Archive for April 2021

I wrote this exactly one year ago today after a long bike ride. _________________________________________ I saw a hawk circling overhead today as I wound my way around an empty church on my bike. A zoologist once told me that animals in the wild are always living on the edge of starvation, so although it seems…

In case you don’t know or have forgotten, comic books came under fire in the 1950’s by conservative firebrands claiming that they were causing juvenile delinquency. This crusade was initially led by a psychiatrist and author named Fredric Wertham. Wertham noted that the juvenile delinquents who he was treating read comic books. Of course, everyone…

The story behind the title of my fifth novel, “Twenty-one Truths About Love,” is an interesting one. My original title for the book was “Lists,” since the book is written entirely in lists. Admittedly not the greatest title in the world, but I’m not very good at titling my books. I’ve published six novels and…

Last week I received an email from a high school sophomore who had read my book Storyworthy. He was looking for additional tips to improve his conversations and interactions with peers. I was so impressed. A sophomore in high school reads a book and decides to reach out the author, hoping for additional insight. This…

Just for the record, The Avengers’ Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, gets screwed in Avenger’s Endgame. This has been bothering me for quite a while. First off, please note that Romanoff is the only Avenger who doesn’t have any super powers or technology assisting her. Heroes like Thor, Captain America, and Hulk have actual super…

Competitive storytelling is a strange thing. Take a stage. Share your truth. Ask a team of judges (or in the virtual world, an audience poll) to determine a winner. I know it sounds a little silly, but I also love it. While some might oppose assigning a numerical value to a person’s story, it’s inevitable…

I spent an enormous amount of time last night dreaming about strategies to mentally divide whole numbers and decimals by decimals. This has absolutely nothing to do with what I am currently teaching my students in math, nor are the strategies I was using any part of a the fifth grade curriculum. My stupid brain…

I was speaking to one of my clients – a corporate marketing executive – about a new campaign that she is designing. After talking about some possible strategies, she said she planned to spend the next few days doing some reading and deep thinking. I was so impressed. People may assert a belief that thinking…

Charlie had baseball practice at an indoor facility. Thanks to the pandemic, this meant I couldn’t wait inside, so instead I drove to McDonald’s to get burgers for dinner. I ordered a Happy Meal for Charlie and the two cheeseburger meal with a large Diet Coke for myself. I asked for the cheeseburgers to be…

Every month I report the progress of my yearly goals in order to monitor progress (or the lack thereof) and hold myself accountable.   The following are the result from March 2021. PERSONAL FITNESS 1. Don’t die. I’m vaccinated now and had a colonoscopy, so my chances of meeting this goal have significantly increased. 2.…