General stuff
Clearing the bleachers could be a glorious description of a home run ball landing in the San Francisco bay outside AT&T park. In one of my childhood little league games, it meant something completely different. It was an important playoff game in the 12 and under division. Our Farm Bureau Co-op team was up against…
My teenage son was NOT hungry. That should have been our first warning sign. He complained about an upset stomach and the usual remedies did not help. Within an hour he was doubled over in pain and we could not figure out why. My wife Carol asked him again, “Are you SURE you didn’t eat something strange…
The Walmart mechanic was standing there staring at my ’99 Accord with the hood up. He had just broken the cable connector that attaches to the battery terminal post. It really wasn’t his fault. This is my extra “train station” car and it sits outside in the cold a lot. The battery had an acid…
I get to know the most interesting people on my commuter train. All I have to ask is “Where ya headed?” and then listen. This morning I sat next to an older, rugged-looking dude named Brad. He was kind of thin, and had a long, greyish beard and receding hairline. He wore a forest green hooded sweatshirt…
Chapter 4 is underway and my stomach hurts. The Charles Atlas nine-exercise ab workout is surely just as tough as any Hip Hop Abs or P90X infommercial would boast. I also just experienced the first exercise that I cannot do – the equivalent of a gymnast doing an “L Sit” on an armchair. Not only am I…
“Look me in the eye and tell me you did not hit your brother!” Any parent knows that the eyes are the ultimate lie detector. They are the mirror to the soul, the barometer of emotion and the great revealer of attention deficit. Likewise, if you want to show someone your passion, confidence or sincerity,…
I wasn’t kidding… I am sticking with it! Two weeks down and ready to move on to Chapter 3. Each section gives new exercises to add to the daily routine, but not before being treated to nutritional and motivational advice. Overall the advice has been pretty solid – no white flour, watch the bad carbs, etc. …
Spoiler Alert: This blog will reveal plot elements of the movie. Then again, if you’ve seen Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas or Fern Gully, you’ve already seen some of the plot elements anyway. So what? If we banished movies based on borrowed plot elements, the theaters would be empty. Seeing James Cameron win a Golden Globe…
Five days into the Atlas program. It’s definitely NOT easy, and I’m doing my best to follow the instructions to the letter. I’m putting pep, punch, vigor, vim and snap into every movement. The toughest advice Atlas gives is not an exercise. He says you must get right up out of bed immediately when you…
Click to read the latest Short Story with a Point! I wrote a story about shortcuts in April 2009, and mentioned the Charles Atlas bodybuilding course as an example of a quick fix that did not work for me as a young boy. Little did I know, Charles Atlas is a highly searched keyword and…