Welcome to my Web site!
Life is about living, experiencing, engaging, risking, challenging, traveling, growing, learning, tasting, smelling, making mistakes, getting hurt, triumphing over difficulties. Life is about being an actor instead of an audience. To dare is to live! If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space! Listed here are a few suggestions:
An Intellectual Experience. It all starts with the brain, of course, and there is no finer way to exercise your brain than to read my books, Eighteen Rabbit and The Founder. Eighteen Rabbit was the 13th king of the Maya city of Copan in Honduras from 695 to 738 CE. The founder is Yax Kuk Mo, a real mover and shaker in the Maya world who started the dynasty of Copan in 427 CE. To order your copies, go to www.xlibris.com and click on "bookstore". Search by author for my books and proceed to checkout. This book is also available from www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com.
A Taste Experience. Life is too short for bad wine. The best wine information website is by the Professional Friends of Wine at www.winepros.org. Look up any grape varietal and get tons of information about it. Note: it is heavily biased toward California but the basic information and links are good. For Washington State, go to the Washington Wine Commission site at www.washingtonwine.org. For really outstanding wine tastings in a gracious, intimate setting, contact me. ;-)
A Wild Experience. There is no better antidote for the stress and grief of urban living and office drudgery than to get out into the mountains. Washington Trails Association organizes volunteer vacations, publishes an excellent magazine, and offers an interactive website at www.wta.org. Hikers post trail reports that are current and contain key conditions information. They are a fun group, too!
A Musical Experience. Music lifts the soul. For the most exquisite, sublimely beautiful baroque music anywhere, you need go no further than the Seattle Baroque Orchestra at www.seattlebaroque.com. SBO displays the famous and explores the lesser knowns as it thrills audiences with music from Bach to Scarlatti, Vivaldi to Frescobaldi and all points in between. For a more casual, interactive, on the edge of classical music experience, go to one of the concerts put on by Simple Measures: www.simplemeasures.com.
A Political Experience. "Wherever two or more are gathered" - you have politics! Politics is the art of herding cats while making them believe they are in charge. Politics is also how we organize ourselves to live together peaceably and accomplish more than we could alone. Politics gets a dirty name because of some of the unsavory tactics and people in it, but it won't get any better unless you get in it, right? Here's how:
Washington State Government. To track bills in the legislature, performance and voting records of legislators, find your legislator, register to vote, read the Washington State Constitution, and comment on legislation, among many other things, go to www.washingtonvotes.org. To contact the governor, go to www.governor.wa.gov. To research state supreme court and appellate court decisions, go to www.courts.wa.gov. A very handy handbook is published by the League of Women Voters called "They Represent You." A free copy may be obtained from the league office by calling 206-329-4848 or emailing info@seattlelwv.org.
United States Congress. To track bills in the US House of Representatives, contact your representative, or to search the United States Code (ie - federal laws), go to www.house.gov. To track bills in the US Senate or contact your senator, go to www.senate.gov.
Election Results. For results in King County, go to www.metrokc.gov/elections/.
City of Seattle. The mayor, councilmembers, and city departments are all readily accessible via www.seattle.gov. The mayor and councilmembers post regular e-newsletters to which constituents may subscribe.
Party Organization. The dominant party in King County is the Democratic Party, organized into legislative districts. To find your district and get involved in local meetings, go to www.kcdems.net.
