Coolest Family Around!

So, the other night my friend Terry from the Herman's Bridge project asked me over to meet a couple of people who were staying with him and his wife.

I had the privilege of spending the next couple of hours hanging out with this really cool family from Portland, Oregon who decided to sell their stuff, get into an RV fueled by used veggie oil and travel around helping different people and organizations.

Check out the Coulombe family by clicking here.

My son - the guitarist

It's been about a year since Justin got his hands on his very own guitar - and he rarely is seen without it, he's even taking a couple of guitar classes at school.

So, now he's got "gigs" lined up - OK, a "gig" - he'll be performing at a local coffee shop on Friday, Nov. 21 - it should be fun.

Return Day!

Return Day is a uniquely Delaware tradition - two days after Election Day, all candidates (winners and losers) - come to Georgetown, Delaware to participate in a parade, enjoy the ceremonial burying of the hatchet, and going from place to place for parties.

This year was kind of a mess - I appreciate the fact that Senator/Vice President-elect Joe Biden wanted to still be a part of this tradition (which he's done for the past 30+ years), but for the first time ever we had to deal with long security lines and limited mobility.

Regardless, we had a good time and even had some of our crew involved with the parade. Oh, our group included my lovely bride, Kristin, the best General Manager in the world, Steven Miles, a respected man-of-the-cloth, Dave Jones, a Sussex County native, Jim Carrey, and a couple of artistic geniuses, Brian Sowards and Chris Stout.

Meeting Christopher Buckley

Christopher Buckley is a great writer - some of you might be familiar with the movie that came out a couple of years ago - "Thank you for Smoking" - that was bsed on the book Christopher Buckley wrote.

Mr. Buckley writes great satire and his latest book, "Supreme Courtship" is a lot of fun - especially since he based one of his lead characters on our very own Senator/Vice President-elect Joe Biden (a cosmetically-enhanced U.S. Senator who has run for president in the past and has a habit of letting his mouth get him into trouble).

Mr. Buckley made an appearance at the Free Library of Philadelphia the day after Election Day, and Rick Jensen and I decided to go on up to see him - we heard some fun stories about Mr. Buckley's days as a speech writer for then Vice President George H.W. Bush, writing fictitious book reviews for the New Yorker, and the time he "Shushed" the director of the FBI.

If you are looking for something fun to read, pick up anything by Christopher Buckley - would especially recommend "Little Green Men" - which is apparently in the process of being filmed with John Malkovich.

Adventures of Ana L\'Tech

Adventures of Ana L'Tech

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Jason's linking to me - I have got to update this thing!

I know, I know - I've been a terrible blogger - haven't added any new posts in forever (and I can justify such lack of blogging by showing all the direct e-mail communications I've done - but neither of us have time for that).

So now I'm updating because Jason Boyett just posted a link to here -- and the last time I checked, when Jason links to you, things happen.

I promise to get back to regular blogging soon (with some really exciting news and wacky observations).

So, if you're here because of Jason - WELCOME! tkae a look around and ignore the fact that I haven't posted in a while (you can also sign up for updates to the left - once I get back into the swing of things you'll get an occasional e-mail from me (2 a month, tops).

Peace!

Have you heard the latest about Hillary, Obama, Bush, and McCain?

What do the following stories have in common:

- Hillary Clinton helped free two Black Panthers accused of torturing and murdering Alex Rackley
- President Bush paid for the funeral of a 6-year-old boy who drowned near his ranch in Crawford, Texas
- Illinois Senator Barack Obama is a radical Muslim

Two things - First, I have received all of these stories via e-mail several times (and many more like them). Second, they are all verifiably false.

These kinds of things get to be particularly ubiquitous during election years. And, if you've ever received these e-mails or anything like them, then you know that the e-mails are normally sent to you and a whole bunch of other people - and you probably notice that your simply the latest group to get this thing forwarded to you. My parents even received one of these in their snail-mail (anonymously, of course).

Friends, here's the thing - when you receive one of these e-mails, the first thing you should do is go to www.snopes.com and check to see what the validity of the claim is. Now, here's the funny part - some of the worst offenders will actually claim in the e-mail that their story has been verified by snopes.com - do not believe them! Check it out for yourself.

Quick Tip: if any variation of the following phrases are used, red flags should be going up:

- this is a story you won't read in the media
- this is something ____ doesn't want you to know about
- forward this to everyone you know

Um, chances are that if you won't read it in the media it's because someone actually did a little fact-checking and found the claims to be lacking in credibility (just a thought).

If, by chance, the information you have received is completely true, then feel free to forward at will.

If, however, the e-mail is verifiably false or if it contains half-truths mixed in with innuendo and speculation, then I highly recommend hitting the “Reply All” button and explaining to everyone (in a nice way) that the information contained in the e-mail is not entirely accurate.

Here's the frustrating part - at times I have replied to completely false e-mails and I've been told by the person who sent it to me, “it may not be completely true, but it's a good story anyway.” Um, folks, that's called lying - or “bearing false witness” as it's put in Exodus (you know, one of the Big Ten!).

Look, you can be opposed to someone's policies without having to forward lies about their character.

Please, use a little bit of common sense when you see these things.

OK, I'm going to get down from this soap box now - please forward this to all of your friends, you probably won't read this in the media, it contains information they don't want you to know.