Right to bike, walk the talk

Leah Jackson, bicycle enthusiast is taking on the editorial board of the local newspaper who's recent article, "Bicycling enthusiasts make a good point, but public can’t afford funding at this time," baited bicyclists to speak up for future access. Jackson used her own money to print a post card with a cool graphic on one-side and plenty of space on the other for scribing a supportive message to city council members.

Jackson captured the image that features a bike, a cat and a bit of local graffiti and added her own, "We are all part of the transportation solution."

The post cards are FREE and available at the Angst Gallery, 1015 Main St, Vancouver WA 98660.

Jackson wrote in a recent email to friends, "The editorial board is turning this into a divisive issue by making it about bicyclists. In response we as a community need to focus on the bigger picture. This discussion is about the future of transportation. Most of us with some knowledge of the issue can see, looking forward, that this is about moving people using multiple modes. By creating an infrastructure that supports many modes of transportation we can accommodate more people moving around our city."

It's not just having bike access, it's acknowledging that pedestrians need pathways through the city.

Leah Jackson is hoping individuals will send positive and respectful messages to city council members about the need to continue to include Bike/Ped funding in future transportation department budgets. "The City of Vancouver has already recognized the importance of bicycles and pedestrians in its Six Strategic Commitments, the Transportation Policies, and the City Center Vision Plan. We as a city need to stand behind our stated goals," writes Jackson.

Go, city! Let's walk our postcards to City Hall and demand the right to bike.

Cheap is a chance. Don't drown in the advertising pool.

Cheap is a chance. Don't drown in the advertising pool.

Advertising solutions abound. This Slideshare demonstrates one of the best offerings may be with your local newspaper. If you investigate, the local paper may also have free venues to share information about your event. We'll try and post some helpful hints here, soon.

View more presentations from Carol Doane.

Writers Mixer packed

Ron Gompertz, author of No Roads Lead to Rome spoke at the April Vancouver Writers Mixer. He's an entertaining guy who pokes a bit of dry humor into his presentation to make a point on the pitfalls of self-publishing. “It's hard to talk about money when we're artists, but money is not a bad way to analyze things,” he said, and walked us through slides of math and graphics to demonstrate how many books a self-published author needs to sell to break even with print-on-demand options.

Gompertz coordinated the March 5th First Friday Author Event in Camas, Washington. We got a kick out of looking up the news article and noting that the paper gave a shout-out to Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton, two of Active Qu3st's favorite authors.

Read the entire article here.
Read more about Ron Gompertz from Karen Gilb's article on Examiner.com

Bookstores read future

"To Mel Sanders, a successful author’s event or open-mike poetry night at her downtown Vancouver bookstore is like the binding of a good book. It holds the pages of her business together."
Great story by Cami Joner in The Columbian on the local bookseller scene.

Article quotes, our friend Mel Sanders from Cover to Cover Books, 1817 Main St, Vancouver (with THREE pictures!); also quotes Kol Shaver, Zephyr Used and Rare Books, P.O. Box 55, Vancouver WA 98666; Steve Tommerup, owner of Literary Leftovers in Battle Ground at 830 W Main; and Becky Milner, founder of Vintage Books, 6613 E Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, Washington

With the onset of the electronic book era everything is adjusting in the bookseller's world.

When the dust settles, will the reader still want to hold a real book in their hands?

What do you think?

Read the full story here: Bookstores try to read future.

Great Weekend for Angst Gallery

What a great weekend for Angst Gallery. It began with the Jason Wade Phelps show on First Friday, included a post and pictures on Bike Portland.org, and ended with a mention in the local newspaper, The Columbian:

"The internship program started in December as a way to give advanced art students real-world experience, said VSAA fine-arts teacher Crystal Zeller. Zeller approached North Bank and nearby Angst Gallery about collaborating to enhance classroom instruction. She has three students interning at Angst and five at North Bank."

Read the entire story here: Art is in the eye of the beholder

In the News: Carol Doane

Carol Doane greeted in the local newspaper by retiring journalist, Julia Anderson.