My sister is an amazing woman. A super or over achiever, if there ever was one. This year she asked each of us in the family, and close friends of our family, to come up with ten words to describe each of us. She then compiled all those adjectives and using different fonts and colors, personalized each of us a shirt, mug or pillow with those words. I'm sure it took her hours.

The end product was humbling. Sometimes we forget how we are perceived by our loved ones. This was...

Last night I read through a ton of threads. My initial intention was to write a clever Christmas diddy, with rhyme and verse, mentioning some of you with whom I've interacted with. But the list kept growing.

So then I decided to go through and just write the names of everyone who had written something that touched me in some way. But the list kept growing.

That list is now up to 86 people and I started to feel that I was boxing myself in to a position where now...

In November of 96 I was working at a restaurant as a kitchen manager. One evening, one of the other employees brought in a potato gun. For those of you unfamiliar with this contraption, I will explain.

A potato gun typically consists of two pieces of PVC piping, a funnel piece, a cap, an ignition switch from a bar b que, and a screw. One piece of PVC pipe, the chamber, is about a foot long, and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. On one end is a cap that can be screwed on and off, the...

There are only a few reality shows that I watch. One is Faceoff. A movie make up show. The other is Best Ink, a tattoo show. Both use an elimination process to create a single winner by the end of the season. Both shows are made up of contestants who I would consider are artists in their own right.

The make up artists are much more open to helping each other, despite it being a contest. They seem supportive of one another emotionally as well. As a group there seems to be a...

My life seems to run in seven year cycles. It's not an absolute number but it is close enough to be able to recognize a pattern in the timing.

There is plenty of research to support that typically from in utero to five years old, one experiences their most formative years. I suspect with out a nurturing environment, this may take longer. I can't remember a thing from my 2nd grade year. I've been told that there was some emotional abuse and ridicule. Apparently, I spent a lot...