Wow, I didn't expect to start crying, when I signed on to accept the invitation of a friend of mine, Todd Hunsdorfer, to join his network....but I see in my own network, my father....who passed away this past October.

My father is a tremendous influence on my life, and I still feel his presence around. Even though I am sad, and I do let the tears fall when and where they may, I feel that our relationship has not ended, it has merely changed, as he has passed from living relative to ancestor. Our ancestors are always available to us, and fervently wish to be engaged by the living, as they have so much to offer us. I feel that they have a certain perspective from "the other side:" they can see where they have erred in their ways. They do not wish for us to blindly imitate them, but to LEARN from them, noticing the "bad" as much as the "good."

Only in the last few years had I come to appreciate just how much I take after my dad. I... Read more

I'm excited about one of my classes this quarter, at Antioch Univ. Seattle, called Creating a Just, Peaceful and Sustainable Future. One of my burning desires is to help people make the connection between the deep prejudices embedded in our social systems, and its reflection in our socioeconomic relationships, and the current climate chaos we're experiencing. There is definitely a firm connection, I just need to put the pieces together a little bit better, so as to best illustrate it. I hope to somehow include this in our group's action project, which involves going to a mandatory facility for at-risk youth to talk about some issues around sustainability, perhaps healthier eating and the value of local economies (I wonder if Black Dollar Days is still around?), etc, etc, we're trying to think of how to appeal to them, and global warming is one topic.

There is a lot of talk in this class about the apparent disconnect between ... Read more