blog

  I apparently talked a lot when I was young. And sang a lot—long, nonsensical riffs my siblings still tease me about. A babysitter once offered me a gift...

  I was six when I saw Mary Poppins for the first time. It was new, in the theater. I fidgeted on the flippy-up seat, peering through my wild...

  I might buy something from them–that’s what. And I just did. A new car, to be specific.   Short backstory: my teenaged son Gabe and I were rear-ended...

  How many Facebook friends do you have? How many LinkedIn connections? Twitter followers? Business cards?   Now let me ask you this. Out of all those connections, how...

  There’s something about a crisis that brings clarity like nothing else can.   In April 2012, my dad had a massive heart attack. It was the kind of...

I probably don’t need to tell you that PowerPoint can be deadly. It can kill the chemistry between you and your audience. It can kill an otherwise good talk....

  If you’re like me, and teenaged “musical appreciation” meant blissing out to ear-splitting rock ‘n’ roll while sitting between the largest possible speakers, you need to see It...

  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Howards End, that great E. M. Forster novel from the early 20th century. If you haven’t read it, you might remember...

  It’s Tuesday—aka a workday. I just got back from an hour-long walk through my happy neighborhood, Boise’s charming and slightly funky North End. I spent the next hour...

  I’ve been home a week from the International TED Summit, and I’m only starting to recover. Add a 15-hour drive to each end of a several-day intellectual tsunami...