The Best Advice So Far- hear hear

hear! hear! (the story behind the audiobook)

I still remember the first time as a mentor that I had to turn someone away. Until then, no matter how many others I was committed to at the time — no matter how strongly I debated with myself that I couldn’t stretch any further — I found a way for “just one more.” But then there it was: the first…


The Best Advice So Far - umbrella

umbrella

Singin’ in the Rain just may be my favorite movie of all time. I watch the film at least once a year, and I reference lines or scenes from it often. It still gives me the same feeling it did the very first time I saw it. I laugh just as hard. My eyes still get wide at some of the dance numbers.…


The Best Advice So Far - i spy

i spy

My tank top clung to my skin with sweat. After temperatures that had topped 100° over the last several hours I’d been exploring, the air conditioning that wooshed out to greet me as I opened the metal and glass doors felt like an ice bath. I settled briefly onto a blue sofa, across from a young…


The Best Advice So Far - un-dumb frog

un-dumb frog

With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone. ~ Oscar Wilde As I start this post, there are just a few more hours left until my birthday. Birthdays for me are still a time of celebration. They are also a time of reflection: Where have I been? What have I done? Where am I going? This time…


The Best Advice So Far - what not to say

what not to say

I always seem to have some crazy story or other to tell, don’t I? I was asked a thoughtful question recently, as my birthday nears: “What would you like to see more of and less of in the year ahead. After The Zinc Fiasco of 2015/2016 and last month’s visit to Death’s door (aka, The Black Pill…


The Best Advice So Far - adventure

adventure

In May of this year, the dare-based television show Fear Factor was revived by MTV. I don’t think I ever watched a full episode of the show during its original run from 2001 to 2006, though catching snippets at a friend’s house or while at the gym was virtually unavoidable. I recall an episode…


The Best Advice So Far - superstition

superstition

It was Thursday, well past the witching hour. I was on my way to the gym, the silent back roads lit only by the cold white light of an occasional street lamp. As I approached an intersection, something darker than the surrounding night dashed out from the woods in front of my car, stopping just…


The Best Advice So Far - tripping

tripping

I was running behind for a meet-up with one of the kids I mentor. It’s become a tradition that I pick up iced coffees for us before we meet. “Two medium iced coffees: one cold brew, caramel swirl, black with three sugars; one decaf, coconut and raspberry, with skim milk and one Sweet’n’Low.” (Care…


The Best Advice So Far - creative love

creative love

Due to an unexpected turn of events this week (a stolen wallet, fraudulent charges to my bank card and all that goes along with getting your life back to normal afterward — a topic about which I may write in more detail at a later time), I'm still not quite over the finish line where the audiobook…


The Best Advice So Far - poison

poison

A few weeks back, I nearly died. I don’t mean this in any figurative sense. I. Nearly. Died. I didn’t write about it close to the event, because it felt a bit glib to do so at the time. But now that we’re a few weeks out, I’m more of the mindset that “all’s well that ends well.” What’s more, I…