...Is too short, but the next destination is too much fun to delay: Hawaii with the family to finally mark my 20th anniversary with Vonne. Quick question (email me): what's the drill with TSA if you've got serious hardware inside your body? This will be son Kevin's first time through airport security... Another week, another blur, mostly because every spare moment sees my head buried in my laptop on the Fast Company piece. Tuesday I fly commuter to Philly and spend the night pitching potential investors with Steve in the basement of a neurologist. That was fascinatiing and so quintessentially American. Really stunning to think Steve's done this non-stop for three-plus years (all angel investors for us to date), and I was really honored that he now trusts me enough for this high-pressure, high-risk/reward venue. I haven't met an audience yet I can't handle in 16 years and yet, no question this one was uniquely challenging. No fools, so no money easily parted. Still, way cool to be pitching with the money thing so close at hand. Usually more distance in my line of work (like the fabled "out years" in a Fed budget). Wednesday Steve and I drive up to NYC and lunch with former Under Secretary of Navy Jerry Hultin (Clinton), who's now president of Brooklyn Polytechnic. We're trying, among many things, to get those sensors actually slapped up on the bottom of the Verrazano Bridge! UN tower as Steve and I pass by in NYC on Wednesday. General Assembly building Wednesday night I fly to Knoxville on two commuters out of LGA and have a drink with Enterra's man in Oak Ridge, Shane Deichman. Up way early on Thurs for Thought Leadership meeting at 0700 at the lab, followed by five-hour monthly "huddle" of the National Security Directorate there, which is always interesting and lively. Some interviews squeezed in along the way: 1) career advice to a Harvard grad in international relations (always must do), 2) taped-over-phone with NPR's Laurie Sydell on my "appearance" in Second Life" way back when (before it became cool for people like Arianna Huffington to show up), 3) Steve Hedges of the Chicago Trib on Rumsfeld, 4) some NC State student reporter doing profile on alum Gen. Tom Metz, and 5) research interview with CSIS demographer Neil Howe on global impact of aging trends (you may remember me citing his work on the echo-boomers near the end of BFA). Editing the Fast Company piece now and getting some Enterra paperwork out door before packing my gear for vacation. Have ton of articles collected for blog, but will probably spend flights working Xmas eve column in advance and since I don't like to work too much on vacations, don't expect to hear much outta me until after Xmas...