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BIG PLANS FOR A SMALL TOWN

Big plans come with big responsibilities. Such as? Such as, if you buy stuff for a plan and fail, you’re stuck with the stuff and no plan. Or, like so many, you pretend the fail was part of the original plan. See how easy that was? All done, but . . .

GENERATIONAL GENERALITIES? DON’T TAKE THEM TO HEART

I admit that generational generalities come in handy. I use them all the time when I’m feeling too lazy to read anything new. Like a checked box, they are what they are and will never change. Never, ever, change. Except when they do. Then what?

PRIORITY LIST: WHERE TO START?

Priority list? Maybe you call it something else. What if it’s a list someone makes for you? From wife: Honey Do. At work: To Do. Your friends: How do you do? But this is your list. What happens if urgency doesn’t feel like a priority?

POWER COUPLE OF THE LAST NFL GAME OF THE YEAR

Power Couple? You and who you’re with. But there are others of note, especially today. What day? Super Bowl Day, or the last time my wife says, “Is there a game on, a big game, a REALLY BIG GAME,” dripping with fake enthusiasm. My answer (with authentic hype-man energy): “They’re all big, honey. It’s the […]

BOOMER BAR SETS HIGH STANDARDS

Who set the baby boomer bar for making a better world for our children? Our parents, our grandparents, our teachers, and coaches? If that’s your guess, it’s a good one. But who set it so high; why did they do that to us?

STORY BUILDING FROM THE BOTTOM UP

Story building is something you learn through trial and error? Or learn from graduate programs and writing conferences? Or reading? Lots of Reading? Don’t be shocked to think it’s all of that and more. But, where to start? Why not the beginning?

DEATH WISH? IT’S JUST A STAGE

Death wish yourself into being a better person? “If I can’t be who I think I am I’d rather die.” Is that a wish, or a condition? I don’t know, but what I do know is ‘the end’ is the end. Most of the time.

SURRENDER CELEBRATION FOR GIVING UP

Surrender celebration starts after you’re done. Whatever it was you were working on, when it’s done, you’re done. You’re not going to make anything better at some point. That’s when you need to know how to walk away.

WRITE POORLY FIRST, THEN WHAT?

Write poorly on purpose? That’s the goal. Sounds foolish, but not if you do it with enthusiasm. Do it long enough and something happens. Let’s ask an expert what happens:

SHOPPING INSPIRATIONS: THE RIGHT TIME

Shopping inspirations happen, if you’re lucky, when you have money in your pocket. My shopping inspiration: ‘Buy one bottle of gas station champagne, get the second bottle half-price.’ That did it. Along with a box of hard seltzer with a six of trial-cider. What was I shopping for? A hangover?