I’ll be out of cell phone range and won’t have internet access all week, so I’m featuring the “best of the blog.” Of the hundreds of entries, these are the ones that got the most comments, twitter shares and facebook shares. I’ll be sharing three articles each day this week. I hope you like perusing the archives!
Leaders Aren’t Cynical, The Character Trait that Might be Holding You Back
Cynicism and immaturity go hand in hand. Cynicism is, essentially, the [...]
My friend Shauna Niequist has a book coming out and I asked her if I could feature an excerpt. The book is Bitter Sweet, thoughts on Change, Grace and Learning the Hard Way. Congrats on the new book, Shauna. Here you go:
My best friend Annette and I laid on our towels until we realized that someone was standing in our sun. We squinted up at a big man with a big camera wearing a Girls Gone Wild hat.
He told [...]
I’ve not had a Sunday Morning Music feature in a couple months. Just lost track of it. But Katie Herzig was in town and I got to see her at the Doug Fir and all of us remembered that she was one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters, and then following Matthew Perryman Jones on twitter reminded me of this song they sing together that has been a favorite for a year or so now. Actually, one of my [...]
When I graduated high school, I’d not read a single book. If I didn’t graduate last in my class, I was certainly close. In fact, one teacher protested I shouldn’t graduate at all, and it was only a coup from counselors that got me out of high school.
It wasn’t until I attended a rather academic camp in Colorado that I started reading. The camp aimed to prepare kids for college, and as such emphasized reading books, lots and lots [...]
Today I got to show Don around the ICU. I am feeling much better. Right now I’m the only dog being watched in intensive care. It turns out 90% of dogs who get salmon poisoning die within 14 days, and Don and the docs didn’t figure out the problem till day 13. I came pretty close. Yesterday Don held me in his arms and even said goodbye. We sat on the floor in a little room and I slobberd [...]
So I’ve been in the hospital lately. I didn’t feel well so I stopped eating. I had a temperature. After a few days, Don brought me into the hospital. The doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong for another two days, but then found out I got poisoning from a fish. I ate something when I was playing in the water and it made bacteria explode in my belly. I had an IV and a cone and the whole [...]
In movies, the bad guy has to display he is the bad guy through actions. It won’t do to have a subtitle come on the screen that says “this is the bad guy.” A cliche, yet effective methodology is to have the bad guy belittle somebody who is weaker, poorer of less fortunate. A bad guy will belittle a servant, a waiter, a spouse or child. The reason screenwriters write these scenes is because, eventually, the bad guy is going [...]
I’d rather be hated than loved with conditions. I think most people would agree. At least when people hate you, they are being intellectually honest. I mean you know where they stand. But we’ve all shared a political view or a struggle and had people take a half step back, or worse, reveal they no longer want the best for us. When this happens I get a hollow feeling and I associate that hollow feeling with the person and their [...]
I was contacted by Kirsten Powers Makarv this morning. Kirsten is writing an article for The Daily Beast about the recent decision by author Anne Rice to disassociate from Christianity. Mrs. Rice maintains her faith in Christ, and does so in an authentic and sincere manner, at least through tweets and blog entries. That said, like many, she grew more and more frustrated with “christianity” and has publicly said she wants no part of the religion. It wasn’t a [...]
I’m at the Echo Conference in Dallas, a conference for tech-minded communicators. It’s a unique conference and certainly something I’d attend if I wasn’t speaking. In fact, I’ve sat in on sessions. But that’s hardly the point. The point is, they put the speakers up in a hotel near by, a big high-rise thing and they gave each of us a suite. The suite comes with a kitchen, living room, and a conference table for taking over the world. [...]
