AARDVARK PORCUPINEThe writing skills of Americans are on the wane. But judging by the verbal skills of current public figures, the decline is not limited to the written word. Reading great authors informs your writing, which strengthens your speaking. But there are also techniques that...
Author and illustrator David Macaulay published The Way Things Work in 1998. It was a book about everyday machines and the scientific principles behind how they operate. How did Macaulay manage to sell over two million copies? To explain levers, he drew a mammoth on...
Highly decorated Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn’s career was over in 2019… Or was it? Vonn missed competing, so after a partial knee replacement, she trained like mad and is now back on the World Cup circuit, recently placing 4th. And she is 40. Mikaela Shiffrin, recognized...
Hank Azaria, an actor known for many Simpsons’ character voices, wrote a piece in the NY Times about his creative process. Azaria also touched upon what makes a quality TV show. His statement directly relates to how you can make your own “show” better.Azaria said...
Anthony Robles will surprise you. Born without a right leg, he decided to compete in NCAA wrestling. Wrestling is an extreme sport, even with four limbs. Watch the film Unstoppable to see Robles’ skills and drive in a league of his own. Like Robles, many of...
We took an adventure day and drove to the Los Alamos National Laboratory where the atomic bomb was developed. After viewing the film Oppenheimer, we wanted to learn more.The Historical Museum featured the human story of the lab-- how General Groves and Lab Director Oppenheimer...
A few weeks ago, we wrote about Max, the wonder kid who at 8 yrs old was lecturing on bioluminescent dinoflagellates. Sadly, Max is an anomaly. The U.S. ranks 36th in literacy and even more alarming is that 54% of our population reads below a...
At the recent Golden Globe Awards, an actress who has been in show business for 50 years won Best Actress for her role in The Substance. Her acceptance speech was widely touted as the highlight of the evening. Demi Moore (*) began with a story about...
It’s time to focus on what will ensure a successful year. Jeff Haden wrote an article in INC.com about Steve Jobs of Apple. Jobs was fiercely competitive, entrepreneurial, and brilliant. Asking for help was almost impossible because it made him feel vulnerable. Yet when he...
We recently watched a television special about the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. We had the pleasure of visiting the cathedral years ago, so we were mesmerized watching each phase as this world-class monument was brought back to life. In the special, one of...