March 2021
52 articles published this month.
-
Notes From My Journal
Tryptic
“Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” – Wayne Huizenga Tryptic Enrique Anna Julia asks me if I’ve seen Enrique. I tell her I saw him yesterday. We talk…
Read full post -
Postscript
Rancho Santana Ocean Views Available This Year
Speaking of Rancho Santana… If you’ve had your heart set on owning an ocean-view property, Rancho Santana will make it easy to realize that dream this year. You will be able to choose between being close to…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — March 28, 2021
THE FACTS * A man was sent to jail for referring to his daughter as “she.” A British Columbia man was arrested for referring to his 16-year-old transgender child (who was born female but prefers male pronouns)…
Read full post -
Postscript
American Men's Self-Perception Versus Reality
“Shocking News: US Males Not as Tough as They Think!”
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Understanding The Staggering Scale Of A Trillion Dollars
A dollar isn’t much these days… So, when you hear that our government is in the middle of spending $6 trillion that it doesn’t have, you might wonder: How much is a trillion dollars? Here’s one way to get a…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
What’s the Toughest High School Sport?
“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” – Marcus Aurelius What’s the Toughest High School Sport? A Reader Remembers His 2 Weeks as a Wrestler From Joe M: I was a basketball player in high…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
Interesting Facts About the History of Wrestling
Most of the following are from a series of columns written by the late Bob Dellinger, wrestling historian and former director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. * Wrestling, mankind’s oldest and most…
Read full post -
Postscript
Georgian Wrestler Tosses World Champions Like Children
Check this out… a clip I got from Bryan W. His name is Revaz Nadareishvili. He’s a 30-year-old Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler, and a 5-time champion in his country. Weight/class: 98kg (220 lbs). Height: 5’8”…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
I Told Them So…
I want to tell them that I told them so, but instead I’m going to say it here. The two most incendiary issues of the last election were Trump’s handling of the Corona Crisis and the border wall. The Democrats…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
When Is a Hate Crime Not a Hate Crime?
A reader writes: I know you are in Nicaragua so you may not have seen the story of a man shooting and killing 8 people at 3 Asian massage parlors in Atlanta. It’s been a highlight of the news for days. The…
Read full post -
Postscript
The Asian Race Issue's Overlooked Dimension
Another aspect of the Asian race issue…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
The Sunsets!
I came here intending to stay two or three weeks. It looks like I'll be staying five. One reason, which I've been thinking about, is an effect of the COVID lockdown. I now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt…
Read full post -
Worth Reading
Hamnet: A N
Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague By Maggie O’Farrell 384 pages Published in 2020 by Tinder Press Hamnet is, as the title suggests, a book about Shakespeare’s son and the plague that killed him. It is also a vivid…
Read full post -
Worth Watching
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love (1998) Directed by John Madden Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Judi Dench, and Geoffrey Rush As I said above, Hamnet is, a part, an imaginary account of how Shakespeare came to…
Read full post -
Postscript
Six-Year-Old Breakdancer Defies All Expectations
You’re not interested in breakdancing. Fine. But tell me you’re not amazed by the performance of this six-year-old girl.
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Adventurer Aleksander Doba Dies At Kilimanjaro's Summit
Kevin K, with whom I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in February 2010, sent me an obit from the NYT for Aleksander Doba, a man who kayaked across the Atlantic three times – twice in his 60s and then again when he was…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
How to Learn Multiple Languages in 15 Minutes a Day
“Own only what you can always carry with you: Know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn How to Learn Multiple Languages in 15 Minutes a Day If…
Read full post -
Worth Reading
Microaggressions” and Other Dangerous Words
According to an article in Business Insider, there are 14 things you should never say at work (or anywhere else) because they are “indirect expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, or ableism.” Here are some…
Read full post -
Postscript
Reason's Limits in an Unreasonable World
Trying to be reasonable in an unreasonable world…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
How A Teacher Silenced My Classroom Wisecracks
“We’re all the heroes of our own stories.” – George R.R. Martin I’ve mentioned before (January 25) that I’m doing this StoryWorth thing – writing anecdotes about my life to include in a family-tree book I’ve…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
What MIT Mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota Taught About Work
Business Lessons From an MIT Mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota was mathematician, teacher, and philosopher who spent most of his career at MIT, teaching functional analysis, probability theory, phenomenology, and…
Read full post -
Postscript
Phenomenal Photos I Wish I'd Taken
#1
Read full post -
From My Work-in-Progress Basket
If It Ain’t Broke… Fix It Anyway!
“Change is vital, improvement the logical form of change.” – James Cash Penney If It Ain’t Broke… Fix It Anyway! How to Aim Your Business After It’s Been Started If you want your business to grow quickly and…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
Buster Keaton’s “Special Effects
A few weeks ago, I shared a video of Buster Keaton’s greatest stunts. Readers wrote to ask: How much of that was real? Turns out, there weren’t any “safety nets” in place. Stunts that looked dangerous really…
Read full post -
Postscript
Rancho Santana Named Among World's Best Hotels
The Inn at Rancho Santana has been featured in the March issue of Travel + Leisure as one of the 500 best hotels and resorts in the world. You can read the article here.
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
The Question of Tax Increases
When people say they are in favor of increasing taxes, what they generally mean is that they favor increasing taxes on “others” that make more or have more than they do. Recently, I challenged a friend who…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — March 13, 2021
THE FACTS * Prohibition helped make Walgreens the giant it is today. While prohibition made alcohol sales illegal from 1920 to 1933, “medicinal” alcohol was still perfectly legal. Anyone with a doctor willing…
Read full post -
Postscript
Toni Basil Still Dances Circles Around Younger Performers
I missed Toni Basil when she was at her dancing prime. But last night I saw this… At 74, she can hold her own with dancers less than half her age!
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
The “For the People Act
After Daniel Ortega was elected as President of Nicaragua, legally in 2006, the Sandinista party went to work modifying election laws to secure its preeminent position in government and improve its chances for…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Power to the People?
“The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.” – Charles Bukowski Power to the…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
The Car That Obakeng Built
When I lived in Africa, I was always amazed at the toy cars that little kids built out of scraps of wire and metal – pull toys or push toys, like American kids had back then, but they were homemade. Think…
Read full post -
Postscript
Rare Footage Captures Lightning Striking The Ground
We’ve all seen lightning in the sky. But have you ever seen it strike the ground? (Joe M. sent in this video.)
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
New Words
I read something yesterday about how new words make their way from the fringes to mainstream usage, and then finally into dictionaries. For example, in 2020, the Merriam-Webster dictionary added hundreds of…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Proud Dad Moments
“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass Proud Dad Moments In a recent issue of his “Postcards From the Fringe” blog, Tom Dyson told this little “Proud Dad…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
Coca-Cola's Awkward Attempt At Addressing Racism
Why is it so hard for Coca-Cola to talk about racism? Conservative commentators had a field day with a program offered as part of Coca-Cola’s Better Together campaign, an employee training video that included…
Read full post -
Postscript
Drones Deliver Medical Supplies To Rural Ghana
This is how drone technology is already being used in Ghana (West Africa) to deliver medical supplies, including coronavirus tests and vaccines, to rural communities…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
I’ll never read all the books I want to read. I won’t even come close
I group these books in four levels of priority. First is a list I keep of titles recommended by good friends and respected colleagues. Next are literary prize winners (especially the National Book Award and…
Read full post -
Worth Reading
The Blue River
The Blue River By Ethan Canin 222 pages Published in 1991 by Warner Books Blue River is the story of two brothers, Lawrence and Edward, who, after having taken very different paths in life, are reconnected…
Read full post -
Worth Watching
Pillow Talk (1959)
Pillow Talk (1959) Directed by Michael Gordon Starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day Pillow Talk was a Valentine’s Day suggestion by K. Neither of us had ever seen it. On the one hand, it’s an old-fashioned…
Read full post -
Postscript
Keone & Mariel Madrid's Latest Dance Creation
A fresh and fun bit of choreography from Keone & Mariel Madrid Dance Company…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Surviving… Everything
I’m here in Nicaragua, a country that was once devastated by an earthquake and then a revolution that changed it from one of the richest countries in Latin America to one of the poorest. But gradually over the…
Read full post -
Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — March 6, 2021
THE FACTS * Dr. Seuss books discontinued as racist. Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that they will cease publication of six books that had come under attack by the Sensitivity Police. Three of the stated…
Read full post -
Postscript
Woman Leaves Boyfriend Over Body Shaming Comments
When I saw the headline – “Woman Dumps Boyfriend Who Shamed Her for Having ‘Beer Gut’ ” – I assumed it was a satirical news story from The Onion. I was wrong.
Read full post -
From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Biden's Stimulus Bill: Popular But Poorly Understood
“If we take the route of the permanent handout, the American character will itself be impoverished.” – Richard Nixon Free money is popular! Who woulda thunk? A vast majority of Americans – 72% to 76% – support…
Read full post -
Worth Watching
Martial Arts for Women
I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about 23 years. I’ve earned a black belt and have won several regional and national contests (for my age group), and I came in third in the 2016 IBJJF World Master…
Read full post -
Postscript
Brain Stuff . . . From Cambridge University
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
Sitting…
Perhaps it’s my age. Or maybe it’s something I should have figured out long ago. One of the great pleasures in life is being seated. Whether it’s for work, socializing, or meditation, I’ve come to understand…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
What I Believe
“Any clod can have the facts; having opinions is an art.” – Charles McCabe What I Believe A compilation – in no particular order – of some of my longstanding theories and many of my current ideas and opinions……
Read full post -
Postscript
Prado's Cubist Purchase Sparks Madrid Museum Turf War
One of the great pleasures of keeping an eye on the art world is to be able to enjoy the ridiculous issues that are passionately debated. It reminds me of the sort of controversies I noticed when I was…
Read full post -
Notes From My Journal
The Power Of Self-Forgiveness In Business And Life
“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” – Desmond Tutu One of the Most Important Skills I Ever Learned – How It Improved Both My Business and My Personal Life I learned to…
Read full post