1.	And thanks to Esther. It had been fourteen years since I had been on the PC Forum stage. Ever the graceful host, Esther said "Welcome back Dave." Indeed. It was a thrill. There'll be more to say later, for example I spent ten minutes with Whoopi Goldberg at the show. And I bonded with David Ellington of Netnoir. And reconnected with my old friend Fred Davis, who is making a solid transformation from journalist to CEO of Lumeria. And the list goes on and on.
2.	One meeting stands out. At dinner on Monday night, I was at a table with a group of AT&T expatriots. After Whoopi spoke (where did she get the name Whoopi? What about Goldberg?) after the dinner was finished, a Lucent exec, Mary Whelan, who had been beaming at me the whole dinner (I didn't know why) shook my hand, and said she used to get DaveNets forwarded to her by Kevin Compton at AT&T but wasn't getting them anymore. No problem I said, may I have your card. Then she thanked me for my eulogy of Jerry Garcia back in 1995. I was stirred by this. Imagine a big company exec, sharing a sadness and a celebration of a man who now is long dead, as cold as Benjamin Franklin or anyone else who's been gone for many years. What a lovely experience. When I got back to my room I re-read the piece, and a little spot in my heart healed again. "Appreciate, respect and celebrate every person you can. Now is the time to have fun! Tomorrow they may be gone."
3.	http://davenet.userland.com/1995/08/14/eatdrinkandbejerry
4.	That may be the theme of Esther's for me this year. Fourteen years is a long time to be gone. Many of my friends weren't there this year, and the ones who were, are fourteen years older. The hair is graying, the middles are getting larger, my friends are getting old, and I guess so am I. And many, some who I loved, weren't there. Goodbye old friends!
5.	Dan Bricklin took a great picture of me, smiling! Yeah, I guess I look like Jerry. I like it. Thanks Dan!
6.	http://danbricklin.com/log/1f47e9c0.jpg
7.	Good news. Esther's used to be a place of fear for me, but I'm happy to report, not any more. I'm a dean now. One of the survivors.There are still bright eyes, some of them in old bodies, some in young. Where ever they are, they are inspiration.
8.	There's a spark out there. Let's be who we are. We used to be young, that was great. Now we're older, and soon for some us the clock will run out. No doubt there will be more missing friends. And more space for new trees to grow! Onward. With love.