Friday Donuts

Friends, Have you ever stopped to consider the profound (and sometimes unforeseen) impact our actions can have on the fabric of the universe? The thought occurred to me as I was watching Pablo, my 6 foot something fourteen-year-old son. He is a smart, likeable, independent young man who is starting to assert his personal tastes (big Afro) and will, sooner than you know it, be an adult -fully in charge of his own destiny. If you rewind just a little, it was not so long ago he was that "I'm cute and I know it" six-year-old, small enough to sit on daddy's lap, sporting a hairstyle to daddy's liking. Rewind a little further and he was a twinkle in his daddy's eye. A decision waiting to be made. An action ready to be taken. Pure potential. Today, I can’t imagine life without him (or any of my other kids). Back then, I couldn’t imagine how much he would enrich my life. The same can be said for so many decisions. Enrolling in University, starting a new project, mak

Friends, I’ve been wondering about our observance of solar rotations. What’s with the need to stamp each year that passes with a number? Lots of numbers. 49, 24, 35 –my age, how long I’ve been married and how many Great American Beer Fests have been held, respectively. Social convention has engrained birthdays and wedding anniversaries into our collective psyche –to the point they almost feel natural. I chalk-it-off to a need for pretexts to celebrate –and there’s nothing wrong with a good celebration. But, when did work anniversaries become a thing? My lackadaisical approach to updating my LinkedIn profile (which has shown me as an “Independent Consultant”, since I left my former employer a year ago) has resulted in a plethora of eerily similar congratulatory notes this week (and no, they don’t read “ Update your LinkedIn profile, dummkopf! ”). A majority of well-wishers’ notes say  “ Congrats on the anniversary. Hope you’re doing well!” .  While I can certainly understand the socia

Friends, They say luck is the confluence of opportunity and preparation. That can certainly be said for a set of circumstances that happened to me whilst volunteering on the Safety Team at the Great American Beer Fest. As we were setting-up on opening day one of the organizers came to our group and asked for someone who spoke fluent Spanish. Naturally I stepped-up. It turns-out Telemundo, a Spanish language news station needed someone they could interview. So, I got my two seconds of fame talking about pretzel necklaces on a fluff piece about the GABF. Had preparation been absent (if I had I not been a volunteer, had I not known something about the beer fest and had I not spoken Spanish) I would not have been interviewed. Similarly, had opportunity not presented itself (the urgent request for a Spanish speaker) still nothing. The confluence of the two made this possible. This morning you have the opportunity (donuts have arrived) and the preparation (you’re here), so come get lucky.

Friends, They say travel broadens your horizons and opens your mind. It gives you a new perspective on things and helps you challenge what's normal by exposing you to other norms . Perhaps that's why I found it somewhat amusing when I boarded a "French-made" A-320 (the word "made" sounds a lot like "maid"). Or the fact part of Atlanta's public transportation code of conduct forbids assaulting Marta employees (which felt oddly specific and seemed to leave the door open to assaulting fellow passengers). But beyond smirks and groans, the one takeaway for me is we all live on a small oasis in space and the accident of where on this planet we're born can have a huge impact on our views, values and our ability to meet our basic needs. The more I travel, the more I come to the conclusion borders should be criminalized (not the people crossing them). Freedom of movement and the ability to reside anywhere on the planet should be a human righ