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Annual Review, Portland Run, Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving (fellow U.S. citizens) and enjoyed the quiet internet (everyone else) while the folks over here ate birds and went shopping. This morning I completed my final long run in Oregon until the end of the year. I made it about 15 miles and thought about all the things that have happened in 2009. It’s a long list, and I could have kept thinking, but 15 miles is about my limit these days in terms of running. Afterwards I came home and started packing a bag, also for the last time this year ...

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Extreme Gratitude, D.C. Edition

Friends and readers, greetings from AA flight 84, en route to the Dallas Ft-Worth airport. I’ve been there several times recently, and am thinking of setting up a tent around A-20. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our meetup in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night. I had a great time and was humbled as usual by all the fun and interesting people who showed up.

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Watch and See

In 2005, U.N. Secretary General Koffi Annan was struggling with a series of scandals and other challenges in his administration. I read this short quote in a magazine interview with him and wrote it down in my notebook:

Question: Senator Coleman says you are 'damaged goods.' What do you say to him?

Answer: Watch and see.

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Charity Dinner and Auction (Portland area) – Friday, October 23

Friends in Portland, if you’ll be around on Friday, October 23rd, I’d like to invite you to a benefit dinner and auction for a cause I am proud to support. The Short Version:

What: Dinner and auction for Sisters of the Road, a local non-profit that serves the homeless population in Portland.

When: Friday, October 23rd, 6-10pm (includes dinner, drinks, auction, and something called a “hoedown”)

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Happy Labor Day / New AONC Survey

Happy Labor Day to everyone in the U.S., and Happy Labour Day to my friends further north. Everyone else in the world, Labor/Labour Day is a U.S. and Canadian holiday when the internet slows down.

Being self-employed, most minor holidays aren't much different from other Mondays for me. The only difference is I get less email because so many other people are away.

Because much of North America is taking the day off, I decided this would be a good time for a new AONC survey.

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The Results Are In!

While on summer vacation in Utah, I set up an Unconventional Writing Contest with great prizes and the chance to publish here on the hub of World Domination. I’m happy to announce that the results are now in! It was a fierce competition, but by the end, it was also clear who the winners should…

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I’m On Facebook, Sort Of…

When 2% of the world's population joined FaceBook a few years ago, I decided to sit it out because I am secretly a luddite. I still don't completely understand it, but I know there are lots of people who don't understand Twitter, so that's OK. Might as well get on the train and see where it leads, right?

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Extreme Gratitude, Hometown Edition

meetup

On Thursday night, about 50% of Portland, Oregon descended upon the Pied Cow, a local beer garden to talk about travel, entrepreneurship, blogging, and all kinds of other topics.

At one point a waitress came over to ask what our group was working on, and someone said "World Domination." Nice one. Later on, the same waitress told me we were "the most polite group of non-conformists" she had ever met, which I also appreciated.

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Continuous Improvement, Malaysian Edition

I'm home! What a great trip – I had a nice swing throu South America, successfully avoided deportation in Saudi Arabia, and met with friends and readers at five stops along the way. On the last leg of the trip I picked up what I call "swine flu lite" – I'm not dying, but I haven't been able to do much of anything over the past couple of days. Since I don't get sick very often, I figure I might as well go all the way when it happens. Who needs moderation?

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