Articles from 2021
442 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Postscript
Merriam-Webster's Most Searched Words Last Week
Every Friday, Merriam-Webster posts the words that, for one reason or another, defined the week. The list was especially interesting last week. Click here to read it.
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Notes From My Journal
So… You’re Thinking About a Family Reunion?
“The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” – Lee Iacocca So… You’re Thinking About a Family Reunion? Pre-COVID – for more than 30 years, every other year –…
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Postscript
Rancho Santana Named Best Family Hotel Again
On the subject of family getaways today, you might be interested to know that Rancho Santana has just won another award. (Click here and look under the award for Best Family Hotel.)
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Notes From My Journal
Old Men Having Fun
I’ve mentioned my Myrtle Beach Golf Club before. Once a small group of friends, mostly high school buddies, we spend a fun week every year in Myrtle Beach golfing. And our connection continues all year long…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Ready, Fire, Aim: Defining The Critical First Step
“New ideas pass through three periods: (1) It can’t be done. (2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. (3) I knew it was a good idea all along!” – Arthur C. Clarke If Ready… Fire… Aim Is the Right…
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Postscript
Young Blues Virtuoso Makes His Mark
Another wunderkind… this one playing blues.
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Notes From My Journal
Why Listicles Lost Their Marketing Power
My longtime friend and colleague Bob Bly wrote a note about the use of listicles (numbered lists) in marketing copy and editorial content. He points out that they can work quite well, for 3 reasons: They are…
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Worth Reading
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold By John le Carré 256 pages Published January 1, 1963 by Coward-McCann This was the Mules’ January book selection. As I’m writing this, we haven’t yet met, so I can’t report on…
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Worth Watching
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965) Directed by Martin Ritt Starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, and Oskar Werner More often than not, movies made from books make lots of changes. Characters are…
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Postscript
Young People and Linguistic Drift Today
I know some young people that speak this way.
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Notes From My Journal
Global Leaders Condemn Big Tech's Trump Ban Decision
Some surprising people have come to Trump’s support after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, and Instagram. * German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Twitter’s ban on Trump…
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Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — January 14, 2021
THE FACTS * There’s an even more contagious strain of COVID here in the US! With a recent surge in cases, reports in the media, and Dr. Deborah Birx’s comments at a recent coronavirus Task Force meeting, you’d…
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Postscript
Holyfield's Best Stories From The Tyson Interview
Mike Tyson is a terrible interviewer, but Holyfield tells a great story.
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Notes From My Journal
Learning from a barefoot movement…
You think you’ve got it all figured out, then you happen upon someone else, halfway across the world, that is one step ahead of you. After watching this TED Talk, I set up a meeting with Bismarck and Michael…
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Notes From My Journal
Why Modern Political Cartoons Lost Their Humor
“Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge Have You Noticed? Politically Correct Is Not Funny! I’ve been bemoaning the fact that sometime since I stopped subscribing to The New…
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Postscript
The Dream Job That Never Called Back
I've always thought my perfect retirement gig would be to get a job writing for the Onion. So far they haven't made an offer.
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Notes From My Journal
Crazy!
I thought it might be a joke when I first read about it this weekend. We fact-checked it yesterday. It’s not. Happy Tuesday! Today, I wanted to share some very good thoughts on smart investing with you. But…
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Worth Considering
True Confessions
If you have any interest in investing, you’ve probably heard of the efficient market hypothesis. It’s the theory that stocks are always priced as they should be at any given moment, and therefore it’s futile…
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Postscript
Child Prodigy Singer Defies Tiger Parent Expectations
You may have seen this already… I hadn’t. This kid is obviously the product of Tiger parents, but his voice is not something that can be learned.
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Notes From My Journal
Conservative Investing Strategy For Uncertain 2021 Markets
I don’t know Andrey Dashkov, but I know the man he works for: Doug Casey. And when it comes to the larger view, I trust Doug. He’s not just a serious student of investing, he’s a brilliant thinker with a…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
When Marketing Copy Stops Working For Your Business
“Creative without strategy is called ‘art.’ Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising.’” – Jef I. Richards The Problem With Most "Good" Marketing Copy" “Sales been growing amazingly for two years. Now, all…
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Postscript
WWII Soldiers' Ingenious Airborne Beer Delivery
A WWII story about “airborne” beer…
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Notes From My Journal
Remembering KH
Tough day yesterday. I want to the funeral of a friend, a young man with a wife and four children. I met him 20 years ago on the mats. We were doing light contact fighting. He landed a light jab squarely on my…
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Worth Watching
Iris (2001): A Portrait Of Love And Loss
Iris (2001) Directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay he co-wrote with Charles Wood Starring Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, and Hugh Bonneville Based on John Bailey’s 1999 memoir, Elegy for Iris…
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Worth Reading
The Sea, The Sea
The Sea, The Sea By Iris Murdoch 528 pages Published in 1978 by Penguin Classics After a successful but sometimes scandalous career as a playwright and director, Charles Arrowby retires from the hubbub of…
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Postscript
WPA Virtual Commissions Presents Field Day Dance
Another interesting dance performance by WPA Virtual Commissions: “Field Day” by Aaron Loux & Brandon Cournay…
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Readers Write
An email from NB
About your essay “Being and Becoming”… thanks for the great read Mark. I am constantly saying (to my loved ones) that it’s not the achievement of the goal that matters but who I become in the process. I must…
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Notes From My Journal
Oh, boy. The Democrats have done it!
They’ve gained control of the executive office and both houses of Congress. This should be an interesting ride. Will they re-regulate the economy, end fracking, and criminalize gender-specific pronouns? Will…
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Worth Considering
3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts — January 8, 2021
THE FACTS * If you were floating around in outer space without a spacesuit, would you boil to death or freeze to death? If you guessed “boil,” you’re right. The lower the atmospheric pressure, the lower the…
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Postscript
From Shirley Jackson – l
Sometimes a curt reply does the trick. Some examples from LettersofNote.com: From Shirley Jackson – letter to a disappointed reader, July 24, 1953 From Attorney General Bill Baxley – letter to a white…
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Notes From My Journal
I’m doing a final revision of my fourth book of poetry…
I’m doing a final revision of my fourth book of poetry… I’m doing a final revision of my fourth book of poetry. It’s called Now and Then: New and Improved Poems. I am happy with the title. Is it snarky? I’m…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Passing the Pink House in Winter
With Unmitigated Joy What I loved about you then was your profile – how you were always looking out into some middle distance. When I would speak to you it was difficult to know if you were even listening. It…
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Worth Considering
Ben Shapiro Misses The Point On "A-Women" Prayer
I had a good laugh watching this video of Ben Shapiro’s reaction to Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) politically correct prayer at the opening of the 1st session of the 117th Congress on Sunday. In case you missed…
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Notes From My Journal
Building A Tiki Hut At Paradise Palms
The Tiki hut went up today at Paradise Palms. It’s going to serve as a rest area and wet bar for visitors to our gardens when we open later this year. Structures like these have been built by the Seminole…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
The Gap Between Wanting And Becoming A Writer
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar Becoming and Being “If you want to be a writer, you have to write. A writer is someone who…
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Postscript
Asian Dance Troupe's Surprising Riverdance Reimagining
There are many impressive styles of Asian Dance, but I bet you’ve never seen an Asian troupe take on the Irish River Dance.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Stock Investing: The 4 Key Metrics I Look at for Future Gains
“An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.” – Edward de Bono Stock Investing: The 4 Key Metrics I Look at…
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Postscript
Revisit Your Favorite Music From Any Year
Here’s a fun app if you want to musically relive your glory days. Just put in the year of your choice and enjoy...
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Worth Reading
Piranesi
Piranesi By Susanna Clarke 272 pages Published September 15, 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing I was surprised by how much I liked Piranesi, considering that it is a genre book, fantasy fiction, which I rarely…
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Worth Watching
The Queen’s Gambit and Searching for Bobby Fischer
The Queen’s Gambit is a 7-part Netflix series about a young girl (Beth Harmon) that becomes a chess prodigy, a grandmaster, and eventually a world champion, beating the invincible Russian master. Led by a…
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Notes From My Journal
Happy New Year!
Here are ten of my favorite New Year quotations that might inspire you: I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Thomas Jefferson “Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page…
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Postscript
Learning From Past Mistakes To Build Better Habits
At the end of the old year/ beginning of the new year, I usually write about my goal-accomplishment strategies. This year, I’m working on an essay that expresses the mistakes I’ve made in the past and some…
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