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Looking for clear context around today's most talked-about retirement planning issues? In this episode of the Retire Sooner Podcast, Wes Moss and Christa DiBiase present an educational discussion covering healthcare planning, retirement income considerations, Social Security decisions, and how current economic conditions are commonly framed in retirement conversations. • Review current healthcare enrollment periods, including Affordable Care Act considerations, and why coverage timing is often discussed by early retirees. • Illustrate a real-world healthcare planning example that examines estimating and managing medical costs before age 65 using publicly available comparison tools. • Explain recent healthcare policy changes by outlining how subsidy rules and updated federal poverty thresholds are referenced in retirement healthcare planning. • Contextualize recent Federal Reserve rate cuts by discussing how interest-rate changes are typically viewed in relation to mortgages, housing activity, and broader economic conditions. • Address listener questions by outlining commonly discussed considerations around retirement timing, asset allocation approaches, principal-protected notes, and early retirement trade-offs. • Compare Social Security claiming considerations by reviewing trade-offs associated with different filing ages based on individual circumstances. • Clarify how taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts are often viewed together when discussing overall portfolio allocation. • Share perspectives from retirees on aligning lifestyle goals—such as travel, part-time work, or relocating abroad—with sustainable withdrawal planning discussions. • Reinforce why significant financial and healthcare decisions are commonly reviewed with qualified professionals before implementation. Interested in an educational retirement podcast focused on context, trade-offs, and long-term planning awareness? Listen to this episode and subscribe to the Retire Sooner Podcast for ongoing conversations designed to inform retirement planning decisions—not predict outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Economic data, market trends, and retirement planning topics are often discussed without sufficient historical context. In this episode of the Money Matters Podcast, Wes Moss and Jeff Lloyd present an educational discussion that places recent economic releases and market observations within a long-term analytical framework. • Review the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release by situating current inflation readings within more than 80 years of historical inflation data. • Examine the historical development of the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target by comparing it with observed inflation outcomes across multiple economic periods. • Discuss how recent government shutdowns delayed scheduled economic data releases and why temporary reporting gaps can affect short-term market narratives. • Explain commonly referenced employment metrics by outlining the differences between the household survey and the establishment survey used in labor market reporting. • Evaluate the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP), including prime working-age participation, as a frequently cited measure of labor market conditions. • Illustrate how year-over-year and multi-year inflation rates can demonstrate the compounding effect of price changes on purchasing power over time. • Compare historical inflation trends with long-term S&P 500 dividend growth to provide context on income-oriented equity characteristics. • Revisit balanced 60/40 portfolio performance in historical discussions to reinforce diversification as a commonly referenced investment framework. • Place the current bull market within a broader historical context by reviewing average cycle durations and the range of outcomes observed over time. • Observe market behavior following spring volatility, including changes in sector participation within the S&P 500. • Highlight ongoing public discussion around artificial intelligence and its potential role in productivity and efficiency across multiple economic sectors. • Review publicly reported fiscal stimulus expectations, including projected changes to tax refunds in 2026 and their possible macroeconomic implications. • Consider housing and real estate themes for the coming year by outlining economic and demographic factors commonly associated with market activity. • Summarize research-based observations on retiree well-being, including written planning approaches, engagement in meaningful activities, and social connection. For listeners seeking discussion about inflation, employment data, market history, and retirement planning concepts, this episode provides structured context grounded in long-term observations. Listen to the Money Matters Podcast and subscribe to stay informed about highly searched financial topics.

Michigan Weather and Women: Part 1 Love, bastards, and what we leave behind. Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connected. The Plumber, The Painter, and the Wind off the Lake Prologue I have never been much for following instructions or doing what I'm told. In eighth grade, we were assigned to make a volcano in science class. I figured that if the eruption looked good with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda, then it would look even better with the whole container! And what better place for a natural disaster than the teacher's desk at the front of the class. I was right; the whole container of baking soda produced an impressive explosion. What I didn't count on, however, was it producing a week-long suspension from school and a beating from my mother. In high school, we had to take an art class to graduate. Our teacher loved still life drawing and would ramble endlessly about how it revealed the beauty that is in the everyday objects that surround us. I guess he wanted us to reveal the beauty in the bowl of fruit that he had put in the middle of the classroom, but the most beautiful things that I could see were Brittany Johnson's D-cups which filled out her sweater gloriously. At the end of the class, there were 29 drawings of a bowl of fruit and one drawing of a beautiful girl's smile (amongst other details). Although I was suspended for two days, I got a date with Brittany who loved my drawing, so I feel like I came out ahead on that one. In my last year of school, the final mathematics exam asked the following question: Determine the points of intersection between the following parabolas and lines. Illustrate fully. While the other students slaved away to solve the listed problems in the allotted time, I fully illustrated a drawing of our math teacher, Mr. Aaronson, dancing a slow waltz in a field of sunflowers with Mrs. Stevens, the geography teacher. It was the worst-kept secret in the school that our two shyest teachers had massive crushes on each other, and after four years of watching them pine away, I thought they could use a little push. I failed the test, but Mr. Aaronson showed my drawing to Mrs. Stevens during a particularly dull staff meeting, and when it made her blush and smile, he finally got up the courage to ask her out. They are now married and have a little girl who is as cute as a button. At the end of the year, Mr. Aaronson asked me if I planned to pursue math in the future, and when I assured him that I did not, he gave me a passing grade. So, what was my problem, you might ask? Was I just one of those kids who didn't give a shit and was destined for mediocrity or failure in life? Like many things, the answer is more complicated than it might first appear, but I am getting ahead of myself. Our story starts on an unusually cold and blustery afternoon in late October, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Michigan about a half hour's drive north of Petoskey, just outside a village called Good Hart. Chapter 1. It had been a busy day. The perfect storm of an early season snap freeze, strong winds, and lake-effect snow meant that there was a couple of inches of snow on the still soggy ground, along with a number of leaky or burst pipes, malfunctioning valves, and boiler issues as people cranked their heating systems up to full for the first time that year. As a plumber, though, I didn't mind. It just meant more work for me, which was always a good thing. At only 25 years of age, and despite being a master plumber, I was generally the last choice for folks to call, even in an emergency. Anyone with money chose one of the larger and more established plumbing contractors, leaving me with the jobs that they didn't feel were worth their time or effort. That's how I found myself pulling into the laneway of an older house, just off Lamkin Road down by the lake, late that Friday afternoon. It was my last job of the day, but I would be working over the weekend to catch up on my backlog, so I wanted to get it done. The house looked like it hadn't been updated since it was built, likely in the late fifties or early sixties, other than a couple of coats of paint and a new roof when the original finally gave up the ghost. The front gardens were neatly tended, however, and the property itself was stunning, with panoramic views in three directions out over the lake. The sun was just beginning to dip toward the western horizon as I drove up, so the trees cast long shadows across the laneway. The house was owned by Mrs. Wilma C. Anderson, who had called me earlier in the day to say that some of her radiators weren't working and that her boiler was making one hell of a racket when she turned it on. I told her to shut the system down and that I would look at it by the end of the day. She sounded quite elderly, and I didn't like the idea of her going without heat for a night during a cold snap. I rang the doorbell and waited until a tiny wisp of a woman answered. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall and looked older than the hills, but her face was full of life, and her eyes had a twinkle that spoke of humor and mischief. "Hi, Mrs. Anderson, I'm Davis Crawford. You called earlier about some issues with your boiler and heating system. How can I help?" Mrs. Anderson gave me an appraising look. "I wasn't expecting you to be such a handsome young man. If I were fifty years younger, I would tell you exactly how you could help me, and then I'd teach you a trick or two I learned over the years. But I am too old for that kind of foolishness these days, so I will just have to make use of your plumbing expertise instead. And please, call me Wilma." I couldn't help but laugh and blush at Wilma's surprisingly raunchy sense of humor. I liked her immediately. "Let's try that again. What seems to be the problem?" "Well, the biggest problem is that I am 91 years old and dying of cancer. The doctors give me less than a year to live. But aside from that, I really can't complain. I have had a good run of it." I cocked my head to one side and gave her a bemused look. "Oh, you were wondering what the problem is with my heating system. Well, I turned it on this morning when I got up, and the boiler sounded like there was someone trapped inside of it trying to hammer their way out. There was a worrisome hissing from some of the radiators, as well, and they weren't heating up worth a damn. "My husband, Phillip, used to take care of those things for us, but he has been gone for almost five years now, so I hate to think what you will find when you look around." "I'm sure I can help you, Mrs. Anderson,;" "Wilma, please." "Sorry, Wilma. Why don't you show me to the basement, and I will try to figure out what's wrong. Then I can get started on fixing it." On the way to the basement stairs, Wilma led me through her crowded but orderly living room. I couldn't help but notice the paintings on just about every surface of its walls. "You have a real eye for art, Wilma. Those paintings are beautiful." Wilma smiled wistfully at me and got a faraway look in her eyes as she replied. "Phillip and I were artists. I guess I still am, but I haven't felt much like painting since he passed on. Phillip painted portraits. He made a surprisingly good living at it; you would be amazed at what rich people will pay to see their lives immortalized in oil on canvas. I never had the knack. Phillip could make even the most corpulent and corrupt industrialist appear regal and wise. I could only ever capture what I actually saw in them, and I quickly discovered that they did not enjoy, or pay for, that kind of introspection. "So, I painted landscapes, and there is always a market for those. But I kept some of my favorite pieces, over the years, as you can see." As Wilma spoke, I took a closer look at the paintings. One, in particular, was striking; a portrait of a beautiful young woman, in her late teens or early twenties, with a stethoscope around her neck and her blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was wearing a loose hoodie and was curled up in an Adirondack chair, reading a book. It was not what you would expect from a formal portrait, but it seemed to capture her essence in a way that no photograph could match. I must have stopped moving as I was drawn into the image, so Wilma gave me a minute before she continued. "That's the last painting that Phillip worked on before he passed. He didn't get the chance to finish it, but I still think it's his finest work." I couldn't help but agree. "Who's the model? She's beautiful." "That's my granddaughter, Erin. You can't tell from the portrait, but she's a real firecracker. As a grandparent, you're not supposed to play favorites, but she was very special to Phillip, and it hit her hard when he passed. There is more love in that one painting than in all the other portraits that he painted over his lifetime. Except for his first, of course, of me." "Where are Phillips' other works? Surely, they weren't all commissions that are now locked away in some dusty millionaire's palace." Wilma's expression turned bleak as she contemplated her response. "All of his other paintings were sold after he died. The kids said they would fetch a better price while there was an upswing of interest in his work after his death, so they insisted that they all go to auction as quickly as possible. They were probably right, I guess, although I loved his art more than I needed the money. But how do you argue with your kids when they have just lost their father?" "Do any of your children live nearby?" "They all moved far away. Phillip and I chose a wonderful spot to live and make our art, but a challenging place to raise a family. It's not so bad now, what with the internet, highways, and the like, but when we first moved here sixty-some years ago, it was very isolated. We were young and selfish, and our selfishness cost us dearly. "We thought that our children would grow to love this area over time, like we did. But they never did, and they left as soon as they could get away. My daughter, Samantha, is a retired lawyer and she and her third husband split their time between their loft in Manhattan and their beach house in the Bahamas. My son, Robert, is an oil executive down in Texas. Neither of them has been here in more than a decade, except for Phillip's funeral. "My baby, Max, passed away more than twenty years ago now of cancer. Erin is his granddaughter. She is a pediatrician, and she splits her time between the hospital in Petoskey and the children's hospital down in Grand Rapids. She comes to see me when she can, but she is very busy. My other relatives all live busy lives far away from here. We chose to live here, though, so I can't be too upset that the rest of the family chose to live far away. "But enough about me. What about you, Mr. Crawford? Do you have any children?" "It's just me and my siblings, I'm afraid, and it's been that way for quite some time. My oldest sister, Alison, is 20, and she goes to college at North Central Michigan, in Petoskey. She is planning to become a nurse practitioner. The rest of the gang still lives at home with me. Sharon is 17 now, so she kind of runs the show while I am working; Mary is 15 but going on 30, if you know what I mean; and Lane is the baby of the family at 12." "Where are your parents?" "I don't honestly know. We each have a different father, or at least we think we do. Sharon, Lane, and I have no idea who our fathers are, so there's a chance that we might be full siblings, but I doubt it. My mother never kept the same man around for long. Alison's father has been in and out of jail since before she was born and is currently serving a stint in federal prison. But Mary has it the worst of all of us. "My mother met Mary's dad on a weekend bender in Vegas, and he is a pretty big deal. Rich, famous, the kind of guy you see on TV and the cover of magazines. A real family man, except when it comes to Mary, whom he refuses to even acknowledge. He bought my mom's silence with a lump sum payment and a non-disclosure agreement. That money was supposed to be put in a trust for Mary, but my mom snorted and injected it all in less than a year. Mary has written to her father dozens of times and reached out to him on social media countless more, but he wants nothing to do with his bastard daughter. "As for my mom, she went away for the weekend almost seven years ago now and left me in charge. And I am still in charge, I guess. So, no time for dating or romance for me, and I think that I will be just about done with raising kids by the time that Lane goes off to college." Wilma gave me a look filled with more empathy than I had felt in a long time, maybe ever. "Anyway, I should take a look at your boiler and see what I can do about getting you some heat." I would have called the boiler in Wilma's basement old, but that wouldn't have done it justice. Frankly, it wouldn't have seemed out of place in a museum of heating and plumbing, and it was hanging on to life by the barest of threads. With only a year to live, however, I wasn't going to recommend to Wilma that she replace the whole system with something more modern and efficient. "I think I can fix your boiler so that it will hold on for another year or two, and I can patch a couple of leaks in the lines to the main radiators as well. One line to a radiator at the back of the house is completely shot, so I will shut that one off and be back to replace it later this week." "What's all that going to cost?" "It's free of charge, Ma'am. You've got enough to look after with your health and all, without having to worry about your heating system. I never had a grandma to spoil, at least not one that I know of, so it would be my pleasure to do this for you." "Please, it's Wilma. And it's a grandmother's prerogative to spoil her grandchildren, and not the other way around. But your kindness is mighty appreciated, Davis." It took me a couple of hours to shore up the boiler and repair the lines that were still in reasonable condition before I was finished for the day. As I got ready to leave, I found Wilma sitting alone in the living room reading an old paperback. "I'll call you later this week, once the replacement line for your radiator comes in." Wilma got a mischievous smile on her face. "Why, Davis, are you getting fresh with me?" "If I were older and more experienced, I would in an instant. But I hardly think I can compete with the memory of your Phillip." "Too true, too true. Alright young man, well thank you for taking the time to look after a foolish old woman on a cold October night." "I hardly think you're foolish, Wilma, but it's been my pleasure." I didn't get home from Wilma's until well after nine that night, and by the time I pulled into our gravel driveway, I was beat. The dilapidated old yard light mounted on the roof of the garage shone weakly down on the sloppy mix of gravel and mud that was our yard, and I could hear the excited barks of Munchkin, our rescue puppy. He was a mix of German Shepherd and Cane Corso, with some variety of northern dog thrown in, and he was mighty pleased to see me. I'm glad that someone was. I came into our small three-bedroom rental to find Sharon and Lane sitting at the dining room table working on his math homework. I wish that they reacted like Munchkin when they saw me, but Lane just grunted a hello, while Sharon looked up at me with a mixture of sadness and worry. "Mary is out with the McDougal brothers again. They showed up here a half hour ago, I told her not to go with them, but she wouldn't listen." "The McDougal brothers are assholes," was Lane's addition to the conversation, without even looking up from the table. He wasn't wrong. The oldest McDougall brother, Calum, was a couple of years ahead of me at school and was a bully and a braggart. Two of his three brothers had followed in his esteemed footsteps, while the jury was still out on the youngest, James. "I'm going to go get her. Next time that those boys turn up in our yard, let Munchkin lose on them." "Alright, dinner will be in the oven when you get back. Given 'em hell, Bro." The McDougal brothers lived just outside Pellston in the closest thing to a mansion that you could find in our neck of the woods. Their family owned the largest construction and maintenance company in the area and had most of the Public Works contracts sown up, along with a not inconsiderable portion of the private construction in our region as well. Their parents spent most of their time in Sarasota, Florida, though, and the brothers had free rein while they were gone. As I drove up their long, paved driveway, automatic floodlights came on, illuminating the ostentatious columns that flanked the entrance to their house. I parked in front of the nearest bay of their four-car attached garage while noting that there was another three-car garage further off to the right. I idly wondered who got to park in which garage. Rich people problems, I guess. I walked to the front door and let myself in. From the foyer, I could hear the loud thump of music coming from the back of the house, so I headed that way. As I passed through the kitchen, I nearly bumped into James, who was holding a couple of empty serving bowls. He stopped dead when he saw me, looking nervous, clearly not expecting anyone else to be in their house. Certainly not me, anyway. "Hey James, I am here to get my sister. Where is she?" He hesitated a moment before pointing toward the back of the house. "She's in the game room playing pool with the guys. We didn't force her to come here or anything, if that's what you're worried about." "Maybe that's true, James. But you know she is still a minor, and I am her guardian, so I'm going to fetch her and bring her home." James didn't like the sound of that, but I turned my back on him and followed the music to a large, sunken room at the back of the house, which had an expensive-looking pool table in the middle. The remaining McDougal brothers were either playing pool or smoking up on one of the couches that were scattered around the outside of the room. Calum was presiding over the festivities, while the Pistons game was playing on a wall-mounted TV that was bigger than some movie screens. Despite his family's blue-collar roots, Calum looked like an overgrown frat boy, with his preppy clothes and fifty-dollar haircut. Mary was sitting in the middle of one of the couches, with a McDougal brother on one side and one of their hangers-on on the other. She looked somewhere between uncomfortable and scared, but she gave me a defiant scowl. The music stopped, and everyone looked to Calum and then back at me. There was a nervous tension in the air. "Hi Calum, I'm here for my sister." Calum was now in a bit of a spot; he couldn't just let me come into his home and give him orders without losing face with his brothers and their cronies. But he also knew, or at least suspected, that my sister was underage. And then there was always the Pipe Wrench Incident. That always made people nervous to be around me. "That's not my problem. She told my brother that she wanted to party, so she's here to party. No one forced her to come, and she seems to be having a good time." I wondered if all of Calum's dates looked as scared and uncomfortable as Mary did at that moment when they were having a 'good time'. "Well, since she is still a minor and I'm her guardian, it's a bit of a problem. Or it could be. But I don't want to put a damper on your evening, so I'll just bring Mary home with me and we'll call it a night." Calum looked toward James who had just come back into the room with bowls now filled with potato chips. "Is that true, Limp dick? Did you bring an underage girl home to party with us?" James began to sputter before Calum shook his head in disgust. He pointed over at Mary. "Get the fuck out of here, and don't come back until you're sixteen," he said before turning back to me. "And you. Just get the fuck out of our house." It was a silent drive home. Mary refused to even look at me, staring out the window instead. When we pulled into our yard, Munchkin came running up to greet us, and Mary finally spoke. "You didn't need to embarrass me like that. I'm old enough to make my own choices, you know." "The law says you're still a minor. And you'll always be my sister. Those guys are no good, Mary. You know that." "James is different. He isn't like the rest of them." "Maybe that's true, or maybe not. But you don't hang out in a nest of rattlesnakes, just because there is a garter snake in there with them that you think is cute." After a pause and some continued barking from Munchkin, Mary finally looked over at me. "You're not my dad, you know. You can't tell me what to do." And there it was. It always came down to the same thing with Mary; her father's rejection of her. Over the years, it had undermined her self-esteem and destroyed her self-worth to the point where I wondered if they would ever recover. Unfortunately, I was just smart enough to see the problem, but I had no idea how to fix it. A brother's love can only go so far, I guess. "I know, Mary. I know. But I love you, and I am so proud of you, and I just wish that was enough." We sat in silence for another minute before she replied. "I wish it was too." Chapter 2. It took a couple of days for Mrs. Anderson's new radiator line to arrive, and I gave her a call when I went to pick it up. "Hi, Mrs. And; Wilma. I was just picking up the replacement line for your radiator, and I was wondering if you needed anything else from town, while I'm here. I was going to come by and install the line later this afternoon if that works for you." "That's very kind of you, Davis. Would you mind picking up a few groceries for me? I can send the store a list, so they will be ready for you when you get there." A couple of my calls that day took longer than expected, so it was late in the afternoon again by the time I made it to Wilma's place. The early season snow had mostly melted away, and her yard was now a combination of gravel and thick soupy mud that could swallow a tire as easily as it could swallow a boot. "Thank you for picking the groceries up for me, you're too kind." "It was no trouble at all, especially since I was coming out this way anyway. If you don't mind me asking, how do you usually get them?" "I used to have a young man up the way who would help me with groceries and yard work, and other small things, but now I am pretty much on my own." "What happened to him? Did he move away?" "No, he still lives in the same place that he always has, but I am pretty sure that my family paid him more not to help me than I was paying for his assistance." "What? That seems like a crappy thing for them to do to you." Wilma gave a resigned sigh and then offered me a coffee while she told me her story. "I think I told you the last time you were here, that most of my family has moved on from this place, except my granddaughter Erin. The rest of them already have an agreement in place with a developer, the McDougals, to turn this property into a high-end resort for the Fudgies, so they have someplace to spend their money after visiting Mackinac Island." "Fudgies," was what the locals called the tourists from down south who descended on the upper peninsula in the summer. "If you don't mind me asking, just how much land do you own?" "Well, Phillip and I didn't have much to spend our money on over the years, so we bought up many of the nearby properties when they went up for sale. We ended up with at least a quarter mile of land that fronts onto the lake, without even really trying." I let out a low whistle. "That must be worth a small fortune. I can understand your family's interest." "At first, they didn't care if I stayed in the house after Phillip died. They figured that I would follow soon enough. After a few years, however, they started to get impatient, and it's fair to say that they are now actively encouraging me to leave, by foot, by car, or in a box. They have generously offered to put me out to pasture in a warehouse for the old and infirm, though, to await my impending doom. "With my cancer, their wish is finally going to come true. By this time next year, I will be sipping coffee with Phillip in whatever afterlife we atheists get to enjoy. Actually, who am I kidding? If there is an afterlife for Phillip and me, the first thing I'm going to do when I get there is get on my knees, undo his belt buckle, and then show him just how much I've missed him these past five years. Wilma looked a bit startled as if she had just remembered that I was still there. "I'm sorry, Davis. You probably didn't need to hear that last part. I just miss him so much. I still see him in the trees and along the shore, and I sometimes hear his voice in the wind off the lake." "It's all good, Wilma. I just hope that my brother and sisters get to experience the kind of love that you and Phillip had someday." "What about you, Davis? Don't you deserve to experience that kind of love as well?" "Maybe I deserve it, Wilma, but I don't think I am going to find it. It's been tough; real tough, looking after my family all these years. I have done things that I am not proud of, but that needed to be done. I don't regret them; I would do anything to protect the people I love. But I doubt that anyone would be able to love me, once they found out what I've done." "I think you are selling yourself short, Davis. We are all artists, and we are all worthy of love." With that, Wilma offered to top up my coffee before I started replacing the broken line. As the evening's shadows deepened, I saw her watching me with compassion and concern in her eyes. Once I was finished, I felt her hand on my shoulder, and she gave it an empathetic squeeze. "A penny for your thoughts?" I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at her. "It's my sister, Mary. I am losing her. She is so hurt and angry that she is beginning to make bad choices, and I don't know how to help her. I've tried to be her brother, parent, and friend, but I'm failing at all three." Wilma offered no judgment, good or bad. She just listened, and when I finished, she spoke. "Bring her over this Sunday around noon. Tell her to wear some old clothes that she doesn't mind getting dirty. You can come too if you would like and bring your little brother to do some fishing, but Mary will be spending her time with me." It wasn't easy convincing Mary to come to Wilma's. If you have spent time dealing with teenage girls, you know that they can be as stubborn as late-season ice on the lake. In the end, I resorted to threats and bribery to get her onboard, but she assured me that she would hate every minute she was there. Lane came with us as well, with the promise that we could spend the afternoon fishing off the end of Wilma's dock. By the time we arrived, Mary was sullenly glued to the passenger seat and wouldn't look up from her phone. Wilma waited a few minutes for Mary, but she stubbornly refused to leave the truck. Eventually, Wilma pulled on her rubber boots and walked over to the truck. She looked up at Mary and started speaking. "There are three things that I know are true. "The first, I've already shared with your brother. We are all artists because we are all worthy of love. But many of us lose our way. We are hurt and abandoned, and we are buried in shame. I was like that for many years. But my husband, Phillip, found me and taught me what it is to be loved. Not just the physical act; although he taught me about that as well; but the certainty that I was seen, known, and cherished. He showed me that I am an artist. You are an artist too. "Second, I am old, I have cancer, and I will die. Not today, and hopefully not tomorrow, but soon. And that is okay; we all die. I have lived a good life. And when I do, I hope that Phillip will be waiting for me with a glass of chilled white wine and his beautiful smile. My art may linger for a while once I am gone but, eventually, it too will be lost. "Third, the world is full of bastards. Your brother tells me that you and he are both bastards. I will tell you a secret that I have shared with very few people; I am a bastard too. "My mother was beautiful but poor. Her parents lost everything during the Great Depression, and she worked as a housemaid for a rich and powerful man to support her family. When she fell pregnant, he put her out on the street and refused to recognize her child, his daughter; me. Because of his rejection, I spent too many years steeped in shame and self-loathing. But eventually, I learned a hard truth; my father was a bastard by choice, while I was a bastard by birth. And those of us who are bastards by birth must never let the bastards by choice win. "Come inside when you're ready. I'm too old and it's too cold for me to stand here waiting for you." With that, Wilma turned and slowly made her way back to the house. Surprisingly, after a minute, Mary followed. When they reached the door, Wilma turned to look back at me. "It's time for you boys to go fishing. There is a warm breeze off the lake that will bring you good luck." Lane and I made our way down the hill to the dock in silence, our fishing rods, ice chest, and tackle box in hand. Unlike a seasonal dock that would be taken out of the lake each fall, Wilma's dock could be used year-round and was built with heavy timbers and steel bracing, so it could withstand the crushing force of the winter's ice. When we reached the dock, we felt the warm wind that Wilma had promised, and we chose our lures and began to cast. After a half hour of fishing, Lane broke the silence. "Do you think it's my fault?" "Do I think what's your fault, Bud?" "That mom left us. That she never came back. Do you think it's my fault?" I sighed as I thought about my answer. "No. It's not your fault. It's no one's fault, really, maybe not even hers. It's funny though, she brought some amazing people into this world. I wish she could have seen how incredible you and your sisters have turned out. But she made her choice, and that's on her, not you." Lane thought about my answer before he continued. "But you would be better off without me. Sharon would have more time to study for the scholarship she will need to get away from here. I try to be nice to Mary, to make her feel better, but I just seem to make things worse for her as well. And I see how hard you work to keep our family together. I feel like you would all be better off without me. If I weren't here, maybe Mom would come back home." I took a deep breath and tried to push down the anger that threatened to overwhelm me; anger at my mother for abandoning us, anger at myself for never being enough, and anger at a world that would leave my brother feeling like it would be better off if he didn't exist. I felt the wind off the lake as it blew across my face, drying my unshed tears before they were formed. As I was wondering how to unbreak my brother's heart, a particularly strong gust of wind blew through and Lane's fishing rod bent into a deep arc, the tip dancing wildly as a fish fought against the line. "Dad! Help;" The drag clicked furiously as the fish pulled line, as Lane fought to keep his rod tip up. I quickly set my rod aside and braced him, my hands held loosely beside his as he fought to reel in his catch. We worked together for what seemed like an eternity before he finally fought his fish to the side of the dock. I grabbed the net and saw that he had hooked a steelhead trout that was easily two feet long and must have weighed at least eight pounds if not more. It was a wonder the drag held steady, and his line didn't break during the fight. As I scooped up his catch, the steelhead's silver sides shimmered like polished chrome in the fading light, and it was so big that it took up over half the ice chest I had brought along to store our catch. Lane was flushed with excitement at landing such an impressive fish, and I was so proud of him that my heart almost ached. "Nice work, Son." He just looked up at me for a moment before throwing his arms around me in a hug. In the time since our mother left, he had never called me by anything other than my name. I never tried to be his dad; I didn't think I was qualified, but I guess that all of us need someone in our lives who will love us without conditions or end. "Never think that you're a burden on me or the family. Maybe you need a bit more from us right now than you can give back, but that's alright. Because sixty years from now, when I am old and can't wipe my ass anymore, you are going to be paying me back in spades, alright?" With that, we went back to fishing in companionable silence. I pulled in a few smaller ones, but nothing to match Lane's steelhead. A few hours later, the wind had picked up and it was getting colder, so we packed up our equipment and made our way back toward the house. Halfway down the dock, however, a huge gust of wind swept through, and I heard a cry followed by a loud splash. Turning back, I saw that Lane's foot had slipped through a broken slat, and he had fallen off the dock. Without thinking, I dropped the ice box and rods and jumped into the water to help him. When I got him to shore, he couldn't put any weight on his ankle, and any efforts to do so were met with cries of pain. I quickly collected our discarded fishing gear and set it to one side, before helping him to slowly make his way back up the hill. The November chill quickly took hold of us as we walked, plastering our damp clothing to our skin, and we were shivering uncontrollably by the time we reached the house. I knocked but it took a minute for Wilma and Mary to come out from the studio at the back of the house. "I am sorry to cut things short, but Lane had an accident down at the dock and he sprained or maybe even broke his ankle. I am going to have to take him to the hospital in Petoskey to get it looked at before it swells up any further." Wilma looked at me with concern. "Maybe you should hold off at least for a little while. My granddaughter, Erin, the pediatrician, is coming for dinner tonight and should be here any minute. Why don't we let her take a look at it before you head into town? And let's get you out of those clothes; you must be freezing. I still have some of Phillip's things in the closet that might fit you." A few minutes later, I had changed into a pair of comfortable but slightly musty-smelling pants, with a warm sweater over a well-worn collared shirt. I was both taller and wider than Phillip had been, at least in the twilight of his years, so the pants were a bit short, while the sweater was tight across my shoulders. While I changed, Mary and Wilma had set Lane up on the couch with his ankle elevated on some pillows. I helped him change out of his wet clothing and into an old sweatshirt and shorts that fit over his swollen ankle. Once Lane was settled, Wilma and I talked quietly in the kitchen. "It's getting late, and you must be getting hungry, but I don't think I have enough to feed everyone." I thought for a moment. "We may be in luck. Lane caught the biggest steelhead I have ever seen earlier this afternoon, but I left it down by the dock after the accident. If you have a few potatoes and maybe a veg or two, I am sure I can whip something up that would feed us all." Wilma looked at me with a sly smile. "He cooks, he plumbs, and he cares for his family, all while cutting a dashing figure in my late husband's favorite sweater. You, Mr. Crawford, are a catch." "I am not sure about that, Wilma," I replied with a laugh, "But either way, this catch had better go and get our earlier catch, so I can get started on dinner." It took me almost half an hour to collect our fishing gear and bring it back up to the truck. By the time I was done, an older SUV was parked behind my truck, which meant that Erin had arrived. After I loaded the gear, I used the fishing knife and stained plastic cutting board that I kept in a bin under the back seat to clean and filet the steelhead before heading inside. From the doorway, I could see a head of sandy-blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail sticking up from the far side of the couch, and I heard a calm and melodic voice talking to Lane while Wilma and Mary looked on. I was so lost in that voice that I almost jumped when the latch on the door caught behind me. The head of sandy-blonde hair looked up at the sound, revealing a pair of amber, almost golden eyes. "You must be the father," said that same melodic voice, as those eyes bore their way into my soul. "It's Davis Crawford, and I'm the older brother." "Erin Anderson, nice to meet you. Can you get hold of your parents? We might need to take Lane to the hospital for some X-rays." "No," I replied more harshly than I intended. "No," I tried again, more gently but with an edge to my voice. "Our parents aren't around; I am as close as you're going to get. I am Lane's legal guardian if that helps." There was a slight pause as her amber eyes shifted from surprise to curiosity. "That helps a lot. Why don't you give me 15 minutes or so to take a look at this brave dude's ankle, then we can talk over some options, once I have a better sense of what's going on." "That okay with you, Bud?" I asked as I walked over to the couch. "Yeah, that should be fine," he replied, but his eyes were wide, and his cheeks were flushed. For a moment, I was worried that he might be running a fever, but then I got my first look at Erin, and I understood. Maybe she wasn't classically beautiful like a movie star or swimsuit model, but she was lean and fit, and from what I could see, had more than enough curves in all the right places. It was her face, however, that captured me. She had delicate features accentuated by her high cheekbones, and there was a softness to her expression that spoke of empathy and kindness. Her eyes, though intense, had a warmth that put me instantly at ease. I realized much too late that I had been staring at Erin for an uncomfortably long time while holding the bag of steelhead filets out like some kind of sacrificial offering. While I stood frozen, the look in Erin's beautiful eyes had shifted from curiosity to amusement; I would assume at the fish-carrying simpleton standing in front of her. "Thanks, Dr. Anderson; err, Erin. I appreciate your taking a look at him and; I am going to go cook us up some fish before I make an even bigger ass of myself." Wilma joined me in the kitchen, while Erin continued to assess Lane's injured ankle. We spent the next few minutes dicing the potatoes and veggies and tossing them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper before sprinkling the filets of steelhead with a mixture of herbs. I topped the fish with some slices of a less-than-fresh, but still edible, lemon I found in the fridge, before putting the whole thing in the oven. To be continued in part 2. Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts, for Literotica.

Michigan Weather and Women: Part 1 Love, bastards, and what we leave behind. Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connected. The Plumber, The Painter, and the Wind off the Lake Prologue I have never been much for following instructions or doing what I'm told. In eighth grade, we were assigned to make a volcano in science class. I figured that if the eruption looked good with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda, then it would look even better with the whole container! And what better place for a natural disaster than the teacher's desk at the front of the class. I was right; the whole container of baking soda produced an impressive explosion. What I didn't count on, however, was it producing a week-long suspension from school and a beating from my mother. In high school, we had to take an art class to graduate. Our teacher loved still life drawing and would ramble endlessly about how it revealed the beauty that is in the everyday objects that surround us. I guess he wanted us to reveal the beauty in the bowl of fruit that he had put in the middle of the classroom, but the most beautiful things that I could see were Brittany Johnson's D-cups which filled out her sweater gloriously. At the end of the class, there were 29 drawings of a bowl of fruit and one drawing of a beautiful girl's smile (amongst other details). Although I was suspended for two days, I got a date with Brittany who loved my drawing, so I feel like I came out ahead on that one. In my last year of school, the final mathematics exam asked the following question: Determine the points of intersection between the following parabolas and lines. Illustrate fully. While the other students slaved away to solve the listed problems in the allotted time, I fully illustrated a drawing of our math teacher, Mr. Aaronson, dancing a slow waltz in a field of sunflowers with Mrs. Stevens, the geography teacher. It was the worst-kept secret in the school that our two shyest teachers had massive crushes on each other, and after four years of watching them pine away, I thought they could use a little push. I failed the test, but Mr. Aaronson showed my drawing to Mrs. Stevens during a particularly dull staff meeting, and when it made her blush and smile, he finally got up the courage to ask her out. They are now married and have a little girl who is as cute as a button. At the end of the year, Mr. Aaronson asked me if I planned to pursue math in the future, and when I assured him that I did not, he gave me a passing grade. So, what was my problem, you might ask? Was I just one of those kids who didn't give a shit and was destined for mediocrity or failure in life? Like many things, the answer is more complicated than it might first appear, but I am getting ahead of myself. Our story starts on an unusually cold and blustery afternoon in late October, on the north-eastern shore of Lake Michigan about a half hour's drive north of Petoskey, just outside a village called Good Hart. Chapter 1. It had been a busy day. The perfect storm of an early season snap freeze, strong winds, and lake-effect snow meant that there was a couple of inches of snow on the still soggy ground, along with a number of leaky or burst pipes, malfunctioning valves, and boiler issues as people cranked their heating systems up to full for the first time that year. As a plumber, though, I didn't mind. It just meant more work for me, which was always a good thing. At only 25 years of age, and despite being a master plumber, I was generally the last choice for folks to call, even in an emergency. Anyone with money chose one of the larger and more established plumbing contractors, leaving me with the jobs that they didn't feel were worth their time or effort. That's how I found myself pulling into the laneway of an older house, just off Lamkin Road down by the lake, late that Friday afternoon. It was my last job of the day, but I would be working over the weekend to catch up on my backlog, so I wanted to get it done. The house looked like it hadn't been updated since it was built, likely in the late fifties or early sixties, other than a couple of coats of paint and a new roof when the original finally gave up the ghost. The front gardens were neatly tended, however, and the property itself was stunning, with panoramic views in three directions out over the lake. The sun was just beginning to dip toward the western horizon as I drove up, so the trees cast long shadows across the laneway. The house was owned by Mrs. Wilma C. Anderson, who had called me earlier in the day to say that some of her radiators weren't working and that her boiler was making one hell of a racket when she turned it on. I told her to shut the system down and that I would look at it by the end of the day. She sounded quite elderly, and I didn't like the idea of her going without heat for a night during a cold snap. I rang the doorbell and waited until a tiny wisp of a woman answered. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall and looked older than the hills, but her face was full of life, and her eyes had a twinkle that spoke of humor and mischief. "Hi, Mrs. Anderson, I'm Davis Crawford. You called earlier about some issues with your boiler and heating system. How can I help?" Mrs. Anderson gave me an appraising look. "I wasn't expecting you to be such a handsome young man. If I were fifty years younger, I would tell you exactly how you could help me, and then I'd teach you a trick or two I learned over the years. But I am too old for that kind of foolishness these days, so I will just have to make use of your plumbing expertise instead. And please, call me Wilma." I couldn't help but laugh and blush at Wilma's surprisingly raunchy sense of humor. I liked her immediately. "Let's try that again. What seems to be the problem?" "Well, the biggest problem is that I am 91 years old and dying of cancer. The doctors give me less than a year to live. But aside from that, I really can't complain. I have had a good run of it." I cocked my head to one side and gave her a bemused look. "Oh, you were wondering what the problem is with my heating system. Well, I turned it on this morning when I got up, and the boiler sounded like there was someone trapped inside of it trying to hammer their way out. There was a worrisome hissing from some of the radiators, as well, and they weren't heating up worth a damn. "My husband, Phillip, used to take care of those things for us, but he has been gone for almost five years now, so I hate to think what you will find when you look around." "I'm sure I can help you, Mrs. Anderson,;" "Wilma, please." "Sorry, Wilma. Why don't you show me to the basement, and I will try to figure out what's wrong. Then I can get started on fixing it." On the way to the basement stairs, Wilma led me through her crowded but orderly living room. I couldn't help but notice the paintings on just about every surface of its walls. "You have a real eye for art, Wilma. Those paintings are beautiful." Wilma smiled wistfully at me and got a faraway look in her eyes as she replied. "Phillip and I were artists. I guess I still am, but I haven't felt much like painting since he passed on. Phillip painted portraits. He made a surprisingly good living at it; you would be amazed at what rich people will pay to see their lives immortalized in oil on canvas. I never had the knack. Phillip could make even the most corpulent and corrupt industrialist appear regal and wise. I could only ever capture what I actually saw in them, and I quickly discovered that they did not enjoy, or pay for, that kind of introspection. "So, I painted landscapes, and there is always a market for those. But I kept some of my favorite pieces, over the years, as you can see." As Wilma spoke, I took a closer look at the paintings. One, in particular, was striking; a portrait of a beautiful young woman, in her late teens or early twenties, with a stethoscope around her neck and her blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was wearing a loose hoodie and was curled up in an Adirondack chair, reading a book. It was not what you would expect from a formal portrait, but it seemed to capture her essence in a way that no photograph could match. I must have stopped moving as I was drawn into the image, so Wilma gave me a minute before she continued. "That's the last painting that Phillip worked on before he passed. He didn't get the chance to finish it, but I still think it's his finest work." I couldn't help but agree. "Who's the model? She's beautiful." "That's my granddaughter, Erin. You can't tell from the portrait, but she's a real firecracker. As a grandparent, you're not supposed to play favorites, but she was very special to Phillip, and it hit her hard when he passed. There is more love in that one painting than in all the other portraits that he painted over his lifetime. Except for his first, of course, of me." "Where are Phillips' other works? Surely, they weren't all commissions that are now locked away in some dusty millionaire's palace." Wilma's expression turned bleak as she contemplated her response. "All of his other paintings were sold after he died. The kids said they would fetch a better price while there was an upswing of interest in his work after his death, so they insisted that they all go to auction as quickly as possible. They were probably right, I guess, although I loved his art more than I needed the money. But how do you argue with your kids when they have just lost their father?" "Do any of your children live nearby?" "They all moved far away. Phillip and I chose a wonderful spot to live and make our art, but a challenging place to raise a family. It's not so bad now, what with the internet, highways, and the like, but when we first moved here sixty-some years ago, it was very isolated. We were young and selfish, and our selfishness cost us dearly. "We thought that our children would grow to love this area over time, like we did. But they never did, and they left as soon as they could get away. My daughter, Samantha, is a retired lawyer and she and her third husband split their time between their loft in Manhattan and their beach house in the Bahamas. My son, Robert, is an oil executive down in Texas. Neither of them has been here in more than a decade, except for Phillip's funeral. "My baby, Max, passed away more than twenty years ago now of cancer. Erin is his granddaughter. She is a pediatrician, and she splits her time between the hospital in Petoskey and the children's hospital down in Grand Rapids. She comes to see me when she can, but she is very busy. My other relatives all live busy lives far away from here. We chose to live here, though, so I can't be too upset that the rest of the family chose to live far away. "But enough about me. What about you, Mr. Crawford? Do you have any children?" "It's just me and my siblings, I'm afraid, and it's been that way for quite some time. My oldest sister, Alison, is 20, and she goes to college at North Central Michigan, in Petoskey. She is planning to become a nurse practitioner. The rest of the gang still lives at home with me. Sharon is 17 now, so she kind of runs the show while I am working; Mary is 15 but going on 30, if you know what I mean; and Lane is the baby of the family at 12." "Where are your parents?" "I don't honestly know. We each have a different father, or at least we think we do. Sharon, Lane, and I have no idea who our fathers are, so there's a chance that we might be full siblings, but I doubt it. My mother never kept the same man around for long. Alison's father has been in and out of jail since before she was born and is currently serving a stint in federal prison. But Mary has it the worst of all of us. "My mother met Mary's dad on a weekend bender in Vegas, and he is a pretty big deal. Rich, famous, the kind of guy you see on TV and the cover of magazines. A real family man, except when it comes to Mary, whom he refuses to even acknowledge. He bought my mom's silence with a lump sum payment and a non-disclosure agreement. That money was supposed to be put in a trust for Mary, but my mom snorted and injected it all in less than a year. Mary has written to her father dozens of times and reached out to him on social media countless more, but he wants nothing to do with his bastard daughter. "As for my mom, she went away for the weekend almost seven years ago now and left me in charge. And I am still in charge, I guess. So, no time for dating or romance for me, and I think that I will be just about done with raising kids by the time that Lane goes off to college." Wilma gave me a look filled with more empathy than I had felt in a long time, maybe ever. "Anyway, I should take a look at your boiler and see what I can do about getting you some heat." I would have called the boiler in Wilma's basement old, but that wouldn't have done it justice. Frankly, it wouldn't have seemed out of place in a museum of heating and plumbing, and it was hanging on to life by the barest of threads. With only a year to live, however, I wasn't going to recommend to Wilma that she replace the whole system with something more modern and efficient. "I think I can fix your boiler so that it will hold on for another year or two, and I can patch a couple of leaks in the lines to the main radiators as well. One line to a radiator at the back of the house is completely shot, so I will shut that one off and be back to replace it later this week." "What's all that going to cost?" "It's free of charge, Ma'am. You've got enough to look after with your health and all, without having to worry about your heating system. I never had a grandma to spoil, at least not one that I know of, so it would be my pleasure to do this for you." "Please, it's Wilma. And it's a grandmother's prerogative to spoil her grandchildren, and not the other way around. But your kindness is mighty appreciated, Davis." It took me a couple of hours to shore up the boiler and repair the lines that were still in reasonable condition before I was finished for the day. As I got ready to leave, I found Wilma sitting alone in the living room reading an old paperback. "I'll call you later this week, once the replacement line for your radiator comes in." Wilma got a mischievous smile on her face. "Why, Davis, are you getting fresh with me?" "If I were older and more experienced, I would in an instant. But I hardly think I can compete with the memory of your Phillip." "Too true, too true. Alright young man, well thank you for taking the time to look after a foolish old woman on a cold October night." "I hardly think you're foolish, Wilma, but it's been my pleasure." I didn't get home from Wilma's until well after nine that night, and by the time I pulled into our gravel driveway, I was beat. The dilapidated old yard light mounted on the roof of the garage shone weakly down on the sloppy mix of gravel and mud that was our yard, and I could hear the excited barks of Munchkin, our rescue puppy. He was a mix of German Shepherd and Cane Corso, with some variety of northern dog thrown in, and he was mighty pleased to see me. I'm glad that someone was. I came into our small three-bedroom rental to find Sharon and Lane sitting at the dining room table working on his math homework. I wish that they reacted like Munchkin when they saw me, but Lane just grunted a hello, while Sharon looked up at me with a mixture of sadness and worry. "Mary is out with the McDougal brothers again. They showed up here a half hour ago, I told her not to go with them, but she wouldn't listen." "The McDougal brothers are assholes," was Lane's addition to the conversation, without even looking up from the table. He wasn't wrong. The oldest McDougall brother, Calum, was a couple of years ahead of me at school and was a bully and a braggart. Two of his three brothers had followed in his esteemed footsteps, while the jury was still out on the youngest, James. "I'm going to go get her. Next time that those boys turn up in our yard, let Munchkin lose on them." "Alright, dinner will be in the oven when you get back. Given 'em hell, Bro." The McDougal brothers lived just outside Pellston in the closest thing to a mansion that you could find in our neck of the woods. Their family owned the largest construction and maintenance company in the area and had most of the Public Works contracts sown up, along with a not inconsiderable portion of the private construction in our region as well. Their parents spent most of their time in Sarasota, Florida, though, and the brothers had free rein while they were gone. As I drove up their long, paved driveway, automatic floodlights came on, illuminating the ostentatious columns that flanked the entrance to their house. I parked in front of the nearest bay of their four-car attached garage while noting that there was another three-car garage further off to the right. I idly wondered who got to park in which garage. Rich people problems, I guess. I walked to the front door and let myself in. From the foyer, I could hear the loud thump of music coming from the back of the house, so I headed that way. As I passed through the kitchen, I nearly bumped into James, who was holding a couple of empty serving bowls. He stopped dead when he saw me, looking nervous, clearly not expecting anyone else to be in their house. Certainly not me, anyway. "Hey James, I am here to get my sister. Where is she?" He hesitated a moment before pointing toward the back of the house. "She's in the game room playing pool with the guys. We didn't force her to come here or anything, if that's what you're worried about." "Maybe that's true, James. But you know she is still a minor, and I am her guardian, so I'm going to fetch her and bring her home." James didn't like the sound of that, but I turned my back on him and followed the music to a large, sunken room at the back of the house, which had an expensive-looking pool table in the middle. The remaining McDougal brothers were either playing pool or smoking up on one of the couches that were scattered around the outside of the room. Calum was presiding over the festivities, while the Pistons game was playing on a wall-mounted TV that was bigger than some movie screens. Despite his family's blue-collar roots, Calum looked like an overgrown frat boy, with his preppy clothes and fifty-dollar haircut. Mary was sitting in the middle of one of the couches, with a McDougal brother on one side and one of their hangers-on on the other. She looked somewhere between uncomfortable and scared, but she gave me a defiant scowl. The music stopped, and everyone looked to Calum and then back at me. There was a nervous tension in the air. "Hi Calum, I'm here for my sister." Calum was now in a bit of a spot; he couldn't just let me come into his home and give him orders without losing face with his brothers and their cronies. But he also knew, or at least suspected, that my sister was underage. And then there was always the Pipe Wrench Incident. That always made people nervous to be around me. "That's not my problem. She told my brother that she wanted to party, so she's here to party. No one forced her to come, and she seems to be having a good time." I wondered if all of Calum's dates looked as scared and uncomfortable as Mary did at that moment when they were having a 'good time'. "Well, since she is still a minor and I'm her guardian, it's a bit of a problem. Or it could be. But I don't want to put a damper on your evening, so I'll just bring Mary home with me and we'll call it a night." Calum looked toward James who had just come back into the room with bowls now filled with potato chips. "Is that true, Limp dick? Did you bring an underage girl home to party with us?" James began to sputter before Calum shook his head in disgust. He pointed over at Mary. "Get the fuck out of here, and don't come back until you're sixteen," he said before turning back to me. "And you. Just get the fuck out of our house." It was a silent drive home. Mary refused to even look at me, staring out the window instead. When we pulled into our yard, Munchkin came running up to greet us, and Mary finally spoke. "You didn't need to embarrass me like that. I'm old enough to make my own choices, you know." "The law says you're still a minor. And you'll always be my sister. Those guys are no good, Mary. You know that." "James is different. He isn't like the rest of them." "Maybe that's true, or maybe not. But you don't hang out in a nest of rattlesnakes, just because there is a garter snake in there with them that you think is cute." After a pause and some continued barking from Munchkin, Mary finally looked over at me. "You're not my dad, you know. You can't tell me what to do." And there it was. It always came down to the same thing with Mary; her father's rejection of her. Over the years, it had undermined her self-esteem and destroyed her self-worth to the point where I wondered if they would ever recover. Unfortunately, I was just smart enough to see the problem, but I had no idea how to fix it. A brother's love can only go so far, I guess. "I know, Mary. I know. But I love you, and I am so proud of you, and I just wish that was enough." We sat in silence for another minute before she replied. "I wish it was too." Chapter 2. It took a couple of days for Mrs. Anderson's new radiator line to arrive, and I gave her a call when I went to pick it up. "Hi, Mrs. And; Wilma. I was just picking up the replacement line for your radiator, and I was wondering if you needed anything else from town, while I'm here. I was going to come by and install the line later this afternoon if that works for you." "That's very kind of you, Davis. Would you mind picking up a few groceries for me? I can send the store a list, so they will be ready for you when you get there." A couple of my calls that day took longer than expected, so it was late in the afternoon again by the time I made it to Wilma's place. The early season snow had mostly melted away, and her yard was now a combination of gravel and thick soupy mud that could swallow a tire as easily as it could swallow a boot. "Thank you for picking the groceries up for me, you're too kind." "It was no trouble at all, especially since I was coming out this way anyway. If you don't mind me asking, how do you usually get them?" "I used to have a young man up the way who would help me with groceries and yard work, and other small things, but now I am pretty much on my own." "What happened to him? Did he move away?" "No, he still lives in the same place that he always has, but I am pretty sure that my family paid him more not to help me than I was paying for his assistance." "What? That seems like a crappy thing for them to do to you." Wilma gave a resigned sigh and then offered me a coffee while she told me her story. "I think I told you the last time you were here, that most of my family has moved on from this place, except my granddaughter Erin. The rest of them already have an agreement in place with a developer, the McDougals, to turn this property into a high-end resort for the Fudgies, so they have someplace to spend their money after visiting Mackinac Island." "Fudgies," was what the locals called the tourists from down south who descended on the upper peninsula in the summer. "If you don't mind me asking, just how much land do you own?" "Well, Phillip and I didn't have much to spend our money on over the years, so we bought up many of the nearby properties when they went up for sale. We ended up with at least a quarter mile of land that fronts onto the lake, without even really trying." I let out a low whistle. "That must be worth a small fortune. I can understand your family's interest." "At first, they didn't care if I stayed in the house after Phillip died. They figured that I would follow soon enough. After a few years, however, they started to get impatient, and it's fair to say that they are now actively encouraging me to leave, by foot, by car, or in a box. They have generously offered to put me out to pasture in a warehouse for the old and infirm, though, to await my impending doom. "With my cancer, their wish is finally going to come true. By this time next year, I will be sipping coffee with Phillip in whatever afterlife we atheists get to enjoy. Actually, who am I kidding? If there is an afterlife for Phillip and me, the first thing I'm going to do when I get there is get on my knees, undo his belt buckle, and then show him just how much I've missed him these past five years. Wilma looked a bit startled as if she had just remembered that I was still there. "I'm sorry, Davis. You probably didn't need to hear that last part. I just miss him so much. I still see him in the trees and along the shore, and I sometimes hear his voice in the wind off the lake." "It's all good, Wilma. I just hope that my brother and sisters get to experience the kind of love that you and Phillip had someday." "What about you, Davis? Don't you deserve to experience that kind of love as well?" "Maybe I deserve it, Wilma, but I don't think I am going to find it. It's been tough; real tough, looking after my family all these years. I have done things that I am not proud of, but that needed to be done. I don't regret them; I would do anything to protect the people I love. But I doubt that anyone would be able to love me, once they found out what I've done." "I think you are selling yourself short, Davis. We are all artists, and we are all worthy of love." With that, Wilma offered to top up my coffee before I started replacing the broken line. As the evening's shadows deepened, I saw her watching me with compassion and concern in her eyes. Once I was finished, I felt her hand on my shoulder, and she gave it an empathetic squeeze. "A penny for your thoughts?" I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at her. "It's my sister, Mary. I am losing her. She is so hurt and angry that she is beginning to make bad choices, and I don't know how to help her. I've tried to be her brother, parent, and friend, but I'm failing at all three." Wilma offered no judgment, good or bad. She just listened, and when I finished, she spoke. "Bring her over this Sunday around noon. Tell her to wear some old clothes that she doesn't mind getting dirty. You can come too if you would like and bring your little brother to do some fishing, but Mary will be spending her time with me." It wasn't easy convincing Mary to come to Wilma's. If you have spent time dealing with teenage girls, you know that they can be as stubborn as late-season ice on the lake. In the end, I resorted to threats and bribery to get her onboard, but she assured me that she would hate every minute she was there. Lane came with us as well, with the promise that we could spend the afternoon fishing off the end of Wilma's dock. By the time we arrived, Mary was sullenly glued to the passenger seat and wouldn't look up from her phone. Wilma waited a few minutes for Mary, but she stubbornly refused to leave the truck. Eventually, Wilma pulled on her rubber boots and walked over to the truck. She looked up at Mary and started speaking. "There are three things that I know are true. "The first, I've already shared with your brother. We are all artists because we are all worthy of love. But many of us lose our way. We are hurt and abandoned, and we are buried in shame. I was like that for many years. But my husband, Phillip, found me and taught me what it is to be loved. Not just the physical act; although he taught me about that as well; but the certainty that I was seen, known, and cherished. He showed me that I am an artist. You are an artist too. "Second, I am old, I have cancer, and I will die. Not today, and hopefully not tomorrow, but soon. And that is okay; we all die. I have lived a good life. And when I do, I hope that Phillip will be waiting for me with a glass of chilled white wine and his beautiful smile. My art may linger for a while once I am gone but, eventually, it too will be lost. "Third, the world is full of bastards. Your brother tells me that you and he are both bastards. I will tell you a secret that I have shared with very few people; I am a bastard too. "My mother was beautiful but poor. Her parents lost everything during the Great Depression, and she worked as a housemaid for a rich and powerful man to support her family. When she fell pregnant, he put her out on the street and refused to recognize her child, his daughter; me. Because of his rejection, I spent too many years steeped in shame and self-loathing. But eventually, I learned a hard truth; my father was a bastard by choice, while I was a bastard by birth. And those of us who are bastards by birth must never let the bastards by choice win. "Come inside when you're ready. I'm too old and it's too cold for me to stand here waiting for you." With that, Wilma turned and slowly made her way back to the house. Surprisingly, after a minute, Mary followed. When they reached the door, Wilma turned to look back at me. "It's time for you boys to go fishing. There is a warm breeze off the lake that will bring you good luck." Lane and I made our way down the hill to the dock in silence, our fishing rods, ice chest, and tackle box in hand. Unlike a seasonal dock that would be taken out of the lake each fall, Wilma's dock could be used year-round and was built with heavy timbers and steel bracing, so it could withstand the crushing force of the winter's ice. When we reached the dock, we felt the warm wind that Wilma had promised, and we chose our lures and began to cast. After a half hour of fishing, Lane broke the silence. "Do you think it's my fault?" "Do I think what's your fault, Bud?" "That mom left us. That she never came back. Do you think it's my fault?" I sighed as I thought about my answer. "No. It's not your fault. It's no one's fault, really, maybe not even hers. It's funny though, she brought some amazing people into this world. I wish she could have seen how incredible you and your sisters have turned out. But she made her choice, and that's on her, not you." Lane thought about my answer before he continued. "But you would be better off without me. Sharon would have more time to study for the scholarship she will need to get away from here. I try to be nice to Mary, to make her feel better, but I just seem to make things worse for her as well. And I see how hard you work to keep our family together. I feel like you would all be better off without me. If I weren't here, maybe Mom would come back home." I took a deep breath and tried to push down the anger that threatened to overwhelm me; anger at my mother for abandoning us, anger at myself for never being enough, and anger at a world that would leave my brother feeling like it would be better off if he didn't exist. I felt the wind off the lake as it blew across my face, drying my unshed tears before they were formed. As I was wondering how to unbreak my brother's heart, a particularly strong gust of wind blew through and Lane's fishing rod bent into a deep arc, the tip dancing wildly as a fish fought against the line. "Dad! Help;" The drag clicked furiously as the fish pulled line, as Lane fought to keep his rod tip up. I quickly set my rod aside and braced him, my hands held loosely beside his as he fought to reel in his catch. We worked together for what seemed like an eternity before he finally fought his fish to the side of the dock. I grabbed the net and saw that he had hooked a steelhead trout that was easily two feet long and must have weighed at least eight pounds if not more. It was a wonder the drag held steady, and his line didn't break during the fight. As I scooped up his catch, the steelhead's silver sides shimmered like polished chrome in the fading light, and it was so big that it took up over half the ice chest I had brought along to store our catch. Lane was flushed with excitement at landing such an impressive fish, and I was so proud of him that my heart almost ached. "Nice work, Son." He just looked up at me for a moment before throwing his arms around me in a hug. In the time since our mother left, he had never called me by anything other than my name. I never tried to be his dad; I didn't think I was qualified, but I guess that all of us need someone in our lives who will love us without conditions or end. "Never think that you're a burden on me or the family. Maybe you need a bit more from us right now than you can give back, but that's alright. Because sixty years from now, when I am old and can't wipe my ass anymore, you are going to be paying me back in spades, alright?" With that, we went back to fishing in companionable silence. I pulled in a few smaller ones, but nothing to match Lane's steelhead. A few hours later, the wind had picked up and it was getting colder, so we packed up our equipment and made our way back toward the house. Halfway down the dock, however, a huge gust of wind swept through, and I heard a cry followed by a loud splash. Turning back, I saw that Lane's foot had slipped through a broken slat, and he had fallen off the dock. Without thinking, I dropped the ice box and rods and jumped into the water to help him. When I got him to shore, he couldn't put any weight on his ankle, and any efforts to do so were met with cries of pain. I quickly collected our discarded fishing gear and set it to one side, before helping him to slowly make his way back up the hill. The November chill quickly took hold of us as we walked, plastering our damp clothing to our skin, and we were shivering uncontrollably by the time we reached the house. I knocked but it took a minute for Wilma and Mary to come out from the studio at the back of the house. "I am sorry to cut things short, but Lane had an accident down at the dock and he sprained or maybe even broke his ankle. I am going to have to take him to the hospital in Petoskey to get it looked at before it swells up any further." Wilma looked at me with concern. "Maybe you should hold off at least for a little while. My granddaughter, Erin, the pediatrician, is coming for dinner tonight and should be here any minute. Why don't we let her take a look at it before you head into town? And let's get you out of those clothes; you must be freezing. I still have some of Phillip's things in the closet that might fit you." A few minutes later, I had changed into a pair of comfortable but slightly musty-smelling pants, with a warm sweater over a well-worn collared shirt. I was both taller and wider than Phillip had been, at least in the twilight of his years, so the pants were a bit short, while the sweater was tight across my shoulders. While I changed, Mary and Wilma had set Lane up on the couch with his ankle elevated on some pillows. I helped him change out of his wet clothing and into an old sweatshirt and shorts that fit over his swollen ankle. Once Lane was settled, Wilma and I talked quietly in the kitchen. "It's getting late, and you must be getting hungry, but I don't think I have enough to feed everyone." I thought for a moment. "We may be in luck. Lane caught the biggest steelhead I have ever seen earlier this afternoon, but I left it down by the dock after the accident. If you have a few potatoes and maybe a veg or two, I am sure I can whip something up that would feed us all." Wilma looked at me with a sly smile. "He cooks, he plumbs, and he cares for his family, all while cutting a dashing figure in my late husband's favorite sweater. You, Mr. Crawford, are a catch." "I am not sure about that, Wilma," I replied with a laugh, "But either way, this catch had better go and get our earlier catch, so I can get started on dinner." It took me almost half an hour to collect our fishing gear and bring it back up to the truck. By the time I was done, an older SUV was parked behind my truck, which meant that Erin had arrived. After I loaded the gear, I used the fishing knife and stained plastic cutting board that I kept in a bin under the back seat to clean and filet the steelhead before heading inside. From the doorway, I could see a head of sandy-blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail sticking up from the far side of the couch, and I heard a calm and melodic voice talking to Lane while Wilma and Mary looked on. I was so lost in that voice that I almost jumped when the latch on the door caught behind me. The head of sandy-blonde hair looked up at the sound, revealing a pair of amber, almost golden eyes. "You must be the father," said that same melodic voice, as those eyes bore their way into my soul. "It's Davis Crawford, and I'm the older brother." "Erin Anderson, nice to meet you. Can you get hold of your parents? We might need to take Lane to the hospital for some X-rays." "No," I replied more harshly than I intended. "No," I tried again, more gently but with an edge to my voice. "Our parents aren't around; I am as close as you're going to get. I am Lane's legal guardian if that helps." There was a slight pause as her amber eyes shifted from surprise to curiosity. "That helps a lot. Why don't you give me 15 minutes or so to take a look at this brave dude's ankle, then we can talk over some options, once I have a better sense of what's going on." "That okay with you, Bud?" I asked as I walked over to the couch. "Yeah, that should be fine," he replied, but his eyes were wide, and his cheeks were flushed. For a moment, I was worried that he might be running a fever, but then I got my first look at Erin, and I understood. Maybe she wasn't classically beautiful like a movie star or swimsuit model, but she was lean and fit, and from what I could see, had more than enough curves in all the right places. It was her face, however, that captured me. She had delicate features accentuated by her high cheekbones, and there was a softness to her expression that spoke of empathy and kindness. Her eyes, though intense, had a warmth that put me instantly at ease. I realized much too late that I had been staring at Erin for an uncomfortably long time while holding the bag of steelhead filets out like some kind of sacrificial offering. While I stood frozen, the look in Erin's beautiful eyes had shifted from curiosity to amusement; I would assume at the fish-carrying simpleton standing in front of her. "Thanks, Dr. Anderson; err, Erin. I appreciate your taking a look at him and; I am going to go cook us up some fish before I make an even bigger ass of myself." Wilma joined me in the kitchen, while Erin continued to assess Lane's injured ankle. We spent the next few minutes dicing the potatoes and veggies and tossing them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper before sprinkling the filets of steelhead with a mixture of herbs. I topped the fish with some slices of a less-than-fresh, but still edible, lemon I found in the fridge, before putting the whole thing in the oven. To be continued in part 2. Based on a post by CleverGenericName, in 4 parts, for Literotica.

Wherein we dawdle through doodles.    Submit a creature concept: gwritersanon@gmail.com  Follow along on our Facebook page (Ghost Writers, Anonymous).  

This episode is essential for speakers aiming to transform their presentations from ordinary to extraordinary by honing in on what truly captures and holds an audience's attention.This episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney engages with Brian Walters, CSP, CPAE, a seasoned speaker, emcee, and infotainment expert. Brian, a past president of the National Speakers Association, shares his expert advice on creating memorable and "sticky" content in the ever-evolving speaking industry.In this session, Brian will: * Explain the "sticky framework" as a crucial method for speakers to design presentations that resonate. Attendees will learn to identify and apply the framework's components: gettable, feelable, sayable, and doable in their presentations. * Illustrate how to identify the Scooby Doo moment in a speech, ensuring that speakers recognize and craft their 'aha' moments to maximize audience engagement and recall. * Discuss techniques for crafting and branding key points, using memory hacks and storytelling to enhance the impact and retention of a speaker's message. Become and NSA Member! https://nsaspeaker.org/join/#membership THRIVE 2026! You NEED to be here! https://thrive.nsaspeaker.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether you are an emerging or experienced speaker, let Simon's journey inspire you to align your inner spark with external success and to leverage your expertise for meaningful, memorable impact.In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth Kinney (Shark) sits down with renowned CSP and CPAE Hall of Fame keynote speaker Simon T. Bailey to explore what it truly means to amplify your brilliance as a professional speaker. Simon, widely recognized as the world's leading expert on brilliance, shares personal milestones, strategies for sustainable influence, and the pivotal role research has played in redefining his brand and value proposition in the speaking industry.In this session, Simon will:* Illustrate how to differentiate yourself by embracing originality and authenticity rather than mimicking industry icons, ensuring your message resonates beyond the applause.* Analyze the impact of integrating proprietary research into your business, elevating conversations with decision-makers, commanding higher fees, and building long-term influence within client organizations.* Reflect on common career challenges—such as chasing stages and seeking validation from speaker bureaus—and encourage speakers to focus on service, humility, and the true meaning behind every keynote. Become and NSA Member! https://nsaspeaker.org/join/#membership THRIVE 2026! You NEED to be here! https://thrive.nsaspeaker.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Austin shares 4 trends that top job seekers are using to consistently land interviews and job offers!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:57] - Invest in areas of opportunity[3:10] - Cast a wide net, gether info, & double down[6:04] - Illustrate your value in public[8:03] - Be persistent!Want To Level Up Your Job Search?Click here to learn more about 1:1 career coaching to help you land your dream job without applying online.Check out Austin's courses and, as a thank you for listening to the show, use the code PODCAST to get 5% off any digital course:The Interview Preparation System - Austin's proven, all-in-one process for turning your next job interview into a job offer.Value Validation Project Starter Kit - Everything you need to create a job-winning VVP that will blow hiring managers away and set you apart from the competition.No Experience, No Problem - Austin's proven framework for building the skills and experience you need to break into a new industry (even if you have *zero* experience right now).Try Austin's Job Search ToolsResyBuild.io - Build a beautiful, job-winning resume in minutes.ResyMatch.io - Score your resume vs. your target job description and get feedback.ResyBullet.io - Learn how to write attention grabbing resume bullets.Mailscoop.io - Find anyone's professional email in seconds.Connect with Austin for daily job search content:Cultivated CultureLinkedInTwitterThanks for listening!

Steve lays out three recent stories that perfectly underscore the show's long-standing theme that worldview is destiny. Then, Bob Vander Plaats from the Family Leader joins the program to discuss what, if anything, could end the government shutdown. Hour Two is another edition of Ask Deace Anything. TODAY'S SPONSORS: JASE MEDICAL: https://jasemedical.com/ and enter code “DEACE” at checkout for a discount on your order BIRCH GOLD: Text STEVE to 989898 BEAM: https://shopbeam.com/products/sleep-powder?discount=steve&variant=40436356710455&selling_plan=787415095&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=sponsorship&utm_campaign=steve and use code STEVE at checkout REAL ESTATE AGENTS I TRUST: https://realestateagentsitrust.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think Illustrate Founder, Jackie Wahome | The Legal Insider by Capital FM

Illustrator, game designer and educator Brendan Barnett joins Ben to discuss art, ideas, inspiration, creative process, dragons, wizards and goblins (oh my!) as we leaf through Paul Kidby's 2024 gorgeous coffee table book, Designing Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Paul Kidby started bringing Terry Pratchett's Discworld to life when, on the third attempt, he showed off his skill to the author by drawing his own versions of Discworld characters who had so captured his imagination. After several successful collaborations on art books, diaries, maps and the epic The Last Hero, he took over as the cover artist for the series after the death of Josh Kirby in 2001. His illustrations of the characters have become iconic, and Pratchett himself referred to him as his ‘artist of choice'. In this book, Paul discusses his pre-Discworld career, his long collaboration with Terry, and even shows us a glimpse of what might have been by sketching drafts of covers for the books that never were. Do you have a favourite illustration from the book? What was most interesting to you about Paul's process as an artist - and what's it like to read if you don't consider yourself one? How many of originals that Kidby parodies or does an homage to did you know? And who are your other favourite artists? Illustrate your point by sending us your answers (or questions) via a comment, or on the back of a social media post using the hashtag #Pratchat88. Guest Brendan Barnett (he/him) has spend around 15 years working with young people to foster their creativity, including for most of the last decade with Ben at their previous workplace, the creative writing centre 100 Story Building. Trained as an animator and an actor, he is also a keen lover of fantasy roleplaying, and has designed some very well-received adventures for Dungeons & Dragons and similar games. You can find out more about his work at brendanbarnett.com, and find his latest adventure, Grotto of the Golden Gargoyle, on itch.io - as well as his recent collaboration with Ben, the one-page adventure Flee the Flying Saucer! You can find episode notes and errata on our web site. Next month we're surfing the wave of Melbourne International Games Week (which happened just as this episode was being edited) to discuss the 1995 graphic adventure videogame Discworld! A slightly odd adaptation of the plot of Guards! Guards!, Discworld stars Eric Idle as the voice of Rincewind, alongside a small but equally impressive cast of UK comedy talent. It's not currently commercially available, but you can find play-through videos of it on YouTube. Get your questions in via email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com, or send them via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat89. Then, for December, #Pratchat90 will return us to the Discworld novels for nearly the final time, as we read the final Moist von Lipwig book, Raising Steam! We'll remind you about it next month, but if you want to get your questions in early, the hashtag for that episode is #Pratchat90. And don't worry - we have plans to discuss Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch in the new year. Watch this space!

Curious how today's costs, inflation trends, and shifting expectations are shaping the American Dream? Join Wes Moss and Christa DiBiase on the Retire Sooner Podcast as they provide context on financial headlines, explore common planning questions, and share research-informed insights for your retirement journey. • Explore the discussion around what it may take to reach the American Dream and whether a $5 million lifetime target is a realistic benchmark. • Review how inflation has historically influenced the stock market and why the concept of a “Goldilocks zone” may be relevant for long-term investors. • Compare how inflation can affect different categories of stocks, including dividend-paying and growth-oriented companies. • Discuss what pursuing a CFP designation or considering a late-stage career shift into financial planning might involve. • Consider how high-yield bond ETFs are typically viewed in the marketplace and why “junk bonds” continue to spark debate among investors. • Examine different ways couples might think about retirement savings benchmarks—whether by age-based charts or total household goals. • Illustrate the role of compound growth in both saving and investing when working toward retirement readiness. • Highlight factors to weigh when assessing whether to maintain or drop life insurance as retirement approaches, including debt, dependents, and overall assets. • Outline new Secure 2.0 provisions that allow certain 529 plan funds to be redirected to Roth IRAs for children. • Showcase how automation and behavioral systems can encourage consistent savings habits across different income levels and career stages. Every financial situation is unique, but gaining context can help make more informed choices. Listen now and subscribe to the Retire Sooner Podcast for ongoing conversations that keep you engaged with today's retirement and financial planning landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you Know? | How the Story of a Drowning Man Illustrate the Gospel by GospelBells

In this inspiring episode, Anya Cheng shares her remarkable journey from a non-technical immigrant background to leading product and growth at giants like Facebook, eBay, Target, and McDonald's, and ultimately founding Taylor—an AI-driven menswear rental and styling service for busy professionals. Drawing from her experiences during the 2008 recession, Anya discusses overcoming job-hunting hurdles, the birth of Taylor from personal frustrations with fashion rentals, and how AI and human stylists combine to solve real pain points for ambitious men who prioritize success over style. She reveals growth strategies, lessons from big tech, and future plans for sustainability and corporate partnerships. Perfect for entrepreneurs, fashion innovators, and anyone navigating career pivots.Key MomentsHost welcomes Anya Cheng, highlighting her tech leadership at Facebook, eBay, and more. Anya introduces Taylor as an AI service that curates and rents real menswear for busy men, eliminating shopping and laundry.Anya shares how imposter syndrome as a female immigrant leader at eBay sparked Taylor. She hated subscription boxes and rental hassles, realizing fashion companies ignore practical users.Key Quote: "Most of fashion companies are designing for people who are into fashion, not for people like me. I just want to get ready for the day... Success for me is not about looking good. It's about looking good to get a job, get the deal."Fresh from Northwestern with a marketing master's, Anya ambushes recruiters, networks via professors, and cold-calls publishers amid layoffs—turning desperation into her first media role.Anya explains why she didn't quit: By leveraging her reporter skills (e.g., interviewing, cold-calling), challenges felt manageable, fueling hope.Two years in, Taylor's users aren't just renting clothes—they're buying "chances to succeed" (e.g., job interviews, deals). Customers value convenience like an "executive assistant," while suppliers seek detailed feedback to reduce waste.AI powers onboarding (quizzes, photos) and recommendations from 27,000 garments, with human stylists refining via Zoom/text. It even generates SEO content for trends.Partnerships with dating apps, fitness centers, law firms, and nonprofits outperform solo efforts. Content marketing educates on body types and travel perks (e.g., no luggage fees).From a Shopify waitlist, Anya manually bought/s shipped sale items from Macy's to her first eager customer (a real estate agent), validating demand and iterating 100 times.Big tech taught logical thinking (goals vs. strategies) to pitch investors. For Taylor, targeting men yields higher margins than women's rentals due to buy-through rates.Illustrate a clear problem/persona (e.g., men's convenience vs. women's variety). Nail one giant feature (like Google's search bar). 3) Focus on product-market fit over features.To learn more about Anya Cheng please visit her Linkedin ProfileTo learn more about  Taelor please visit her website.YOUR HOST - SIMON LADER    Simon Lader is the host of The Conference Room, Co-Founder of global executive search firm Salisi Human Capital, and lead generation consultancy Flow and Scale. Since 1997, Simon has helped cybersecurity vendors to build highly effective teams, and since 2022 he has helped people create consistent revenue through consistent lead generation.      Get to know more about Simon at:    Website: https://simonlader.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonlader  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/headhuntersimonlader/    The Conference Room is available onSpotifyApple podcastsAmazon MusicIHeartRadio

Two milestones revealed a few weeks ago illustrate the diminishing power of broadcast television in the media world—one fueled by the habits of young people and the other by their elders. During June, viewers spent more time watching streaming services than they did for broadcast and cable television combined. That happened for the first time ever in May, by a fraction of a percentage point, but the Nielsen company said that gap widened considerably in June. For years, the mantra of media executives was that streaming represented the future for in-home entertainment. Now, that future has clearly arrived. In June, 46 percent of Americans' TV time was spent on streaming services, led by YouTube and Netflix. Cable television networks represented 23.4 percent, and broadcast was 18.5 percent, for a total of just under 42 percent, Nielsen said. It was the first time broadcast TV had ever slipped below 20 percent of total TV viewing. "It kind of felt like the right time," said Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen's senior vice president for product strategy and thought leadership. "A lot of people thought it would happen more quickly." The driving force in June was school ending for young people, meaning they had more time to watch TV, where Netflix series like Ginny & Georgia and Squid Game were big hits. Roughly two-thirds of people aged 6 to 17 watched streaming ahead of conventional TV, Nielsen said. In June 2024, the numbers were roughly reversed—47.7 percent of people were watching conventional TV in an average minute, with 40.3 percent logged on to a streaming service. While the direction is clear, it's not a death knell for conventional TV. June and July are fallow months, and their viewing will increase when football season begins and original episodes of comedies and dramas return, Fuhrer said. It's also not a strict either-or situation; media companies are doing a better job spreading their content out on different platforms to give viewers a choice, he said. The growth of YouTube, which many consumers can access for free and is a portal for "traditional" TV, has also fueled streaming services. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

BANG! @southernvangard radio Ep442! BACK FROM SUMMER! BACK TO BACK! Vangardians, we are back in business after an extended summer break, and boy do we have quite the episode for you. WORLD EXCLUSIVES from ILLUSTRATE, SENOR KAOS, EDDIE MEEKS, VON PEA, SUPASTITION MRK SX, 4IZE GODBLESSBEATZ DOE BOY PHILLY JALEN FRAZIER, K-PREZ….aaaaaand BREATHE….Meeks brought the tequila through! Goodness gracious sakes alive it's that #SMITHSONIANGRADE #YOUWAAAAALCOME // southernvangard.com // @southernvangard on all platforms #hiphop #undergroundhiphop #boombap Recorded live July 27, 2025 @ Dirty Blanket Studios, Marietta, GA southernvangard.com @southernvangard on all platforms #SmithsonianGrade #WeAreTheGard twitter/IG: @southernvangard @jondoeatl @cappuccinomeeks Pre-Game Beats - Al Rock “Southern Vangard Theme” - Bobby Homack & The Southern Vangard All-Stars Talk Break Inst. - “TNT (Tobacco & Trees)” - KanKick “Off Broadway” - Senor Kaos x Illastrate ft. Von Pea & Eddie Meeks ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** “Bear Hill" - Raekwon “Wonderful” - The Fifth Degree ft. Terror Van Poo X Tons (prod. CNR_JAXX) “The Eliminator” - Senor Kaos x Illastrate ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** "Wild Corsicans” - Raekwon, Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher & Westside Gunn “Rari Keys” - Minister Hyde & Mondo Slade “Book Of Eli” - Joe D. Talk Break Inst. - “Revolution With Tosh Leading” - KanKick “Check In” - MRK SX x Illastrate ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** “Writings On The Wall” - Senor Kaos x Illastrate ft. Supastition & 4 Ize ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** “Mad Scientist” - Yah Sin ft.. Method Man “Primavera” - M-Dot & Confidence ft. Big Shug & Royal Flush “The Omerta” - Raekwon & Nas “Frida Kahlo” - K-Prez (prod. godBLESSbeatz) ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** “Work Hard, Play Harder” - UFO Fev & Big Ghost Ltd ft. Jose Santiago “18 Ballgames” - OT The Real x 38 Spesh “Cheddar Biscuits” - Doe Boy Philly (prod. godBLESSbeatz) ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** Talk Break Inst. - “Cosmic Propane” - KanKick “Cold Blooded” - Spit Gemz x D-Styles “Checkmate” - Reek Osama & Perutheproducer “Play Ya Position” - Al Rock ft. Chrisfader & Eddie Meeks “Trust Me” - Al Rock ft. J Scienide “Art Piece” - El Gant ft. Ras Kass “Fried Rices” - Jalen Frazier (prod. godBLESSbeatz) ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** “Better” - Lord Juco & The Standouts “Jasmine's" - Benny The Butcher ft. Westside Gunn (prod. Daringer) “Smithsonian” - Machacha ft. Jamil Honesty & André DeSaint “X-Rays” - Lord Juco & The Standouts Talk Break Inst. - “EVALC Clone” - KanKick

Learn how you can serve the Lord no matter what your ability or disability – just visit joniandfriends.org. -------- Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.     Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org   Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Republican incompetence is on full display from the Guadalupe River flood deaths to the Texas grid failure to farmland pollution from fracking fluid leakage.Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletterPurchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make AmericaUtopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And BeFit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of anAfro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

HR2 - NFL Top 100 list having Jessie Bates at No. 92 doesn't fully illustrate his value In hour two Mike Johnson, Beau Morgan, and Ali Mac continue to recap and react to the Atlanta Braves getting swept in their three game home series against the Baltimore Orioles this past weekend after a 2-1 loss yesterday. Mike, Beau, and Ali also talk about how the Braves' bats must stop pressing if they want to see offensive improvement. Then, The Morning Shift crew continues to react to Atlanta Falcons Safety Jessie Bates III coming in at number 92 on the 2025 NFL Top 100 players list, and explain why they think Bates should be higher on the list. Mike, Beau, and Ali also explain why they think Jessie being number 92 on this year's NFL Top 100 players list is disrespectful to Jessie. The Morning Shift crew also lets you hear New Orleans Saints' tight end Foster Moreau talk about the Saints' quarterback competition, and what he's seen from rookie quarterback Tyler Shough. Mike, Beau, and Ali react to what Moreau had to say, and explain why this news should be music to Atlanta Falcons fans' ears. Finally, The Morning Shift crew closes out hour two by diving into the life of Mike Johnson and getting Mike'd Up!

Managers Series - did you check out the prevous episode? This is  “My team knows what to do, they just don't do it.” If you've ever said that, this episode is for you. Jen breaks down how managers can coach their teams in just 10-minute bursts using her proven CIVIL framework: Coach, Introduce, Verify, Illustrate, and Lead. You'll learn: How to structure daily training that sticks Why consistent coaching beats long meetings How to turn outbound calls into a showroom flood The secret to building a team that wants to be coached This one's packed with real dealership talk, examples from the field, and actionable steps you can start using today to create a high-performing, motivated team. Let's goooooo!!!

Before outlining a sermon or opening a commentary, Ed Compean begins with prayer. In this recording from an Expositors Collective training event in Uganda, he offers a grounded and practical walkthrough of sermon preparation that starts with dependence on God and flows toward a faithful final draft.Drawing from years of pastoral ministry, including church planting and leadership training in Kenya, Ed shares the rhythms that shape his weekly approach to preaching. He explains why he handwrites the passage, how he draws on trusted voices from church history and the global church, and what to keep - or cut - on the “cutting room floor.” He also unpacks the value of a strong sermon introduction and how the classic “Explain, Illustrate, Apply” model still serves the preacher and the congregation well.Whether you're a church planter, a teaching pastor, or a developing preacher, this episode is a helpful and humble guide to crafting sermons that are rooted in prayer and faithful to Scripture.Topics Covered:Why every sermon must begin in prayerWriting out the passage by hand to slow down and engageLearning from others who have been with GodManaging time and knowing what to cutCrafting compelling introductionsStructuring the sermon: Explain, Illustrate, ApplyAbout Ed Compean:Ed Compean is the lead pastor of Shoreline Calvary in Morro Bay, California. Before that, he planted churches and coached leaders in Nairobi, Kenya. He now serves with the Cultivate Church Planting Initiative of Calvary Global Network and is passionate about seeing Jesus exalted through thriving local churches.For information about our upcoming training events visit ExpositorsCollective.com The Expositors Collective podcast is part of the CGNMedia, Working together to proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, and plant churches. For more content like this, visit https://cgnmedia.org/Join our private Facebook group to continue the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExpositorsCollectiveDonate to support the work of Expositors Collective, in person training events and a free weekly podcast: https://cgn.churchcenter.com/giving/to/expositors-collective

Whether you are an emerging or experienced speaker, let Simon's journey inspire you to align your inner spark with external success and to leverage your expertise for meaningful, memorable impact. In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth Kinney (Shark) sits down with renowned CSP and CPAE Hall of Fame keynote speaker Simon T. Bailey to explore what it truly means to amplify your brilliance as a professional speaker. Simon, widely recognized as the world's leading expert on brilliance, shares personal milestones, strategies for sustainable influence, and the pivotal role research has played in redefining his brand and value proposition in the speaking industry. In this session, Simon will: Illustrate how to differentiate yourself by embracing originality and authenticity rather than mimicking industry icons, ensuring your message resonates beyond the applause. Analyze the impact of integrating proprietary research into your business, elevating conversations with decision-makers, commanding higher fees, and building long-term influence within client organizations. Reflect on common career challenges—such as chasing stages and seeking validation from speaker bureaus—and encourage speakers to focus on service, humility, and the true meaning behind every keynote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth Kinney ("Shark") brings together an international panel of expert speakers—including Sylvie di Giusto, Elias Kanaris, Lovelda Vincenzi, David Lim, Joni Petty, Reiner Pettic, Antoni Lacinai, and Jesus Tobias—to explore what it really takes to succeed as a professional speaker on the global stage. This third part of a four-part international series dives deep into how to effectively target specific countries and adapt to diverse cultural audiences. In this session, speakers will: Demonstrate how to research and analyze new international markets, covering everything from cultural norms and economic priorities to competitive landscape and logistical realities. Illustrate how to build and leverage relationships within local networks and how word-of-mouth and initial engagements can accelerate credibility and access in new regions. Explain how to adapt and modify your content, style, and delivery—adjusting for language, humor, idioms, and cultural expectations—to foster meaningful connections and maximize audience engagement across borders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

rwh19april Ep.360 – Run With Horses Podcast – Balancing Self-Reliance and Interdependence Podcast: rwh.podbean.com Website: www.runwithhorses.net Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rwhpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RWHpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rwh_podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/RWH_podcast Author pages with links to all books on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BCSDDVLB – James Norman Smith https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BMGW51FW – Susan Jane Smith **(24:00)** Do you go it alone or do you walk through life with others? It's not an either/ or proposition, it's both! There are areas where you definitely have to pull you own weight but often, much more often than you may think, we are supposed to help each other through life. Today, we are thinking about self-reliance and interdependence for disciples of Jesus. Welcome to Run With Horses! My name is Norman and my goal is to help you thrive as a follower of Jesus. The spiritual life is simple in many ways, but potentially the most difficult part of your life. God invites you to grow, to live intentionally and to join in His mission. It's very cool that we can do that together! Thank you for joining me today! “If you're new here, you can check out past episodes at runwithhorses.net. As always, I appreciate your feedback, questions, and reviews!” **(23:00 – 0:00)* * PART 1 B. Overview Scripture calls believers to cultivate personal accountability (self-reliance) while actively engaging in a community of faith (interdependence). Key Themes: Biblical foundations for self-reliance in areas like personal spiritual growth, work, and stewardship. Scriptural mandates for living in community, bearing one another's burdens, and using spiritual gifts for the common good. C. Context Emphasize believer's individual responsibility before God. Highlight the importance of local church fellowship as a way of fulfilling our mission together. D. Today I want you to consider: What does “self-reliance” mean in your personal walk with Christ? How do you see interdependence playing a role in your local church or community? II. Self-Reliance in the Christian Life A. Definition and Biblical Context Self-reliance: Cultivating personal responsibility in one's faith, work, finances, and spiritual growth, recognizing that while God provides strength, He also calls us to be diligent stewards of our lives. B. Passages on Self-Reliance Proverbs 6:6-8 (NKJV): “Go to the ant, you sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.” Encourage proactive effort and preparedness in everyday life. In what areas of your life can you emulate the ant's industriousness? Galatians 6:4-5 (NKJV): “But let each one examine his own work, and then he shall have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.” Highlight the importance of personal evaluation and responsibility. How can you take ownership of your spiritual growth while avoiding pride? Philippians 4:13 (NKJV): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Emphasize that personal achievement is rooted in Christ's strength working through us. How does relying on Christ's strength change your approach to personal challenges? C. Practical Steps Self-Examination: Encourage daily devotional practices and self-reflection. How are you taking responsibility for your life now? What practical actions show that you are serious about your spiritual life and responsibilities before God? Personal Responsibility: Discuss setting goals in prayer, work, and study. Where do you need to be more proactive? Are the basics covered? Are you seeking out ways to intentionally pursue godliness in your life? How, Where, When? Is it on your calendar and in your budget? Stewardship: Explore biblical principles of managing finances, time, and talents responsibly. Do you recognize the accountability that you have before God in the decisions you make? What does that look like? **(00:00) END PART 1** **(27:00 – 5:00) BEGIN PART 2** III. Interdependence in the Body of Christ A. Definition and Biblical Context Interdependence: Recognizing that while believers are called to personal responsibility, they are also part of a larger, unified body where mutual support, accountability, and service are essential. B. Passages on Interdependence 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (NKJV): “For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ...” Illustrate how each believer has a unique role that contributes to the health of the whole body. Which “spiritual gifts” do you see in your life that benefit the community, and how can you serve more effectively? Where and how are you living out this ‘Body Life' of the church? Sunday morning worship service is NOT enough. Are you intentionally seeking fellowship and investing in the life of your church family. Are you inviting them into your life? Small groups, one on one meetings, microchurch gatherings in public and homes. Galatians 6:2 (NKJV): “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Stress the call to support one another in times of difficulty. How have you experienced God's provision through the help of others? How can you extend that help? Ephesians 4:15-16 (NKJV): “But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is equipped, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Emphasize mutual edification and the organic growth of the church as a family of believers. In what ways can you contribute to the spiritual growth of your church family? Intentionality is Key. C. Application and Practical Steps Fellowship and Community: Discuss the importance of small groups, church ministries, and accountability partnerships. Doesn't happen accidently. Serving Others: Outline practical opportunities for service in the local community and the global church. Local church, neighbor church, etc. IV. Integrating Self-Reliance and Interdependence Recognizing the Balance Christians are called to be proactive and responsible stewards of their own lives (self-reliance) while also fully engaging in the support system provided by the Church (interdependence). James 2:14-17 (NKJV): “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? … Thus faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Faith must be expressed both individually and collectively. How does your personal faith inspire you to serve the community, and in turn, how does community service strengthen your personal walk with Christ? How do you maintain personal discipline while remaining open to community guidance? “In what specific ways will you take responsibility for your personal growth this week, and how will you actively engage with your faith community?” **(5:00 – 1:00)** Doctrine Today Jesus and His Present Ministry The Holy Spirit's Role in Disciple Making. Dispensational Baptist view of the End Times Understanding Theology is Important The Gospel and Ongoing Disciple Making Church Role in Discerning God's Will Barriers to Disciple Making 1. Lack of Intentionality Unclear Vision: Often, churches and individual believers may not have a clear, intentional vision or plan for disciple making. Without concrete goals, training, and accountability measures, disciple making can become an incidental outcome rather than a strategic priority. Scriptural Neglect: Some ministries may focus heavily on evangelism while underemphasizing the lifelong process of nurturing, teaching, and mentoring new believers. This disconnect from the biblical mandate (e.g., Matthew 28:19-20) can lead to a superficial understanding of discipleship. 2. Cultural Individualism Self-Reliance Over Community: Modern Western culture often emphasizes personal autonomy and self-reliance, which can contrast sharply with the biblical call to community (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). This individualism makes it more challenging to create environments where believers willingly submit to accountability, mentoring, and mutual growth. Reluctance to Invest in Others: The desire for personal achievement and success may lead some to undervalue the long-term commitment required to disciple others, rather than focusing on immediate personal benefits or social status. 3. Time Constraints and Busyness Competing Priorities: In today's fast-paced society, individuals often struggle to balance work, family, and ministry responsibilities. This busyness can leave little room for the deep, personal interactions required for disciple making. Over-Scheduled Lives: Constant digital engagement and overloaded schedules can lead to shallow relationships that lack the depth needed for transformative discipleship. 4. Lack of Effective Leadership and Training Insufficient Leadership Development: Effective discipleship requires mentors who are themselves mature in their faith and skilled in relational dynamics. A shortage of trained leaders who can intentionally mentor others is a significant barrier. Inadequate Resources: Churches may not invest adequately in training programs or create robust systems for leadership development, resulting in missed opportunities to equip believers for disciple making. 5. Digital Distractions and Superficial Engagement Impact of Technology: While digital media offers innovative outreach tools, the overreliance on online interactions can lead to more shallow, transactional relationships that lack the depth and accountability found in face-to-face mentoring. Social Media Culture: Constant engagement with social media may foster a culture of immediacy and quick approval, which can detract from the slow, formative process of true disciple making. 6. Fear of Judgment and Vulnerability Relational Barriers: Discipleship involves vulnerability and accountability. Many believers may be reluctant to share their struggles or admit weaknesses due to the fear of judgment or rejection by peers. Cultural Stigma: In both church settings and the broader society, there can be stigma associated with showing vulnerability, leading individuals to hide their need for growth rather than seeking relational support. 7. Theological Misunderstandings Misconceptions About Grace and Works: Some may mistakenly view discipleship as a checklist of rules or a set of actions rather than a transformative process fueled by the Holy Spirit. This can lead to legalism on one end or laxity on the other. Lack of Depth: Without a robust, well-balanced teaching on both grace and discipline, believers can misunderstand the essence of discipleship, which involves both receiving God's unmerited favor and engaging in the process of sanctification. 8. Resource Limitations and Institutional Challenges Financial and Infrastructural Constraints: Smaller churches or those in economically challenged areas might lack the resources to create comprehensive discipleship programs. Budget constraints, limited venues for small groups, or lack of access to quality teaching materials can impact effectiveness. Institutional Resistance: Sometimes, long-standing institutional practices can resist change, making it difficult to adapt or innovate new methods for effective disciple making. **(1:00)**   As we follow Jesus there is a need to do our part and help others along the way. Engaging in the life of the church family often benefits you more than you expect, in ways that you don't expect. The Body of Christ, when operating as it should helps you to grow and gives you opportunities to invest in helping others to grow. Your gifts are needed just as you need the gifts of others.   – “Thank you for listening today! -If you enjoyed the show you can listen to all the past shows wherever you listen to podcasts. A good place to start is at runwithhorses.net. You can also write me at norman@runwithhorses.net or leave a comment on the Run With Horses Podcast facebook page. May we all be found faithful, ready, and living for eternity. Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and never stop running." **(00:00)**

The Gulf of America/Gulf of Mexico controversy reminds us that maps may appear authoritative, but are a version of reality. At the same time, they can be rich, beautiful and informative, as Vancouver's Kathleen Flaherty explains, in this 2005 documentary made before Google Maps changed mapmaking forever.

Episode Highlights[05:21] Copywriting Essentials That Haven't ChangedThe enduring power of a great headline, hook, CTA, and irresistible offer.[08:46] Why Founders Should Master Marketing & Sales FirstWhy outsourcing sales and marketing too soon is a massive mistake.[15:08] The Comfort Trap of Branding EarlyWhy obsessing over logos and colors won't build your business—and what to do instead.[18:25] Copy First, Design SecondKulin's Star Wars analogy: “A great script beats great visuals every time.”[21:40] The Shift: From Hero's Journey to Something More PowerfulWhy traditional storytelling formulas are losing their effectiveness.[26:54] Predictability Kills Emotional ConnectionHow familiarity in copy lowers conversions—and how to avoid it.[33:02] The RISE Framework UnpackedRelate. Illustrate. Shift. Empower. The new model for compelling storytelling.[37:59] Why Aspirational Messaging Beats Pain-Based CopyReal-world examples from Apple, Rolls-Royce, and luxury branding.[45:48] The Holistic Power of Quantum EmpireHow Ryan, Kulin, and their team are reshaping the coaching industry—together.

In this episode of Speakernomics, the official podcast of the National Speakers Association, host Kenneth Kinney, also known as Shark, sits down with Ty Bennett, a CSP, author, entrepreneur, and leadership speaker redefining high performance. Ty Bennett shares his expertise on integrating research into keynote speeches and building audiences effectively. In this session, Ty will: Evaluate the importance of integrating research into keynote speeches to add credibility and engage both buyers and audiences effectively. Illustrate strategies to enhance speaker performance through continuous desire for improvement, drawing inspiration from influential members of the NSA community. Demonstrate methods to make presentations more experiential and engaging, ensuring that audiences see the value and connect deeply with the content by using storytelling and humor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arcana Coelestia 7408. [2] That forms or substances are recipient of life can be seen from every single thing that appears in living creatures; and also that recipient forms or substances are arranged in the way most suitable for the influx of life. Without the reception of life in substances, which are forms, there would be no living thing in the natural world, nor in the spiritual world. Series of the purest filaments, like bundles, constitute these forms. It is the same with those things therein which are highly modified; for modifications receive their form from the forms which are the substances in which they are, and from which they flow, because the substances or forms are the determining subjects. The reason why the learned have regarded the things belonging to man's life, that is, to his thought and will, as being devoid of recipient substances or forms, has been that they believed life or the soul to be something either flamy or ethereal, thus such as after death would be dissipated; hence comes the insane notion of many, that there is no life after death. From all this it is evident how it is to be understood that the reasoning falsities were arranged in groups in the natural. Divine Love and Wisdom 41. But because this is contrary to appearance, it may seem not to merit belief unless it be proved; and since it can be proved only by such things as man can perceive from his bodily senses, it will be proved by these. Man has five external senses which are called touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.  The subject of touch is the skin by which man is enveloped. The very substance and form of the skin cause it to feel the things applied to it. The sense of touch is not in the things applied, but in the substance and form of the skin which are the subject. That sense is only an affecting of it by the things applied.  It is the same with taste. This sense is only an affecting of the substance and form which belong to the tongue; the tongue is the subject.  It is the same with smell. It is well known that odour affects the nostrils, and that it is in the nostrils, and smell is an affecting of them by the odoriferous things touching them.  It is the same with hearing. It appears as if the hearing were in the place where the sound originates, but the hearing is in the ear, and is an affecting of its substance and form.  That the hearing is at a distance from the ear is an appearance. It is the same with sight. When a man sees objects at a distance, the seeing appears to be there, but yet the seeing is in the eye which is the subject and is likewise an affecting of it. Distance is solely from the judgment inferring about space from intermediate things or from the diminution and the consequent indistinctness of the object, an image of which is produced interiorly in the eye according to the angle of incidence.  From this it is evident that sight does not go out from the eye to the object, but that the image of the object enters the eye and affects its substance and form. Thus it is just the same with sight as it is with hearing. Hearing does not go out from the ear to catch the sound, but the sound enters the ear and affects it.  From these considerations it can be established that the affecting of substance and form which causes the sense is not a something separate from the subject, but only causes a change in it, the subject remaining the subject as before and afterwards. Hence it follows that sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are not a something volatile flowing out of their organs, but that they are the organs themselves, considered in their substance and form, and that when the organs are affected, sensation results.  DLW 363. (i) Love and wisdom, and the will and the understanding therefrom, make the very life of man. Hardly anyone knows what life is. When one thinks about it, it seems as if it were a volatile something, of which no idea is possible. It seems so,

In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney, along with a lineup of thriving professional speakers, dives into strategies for filling gaps in a speaker's calendar and maintaining a thriving speaking business. In this session, speakers will: Demonstrate how leveraging existing relationships with past clients and connections can lead to more speaking engagements and referrals. Encourage speakers to implement consistency and engage in daily proactive outreach to build momentum and opportunities. Illustrate the effectiveness of personalized and direct engagement over mass marketing to nurture and grow professional networks. Join us to discover innovative approaches to fill your speaking pipeline and start thriving in your speaking business. Speakers: Tony Chatman, CSP Sarah Ohanesian Jeff Bledsoe Dr. Genie Snyder, CSP Dr. Nguyen (Tom) Griggs Joyce Marter Steve Shapiro, CSP, CPAE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney, along with a lineup of thriving professional speakers, dives into strategies for filling gaps in a speaker's calendar and maintaining a thriving speaking business. In this session, speakers will: Demonstrate how leveraging existing relationships with past clients and connections can lead to more speaking engagements and referrals. Encourage speakers to implement consistency and engage in daily proactive outreach to build momentum and opportunities. Illustrate the effectiveness of personalized and direct engagement over mass marketing to nurture and grow professional networks. Join us to discover innovative approaches to fill your speaking pipeline and start thriving in your speaking business. Speakers: Tony Chatman, CSP Sarah Ohanesian Jeff Bledsoe Dr. Genie Snyder, CSP Dr. Nguyen (Tom) Griggs Joyce Marter Steve Shapiro, CSP, CPAE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth Kinney (Shark) engages in a captivating discussion with author, leadership coach, and award-winning international speaker John F. Edwards, CSP. Together, they delve into the art of delivering powerful and impactful presentations through the lens of neuroscience. In this session, John will: Explain the significance of understanding different types of presentations and their cognitive requirements, encouraging speakers to analyze and categorize their content across the presentation continuum. Illustrate how to identify and integrate actionable tactics into presentations by applying cognitive load theory to avoid overwhelming the audience's working memory. Demonstrate strategies to overcome audience distractions, emphasizing the creation of shared moments for building trust and engagement early in the presentation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you tell stories, do you ever think, "That's all well and good for life coaches with personal stories. But I'm a technical person who wants to help people discover new ways of thinking about their actions. Talking about finance seems to call for discussions of numbers, trends and charts with percentages in three colors. Jacquette Timmons brings a different perspective. She's a financial behaviorist, someone who helps people deal with issues related to money, income and investments. Money reflects what's going on in people's personal lives. If you want to understand money conflicts, you need to understand family dynamics and individual emotions.  To illustrate, Jaccquette uses stories about what happens when ordinary people encounter massive shifts in money. She talks about how she realized that money reflects what's going on in our lives -- and how changes in money also change our lives. What makes this especially interesting is that Jacquette is an Educator archetype. (If you want to learn more about the archetypes, click here.) Her message is, "If you apply what I teach you, you will reach your goals." Her stories are told to educate readers by making a point, not to help us get to know Jacquette as "the person behind the web." On this episode, you will hear: -- Jacquette's origin story: what made her motivated to be a financial behaviorist -- sample stories of how family background creates a ceiling on your business earnings (and the dynamics of money management in a marriage) -- why you need to acknowledge your relationship with money (and how it mirrors several relationships you have in your life) -- how Jaquette uses stories to make her clients realize they're not alone (so they're more comfortable sharing their challenges) -- how Jacquette uses stories from her own experience to help her explain complex concepts to clients Learn more about Jacquette at her website: JacquetteTimmons.com  Get a free exercise to understand your own relationship with money: jacquettetimmons.com/wheel You can also find her. on Instagram and LinkedIn. Learn more about me on my website.  My new book on solopreneur branding will show you how to use the archetype framework for your own marketing. You'll see why marketers are successful with different kinds of stories, depending on how they choose to position themselves. Free with Kindle Unlimited. 

PREVIEW: Colleague Ivana Stradner of FDD tells a Russian joke about a peasant to illustrate Putin. More later. 1945 Moscow

In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth Kinney (Shark) engages with Chad Littlefield, a speaker, bestselling author, and global expert on asking questions that build trust and connection in teams. Chad shares his unique insights on how to create conversations that not only matter but also create tangible change in the future. In this session, Chad will: Demonstrate how to design questions that foster meaningful interactions and deepen connections, particularly emphasizing the importance of identifying and addressing real problems. Analyze the shift from purely speaking at an audience to facilitating engaging conversations that enhance participation and learning. Illustrate how focusing on hyper-specific niches for short periods can strategically expand a speaker's influence and business growth. Clarify the distinction between running a scalable speaking practice and a larger business model, prioritizing impactful connections over sheer volume. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Insist on doing everything through ‘channels.' Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.”“Make ‘speeches.' Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your ‘points' by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a few appropriate ‘patriotic' comments.”“Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.”“Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.”“‘Misunderstand' orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.”“In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that the important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers of poor machines.”“To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.”“Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.”“Multiply paperwork in plausible ways.” “Make mistakes in quantities of material when you are copying orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.”“Work slowly. Think out ways to increase the number of movements necessary on your job”“Pretend that instructions are hard to understand, and ask to have them repeated more than once. Or pretend that you are particularly anxious to do your work, and pester the foreman with unnecessary questions.”“Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.” “Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police,” “Act stupid.” “Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting yourself into trouble,” “Cry and sob hysterically at every occasion, especially when confronted by government clerks.”The article I read: https://www.404media.co/declassified-cia-guide-to-sabotaging-fascism-is-suddenly-viral/The Field Guide: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184?Donate to Palestinian Children's Relief Fund::www.pcrf.netDonate to Mutual Aid Funds: https://www.folxhealth.com/library/mutual-aid-fundsGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney engages with Brian Walters, CSP, CPAE, a seasoned speaker, emcee, and infotainment expert. Brian, a past president of the National Speakers Association, shares his expert advice on creating memorable and "sticky" content in the ever-evolving speaking industry. In this session, Brian will: Explain the "sticky framework" as a crucial method for speakers to design presentations that resonate. Attendees will learn to identify and apply the framework's components: gettable, feelable, sayable, and doable in their presentations. Illustrate how to identify the Scooby Doo moment in a speech, ensuring that speakers recognize and craft their 'aha' moments to maximize audience engagement and recall. Discuss techniques for crafting and branding key points, using memory hacks and storytelling to enhance the impact and retention of a speaker's message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this session, Traci will: Differentiate the importance of focusing on the problem you solve rather than the solutions you offer, emphasizing this shift as a key to marketing success. Illustrate through personal experience how identifying and niching into a specific, expensive problem, such as fraud prevention, can turn you from a "nice-to-have" to a "must-have" speaker. Provide insight into the mental shift needed to narrow down your lead magnet and achieve laser-focused branding, which leads to greater relief and success rather than anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Americans with Disabilities Act has done a lot to improve accessibility in public spaces, but people with physical disabilities still encounter barriers every day.

We pay for the California fires and all disasters as a form of subsidy to the rich. Why doesn't MD Anderson accept Affordable Care Act insurance plans? The answer is complicated. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletter Purchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make America Utopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And Be Fit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of an Afro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

Join us for a deep dive into professional speaking tips that will elevate your approach to inclusivity, audience engagement, and message delivery. In this session, Lenora will: Demonstrate how to create a compelling opening that captures the audience's attention within the first 60 seconds. Illustrate the importance of cultural research and adaptation to resonate with diverse audiences across industries and cultures. Model effective strategies for handling Q&A sessions, ensuring they enhance rather than detract from your final message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with Phil Van Hooser, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Recipient, and Alyson Van Hooser, exploring the art of building a trusted brand and a family legacy in the speaking industry. With Phil's seasoned expertise and Alyson's leadership acumen, they offer invaluable insights. In this episode, Phil and Alyson will: Discuss the importance of mentorship and character, urging speakers to seek out mentors who are genuine on and off stage. Share effective strategies for generating business leads, emphasizing the power of personalized communication through calls and emails over social media. Explain the transition from a personal to a family speaker brand, highlighting digital identity considerations and the benefits of co-presenting to offer diverse perspectives. Illustrate the impact of storytelling in shifting audience perceptions and establishing credibility, especially for young leaders overcoming stereotypes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gain practical insights and case studies that show how you can maximize your social media presence and connect more effectively with potential clients. In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with social media expert, and bestselling author, Corey Perlman, CSP about the essential role of social media strategies in a professional speaker's business. In this session, Corey will: Explain the significance of leveraging existing content, such as keynotes and interviews, to curate authentic and engaging social media posts. Illustrate strategies for growing a follower base on platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram, with particular focus on using sponsored posts effectively. Discuss the benefits of consistency in social media presence and maintaining top-of-mind awareness through strategic content sharing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks hall of fame speaker and emcee Jeff Civillico, CSP, CPAE. Jeff shares his expert insights on maximizing engagement and effectiveness at conferences, underlining the strategic aspects of relationship-building, philanthropy, and using video in professional speaking. In this session, Jeff will: Demonstrate the process of building and maintaining strong relationships with clients from contract finalization through post-event follow-ups, ensuring ongoing engagement and satisfaction. Illustrate the importance of personalizing client interactions and gifts based on attentive listening and observing individual client preferences to make clients feel valued and understood. Explain how to integrate philanthropy into professional speaking as a means to enhance personal connections, maintain professional fee integrity, and differentiate oneself in the market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deepen your understanding of establishing meaningful connections, leveraging feedback for growth, and differentiating yourself in the speaking marketplace. In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with Jason O. Harris, retired lieutenant colonel from the US Air Force, bestselling author, and keynote speaker. Jason shares his journey into the world of professional speaking, underscoring critical strategies and lessons learned along the way. In this session, Jason will: Emphasize the importance of building trust with an audience through connections and systematic engagement using tools like LinkedIn and personalized videos. Illustrate how to adapt and improve from on-stage failures by receiving candid feedback and refining pre-speech preparations. Highlight the significance of a service-oriented approach, serving clients' needs and creating authentic relationships without seeking immediate returns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a memorable episode that will arm you with the strategies you need to overcome any on-stage challenges with grace and professionalism. In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with an ensemble of seasoned speakers sharing their most memorable "epic fails" and the invaluable lessons they learned while on stage. In this session, our speakers will: Define the significance of respecting time limits and preparing backup plans to handle unforeseen circumstances. Illustrate how humor and humility can be potent tools to manage and recover from unexpected situations during presentations. Analyze the importance of being adaptable and staying positive to turn potential mishaps into valuable learning experiences. In this episode you will hear from: Marcus Sheridan, CSP Justin Jones-Fosu, CSP Jess Pettitt, CSP Dr. Mary Kelly, CSP, CPAE Jeff Civillico, CSP, CPAE Michelle McCullough, CSP Sam Richter, CSP, CPAE Fotini Iconomopoulos Corey Pearlman, CSP Diana Kander Rob Ferre, CSP Dr. Willie Jolley, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Recipient Scott McKain, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Recipient Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP, Cavett Recipient Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cultivate a winning sales strategy and elevate your speaking career! In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with Mark Hunter, CSP, author of several books on sales and prospecting, sharing his invaluable expertise on thriving in the speaking business. In this session, Mark will: Explain the significance of maintaining a robust sales pipeline by engaging in five meaningful conversations daily to ensure consistent booking opportunities. Illustrate the advantage of adopting both a hunter and farmer mindset by sharing the importance of direct outreach and sustained engagement to secure speaking gigs. Guide speakers on establishing strong personal connections with decision-makers by discussing methods to understand their unique needs and continuously adding value to their organizations. Highlight strategies like Book a Meeting from a Meeting (BAMFAM) to keep the momentum in the sales process and reduce prospects' chances of going radio silent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deepen your understanding of the NSA Foundation's mission, and discover tangible ways to contribute to and benefit from this invaluable support network within the speaking profession. In this episode of Speakernomics, host Kenneth "Shark" Kinney speaks with chair of the NSA Foundation, Patrick Henry, CSP. In this session, Patrick will: Illustrate the pivotal role of the NSA Foundation, detailing how its diverse initiatives, including disaster relief funds, technology grants, and scholarships, are designed to support members in their most critical times of need. Explain the foundation's history and growth, demonstrating how a small act of collective generosity evolved into a robust, multi-million dollar fund serving the speaker community. Encourage speakers to take proactive steps in identifying peers who might be struggling, and learn how to fill out applications on their behalf to ensure those in need receive timely assistance. Highlight the importance of engaging with and giving back to the NSA community, elaborating on how these actions not only foster professional growth but also build lasting, meaningful relationships. Share inspiring stories of resilience and benevolence within the community, showcasing how both small and large acts of kindness have significantly impacted individuals' lives, reinforcing the message that no speaker should feel isolated. Emphasize the practical steps and processes involved in distributing aid, with insights on how to navigate the foundation's offerings in times of personal or widespread crisis. To learn more about the NSA Foundation, go to: https://www.nsafoundation.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a designer, Scott Doorley is interested in how humans create the world around them. It's a conversation, he says, that starts with the question: What kind of world do we want?Doorley is the creative director of the Stanford d.school and co-author of the book, Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future. In designing everything from a device to an app to a building, “People get excited about what it can do,” he says, “but what should it do? What do we want? What's the desirable outcome that we want in the world?”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Doorley and host Matt Abrahams discuss how applying design thinking to communication can help us connect more with each other, better understand the world, and create meaningful change.Episode Reference Links:Stanford d.school Profile: Scott Doorley Stanford d.school Scott's Book: Assembling TomorrowEp.61 Courage, Belonging, Ambiguity and Data: How to Design Your Communication for Success Website / YouTube Ep.70 Keep 'Em Coming: Why Your First Ideas Aren't Always the Best Website / YouTube Connect:Email Questions & Feedback >>> thinkfast@stanford.eduEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn Page, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedInStanford GSB >>> LinkedIn & TwitterChapters:(00:00:00) IntroductionHost Matt Abrahams introduces guest Scott Doorley, creative director of Stanford's d.school.(00:01:07) What is Design?The broad scope of design at Stanford's d.school and the role of intention in bringing ideas to life.(00:02:16) The Design ProcessThe design process, emphasizing desirability and externalizing ideas to understand them better.(00:03:32) Communication in DesignThe vital role of communication in all aspects of design.(00:05:09) Mistakes in Spatial DesignThe biggest mistake people make when arranging spaces for communication and interaction.(00:06:47) Runaway DesignThe concept of runaway design and its implications in the modern world.(00:09:29) Intangibles and ActionablesThe distinction between actionables and intangibles, and how these concepts can be applied beyond design.(00:12:47) Using Stories in DesignHow storytelling helps envision and communicate future impacts of design.(00:16:20) Emotion in InnovationThe role of emotions in driving innovation, communication, and design.(00:19:03) The Final Three QuestionsScott shares what he is currently designing, a communicator he admires, and his ingredients for successful communication.(00:23:17) ConclusionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

GOOD EVENING: The show begins at the Federal Reserve waiting for metrics that illustrate inflation returning to acceptable 2%. Then to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, West Africa, Sought Africa.. To Gaza, to Jerusalem and the UN. The Western Balkans, to Belgrade to the Ivy League due a reckoning for the unacceptable antisemitism of Spring 2024. 1908 Paris