Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters)  healing progressing ahead of plan.

Day 2                                                                                    Day 3

been working from home. Many thanks to the friends and colleagues who agreed to meet here. And, what  a treat, this afternoon’s happy hour with Margo Weisz, Randi Shade, Jill McRae & Amy Rudy, talk about Austin Women and Brave Starts Here. 

Community Matters) Round Rock plain glazed donut named #2 best donut in the country; Austin’s Gourgdough’s rated #12 (I should give them another try).  I don’t know #1 Donut Vault in Chicago but plan to soon. #15 Voodoo in Portland is a favorite but I intentionally didn’t visit on this trip since my jeans were plenty tight after Thanksgiving.

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(Community Matters) Couldn’t have gone better. I really like Dr. Nakra

pics of surgery below the fold. I know, I know . . . tmi. Dont’ click to expand if queasy.

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(Community Matters) the Entrepreneurs Foundation has launched a Philippines Typhoon Relief Fund – we’ll match the first $115,000 in contributions dollar for dollar.

Our approach could change in response to the rapidly changing situation – at this time, we are researching the greatest needs among the nine regions and which organizations have the ground resources to be most effective. We will deploy the same due diligence and attention to effectiveness as we used in distributing and helping raise over $1.5 million for earthquake relief in Haiti and nearly $500 thousand to helping Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Central Texas.

What we know today:

• 14.9 million Filipinos affected; 4.13 million displaced
• 5,560 dead; another 1,757 people still missing
• 204,131 still living in 1,031 evacuation centres
• Planting season ends in Jan – urgency in helping farmers plant rice & corn
• Reports from coordination hubs indicate that humanitarian partners need to expand their response programmes to more remote areas and islands in Eastern and Western Visayas Regions
• Water, sanitation and hygiene partners warn of potential disease outbreaks amid confirmation of faecal coliform in some water sources

Contributions can be made on-line at http://AmplifyAustin.org/TyphoonRelief or by sending a check to The Entrepreneurs Foundation – Philippines Typhoon Relief Fund; P.O. Box 684826, Austin, TX 78768

(Community Matters) Steven and I just back from a couple of days in Portland, OR to attend the opening of their American Fiesta. Super time visiting with Keith Walters & Jonathan Tamez. So enjoyed Triangle Production’s staging of American Fiesta – perhaps a tinsey bit too literal, and it was a super tribute – especially to their long time, late patron, an avid Fiestaware collector. Gary Wayne Cash, the actor, is good. He’ll only get even better with a few shows under his belt and as he comes to “know” the characters.  Total unexpected treat, lunch with my dear, dear, long lost friend, Anne Kern. We had a lot of fun together in our 20s.

(Community Matters) What’s more than loved it? I adored it. The Rude Mechs Fixing King James is one of my all time favorite Austin productions. Kudos to Kirk Lynn whose voice throughout the play kept me in stitches and Madge Darlington’s near flawless direction. Of course, with the all star cast, pretty hard not to hit that perfect storm of greatness – Jason Liebrecht, Florinda Bryant, Barbara Chisholm, Jeffery Mills, Adriene Mishler, Jay Byrd, Robert Faires, Tom Green, Lowell Bartholomee, and Robert S. Fisher – not to mention Peter Stopschinski’s score. Say it on closing night. Regret can’t see it again.

(Community Matters) Friends in Ft. Davis were without electricity for three nights, four days. JP even, eventually, went to Van Horne and stayed at El Capitan. Marfa, Alpine & Valentine experienced loss of electricity for a day to several hours too.

Even little frosty came by for a swim!

Photograph by: Mark Knight Jr.,

Balmorhea Springs, TX 11/13

(hat tip: Jim Mauseth)

(Community Matters) Tonight Steven and I had dinner with Nico; Saturday night w/ Ben & Avery – a meal which Nico helped me prepare. Loving the bountiful holidays.

(Community Matters)   Robert Matney: In early summer, friend and mentor Steven Tomlinson met me for coffee to visit about my melanoma diagnosis and treatment. He’d graciously volunteered at Beth Burns’ request to write and perform a monologue for one of the Matney vs Cancer benefit events she coordinated, and our get-together was a part of his research. continued

(Community Matters) “This entire country is about to be wiped out by climate change. It won’t be the last … Drowning Kiribati “: “Kiribati is a flyspeck of a United Nations member state, a collection of 33 islands necklaced across the central Pacific. Thirty-two of the islands are low-lying atolls; the 33rd, called Banaba, is a raised coral island that long ago was strip-mined for its seabird-guano-derived phosphates. If scientists are correct, the ocean will swallow most of Kiribati before the end of the century, and perhaps much sooner than that. Water expands as it warms, and the oceans have lately received colossal quantities of melted ice. … [T]he 103,000 citizens of Kiribati may soon become refugees, perhaps the first mass movement of people fleeing the consequences of global warming rather than war or famine. …

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(Community Matters) Hard to complain about my days. The most rigorous are just keeping up with all the great people I get to meet. Yesterday is a super example. Started off meeting with a referral from Brett Hurt, Andrew Chen who’s building Greater Good Labs. He and three other Bazaarvoice veterans are passionate about helping the rest of us do and motive & empower others to do good; we’re gonna try their technology with a project next month. Then with the friend of a friend, James Chestnut. He’s recovering from a near death (hospice bound) brush w/ cancer and is realizes too many recovering from near death experiences don’t have housing options, so he wants to build solutions. Haylie Rudy made a pass by my office – always a pick me up to see her (reminder to talk about happiness and correlation with being in love). Then a meeting upstairs (showing off Capital Factory’s 16th floor) with Leadership Austin Emerge classmates Continue reading →

(Community Matters)  I don’t wish this kind of rancor on any family, and cant help but believe it’s karma. For a Cheney to complain about low blow political tactics musters crocodile tears at best. Politico: The Race That Broke the Cheney Family.