On August 19, 2015, I published a post about #BlackLivesMatter. In that post, I wrote about the movie Fruitvale Station, the true story about the tragic killing of Oscar Grant, which I had seen in 2013, coincidentally, around the same time I had read the extremely important, highly acclaimed book The…
In this horribly sad time of COVID, with so many families experiencing illness and the death of loved ones, by complete coincidence I just finished reading a book about death and dying. Many years ago, I read Complications by Atul Gawande. Gawande is a surgeon and his writing about his…
When my kids were in high school, I wrote a five-part series of "Teenproofing" posts about teens and drinking. The posts include many of my opinions and suggestions including not letting your kids drink in your house. My kids are all in their mid-twenties now, so I haven’t given a…
When I was a teen, I did not read a lot of books. I resented the reading requirements in high school and do not recall enjoying more than the handful of novels I read for pleasure. The reading load in college was overwhelming. I didn’t love most of it, but…
Happy New Year! As I have done for quite a few years, here are some of the many experiences I enjoyed this past year: places I visited, what I listened to, what I read, what I watched, and more. Reading For the last several years I had read fewer and…
As has happened to me many times before, this year I found myself inspired by a eulogy delivered by a friend upon the passing of one of his parents. Every funeral I attend leaves me a better person because of something I learn about the deceased, and their life well…
This past summer, I began an intentional change in my media consumption. As a result, over the months since, I cut back on, or gave up completely, a bunch of activities. I stopped watching late night talk shows. I had been DVRing them, and then watching the opening monologues the…
I was listening to a podcast about healthy eating and the person being interviewed said people crave salty, sugary, and fatty foods. The more we eat of them, he went on, the less we taste them—and then we eat more and more of them until we feel satisfied. I’ve experienced…
I’ve been reading articles by James Clear for a bunch of years. He shares all kinds of useful life hacks. Over the last few years, he has written quite a bit about making and keeping good habits, a subject that is near and dear to my heart—and core to my…
As I have done for each of the past few years, here are the many ways I enjoyed the experiences of my year: places I visited, what I listened to, what I read, what I watched, and more. Reading I love reading and I love learning. I read quite a…
As any regular reader here knows, I’ve written a lot about how to make changes stick – break down your goals into small pieces and work on one at a time for the 21 days it takes to create a habit. As I have explained, we have a limited amount…
My friend Michael, who sends out weekly motivational messages, sent one recently with a list of “What I’ve Learned” by Andy Rooney, the late 60 Minutes personality. Rooney passed away in 2011 at the age of 92. For many years, I enjoyed watching his 60 Minutes segments. I found him…