page contents Google

FAMILY ROADSHOW WITHOUT THE ANTIQUES

The Family Roadshow is the same as the show on OPB but with livelier stories. Instead of, “This belonged to my great-great grandmother and it’s been handed down generation after generation,” why not The Truth? “I stole this off my grandpa at his wake,” Or, “This book used to be my Mom’s. She’s still looking […]

WIFE TONE? WHAT IT MEANS, WHAT IT DOESN’T MEAN

A wife tone is the only note a husband needs to memorize. One tone, one wife, no others need acknowledging. Not a Mom Tone, a Boss Tone, Neighbor Tone, Friend Tone, or Kid Tone. It’s usually delivered in the key of A, the holy A, the first letter in the alphabet. Can you hear me? […]

CHOOSING SIDES: IT’S MORE THAN SHIRTS vs SKINS?

The secret to choosing sides? Sometimes you don’t choose, you get chosen, picked. Then you find yourself standing on one side of a line. How do you make sure it’s the best side for you when you know the other will eventually look better?

BETTER MAN FOR WHO, FOR WHAT?

If someone asks you to be a better man, not their Best Man, what do you say? What do you do? You could agree to make a better effort. Or you could let it go. Either way, you’ve got a problem. Then what?

TIME OUT FOR YOU, YOU, AND YOU

The first ‘time out’ I ever heard came during a grade school basketball game. Coach: Do you know who you’re supposed to be guarding? Me: No. Coach: Guard the other team, not ours. Me: Oh. Okay.

MAD ABOUT YOU? WHY YOU?

If you think the world is mad about you, you’re probably right. But what is it about you that gets people worked up? Is it your car? Your hair? Your shoes? Your beard? No, nope, huh uh. It’s your sense of humor.

MUSICAL ENDURANCE CLASS FOR THE NON-MUSICAL

Musical endurance means hitting the same note over and over the rest of your life. Sounds easy, right? Because it is. If you were one of the gifted, the lucky, the special, you started early and have been doing it your whole life. However, if that’s not you, play the blues in E. That’s your […]

WORKING TOGETHER IN THE BEAVER STATE

A call for working together won’t make you a homer, a weakling, or manager. For now, let’s say it’s a call to ‘police up’ your area, clean up your mess. Do you know about policing up your area? It’s not about giving yourself a police badge.

CALM SURRENDER LIFESTYLE, AND DOG TRAINING

The first I’d heard of ‘calm surrender’ came from a chemo clinic nurse. I asked her what someone like me was supposed to do during cancer treatment. She said surrender calmly. I told her Gillaspie isn’t a French name. Nurse Michel was not amused, but she was right.

DIALECT STORIES TOLD IN TONGUES

Based on a particular vocabulary, all stories are dialect stories. From Mark Twain to Forrest Gump, and every stop in between. But what happens when language jumps off the page with directions, or recipes, or, wait for it: Feelings?