On the wisdom of Gandalf

“I’ve been a little too depressing on my blog lately,” I said to my friend Diane the other night. We were eating tacos at Esquina, and trying to decide if they were as good as we remembered. “Huh,” said Diane, which meant something like You are not kidding, sister. “Maybe you should write about Greek…

Me: “So there’s a guy with a baler on the shoulder of the road—” Big City Friend: “A what?” Me: “A baler, like a Haybuster. You know.” BCF: “A what?” Me: “A baler, a Haybuster baler!” BCF: “Are you even speaking English?” Me: “I’m describing a vehicle on the shoulder of a county road in…

Jessica and I went to the beach for our annual summer vacation. Jessica was under the impression that beach vacations included actual activities. But despite our slight difference in priorities, we had a wonderful time. ### My collection of travel stories, Travels with Jessica, is now available! Kindle and paperback here; other ebook formats here….

When you’re trying to solve a problem, you have to ask the right question. For the 100 choices list I posted yesterday, I began by thinking about how all of us could probably use a few extra bucks about now. I posed the problem this way: How can I make money this year as a…

A blogger I follow — Laura Young at No Safe Distance — recently posted on the importance of carefully choosing role models. This got me to thinking about all of the teachers I’ve had over the years who’ve helped me to understand how to accomplish various goals. They’ve also helped me see the reality of…