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Just eliminate gift registries entirely. Also, divorce registries are disgusting.

A recent New York Times piece tracks the rising popularity of gift registries for occasions other than weddings. While it’s hard to count how many exist, registries for not just weddings and showers but birthdays and other events such as housewarmings, holidays and even divorces seem increasingly common, perhaps because of the expansion in digital…

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Our Norman Rockwell daughter

Travel to a tiny town in the Berkshires on Memorial Day, put a flag in the hand of a five year-old, and start taking photos. This is probably how Norman Rockwell worked.

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“Fun” is the word most often missing from education today. It’s practically nonexistent.

I have many goals as a teacher, but my primary goal, is to make school a fun and memorable place that kids want to return to daily. I want my students to despise Saturday and Sunday. I want them to lament the approach of summer vacation. Lofty and perhaps unattainable goals, but ones I strive…

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The three great leaders of my life

Truly great leaders are hard to find. In my professional life, I have worked for three. Allison White and Jalloul Montacer were McDonald’s general managers. Plato Karafelis was my principal for fifteen years. Allison taught me the importance of being the thing that you expect from your employees. She taught me that every job, as…

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Possible lessons to be learned from Weezer’s unexpected path to success

Weezer’s first album, The Blue Album, was a multi-platinum success. I liked it very much. The record industry expected that their second album, Pinkerton, would perform similarly, but when it was released, Pinkerton received mixed reviews from critics and was voted the third worst album of the year by Rolling Stone readers. Despite the poor…

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The marching band and free hot dogs were great, but the drag queen was the best part of the parade.

My family spent the day with the in-laws in the tiny town of Monterey, Massachusetts, yesterday, enjoying their Memorial Day Parade and the free hot dogs.         The parade was delightful. The hot dogs were delicious (free makes everything taste amazing). The town’s police sergeant treated us to free ice cream from the ice…

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The New York Post’s Kim Kardashian – Kanye West wedding announcement was quite educational.

A couple days ago, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West got married. I wasn’t aware of their wedding (or their engagement, for that matter) until I saw it mentioned on Twitter. I know who Kanye West is. As a wedding DJ, I play his music from time to time. I couldn’t pick him out of a…

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I had a story on This American Life. The reaction to this news has been interesting.

I had a story on This American Life this week.   It was a short story. Just a few minutes long as part of the prologue. Still, it was a thrill. A dream come true. I’ve since discovered that there are only two kinds of reactions to telling someone that I’ll  be appearing on This…

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