Last week a former client gave me a beautiful gift. To most anyone’s eyes it probably looks like a simple basket, but she knew better. After spending arduous days cleaning out her mother-in-law’s house, she kept returning to a pile of baskets. Well-worn and used with a patina earned over time, carrying household objects, fruit, … More A-Tisket, A-Tasket
The other day Miss O, my nine-year-old daughter, wanted to compose an essay called BME: The Best Mom Ever. She was having an appreciative moment after all the work that went in to throwing her a birthday party for her friends. So, she asked me to create a new Microsoft Word document for her composition. … More AI Isn’t Going to Bleed on the Paper
Michelle Oram inspires me to tidy up, but not in the condemning, “hustle up and get ‘er done” kind of way. Michelle’s approach, told in her fabulous blog series, “Clutter Tales” is sensible, do-able and thoughtful. And no less effective. In this week’s podcast, Michelle shares her strategy for attacking clutter by category in a … More Episode 81: “Clutter Tales” with Michelle Oram
When I was a kid, I was scared of the dark. I worried especially about the ghosts underneath my bed and things that went bump in the night. I was pretty clueless about what these mythical creatures might do or how they would harm me, but it didn’t stop me from coming up with horrible … More Things that go bump in the night
We’ve been having fun making YouTube clips from our fabulous podcast guests. So, we’re republishing some of our most watched videos. Here’s a hilarious snippet from publisher, author and former radio producer, Rick Kaempfer. He tells a couple great stories about how they scored celebrity interviews with Aerosmith and Dennis Hopper at famous Chicago radio … More Two Again Tuesday
I am not a camper. Never have been and I think I can blame my stint in 4-H and Girl Scouts. I loved ‘sleep away’ camp so long as the accommodations came in the form of cabins instead of tents (even musty, dusty creaky cabins were better). Before you ask, yes, I managed to tolerate … More Episode 80: Mastering Manifestation with Mark Petruska
I love being a member of the Chicago Writers Association. Blog posts from author B.A.Durham from “Chicago Writes” pop into my inbox providing inspiration. Last month I shared some thoughts about one of his recent posts – one that helped me navigate a plateau in my latest writing project. You can check it out here. Staying … More Writing – Unencumbered!
This past weekend we were packing up to leave the vacation place we stayed at for two weeks. My nine-year-old daughter, Miss O, was helping my friend, Eric, put the rubber raft away. He’d purchased the raft for this trip so he had the original box. After deflating it, they rolled it up and then … More Doing the Impossible
Wynne and I were thrilled this week to sit down with one of our favorite guests, the talented Pete Springer. Without a doubt, Pete’s earned the title of “storyteller supreme” as he regales us with tales from his life as a teacher, a volunteer, a student of human behavior. In this episode, Pete gets us … More Episode 79: Sometimes You Have to Laugh with Author Pete Springer
I lifted the axe high in the air and took a swing at the log. I swung again and again. With each new chunk of wood that went flying, I could feel the anger seep out of my pores. I would be a college sophomore in the fall and was working the summer, helping a … More Learning to dream
The Heart of the Matter 