Monthly Archives: September 2009

(Community Matters) Launched the first full steering committee meeting tonight at Shelley Zausmer’s home. What a terrific year we’ll have. Torch of Liberty Award honorees are Amy & Kirk Rudy. Our humanitarian recipients are James Armstrong & Larry Connelly.

Rock star team on the steering committee: Steve Adler, Judy Berkowitz, Stacey Fields, Diane Land, Audrey & Ray Maislin, Lynn Meredith, Jeff Newberg, Amy & Kirk Rudy, Lily Saad, Mark Salmanson, me (the others really r rock stars), Dave Shaw, Jan Soifer, Julie Thornton, Doug Ulman, Judy Waxman & Shelley Zausmer. We want to raise $400k – launched today with pledges of $86k just from the committee (and several weren’t able to join us today so much more asap).

Equally rock stars on the honorary host committee list.

(Community Matters) After 7:30 pilates with Liz & Amy and 8:30 coffee with Kevin Keim & Ben Slade, I had breakfast with a very cool new friend, Joah Spearman.

Joah introduced to me by LAF’s Doug Ulman and an old TA, Joey Stanfa. Quite a pedigree – a bootstrap kid, UT Communications School, Bush Administration speech writer, Mark McKinnon, Public Strategies and now a social media consultant. Also, cooking up a new interesting venture – Sneak Attack, though I promised not to give away the surprise. Joah’s first book, Real Role Models, being released by UT Press in the Fall – and he’s already launched his second. His blog here.

(Community Matters) I wasn’t familiar with this book but have become since receiving a note this morning about my posting on domestic violence.

The note: Help JS Huntlands raise awarness for Domestic Violence by ordering Nick Twisted Minds on-line or at your local book store

A quiet and studious young lady, ‘Tanya’ causes very little difficulty for her parents. Responsible and well grounded, she maintains modest goals. Possessing a sparse romantic history, she is quite pleased when she meets a man named ‘Nick’ through a mutual friend. Before long the pair begins dating and find each other highly attractive. Believing that her new love embodies many of the traits she so highly values, Tanya agrees to cohabitate with Nick. Unfortunately, she finds herself pregnant and soon discovers that who she thought was the love of her life has been far less than forthright. To her great dismay, this revelation begins a downward spiral from which her very existance is threatened.

(Community Matters) The two freed journalists tell their story in the LA Times

(Community Matters) No this isn’t a flash back.

Get High Now is

a science site disguised as mind-expansion. There are 40 audio and visual illusions (or, if you must, “hallucinations”) to be experienced and, after reading about the brain science that explains them, understood. Risset rhythms seem to get faster and faster, yet not if you time them by tapping your foot. Shepard tones get higher and higher (or lower and lower) yet never change key. Binaural beats and theta-wave synchronizations make you feel different — and you’re not just imagining things; the changes they induce can be seen with fMRI. And then there’s the highly intoxicating chronosynclastic infundibulum, which remains a mystery to science.

Time Magazine

I’m not sure about the relaxation but very interesting. Better to listen with headphones. I’m gonna bookmark and try when particularly stressed – see if helps relieve the tension (vs my usual approach of just taking a quick nap).

(Community Matters) not sure why but woke up with a quote in my head

The only threat Anita Bryant represents today is bad drag

(Community Matters) Wow, action packed day of meetings about lots of good causes including FuseBox Festival (Deborah Green, Chris Mattson, Steven and Amy Rudy), Lemonade Day 2010 (Leigh Christie & Peter Frey), Kirk’s birthday lunch, Texas Tribune (Alisha Ring & Lisa Owens) and Communities in School (Suki Steinhauser). These in the middle of good progress with EF Austin Invitational, fundraising for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s visit next week, preparations for an EF board meeting and dinner with our dear friend Stephen Walls.

(Community Matters) Baptist Preacher Steve Anderson prays President Obama contracts brain cancer.

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(Community Matters) Factcheck.org debunks 26 lies in a ubiquitious chain email.

(Community Matters)

(Community Matters)

(Community Matters) well, this is gonna be quite the dilemma for South Carolina social conservatives. Do they continue pressuring Gov Mark Sanford to resign or even impeach him and allow a reportedly closeted Lt. governor to assume the governorship?