On Second Thought

Media Minds

It’s time for me to call it a summer and head back to school. As my thoughts turn to my classroom, I’m humbled by the importance of the work we teachers do. Yet, I’m also proud of the magic that

Mailbox

About a year after we moved to Blooming Prairie, our mailbox was smashed, along with about fifteen others, during a round of what I believe the kids call “mailbox baseball.” I was moved enough by the incident to put my

Ice

The recent corporate marriage of General Mills and Pillsbury combined with a couple of strange encounters with household products got me to thinking about the world of advertising and marketing, specifically, and about the world of work, generally. Now that

Fences

I met a few of my former students for pizza last week so that I could catch up on the latest college roommate soap operas and get a sense of what their lives are like outside the four walls of

Father’s Day

I’m sharing some belated Father’s Day reflections this week because I was out of town for the paternal celebration. Fortunately, I was with my kids, and they got to see their grandfathers during our brief family vacation, which made me

Bob

“Point and Click” I recently entered a brave new world, not feet first, but fingers first. They were resting on my computer keyboard and they were trembling terribly. I was about to push the button that would delete my Uncle

Birches

Last week I hooked up with one of my old college roommates near Des Moines. A few years back he left a high-powered New York City law firm to take another high-powered attorney position at the Securities and Exchange Commission

The Barn

We moved here from Chicago for a change of lifestyle. I think it’s fair to say that Blooming Prairie has delivered on that count. I got used to the tilting of heads everyone gave us when we told them of

Rude Awakening

How’s this for a rude awakening? The other morning I was in the kids’ room as my son was waking up. He did one of those great morning stretches where his toes pushed against the slat of the bunk bed