You know those events where people always remember where they were? Like Kennedy’s assassination. The Challenger disaster. 9/11. Well, 40 years ago today was another big one: on August 9, 1974 Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign from office, finally bowing to pressure in the wake of the Watergate scandal. And yes, I remember where I was:
Read moreI have now been a resident of Bend, OR for seven days. Riverbend Park, which is adjacent to my office. 1: My apartment is nothing special. It’s okay – not terribly new, but in decent condition. It’s 150 sq. feet bigger than my last place, which is great, and has a huge ass closet. Which is good because the storage
Read moreThe yips plague athletes in many sports, and even musicians. Hopefully sports psychologists can find a cure. Golfers know all about “the yips.” If they’ve never experienced it themselves, they’ve probably played with someone who has. And they certainly know the stories of famous golfers whose careers were challenged, if not devastated by the phenomenon. This list includes Tommy Armour, who
Read moreIt’s been 15 years since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire. I don’t have anything new to say, but I thought that we ought to pause and reflect on that day and all that has transpired in its wake. Through the years I’ve written about Columbine several times, attempting to make sense of it, perhaps create a bit of
Read moreYou have to have a plan, but happiness depends on how well you roll with the punches. The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley – Robert Burns No plan, however well conceived, survives contact with the enemy. – Military Adage Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. – Mike Tyson
Read moreYou know how schools sometimes have assemblies where outside speakers or entertainers put on a show for an hour? Right. Well, when I was in first grade my school, Wallburg Elementary in sleepy little Wallburg, NC, had a musician come in. I don’t remember much about the show, except for this one thing. He said he was going to do
Read moreLullaby Pit, one of the world’s oldest Web sites, marks its 20th anniversary today. As of this moment, there are more than 930 million Web sites in the world, and we’re projected to hit a billion by the end of the year. 20 years ago today, though, there were roughly 2,000. 20 years ago today – that would have been
Read moreIt was March 31, 1994, and I was preparing to do something that very few people had ever done before. Stop by tomorrow and I’ll tell you about it.
Read moreDear Parents: if your son goes to college, joins a fraternity and screws up, you could lose your home. Do I have your attention yet? How many times in my adult life have I heard this? YOU were in a fraternity? Yes I was. Theta Chi, Gamma Omicron chapter, Wake Forest University. I know, I don’t fit the stereotype. Neither
Read moreWomen – and men – in online dating communities are acting like goddamned sociopaths. This needs to stop. Okay, not all of you. But some of you. Men, too – I’m guessing this isn’t just women. See if you recognize yourselves below. On multiple occasions I’ve been talking to women I met through OK Cupid. Things going great, we really
Read moreAmerican businesses are anti-intellectual. American universities are anti-relevance. The gods help the overeducated schmuck stuck in the middle. Hi. I’m Sam, and I’m a PhD. Hi Sam! For those of you who don’t know me, I have a doctorate. Communication, University of Colorado, 1999. Some days it’s the thing I have done in life that I’m most proud of. Other
Read moreThe brain updates memories to make them more relevant and useful. It isn’t trying to accurately remember what happened. So, what do you remember that’s wrong? Science has long known that human memory is far less reliable than most people imagine. For fun, Google [memory not reliable] and when you get a few spare minutes work your way through the
Read moreHave you ever wondered what it must be like being a dog?
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When my marriage fell apart in 2010 I quickly realized just how much of my social life was tied to my wife’s friends and family. I had friends of my own, of course, but most were married with families, or they lived way the hell out in the ‘burbs. Very few were of the “let’s go grab a quick beer”
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The United States spans six time zones. I have now lived in four of them (Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific), visited a fifth (Hawaiian-Aleutian) and flown over the sixth (Alaskan), so I feel comfortable addressing the question of which one is best with some authority. Eastern Time Zone I begin with a certain bias. Like most kids, I hated going
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