In his 1958 short story called “Murke’s Collected Silences”, the German author, Heinrich Boll, writes about a sound engineer named Murke who works in a recording studio. His job is to record talks and speeches by famous people, and as part of that job he has to edit out the pauses that they take during […]
recording studio, silence, silences
My Aunt Sonia was going to get her car washed and someone told her that there was rain in the forecast. Without missing a beat, Aunt Sonia said,” Well it’s going to rain on a clean car.” She was well known for having the courage of her convictions on matters great and small, including getting […]
advice, car wash, positivity
There was an article in the New York Times about making bagels. (You can read it here) One of the comments they made in the article was that because there are only five ingredients in a bagel, people commonly have this misconception that they’re relatively easy to make, but there are a lot of factors […]
article, bagels, making bagels, NYT
One of my favorite pieces of writing is the Sonia Sanchez haiku… “Let me wear the day Well so when it reaches you You will enjoy it.” It’s always been powerful to me and I think there are two reasons why. The first is the idea that we have control over the day. We can […]
advice, haiku, wear the day, writing piece
There are messages all around us in the universe and I believe it’s our job to make meaning out of what those messages are. For example, I have a friend named coffee and coffee often has a little message for me on the side of the container. In this case, it’s a Pete’s Coffee Decaffeinated […]
balance, coffee, easy to love, lively
I was reminded the other day of an old commercial for Hershey’s Kisses, where a famous actor ties one of his shoes and very satisfied with that accomplishment, says,” I deserve a Hershey’s kiss.” And he ties his other shoe and he rewards himself with another Hershey’s kiss. It’s a reminder of something simple that […]
acknowledge, chocolate, reward
The legendary founder of Wendy’s restaurants, Dave Thomas, was known for many things including his entrepreneurial spirit and being the humble pitch man for his restaurant chain. Something not so well known is that he dropped out of high school at the age of 15 so that he could work full time. Years later he […]
dream, goal, Motivation, motivational, wendys
In the neighborhood where I grew up, there was a fork in the road, and whether you went to the left or to the right, you would eventually wind up on our street. Even though both roads eventually went to the same place, people who always went to the left had very specific reasons they […]
advice, life's road, travel
There’s a joke about a man who calls a house and a little kid answers and says,” Hello.” The man says,” Is your mother there?” The kid says,” Yes.” The man says,” Can I talk to her?” The kid says,” No, she’s busy.” The man says,” Is your father there?” The kid says,” Yes.” The […]
ask, joke, question
In the 1979 comedy movie “A Little Romance”, Sir Laurence Olivier plays a devilish, but charming character named Julius. Julius has shared a legend with two young characters in the movie who believe him, but later find out that the legend is a lie. When they confront him about the lie, Julius says,” What are […]
legends, powerful, sharing