Category: Uncategorized

Gratitude – 30 Seconds at a Time

December 2, 2024

I hope you all had an outstanding Thanksgiving. I certainly did. It remains my absolute favorite holiday. Highlights of my Thanksgiving included: I am a free subscriber to Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper email. It is reflective, kind, and positive, all things that I’d like to have more of in my life. In her email on […]


Care Packages

November 16, 2024

I received a “care package” in the mail this week. I didn’t know how much I needed it. Care packages are best received when something is not normal in your life. Examples include times when you are away from loved ones, you are going through a difficult time, you are recovering from a physical or […]


I’m Not a Very Good Sports Fan

November 2, 2024

I guess I’m not a very good sports fan. I was not one of the two million fans screaming and cheering on the streets of LA as the Dodger World Series victory parade drove through town yesterday. I was not part of the packed Dodger Stadium that gave a thundering welcome to the Dodgers at […]


Mentoring and Supporting Leaders

October 19, 2024

I have spent over thirty years in educational leadership roles. I enjoyed so many aspects of all of my jobs. I loved the hard work, strategic planning, supporting teachers and staff, communicating with parents and garnering their support, developing collegial relationships, and so much more. And the longer that I worked in leadership positions, the […]


Routines: The Foundation of Our Lives

October 5, 2024

One of the greatest aspects of retirement is that, for the most part, I don’t really have to do anything that I don’t want to do. I don’t have to go to work. I don’t have to write these blog posts. No one is telling me how to spend my days. I can wake up […]


Threats to Any School Impact All of Us

September 21, 2024

Public schools have been around for over 350 years in the United States. But over the last 25 years, since Columbine thrust school shootings into our national consciousness, school employees have had to deal with a whole new set of stresses that their predecessors never imagined. Between the too-frequent active shooter incidents in our schools […]


The Luck of the Potluck

September 7, 2024

Diners at a large potluck dinner party where the invitation simply states, “Bring a dish to share!” attend with a lot of trust. Usually more trust than I possess. There’s no rhyme or reason. People just bring random dishes they are proud of/have time to make/purchase from a restaurant or grocery store, and that’s if […]


Phil Donahue Made Me a More Effective Teacher

August 24, 2024

In the summer of 1985, I remember looking hard for my first full-time job in teaching. As eager as I was to start teaching history and social studies in the Bay Area, there just weren’t any positions available. I would hang out in school offices if I heard rumors of openings, just to leave my […]


My 50-Year Love Affair with the Olympics is Still Going Strong

August 10, 2024

I love the idea of the Olympics – the every-four-year gathering of the best athletes from all around the world. At its best, it is a respite from world tensions and a two-week focus on human effort and competition that creates greater understanding and appreciation of our similarities and differences. I have spectacular memories of […]


One Year Into Retirement: A Progress Report – Part 2!

July 27, 2024

Thanks for all of the emails and comments on Part I of my Year One Retirement Progress Report. My Dad wrote that he liked it, but it was way too long and could have used several more drafts. He’s not wrong. So I’ll shorten my introduction by five paragraphs (Winning!!) and get right to examining […]


One Year Into Retirement: A Progress Report – Part I

July 13, 2024

Click Here for Podcast Version I’m not a big fan of report cards. They are so . . . final. A progress report is much more helpful – it’s a check in on how it’s going, and guidance on how to be more successful. As a teacher, one of my favorite projects was the five […]


The Allure of Liberty and Fireworks

June 29, 2024

Growing up, July 4th was always a big holiday in our house. We did not call it Independence Day. Just July 4th. The main focus for my siblings and me was getting to the amazing fireworks stands that magically popped up in June. The red, white, and blue banners lured us in, but it was […]


The Most Important Day of the Year

June 15, 2024

You can count on it coming in early June. My Dad will reach out to all of his kids and say, “The most important day of the year is coming this Sunday. You do remember that Father’s Day is this Sunday, right?” Yes, Dad. We remember. I heard those words this week from my 85-year-old […]


Songs of Kindness Ringing in my Ears

June 1, 2024

Click Here for Podcast Version Do you ever feel like the world is bombarding you with a message, and that wherever you turn, you keep hearing that same thought? Kind of like Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams hearing, “If you build it, they will come.” Or like when people saw images […]


Assorted Thoughts On My Trip to Arkansas

May 18, 2024

Click here for Podcast Version Last week, I enjoyed a five-day visit to my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. The temperature was nice, though it rained every day. These days, I am able to go home three or four times a year. I love seeing my mom, my dad and step-mom, my brother and my […]


Who’s In That Lane? (May, 2024)

May 15, 2024

Who’s in that Lane for May of 2024?! Krishanne (Krish) Nishi, that’s who! First of all, just a reminder that these Who’s In That Lane!  pieces celebrate our club and our teammates, and help us to get to better know our lanemates and the people in those lanes over there! I know we all enjoy […]


Does Traveling Change Who We Are?

May 4, 2024

One of the unexpected opportunities of being my age is that finally, somebody might tell me that I am an “old soul.” It’s not something I heard growing up, or really, ever. Being viewed as an old soul means that people think you have wisdom far beyond what you should have at your age. Maybe […]


Steve Martin and Me

April 6, 2024

I can already hear the criticism. Shouldn’t the title be Steve Martin and I? Um . . .  No. The full title is actually Ruminations about Steve Martin and Me, so as you can see, the “me” pronoun is perfectly acceptable. I read somewhere that grammar debates are the absolute best way to grab the […]


College Admissions Flaws, Grand Ideas, and Moving On

March 23, 2024

Even in my little neighborhood, these months of college acceptances and non-acceptances feel like times of great uncertainty. When I worked in schools, you could feel the anxiety building from the beginning of the senior year. For those students who are applying to colleges, there is stress that is involved. And for the parents, that stress […]


Do Something Every Day That Sucks

March 9, 2024

Lurking in my lower back, there is a pain monster waiting to get out of its cage. For much of my adult life, it’s just waiting for the right moment – it may start roaring when I’m swimming into a flip turn, executing a golf swing, sitting at my computer for too long, or just […]


A Week in Tokyo: Hugs, Beers, and Lifetime Experiences

February 24, 2024

So many experiences of parenting are the ones we hope or expect will happen. Learning to walk, going to school, getting a driver’s license, and going off to college are just some of the milestones that went through my head as I looked forward to life with both Ryan and Dawson. Some of them, like […]


Another Cold, Thanks to Bill Murray and Thor

February 10, 2024

I never put much stock in Groundhog Day. Having spent the last 31 years in Southern California, we never really worried about our winters being too long. So, the idea of whether or not the sun is shining when a fairly obscure rodent emerges from his burrow has been pretty much a big “Whatever” in […]