For the longest time, I have found that my poor posture has made it so that walking or standing around for any length of time makes my back hurt and fatigues me to the point of wanting to sit down and thereby greatly reduce my step accumulation that we all so carefully monitor these days. Do I have a bad back…not really. I have no vertebrae or disc issues per se that I know of.…
We just spent three days in the Gold Country of Northern California. We’ve passed through the area several times, but this time we spent a leisurely few days going through most of the local towns up and down Rt.49 (Get its? 49 as in the 49ers…). We stayed in Jackson at the National Hotel, which is a period boutique hotel with all the Nineteenth Century Victorian charm you expect in this part of the world.…
A week ago, as part of my process of capturing title ideas on which to write stories, I heard someone reference the best days of their lives and I wrote it down as a title for a story, not really thinking at the time, exactly what it was that I would be writing about. That is just one of the many quirky things about the way I write and how I manage to do what…
At what point is dialogue more harmful than helpful? Dialogue is fundamental to healthy political discourse, though it faces significant challenges in practice. Here’s why it matters and what makes it difficult. Political dialogue serves as the primary mechanism for peaceful conflict resolution in democratic societies. When people with different viewpoints can engage constructively, they can find common ground, develop nuanced solutions, and maintain social cohesion despite disagreements. Dialogue also helps prevent the kind of…
Today, Kim and I are flying north to join our friend Frank for a birthday celebration by going with him into the California Gold country for a few days. This feels like an appropriate way to celebrate his 88th birthday because, as a Marshall Scholar, Frank is not only a font of knowledge about California history but also one of the most brilliant global macro economists I know. Given the importance of gold to both…
I’m listening to a podcast, something I almost never do, because my good friend Melissa (the one who is a therapist in Utah and partner to my good friend Deb), sent it to me and told me I needed to listen to Scott Galloway and his Prof G Markets podcast with Ed Elson. I didn’t know Ed Elson. He is a writer, analyst, and co-host of the Prof G Markets. Ed worked as a research…
I just saw the New York Times mornng news summary and one phrase caught my eye. It said that based on extensive discussions with Americans, they were mostly saddened, but not surprised about the Charlie Kirk assassination. On Wednesday evening, our two nephews were over for dinner. Nephew Will, who is suffering from a serious neck injury, said that while the shooting was deplorable, he was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner given the rhetoric of…
We all remember the Access Hollywood bus tape, which was a major political scandal that broke in October 2016, just weeks before the presidential election. In 2005, Trump was riding on an Access Hollywood bus with host Billy Bush, heading to tape a segment for the show. They were wearing microphones and having what they thought was a private conversation, but it was being recorded. Trump made crude comments about women, including boasting about being…
Colds and flu are both respiratory illnesses caused by viruses, but they differ significantly in severity, symptoms, and timeline. Cold symptoms include a gradual onset over 1-2 days, a runny or stuffy nose (main symptom), sneezing and mild cough, a sore throat, little to no fever, and mild fatigue. By contrast, Flu symptoms are a sudden onset (you can feel fine in the morning and terrible by evening), a high fever (100-104°F) with chills, severe…
Anger is a basic human emotion characterized by feelings of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism toward someone or something perceived as threatening, frustrating, or unjust. It’s one of the fundamental emotions that all humans experience, alongside joy, sadness, fear, surprise, and disgust. Physiologically, anger triggers the body’s “fight or flight” response, releasing stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Heart rate and blood pressure increase, muscles tense, and breathing becomes more rapid. People may experience a rush…