All my life I've been a bit left of center, taking a road less traveled, always bit beyond the mainstream. Loving challenge. Not afraid to gamble on myself. And as a friend once told, there are no mistakes if you something from the experience.

So today I sit here in the midst of this new challenge, this work of creating something new that is nonetheless rooted in the experiences of a lifetime. My business partners are smart, creative, energetic, ambitious, and not afraid to work for something they want, and they couple that mass of professional energy with kindness, compassion and a sense of humor. Am I lucky to be in such company.

I am pulling together stories, thinking about photos, hawking ads, making deals, meeting people, learning more and every day in addition to shapeshifting what I already know.

Amazing how thoughts of retirement fell away with the advent of something to challenge my creative energy. Again, I am moving back outside the parameters of the norm, and find that the new parameters suit me just fine.

My last blog talked about change and the sites I've been working for over the last few years.

Funny what a difference a day can make. Funny how easy it can be to shift gears.

In mid-March I resigned from a project I had been very dedicated to, and aligned myself with something new and untested, but with unlimited potential to professionally meet the needs of the community in two areas: business and arts/heritage.

I am part of a four-member partnership (as of May 8 a licensed corporation in TN) with out hand in publishing, web development, television production, and advertising. We all folded something into this corporation, not the least of which is over 100 years of combined talent and experience. We all complement each other and we are all ambitious, and we all believe in the value and potential of what we are doing.

My first love has always been print media, and my end of this project is just that: print. Two beautiful magazines devoted to the history, culture and business across our region.

Crazy? Maybe! I am 59 as of this week, but rather than anticipate retirement, I accepted the challenge of creating something new. I realize that I thrive on challenge, pride myself on jobs well and professionally done, am easily bored with the status quo ... so I am raising the bar.

I have things to learn (a new computer system, design programs, QuickBooks, IWorks, etc). I can't wait to move into a new office mid-month, which will make all of this work seem real.

www.imaginemediasolutions.com

Sometimes life just gets away from you.

After two months of helping my daughter and her children resettle in TN, I am smack dab in the middle of developing additional websites (I am the editor component of said sites). More writing, more photography, More meetings, more travel.

Just as things were almost settling down, we lost the family dog, the rescued dog that rescued me and another from a house fire several years go. The death of this pet was an accident that should not have happened -- a cocky driver taking a sharp right turn at high speed on ice on a residential street --a recipe for disaster. So we have become a devastated family.

Ironically, my work keeps my mind off it.

Anyway, we have had the ice, we had the wind (which dropped somebody's roof in my backyard), and now, hopefully we will have spring.

We waited all winter to play in the snow with our dog -- what a bit of cruelty that snow we all loved so much became the element of his death. took the stuffing right out of us. I put away my snowman collection the very next day.

Now I am awaiting spring, for surely there will be something new, good and beautiful waiting there.

Until then, I keep busy. And watch the first robin in the yard, a bright goldfinch at the feeder, a hint of greening in the grass.

Tomorrow still has promise.

I've always been one who "dares." Maybe that's an apt description, but I just tend to think of myself as wanting to experience life, as wanting to check off items that a recent film called "the bucket list." On Saturday I checked off another one: flight. 

To do a story on our local airport, and specifically a local flight school, I got a lesson in flight, which begins by simply, well, flying. Outside the Cessna, I was ready to board on the passenger side, when the instructor told me to take the pilot's seat. Wow!

I was coached through the pre-flight check, and suddenly found myself weaving down the runway, trying to get used to steering with the foot controls, a bit tricky with the current problem with my current
pain problem" focused on my left leg.  I needed just a bit of help with that pedal.

The feeling of flight, though, is phenomenal. To soar above the city, buzz my own home, and look out the window at the cotton ball clouds, to see the shadow of the plane I was flying on the fields below me, was amazing and exhilarating.

Today instead of a birthday card I wrote one of sympathy.

Annette Husson passed away at 88 years of age, having outlived my own mother by five years. The two women had been friends for 75 years, meeting in elementary school and never letting go of that bond. Through marriages and deaths, old loves and new loves, they moved through life, taking in its beauty and adventure with every breath. They also held the gift of laughter, and shared it with everyone they met.

In their later years, I would take both of them to lunch (always Chinese) and then shopping at Fashion Bug -- then back to Annette's to dive in the desserts I always brought from Bernadino's bakery -- the kind of old pastry shop that still makes pie squares, brownies, Napoleon's and old fashioned donuts. And Babka bread in two sizes.

I paused to gather old photos (there are so many) and remember:

~~~ fishing at Dayville and cooking our catch on the grill
~~~ dancing to big band orchestras in those day of nightclubs and balls
~~~ feeding the ducks at Forest Park
~~~ our trip to Washington D.C.
~~~ days at Mountain Lake Beach and Hammonassett
~~~ sitting around the table or on the porch, chatting

It probably doesn't sound like a lot, but it was everything because we ll cared so much.

My mom had Annette for 75 years; I've had her for nearly 58. A lifetime.

I won't forget.

Annette, we love you.

Frustration reveals itself, increases exponentially with each passing day. I am sick of feeling sick.

I got a horrific cold back in December, about a week before Christmas. Worst one in several years. Felt better in about a week and left for New England, school and visits with old friends. I still felt tired. Not myself. Therefore irritated with myself.

You see, I take care of myself. I eat right, eat my green veggies, lay off the fatty stuff, do yoga, meditate ... Having been flat on my back with a back injury and its two year recovery, I am very conscious of what I do, how I eat, and all those things. And I realize that everyone gets a cold now and then. But colds are supposed to have a limited shelf life.

So halfway through my residency, I began to be super-tired again, and found myself taking daytime naps (not my usual style; I am not a "napper"). By the time residency was over, I was at my friend's home and we were both "not feeling well." By the time I got to Connecticut, I spent six days in a hotel room with my good friends Nyquil, Tylenol and Kleenex.

I started to feel better in time for the grueling trip home. Then Pneumonia. I could feel it in my lungs. Thick congestion, coughing, that heaviness of breathing...and total fatigue.

Now, 3 1/2 weeks later, I am still reeling from this bug. The congestion has eased, the coughing up has slowed down, but the energy is still ... non-existent. I do one small thing and I need a nap. My brain is sluggish. Sometimes moving in reverse. I retain only enough energy to be angry at not regaining any energy.

The fact is, what hit me back in those pre-Christmas days was virulent, and I was ill-equipped physically to deal with it. It is almost two months since that first bout of cold-flu-pneumonia, and I am just now starting to feel a tad better. I have to also stay smart enough not to start overdoing it just because I do feel better. I did two hours of work the other day and it knocked me flat again.

I guess I am just ranting a bit, frustrated by not being out and about, by this feeling of chronic congestion and chronic exhaustion...

I am waiting for the daffodils to bloom, from spring to break with its welcoming, smiling sun.

The Clarksville screening of UnCounted, a film targeting issues in electronic voting, drew fifty people to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Friday evening, filling the screening room to capacity for this special event. The film's producer, Patricia Earnhardt, and activist Bernie Ellis, addressed the group and fielded questions about the film and the increasing controversy over the accuracy and security of electronic voting machines.


Producers describe UnCounted as "an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 — and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial film examines…how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity…"

"There is still time to return to a verifiable system [such as paper ballots] for the 2008 presidential election," Ellis said. Ellis, (at left with producer Patricia Earnhardt), is featured in this film. He noted that when issues arose with the e-machines in Maryland, the Republican governor of that state dumped the machines in favor of paper ballots in just seven weeks to guarantee the "integrity" of the election.

UnCounted details the long lines, missing machine, inaccuracies in tabulating votes, and the ways voting machines can be tampered with to affect tallies. The film documents long voting lines, missing and failed machines, and other occurrences in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 elections. It examines the relationship between companies such as Diebold, manufacturer of voting machines that serve millions of American voters, and elected officials including election commissions and federal and state officers whose decisions affect how Americans will cast their votes.




In Nashville, David Earnhardt said "buying a Krispy Kreme donut was better documented than our vote." Our most vital right as as Americans is our right to vote, and that right is being eroded by the manipulation and malfunctioning of electronic voting machines, and there is no paper trail, no way to verify how votes were cast or tabulated.


Producer Patricia Eatrnardt introduced the film, noting that the Clarksville screening was only the second time this film has been shown in the state of Tennessee, though it has been screened in 39 other states and several other countries since its worldwide premiere in Nashville in November at the Belcourt Theater. That premiere played to a standing room only crowd, just as last night's screening played to a full house. At both events, the film generated heavy comments and considerable questions in the post-film debate. Earnhardt also noted the absence of interest by mainstream media in this film, noting that Clarksville Online was the only media to cover the world premiere of Uncounted in Nashville.


For a state that tipped the scales on women's suffrage and was pivotal in civil rights, Tennessee stands "eighth from bottom" on a list of states when it comes to election integrity, Ellis  said. "[Election officials] say it is too late to change how we vote in this state. It is not. If Maryland can do it in seven weeks, we can too."


Ellis noted that pivotal votes on the voting process are coming up on December 18 and urged this audience to contact their legislators and election commissioners to demand verifiable voting. Ellis is also creating a lending library of UnCounted DVDs that will be available at no cost to groups who want to screen this film.


Friday's event was hosted by the Unitarian fellowship and sponsored by the FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties and Clarksville Online.


FreeThinkers founder Debbie Boen was "excited" over the turnout, voicing satisfaction that so many people are interested in the voting process and concerned about issues of voting and electronic machines. "This kind of turnout just fuels us, recharges us and makes us want to do more.Boen brought her sculpture, Bob, to the event, attaching a "trust me" sign about voting to this figure, which has been displayed in numerous art venues throughout Clarksville.


Clarksville Online Publisher Bill Larson, equally pleased with the success of the program, said that Clarksville sponsorship of this event, which was offered admission-free as a community service by all sponsoring groups, is just the first of a number of community programs Larson would endorse in the coming year. "This is part of what we give back to the community."


Ellis wrapped up the event with recommended contacts and suggested actions for those interested in voicing their opinion about electronic voting. Ellis urged anyone who wants to know more or wants to communicate with legislators on the issue to email him ( [1] tracevu@bellsouth.net ) for an action packet and/or visit the web-site: [2] www.votesafetn.org . More information is also available at [3] info@votesafetn.org.

Please check out my coverage of this film at ClarksvilleOnline.com