GRIN & BARE IT
Read (and subscribe to) Grin and Bare It, my daily blog on storytelling, productivity, current events, teaching, my family, and other musings.
I have been posting to this blog every day since 2005.
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Persistence
I love this video so much. I love this guy so much. If I owned a company—any company—and was hiring, I would hire this person. Read More
Cover errors
Have you ever discovered that a song you love by a particular band or singer is actually the cover of a much more famous (and Read More
Commandments still good
Back in the fall of 2016, ten years ago, my kids were studying the Ten Commandments at Hebrew School. As part of the lesson, they Read More
Dolly Parton and Johnny
As you’ve probably heard, the great Dolly Parton passed away this week. My family and I love her. We loved her music, the enormous amount Read More
Grace has its limits
An appeals court ruled this week that a woman who lost $310,000 in a scam perpetrated by someone impersonating country music superstar Kenny Chesney cannot Read More
Speak Up this fall
Hello storytelling fans! Elysha and I hope your summer is coming to a lovely, peaceful end and that the autumn is looking bright and beautiful Read More
Remembering the people before me
As the school where I once taught for 27 years invites children into its doors today for the first time this year, I have a Read More
A strange, new, maybe good day
After 27 years of teaching, I find myself sitting at home today as my wife, Elysha, returns to school for her first day of work. Read More
Have yourself a pillow fight.
Back in the early 1990’s, when I was living in Attleboro, Massachusetts, with my best friend, Bengi, in a home we affectionately called The Heavy Read More
Matthew Dicks’s 5 rules of punishment
Back in 2017, a judge in Hawaii ordered a defendant to write more than 140 “nice” things about his ex-girlfriend after he violated a protection Read More
Ice breakers are the best!
September approaches. Teachers return to work. College students leave home. Perhaps you’re starting a new project at your firm or hiring a new team. For Read More
Upcoming Speak Up storytelling events
If you’re in the Connecticut area or love traveling to bucolic locations with great restaurants but limited attractions, here is our fall schedule of Speak Read More
Antarctica is an archipelago
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 Read More
Wish for a happy childhood
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. Read More
RIP Tom Landry
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, Read More
Wish me luck
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 Read More
Maybe you’re not overwhelmed. Or maybe you’re overwhelmed for a reason.
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 Read More
It’s 9:00 on a Saturday
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 Read More
