Friday Donuts

Friends, Routine can lull us into viewing life as predictable, even boring. There’s comfort in thinking things will always be the same. The changes that happen every instant are often too small to register and yet even the most mundane day is different than every day that came before it. Of course, change can also happen abruptly. This week I met my second grandchild, gave my condolences to an uncle David for his wife’s passing and made my way to Ecuador. Big, noticeable changes remind us nothing is ever the same. Looking out the airplane window as I contemplated these thoughts, I managed to catch a spectacular glimpse of mount Cotopaxi’s crater. Which leads me to the corollary: the small changes deserve attention too. Had I not been mindful at that moment, I would have missed my ten second window of opportunity to grab my phone, wrestle with the focus to get the very scratched airplane window out of the way and take the snap. So don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Who kn...

Friends, Leftovers and decorations. These traditional post-Thanksgiving activities can lead me to question life choices. They also elicit the big questions. Questions like: Can that synthetic wreath, looking like a ringwraith, survive another season? Is it the tryptophan, my gluttonous eating or just old age sneaking up and making me drowsy? Are the outdoor decorations worth the frostbite? When is it OK to throw away the cranberry sauce? How did I end-up with so many donut-themed ornaments? Whether you’re asking yourself these or other important questions, I hope this season of hope brings you and your loved ones joy. Happy Friday!

Friends, Gratitude begins with attitude — unless you’re being literal, in which case it ends with attitude and starts with “gr”. If you view existence as a gift, it’s easy to give thanks for everything that comes with it. Eyes to see the beautiful sunrise. Health to enjoy the fresh morning air. An open heart to appreciate the folks who surround you. Blessings everywhere. But trade that mindset for entitlement, and gratefulness goes out the door — after all, I deserve all these things and more. On this second day of Thanksgiving, I choose to see the world through the eyes of a child and take nothing for granted. As I bite into my sweet morning donut, I sip my hot coffee and think of you. Thank you for your friendship — and for putting up with all the random ideas I choose to share every Friday. I appreciate you (even though we may not have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis). Happy Friday!

Friends, The world’s largest twine ball lives in Darwin, MN. I’ve never taken the detour but do wonder what drove Frances Johnson to spend 29 years of his life gathering and wrapping 8.7 tons of cord into a 40" sphere. Did he set out to establish a record, or did he just not know when to stop? The first few inches of circumference must have taken a few days. That last inch probably took years. In a way, I can relate. Last night I added the 100,000th person to my family tree. I hate to admit it but there may be an irrational behavioral trait I share with the twine rolling man in MN. My tree is certainly nowhere near the largest, but with five zeroes resembling half a dozen donuts – minus the one that I ate, of course – it felt appropriate to celebrate this milestone with you. Happy Friday!

Friends, Collaborate with AI long enough and you’re bound to start feeling infallible. The positive reinforcement with every response can be quite the ego boost – “good call", "you're exactly right", "great instinct”. Eventually one can’t help getting suspicious. If the option I chose is truly "the right call", why did the AI bother giving me that choice in the first place? Had I chosen option B, would it have said "that's a stupid idea, but, whatever, it's your article, so what do I care?” Or would I have received yet more sycophantic praise? I guess we’ll never know – a downside of being so darn smart! Speaking of great ideas, I’m gonna go grab a donut to start my day on the right note. I’m sure Claude, Chat and Gemini would all agree. You can almost hear AI saying "great shot, that basketball is ready to pop the net"  . Happy Friday!

Friends, What’s in a name? Well, if that name happens to be Juan González, chances are you’ll get escorted to a cozy Interpol back room whenever you try to enter or leave Perú. Yup! It appears I have an evil namesake on the watch list. Of course, treacherous homonyms lurk in all walks of life, not just airport watchlists. These seemingly benign words are out there wreaking havoc and creating confusion – often to comedic effect. A sign with the word “income” or a breakfast buffet with a dish labelled “mold bread” bely dictionary translations where the wrong homonym was used (“entrance” and “pan bread” respectively). Then there’s the grammar fiends. Accept for Sam lose wards, language isn’t stationery. I realize the preceding sentence may have upset some of you, so having made my point I will head out to Donutsville to go get me some fried pastries.​ Happy Friday!

Friends, As days get shorter in the northern hemisphere, the splinter of mortality creeps up on the collective subconscious. Whether you call it Oiche Samhna, All Hallows Eve, or Día de Los Muertos, today’s celebration reminds us of one of the two certainties in life. Taxes. Why are my hard-earned dollars being used to build haunted houses? (e.g., Alligator Alcatraz). Feels like a cruel trick. That said, I’m off to fetch a treat (i.e., my obligatory Friday donut). Clandestine photos taken by yours truly at the Catacumbas de San Francisco in Lima, Perú, where the bones of some 25,000 souls are laid to "rest".

Friends, Hundreds of miles from the ocean and over eleven thousand feet above sea level, Cusco feels like an odd seat for an empire. Yet, walking down the narrow streets where cars must do a three point turn at the corner, evidence abounds. Walls built with perfectly joined stones of capricious sizes and shapes boast masterful skills. The church of Santo Domingo integrated with the Qoricancha temple complex is awe inspiring. The megalithic Sacsayhuaman complex almost makes alien conspiracy theories seem plausible. Even though the empire lasted less than 100 years, it left a deep mark on the entire Andean region. As I visit the cradle of the Inca civilization, I enjoy my picarón (a local version of the donut) and process all the rich local history. Happy Friday!​

  Friends, These days, it's easy to take well-fitting clothes for granted. Whether you’re 6’4” and overindulge in donuts daily, are a petite starvation diet freak, or happen to be Bad Bunny, chances are you won’t have a wardrobe malfunction when wearing a dress. The same can’t be said for 18 th  century gowns. If oil paintings, marble sculptures and reliefs from that era are any indication, clothing was so ill-fitting it was fairly normal for women to walk around with one breast out. It appears to have been so commonplace, folks became impervious to the scene. Imagine being there. -            Excuse me, m’am, your boob is out. -            Yeah, I know, this darn dress keeps letting the girls out. -            Just thought I’d point it out, you know, before we join that hysteric mob down the block. -     ...

Friends, If you wanna fly standby, a certain laissez-faire mentality goes a long way. This F-it attitude helps you cope with whatever the seat assignment gods have in store for you. On a recent trip from Fort Lauderdale the flight was full and, if only the plane had one more seat, it would have been mine. Just as I was letting the news sink in and weighing a Chicago vs Houston connection, it started raining cats and dogs. The passengers deplaned and two hours later, some of them had decided they’d had enough, making room for me! I board to find a gentleman occupying my seat. After refreshing his app it turns out he got an upgrade to first class. To my surprise, he explains he’s all settled in and asks if I wouldn’t mind switching places. Sure, twist my arm. As I reached 1F and start imagining my pre-flight donut, the first class flight attendant with a snooty European accent was having none of this. He walks me back to economy plus and, after a spirited lecture on 19th century class et...

  Friends, One of the great satisfactions in life comes from finally completing a task you’ve been avoiding. The longer the chore sits on your list, the better the feeling. Sure, you always question why you didn’t do it sooner. Still, a weight you didn’t know you were carrying lifts and the micro endorphin boost that comes from checking that mental box is priceless. This week, I took the long overdue step of changing my political affiliation to unaffiliated. While I held hope that my party would stop drifting away from their roots, for the past decade part of me has known the cause was long forgotten by those in leadership. The online process was quick and painless. If only getting donuts every Friday were that easy. Happy Friday!​ Here's to Waterloo!

Friends, What makes a work of art stand out? People swarm around the Mona Lisa while Titian's works, which sit in the same room at the Louvre, get a passing glance. Pop culture has created a strange hierarchy at museums where permanent crowds make it hard to appreciate certain pieces while others get snubbed. It's like high school all over again. Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are the popular kids, surrounded by admiring fans while the band kids, statues of MInerva and Etruscan sculptures, barely get noticed -- not to mention the myriad loners, exiled to the reserve collection. Makes you wonder. I leave you with one of the jocks: Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People to get Beignets.​ Happy Friday!

Friends, There’s only so much research you can do before a trip to Germany. The rest you just have to experience first hand. Doing 180 on the autobahn, you realize the Ausfahrt signs don't mean you're in a gigantic city, they’re just exits. The German word for Town Hall is Rathaus … feels appropriate if you ask me. Toilets with no visible tank, large wall-mounted flushing switches and water that doesn’t swirl, make flushing down solids, well, a crapshoot. Soda caps that stay attached, make it challenging to drink straight from the bottle without getting a circular impression on your cheek — good thing they haven’t done it to beer. Doors and windows designed to partially come off their top hinge if you twist the lever a certain direction — wait, did I just break it? And then there’s the donuts. Spritzkuchen, literally “syringe cakes” (you might also know them as French crullers), talk about getting your fix. Liebesknochen, or "love bone" (don’t get any ideas). And, of ...

Friends, Traveling to Paris as a non-French speaker, was a stark reminder of my reliance on language to do most everything. The “oh, crap” moment came before the ink was dry on my CDG passport stamp.The test: getting a metro ticket. After five minutes of fumbling through incomprehensible prompts, I was given a reprieve by the Union Jack icon that let me navigate my purchase in a language I could understand (albeit with the sporadic extraneous vowel and ‘s’ trying to pass for a ‘z’). I now know how helpless it can feel to be illiterate. There’s a sense of being on the verge of comprehension, unable to cross the threshold, which aggravates when you’re surrounded by words you can almost make out. “Danger de mort” jumps out at me on a Metro sign I try to read. Following these dire instructions feels relevant in a city where so many were decapitated. A city where just this week a prime minister was ousted. Perhaps avoiding death can act as motivation to learn. What few new words I did pi...

Friends, Yellowstone has Old Faithful, Sidney the Opera House, and Paris the Eiffel Tower. Sites so intricately linked to a place’s identity tourists feel trapped into visiting. I suppose that’s why they call them tourist traps. But locals seldom seem to go. Instead of having a croissant by the Seine next week, I’m considering a donut at Boneshaker, or making smoke donuts at Tabac du Châtelet. Then again I’ve also bought tickets to the usual places, after all, when in Paris … or was that Rome? Happy Friday!

Friends, When confidence passes for competence, insincerity fakes integrity and puts the harm in charm. Unscrupulous strangers we know from the media play on our willingness to believe any drivel that aligns with our biases. We the manipulated feel in control while the mice secure the cheese. We play along, sliding down the slippery slope of excusing behaviors and actions as eccentricities and eggs broken to make an omelette. Until one day we wake to find ourselves wondering how we got here and thinking "how did Dunkin' get away with losing the donuts but Cracker Barrel couldn't get rid of Uncle Herschel?" Any similarity with politics is purely coincidental. Happy Friday!

Friends, Our great big world can sometimes feel pretty small. This week, two of my sons and I traveled to the U.S. They came from Japan whilst I came from Ecuador. My youngest brought some Spanish wine with him as a gift from some friends. In other words, I came from South America to North America to drink some European wine purchased in Asia. Talk about globalization! Now if only I had some African donuts I'd be all set. Happy Friday!

Friends, I'm no coffee snob but there's something honest about a freshly brewed cup. I don't speak venti soy latte, mocha, doppio, afogato, capuccino, macchiato, cortado, espresso, americano mumbo jumbo ... it's just not my cup of, well, Joe. Spare me the jargon and get me a large coffee. Black. No sugar. The higher acidity and nuanced flavor notes of the high elevation Andes mountain coffee we get in Ecuador may be wasted on me but there's nothing like a hot cuppa to get my morning going. Lately I've been enjoying some home brewed sock coffee. Just boil a pot of water and slowly pour it through the cloth filter containing the fine grinds. Smooth! Add a donut or two and I'm ready to face the day. What hot beverage do you prefer with your Friday donut? Happy Friday! ​

Friends, What you call something taints how you perceive it. I like to call bagels faux-nuts (they may look like a donut, but there’s just something not right about them). Hazard lights are magic lights. If you’re driving around Ecuador and need to stop literally anywhere, turn on your magic lights and the laws of man and nature no longer apply to you. Need to pick up a passenger at an intersection, block traffic on a one lane road or randomly stop anywhere? You get the idea. As for planetary names, any mention of the seventh planet always makes me smirk. My brain inevitably puts the emphasis on the second syllable. Even headlines from the most reputable sources can’t steer clear of my sophomoric reading. It doesn’t help that the phrasing often includes mention of rings, probes, exploration, internal heat and gas. I guess I’ll grab myself a donut and read the latest NASA article on Uranus. Happy Friday!

Friends, In the high-stakes game of pricing high-value goods and services, the desire to win can sometimes cloud our judgment. The race to zero begins with competition. Adversaries, both real and imagined, fuel our fear, insecurity and doubt. Money is often left on the table as we chase our tails in a bid to win at all costs. If only donuts followed this dynamic. Given their relatively low monetary value, purveyors can readily test consumers{ willingness to pay. And so, prices for these sweet pastries continue to soar, Still, I'm grateful I can still afford to indulge in this sweet treat (for now). ​ Happy Friday!

Friends, The fastest known object is S4716, a star orbiting the black hole at the center of our galaxy at 8% the speed of light. While I’m sad to report the orbit is not donut-shaped, you should know that at that speed, 60 seconds is equivalent to, wait for it, 60.192 seconds on Earth. I know … meh! If you want to experience serious time dilation, TON 618 is the place to be. Weighing in at 66 billion solar masses and with a nice donut-shaped accretion disk, a minute at the edge of the event horizon would be 26 years. Take that, sub-light speed travel! On an admittedly much smaller scale, I was recently caught breaking a parking lot’s 3 km/h speed limit. In my defense, I was running to get my cosmic donut fix. No time dilation required ... as for waistband dilation, that's a topic for another day. Happy Friday!

Friends, When life gets busy, it’s tempting to go into check-the-box mode. Everything from work projects and personal errands to TV series and family commitments can feel like yet another box to check in an endless to-do list. We forget to enjoy recreational activities and be present at important life events because we’re already looking ahead to the next task. At times like these it’s good to slow down and think outside the box we’ve put ourselves in. Why not grab a donut and think inside that circle. Don't be a square ... get around! Just saying. Happy Friday!​

Friends, Six day weekends are a great chance to disconnect from the circus. News of floods, fighting and foreign leaders being praised for their great (native) English fade as hikes to lakes, waterfalls and Inca ruins take center stage. Closing all three rings on my Apple Watch ceases to be a rare occurrence as I fill my lungs with fresh air, take in the sights and play the tourist. All good stuff! If only all of my colleagues had a two day workweek, the dreaded “welcome back” workload wouldn’t feel like being thrown to the lions. Fortunately a donut or two can help soften the landing. Happy Friday!

Fr iends, When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to have a three day weekend so as to overindulge in hot dogs, beer and fireworks, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should also consume more than their fair share of donuts. I leave it up to you to determine which truths you hold to be self-evident. H appy Friday the fourth! Nothing shouts "America" louder than Metallica at Mile High

Friends, Adjectives are powerful diagnostic tools. They serve to identify any ailment, real or imagined. Whether you’re green, gleeful, or glamorous, there’s a modifier for your condition. Can’t find the right adjective? Recruit a noun to play the role. Nouns moonlighting as adjectives expand the palate of possibilities. When people call me “donut boy”, the pastry in their diagnosis describes my disorder. What adjective (or attributive noun) best fits your momentary malady? Whatever it is, I hope the prognosis is positive. Happy Friday!

  Friends, Want to feel smart? Tell ChatGPT to change something it wrote. Not only will it agree with you like a sycophant, but it will also tell you all the reasons you're right. I must admit that after a couple of hours one begins to wonder how sincere the feedback really is. To paraphrase the new generation, Chat is a sweat that likes to glaze – and no, the term has no connection to delicious, glazed donuts. But I digress. Getting back to smart, one of the smartest people I know – my youngest, Rafael (4.0 GPA at Mines), is doing an internship in Tokyo and sent me a photo yesterday of the donuts he brought in to work today – no, he didn't time travel, there's just a 14-hour time difference. Fortunately, it’s still early in Colorado, so I think I’ll go get me one before I get too busy and forget. 'Bye now! Happy Friday!

Friends, I don’t consider today to be unlucky. Of course, I’m open to changing my mind should evidence to the contrary surface. When I was younger (I won’t admit how old), I espoused some beliefs that have proven wrong over time: There was a non-zero chance that when you flush an airplane toilet somebody 10,000 feet below you might get offed by a frozen turd. It seemed reasonable that the loud sucking flush sound was due to the contents being dumped from the plane. Ham and hot dogs were synthesized from chemicals, and as such, “factory meat” was an acceptable part of a cruelty-free "vegetarian" diet. Their homogeneous consistency and packaging seemed to support this hypothesis. Vampires could be deterred from biting me in my sleep by wrapping a blanket around my neck. At a minimum, their attempt to unwrap the blanket would wake me and give me a fighting chance to ward them off. Countless misheard lyrics I sang with so much conviction. For instance, “… you’ve got a tub, I see ...

Friends, The desire to be right can close our minds to divergent (and, heaven forbid, superior) points of view. We build echo chambers, carefully curating views that support our own and dismissing differing voices out of hand. When opinion is mistaken for fact, inconvenient truths are easily discarded. And so, we dig in our heels and trade healthy debate for hate. Ironically, it is quite possible no two people would agree on everything. I think maturity and respect are the key to growth. Leaving the comfort of one's own biases and deeply held beliefs and truly listening is not easy, but it's a necessary start. Of course, a raspberry pistachio donut always helps. Happy Friday! A healthy exchange of ideas – and a raspberry pistachio donut

Friends, I was 24 the first time I was offered a penny for my thoughts. At the time, the novel expression brought me back from my musings and it has stuck with me ever since. Today, as I remove Penny Lane from my playlist and replace it with Nickelback, it occurs to me that now may be a good time to binge watch Penny Dreadful on Paramount Plus. I ponder the penny pinchers’ move, perhaps these bad pennies are penny wise, pound foolish. Let's hope it doesn't drop a penny on prices. Meanwhile, all I can do is bite into my donut and close my eyes. Mmmm… worth every penny. Happy Friday!

Friends, Context drives behavior. Dancing at a party is a lot less awkward than dancing at the office. Singing in the shower is a lot less intimidating than singing on stage. Eating a beignet sounds so much fancier than eating a donut. Lately, I find I enjoy standing at the very edge of the jet bridge before stepping onto the plane. Imagining what it would be like if the plane were not there. My body tensing-up as self-preservation kicks-in. My fear of falling preventing me from getting so close to that edge. Same air bridge, different context. I pause long enough to look through the tiny crack and take that step on board – can’t hold-up the line too long. No big deal. Happy Friday!

Friends, Remote work can be isolating. Despite back-to-back meetings, you wonder whether some folks on the screen pretend to share while others pretend to care. Gathering in person breathes fresh air into the modern work dynamic. Without the sterile electronic interface acting as a barrier, the human connection can flourish. It’s the difference between looking out your window and going outside. And, if you and your colleagues get a chance to share pastries from Flakey Cream Café and Donuts in scenic Healdsburg, California, even better. Who knows, you might even run into bigfoot. Happy Friday!

Friends, On this first Friday of Leo XIV's papacy, there’s a lot we still don’t know about the new pope. As we learn more, I’m sure there will be many tomes published on the visible head of the 1.4 billion strong Catholic Church. Here are a few possible titles for books and articles to come: From Chicago to Chiclayo: an unexpected journey to Rome Leo is a Virgo, and other fun facts LEO: not just for Low-Earth Orbit anymore How White Sox became part of the papal regalia One Leo, two Leos… the Count counts popes I was going to throw one in there about his favorite foods, but it seems nobody knows. Here’s hoping the first US-born pope loves donuts (that would be a great omen for things to come). If not, Sophie Carrigan's classic, Leo's Lost Donut , would take on a whole new meaning. Happy Friday! Photo Credit: Sophie Carrigan

  Friends, When tempted by dispair, I find hope is always the best strategy.  Stuck in airpots for nearly 48 hours trying to get home? Enjoy the amenities and think of the family I am about to see. Lured by the intentionally chaotic reality show I call  The Apprentice: DC ? Watch Pangolin on Netflix, this heartfelt documentary about saving these unique creatures was phenomenal! Feeling existential angst? Remember the angst is not possible without the existence, focus on the latter, not the former. And remember, the weekend is almost here, so have a donut and enjoy! Happy Friday!

Friends, Remote work can be a tad isolating. This is particularly true if your temporary base happens to be 3,400 miles away from home. Despite back-to-back virtual meetings, the house grows lonely. Fortunately, there’s an itsy bitsy spider whose adventures across my wall have been keeping me amused. Crawling up, down and around my office wall she sure covers a lot of ground (or wall, as the case might be). As I look up from time to time and try to spot her progress, I imagine her travel log. “Day 2, the white expanse seems endless. Without any landmarks, I fear I may be going in circles. As I traverse the featureless void, I’m glad for the endless supply of sweet, fried pastry. Each of these so-called donut crumbs can feed an army for a week...” While I do enjoy the freedom of working far afield, I’m glad to be saying goodbye to Itsy Bitsy and heading home this week and be reunited with my family. Happy Friday! 

Friends, When they say every cloud has a silver lining, the implication is that clouds are somehow bad. I tend to disagree. Not only do they give us shade and life-giving rain, they also serve as a scenic backdrop for landscape pictures, not to mention the soothing effect of falling rain when you're all snuggled-up. Sure, it can be uncomfortable to walk around in the rain, but why focus on the negatives when there are so many positives. Same goes for donuts. they may not be the healthiest of treats, but they sure do taste good once a week (everything in moderation). Happy Good Friday! Here comes the rain!

Friends, One of my favorite juices in Ecuador is made from a fruit we call tree tomato. If you're thinking V8, you're way off. Tree tomato has the right balance of sweet and tart along with a subtle bouquet that makes it oh so delicious. There's one caveat, I only like it raw. Many restaurants cook the fruit before making the juice. While the process helps increase shelf life and get more juice out of the fruit, it also changes the taste. When I ask whether the juice is raw or cooked, I am often told it is raw, only to find myself drinking disappointment. So, now I ask whether I can have a sip -- which they are usually happy to oblige. It turns out getting the right answer often comes down to asking the right question. I'm sure the wait staff doesn't want to deceive me, they just don't know the answer and hate to sound uninformed. By asking for a sample, I remove the embarrassment from the equation. Now if only they'd let me sample a couple donuts before I p...

Friends, Watching the U.S. economy implode while the executive branch uses a fake war as a pretext to usurp the legislative branch’s taxation power is frustrating. As we turn from benevolent big brother to back yard bully, squandering our nation’s global goodwill, I can’t help but wonder how long it will take for our constitutional checks and balances to kick-in. I also wonder what all those poor penguins on  Heard and McDonald Islands  must be thinking. All I can do right now is bite into my donut, sip my coffee and hope for the best. Happy Friday! What's a tariff?

 Friends, In a divided world with a myriad points of view and sensitivities; a world where anything you say can cross a secret line or trip an invisible landmine, how do you keep your words from being taken the wrong way? At the risk of sounding corny, I believe that when your heart is in the right place your words will be well perceived and well received. A well-intended message, like a fresh donut made with good ingredients, may not always be pretty, but it usually hits the spot. So, enjoy a hot cup of Joe and a fresh donut, and try to worry less about what you should say. I know your heart is in the right place (behind and slightly to the left of your sternum—now that was corny). Happy Friday! Now that's corny!

Friends, Despite writing about donuts (sort of) for over 20 years, I don’t believe in sugar coating, after all, honesty is the best policy. Gilding, on the other hand I’m good with. Take the church of the Society of Jesus in Quito, (AKA La Compañía). Built in fits and starts between 1597 and 1765, the volcanic rock baroque facade conceals a spectacular interior. I had the chance to go inside this week and although I had heard about the gold leaf work inside, the descriptions had not done it justice. The details from floor to ceiling transport you to another world, perhaps that’s the point. If you’re ever there, be sure to visit. And while you’re there stop by one of the many panaderías … if you’re lucky they might even have a donut. Happy Friday!