#4 The cashier becomes your social life. I remember when the pandemic first started, some of the happy people were employees told to leave the office and work from home. First the first time, many tasted the work-from-home life. They ordered delivery, grew their hair long and maybe added a little cake. It was part of staying safe. It’s been a […]
The Life of a Writer Finding Himself The darkness of the pandemic caused me to light a spark within. I needed to write again. I remember pacing for a long time with a blank page on my screen, wondering what to write. There were so many things to say. So, I wrote a long piece about how my journalism career was […]
… So Good People Will Think You Paid For Them Nothing ruins a good story more than choosing an unoriginal image. I’ve seen the best writers on this platform point that out. Some successful writers even suggest paying for images, it’s that important. But it’s not really necessary if you know a couple tricks. First off, photo sites like to show […]
Yet It Was One of My Best Messages Ever Writing a column to fill space in the high school newspaper seemed simple enough, until I added a secret message that spread like wildfire through the student body. It all started when the editor asked me to write about senior life as we prepared to graduate. Nothing big, right? But for years, […]
Hint: They’re Roles, Not People Guys, if you ever want to repel someone, put on your best (worst) “nice guy” act. First, greet them in a loud voice, “Hey, why are you here?” Then, act like the know-it-all who can “man-splain” anything with scantly a trace of vulnerability (imperfection). The results are pretty rapid, repelling humans in seconds. Other the other […]
What the Queen of Sad Pop is Teaching Us Her last album not only debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, it became the fastest selling vinyl record of this century. Between Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, she had more than 25 million followers. But she apparently had enough with the socials. In a bittersweet video posted to Instagram, Lana Del Rey […]
It Started With Launching My Own Little Publication Since first scrawling words with crayons, I never guessed I could actually make money doing this. But I needed more than crayons to get my writing career off the ground. I thought I needed a website, right? But after starting a website and writing for my own blog, it felt like posting […]
Welcome to the 21st Century, May I Check Your Bloodstream? The crescent moon beamed over the crystalline Chicago skyline. We sped through the city’s veins until we reached the heart of Lincoln Park. Surrounded by trendy eateries overflowing with people both masked and unmasked, a breeze off Lake Michigan cooled the sunbaked streets. We were lucky to find a metered […]
I Discovered This While Writing in Flow States Writing is like life, it’s good to know when we’re on the right track. Otherwise, we’re wasting our time. Here are some “tells” to detect if you’re on the right track. You work hard and think it’ll be big. It probably won’t be. You have fun and don’t care if it’s big. It […]
Like Begging, Even There’s a movie about a laid back dude named Steve who helped other guys attract women. But his advice works in more arenas than the dating game. In fact, it’s a key to the universe. “Be desireless. Be excellent. Be gone.” —The Tao of Steve The philosophy works with everything from selling cars to writing viral articles. In fact, […]