So my family has been struggling with a series of health issues, most recently a very sick relative who is hanging on by a very thin thread and whose spouse is having difficulty deciding on what to do about it. Essentially all of his body functions have failed him and he is completely non-responsive to…
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“The Four-hour Work Week”: Revisiting the Work-Happiness Equation, Becoming “New Rich”
I just finished reading Timothy Ferriss's best-selling self-help book The Four-hour Workweek, first published in 2007. I found it to be a breezy, thought-provoking, entertaining and at times inspiring read. Ferriss's central thesis is that — surprise — you can have it all now, as long as you are willing to get creative about how…
Learning “Urban Contemporary” with Loose Change Dance Company
Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking a class with Eric Fenn, choreographer of the innovative "urban contemporary" dance troupe Loose Change. Combining house, popping, waving, and breaking with modern dance, martial arts and ocassionally, swing, Loose Change has been a pioneer in the dance fusion movement for 20 years. I've long been a fan…
Following a Leading : a two week update on my Bay Area move
"The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." — Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, 1973 So it's about two weeks into my big move from New York City to the Bay Area, which has been really wonderful so far. Mole and I are mostly…
Strawberry Creek Meeting: Sun-drenched Silence in Downtown Berkeley
Today I continued my Tour of Bay Area Quaker Meetings by visiting the Strawberry Creek Meeting in Berkeley. I arrived at the location a few minutes late, where I found a dozen or so people sitting in on folding chairs in the middle of a school courtyard. "I guess this is the Meeting," I thought…
Rik’s Absolutely Brooklyn-Biased “Best of New York” List
As the final days in New York City for me wind down, I'm thinking about all of my favorite things that I've enjoyed in my 15 years here. I think I've learned a few things about how to live life to its fullest in gotham city. So here's my very subjective "Best of New York"…
Visiting the San Jose Friend’s Meeting… and an Unexpected Memorial
The problem with memorial services is that the person being honored is not able to appreciate all the nice things that people are saying about her or him. At least, that' usually the way it goes. Today I visited the San Jose Friend's Meeting, a Quaker community that meets in the oldest Meetinghouse in California,…
Christmas Giving 2010: Supporting Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, DC, and around the World
In these times, contributing to charities and causes is more difficult for many people, who often are struggling to make ends meet and worrying about the future. I'm more fortunate than many, in that I don't have to worry about how the rent is getting paid, putting food on the table or healthcare. (Well, at…
Awesome recipe for “Preserving Children” in the Powell House Cookbook
I love this recipe for "preserving children" that you can find in the Powell House cookbook (now out of print). Tom Rothchild brought this gem to my attention. The recipe is as follows: Take one large grassy field, half a dozen children, three small dogs, and walk along a narrow strip of brook, pebbly if…
Krumping as Transcendent Expression
This morning at Quaker Meeting I couldn't stop thinking about krump. Krumping, of course, is the hyper-energetic, aggressive dance style that emerged out of some of the roughest neighborhoods in LA in the 90s, and has since become an international phenomenon. I've long had difficulty understanding krump as an artform. It appeared to me to…