Speed of Life

Now breathe deeply - or perhaps it's better to laugh loudly and cheer clearly beside still waters to maybe skip easy on those green pastures near that big leafy tree dear wide-wondered Luke, the universe's courageous high holy, love only deep hugging, song-laughing open-handed friend. -Brian Bajari (after reading Luke Yen-hui's obituary) He's a beautiful man. I'm crying with you - even though I know he's "flying with the angels." Thank you Luke for your world-embracing love. Your smile that captured hearts wherever you went.

Update: A Photo Essay on "A Celebration of Luke Chadwick's Life: Lean On Me" at Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church, Bainbridge Island on September 6, 2009 Luke at Disneyland with Cassiel Chadwick and Kent Chadwick July 2007 Update : If you have pictures of Luke that you would like to post, I will upload them here on Speed of Life as a celebration of an amazing life. Please leave a comment below and send any photos to greggchadwick@earthlink.net. Luke Yen-hui Chadwick, died August 22, 2009 from acute respiratory failure after 3-months’ hospitalization at the University of Washington Medical Center. He was 22 years-old and a 2007 graduate of Bainbridge High School. Luke was born Yu Yen-hui September 20, 1986 in Taipei, Taiwan. He came to Washington state to his adoptive parents, Cathy and Kent Chadwick, in 1988. By then he had already contracted the progressive lung disease secondary pulmonary hypertension. Growing up, Luke focused on what he could do, as opposed to what he co...

August 22, 2009

Update: A Photo Essay on "A Celebration of Luke Chadwick's Life: Lean On Me" at Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church, Bainbridge Island on September 6, 2009

Why We Need Health Care Reform By Barack Obama OUR nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven’t heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them. These are people like Lori Hitchcock, whom I met in New Hampshire last week. Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old . A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he a...

Dear Friend, This is probably one of the longest emails I've ever sent, but it could be the most important. Across the country we are seeing vigorous debate about health insurance reform. Unfortunately, some of the old tactics we know so well are back -- even the viral emails that fly unchecked and under the radar, spreading all sorts of lies and distortions. As President Obama said at the town hall in New Hampshire, "where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that's actually been proposed." So let's start a chain email of our own. At the end of my email, you'll find a lot of information about health insurance reform, distilled into 8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage, 8 common myths about reform and 8 reasons we need health insurance reform now. Right now, someone you know probably has a question about reform that could b...

Trailer for his new novel "Inherent Vice", narrated by author Thomas Pynchon As if Thomas Pynchon is channeling the "Dude". Wonderful, atmospheric clip hearkening back to 1970's LA. And if you want to hang with the inspiration for the real Dude join veteran documentary filmmaker Phil Cousineau, a protégé of mythologist Joseph Campbell, and movie producer Jeff Dowd, the legendary inspiration for "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski, for an exhilarating weekend at Esalen from December 11-13, 2009: Myth, Magic and Movies with Cousineau and Dowd

Gregg Chadwick 29"x69" oil on screen (detail)

Paper lanterns are released each year on the Motoyasu River in Hiroshima in remembrance of the atomic bomb attack. This year's ceremony on August 6, 2009 marked the 64th anniversary of the 1945 event. President Obama said earlier this year in Prague that “…as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act.” And “…take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons.” I agree with President Obama. I learned not long ago that one of my Japanese friend's father is a survivor of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. In Japanese these courageous people are called hibakusha . My friend and his wife will in the near future take us on a tour of the city of Hiroshima. Even though I have been to Hiroshima many times and I count the city as one of my favorite places in the world, I know that this tour given by the children of a hibakusha will change me in unforeseen ways. The mayor of Hiroshima,Tadatoshi Akiba, is also co...

Reza Aslan discusses Neda's legacy on NPR Morning Edition. #iranelection @ASLANmedia Neda's legacy on NPR The Call - ندا -Neda

Gregg Chadwick American Dreams: Barack Obama oil on linen 2009

July 31, 2009 Behest Zahra, Tehran 7pm Iran - Neda's mother mourning on her beloved daughter's grave مادر ندا در سوگ دختر بی گناهش The Call - ندا -Neda