Recently, a friend sent me a book to read, and asked that I pass it along to someone else after reading.
The more I thought about it, the more profound the request seemed.
Read More
Reflecting back on the essays posted this year, I can’t help but notice that each piece plays its own unique note, yet contributes to a harmonious whole—a collective symphony of insights that transcends the sum of its parts.
Dive back in or catch up on what you’ve missed, and see if any of these strike a chord…
I’ve often pondered my affinity for a diverse array of interests, whether it be food, culture, art, music, or people. It’s as if I resist committing to a single passion and fully immersing myself in it, owning it and becoming known for it. Instead, I’ve been what might be kindly stated as a "jack of all trades, master of none". Or perhaps to some, an outsider lacking pedigree, or even purity of blood and thought.
Yet, I have managed to be neither this nor that. And at the same time, on a good day, both.
The intriguing nature about truths is their tendency to resurface.
Frida Kallo once said something about sorrow, which could also be applied to truth.
“I tried to drown my sorrows, but they learned how to swim.”
Truths also tend to learn how to swim.
Read More
Imagine a mundane, post-war America obsessed with conformity. In this world of mean definitions of perfection, everyone secretly felt their own families were peculiar, if not downright eerie.
Enter Charles Addams, a middle class guy, toiling away in a nameless drab office from an unremarkable little town in New Jersey. Little did he know, within the confines of his mind, he was dreaming up a masterpiece of madness, campiness and dark humor.
If you’ve been around here awhile, you might be under the impression that I am an expert at something, but without a clue as to what that might be. That's okay. I have similar suspicions of my expertise.
Read More
If you’re reading this, you already know I have a little problem keeping my big mouth shut.
Read More
This is about Shark Tank- the TV show. Lots of people equate starting and investing in businesses to Shark Tank. It's the gold standard. The north star. The bee's knees. Any other superlatives you can think of.
Read More
I'm not talking about reduced fruit preserves here. I’m talking about how we define who we are and what we are into—what makes us feel alive. It’s our jam. And oh, how we love to protect it.
Read MoreThere’s a reason "if it bleeds it leads" works. Coined in the 1890s by William Randolph Hearst during a period when yellow journalism (a reporting style that stooped to new lows) was at an all-time high, the phrase meant sensational, violent stories got prioritized in the evening news.
And it holds true today.
Read More
Oops...I may have just lost half of my readers. Who am I referring to? Everyone wrapped up in “hustle culture,” of course.
Read MoreMany opportunities and visions we decide to pursue are less about the decision itself, and more about changing the narrative surrounding how we view that decision.
Read MoreThis is the time of year when we think a lot about time: its passage, how much we have left, what have we done with it, how much we let get away, and what comes next.
Read MoreThe first leg of what would become a life of many wonderful journeys, both mentally and physically, started here. Right where you are now: The University of Texas at Austin.
Read MoreLast week, I was on a business trip visiting one of my old haunts—the Marylebone district of London. It was a place that became the center of my business operations for a while. It’s also where I learned that there’s an art to failing.
Read More
This summer, I discovered that I have way too much stuff. I first found this out after we sold our house; seventeen years of accumulated junk—er…stuff—gone.
Read More
Some say we are living in the “post-truth” world—an age in which people are making things up right and left. Allow me, dear readers to be brazen; I am tired of all of the nonsense being labeled as “real.”
Read More
Don't we all have “singing frogs” in our lives? Not literally, of course. What I mean are…great things that seem so clearly incredible to us, but are invisible to everyone else.
Read More
What’s it like to be a refugee? What exactly is a refugee? What are the struggles associated with immigrating to the United States, and what does it take to help the people who do so to thrive?
Read More