About a year ago, when I was seriously considering writing the history about my restaurant, a fellow author gave me this advice. She said, “If you’re gonna write a memoir, write it all. People can tell if you’re holding back.” I took that counsel and wrote the story as best I could recall. I’m glad …
Grief is such an illogical expression. Thoughts, feelings and experiences don’t always make sense, but that doesn’t make them any less important to understand. That’s why I’ve chosen not to approach my grief from a rational mindset. The heart knows reasons that reason doesn’t know. A contrarian thought that I’m currently exploring is to not …
There was no greater source of anticipation for me as a child than the days leading up to Christmas. I eagerly awaited the arrival of the Sears Wish Book and JC Penney Christmas catalogs that were delivered in the mail. These publications provided hours of daydreaming to me as a young lad. But one year, …
Last night I got to step in to avert a near fistfight between two women in front of me after the Tanya Tucker show I attended. They were literally nose to nose and the stare-down quickly escalated into a shoving match. I’ve seen that look before. It’s not pretty. I saw what had happened to …
Yesterday felt like a scene with Inspector Clouseau and Cato lifted right out of a Pink Panther movie. I got blindsided. Grief leaped out of the closet and we went round and round all day. The set up was Turbo Tax. It wasn’t the process of doing my taxes that did it. My finances are …
For years, I felt stuck, wondering if change was ever really possible. I’m unstuck now. And surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult. It just took a severe change of mental direction. I used to think that life was hard. The reason I came to that conclusion was because that’s what my eyes were trained on. All …
One aspect of being a chef that I secretly enjoyed was changing the mind of a guest. I relished the chance to go to a table and explain why they should order the beets despite the protest that they hate beets. Excuses usually involve a previous experience with beets that made them gag, but occasionally …
This was a question I started asking a long time ago after I began to wonder why it seemed that my better conversations with people happened in a bar than in a church-related setting. Was it just the booze that loosened people up or was there something more, something deeper? I came to this conclusion. …
Something is stirring in me, something very good, and the most natural way for me to pay attention to it is through writing. I don’t know what it is yet, but the Inner Voice says to start writing it down or else. The “or else” part is aptly described by Anne Lamott in her words: …
Misery indeed loves company and sometimes the only company I kept was within myself. When I was at the basin of depression, I did not want to be cheered up. I wanted to reinforce the narrative in my head, that I had failed miserably and that my best days were behind me. To aid this …