We’re alive, because nothing happened.

Check out this great video from Hank Green (a YouTuber, science communicator, and entrepreneur, and brother of author John Green):

It’s a follow-up to his post on Greensky:

You can read more here.

We’re alive because nothing bad happened to us. And nothing bad happened because a lot of good things happened. Vaccines. Food safety laws. Automobile and road safety regulations. Not sexy. Not headline news. Just life-saving.

Preparation, prevention, regulations, and safeguards prevent catastrophes all the time, but we seldom think or hear about it because “world continues to function” is not interesting news. We have to rely on statistical analysis and the expert opinions of planners and officials in order to evaluate both crucial next steps and the effectiveness of preparatory measures after the fact, and that can be challenging for us to pay attention to. So we tend to forget that preparation & prevention is necessary and discount it the next time around.

— Jason Kottke

Life is a miracle. And science saves lives.

True tree love

Big tree fall hard.

The big tree in the field at the end of our street didn’t exactly fall – it was cut down.

We live on a dead-end street, with a walkway at the end leading to baseball fields, the Mt. Washington Pool, Rec Center and Elementary School. “Big tree” was a massive oak by the entrance to the pool.

I am world-famous for not seeing texts in a timely manner. It’s not the worst thing in the world to not be attached to my phone, so I’m good with it. But I really wish I’d see this text from my friend Phil earlier this month:

I had no idea the City of Cincinnati was cutting down Big Tree. If I’d known, I definitely would’ve walked down the street that evening to pay a final tribute to a fallen friend.

I’m glad Phil was able to give it a hug. It deserved millions, for the decades of shade and natural cooling it offered, for the tons of CO2 it removed from the air. For the natural beauty it showcased. For the inspiration it provided.

Big Tree lived a long and fulfilling life of service… to Mother Earth, and to all of us. As you can see from the void in the middle of the trunk in the photo below, it was time for Big Tree to say goodbye.

Now there’s a void. Not just in the field, but in our hearts.

(Dog’s butt added to show scale.)

Time to fill that void by planting another. We need more trees, not fewer.

[source: https://treepeople.org/22-benefits-of-trees/]

There’s an old saying “the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago. The second best time is today.” I’ll take Option B. For Big Tree.

Living free

I’ve been known to enjoy a beer or two from time to time.

Back in my college days, I was known to enjoy a beer or two… or six… or seven…

It was stupid. I’m gonna blame my lack of maturity, lack of self-control, and not-yet-fully-developed brain. But after college, I learned about the miracle of moderation. I even went alcohol-free for seven years, mainly to prove to myself that I could walk away from it.

One of my college pals, Tim, wound up at the other end of the spectrum. Alcohol took control.

Hi, I’m Tim. I have seen the destruction and pain alcohol can cause. My addiction destroyed my family, the most loved and treasured people to me on this earth. All were innocent victims, especially my children, who were trying to grow up and find their way in life. I could see this happening, and no matter how hard or what I tried (I tried every option in traditional recovery), I could not stop drinking. My family and friends were there for me, but the only options they and I knew were traditional recovery methods. I was miserable and hopeless.

Tim tried the 12 steps. It didn’t work for him. But he found a path that did. And now he’s helping others along their journey.

Tim and I talked about his business (more of a mission, really) quite a bit at the last monthly “hoppy hour” that we typically attend with a group of our college buddies. (More on that in this post from three years ago.)

Yes, Tim still goes to bars. Here’s his FB post about our recent gathering:

What Homer Simpson said about booze is funny.

But we all know someone who has struggled — or is struggling — with alcohol issues. That’s no fun at all. Please pass along Tim’s info: https://onwardafcoaching.com/.

It can’t hurt… and it could save a life.


I’m hosting this month’s “hoppy hour” with the old college crew (accent on the “old”). I’m also going alcohol-free the entire month of June. Because Tim has shown me that I won’t be missing out on anything.

Here, There, and Everywhere

This past week has been more like a “Wheeee!”

Last Saturday, I saw my friends Cereal Killers play a gig at the brewery down the hill from our house.

Tons of our friends were in the audience for that one.

On Memorial Day, I met up with my friend Ken at another brewery (if you’re sensing a pattern, you may be correct) for the countdown of the Inhailer Radio “Indie 500.” My friends Amy and David were there too. (David works at the same company where my son Peter works!)

Ken has a show on Inhailer, and several of their on-air folks were there.

(Ken does a great “sorority squat”…) They let me sneak into the photo because my friend Dave and I did some of the breaks during the countdown.

Dave and I both worked at 97X back in the day, and we met up with some other 97X alums at… yes, a brewery (the same one as Monday, in fact) on Thursday.

If you’re sensing a pattern, you may be correct.

Sandwiched in between those two outings, my friend Tom (a.k.a. “Freaky Tiki”) and I had dinner with our friend Felicity on Tuesday. Yes, it was at a brewery.

If you’re sensing a pattern, you may be correct.

Oh, and somehow I managed to squeeze in a quick road trip to Cleveland for a concert on Wednesday.

AC/DC was playing the stadium, but if you know me, you know I’m much more of a “bands at a small club” type of guy. Which is why I was at the Grog Shop to see The Tubs (my new obsession) open up for The Wedding Present.

Before the show, I met up with a bunch of college friends. At a bar.

If you’re sensing a pattern, you may be correct.

Last night I met my brother at Ramundo’s Pizzeria (where two of my sons were working) to watch Creighton (his alma mater) in NCAA baseball tournament.

If you’re sensing a pattern, you may be correct. If you’re thinking that the pattern is bars and breweries, you’re incorrect.

Those places are merely the setting.

The pattern is friendship. Band friends. Neighbor friends. Radio friends. College friends. Folks I’ve known for 40+ years, and people I’ve met in the last year or so. I feel blessed to know them, and lucky to call them friends.

I’m an old man who has no business going out nearly every night, much less driving back and forth to Cleveland in the middle of the week, but I draw energy from the connections.

And the Tuesday dinner was a sobering reminder of how fragile life can be. Felicity is the widow of my dear friend Ned. We lost him nearly two years ago. (I’ve posted about that here.)

It’s easy to stay glued to the couch and say “next time.” But there may not be one.

The older I get, the harder it is to get out to meet up with friends. Yet the older I get, the more I cherish the opportunities.

My friends are here, there, and everywhere. And that’s why I’ll be there too!

The truth in black and white

There’s an old adage “never let the facts get in the way of a good story.”

In the case of our current president, it’s more like “never let the facts get in the way of stirring up your base with some good old racism.”

T-rump met with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office last week, and proceeded to ambush (a.k.a. “Zelenskyy”) him. It’s sad when the leaders of other countries — our allies no less — are used as props to push false narratives, fodder for the crazy cannon that is Trump’s lips.

Trump rolled out a TV screen and dimmed the lights like it was a junior high health class, and proceeded to show a highly edited video.

Pointing to footage of a long line of crosses on both sides of a country road packed with cars, Trump said, “These are burial sites right here. Burial sites. Over a thousand of white farmers. And those cars are lined up to pay love on a Sunday morning. Each one of those white things you see is a cross. And there’s approximately a thousand of them. They’re all white farmers.”

From the BBC:

However, the crosses do not mark graves. The video is from a protest against the murder of white farming couple Glen and Vida Rafferty, who were ambushed and shot dead on their premises in 2020. The clip was shared on YouTube on 6 September, the day after the protests.

From South Africa’s top law enforcement official, Senzo Mchunu:

“They are not graves. They don’t represent graves,” Mchunu said regarding the video that has become prominent on social media since it was shown in the White House. “And it was unfortunate that those facts got twisted to fit a false narrative about crime in South Africa.”

From Snopes.com:

Per a report from the Institute of Race Relations, an anti-apartheid think tank in South Africa, the protest saw both Black and white participants mourning the deaths. One protester told the IRR: “We are supporting each other. There should be no killing anymore. White or black, we are all one.”

Trump also showed “news” clipping printouts that promoted his claims of a white genocide.

During the press conference, Trump held a stack of printed news articles that he said showed “death of people. Death, death, death, horrible death, death.” 

“Pick any one of them,” Trump said. “White South Africans are fleeing because of the violence and racist laws. And this is all, I mean, I’ll give these to you.”

“A lot of people are very concerned with regard to South Africa… we have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they are coming to the US, so we take from many locations if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on.”

That image Trump is holding up in the photo above? It isn’t from South Africa.

From the BBC:

But the image isn’t from South Africa – it’s actually from a report about women being killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From the AP:

There were 12 murders on farms last year, The Associated Press reported, citing police statistics. One of the victims was a farmer, and the rest were farmworkers, none of whom were identified by race, according to the AP. White farmers own roughly three-quarters of South Africa’s privately owned land, according to government data.

Trump’s claims are demonstrably false. In other words, they’re lies. From the president of our country.

We can do all the fact-checking in the world. But the videotape makes the rounds on social media, and the base gets stirred up even more, taking the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.”

And never expect the truth from a born liar.

Monday Fun-day

I sincerely think that humor will help save humanity from the swamp into which it is sinking. Today we can’t afford to be pessimistic, so let’s try to keep a sense of humor bolted on to our hearts, soul, and spirit!

Jean-Jacques Perrey
(1929-2016)

I’m here for it, Jean-Jacques!

It’s super-easy to be pessimistic these days. But don’t let the swamp thing get you!

Fight back, with a smile or a joke. Even a lame Dad Joke will suffice.

Monday isn’t usually a fun day. Back to the daily grind. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I can’t tell you how many mindless meetings I’ve endured in my work life. I can tell you that in most of them, I’ve tried to add a bit of levity to the mix. Because life’s too short. And it’s a bit wacky too, when you stop and think about it.

And the best thing you’ve ever done for me

Is to help me take my life less seriously

Its only life after all

“Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls

Here’s your humor helper for today. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Then it’s up to you to share that smile.

See the silly. Be the silly.