I named this page after the 1968 song of the same name by the husband and wife group, "Friend and Lover". I've been reaching out ever since it was released. Sometimes I reached out in vain. Sometimes I touched a responsive chord in someone else. Sometimes I grasped for reconnection towards my destiny.

Speaking of reconnections, the beaches here in San Diego are very nice, very nice indeed. I've taken many pictures of the sunsets I've witnessed along the Carlsbad, California coast and some of them are published on various pages of this site.

The picture I'm using above is of the sunset observed from Carlsbad on May 13, 2005. It was a comfortable and clear evening. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the Sun slowly slip below the horizon. Some couples were laying together in each other's arms on the beach looking off to the event itself. Some were walking the shoreline, hand-in-hand. Some took in the view from the walkway above the beach's sandy bluff right-next to Highway 101. There was a permanence of love and romance in the air for everyone there. Each one in attendance could reach out to the onset of darkness.

I want to take this opportunity to reach out to two people that are working for the betterment of the world:

• David Zutler is one of the owners of BIOTA Bottle Spring Water. David is also a friend of mine from our high school days together. I haven't seen or talked to him on the phone since we graduated from Bowen High School in June 1968. His company is creating bottles using corn instead of oil. I understand from reading about his company, that 95 billion plastic bottles made from oil ended up in landfills, last year alone. The amount of oil used to create those bottles could have powered 400,00 vehicles. It seems to me that his company should be on the list of bottling companies as a supplier.
• Gene Weed, is a good friend and mentor to me. I've mentioned Gene several times on this site for his contributions to my life. Today's homage is paid to him as the upcoming, "Master of Ceremony for the Awards Dinner" at the Zaki Gordon Institute's 5th Annual Shorts Film Festival to be held in Sedona, Arizona on May 27-31, 2005.

It's a busy world out there. I urge you to take some time and review what David and Gene have to offer. It won't take much of your time to learn about their causes. Reach out for them as a favor to me.

I close with a bit of commentary to the readers of this site and also to those that might know me in-person. I don't exist as a stream of electrons on this end of the connection. Nor when I call on the phone am I reduced to a sound wave delivered by technology. When I send items in the mail, the intentions are real and genuine, as if I could deliver them in-person. When I look at you in-person, at your face, directly into your eyes, you know you have my full attention on you. I'm not reaching out of the darkness, I'm reaching out to you.

Don