Johnny was smart as a whip. You'd mention that you were having problems with an important client. He'd pull some movie or pop culture reference out of thin air. "You're gonna need a bigger boat" to solve that problem, he would say stealing the line from the 1975 film, Jaws. He had an encyclopedia for... Continue Reading →
Saying no to Quitter’s Day
Bill Gates famously dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to help found Microsoft, becoming one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of $114 billion. Following in his footsteps three decades later, Mark Zuckerberg quit school to found Facebook. Photo by Nathan Cowley on Pexels.com I'm thinking this week about Gates,... Continue Reading →
And then the magic happened
When I get frustrated with life, I like to remind myself: Stephen King received 30 rejections for his first novel, Carrie, before finally being published in 1974, and selling over a million copies in the first 12 months. Steven Spielberg was rejected three times to attend film school at the University of Southern California. He's... Continue Reading →
Oh, it’s too early in the morning!
I tried to shake the rust out of my tired arms and legs. I thought I looked like a graceful young ballerina stretching her legs or maybe a boxer hitting each of his arms and mentally preparing himself for a fight. In reality, I looked like an wounded duck, one wing working, one flapping in... Continue Reading →
Putting my thinking cap on
I tend to ask a lot of questions. I've always been this way. It can sometimes get me in trouble. In any event, here’s some of the things I've been thinking about and have made me go hmm lately: —Banks only give money to people who already have some. The people who need money the... Continue Reading →
Rise and shine
I rubbed my eyes. I rubbed them again. I was dragging. I just wanted to drive back home and jump under the sheets in my bed and go to sleep. But the amazing view in front of me took my breath away. I couldn't take my eyes off the sun. It was stunning. Thirty years... Continue Reading →
Sharp dressed man
I am a product of the '80s. American rock band ZZ Top's release of the song Sharp Dressed Man in 1983 left a strong impression on me. They put out an accompanying video that has been coming back to me in recent days. In the video, a parking valet gets transformed into a sought-after star... Continue Reading →
The zombie apocalypse is coming
(A version of this post ran in 2015.) The zombie chases me. He’s frothing at the mouth. His shirt and pants are ripped and he — more animal than human — walks with an uneven shuffle. I run up the stairs to get away. Even with his limp, he keeps coming. He’s now about ten... Continue Reading →
Go west, young man!
We had a chance to spend a few days with our son last week at Arches National Park in Utah and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. I could write a lengthy, flowery post on the trip, but my words would never explain it better than the pictures themselves. Beautiful, beautiful country. Yes, go... Continue Reading →

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