Yes, I know Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist, philosopher and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists and intellectuals of all time.  But what strikes me the most is that he is an icon of distractedness.  Once when Einstein slept at a friend's house he forgot to bring his suitcase home.  The parents of the other boy said to Einstein's parents, "He would never amount to anything because he can't remember anything."  Einstein single-handedly changed the assumption that distractedness=dumb.  Thanks Albert! The Association of Distracted People

*The consequences of distractedness are challenging and if distractedness is seriously interfering with a constructive life there is help for the varying degrees of distractedness via diet, exercise, meditation, therapy and medications. Google it!

Will have to track this site for a while. At first glance, this puts me in mind of the Right Brain Workouts at Peter Lloyd's ste.

Don't get Rep. Anthony Weiner angry

You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Interesting and well done for substance; interesting for the rhetoric in play here. I want to find more examples of his speaking.

JEFFREY BROWN: "Making Toast," that title characterizes so much of what you're recounting here, the life that really must go on.

ROGER ROSENBLATT: Just that. It started out simply as my activity. I get up very early in the morning, and I get the kids' breakfast ready. And then I make toast. And some kids like it in one way, and some of the kids like it another way. And I like it yet another way.

And I found that, over the course of the last couple of years, it became a metaphor for our continuing and our survival. It's a simple act. A friend of mine said, is it like the bread of life, the staff of life?

And I would like to think that I had meant that, but I didn't. I just meant that it was getting on with it.

From another recent NewsHour interview that really grabbed me, this time between Jeffrey Brown and Roger Rosenblatt, author of Making Toast. Rosenblatt uses that "making toast" to describe how life goes on for him and his wife, his son-in-law, and his grandchildren after his daughter has died. What struck me about him was his directness and openness, humanity and civility. Quite a bit to come through in a short interview.

You log on to the VectorialVancouver.net, and you see a three-dimensional representation of Vancouver. And then you can select individual searchlights and move them, orient them, point them in any direction you want, and create pyramids or meshes or zigzags over the skyline of Vancouver.

And then, once you're happy with your design, you basically sign it. You put your name, your location, maybe a dedication to somebody, and you submit it to Vancouver, where it is received. And every 12 to 15 seconds, a new design appears in the night sky, exactly as the participant had sent it from his or her computer.

And, then, finally, what happens is, the system photographs this design with four cameras that are placed in the site, and builds a Web page automatically for each participant.

A great example of getting people involved in a civic event. I don't expect to be lighting Washington's skies anytime soon, but I do have to find ways to make all my projects more participatory. Amazing how work/life can be active now.

Maybe there's a connection: How Social Engagement is Changing at Flowtown.