#AtoZChallenge: D is for Drawing the Line

You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in my show. 🎶

Note: This post comes from a prompt in the book 300 Writing Prompts. On a flight from Charlotte to Phoenix last June, I asked the girl in the seat next to me to choose a prompt from the book for me to write about.

When I finished, the topic sparked an interesting conversation I’ll never forget.

The prompt:

Are there any lines that you simply will not cross?

Yes – although I can’t promise I never have, or I never will.

#GirlsRock: An interview with recruiter Liz Khodak

Kind of reminds me of a Madonna video.

A writer finds himself, you know, between chapters sometimes.

When that happens, he finds the usual roundup of possibilities: Contract jobs that never seem to fill, positions for nameless companies that might want to talk to you. Maybe. If only you could talk with someone who can find you a job you’d love …

Meet Liz Khodak.

Visiting her office uptown during a job search years ago was different. We sat at a table and talked. She listened. She took notes. (I tried to read them, but I’m lousy at reading upside down.) It was a very different experience.

10 Things Grateful, plus a lesson about staying plugged in

I don’t know who these little guys are.

I lost my charger.

Not the Dollar General one. The one that goes to my work computer. It’s an Apple MacBook Pro charger. It costs about the same as the Pittsburgh Pirates payroll. I left it plugged in in the media tent during All-Star weekend. (I was hungry and distracted.)

I bought a replacement at a lower cost – about the same as the payroll of the Kansas City Royals, for comparison.

It’s not as fast and fancy. But it works. Thing is, I need to keep plugged in almost always, so I don’t get distracted and hungry and wind up with 7% battery and 37 stories to write. I can also plug my iPhone into this little charger that could.

10 things grateful, plus cheeseburgers and Charles Barkley

Always a good opportunity for stormtrooper art when we visit antique stores.

There are no timeouts in soccer.

I wanted to call one, once. We’d taken a 1-0 lead against the state championship runners up from last season. They’d beaten up on us for years. But today, as we broke for halftime, we were up 1-0.

“Guys,” I said, “look casual, but let’s see if we can get to the parking lot without anyone noticing us …”

The girls laughed. We thought if we could sneak away now … well, they couldn’t score on us, could they? We lost 3-1. But that moment proved we’d reached a level we’d strived for. For years, really. We were good enough to get ahead of a bitter rival.

10 Things Thankful, and a bit of self-forgiveness

Hayden snapped this photo at Bennett’s Real Smoke Barbecue Pit in Gatlinburg. We celebrated a season with a rack of ribs and a pint of homebrew. (This class mysteriously disappeared from our table, however.)

The toughest person to forgive is often ourselves.

I’ve two Go Ask Daddy posts unpublished. Crazy, huh? If I can’t finish on my self-imposed deadline, I won’t publish. I’ll save them. I’m holding my blog hostage. I force myself to finish freelance work (veggies) before I get to blogging (snickerdoodle cookies.)

Heard of the Pomodoro timer?

I’m using that too. I’m rewarding myself for hours of distraction-free work with writing for fun. It keeps me hungry (not for snickerdoodles, although …) to put in the work to get to what feeds my soul most.

10 Things Grateful, and a new plan

Hey guys.

I did it. I found my way back. Like, in a real way. I keep hearing and reading about doing what we love and loving what we do and you know what? Me, not writing, was kind of like me not thinking about tacos. Only, kinda worse, you know?

Anyway, I’ve found a way to schedule writing and reading and commenting.

I promise it’ll be better than the new Full House or even slicker than those Detroit Lions throwback jerseys, which actually look like a kid just peeled all the Lions stickers off. I’m grateful for a chance to breathe some new life around her.

10 Things Thankful, Even Without Donuts

I try not to fritter away my time these days.

I’m thankful to have a chance to reverse the hands of time a little.

I’m not bringing back disco or even Boy George. It’s my smile. My pearly white smile. It used to be pearly-er. But time and Coke Zero have taken a bite or two out of the wattage.

EnterSmile Brilliant. They’ve sent me a kit to whiten my teeth at home. I overcame my struggles actually making my own dental impressions (I’m a pro now) and I’m set to take the first step.

I’m writing about my journey to getting that beacon in my mouth beacon-y again. I’m so serious about this. I’m even giving up Coke Zero while I whiten. You know that’s serious.

10 Things To Be Thankful For – Plus a Free Donut

I’ll regret this in the morning.

Wait, it’s morning already. 2 a.m. almost. I’ve worked two straight days with Target shifts tacked on and I have another tomorrow. Er, today.

Friday.

I’m grateful for the very energy that I’ll curse come morning. Although I’m vowing to snap up at the 6 a.m. bell. We’ll see how it goes.

#AtoZChallenge: K is for Kids’ Questions (Which Can Lead to Go Ask Daddy and Other Posts)

Just checking in on the sugar-bearing Santa, while waiting for Madison to get out of work.

Let’s get at this.

It’s not like the girls’ questions have ever stopped. No, dad just doesn’t answer them on the internet like he used to. He’s all … responsible. Writing stuff for his job, journaling, sitting perfectly still in his recliner, silent.

It’s different from when he does this after eating pizza.

At that point, he’s reclined and grinning like a baby with gas. No, he’s actually meditating. That’s fine and all, but Go Ask Daddy posts don’t just write themselves.

#J is for Just Zip It, Parents (a Guest Post From Madison)

I took this while waiting to pick up Madison from work one night. I wonder if anyone saw me.

Highway travel.

Vegas. Any weekend convention, if you’re a lot of guys. A wedding reception.

Definitely the parental sideline at any youth athletics event.

These are all places humans have gravitated toward boorish and ill-advised behavior. Today’s guest post is from my oldest, Madison, who, like her sisters, says she blocks out the noise from the familial upline, but what she wrote today demonstrates otherwise.