May 2020
73 articles published this month.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
How to Be Happy With Your Money
“He that is of the opinion that money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Benjamin Franklin How to Be Happy With Your Money It is often said that money doesn’t buy…
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A Word to the Wise
ephemeral (adjective)
Something that’s ephemeral (ih-FEH-mer-uhl) is fleeting or short-lived. As I used it today: “You may have heard the argument that people generally get more long-term pleasure out of spending money on…
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Worth Reading
CDC's Flawed Coronavirus Testing Data Reporting
The CDC has been remarkably unreliable in terms of reporting and interpreting data on the coronavirus pandemic. The latest example, reported in The Atlantic, is mind-blowing. In reporting the total tests for…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Why Your Snoring Might Signal A Serious Problem
Snoring is the sound of air trying to make it through the narrowed air passages in your throat. Having a large Adam’s apple and a thick tongue can contribute. Also being overweight, drinking, and smoking…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Most Elaborate Basketball Trick Shot Ever
“70 Step Basketball Trick Shot” – I’ve watched a number of these ingenious games… devices? But this has to be the best.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
When Your Best Work Comes From Humility
Sebastian was flattered when Michael, his former protégé, asked him to critique the promotion he’d written. After all, Sebastian hadn’t written much copy in the 10 years that had passed since they worked…
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A Word to the Wise
reproach (noun)
Reproach (ruh-PROHTCH) is an expression of disapproval or disappointment. As I used it today: “The copywriter believes – or desperately wants to believe (which is sometimes worse) – that his/her writing is…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Washington Post's Funniest Alternative Word Definitions
Every year, the Washington Post holds a contest in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words. Here are a few of the most recent winners that I was able to find: * coffee – the…
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Worth Reading
Rhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse by John Hollander
This is a book my mother gave me when I first began writing poetry in college. I remember having a high opinion of it then. A brief but comprehensive survey of the forms, rhyme schemes, and metric patterns of…
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Fun and/or Interesting
What Makes Wrestling So Captivating
This is wrestling…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Letting Adult Children Find Their Own Way
We are in a taxi in Paris – the four of us. PB gets a call. She gives us the sorry look and looks at the phone. She smiles. “It’s L,” she says. L is her daughter, her bright, beautiful daughter. We’ve known L…
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A Word to the Wise
serendipitous (adjective)
Something that is serendipitous (ser-un-DIP-ih-tus) occurs or is discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way. As I used it today: “As they moved into their mid-teens, I wanted my children to be…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How Camp David Got Its Presidential Name
Camp David, the oft-mentioned presidential retreat, is located around 60 miles from Washington, DC, in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain Park. Officially a US Navy installation, it was built by the WPA in the 1930s…
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Worth Watching
More Than Money: The Good Life Parable
In this short film about a well-known fable, a fisherman teaches a young businessman about life after the young man uses his MBA knowledge to explain how the fisherman could be more successful. A good…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Nature's Most Surprising Scientific Secrets Revealed
Lots of interesting facts about how nature works...
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Art Collecting: Learn While You Earn
“The only time life allows for happiness is the present. Right now. In this very moment.” – Michael Masterson Investing in museum-quality art will make you richer financially as the years pass, but owning that…
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Worth Watching
Reagan's Masterful Speech On American Freedom
“Freedom Isn’t Free” – a powerful speech by President Ronald Reagan. I don’t know enough about Reagan’s career to have a strong opinion about it, but I can think of only two other presidents in my lifetime…
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A Word to the Wise
fractious (adjective)
Fractious (FRAK-shus) means quarrelsome; irritable. As used in a recent article in The Economist about the debate, in China, over whether a 14-year-old girl was a victim of rape by her wealthy guardian or a…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Word of the Day: X-rays
X-rays – a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation – were accidentally discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physics professor. Not knowing what they were, Roentgen called them X-rays – with…
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Readers Write
An email from CO
I’ll read any wealth, business building, etc. book that you put out. (I’ve bought a few of them multiple times.)
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Fun and/or Interesting
Tennis Gets New Rules for 2020
“New Tennis Rules”
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Finding Truth When Ideology Clouds The Debate
Ever since Trump took office, conversation with many friends and most of my family has been a challenge. They feel about him the way some of my conservative friends and colleagues feel about Hillary Clinton…
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A Word to the Wise
insinuate (verb)
To insinuate(in-SIN-yoo-ate) is to slide (oneself or a thing) slowly and smoothly into a position. As I used it today: “I like a loud argument as much as any Irish American, but I don’t like an intellectual…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How Pandemics End: Fear Fades Faster Than Death
According to medical historians, there are basically two ways that pandemics end. One is when death rates plummet. The other is when fear about the disease wanes. This has happened with most pandemics. It even…
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Worth Watching
The history of our world in 18 minutes
– an interesting TED Talk by David Christian. To watch it, click here.
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Fun and/or Interesting
Jeff Allen on Finding His America
Jeff Allen: “My America”
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Why Free Charity Offers Often Backfire
In Part 1 of “Free Is a Bad Idea,” I wrote about how “free” is generally bad in business – in particular, how free offers tend to work poorly as marketing campaigns and can actually weaken the long-term…
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A Word to the Wise
cosset (verb)
To cosset (KAH-sit) is to pamper; to care for and protect in an overindulgent way. As used by Mark Gatiss: “Fear is an underrated emotion. And that’s why I think it’s very dangerous to try to cosset children…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Underrated Surrealist Artist Leonor Fini Deserves
Leonor Fini should be better known than she is. Born in Buenos Aires in 1906, she grew up in Italy and moved to Paris at age 24 to commence a brilliant career. She hung out with Salvador Dali and others in the…
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Worth Watching
Young Doctor Explains COVID-19 Deaths With Charm
I was fascinated by this video explanation about how COVID-19 patients die. Most of what this young doctor explains are facts that you already know, although you might miss some of it because his explanation…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Amazing story!
Amazing story!
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Why Free Offers Usually Fail In Business
After many years of mulling it over, I’ve come to the conclusion that giving away things for free is a bad idea. I’m sure that statement will sound odd or even idiotic to many people, but give me a chance to…
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A Word to the Wise
eschew (verb)
To eschew (es-CHEW) is to deliberately avoid using; to abstain from. As I used it today: “I learned the lesson above in the mid to late 1980s. After that, I eschewed freebie campaigns and even highly…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How The Civil War Created America's Income Tax
Fighting the Civil War cost us a fortune. We ended up going into serious debt – equal to 100% of the country’s GDP at the time. Since there were relatively few taxes back then, Abraham Lincoln imposed the…
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Worth Reading
When Mask-Wearing Rules Faced Resistance
This is an interesting account, on History.com, of the use of face masks during the 1918 “Spanish” Flu pandemic. To read it, click here.
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Fun and/or Interesting
Try This Surprisingly Tricky Visual Puzzle
In the mood for a little fun? Try this…
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Notes From My Journal
Fear and Hope for Young People Today
"'Hope’ is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul / And sings the tune without the words / And never stops – at all” – Emily Dickinson Fear and Hope for Young People Today “I feel sorry for young…
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A Word to the Wise
breviloquent (adjective)
Breviloquent (breh-VIL-uh-kwuhnt) describes speaking, writing, or thinking that is concise and eloquent. Example: “Good writing is breviloquent.”
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Fun and/or Interesting
Doctor's Rule Of Threes Clears Lung Mucus
Whether it’s caused by COVID-19 or another illness, you can help relieve mucus buildup in the lungs by following this doctor’s “rule of threes” – three deep breaths, three coughs, all repeated three times…
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Readers Write
An email from GT
I'm very happy to say I've landed an exciting job straight out of university…. Thanks to [your guidance] I've seen the power of sales, and been given a wonderful foundation in my ability to sell…. My formal…
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Worth Reading
To prevent the next pandemic, it’s the legal wildlife trade we should worry about…
In this essay from National Geographic, a biologist argues that viruses can spread as easily from the trade of legal wildlife like frogs and monkeys, a multibillion-dollar global business, as they can by bats…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Music Teacher Captures Isolation's Emotional Toll In Song
This poignant video of a music teacher trying to convey her thoughts and feelings about shelter-in-place through a heartfelt song nearly brought me to tears.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
How Simplifying Your Work Life Increases Success
About 20 years ago, I did a little experiment. I wanted to find out if it really is possible to do business from anywhere in the world. So I packed my family off to Rome (one of my favorite cities) for a…
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A Word to the Wise
respite (noun)
Respite (RES-pit) is an interval of relief; a delay or cessation for a time, especially of anything distressing or trying. As I used it today: “Even if you do catch up, you’ll have, at best, a day’s respite…
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Worth Reading
The latest issue of AWAI’s Barefoot Writer — May 13, 2020
In this issue: * How to Conquer Your Greatest Creativity Killer * More Than a One-Trick Pony * Connection Crisis Sparks Opportunity Bonanza for Writers * Happiness Recalibrated * Stop Squirming! Market…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Contagious vs Infectious
An infectious disease is a communicable disease that spreads by contaminating people (or animals) with pathogenic microbial agents, such as viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms. In other words, a disease…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Lockdown is a huge mistake…
A dull presentation, but it’s from someone (a Nobel Prize winning scientist) that understands the math.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Let’s Talk About Art…
“There are two ways that art is judged as good: connoisseurship and marketing.” – Michael Masterson Let’s Talk About Art…* “Why did you put ‘art’ in the headline?” my inner editor shouts. “Because that’s the…
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A Word to the Wise
dilettante (noun)
A dilettante (dil-uh-TAHNT) is a person who cultivates an area of interest without any real commitment or knowledge. As I used it today: “Some people think of art collecting as a snooty hobby practiced by…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Art Prices Hold Steady When Stock Markets Crash
There is a relationship between art and stocks that is worth noting. According to the MMAAI (Mei Moses All Art Index), which has been tracking art returns since 1820, prices for art rise when the stock market…
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