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Bunk

I hate this. Why not try to be better than everyone? Crush the world, damn it. Don’t be better than yesterday. Be better than everyone’s yesterday. Imagine how many remarkable accomplishments might have never happened had every inventor, explorer, athlete and entrepreneur failed to chase down the frontrunner and competed against the very best in…

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Early morning walk in my underwear

It was 3:00 in the morning. I was standing on a stranger’s lawn about a quarter mile from my home. I was wearing a tee-shirt, boxer shorts and no shoes. The air was chilly. It’s late October in New England and the leaves have turned, though I cannot see their colors in the darkness that…

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My three year old is attempting to take control of my clothing choices. And succeeding.

My daughter has been sleeping in a bed for some time, but she still insists on being plucked off the bed every morning in a fashion similar to when she was in a crib. Yesterday morning I entered her bedroom and was greeted by a befuddled look. “Daddy, why are you wearing that stripy shirt?”…

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Sexist? I initially thought so, but now I am not so sure.

A parking lot decorated in pink has been designated for women only at a shopping center in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province, China. The lot offers wider parking spaces especially designed for female drivers, who tend to cause twice as many collisions in parking lots than in other places, according to Chinese insurance company…

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Is is unreasonable to expect my daughter to cure cancer or fly to Mars someday?

Yesterday my wife told me that she has started playing audiobooks in the car for our daughter while Clara simultaneously holds the book and follows along, trying to determine when and where to turn the page. Clara is only three years old and cannot read yet, but I thought that this sounded like a terrific…

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Cardboard boxes rule

The cardboard box was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2005. The idea of a Toy Hall of Fame is fairly stupid, but if there has to be one, the cardboard box most certainly belongs there. I wrote a poem in honor of the cardboard box a few years ago, based upon a…

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Read Shakespeare and avoid children’s theater

On Saturday night I had the honor of joining nine other authors and audiobook narrators for Books on the Nightstand’s Celebration of Authors. Each of us were asked to speak on a topic of our choice (presumably pertaining to books and literature), and I decided just a few minutes before my turn to speak to…

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I am not a member of Crystal Method.

I was standing in line at the rental counter in San Jose this weekend, waiting to pick up my car and begin my trip to Santa Cruz. Standing directly behind me were fans of my work, a husband and wife, who later explained that they didn’t say hello because they were in a debate over…

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