Once again, I find myself outside of the norm, not understanding the fascination, and not part of the excitement.  Having returned from an earlier outing, I am at home listening to the fireworks in my neighborhood.  They’ve been popping every night for the past few days.

Once again, there's a  heart-wrenching headline and story of another innocent child shot in a cross-fire of bullets clearly intended for someone else.  Headline: Boy, 7, shot as he played outside -
"A boy playing kickball near his school in Roxbury was hit by a stray bullet last night. Police say the boy is in stable condition." Boston Globe, July 1, 2008).
 

I was walking down the street one day in the merry, merry month of May, well, it wasn’t May, it was June and so, I’ll end my rhyme.  This past week while in Newport my husband and I were approached by a man to listen to a vacation resort ownership presentation (new school), not to be confused with a time share (old school).  The lures were decent and so we agree to be come back a few hours later to listen to the pitch. 

“He lives in an ordinary, all-American sort of place…” began an article by David Mehegan in the Boston Globe on April 8.  I’ve seen that phrase used loads of times.  Whenever I see it, I know that the story is about someone white who is usually middle-class.   “All-American” is a way of saying white without having to actually spell it out.

I knew better when I did it.  I knew I shouldn’t have walked out of the house wearing those pants, that shirt, those flip-flops, with my hair unkempt.  I thought I could get away with it.  I mean, I’m not famous and don’t have to worry about paparazzi stalking me.  Well, wouldn’t you know it, I was busted.

As a group we take a very broad view of these two enigmatic terms and hope to
explore their boundaries and depths through the postings and comments of this
blog.

Inspirations:--
Our aim here is to encourage and inspire ideas and thoughts of action, which
could make a difference both at the individual and societal level. It could
be a story, poem, incident, thoughts or quotes which would rouse one's thought
process to achieve greater things in life.

Going slow to go fast is a facilitation technique.  It means to take time with the introductions, the ground rules, the agenda, the goals of the meeting and go over logistics.  Taking time to go over these things almost guarantees that the meeting will go more smoothly because everyone is starting on the same page.

Going slow to go fast is also a good practice to use when you're rushing and running late.

it's that time again: Time to find the experts out in our community who want to pass along their hard-won expertise to their fellow bloggers. The Reach Out Tour is coming to a city near you in October...if you live near Boston, DC, Nashville, Greensboro, Atlanta or New Orleans...and we are looking for local experts and local color.

Track #1: Blogging Basics

I feel left out of a significant part of American culture because I don’t drink coffee or wine.
There are all sorts of rituals, practices, insider secrets and buzz words around these habits.  There are special places people gather to imbibe these liquids together.  Some neighborhoods abound with coffee shops and bars not so much competing for customers but being complimentary to one another.  Get tired of one spot, there's another close by to visit.