Ripples bounce back

You’ve all heard the analogy… even a tiny pebble thrown into the ocean creates ripples that eventually become waves. The point is that when you do a seemingly small thing for another person, it can have a much larger impact than you ever thought possible. Now imagine the “water” is in a confined space. I…

Inspiration is contagious

Nothing makes me prouder than to see inspiration passed on to the next generation.  The letter below was written by my son Evan.  He was inspired by my marathon fundraising run last year, and is now inspiring his fellow students to join the fight against cancer. (I hope the dance group posts a video on…

Royal pain

I’m trying to figure out why the upcoming royal wedding between William and Kate is bothering me.  I respect cultural traditions and don’t mind them being kept alive. And I love that the British royal family does a lot of work for charity.  It’s just the concept of being “royal” in the first place that…

Up in the air

I was at Big Bear ski resort when I learned the proper way to get on a chair lift for three. Line up at the first red line; wait for the chair to swing around in front; and then do the quick shuffle walk up to the second red line. The next chair will gently…

Born this way

Sorry Gaga fans, this post is NOT about Lady Gaga’s current song, but it IS about music.  Last night I saw my friend Greg Hill rock the house with his band Dammaj at the Avalon in Santa Clara.  It was an old school heavy metal reunion show, with driving drums, thrashing guitars from the Gilbert…

Butler’s great expectations

Disappointment is relative.  In my experience, it usually comes from not meeting expectations… but what or who actually determines those expectations?  Opinions from so-called experts and the general public can be arbitrary and out of your control.  Expectations you set for yourself are more controllable.  Or are they? In 2010 the Butler basketball team wowed…

The elastic limit

Our high school science teacher passed out rubber bands to the class and asked us to slowly stretch them between our fingers.  A little more.  A little more.  Each of us stopped when we knew it was about to snap.  He was illustrating the concept of the elastic limit, that point where an elastic substance…