Then you might ask "Where are you from?"

To which I would say I was born in Spokane, grew up in Bellingham, and have lived in Portland since 1997.

Which brings me to the title of the blog.  I have always been a Cascadian. Even before I got the flag. 

But I'm also an American.  A white, male American.  But you'd probably know that pretty quick after meeting me.  I recognize my privilege, but I don't let that stop me from having opinions, which pisses some people off.  Independence of thought, mind and action is important to me, and I'll always stand up for that. 

Future posts will flesh this Michael Schultz character out more fully.  Oh, and your opinions on the weather are accurate, but let me just add this vague observation as well.  

It's nice to meet you.     

Initiation

This is a picture of a hexagram.  I like hexagrams because they represent the balance of the masculine and feminine energies.  I drew this using a compass, pen and sharpie, then manipulated the image using the gimp.

Cascadian Dreams: Initiation

When you want to do something, you set the intention and feed it energy.  Therefore, this post is about setting the intention and feeding it energy.  Here are the goals of this blog. 

1. To serve as a platform to communicate items of interest. 
2. To express creativity. 
3. To talk politics. 
4. To talk about organizations and events. 
5. To document experiences. 
6. To discuss metaphysics. 
7. To start conversations. 
8. To post pictures and milestones.
9. To understand problems and propose solutions. 

That might be a lot to expect of a blog, but I'll do my best to keep it entertaining and relevant.