Still a coach. Still a daddy. Just not Coach Daddy anymore.
I have a book in the works.
Okay. Four books. If one can get through to see daylight, it’ll be a miracle. (Baby sea turtles face a similar fate.)
Continue reading “#GirlsRock: An interview with fiction book editor Kristen Hamilton š”
Gah, talk about nostalgia.
I’m watching Cobra Kai, and wow, do the memories come rushing back. I was a big Ali fan back then, in Karate Kid. Now, I kind of have a thing for Shannon, Robbie’s mom.
Here’s some more nostalgia: 6 words on Coach Daddy.
Remember these? I ask a friend, stranger, blogger, or strange blogger friend to answer a prompt in six words. Then, I publish everyone’s answers here in a post with a link to their blogs.
I encourage all participants to visit the blogs above and below their links. We tend to share this one a bunch, so we get more exposure, and exposure to more blogs. It’s like a co-op for writers.
Continue reading “š Something we really like about ourselves, in 6 words”
Sometimes, interesting parallels emerge in Go Ask Daddy questions.
Theyāre chosen at random. From a list of about 200. When the first two contained the words āalcoholic drinkā and ācrack cocaine,ā I began to question the universe. Namely, what is intends for me. Then, more pressing ā¦ did my girls ask these questions, really?
They did!
Every week, I try to pick out five questions the girls asked (over years and years) to answer in this space right here. To continue the controversy, the Dallas Cowboys appeared on this list, too. And a doozy of a fifth question. Check it out.
Iām hoping weāre talking about the Shirley Temple here.
But letās be honest: The pandemic has me spending a tad more impossible income on spirits. I was disappointed the ABC store sold me a bottle of rum and tequila but didnāt serve them to me in paper sacks.
The Cherry Bomb looks yummy and counts as a fruit or vegetable serving.
But it has cachaƧa, which isnāt on my Walmart pickup list. The Cherry Bourbon Smash sounds like it should have a holiday named after it. I learned a lot reading about this Easy Cherry Lemonade – and it just made me thirsty.
Just found out thereās also something known as a Dirty Shirley.
Hayden has extensive knowledge of drugs, thanks to a high school course. She rattles off facts about cannabis, ecstasy, and hallucinogens the way I did about Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops back in the day.
Cocaine comes in both powder and rock, kind of like thereās a Triceratops and a Zuniceratops which look similar.
They call it cocaine or coke when itās a powder, and crack or crack cocaine as the rock. I looked up how itās made, and I wonāt go into it in detail, but it sounds a little like how you make rock candy. Which is kinda messed up.
They call it crack because it crackles when itās cooked.
Itās pretty highly concentrated, so itās possible to get addicted with just one dose. If you or someone you know might have questions about addiction, they can call the American Addiction Centers at 888-969-0144.
Maybe they lost track of what day it is like I have.
More likely, theyāre Seventh Day Adventists. They consider Saturday the sabbath, not Sunday. While some Christians go to church on Sunday, others consider it a true day of rest – like, you can even sleep in on Sunday mornings. I like that.
Itās like those calendars that sometimes start on Sunday, sometimes start on Monday.
Some Jewish folks have services on Saturday, too. Some Christians say they should church on Sunday because thatās the day of the week of Jesusā resurrection. I was just a boy then, so Iām not positive.
In 321, Roman Emperor Constantine said everyone should rest on Sunday, which is why thatās the one day of the week I wonāt clock in for anyone.
It wasnāt Constantine (because it was on a Sunday.)
That distinction goes to Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. He hopped into an oversized Salvation Army kettle at AT&T Stadium after a rushing touchdown against Tampa Bay. What a donation
Iāve written negatively about Elliott on this very blog, but I also donāt believe in condemning anyone for life because of something they did or allegedly did.
Elliott has a childlike view of the game that I totally appreciate. He leaped into the kettle and it gave the Salvation Army a good bit of playtime. He wasnāt fined for this, and I agree with that. Donations spiked after his leap, and Zeke made a donation of his own.
The Salvation Army said it got $850,000 in online donations after that – which would buy 91,000 meals for those in need.Ā
One thing Iāve learned as a man is that āfineā has a ton of meanings and connotations. You mentioned fine dining – thatās elegant. Think white tablecloths and prices in tiny print on a menu. āYou did fineā is the other end of the spectrum – like, meh.Ā
If you say āthat girlās fiiiine,ā it means something – and when you do it in front of your significant other, and arenāt talking about her, you might be told that everything is āfine.ā
Iād rather just PAY a fine for my mistake. Itās a fine line between just appreciating the human form in the form of your friendly neighborhood restaurant server, and committing a major infraction of ā¦ appreciating the wrong human form.
And thatās fine with me.Ā
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I’m not even kidding … this is a book review! And I read it all by myself.
Stephanie, the loveable voice of the blog When Crazy meets Exhaustion, has written a book! She’s a long-time blogging friend of mine and I’ve loved her work for years.
Schooled is a collection of stories from the field. Her essays are humorous, sincere, and beckon to every crush on a teacher I ever had. As a dad of three kids, it gave me insight into what life is like on the other side of the desk.
I left school early for a job that sounded like a dream for me.
I got to cover the NFL and NBA (plus high school sports) for a tiny afternoon newspaper. I moved to Morganton, N.C. I slept in two three-hour shifts. One after my desk shift ended around midday.
The other, at night, after I filed my story from Hornets home games (Sometimes, I got up extra early to write instead.)
Rebecca Reid took a more global approach to that fresh-out-of-college job. She’s my guest for #GirlsRock today. I met Rebecca in Target during her 4-month stint in Charlotte. We became friends, and her story of success intrigued me.
I’m sitting here early on a Saturday morning.
I’ve pondered how to streamline my life. I’m working from home as many of us are. I’m struggling to find balance. I wake up every day encouraged that this will be different. Often, I go to sleep wondering where it went wrong.
See, I’m the same guy who has found success before.
Not success in dollar signs or prestige. In peace of mind. In the moment. In trusting that the process is the thing, in that I must keep my eyes and heart open. The stuff that makes the biggest difference are things I haven’t planned for. But you have to have an efficient way to get to those things.
Continue reading “ā”ļø #AtoZChallenge: P is for purify your mindset”
Confession time: Do you know what the worst part about the #AtoZChallenge is?
Itās not remembering my ABCs. I was an English major, you know. Itās the pace of the thing when you donāt plan ahead enough. Iām behind in keeping up with the baddest (and I mean the baddest) Facebook blog group on the planet, too (the Peaceful Posse.)
To me thatās kind of fundamental, that part of this blogging thing.
By Easter Sunday, I should have read posts for at least three of my sisteren (The PP is mostly women) and those whoāve commented here and also a couple of others in my routine.
I wonder how many people will go with COVID as their C word.
Or, coronavirus. Itās difficult for me to, even if I wanted to. Friday is my #GratitudeAndShit day, and pandemic viruses donāt make the cut. I am grateful, however, to have this new reality upon me. Itās not been easy, but there have been some pluses on small scales.
Itās exhausting to read post after post about how to work efficiently from home.Ā
I havenāt found that. There are small gains. Thereās stuff like birds on my bird feeder and tortilla chips in my pantry to serve enough distraction to get me off track. But Iām eating less fried food and takeout, more conscious that Iād better watch my intake.
Iām not getting in those steps at Target and hustling to the bus stop these days.Continue reading “#AtoZChallenge: C is for conversations, Camdyn and cookies (#GratitudeAndShit) šŖ”
When did you have your Motown phase?
Mine happened in middle school. It lasted on into high school, and, by great fortune, into adult life. My first exposure to The Temptations came with the Daryl Hall & John Oates album Live at the Apollo. I learned fast the history and prestige of playing that venue.
Hearing my favorite Rock N Soul duo mix it up with legends was priceless.
Temptations songs resonated with me at 12 (and 32, and 42) Just My Imagination was my theme song for those formative years. A girl made a mixtape for me with I Wish That It Would Rain on it and it took me a decade to understand what she was trying to say.
The A to Z Challenge is upon us.
I thought, man, Iām gonna need, like, a month or two at home just to write the daggum posts to do this daggum challenge this year. Well, I thought that a few weeks ago. And then this coronavirus thing happened.
So thereās no excuse now.
If I craft a post every time I hear COVID-19, thatās enough for 37 Aprils. And have enough to let a blogger named April have 31 for her next A to Z Challenge. Honestly, I donāt have to write much, because the Challenge has become the Month of Purge for me.
Continue reading “š #AtoZChallenge reveal: A post smorgasbord”
Just a dad ... 