Point Positive and an ancient prophet.
Illustration: Sketchplanations My brother in law Chad is a large, quiet, fearless (really!) man who spent a decade of his adult life as a professional white water river guide. Besides my sweet mom, he is, in my (very, very large) family, for sure one of the most trusted and trustworthy members. The majority of us, […]
Hide and Seek – and a teeny tiny piece of halibut.
Growing up in our 70s suburb of Minneapolis meant big yards and no fences. Add into that summer nights when it didn’t get dark early, none of today’s tv streaming options, a new-ish neighborhood full of kids and you get the perfect conditions for hide and seek. I, of course, was a little too […]
Can we sing Stairway to Heaven?
My friend Melissa is a choral conductor and because of that, she is uniquely attuned to communicating intentions. She uses things like tempo, tone, phrasing, and volume to help her choirs understand the pieces they are performing and to convey that emotional understanding to their audiences. It is her vision that is interpreted. Communicating emotional […]
“You’ve been watching Sports Night on CSC.”
photo: touchstone pictures One of my very favorite TV shows of all time was the late 90s ABC dramedy called Sports Night. I am not a ‘sports fan’ in any real sense of the word. But I was a Josh Charles fan (he was one of the leads) and I would go on to be […]
Quit fighting the facts.
My friend Lauren was talking to me recently about being stuck in her journey toward buying her first home. She wanted to buy at her pre-approved price, in a certain part of town and she wanted a home with a certain amount of square footage. And no matter how she computed those three variables, there […]
Living on a hill.
I grew up living in a house on a huge hill. And I later ended up buying a house for myself on a huge hill. You know what living on huge hills is great for? A view. You know what living on huge hills is definitely not great for? A walk. I was in […]
Broaden and Build.
Most of us live in a culture where we send others positive wishes. “Happy Easter”, “Merry Christmas”, “Good Morning”, “Pleased to meet you”, “Nice to see you”, “Warm wishes on your anniversary”, “Have a generous Ramadan”, “Sending you peace” – and on and on and on. We use those positive words, words like: Yet, did […]
Uncle Jeff – and a few trillion gallons of water.
Some of my earliest memories involve my Uncle Jeff. Uncle Jeff was my dad’s cooler and less risk-averse younger brother. He was a Marine and an attorney and wore stylish clothes and big sunglasses with his big dark hair. And when he and his family came to visit us from California, or met us […]
Mr. Ficks and Alligator River.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, psychology is “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.” And I love it. It is the thing in this world that has received the very most of my attention, time, brain power, and resources. It is something I have […]
Dad’s last words.
My dad died four and a half years ago at the age of 86 after an amazing, successful and storied life and a short, but ever-increasing bout with age-related dementia. It’s his birthday month and he has been on my mind. His death story – like that of so many people you probably […]
