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I remember one of the greatest summers I ever had. It was the summer of my twenty-second birthday, I was born on July 5, and it was spent in Modesto, California. I will never forget that year or the good times I had with my cousin Steve. It’s been almost ten years since I’ve been there, Steve left town shortly after my visit and I just don’t see that much of my aunt and uncle. However, as I get ready to pull into town for the festival commonly known as Graffiti Nights I can hardly do anything but think back on the glory days of that summer.

I have reservations in one of the Modesto hotels though my aunt and uncle did invite me to stay with them. It’s just that they live right outside of the city and I don’t want to trouble them with my constant motion regarding the festival. This is really an incredible festival from what I hear and I can’t believe I’ve never been here for it before. Next year I think I’ll talk Steve into coming with me. I don’t think he gets home that often and it would be great to spend some time with him here again.

That summer, over twenty five years ago almost didn’t happen. At the end of May of that year Steve called me up out of the blue and asked me to come down for a while. I was already planning on going up to Seattle but my girlfriend called at the last minute and said it wasn’t a good idea. Interestingly, I never really thought much about why that was as I honestly forgot about her once I arrived in Modesto and we never got together again after that. It’s funny that I’m curious about it now after all these years. I wonder what she’s doing these days. Wow! Look at all those cars!

Regardless of age, retirement is on the minds of all of us. It is what keeps us getting up and going to work every morning for 25 years. However, even if retirement feels like an eternity away it is never too early to begin planning. If you dream of traveling around the world or even just relaxing at home, the earlier you start the better off you will be.
When planning for retirement many people to choose to invest in property. There are companies such as Transglobe property management that invest in commercial and real-estate property. If you are looking at retiring in the next few years, than this is probably not the best choice for you. Real-estate takes several years before it matures to the point of being truly beneficial. On the other hand, if you have 20 years before you are going to retire, this may be a viable option. Even though the real-estate market is in decline, if you have the funds to invest now is the time to do it while the prices are still so low, like Transglobe property management .
Another option for retirement planning is a 401k. Many companies offer these in the form of matching investment contributions. Whatever money you give to be invested, the company will match that. You can set the percentage of how much you will give as well as how risky of an investment it is. When you are young and just starting out you choose to be more risky because you can receive larger returns but on the flip side you can also lose a lot; something those closer to retirement do not want to do.
IRA’ s are another form of retirement savings. They allow you to save your own money for your retirement. There is no risk involved; it is simply a savings account that you cannot get into, without penalty, until you reach a certain age.
With so many options available to us, there is no excuse for us not to take advantage of the choices and enjoy long relaxing retirements .

Coming to New York with the expectation that things might get a little weird is still a reasonable thing to do.  For many locals, that’s still the best part about the city, where anything goes, or at least there’s the possibility.  The increasingly high cost of living here has made it more difficult to maintain any kind of alternative lifestyle outside of the norm, but thanks in many respects to the ethos of New York, the norm has been increasingly less homogenous over the years.  There are moments, however, when it feels like walking in a windstorm, and that the edge may have gone dull over the years.

Thankfully, there are signs of life, where interesting and exotic people can go to be beautiful in public.  In Manhattan, the business hotels offer plenty of extremely hospitable accommodations for those looking to entertain a few nights on the town while making some new deals.  One of the events of the season, no doubt, was January’s birthday party for David Bowie at Don Hill’s.  This was the great opportunity to see 70s glam culture return in full force, and to see if the wild side was still walkable, or if you might need to hire a driver.

There were lots of live performances, including an orchestra that played Bowie covers, along with a wide and wild variety of people coming out to show off their glam-rock chops.  From the photos, it looks as though Oh! You Pretty Things was a huge success, or at least, big fun.  Interestingly, the turn out was large, but also overwhelmingly young.  This is a new generation, and some of these kids weren’t even born when he was already an icon on MTV in the 80s.  It’s pretty encouraging news, really, to consider that the new attempts to play with identity and gender are as strong as ever, and the coming years will see what these new visionaries decide to do to intervene in the mainstream.

Steve was determined to get into a good law school. From the time he was seven he knew he wanted to be a lawyer. His first passion was to be a judge and when he found out that you had to be a lawyer he was initially disappointed because it meant a further delay in his life’s ambitions. When he was a young child he would set up a courtroom and make his friends and cousins play the guilty and innocent, which is how he first declared it. In these early days, the sides pleaded their cases and Steve made the final judgment decision. He had no idea that lawyers even existed. He became so popular and thorough in his role that the neighborhood kids had started to bring him in to settle simple disputes.

About the time he was eight years old he saw his first courtroom film, The Verdict. He had happened to run in from playing ball outside and caught the image of a courtroom on the television. He planted himself and was about to make a discovery that would change his life. After a few confused sounding questions Steve was informed that lawyers not only existed but were a fundamental component of court and legal life. This astounded Steve and then immediately dismayed him when he was further told by his older brother that he would need to become a lawyer before he could serve as a judge. Never having been one to give up, in all of Steve’s eight years of life, he immediately began to investigate this role of the lawyer.

It was many years, or at least three, before Steve realized that he didn’t actually have to become a lawyer to be a judge but by then the passion had already taken hold and he realized that it was what he was meant to do. Throughout his teenage years he spent numerous hours in the Chicago Public Library where he fed his passion for law as well as for history, which manifested during those years. His parents worried that he didn’t have much of a social life but then decided they preferred that he spend too many hours in the library than out on the streets. Meanwhile, everyday after school Steve would make the walk to the library and pass by one of Chicago’s luxury hotels and imagined himself returning to his hometown one day and staying there while he tried a nationally significant case.

Los Angeles is one of the most exciting cities in the world.  In terms of cultures, languages, and ideas, it rivals New York, and its history is equally as complex and fascinating, if not more so, because of its specific location on the other coast, a few hours from the Mexican border.  There are always an amazing variety of events happening in town, and one of the greatest difficulties for visitors is making the decision about what to do.  There are always a dozen excellent options.  The other challenge, of course, is the traffic, because the city is huge, and it’s often a little bit interesting to get from one neighborhood to another.

One of the ways around this, of course, if you’re visiting to see certain events, is to find a cheap Los Angeles hotel that’s near all the things you want to see.  They say that nobody walks in L.A., but once you’re in a neighborhood, you see an awful lot of people walking.  If you’re interested in Chicana art, and know what Zapatismo is about, then by all means, try to time your visit to one of the moments when Mujeres de Maiz is presenting one of their events.

This Xicana artists collective began in 1997, as a zine where women of color could find and share ideas of culture, politics, action, and art, in a forum that is very community-based, and extremely savvy.  Over the years, they’ve evolved into a much larger collective.  Felicia Montes and Claudio Mercado began it as a place for women on L.A.s eastside, but its grown far beyond even the borders of Los Angeles.  They produce performances every four months, and it’s worth looking into, because some of the most exciting performance and visual artists working today have fascinating connections to this necessary collective.

It seems that most people who are born and raised in New York City have a story to tell, many stories to tell in fact.  One woman born in New York, has used her talent for story telling, not only for beginning and maintaining one of the most diverse and enduring careers in Hollywood and on Broadway, but she has used this gift for the betterment of society and the human condition, focusing on education, the homeless, children and many other causes and charities that she donates funds and her time.

Whoopi Goldberg had moved from New York to San Diego, where she worked extensively in improvisation and theatre.  It was during this time that her characters came to life, the ones that would fill her one woman performance, “The Spook Show”.  This show landed Goldberg a spot on Broadway, a Grammy Award, and a special on HBO. Her career was begun in fine fashion.  Although she began her career on stage, Goldberg moved quite quickly into the worlds of film and television.

Her first screen performance was a dramatic and emotional role in the “The Color Purple“, the adaption of Alice Walker’s novel.  She was honored with a nomination for an Academy Award and did win the Golden Globe award that year.  As with so many actors who begin on stage, they can never quite leave the theatre all together.  When ever you journey to city, as the concierge of your hotel in NY, for a listing of what is running currently on Broadway, or check it out online ahead of time.

For just as Goldberg has returned many times to the stages of Broadway, so to have many other stars and celebrities of today.  Seeing the work of such fine actors live, in a play or a musical, is seeing them at their finest, as there are no cuts, no edits, it is just those on stage bearing their raw talent.  Theatre is exciting as you never really know what may happen, and in New York, on Broadway, you find some of the best of the best.

In 1996, I made my way to New York City for the first time.  I was there for just about three weeks, and spent just about every other day, wondering through the rooms and the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This was one of the first major art museums I had been in, and after years of looking at the photos of the famous paintings, to see them on the walls, just a few inches in front of my face was overwhelming and breathtaking.  I was lucky at the time, as one of my favorite painters and draftsman was being presented in one of the halls.

A retrospective on the works of Toulouse-Lautrec presented rows of this man’s work, his carnival dancers and nightclub clowns.  I did not know at the time, that Lautrec was not one of the starving artists of Montmarte, he was born and lived his life as an aristocrat, but found the backstage arenas of the Paris cabarets a much more interesting, and inspiring place to hang out.  Lautrec died before the age of forty, but he produced an enormous body of work, which is now currently on exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Lautrec had a wicked eye, in the most respectful sense of the word, capturing caricature like images of the performers, images that with minimal detail conveyed a bit of a sadness in the madness of life in that arena.  He, along with some of his contemporaries such as  Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard, transformed the world of the poster, and many of their techniques are being mimicked and copied to this day.  Check yourself into a Boston hotel in the coming months, and stop by the Museum, not only for the Lautrec show, but for the other wonderful exhibits that will be running through the rest of the winter, spring and summer seasons.

The state of Georgia seems to have endless places to learn about the its history. So much of what visitors can see involves spending some time outdoors. This is a wonderful and adventurous place to spend time in the park and wilderness areas. Near every city or town there is somewhere of significance to the development of this country. Many of the buildings that are now museums are old homes of famous people who had considerable influence during there time on earth.

The A.H. Stephens Historic Park is the home of Stephens a key officer who fought in the American Civil War. This is a nice destination museum and park. There is a great collection of Civil War artifacts displayed inside the old home. The surrounding area is thick with forests and lakes. In fact there are two lakes to fish or boat in and many places to walk and picnic. Treat your kids with a Horseback ride. Other sites to see while you are in the area are Robert Toombs House, Mistletoe State Park, Georgia’s Treasures Along I-20, and the Hard Labor Creek State park and Golf Course.

If you travel further north up the state you can stop in at the Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site. This area was considered the first gold rush of America. Many prospectors moved into this Cherokee Nation to make their claim and the stories they left behind are inside this old courthouse. Visit and see the kinds of coins and nugget that were available back then. There are also some mining tools such as cannons to see.

If you head to the coast edge down south in the state you can visit Fort Morris Historic Site. Along with the Fort King George State Historic Site and the Fort McAllister State Historic Park. All the forts along the coast of Georgia sure had their men busy fighting off the British for a number of years. Some of the other sites in the area have more to do with the settlement of the town. The Wormsloe Historic Site is beautiful estate of Noble Jones who was a physician and carpenter who came with the first settlers from England. He played many roles to the settlers and Indians as well as the military. His plantation grew rice.

There is so much to see in Georgia’s beautiful greenery. So book a few hotels Georgia has throughout the state and enjoy the rich environment that awaits you.

Atlanta, Georgia is an incredibly vibrant and multi-dynamic city that offers a great deal to residents and its numerous tourists alike. Brian first discovered the attributes and cultural attractions of the city when he visited it with his wife Joan during one of her business trips. It turned into one of the greatest vacations he had taken in years and actually only occurred because he had just found out he had been laid off from his job as a city engineer and Joan suggested he take a few days and join her on her business trip. Reluctantly he agreed and from the moment the settled into their room in one of the hotels Atlanta Brian was extremely happy he came along.

One of the reasons he decided he would go was because he was interested in visiting Turner Field, which he still considered to be the Centennial Olympic Stadium. And while he was not exactly a Braves fan, he always chose them as his default favorite when the Tigers weren’t playing. And as it turned out, the Braves were playing the Chicago White Sox while Brian was going to be in town, so there was no question he would be routing for Atlanta. He talked Joan into going with him and they both had a nice time that day. Well, to state it more accurately, Joan had a nice time and Brian had a great time.

The following few days Brian roamed around the city while his wife was in her meetings and held her major presentation. He was surprised at how comfortable he felt in Atlanta, and almost even had the feeling he had been there before. It was so strong that he began to suspect certain buildings as he approached or turned a corner. He didn’t believe in reincarnation, but this was a close as he ever came to converting. He told Joan about his experiences and she insisted that he must have subconsciously remembered pictures from flight magazines or some other source. Brian was still curious about the encounter but was content to know that he really liked being there and was fascinated by the city. Joan was glad to hear that and took the opportunity to tell him that her company had requested she relocated to Atlanta the following year.

Grand Prairie Texas was originally called Dechman. The name came from the first trader in the area, Alexander McRae Dechman, in 1863. He came from near by Birdville to gain some land by trading his wagon and oxen. The area lies in the current Dallas County area. Visitors can now come and stay at one of the hotels Grand Prairie has available and see some beautiful country. Visitors can learn of ol Dechmans plight as he tried to make a home and name for himself and his family. He bought almost 240 acres of land along the Trinity River as well as about a 100 acres of timber land near by. But he kept running into difficulties so he went back to Birdville. He then joined in on the Civil War. In 1867 he filed a town plat of 50 acres with the Dallas County. It took him a while to actually make it back to Dechman. He sold a farm in Birdville after the war and moved to Houston. Yellow Fever broke out in the area so he moved his family to Bryan. He traded some property in Dechman to the railroad to ensure it would come through town. The train came, the depot was of his name, so he brought his family back to the land he had bought years earlier. When the post office opened in 1877 the name changed to Deckman because of a misreading of the application. Later the railroad would follow the mistake and name the depot Deckman. Later as near by Dallas and Fort Worth grew the area between the two cities was commonly called the grand prairie of Texas so the Postal Service once again changed the name and it became Grand Prairie.

Grand Prairie became an official city in 1909. Over the years it has assisted the United States in the defense and aviation industry. It is the home of Vought plant but during WWII the North American Aviation plant created and produced some amazing military planes. The P-51 Mustang fighter plane was designed and built here.