The Day After Independence Day

July 5th is the day after Independence Day in the US. It’s three days after Canada Day. This year it’s a Friday. July 5th is the 187th day of the year, except next year it will be the 186th day. July 5th is the day before July 6th. It’s the last weekday of the 27th […]

You Can’t Hack Your Way to Great

Sivanandan is nine years old. She took up chess during lockdown, which made her, what, six when she started? She is one of five players chosen for England’s women’s team to play in the Chess Olympiad in September. Maybe she’ll be ten! The next youngest player is an ancient 23. You and I aren’t Sivanandan. […]

A (True) Story of Two Gifts Involving Babe Ruth

My grandfather was an accountant in New York City. One of his clients owned a property called The Dreier Hotel. One of the people who worked for the hotel was a man named Shaeffer, a long-time pal of Babe Ruth. Because of Shaeffer, my father met Babe Ruth and received a picture signed, “To My […]

All The Best Words

German is a pretty rich language.  Depending on how and what you count, there are about 500,000 words . . . though others place it at 1 million or even 5 million. Like I said, it depends on the counting. English is less complex but still hefty. Call it 600,000 words with room to the […]

You Don’t Need to do It Yourself

You can’t do it alone, and more to the point, you don’t need to. Find and recruit three kinds of people to Team You. Angels believe in you and want to help just because it’s you. Their energy and encouragement are priceless. Pioneers are people willing to go first. They’ll give you a shot, even […]