November 2020
36 articles published this month.
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Notes From My Journal
Yesterday in Managua
I spent yesterday in Managua, visiting Harvest, Rancho Santana’s little gourmet bistro, which I’d never seen before, and also an exhibition of Nicaraguan contemporary art sponsored by The French Cultural…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
The Need for Speed
Some people are analytical. They tend to move slowly, crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s. Others are action-oriented. They tend to move quickly, impatient for solutions. To grow a successful enterprise…
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Readers Write
An email from MF — November 30, 2020
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I wanted to THANK YOU for your contribution to this day. You need to be proud of the relief work that Rancho Santana folks are doing for the hurricane relief programs…
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Worth Watching
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Directed by John Hughes Starring Steve Martin and John Candy From Tubi: “John Hughes’ mismatched-pair, road-trip comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy is full of broad humor, but all of it is pitched just…
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Notes From My Journal
Kudos for Our Restaurant!
Two years ago, one of the founding partners here at Rancho Santana pitched the rest of us on opening a gourmet bistro in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, to promote the Rancho Santana brand. Normally I…
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Worth Considering
Why Thanksgiving Day Breaks America's Plumbing Systems
“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.” – Irv Kupcinet What You Probably Didn’t Know About Thanksgiving Some interesting things to ponder while enjoying your leftovers… Backflow…
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Notes From My Journal
Greetings from Rancho Santana!
I’m writing to you this morning from my little outdoor “writing studio” that sits next to our new pool, which is being filled with water. When it’s done, late this afternoon, I’m going to test it out. I’m…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
You Are Who You Are: Be Thankful for That!
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. You Are Who You Are: Be Thankful for That! It’s damn hard to be thankful. We know we should. Every shrink, spiritual…
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Notes From My Journal
The Real Story of Thanksgiving
Tomorrow we will have Thanksgiving dinner at the Club House restaurant, like we’ve been doing for many years. But this year, our children and their families won’t be with us, thanks to You-Know-What-19. Today…
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Worth Watching
The Real Story Behind The First Thanksgiving
There are several such videos available, but I think this one presents the most believable story. I thought I knew the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. The First Thanksgiving, 1621, by Jean…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Training Your Business Instinct For Profitable Decisions
“Two things control men’s nature, instinct and experience.” – Blaise Pascal Head vs. Gut, Part II: How to Educate Your Gut Instinct to Help You Make Profitable Decisions In Part I of this essay, we talked…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Partner's Self-Designed Chapel Serves Rancho Santana Community
This is a chapel that BB, one of my partners at Rancho Santana, built for the Rancho Santana community. He designed it himself. The style, as you can see, is very simple and mostly traditional. It’s quite…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Trusting Your Gut Over Business School Analysis
My post today is about developing your gut instinct to help you become a more effective business leader. I’m sending it from our home in Nicaragua. As you may have heard, the country was battered by Iota. The…
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Worth Reading
Steinbeck: A Life in Letters
Steinbeck: A Life in Letters Edited by Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten Paperback, 928 pages Published April 1, 1989 by Penguin Books John Steinbeck was an important writer and an interesting character. As…
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Worth Watching
Fargo
Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Starring William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, and Frances McDormand On an impulse last week, I watched Fargo again – the 1996 movie, not the TV…
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Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Words, 3 Thoughts
THE FACTS * The Invention of the TV Dinner Like so many other life-improving inventions, the frozen TV dinner began as a mistake. 1n 1953, an employee of Swanson & Sons mistakenly ordered 260 tons of fresh…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Identifying And Nurturing Your Rarest Employees
“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” – Tom Peters Cultivating the “Super” in “Superstars”: the Handful of Employees That Will Make Your Business Soar Yes…
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Notes From My Journal
The Moments I Love
“The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.” – Alek Wek The Moments I Love Midnight at the Swamp House. Starless…
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Notes From My Journal
A Jolt of Pure Joy!
Look at this – a film of a snowball fight shot in 1897 in Lyon by the Lumière brothers… The Lumière brothers are considered to be pioneers in film. This one spans less than a minute, but it’s a tempest of…
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Readers Write
An email from JM
I just read your essay, “12 Things I’ve Learned About Living a Full Life.” These were excellent. All of them…. I always told my children that smart is when you can learn from your mistakes but brilliant is…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Scary but True: China Paves the Way for a US Digital Dollar
“A weak currency is the sign of a weak economy, and a weak economy leads to a weak nation.” – Ross Perot Scary but True: China Paves the Way for a US Digital Dollar On November 6, I said that I could imagine…
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Worth Reading
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
by Bill Bryson Paperback, 254 pages Published March 28, 1993 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 1991) I was in a shallow, prompted in part by the decision to trash an essay I’d spent half a day on…
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Worth Watching
Just Mercy
Netflix and Amazon Prime The books and movies I like best are those that change me – those that are able to change the way I think or feel about an issue or motivate me to take action on an issue I had cared…
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Worth Considering
Justin Goff on the “Chain of Belief
The first important skill I studied when I began my career in publishing was how to write a sales letter. Back then – in the early ‘80s – there weren’t any expert teachers available. (Today, there are hundreds…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Twelve Big Lessons From A Thousand Mistakes
“Ultimately, there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways.” – Twyla Tharp 12 Things I’ve Learned About Living a Full Life I’ve got a thousand ideas about how to do things…
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Worth Watching
My Favorite Doctor on COVID
I read a dozen regular services on COVID-19. Half are data services and some are commentary. Of all that latter group, this is the one I like the best. I think you’ll like him too! PS: Notice that he says that…
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Worth Considering
Response Boosting Tip for Digital Marketers
Here’s a potentially powerful way to boost eyeballs and click-throughs on your internet advertising. Create a teaser that capitalizes on a popular current news or social interests story. It must be something…
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Worth Considering
What I’m Doing With My Money
On July 24, I said I was putting a good amount of my stock into cash until I have an idea of what the election will bring us. On November 4, I made some predictions about what will happen regardless of who…
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Readers Write
An email from LC
Thank you Mark for your essay on Tribal Dynamics in Business. You put words on feelings that I had (e.g., loathing corporatization) but I didn't know how to deal with, in the face of entropy.
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Worth Watching
Night Crawler
I came across this on Netflix, surfing for something grim, stark, and disturbing. After watching it for a few minutes, I realized that I’d seen it before. But I kept watching, partly because my memory is…
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Worth Reading
Economics in One Lesson
by Henry Hazlitt The first book on economics I ever read was Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, when I was in high school. I didn’t read it cover to cover. I was using it rather than reading it, using it to confirm…
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Notes From My Journal
A Reader Asks: Should I Invest in Bitcoin?
“Anything that is secret, clandestine, loaded with such a supercargo of speculation, misinformation, disinformation and, for that matter, accurate revelations, creates an appetite.” – Charles McCarry A Reader…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Why A Mayo Clinic Psychologist Sent This
This comes to me from a very bright and accomplished person I know that is a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Mayo Clinic. I’m not sure why he sent it to me. Nor am I sure why I’m sending it to you. Perhaps…
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Notes From My Journal
What Happens Next, Regardless Of Who Wins
“Politics is not predictions and politics is not observations. Politics is what we do.” – Paul Wellstone Thoughts on a Too-Close-to-Call Election I’ve never understood how, in a country the size of ours…
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Notes From My Journal
Ten Best Countries To Escape To Now
“We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.” – Lynda Barry Book Your Departure Now! 10 of the Best Places to Escape to Outside of the USA K says she’s leaving the…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Most Voters Lack Knowledge To Make Informed Decisions
“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” –Thomas Jefferson Are You Qualified to Vote? “Voting is the most important responsibility we have as…
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