Everyone knows that regular exercise is good for you.

But how many of us take the time to exercise our brains?

Regular readers know that I suffered a stroke almost five years ago.

But you may not know that, ever since then, I have intentionally done several things to challenge my brain and keep it sharp.

When I first got out of the hospital, my [more...]

Back in the late 70s and early 80s, when my wife and I made our living as musical performers, we saw most of the U.S.

The Smoky Mountains in the East.

The painted desert in Arizona.

Washington state’s apple country.

The Jersey shore. [more...]

Regular readers of this Journal may know that I have very little drawing ability.

In fact, my drawings of people are much closer to raw stick figures than to anything resembling real people.

But, many years ago, I was completely humbled and in awe when one of my two goddaughters showed that she was well on her way to becoming a great artist — at the ripe old age of two years.

And by the time she was ten years old, she could [more...]

She was born in Pakistan, and quickly became a computer programming prodigy.

At age 9, she became the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional.

At age 10, she made a recording that included her philosophy of life:

“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind,” she said. “If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”

That same year, she [more...]

If you knew that you were going to die soon, how would you spend your time?

Randy Pausch was a highly successful professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at prestigious Carnegie Mellon University.

But then he was told that that he was going to die of pancreatic cancer.

So he got his affairs in order.

Provided for his [more...]

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I’m willing to bet that everyone in the U.S. has heard Louie Armstong’s rendition of the song, “It’s a Wonderful World” many, many times over the years.

It’s been used in countless commercials.

And in some movies, too.

Your mind probably conjures up certain feelings or images when you hear it.

But I’ll bet that you’ll feel differently [more...]

When I was a kid, that’s what all of my friends would ask after Christmas every year.

Then we’d all describe the coolest new toys we had received.

And ridicule the relatives who had cluelessly given us clothing or pajamas.

When I became an adult, important Christmas activities quickly evolved from “What’dya get?” to “What’dya give?”

That’s when I learned [more...]

It seems logical that my background would have caused me to be suspicious of — and distant from — other people.

A socially awkward geek.

But, instead, ever since my mid-teens, I’ve been a socially aware, popular person.

Who’s always been [more...]