Archive for July 2020

On episode #100 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Elysha Dicks and I talk storytelling alongside their kids, Clara and Charlie! In our follow up segment, we thank our listeners for their many kind messages about their 100th episode. In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about moments that are invisible to the outside…

File this under “Making a bad situation worse.” Remember Lenen? He was the San Diego Starbucks employee who refused to serve a customer who was not wearing a mask and whose photo was posted on Facebook with the caption: “Meet Lenen from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I’m not wearing a mask. Next…

I was standing on the edge of the lake when I heard Clara’s voice. She was treading water a couple dozen yards from shore, chatting with a girl who she’d just met, when the breeze carried her words to me. I heard her say, “My Dad is famous for his storytelling, his books, and the…

I found this to-do list on the table yesterday. It appear that my wife has rightfully embraced self care.

I was speaking to students today in a virtual storytelling summer camp when I joked that someone who allows dog poop to remain on the floor for longer than necessary is a savage. It’s a word I use quite often. In a story I tell about living on my own for the first time, I…

Charlie and I play a game in the shallow water of the lake where we take turns trying to keep a stone away from each other. We hold out our hand and dare the other person to try to snatch the stone away. We can play this game for 45 minutes without ever losing interest…

Elysha and I are celebrating 14 years of marriage today. We had as perfect a wedding as a couple can have. A lot of things go into the perfect wedding day. Location, for example, is critical. Our wedding was held at Lord Thompson Manor, a beautiful estate in northeastern Connecticut that allowed us to arrive…

Last week, actor Robert Redford wrote an op-ed declaring his position in the upcoming election: “But one thing is clear: Instead of a moral compass in the Oval Office, there’s a moral vacuum. Instead of a president who says we’re all in it together, we have a president who’s in it for himself. Instead of…

In the midst of a pandemic, when vacations are cancelled, choices are limited, and traditions are suspended, we must do anything we can to bring joy and spark into the lives of our children. On Saturday, Elysha managed to accomplish this monumental task by somehow arranging for the ice cream truck to visit our neighborhood…

One of the easiest ways to anger a person is to do something that you think is funny that they do not. When it’s your spouse, it can get especially ugly. Last week, after applying suntan lotion to my son, Charlie, I asked him to bring the bottle back to Elysha. Then I added, “When…