The Mild Winter Of My Contentment

last saturday, my friend and i decided to celebrate the 70 plus degree temperature by walking to the little red lighthouse that's tucked underneath the george washington bridge. we walked along the bike path to get there, stopping occasionally to take in the picture-perfect day. at one point, as i turned around to take in the brilliance of the sun over the water i realized that i had forgotten my camera and i was profoundly disappointed. but then i remembered that my treo had a camera. that's what i used to take these pictures. not bad for a phone.



evidently, the little red lighthouse is quite the landmark: built in 1921, deactivated in 1947 and saved by millions of little children because of a book that told its story. in the fall, there's a little red lighthouse festival with food and music, a hayride (!!!) and lighthouse tours. i wonder if its haunted?

well. that was last weekend. this one includes a national "black" holiday (the only national black holiday, actually), one that has most of my friends working -- except the black folk i know who refuse to not take the day off. to celebrate dr. king and his life's work, i just might go see little richard at bb king's. then again, being who i really am, without apology or explanation -- an uppity negress, basically -- is celebration enough.

it's like a dream...

I have a Treo and suddenly my life is a dream made real.

No more, the snippets of paper with illegible scribblings. No more, the post-its with phone numbers and notes to remind me of whatever and what not. No more business cards. If I have to find an upright bass player, I don’t have to scramble through a Rolodex. I have a dozen or so at my fingertips – literally. actually, a Rolodex is unthinkable at this point. i can't even imagine that i bought one once upon a time and thought that i was actually making progress...

i feel like everyone i know with one of these things has been zipping around in cars and i've been walking everywhere.

If I meet you at a party, or on the street or at a gig, I can get your phone number and then I can take your picture to go with it, to remember you – so months later, I’m not looking at your information and wondering, who in the wide wide world of sports is this? When I say I’m going to stay in touch, I can do it effortlessly. I can email you from anywhere, not just from my desk or my laptop. Everything dovetails. Everything fits. I can make videos. I can watch television. All those radio stations that love me in Colorado? I got ‘em right here. I could drop all of them a line as I walk through the park.

How could I run a business without this thing?

Everytime I turn it on, I figure out something else it can do. Scary but true -- I’ve discarded a whole world of endless clutter and paperwork. Everything has been recalibrated. My life is realigned. It’s like a dream.