The two major current projects of The Long Now Foundation are the creation of a contemporary counterpart to the Rosetta Stone and the design and construction of a 10,000-year clock. The latter is described in Stewart Brand’s 2000 book “The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility.”

Before becoming the co-founder and president of Long Now, Brand founded The WELL (Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link), a computer teleconference system for the San Francisco Bay Area and one of the first communities of its kind anywhere.

He was also the founder of The Whole Earth Catalog and author of “How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built,” one of the most erudite and fascinating books I’ve ever read. In 1997, the BBC did a six-part series based on it, hosted by Brand and with music by Brian Eno. The Ovation cable channel airs it from time to time.

Brand is a genuine genius and, though I’ve never met him, a hero of mine. His personal Web site is www.well.com/user/sbb/.


Another visionary I much admire is Dr. Amory Lovins, co-founder and co-CEO of The Rocky Mountain Institute, an independent nonprofit resource policy center. The Wall Street Journal called Lovins one of 39 people worldwide “most likely to change the course of business in the ’90s,” and Newsweek called him “one of the Western world’s most influential energy thinkers.” His 1977 book “Soft Energy Paths: Toward a Durable Peace” was seminal in shaping contemporary discussions about energy.


I’ve been studying yoga for 12 years, primarily at Bloom Yoga Studio, which is less than two miles from my house. I’m not the only yoga practitioner who’s a big fan of Bloom. Four years in a row, Bloom was voted Best Yoga Studio in Chicago in a Chicago Reader poll.


For more than a dozen years now, I’ve studied Italian medieval longsword fencing and related arts through the Chicago Swordplay Guild, where I also served as the communications officer and demo coordinator for about five years.


Leister Productions is the maker of Reunion, a highly regarded genealogy program and the genealogical software I’ve used for several versions now. Check out the free demo version. (It’s Mac-only.)


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