It’s Gonna be one of those posts…..
As many of you know, I’ve been involved in local politics seriously since 2014. I became a local democratic zone leader in 2022. It’s been a big job, but it’s largely akin to running the PTO, but with more far-ranging consequences. You’ve got planning for events, wrangling volunteers, and keeping…
Guide to Gift Giving
It’s close to Christmas, and as we finish up our shopping, it’s worth reflecting on the purpose of gifts in the first place. I read an article this am about how millenial parents are frustrated that their Boomer parents are showering their kids with useless stuff that just ends up…
FFS
We’re living in interesting times. The lead candidate for the republican nomination for presidency just wants everyone to give up and anoint him their candidate now, despite finally starting to face the consequences of years of fraud and treating the legal system as a cudgel to use against anyone he…
AI is Going to Change Everything
Working in digital marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what it can and should be used for is all the rage right now. If you want to understand AI better, the best source is really Chris Penn– who has an excellent set of videos and regularly explains what’s happening in AI…
Podcamp 2023
A small group of us, die hards from Podcamp Philly and Podcamp East, came together this past weekend for Podcamp 2023 in Philadelphia. There were amazing sessions talking about how AI and Chat GPT will pose challenges to those of us who are involved in digital marketing, or looking to…
Glad to Leave Office? I get it.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is getting into trouble because he spoke his truth, saying he’s looking forward to a time when he’s not mayor. As someone who was a Township Supervisor for 6 years, I understand this sentiment perhaps as much as anyone. Being a local elected official may look…
Almost 80 Best Movies of the 80’s
Rolling Stone just put out a post of the 100 best movies of the 1980’s- and there are a lot of obscure movies that as a teenager/college student during the 80’s I never heard of. As a child of divorced parents, I spent a ridiculous amount of time at the…
Losing but not Lost
I lost my bid for re-election as a Township Supervisor. Elections are like the world’s longest job interview. I knocked 946 doors, speaking with friends and neighbors; sending mail out to people about what I stood for, and what I believed. I chose not to attack my opponent, even though…
Running for Office
I am a local Township Supervisor in Pennsylvania, running for re-election this year. Supervisor is a part-time position, and comes with a statutory stipend of $2,500.00 a year. that equates to about $5.20 or less an hour of meeting time, and other work we put in to help guide the…
Dementia
My mother-in-law has dementia. She had been pretty good at hiding her slow cognitive decline for a long time, but gradually, not even those of us who would have preferred to be in denial could avoid the truth. We needed to move Nancy out of her home and into a…
Stumbling on Happiness- Start With Your Brain
I'm reading Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert (well, listening to it- I love Audible.com - great for commutes and car rides not taken up by podcasts). It sounds like another pop psych book, but it's really about one of my favorite topics- How the brain works....
The Biography Meme
My friend, Chris Brogan, has started a biography meme, so I thought I'd give it a try so you can learn a bit more about me. The Thing Most People Know me for is: Well, here's a tricky thing. Online, People know me as the producer of the LD Podcast, a podcast about...
More Thoughts on The Dip- Doing More Than You Think is Possible and Souvenirs
More and more of what Seth Godin said yesterday at his presentation on The Dip keeps surfacing. He asked everyone to raise their right hands in the air as high as they could. then he asked us to raise them one inch farther- and guess what- we could. A clear metaphor...
Seth Godin- The Dip
Seth Godin came to Philly and gave a great presentation on his new book, The Dip: A little Book That Teaches you When to Quit (And When to Stick). It was an amazing presentation. The PowerPoint slides were simply pictures that illustrated his points, in that "a...
Thinking Outside The Box
Thinking outside the box is a maxim that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean? Some people might say it means breaking rules. I think it means innovation and synergy. It means taking what might appear to be disparate concepts, tossing them together,...
A Year Ago…
I'm coming up on the 1st anniversary of my podcast. This, coupled with a recent blog post from a friend, referring to a post of his from almost a year ago, gave me pause. What has happened to me in this past year, since becoming involved in new media? -I have a...
Rules of the Red Rubber Ball and The Not So Big Life
I went to my favorite bookstore yesterday (Chester County Books) and found two remarkable books: Rules of the Red Rubber Ball and The Not So Big Life. (Link to Amazon here) Red Rubber Ball is a small book that would be easy to overlook on a shelf; the not so big life...
Being Your Own Boss
Many people dream of being their own boss. They have romantic notions about having control and being able to do what they want, when they want. It seems like a wonderful life, being an entrepreneur. Look at Donald Trump. Look at Charles Schwab, or Richard Branson. Why...
Games People Play
I have always loved watching people. For many years, I was totally mystified by why people did the things they did, and how I got myself into some rather uncomfortable situations, seemingly by accident. After reading "Games People Play- a Handbook of Transactional...
How Do We Measure Success? Or Failure?
Sometimes success is easy to measure. Who won the Super Bowl? Clear winner. Who won the Boston Marathon? Again, the fastest runner is declared the winner. Winning and losing seems to be easy to measure, at least on the surface. Competitive sports tend to have clear...
