

Kate Winslet once wisely remarked that “There’s more to life than cheekbones.”
Don’t I know it!
Recently, I’ve become intimately familiar with one particular beauty among the other 205 bones in the human body: the scaphoid.
It’s one of 27 bones in the hand nestled between the thumb and the wrist and I unknowingly injured mine this past weekend.
I wish I had a good story to go along…
Read more »

I presented a short talk to about a hundred people on Sunday and I began with a number:
17, 288
That’s the exact number of days I was alive when I opened my eyes on Sunday morning.
And except for one young lad who was celebrating his 17th birthday and had lived a mere 6,205 days, most of the people in the audience had clocked upwards of 11,000…
Read more »

I’m a firm believer in what Brenda Ueland calls moodling, “long inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”
In a weird time-twisting way, I’ve discovered that one secret to getting a lot done is being willing to spend a lot of time alone doing nothing at all!
Gazing out a window with a cup of tea. Soaking in a bath. Sitting still and paying attention to the breath.
And…
Read more »


Right around now is when parents start pulling out a pretty strong behavior card: Santa’s Naughty and Nice list.
Think about it.
You don’t hear parents out in public with unruly kids in June sternly admonishing them, “Behave! You don’t want to end up on Santa’s Naughty List or he won’t bring you any presents!” But it’s a common occurrence during these last few weeks before Christmas.
And…
Read more »

My daughter is invited to a Friendsgiving dinner this weekend. It’s a get-together celebrated annually with her friends in Chicago before they all journey to various corners of the United States to spend the actual Thanksgiving holiday with their families.
Now, since I’m a vegetarian, the conventional menu for Thanksgiving doesn’t appeal to my taste buds. But I’m not too fond of the idea of taking…
Read more »