Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) I love Thomas Friedman’s view that the best vice presidential running mate would be a financial wizard rather than a national security expert. Unfortunately, I believe he is right on about the financial perils we face. I absolutely don’t think it’s irreversible, and I do think Bush, Inc. has launched the decline of America and the loss of our super economic power status. Though, this decline can be reversed through leadership, policy and unfortunately, economic sacrifice until we retire our debt and reinvest in American infrastructure.

(Community Matters) Never really been an Onion fan but the Gay Pride issue does make me chuckle. Still smiling from Joe’s friend’s quote, if you’re born that way, what do you have to be proud of?

(Community Matters) I don’t always agree with Ed Wendler’s column but he has some good points about $50 here and $75 there. I disagree with the perspective that we should concentrate all our affordable housing dollars in affordable developments. This would ghetto-ize affordablity and runs counter to the ambition of encouraging economically diverse communities, whether in 130 subdivisions or downtown. Also, it isn’t only about the type of housing and materials used that can give affordability, it’s also about footprint. Sometimes that awkward corner unit in a highrise, or upstairs/downstairs units on that SFR footprint. Finally, downtown affordability might be 140% of MFI, vs 60% in the suburbs or 80% near central.

(Community Matters) My dear friend Kevin Tuerff sent this very apropos picture he captured on Bainbridge Island last week. How does he know me so well (hmm, long story for another posting)?

Just back from drinks with former MBA student, arts entrepreneur and now C3 Presents director, Michael Feferman. His fiance, Rachel Hull, also loves the quoted. We’re looking forward to dinner with them on Saturday night at Barbara Engel’s.

Lunch today with biz/social/sports entrepreneur, attorney and super friend, Bryan Jones, CEO of Moximity. We could chat for hours.

(Community Matters) So my new friends from San Francisco to whom I shipped 15#s of Snow’s brisket and I have been following up on the best way to reheat the meat. They’ve been in phone conversation with Kerry, owner of the Texas Monthly #1 BBQ restaurant in Lexington, TX.

Their 15#s came in 4 briskets, sealed tight in plastic and cooked almost completely, but not quite. [I shipped these overnight FedEx in a styrofoam cooler and three frozen ice packs – $240 shipping.] They’ve tried boiling meat in the bag, oven warming the brisket wrapped in foil, and last night they tried placing the brisket unwrapped in a 13qt le creuset on top of a 1″ wire grate with 1/2″ water at 200 for 2.5 hours. The latter the best results so far. We’re going to try to replicate results so as to confirm best practices. I used the 2nd approach with okay but not best results. Drew Valcourt swears Snow’s ribs (I sent him a healthy package of left overs) are the very best in the “whole world.”

(Community Matters) Steven and I hosted our connections group from St. James Episcopal for dinner yesterday. Enjoyed the visit of two dear friends and new friends.

Legendary foodie Ann Clark and I planned to cook every July weekend, serving friends lavish French picnics, champagnes/wines and desserts on Sundays in the courtyard, by the pool. After yesterday, realizing I can’t do this after all.

Finding myself moving into a protective mode. M might get mad at me for this because he isn’t asking, nevertheless, I’m needing to ratchet back focus to helping Michael, being here for the rest of our families, job/team members and the Obama campaign, as well as producing M’s and ST’s plays this winter, next Spring, respectively. I’ll still meet my other community commitments but likely no time beyond this. I need to ask others to understand why I’m unable to do more in the interim.

(Community Matters) Nice column in today’s NYTimes, would Obama be a historical change agent like Reagan or a centrist like Clinton? here

(Community Matters) Lt. Gen. Ann Dunwoody to be first female 4-star general. This is a very cool thing. here

Father, grandfather and great-grandfather graduated from West Point. Father and great-grandfather both 1-star generals. Sister third female helicopter pilot. Niece a fighter pilot.

In the Army (women 14% of active duty personnel): 15 one-star generals, 3 two-stars, 2 three-stars (including Lt. General Dunwoody). Lauren & Paulina, maybe generals?

(Community Matters) Two of our very dearest friends are Joe & Tana Christie. Last night we celebrated Joe’s 75th birthday with his family and a small group of friends.

original pic: AAS

Joe’s a former State Senator from El Paso, Chairman of the State Insurance Commission, US Senate candidate, oil & gas guy, manufacturing entrepreneur and rebel rouser who traveled with Charlie Wilson to Afghanistan. He’s been a dear friend for at least 15 years, as well as a confidant and mentor.

Tana & great nephew, Tiger Woods-to-be Quinlen

Joe’s nephew-in-law David Sparks, daughter Molly Christie Benson and David’s daughter, future Olympic swimmer Delaney

niece and sports entrepreneur, Jenny Sparks

Lily & Chris Fabre

Mark, Pamela & Craig

Tamara, Steven, Robert & Charles

Delaney & Ivy

Very fun granddaughters Lily & Ivy

My parents embedded a spirit of hospitality in me. Joe & Tana reinforce it constantly with their gracious, easy & inclusive ways of hosting.

(Community Matters) She’s been really shy this season, not sure what that’s about. Mostly just hangs in water or along side rocks but off of the deck. Last year we could nearly pet her.

hmm, not sure this will even show. See her head peeking out under the flat rock

(Community Matters) Joe Jervis on gay pride:

A co-worker of mine heard me discussing my Pride plans last weekend and said, “I really don’t understand what it is you are proud about. I mean, you all say that you are born that way, so it’s not like you accomplished anything.” She wasn’t being mean, just genuinely curious, and I think that a lot of gay people probably feel the same way, quite frankly. On this subject, I can only speak for myself.

I’m proud because I’m a middle-aged gay man who has more dead friends than living ones and yet I’m not completely insane. I’ve lived through a personal Holocaust (here we go again) in which my friends and lovers have been mowed down as thoroughly and randomly as the S.S guards moved down the line of Jews. You, dead. You, to the factory. And you, you, you, and you, dead. I am inexplicably alive and I am proud that I keep the memories of my friends alive. I am proud of my people, the ACT-UPers, the Quilt makers, the Larry Kramers, the Harvey Fiersteins. I’m proud that I’m not constantly curled up into a ball on my bed, clutching photo albums and sobbing. And that happens sometimes, believe it.

And outside of my personal experiences, I am proud of my tribe as a group. Sometimes I think that gay people are more creative, more empathic, more intuitive, more generous, and more selfless than anybody else on the planet. Sometimes I think that if an alien culture were surveying our planet from light years away, they might classify gay people as an entirely separate species of humans. It’s easy to spot us because of our better haircuts.

But sometimes I think we are the worst people in the entire world when it comes to standing up for each other. The gay people who’d like to soothe their personal image problems by selectively culling some of our children from Pride events? They disgust me. They appall me. They embarrass me. To them I say: the very road that YOU now have the privilege of swaggering upon was paved by those very queens and leather freaks that you complain about, as you practice your “masculine” and give us butch face. If you want to live in the house that THEY BUILT, you better act like you fucking know it! United we stand, you snide bitches. America’s kulturkampf ain’t gonna be solved by making flamboyant people go away.

(Community Matters) Attended a grave site service in Bastrop for a former business partner, Mary Mooney. Mary was one of the founders of Minco Technology Labs. She died of breast cancer which had metastasized into liver cancer.

Mary retired to a ranch in Bastrop in 2004 where she and her late husband, Truman, raised cattle and lots of pets. She was a motherly, gracious woman who also reminded us to treat each other as family – not that we always did. It was good to see many of the old guard today. Minco had real glory days in the 90s – company spinoffs, European privatizations (or close thereto), a new plant in TN, new product lines. The industry for military and space level product has changed a great deal since the late 90s. Mary was a key founder and contributor to the company’s best days.