Browsing all posts in Whatever.

Pets and Recovery

Research has shown that animals help people who are stressed or are healing after surgery. Humans have a unique bond with animals – dogs, cats, and in my case, parrots. I know when I’m having a rough day, a little time with my pets makes me feel better. In early recovery in particular a strong [...]

Appreciating the Rain

We all know it never rains in Southern California, but when it rains… I grew up in Florida where it rained. A lot. But the sun almost always came out at some point, sometimes during the actual rainstorm. I remember as a kid that they used to give out the St Pete Times for free [...]

Why I Love Halloween

Some of my friends think my almost giddy excitement about halloween is amusing- not like I’m a kid anymore!  I was at Universal’s Horro r Nights on opening night with front of the line passes so none of us would have to wait to be terrified.  I’ve always been a fan of well-done scary movies [...]

Personalities, Principles, and Progress

I’m a strong believer in principles over personalities – in ALL aspects of life. Why? Because the fastest way to make an organization, company, family, or other group deteriorate is to put personalities over principles. This is really a pretty profound concept, one that is often ignored or completely misunderstood.  However, anyone who has ever [...]

I’m the Humblest Person I Know

I’m being ironic of course.  I just wanted a provocative lead in to talk about pride, particularly self-righteous pride.  Oh la la in my drinking days self-righteous pride got me into a heap of trouble. I could justify just about anything: his fault, her fault, my job’s fault.  I’m ok. You’re not okay.