I was helping my daughter put together her pinewood derby car for Girl Scouts. We were laying on our stomachs lining up the nail to go through the tire at the exact right angle. As I was explaining why it was important to make sure the tire doesn’t rub the wood she surprise… Read more...
The Machine Gun
When I’m excited about something, I make machine-gun noises with my mouth. If I’m really stoked, I’ll cup my hands to my mouth to make the noise louder, and then move my head from side to side in a sweeping motion as if I’m spraying the room with machine-g… Read more...
Props from Chester Copperpot
In the movie Goonies, a group of subterranean adolescent adventurers revel in the fact that they made it farther than the legendary treasure hunter and riddle solver, Chester Copperpot.
They had less experience and less training than the Great Mr. Copperpot; afterall, they’r… Read more...
Laughing Out Loud (A How-To Guide)
[NOTE to my beloved die-hard daily readers: I’m going to switch to a weekly post delivered every Monday, so I can work on some longer pieces that I will surely let you know about. Thanks for welcoming me into your in-box this past year and sharing your support and epiphanie… Read more...
Corporate Buddha
Wouldn’t it be funny to watch a Buddhist monk run a high-growth Fortune 500 corporation for a year? I wonder how Zen they would be after an experience like that.
I’d watch that show – “Corporate Buddha.”
My point is, it’s extremely hard to balanc… Read more...
Let Someone Else Store it for You
I have a tendency, particularly when in the hardware store, to buy up things just in case I’ll need them. More times than not, I do not need them.
I’ve tried to stop this behavior since my basement is getting full and my pockets are getting empty, with no real win at t… Read more...
How To Go On a Treasure Hunt In The Middle Of Your Workday
With all the rain, I let my lawn get out of hand. It’s up to my hips. Some weeds are as thick as an index finger. There’s this vicious cycle that keeps me from mowing it: weekdays are hard because I have to work and then I want to relax. And my weekends, riddled with … Read more...
The Problem With Doing Things The Best Way Possible
The older couple next to me does their ritual. One man unfolds the plastic wrap around a single sandwich and puts each half on separate plates. The other guy uncorks a bottle of wine and fills 2 plastic cups to exactly the same height. They sit in low-back chairs with their bare … Read more...
The Helping Bug
To give you an idea as to how much I think about helping people find their way…
As I was reading a self-help book written in the nineties, I found myself putting aside my own growth to counsel the previous owner of the book who had carefully underlined significant passages a… Read more...
My Red Nikes
I have a pair of red Nikes that make me happy whenever I wear them. They’re classics, They’re perfect, but it’s not their appearance that makes me so happy. Not the comfort either, and they’re damn comfortable.
I was visiting my brother in LA, just me this … Read more...