The skinny on food

by | Jan 12, 2026 | News, Writing | 0 comments

Nearly half of all Americans make a New Year’s resolution, and a lot of those people will have a goal involving eating better/healthier.

If you fall into that bucket — even if you’ve already broken your resolution — you might want to spend an hour reading Michael Pollan’s Food Rules.

It expounds on Pollan’s seven-word diet guidance from his book In Defense of Food:

Food Rules is a slender book (no pun intended), and a quick read, with 64 common sense rules for eating. Here’s the description from Pollan’s website:

One of my favorites is Rule #19:

Of course, all the rules are easier said (and read) than done. But they certainly provide a lot of good food for thought (pun premeditated).

Happy eating!

My ugly thumb is beautiful

by | Jan 10, 2026 | Deep Thoughts | 0 comments

Take a gander at my big, fat, ugly thumb:

It’s hideous, ain’t it?

I didn’t hurt it while working on a home improvement project. I come up woefully short on Red Green’s favorite saying:

I slammed my thumb in a car door.

Anticipating your follow-up question, let the record show that I was stone-cold sober.

I slammed it in the door of a Honda CR-V. But it wasn’t one of the three that we own.

I was coming back from the graveside service for my dear friend LJ. And I was riding shotgun with Felicity, the widow of my friend Ned. When we got back to the church, I was both distracted and distraught. And I slammed the passenger door onto my left thumb. Making an awful day even worse.

If you look closely at the photo above (masochist!), you’ll see a drill hole at the top of my nail. You’re supposed to use a small drill bit and hand-drill it into the nail to relieve the pressure ASAP. I waited too long to try that home remedy. It helped a bit, but not much.

It’s been more than a month. The thumb feels much better now, but still looks uglier than sin.

Yet every time I look at my ugly thumb, I’m reminded of my friendship with LJ. Which is beautiful. I’m reminded of all the misery he went through during his cancer treatments. Yet he never complained. The thumb is daily reminder that pain is part of life. And that when you’re down, friends can lift you up.

I know the thumb will get better. I also know that even after it has fully healed, there’ll still be a hole in my heart.

I’m not a goth, but honestly, I may paint that nail with black nail polish after it gets better. To keep the reminder handy. And to keep LJ in my heart.

Happy New Year! (Happy sold separately)

by | Jan 6, 2026 | Deep Thoughts | 0 comments

Turning the page on a calendar really doesn’t do much.

Here’s a gentle reminder that the “happy” part of “Happy New Year!” is really up to us.

Here’s to a year of small wonders and everyday miracles!

Take this stuff and stuff it!

by | Dec 24, 2025 | Deep Thoughts | 0 comments

A gentle reminder on the cusp of the day when we get more stuff:

Stuff may make you happy, but it’s fleeting.

Being happy with what you have, and who you are… those are the real “durable goods.”

A heart full of Heartless

by | Dec 23, 2025 | Cincinnati, Music | 0 comments

It turns out that Erika Wennerstrom (lead singer/main songwriter/leader of the band Heartless Bastards) is even cooler than I thought she was. (And I thought she was pretty cool before this past weekend.)

Her solo show at The Columbia (the one that came to be thanks to some random connections – as blogged about in these pages last week) was even more amazing than I thought it would be.

Erika’s otherworldly voice in an old church = pure magic!

My friend Laura owns the church that served as the venue. Her husband Eric (my friend and co-worker) recently had surgery, so Laura asked her friend Keith and me to be on-site early to help with getting set up for the show. We helped Erika unload her merchandise, install batteries in the fake candles, and generally served as grips and go-fers. When the doors opened, I was the ticket-taker (really just checking names off the list). Showbiz ain’t always glamorous. But the show was stellar.

Better yet, Erika was super-nice. So was Steve, the local musician who served as her sound guy. And Erica (with a “c”) who worked the merch booth. That starts with Erika – she picked Steve to run sound because she’s known him forever, and knows that he’ll get the sound right without causing any drama. And Erica was Steve’s friend. Surrounding yourself with good people and treating folks kindly makes a big difference in the experience. You can be a rock star without acting like one.

But the biggest karma award goes to Laura. The venue where Erika played her holiday shows in years past was asking for a pretty hefty percentage of the ticket sales this year. Whereas Laura donated her space for the show. Which meant more ticket sales overall, and more money going to the artist. No everyone would be in a position to donate use of an old church as a venue… but not everyone who owned an old church would let someone play there without worrying about their “cut” of the sales.

120 people were at the show – nearly all of them had never been there before, and many raved about the space. Laura’s “investment” in helping out an artist will pay dividends down the line, as the word spreads about The Columbia as a cool venue. Whatever she could’ve made in rental fees on Friday night, she’ll make tenfold over the next year.

Be helpful. Be kind. Don’t be heartless. Music to my ears!