April 16 marked the arrival of TEDx in Sacramento, bringing a “TED-like experience” to our area. What is TED? TED stands for “Technology, Education, Design.” It is a small nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Started in 1984, its purpose has spread to include an annual U.S. conference in Long Beach as well as a TEDGlobal conference in the United Kingdom, a TEDTalks online video site, an annual TED Prize, a nationwide local program called TEDx and more. Per TEDx Sacramento, “The TEDx Conference provided a license and general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.” Brandon Weber, TEDx Sacramento curator, said the local team want

 For the last week, I've been living the life of Riley. Jess' aunt and uncle took her little cousins on vacation to Hawaii.  We've been housesitting their place in Land Park. Riley lives in a three-bedroom house in the suburbs, he's got a cat and a dog.  And this week, so do I.                 I thought I'd share with you some of the people and places that I've experienced during my week as a Sacramento suburbanite. A Suburban Cowboy, if you will.  While I'm not ready to trade in my 'Vette for a minivan a la Steve Sanders, BH 90210, Episode 7, Season 10 (a part of me died that day. Also, no one's gonna mistake my 1990 Honda Accord for a Corvette with plates that read I8A-4RE), I found th

As a Sacramento resident keenly interested in the history of K Street from the gold rush to the present, I have read many opinions regarding the best ways to fix the ongoing problems of K Street. Some have been proposed recently, ideas that I view with a mixture of amusement and horror. Most involve returning to the mistakes of the past while clearly avoiding its successes. In order to take the best from the past while avoiding some of its mistakes, I have selected some favorites. I can take credit for none of them, as they are all ideas that have been suggested at other times and places, but they seem like the best of the lot to me. This ten-point plan varies in scope from the very simple

Today, shortly after 5 PM, my son called me from his cellular phone. It was obvious to me, immediately, that he was upset. Apparently, while walking home, an older Caucasian man approached my son and accused him of harassing his younger brother. Per my son, the man was "in [his] face," and he felt threatened. My son stated that he offered this man respect by referring to him as "sir" and looking him straight in his eyes; and although it was not necessary, he also told this stranger where he was after school, which was not where the incident took place. The man then asked my son if he was lying and told him that "this kind of behavior is not tolerated around here." There was also a Caucasia