Reviewing works about motivation and fulfillment around the new year and it was easy to come across videos featuring Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been going on for 87 years now. As you might imagine, just like with studies that aren’t conducted over multiple generations, this study does have some insights to share. You may recall some of them yourself if you saw his TED Talk from…
It’s the new year and if you haven’t already locked in your resolutions and resolution-related plans, have I got a post for you: a 26-minute breakdown of 20 tactics to make for a better 2026 from Daniel Pink. I first read Pink’s work with Free Agent Nation and then later Drive, which sent me down the scientifically-structured rabbit hole of “flow” back in the day. So when the almighty YouTube algorithm served up Pink’s videos…
It’s definitely time people start thinking about making New Year’s resolutions or otherwise mapping out things they want to get done for the year ahead. And I’m suggesting that, whatever those plans are, it should include some art. This should not come as a surprise. I have advocated this whole wacky “making art thing” on this blog multiple times as my seven or nine regular readers may remember. Whether it’s a post I did about…
Look, apparently the theme for this week is dealing with online crap (well, that and working through cinematic loss by adding to our “films to watch/rewatch” list). However, if you want to help figuring out things, you could do worse than physicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson has long been an advocate for critical thinking (the image above was one of many I found when searching), but this 15-minute guide for how to…
I did a post the other day about Girl Scout cookies because the holidays count as overall cookie season and perhaps some people might cry foul. True, those people might not be much fun at holiday parties, but they have a point. Stuffed animals, however, deserve some consideration during holiday season because if you’ve never given the gift of a stuffed animal to a kid or been a kid receiving “the best stuffie ever,” well……
Look, I know it’s not “Girl Scout Cookie season” yet, but a) I always forget when exactly it starts, b) I know it’s sooner than later, and c) we’re in the midst of cookie baking season for sure with the holidays, so… maybe you’ll try and bake a recreation? Anyway, this around 13-minute video from Weird History Food has just the right amount of detail and snark that it feels like a good fit for…
All seven or nine regular readers may realize I like folklore, probably more due to two fiction podcasts (one more fairy tales, one more spooky tales) Jabberwocky Audio Theater makes versus posts here. Basically, you combine the fact that my siblings and I quickly went beyond Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology with the fact that we got to read O.G. (Original Grimm) fairy tales and the like, there’s always going to be a space for…
I knew Milwaukee’s Mitchell Airport had the added appeal of a Usinger’s store (which I no longer see listed, so maybe it doesn’t?), but I did not know it had a wonderful used book store, Renaissance Books, which you can learn about in this short piece: As with my post last week about retail stores trying to become more of an “experience,” this feels like it perfectly fits the bill. Here’s hoping they continue to…
Along with “Alice’s Restaurant” and WKRP in Cincinnati’s “Turkeys Away,” I feel this should be in seasonal rotation: Stay safe out there, people!
On May 16th, 1990, Jim Henson a writer, director, puppeteer, and all-around friend of imagination, died suddenly. There was a public memorial less than a week later and another one in July. Then, 35 years ago this night, November 21, 1990, the Muppets did their own remembrance on CBS. I had forgotten about it, but thanks to writer and de facto pop culture historian Mark Evanier, I was reminded of it earlier this year and…