As a reminder, the HHS Strategic Plan is open for public comment until October 27th. Comments may be submitted through the web site, or via email to HHSPlan@hhs.gov. There was no way I could limit myself to the 1,000 character limit through the web site. Here is my submitted comment. Pick and choose and re-word …
Continue reading ‘Public Comment Submission re/ HHS Draft Strategic Plan FY 2018-2022’ »
Caleb Keeter’s change of heart about gun rights after the Las Vegas mass shooting has gotten a lot of press in recent days. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the pro gun machine is turning on him with push-back that he was never a “real” supporter of the Second Amendment anyway. I’ve only seen one such article so far, …
Continue reading ‘A Little Research Keeps You From Being Played Like a Fiddle’ »
Re/ 2017, Word Counts and Writing Process (John Scalzi on his Whatever blog) It’s not just writers believe me. One thing I’ve recently noticed is that my lists of things to do, the lists that used to help me focus and get things done, the lists I used to cross half off of by lunch, …
Continue reading ‘When Lack of Focus Becomes the New Normal’ »
Dear President Obama, Happy birthday! I admit that haven’t felt particularly inspired to “sign” the many different birthday greeting emails being sent around by political groups these last few days. Throwing my name on such a digital file seems fairly thoughtless. It seems Mrs. Obama agrees; her message this morning to share something about how …
Continue reading ‘Daily Acts of Citizenship – A Message to President Obama on His Birthday’ »
Lacking White House plan, Senate focuses on infrastructure (The Hill) The president also defended his decision not to put a rebuilding proposal at the top of the agenda, telling The Wall Street Journal it would have been a “waste” because it’s a bipartisan issue. “A lot of people said you should have started with taxes …
Continue reading ‘Negotiation – I Don’t Think That Word Means What You Think It Means’ »
I participated in a panel at the SLA 2017 Annual Conference entitled Beyond the Day Job: Developing Leadership Skills Through Voluntary Service. My recap (below) was originally posted on the SLA LMD blog: It was my honor and pleasure to join four of my colleagues as one of the presenters on this panel. The session …
Continue reading ‘Volunteering – Getting as Good as You Give’ »
Although I have lived in the SF area for over 20 years, I have never before watched fireworks over the Bay; Steve *thinks* he remembers doing it once in his 25 years here. Neither of us are really big on crowds, and we don’t think it’s a good use of our time to drive somewhere …
Continue reading ‘Fun with Alcohol and Explosives – Just Like the Founding Fathers Intended!’ »
As I’ve mentioned previously, while reuniting a separated baby raccoon with its mother is possible, there are several factors that come into play when determining if the attempt should be made (location, health of the baby, circumstances of intake, etc). The literal baby hand-off last year was a unique experience. Typically when a reunite is …
As I think I’ve mentioned previously, finding a nice place to have a cider while travelling, or better yet a local cider to enjoy, has become an essential part of my travel planning in recent times. From a stop at the local bottle shop before departing Inverness in Scotland, to planning several evening stops while …
Continue reading ‘Special Librarians Deserve Special Cider’ »
Just thinking about the many forks in the road that have led me to where I am, and I realized how much I have to thank Cassady for me ending up in California. During my senior year of college, I started applying for dramaturgy internships at theatres around the country. There weren’t many offered in …
Continue reading ‘Forks, Choices, Priorities, and Reflections’ »