new blog

just a heads up to let y'all know that i've started another blog. it chronicles my low carb lifestyle.

i'd love it if you'd check it out:

carbinator

thanks!

i'll still be posting here, so stay tuned.

how far have we come?

more than thirty years ago, the summer before i graduated from high school, i served as a youth representative to my church denomination's state assembly. it took place at the penn state (johnstown) campus. it would have been mostly memorable for the time i spent on the handball courts and at the pong machine but for one notable exception: the rev. martin luther king, sr. was the keynote speaker.

i don't remember much about rev. king, but i do have a few clear memories: i shook his hand and thanked him for being there. he smiled and sincerely thanked me for having him (as if a mere teenager wielded that sort of power or influence). he struck me as a quietly proud, dignified gentleman, not unlike my grandfather.

i was old enough to be keenly aware of the impact rev. king and his family had on the civil rights movement; i had vivid memories of martin luther king, jr.'s assassination. i knew rev. king had to be an extraordinary man to influence and inspire his son. i was amazed that he could speak to us about him (among other things) so recently after his wife's tragic murder. the pain and grief had to be immense.

today, as barack obama becomes the 44th president of the united states, i am thinking about rev. king and the personal sacrifices he (and so many others) made so that we could reach a point in our history where a man -- finally -- wasn't judged by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. when i see racists, pessimists, neocons (who are mostly racists and pessimists in denial), historical revisionists, et al. trying to cast a pall over this remarkable achievement, i am saddened and troubled.

as we bask in this shining moment in our nation's history, let's take time to consider the road that has taken us this far -- and acknowledge that we still have quite a distance to go.