Ready for my vacation

Today is my last day at work before I take four weeks off. It seems like it never slows down anymore. Over the past couple of days four different member's parents have entered into their last days of life and another parent passed away... It's been a rough year: with the economy, with Diane's surgery and with all the illnesses and deaths in our community. I'm not only ready for a break, I really need it.
What am I doing for vacation? We'll be a week at Lewes, DE. We had been at Rehoboth Beach last summer and what we saw of Lewes: quaint, quiet, nice little shops and access to the beach, is what we like. There's not a lot to do - but we'll certainly go to the Outlets in Rehoboth and take the ferry over to Cape May, NJ. Later in the month, I'm also going to spend a long weekend with my parents in Boca. In between, I'd just like to read and exercise. If I can get my body in a little better shape and recharge my mental/spiritual batteries - it will be a great month.
If I read something interesting - I'll blog. Mostly I'm planning to read shlock (Clive Cussler, etc.).
Wishing everyone a restful and rejuvenating July...

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

It both amazing and weird that two of the great icons of my college and grad school years, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away yesterday. Their impact on popular culture of the 70s and 80s - was incalculable. Although I never owned the famous Fawcett poster - I certainly watched for several years Charlie's Angels. It's good to remember her growth as a serious actress and also her courageous battle with the cancer that took her life. I don't know enough to even begin to offer a eulogy, but it seems appropriate to realize that she was a real , complex person: sex xymbol, a life of difficult relationships, great success, and painful, prolonged illness. May her memory be a source of blessing.
Michael Jackson was one of the greatest musical and performing talents of my lifetime. His voice, his dancing, and his choreography were wondrous. In good days, his generosity was equal to his talent and sadly his strangeness was just as great. One of my favorite comedians is Lewis Black who has this funny shtick: that Michael Jackson is a punch line. All you had to do was say the name: and people laugh. While that is true for many ... I'd prefer to remember the singing and the dancing. At his best, Michael Jackson filled us with a joy - of the ability of the human soul to create beautiful music and movement - to celebrate the fears and joy of life and to expand the imagination in videos of sublime storytelling. That's what I choose to remember.

Catching Up and Common-wealth

Sorry been off for a while. Was in Florida two weeks ago visiting my parents. Will be on vacation soon for the month of July.

Next Monday I'll be in NYC for the afternoon at a National Gathering of the Industrial Areas Foundation. IAF is the parent organization of Action in Montgomery (AIM). As I had written a few weeks ago, one of the issues which concerns us all is the economy, but also the culture which encouraged and permitted the abuses which lead to the recent economic downturn. This meeting in part will be strategizing what can we do to represent the average person in the national conversation about re-creating a healthy and equitable economy for the benefit of all.
One of the interesting conversations around this theme which has fascinated me is the idea of COMMONWEALTH. When I look back over much of the past two or so decades - I've done OK financially. But I look at the frightening gap growing between have and have nots. In recent years, a very few have become fantastically rich, while the poor remain poor and the middle class has not grown individually or collectively. We have created pockets of wonderful prosperity, but only for a few. We have not invested in the infrastructure which creates wealth across broad spectrums of society. I was blown away in Israel by quality and speed of cellphone and wifi service. It creates wealth. When I hear about high speed trains, high speed wifi and cellphone service in "Third World" countries - I wonder why we don't have or have to pay so much for these vital, 21st Century "basic" services.
Maybe it's time for our country - private and public to invest in the kind of services and infrastructure that are communal wealth and spread productivity throughout our society. That's what commonwealth is about. Having the roads - physical highways and communication pathways to be able to make and get products in order to generate economic well-being for vast sectors of our country. I don't know how to do this - but I'd like to be part of conversation about achieving ethical prosperity.