Junk, bonds

I was standing there with three grown men arguing over who had the most useless junk in his garage.  “I can’t even walk through mine.”  “I can’t even open the door without junk falling out!” “I have to hire someone to move out some of the junk so I can see what junk I have!”  I proudly proclaimed…

Details

Dead air dynamics

For a DJ, the worst possible disaster is dead air, the agonizing moments of silence when you should be filling the airtime with words or music and there is just nothing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a technical glitch or human error, you can almost feel the impatient audience “tuning out” with each second that goes by. They’re…

Details

That’s a stretch

(Click photo for full size) This is Patterson Pass, a winding road that connects Tracy with Livermore, California.  It snakes through windmill farms and dry pasture, often narrowing to just one lane, and the view from the peak is incredible.  It’s kind of like those desolate roads you see in halftime commercials, where the luxury…

Details

Hey thanks

So many people are spreading thanks around this time of year.  I see digital shouting in facebook, broadcasting thankfulness to family and friends.  I can also sense silent reflection on what we have… not what we don’t have. It creates a collective epidemic of joy that is having an infectious effect on me. However, with…

Details

Fight or flight?

We all learn to deal with stress in different ways.  I learned by watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Remember when Marlin Perkins sent Jim Fowler into the jaws of danger while he provided color commentary from the safety of an armored jeep?   “It looks like Jim has successfully gained the crocodile’s attention, and he…

Details

True colors

“I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors, and that’s why I love you.”  Why does this Cyndi Lauper song stop me in my tracks every time I hear it?  It makes me visualize an old painting, like the ones you see on the antique roadshow.  “My Great Uncle Henry had…

Details

What was your name again?

One of my friends asked for the secret to remembering people’s names at a party.  I won’t reveal her age, but she’s old enough to be a little short-term memory-challenged (like me.)  I actually learned a great technique for remembering names early in my career. 1)  Prepare to hear the name (I mean really get…

Details