Welcome to my collection of posts and random stuff related to putting pen to paper. (Or fingertip to little plastic square.)

015: The Top 6 ways to cope when your teenager drives solo for the first time

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Sending your newly legal teenager out alone and behind the wheel of a hurtling death machine is sobering, to say the least. Here's how to cope.

Talking is hard

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Human existence is nothing if not bizarre. To illustrate this, I have recently completed recording my second audiobook, “Blow the Man Down,” due for release in a few weeks. Just typing those words is exceptionally odd. Two audiobooks! Only…

Readers of the lost art

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The 12-year-old who is grounded from his iPad: I'm bored. There’s literally nothing to do. Me: There’s a hundred great books in this house. Pick one. The 12-year-old: But, Dad, reading isn’t any fun. I have to read in school; why…

You're gonna screw up. It's OK.

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I originally wrote this for a professional association I'm a member of, but I think you'll like it, too. Modified slightly.   You dread it. You do everything possible to avoid it, take every precaution and all the right steps. But…

My Top 5 Reasons to Care About Correct Grammar

Let me start by saying this: Nobody's perfect. We all make grammatical errors from time to time the same way we make mistakes in other areas of our life. I wish we all had personal copy editors, but we don't. Even for a professional like…
Everest Base Camp with Doofus Dad

"Doofus Dad" is officially out in the world

Along the 'Elephant Skin' Trail to Thukla

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As we topped a wide slope, the vista before us revealed our task: we would be walking along a gently rising ridge situated adjacent to a massif of snowy peaks with a valley in between.

The Fiery Gizzard Trail: Certa Mors.

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Last weekend, upon the suggestions of trek member Luis, we brazenly decided to tackle the Fiery Gizzard Trail, known as one of the Top 25 hikes in the nation. The full trail is around 12.5 miles long and is rated "strenuous," which in Latin, means "certa mors," which then translated back into English, means "certain death." Not knowing this, I just assumed it actually meant "strenuous," which is kind of a nebulous word and not to be taken too seriously.

The Big Question: Why?

Regarding Nepal, I’ve been getting the WTH question a lot lately, so I thought I’d answer it here. Actually, to be more specific, the question is twofold: 1) Why do you want to go trekking in Nepal, and 2) Why did you want to start a business…

Casting the first fly: Indoctrination on the Bighorn River

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Careful not to slip on the mossy rocks, I stepped into the water of the Bighorn River. "Dang. This is cold." My guide, Jerry Smalley, scoffed as he walked past me, his hands full of fly rods and gear. "That water ain't cold," he said.…