page contents Google

BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

[Read More…]

RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
[Read More…]

NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
[Read More…]

CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
[Read More…]

I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
[Read More…]

More Posts from this Category

toughen up

EMOTIONAL FITNESS: AS THE BARBELLE TURNS

Does a gym help emotional fitness? The gym rat with the gallon jug, pill pack, and headband, don’t workout for emotional fitness . The only way they’d focus on emotional fitness is if they could see it in a mirror with a pulsating vein. Gym regret is a sign of good gym emotional fitness, like: […]

DIVORCE NEW NORMAL: “WAS IT ANOTHER GUY?”

    Older people, a goal baby boomers are moving toward at hyper speed, have heard more joy and heartache than anyone else. We’ve got at least ten thousand hours in each encompassing most every possible outcome.   At recent bar stop I learned a whole new take on divorce for modern times. It came […]

HPV16 EXPLAINED BY WASHINGTON POST, HPVANDME.ORG

    There’s no fake news about HPV16 explained in the Washington Post, even if you wish it weren’t true. A story headlined, “What men should know about cancer that spreads through oral sex,” ran April 2 this year. Impressive stuff to jump start Head, Neck, and Throat Cancer Week. What should they know? What […]

More Posts from this Category

boomer years

Climate Change In My Kitchen Is Real

  The first step to take when the air conditioning fails on the hottest week of the year, with an even hotter week on the near horizon?   Stop making things hotter. No cooking. Eighty five degrees in the kitchen with nothing on is hot enough.   Thinking of baking a polenta pizza? Maybe flattening […]

HOW TO un-GAY A 60’s TEEN BOOMER

Who Thinks You Can un-Gay Anyone? Parents? My uncle grew from an awkward teen boomer to become an inspirational gay man. I could say inspirational man, but he’s more proud of being a gay inspiration. He’s lived life his way on no uncertain terms: Accept gay or go away. But that’s not how it started […]

How Teamwork Is Supposed To Work In Real Life

    A team is a temporary group with the same goals. Whether it’s sports, school, work, or family, it’s important to know how teamwork is supposed to work.   The biggest element of teamwork is cooperation, which is in shorter supply than most expect.   For example, in the armed forces all entities compete […]

More Posts from this Category

buckle up

PORTLAND BEER HUNT

Portland Beer Of The Year Starts Here. Do you see a beer sign? A brewery sign? Anything that says beer is near? It’s not an accident. Once you park your car it’s still a mystery. To help out, this place in across the street, maybe two streets, from the Rose Garden, Modo Center, Memorial Coliseum. […]

LONESOME VALLEY? WALK IT BY MYSELF? WHAAAT?

  The Carter Family has a map of the lonesome valley. Everybody knows the way on the lonesome valley. Your mother’s gonna walk it. Your daddy’s gonna walk it. Those sinners got to walk it. And they all walk it alone. That’s what the Carter Family says. Everybody’s got to walk this lonesome valley We’ve […]

2 PROBLEMS WITH THIRD PARTY HOTEL BOOKING

    Hotel booking in Los Angeles is easy. Fly in for sun and fun, then…   What’s not to love about an LA trip. You’ve got the weather, the beaches, the beach town. Don’t forget the palm trees. Palm tree lined streets just scream LA in a a touristy way. For the locals it’s […]

More Posts from this Category