Friday Donuts

Dear Members and Constituents, In our casual conversations, many of you have asked to hear about my pilgrimage to Ecuador. I must admit I have found this line of questioning particularly hard to address. How do you characterize a month-long trip within the confines of a short hallway conversation? Invariably, my answers have been a combination of a pause (drawing a blank for something clever to say) followed by some comment that falls short of doing the trip justice. Given these circumstances, a top-ten list seems like a suitable mechanism to give you a taste (à la David Letterman)... From our home box office in Cuenca, Ecuador, here are the top ten highlights of my trip 10. Family . With 31 of my paternal Grandfather's 55 living descendants (not counting their spouses, or my wife's family) residing in my hometown, the list of relatives to visit was extensive to say the least. 9. Friends . Four high-school buddies in particular. You'd think 24 years later they would have ma

Dear Members and Constituents, As the Games of the XXIX Olympiad wind down, it appears I have developed an immunity to the Olympics bug. There, I said it! Sure, I heard of Michael Phelps. Ate gold medals! (OK, bad joke). I even caught a glimpse of several media-selected sports in which the U.S. had strong gold medal aspirations (and for all I know got them), and was disappointed that the 20K men's march event --where Ecuador won a silver medal-- was not broadcast because no U.S. athletes were in contention. However, it is far from an all-consuming addiction. Lots of world records being broken in water sports... yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Failed baton passes... huh? I suppose that is why, as some of you have correctly pointed-out, despite the ripe parallels between Olympics and donuts (Olympic rings resemble donuts, medals are round, China has 48 gold medals --that's four dozen, etc.), the topic has been absent from this forum. A deficiency I intend to remedy immediately. In the Ol

Dear Members and Constituents, What whimsical, weird and outright wacky weather we're witnessing! The searing summer sun on Sunday finally fell victim to the freezing fall drizzle I'm feeling this freaky Friday. It's like the seasonal switch was flipped leaving no room for a transition from summer to fall. Granted, fall does not officially begin for another month so there's plenty of time for the weather to wax and wane between the two archetypal patterns seen in the past seven days. Personally, I like the variety and am sitting back, kicking my boots up and enjoying the show. In a way, it reminds me of the sudden end to our current donut rotation last Friday giving way to the beginning of the new donut rotation this Friday. Julian Kiss kindly agreed to help the Friday Donut Club turn this new leaf by commissioning TimeWise to bring his inaugural contribution which also inaugurates the new rotation. I have not heard back from anyone regarding days you cannot bring donut

Dear Members and Constituents, It's 08/08/08 (at 08:08 AM). Is that cool or what! Why do I find this pattern fascinating? Why does that smooth succession of zeroes and eights somehow make the date (and time) seem special? Perhaps it's just my innate desire to predict, and even control the future that subconsciously attract me to patterns in general. Let's face it, whether we care to admit it or not, we all find things like symmetry, balance and repetition appealing because they give us the false illusion of control. Perhaps it's the fact that zeroes resemble donuts and eights (sideways) resemble the character used to represent infinity. Just think: donuts intermingled with eternity: what a soul soothing thought. Then again, perhaps it's just the fact that this is the first time in over a month I will get an opportunity to consume a donut that has got me all giddy. Whatever the reason, the fact is donuts are here, thanks to Danelle Vitale, who was torn between delega