Category Archives: Essays

Mostly true. Names may have been changed to disguise the guilty.

June 24, 2012 · 9:42 pm

The Uncle They Call “Uncle”

My boys are really lucky. I’ve written before about how lucky they are that my father lives with us. Their lives are also richer because of their wonderful uncles and aunts.

Based on marital status, they’ve got 4 uncles (my three brothers and my wife’s brother) and one aunt (my brother Matt’s wife). But- if you use the criteria of people with substantial connections to those uncles you also add in my brother-in-law’s longtime girlfriend and the partners of my two other brothers. The expanded definition is more apt because I don’t think marital status defines family. All in, uncles and aunts, I count 8. And they are all wonderful people.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Filed under Essays

Tagged as , , ,

June 23, 2012 · 11:11 pm

To the Graduating Class of Fowler High School…

My brother Chris and I were very honored to deliver a commencement speech to Fowler High School’s graduating class this morning. (Check out these posts about it- here and here.) As I’ve been writing about the event here, I thought it would be nice to share our speech. Unlike everything else I’ve posted to my blog, this work is not my solely my creation. This was written by my brother and me. As you read this, you should remember that both Chris and I are very funny. Really.  😉

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Essays

Tagged as , , ,

June 21, 2012 · 11:38 pm

The Invisible Man Never Led Anyone…

So if you caught any of my stuff last week (like this) then you know that I was traveling for work. I’ve been on the road plenty so far this year and expect to keep traveling throughout the rest of the year. Last week, I was in one of the larger organization’s field offices visiting a small team within my group. We have recently changed some of the reporting relationships in my group and so this team now reports in to me. I’ve been a part of this group for about a year and have not been to this office in this role so, based on the new reporting structure, it was the perfect time to visit them.

Out there for most of the week, I had a lot of time to think about a favorite topic of mine. As these thoughts have now been brewing for about a week, I’m ready to put them down on (virtual) paper. So our topic for this evening is- leadership!

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Essays

Tagged as , , ,

June 11, 2012 · 8:16 pm

Thoughts About Speaking

My brothers and I have been invited to speak at our high school’s graduation in a few weeks. I’m incredibly honored and really excited for the opportunity. Due to logistics and schedules (I’m the only one living in our hometown right now) it looks like only two of the four of us will be speaking. So Chris and I (you may remember him as the ill-fated test pilot in our Indoor Bobsledding adventure) have started chatting about the theme of the speech.

I believe that, generally speaking, people have to walk their own paths and learn through their own missteps. Otherwise, history would be the single most important important subject taught in school. Our history as a species would then be a series of single misfortunes that we as a people would never repeat. Clearly, this isn’t the case and we usually have to touch the stove to understand that it’s hot. You won’t ever touch the stove again but your kid brother next to you might to see what all the fuss was about. (I’m not saying that ever happened in our house…)

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under Essays

Tagged as , , , ,

June 9, 2012 · 1:21 pm

The Pack Rat and the Minimalist

Opposites attract. Or is it oil and water don’t mix? One of those cliches defines the relationship with my wife. (OK- realistically, probably both at different times…)

The aspect of our relationship that I’d like to explore today deals with stuff. Specifically, my stuff. More specifically, my stuff that I’ve been lugging around for years and years and years. That kind of stuff.

Every relationship has stuff that creates conflict. These items form the battlefront of the Stuff Wars. A No Man’s Land, if you will.

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Essays

Tagged as , , , , , ,