I have always thought that the continent of Antarctica looked like this: Then I learned this week that Antarctica isn't at all what I've always envisioned. Beneath the ice that…

Someone recently told me: “If you’re going to have a difficult life, it might as well be childhood, since it’s so short.” I disagree. Wholeheartedly. I think it was a…

My former roommate and friend, Tom Landry, died yesterday. He was 57 years old. I met Tom while working at the McDonald's in Milford, Massachusetts, in 1987. I was a…

One of my clients was leaving for the airport on her way to a speech I had helped her craft. As she was leaving, she said, "Wish me luck!" I…

Seemingly every day, I hear someone say they're overwhelmed, or feeling overwhelmed, or that someone they know is overwhelmed, or that a certain segment of the population is overwhelmed. And…

During my 25 years as a wedding DJ, I played Billy Joel's "Piano Man" at 9:00 on a Saturday whenever possible. Hundreds of times. In case you don't understand the…

The thing I will miss most about being a teacher is the conversations I had with kids, often outside the curriculum, but oftentimes even more meaningful, important, and brilliant, This…

The ubiquity of cell phones has caused people to stop memorizing phone numbers. Scroll through a list of names or start typing their first name, and you can be calling…

My longest and best friend, Bengi, and I met behind the counter of a McDonald's restaurant in Milford, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1987. For a moment, he didn't like…

I've been to Victoria, British Columbia six times over the past decade — first to consult with a company, then to speak at a university, and then four years in…