Happy Recession Anniversary

A couple weeks ago I read an interesting article in Smart Money entitled Lessons from the Crash.  While the specifics of the story were geared towards those given to single stock investing, it was more the premise that caught my imagination. The set up was the top 5 lessons investors have learned over the past 12 months, the spiritual if not literal anniversary of the downturn. So that got me to...

Letters To My Credit Card – Settlement Letter

  Last week I presented an article sharing a recent experience with a reader/emailer.  In this story I referenced a pair of letters I crafted for the benefit of this person, “Ella”. Well, as fate would have it, my ability to add a downloadable file to an article seems to not be working at this time.  This might be user error, but I’m looking into it. In the meantime, I didn’t...

Letters To My Credit Card – Delayed Settlement Letter

  Last week I presented an article sharing a recent experience with a reader/emailer.  In this story I referenced a pair of letters I crafted for the benefit of this person, “Ella”. Well, as fate would have it, my ability to add a downloadable file to an article seems to not be working at this time.  This might be user error, but I’m looking into it. In the meantime, I didn’t...

Letters To My Credit Card

Some of my favorite writing is in response to reader emails.  Sometimes that means a response to a comment on the website but even more fun are the letters from readers asking for my advice.  Granted, I’ve only had this happen a couple times and half of those were cases of mistaken identity, but the idea of offering advice to someone in need is compelling and engaging and rewarding. Recently a...

You Are What Your Record Says You Are

The title is a quote from Super Bowl winning coach Bill Parcells. The idea is that a team is as good or as bad as its record indicate.  Fans, commentators, and even players like to interpret – or rationalize – circumstances and game events so as to suggest that a team is better, or sometimes worse, than its record might suggest.  A lucky bounce here or a bad call there and those close losses...

4th Quarter

My favorite football team has something of a tradition when the game moves into the 4th quarter.  Players and fans alike will raise four fingers to acknowledge the game’s final frame.  It’s a small tradition and not particularly unique but the symbolism is profound. While I’ve not studied the pattern, I do know, as a long time football fan, that most games are decided in the 4th quarter of...

Annual Reading – Purpose Driven Life – Part 3

Lately I’ve been sharing my notes or thoughts from my first time reading Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”. Previously I shared Days 1-10 and Days 11-25.  Today I’ll conclude the series with my notes for Days 26 – 40.  Day 26 Temptations arise as a means of trying to drive a wedge between us and God.  They should be viewed as testaments of our relationship...