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I was so angry at my wife, and then I wasn’t.

I was speaking at an event a few months ago. A fairly prestigious event. I wasn’t wearing a tie, and I was still wearing jeans and sneakers, but I’d put a jacket on over my tee shirt, so you know it was a big deal. Just prior to taking the stage, the speaker before me…

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Speak Up Storytelling: Matthew Dicks

On episode #47 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling! In our followup segment, we pass on some advice about computer screens from a listener and an unexpected benefit of Homework for Life from another. Then we solicit some suggestions and advice on publicizing my next novel, Twenty-one Truths About…

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I’m no scrub.

I’m driving somewhere when my phone rings. It’s Elysha. She’s calling to tell me that TLC’s “No Scrubs” is playing on the radio. She and the kids are listening to it. She tells me that she hasn’t heard the song in a long time. Then she says, “You’re the exact opposite of a scrub.” That’s…

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The complexities of baby naming, and some very bad baby naming decisions

I met a woman in Iowa last year who has five brothers and one sister. Her brothers are all named after Biblical characters whose names begin with the letter J: James, John, Jesse, Jude, and Joshua. Oddly no Joseph. Also no Jesus, though I suppose that might have set too high a bar for the poor…

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Book launch: What are your ideas?

I’m reaching out today, readers, listeners, and friends, because I have always believed that the wisdom of the crowd is better than the wisdom of the one, and also because when I’ve asked for help in the past, you have been amazing. When I wrote about my desire to find the title of the first…

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Things I don’t own that make my life easy

Elysha and I were meeting with an attorney to discuss wills, trusts, end-of-life decision-making and the like in the event that a plane falls on both of our heads but blessedly misses the children’s heads. At one point, the attorney said, “Think of this like owning an umbrella. You hope to never need to use…

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The fabled land of Inbox Zero

Behold! If you’re using Gmail and also have the Gmail app on your phone, this is what you see when your inbox is empty of email. Yes, I’m bragging. In truth, I’m almost always on the verge of Inbox Zero, that fabled land where no email awaits your attention. And lest you think I’m simply…

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Trump’s stupid belief in the simplicity of problems and solutions

There are a lot of problems with Donald Trump. His racism, sexism, incompetence, venality, and open admission that he sexually assaults women are all more than enough to keep him from office. Add to this Trump University, which robbed Americans of millions of hard earned dollars, and family separation on the border, which resulted in…

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Speak Up Storytelling: Corey Jeffreys

On episode #46 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling! In our followup segment, we offer a further correction on a previous episode and read a couple emails from listeners about a new baby boy and a recent 100 day Homework for Life champion.  In our Homework for Life segment,…

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A terrible decision even worse than my terrible decision

In the mid 1990’s, I was given a tour of ESPN by a programmer who I knew at the time. I sat on the SportsCenter set, shook hands with Stuart Scott and Chris Berman, and purchased a lavender SportCenter cap at the ESPN gift shop. Or maybe it was given to me as swag as…

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