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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One thing is certain about the next Pope
The Pope, as you probably know, passed away on Monday. I was born into the Catholic religion but left the church after my first CCD Read More
Awful and evil but also liars and cowards
The rights of transgender people, and in some cases, their physical safety, have eroded over the past few years, and today, legislators across America are Read More
Kids rule the cereal roost
A new study examined all breakfast cereals purchased by 77,000 U.S. households over a nine-year period and tracked them against Nielsen ratings data for all Read More
Fidget spinners hurt learning
This will come as a shock: Fidget spinners and their fidgety brethren don’t work. Actually, it’s worse than that. Research indicates that they are detrimental Read More
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest no more
Tragedy strikes. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has come to an end after more than 40 years. Founded in 1982 at San Jose State University in Read More
Good news that could’ve been so much better
More than 40% of the world’s electrical demand in 2024 was met via clean sources — solar and wind. A report by the energy think Read More
The Moth again
I was honored to have another story on The Moth Radio Hour and podcast last week — aired all over the country on NPR. It’s Read More
Delighting customers is not difficult. 110 Grill would seem to disagree.
Elysha, Clara, and I had lunch at 110 Grill in Canton, Connecticut, this week. I experienced a moment of frustration with this restaurant last year. Read More
A silver lining but mostly disappointment
Nine years ago, I attended a Guns N’ Roses concert with my friend, Heather, at Gillette Stadium. At the time, I had pneumonia. Elysha and Read More
AI versus A.1.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon was speaking last week at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit, an annual gathering of education and learning leaders when she mistakenly referred to Read More
A little more brilliance from Robin Williams
The producers of “Mork and Mindy” — a television show starring Robin Williams and Pam Dauber from 1978-1981 — needed censors who spoke four languages Read More
They call me Matt
At the end of “Light My Candle” in the musical “Rent,” Mimi and Roger introduce themselves to each other. Roger sings, “I’m Roger.” Mimi responds, Read More
It was a lot of things, but it was sacrifice, too
I’m often asked how I forged my storytelling and consulting career. It turns out a lot of people would like to do the same. My Read More
Reverse engineering boy
Charlie was required to reverse engineer an electronic item as part of his work at his Aerospace Academy. After completing his project, his desire to Read More
Wax beans? Anybody?
I told my students how much I despised wax beans when I was growing up. They had no idea what I was talking about. So Read More
I talk to Elysha
I spend a lot of time staring into a camera lens, recording courses, YouTube videos, promos, and more. My ingenious production manager, Kaia, realized that Read More
Who didn’t Trump tariff?
In case you missed this, Trump imposed tariffs on nearly every nation on the planet, including islands around Antarctica that are only populated by penguins. Read More
Someone thinks like me
Sadly, but also realistically, this thought occurs to me constantly. More often than you could ever imagine. I’m happy to see I’m not the only Read More
Terrible laws by terrible people
Flouride has been banned in Utah. Legitimately banned. The new law bans cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water Read More
Nostalgia and an old friend at The Moth
I competed (and won) a Moth StorySLAM in Boston last week — my 62nd victory. It was my 111th performance in a Moth StorySLAM, alongside Read More
