Please don't get up . . . it's only me

Hi, all -

I live in a small borough in eastern Pennsylvania, along with about 6,000 of my neighbors. We're pretty spread out, though, so it's not overly crowded. We have community concerts in the summer where some of us - young and old - go down in front of the community stage  and dance unabashedly like idiots to great cover bands. We also have a Hallowe'en parade that everyone likes to attend but noone likes to run, and a main street that's steadily being renovated into something special and has become another source of pride for our little community.

We also have ample, well-used public parks and athletic fields. I live close to one of them, and on summer evenings I like to sit on my patio, feet up and a drink in hand, and relax to the nearby (but far off enough not to be annoying) sounds of cracking bats, moms cheering desperately for their peewee all-stars, and the amusing efforts of 11-year-old color commentators strutting their stuff on the ballfield's PA system.

I am an aging liberal, and lately (2008) have been working with all my might to elect Barack Obama president.  It's kind of fun to dust off my campaign hat and get back into the fray after a long time away. (After the 2000 election, I crawled under a porch to lick my wounds, psychological and existential, and didn't emerge - politically - until January of this year, when I decided I'd better give the candidates my own vetting and pick a horse to bet on.)

I am an attorney by training, though currently on disability awaiting a kidney transplant. Apart from having to undergo hemodialysis three times a week, 4 hours at a clip, I keep busy with - as I said - campaign work. I am also active in my local Unitarian Universalist Church, and chair that group's Social Action Committee. I am also involved in an eastern Pennsylvania paranormal research group, where, while I remain pretty skeptical, I can get in touch with my inner ghost hunter.

All in all, despite the disability, it's a pretty wonderful life. I have an absolutely awesome wife who keeps me sane, and who tries her darnedest to keep me focused (not an easy gig).  I also have two great children, one of whom I get to see every week - she's only 16 - and the other not as often as I'd like - she's 25, and off in another state doing her thing. My community is a continuing source of joy - I love living in a small old-timey neighborhood where neighbors still stroll by on evening walks with dogs, kids or significant others in tow.

I also really like the idea of the GOOD community. It has an uplifting, gentle but positively focused vibe that I find very attractive and - in the midst of the campaign season ugliness - very relaxing.  The videos I've seen so far are informative without being pedantic, and also have an amusing and jaunty quality to them. I think I'll stick around a while . . .