“This isn’t the way it was supposed to be.” That’s all Adam Burlingham could say when the City of London police, acting on a directive from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, came in and shut down his brokerage firm. “Be careful, you oafs,” he shouted as two men grabbed the antique stock ticker, the one…

I am teaching an online class for Story Circle Network right now called, “Crafting Flash Writing.” One of the key components of the class is to encourage my students to outrun their inner critic by writing as fast as they can. I tell them to set a timer and let those fingers fly. No need…

One of my students, Jennifer Nham, has an interview with Stanford tomorrow. She is a young Vietnamese-American girl who is applying as a chemical engineering major. She is smart and charming, but just a little shy so, hopefully, she can overcome her natural tendency to be quiet and push herself to let the interviewer get…

I have been reading about the foods that people in the “Blue Zones” of the world eat. Blue Zones are places where there are an inordinate number of folks who live to be inordinately old. Beans, beans, and more beans are part of the diet of these old folks in all of the zones and…

I have read recently that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been removed from the list of required reading for high school students in many districts around the country. The use of the n-word and accusations of racism appear to be the main reasons, along with material that made students “uncomfortable.” Below is a piece…

Today, baby Ethan is 7 weeks and 2 days old. He weighs a little over ten pounds and has bright blue eyes. He is alert, very attached to his mommy and daddy, and likes to give his Grandma Len kisses on the cheek. Well, he isn’t really kissing. He is actually bobbing open-mouthed on my…

Today, Ray gave me three books that he ordered for my birthday. They are The Blue Zone Challenge: A 4-Week Plan for a Longer, Better Life, The Blue Zone American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100, and The Blue Zone Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100 all by Dan Buettner. I must say…

I am sitting in front of the fireplace here in Los Angeles, enjoying the fire. The grandfather clock is ticking rhythmically, cars are racing up and down the street outside, and whatever Ray is watching on television upstairs periodically features someone singing snippets of a song. (I think I heard a verse of Leonard Cohen’s…