ABSILVER's World

OK.. in honor of Ivan's post.. I have never written about my view of AEPi in College. Maybe some of this will come as a shock to those of that time, but I was an unusual pledge as I was a sophomore.  Actually didn't imagine wanting to be in a Fraternity and came to this in a very unusual path, and that led me to AEPi. When I was a senior in High School, I actually graduated 10th in my class, I had narrowed down my college choices to Mercer University and UGA.  I happened to be bagging groceries at Red and White and the daughter of the owner had been accepted to Mercer and kept saying how great it was.  Nice Baptist college in a very accepting Georgia town of Macon (smiles).  So, the more I heard about it and frankly a little bit of a desire to show I could go also I applied to Mercer and University of GA among others.  I remember Boston University was recruiting me, but there was no realistic way I could see being in Boston. My folks were skeptical of ...

People say where were you? Where were you when JFK was shot (I was not born yet). They say where were you when you heard John Lennon was assassinated. (I was in High School ). But, where I was 12 years ago has helped to define who I am, how I see my future, and how I see my country. Twelve years ago, I was sitting in my office in Palisades, NY.  I had a team of 15 professionals, and I am sure we were on a call and somebody said did you hear..  I went rushing out to see, and as a conference center, all TV's were on CNN.  Maybe the first hit of the first tower was an accident.  No, there was a second.  Maybe the towers will withstand the hit, maybe .. then people started jumping.  The towers started to crumble and I stared at the TV and watched across the Hudson River as I saw the city that I had admired so much turn into a crisis zone.  Then the Pentagon was attacked and again hope that there are no injuries.  Maybe they wer...

What happens as we age, it draws us to look for change, or mid-life crisis maybe?  Women go through a natural change of life as they age.   Men, depending on who you pay attention to, don't go through a natural change but we all have heard mid-life crises leading to things in life like new sports cars and changes of life and home.  So, I sit here outside of a Starbucks in Savannah spending the weekend with family and wondering what my life has in store as I start the next adventure.  I am very lucky that I have put myself in a place at this moment where I can explore choices and options without the pressures of life.  Except for the hopeful puppy who is in my future, I don't have great burdens that cause me to need to move quickly in any direction. I have moved past needing to have the finest car, designer jeans, or any of the trappings of the life and times we are in.  Frankly, these things never made it in my life as a priority any way. ...

OK.. already.  Yes, I know I need to write something in my blog.  I am up to $4.66 in ad revenue and if I think about this too much I will realize I am way behind on even making minimum wage writing this blog.  Not that I do it for the money, and I am trying oh so hard not to change what I write based on money.  But, gee look at all the media tycoons and wonder if they started this way. Speaking of tycoons, and to prove I do have a capitalistic notion, I was thinking about Oprah Winfrey.  I remember that she did a few of her favorite thing shows and man I wondered if I did the same could I get a few more hits that way.   I mean she can buy a lot more stuff than me, and frankly she doesn't pay for it.  In my case, I did and I like them and I won’t promote something that I didn't like.  Like the automated soap dispenser from Bed Bath and Beyond or that funky gadget that tipped of the side of my thumb. So.. here it goes.. here are a few...

801 ... 648 .. 79… Not These numbers will mean something... by the end of this blog.   At least they do to me which is a point of this randomness or lack there of this morning. I sit here on the wall at the beach which ends up being 648 days after I made the decision to walk at the beach in Fort Lauderdale as many mornings as I could.  I remember the beginning, as I went to Stork's and got my favorite scone and coffee and drove to the beach.   I remember parking the car and thinking how far could I walk before I ate the scone.  That morning I realized these were contrary goals.  Walking for exercise with a scone and latte at hand didn't make any sense.  So, I dropped the scone but the lattes continued.  In great Brian fashion I started to build it into a routine.   Stop at storks ... Latte in hand.. Park at Sebastian lot and see how far I could walk and how cool the coffee would get.     Then I started to think my arms weren't getti...

So... This is one of those days where I want to pinch myself.  Actually, the last twenty four hours are almost perfect for Brian.   Started last night with a fun evening with Debi and Mark.   Great chat, great friends, food and a little drink.   Have to teach mark to eat hamburgers at least medium.  I love the Alibi but don't confuse the waiter should be the motto.   If I order medium or medium rare , and mark orders medium well they will mix up the two. So last night I went with Mark's lead...  I yield to the pinker side of a hamburger, but all was well.. Got home, fell asleep and woke up at 4:15am and intended to wake up at 4:30 for my weekend in NYC.   I have a travel pro 8 knapsack and that thing is turning into a top ten purchase.  Was able to get everything in there I need for 3 days.  Made it easy at the airport... Which was there at 5:45am and sitting at the gate by 6:15am for my fl...

The first thing everyone needs to do this morning is realize as much as we don't want to admit it, as far as we believe we have come in this society for equal rights whether based on race, gender, religion or even sexual orientation that yes racism is still a real issue in this country.  Too many people walk down a street and based on the color of their skin, their choice of clothes are "profiled" and people make assumptions based on race.  I hope that we have made progress, and that we have grown as a country to be less racist and prejudice, but as my good friend Cecelia has told me many times the first step in addressing the problem of racism is to realize we all have some prejudices and to realize them so we don't do and act wrong because of these tendencies. Like it or not, if Trayvon Martin were white or Hispanic George Zimmerman may not have been as suspicious and may have actually talked to this child to find out where he lived and why he was just meanderi...