Parading Around

Thanks again to everybody who braved the morning rains and joined us in marching in Sunday's Pride Parade. Most of our group in shown above (the rest had already left for our post-parade get-together). A good time was had by all and I appreciate the support.

On a related note, while I knew the majority of our marchers, I don't think that I know who Eric is; but if you're reading this Eric, you apparently caught the attention of one of our female volunteers who has taken to the web to try to track you down.

Sad News

Things like this put everything quickly back into perspective:

(Crain’s) — Alexis Giannoulias, founder and chairman of Chicago-based Broadway Bank, died suddenly while traveling in his native Greece over the weekend.

Mr. Giannoulias, 69, suffered an apparent heart attack, according to a spokesman for his son, Alexi Giannoulias, who is the Democratic nominee for state treasurer... In addition to his three sons, Mr. Giannoulias is survived by his wife of 38 years, Anna.

Politics can be a rough and tumble business, and this is the type of story that should remind everybody of priorities and what's really important in life. My condolences to my friend Alexi, his terrific mom, and their whole family.

Summer Vision

So I finally break my longest silence since starting this blog last Fall in order to write about - nothing. A bunch of people have contacted me regarding the dearth of postings the last few weeks, so I just want to take a quick opportunity to respond. (I didn't stop to ask if they missed it or were rejoicing about it.)

In any event, the void has been both intentional and unintentional. A lot of things that I have wanted to write about are my criticisms and critiques about various current goings-on at different levels of government. But I'm not really in the mindset right now to simply throw my two cents in and take shots about issues in which I have no involvement. At the other end of the spectrum, summer is upon us, and I have been pretty busy with activities in the district - graduations, neighborhood group meetings, and the like, so time and inclination to post has also been somewhat more rarified.

I think that my plan for summer blogging will be to do a weekly post, most likely policy-based, probably on Mondays. Just a little something to provoke some thought and maybe some discussion. Obviously, significant events may lead me to weigh in as well. In the more immediate future, I'm undergoing Lasik surgery in about an hour or so, and my anxiety level is definitely on the upswing.

(I cannot believe I am letting somebody do this to me.)

I hope that everyone is enjoying the best season in our state. I'll post again next week (busy weekend coming up), and I hope to see everybody soon (literally).