Archive for June 2019
Is Exploding Kittens Jewish?
I was sitting with Charlie in the cafeteria of his school last week, eating lunch with him and his friends. At one point I was telling his friends about Exploding Kittens, a game that Elysha gave me for Father’s Day. I said to his friends, “Charlie and I played Exploding Kittens all day on Sunday.…
Read MoreYou hate you when you say this…
If you brag (or even comment overly enthusiastically) about your child’s remarkable ability to enjoy eating almost any food, please know that the vast majority of parents who hear these comments at best don’t care but more than likely hate you very much.
Read MoreMy recommendation to you
On Tuesday night, I told a story at a Moth StorySLAM in Cambridge, MA and won. It was my 40th victory in a Moth StorySLAM. When I think back to my very first Moth StorySLAM – back in July of 2011 at the Nuyorican’s Poet’s Cafe in New York City, it would’ve been hard to…
Read MoreThis place that I love will soon be no more
In just a few days, the school where I have taught for 20 years will finally be bulldozing the “portable” classrooms that were affixed to the end of the building long before my arrival and had become decidedly less portable than originally intended. This is a big deal to me because it means that they…
Read MoreThe last day of school suddenly became very interesting
The last day of a school year can be a strange day for both teachers and students. On the one hand, it’s a celebration. Students and teachers looking ahead at long, lazy summer days. But it’s also bittersweet for most of us. A breaking of a family that will never be whole again. For my…
Read MoreSpeak Up Storytelling: Cari Ryding
On episode #54 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling! In our follow up segment, we shout out the kindness of several readers of Storyworthy, talk about the concept of 1,000 true fans, read a listener email about a full year of Homework for Life, and offer some opinions on…
Read MoreProposed Father’s Day laws
On this Father’s Day, I’d like to propose the following new Father’s Day rules: All golf courses should be set up in their most ideal conditions. Tee boxes should be positioned as close to the greens as possible. Pin placements should be ideal. Every effort should be made to ensure that a Father’s Day round…
Read MoreThe utterly unnecessary letter of recommendation
I was writing a recommendation letter yesterday for a friend and former colleague. It was the fourth such letter of recommendation that I’ve written in the month of June. Though writing these letters takes time, I always find a great deal of joy in memorializing in words how I feel about the person to whom…
Read MoreDonald Trump is a traitor. In his own damn words.
Just in case you missed this (because apparently Republican lawmakers missed it entirely because they have said nothing): A new book by the Washington Post reporter Anna Fifield and a Wall Street Journal story report that Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s brother, Kim Jong Nam, was a CIA informant. Kim Jong Nam was murdered in a chemical-weapons attack in…
Read MoreListen to Jon Stewart. Do the right thing.
It is unconscionable and evil that United States lawmakers are not doing everything possible to assist the 9/11 first responders as they battle illnesses directly linked to their rescue efforts following the attack on our country. It makes absolutely no sense. We have enough money to give corporations and wealthy Americans enormous tax cuts that…
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