Here we are again, folks! Out with the old! In with the new! Many of us have already reflected a bit about the past year and prepared one or more New Year’s Resolutions. What can we promise ourselves to start or stop doing on the first day of the year, that we’d truly stick with, once decided? (If you’re reading this after day 1 of any new year, you have my permission to start wherever you are!) Often New Year’s resolutions are about kicking a habit or improving our own lives in some way. In my efforts to support and inspire others, I love to throw out random alternative ideas. We can create New Year’s Resolutions from anything that sparks us! For instance, I enjoyed fashioning this poem (of sorts) with relevant rhyming words to suggest a wider view of resolutions. (Many of these serve to share impact beyond our...

I Did It!   My friend, (amazing author, publisher, film producer, creative guru, and more) Ann Jagger (see references & links below), started an annual series of short story collections a few years ago.  Every month each year from February through October, she would post a "prompt" to get us started.   Folks (18 years or older) can give it a try and submit their stories.   Ann selects the best stories to include in that year's volume at the end of each year.   There are currently 5 volumes in print.  If you want to rise to the challenge, the next story prompts begin February 2024! I participated in Ann's "I Did It" challenge each of the last two years.   In 2022's "I Did It" (Volume 4), Ann published my story "Hey Gertrude" (The Real Truth).  The story prompt was "Rewrite the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from the point of view of...

A Singing Telegram?  Isn't that when someone dresses up in a silly costume, runs up to a designated person, sings "Happy Birthday" (or something else), and does something embarrassing for the fun of it? Do they still do that? Singing telegrams have been around since 1933. Per Wikipedia, they were first delivered by Western Union, as an attempt to make telegrams more popular and fun than the standard topics of urgent news: (like "Your uncle died. Stop. Funeral in 2 weeks. Stop...." - you get the idea). Telegrams were delivered in person. When telephones became a standard household service in the 1960s, in person telegrams fell off because people could call to talk to each other directly. Western Union suspended its singing telegram services about 1974, but independent companies continued to provide them.  The practice is still very much alive today.   So, what is a singing telegram?  People often imagine sending someone dressed up in costume...

We are now in the “Season of Giving”. For some that means getting Christmas or Hannukah and other celebratory gifts purchased, wrapped, and sent. We plan gatherings for exchanging gifts and find many excuses to party!For others it’s giving back in lots of ways, like showing appreciation, donating time, volunteering, or monitarily supporting our favorite nonprofit(s), which are all meaningful and often lasting gifts for those who benefit. “Giving Tuesday” is annually the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s a global movement to be generous in giving back to our communities. Founded in 2012 by United Nations Foundation, there is an organization and website for Giving Tuesday: https://www.givingtuesday.org. As Giving Tuesday approaches, we are reminded and encouraged to participate by multiple entities.  Anybody can give in a small or big way, though it’s not only, or all, about giving money.  (Note, “Giving Tuesday” is a NEW movement as it relates to my own personal years!)...