Leaning Toward Wisdom
Modern Tales Of An Ancient Pursuit
Episodes
April 26, 2024 • 47 mins
Note: The picture in the featured image is my 100-year-old dad holding my 92-year-old mother's hand as she lay dying. She passed from this life on April 4, 2024. They were married for 73 years, a testimony to the power of companionship.
Companion / Companionship
a person or animal with whom one spends a lot of time
a feeling of fellowship or friendship
Do you want to be alone with yourself?
And if not, then why do you think an...
Mark as Played
April 19, 2024 • 31 mins
In 1982 I stood in front of a group of employees of the retail company I was running to tell them, "Who would have thought we'd reach a time when saying "please" and "thank you," "sir" and "ma'am" would be a competitive edge?" That was then. This is now.
Superior customer service is rare. That means the opportunities are extraordinary! Seize the day.
Abel seized the day. Here's his story, as posted on my Facebook profile.
Abe...
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April 4, 2024 • 31 mins
Sloping seems more gentle than stumbling. And graceful. But when it comes to growing older it can be inaccurate. We don't slope toward a face plant. We stumble. We fall. Face-first into the ground.
"Everywhere I look I see opportunities," I said. The conversation was about how we see the world and our place. Me? I have lived life trying to take various hills. Then quickly seeking out a new hill to take. Sometimes the hill is simpl...
Mark as Played
March 9, 2024 • 18 mins
February 1974, Baton Rouge. Near the entrance to Louisiana State University. A record store, my favorite hang out. Leisure Landing.
I enter the store and a record is playing. It's alt-country. Weird. Because the guy's name is Ian Matthews. Ian isn't a southern United States name.
I grab the album cover and begin to read the back. Two players who I already admire are on this record. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of Steely Dan fame and David...
Mark as Played
February 29, 2024 • 43 mins
"The only way to learn how many plates you can spin is to break some plates. The question of capacity guarantees failure." - T.S. Elliot
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot (no relation to T.S. that I'm aware of)
I'm not a plate-spinner.
I am able to multi-task, but it's not actually multi-tasking at all. It's really intense focus on a single thing with enough speed to get...
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February 8, 2024 • 48 mins
Galatians 6:7-9 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Show High-Lights
Anybody can do easy. It requires resolve and grit to do difficu...
Mark as Played
January 25, 2024 • 38 mins
About 15 years into my podcasting journey I recorded an episode entitled, A Virtual Tour Of My Podcasting Studio. I published it 9 years ago today, January 25, 2015. In 2019 I published an update, Welcome Inside The Yellow Studio (This Is How I Podcast Now). Since then I've tried to keep a page on my personal website updated - Inside The Yellow Studio.
The technology has changed monumentally since I began almost 24 years ago. T...
Mark as Played
December 7, 2023 • 50 mins
Shameless
An adjective meaning insensible to disgrace
Retirement
A noun meaning a withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from active working life or the age at which one normally retires
The United States adopted an initial retirement age of 65 with the Social Security Act of 1935. By the mid-20th century, almost all countries had adopted a retirement age of between 60-65. About 40% of Americans receive Social Security...
Mark as Played
November 30, 2023 • 36 mins
Sorry. My usual show notes don't exist. And I was too lazy this time of year to write them. But I do have a couple of calls to action.
One, join us over in the Facebook group if you care. I'd love to have you in the group.
Two, support my efforts to lean hard into video in 2024. My goal is to crowd-fund $1000. I'm about 50% there so it's coming along. But you can help me out if you'd like (see below).
Please tell a friend abou...
Mark as Played
November 23, 2023 • 2 mins
I appreciate you all very much. Thank you.
Please tell a friend about the podcast!
• Join our private Facebook group
• Email me
Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal
I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, there are many places I'd like you to see.
To help, click the link (or the image below) to donate
Sweetwater Gift Certificates (us...
Mark as Played
November 16, 2023 • 32 mins
The Reality Distortion Field. Guy "Bud" Tribble was Vice President of Software Technology at Apple Inc. As Apple was developing the first Macintosh computer in 1981, Bud used the term to describe Apple's founder Steve Jobs. The term seems to have originated in a 1966 episode of Star Trek when it was used to describe how the aliens encountered by the crew of the starship Enterprise created their own new world through mental force.
...
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November 9, 2023 • 46 mins
There's a Chinese proverb that declares owning two houses is a path toward madness. That's probably true, but I wouldn't know. I've never owned two houses 'cause I've never been part of the rich and famous. ;)
I'm practical. And I'm not rich by American standards, but I'm extremely wealthy by global standards (and by my own measurements). I'm content with my life and grateful for every blessing - most of them are priceless any way...
Mark as Played
November 2, 2023 • 40 mins
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. —Mark Twain
Rhonda and I went on our first date on July 2, 1975. On January 2, 1978 we were married. This coming January 2, 2024 will mark our 46th anniversary.
Today, let's talk about marriage. More accurately, let's just dip our toe in the water of conversation about marriage.
Enjoy this old Vince Gill song about old love.
Please tell a friend about the ...
Mark as Played
October 26, 2023 • 38 mins
So we can take full advantage of what they know. Their insights, experience and wisdom need to be more easily passed on.
Please tell a friend about the podcast!
• Join our private Facebook group
• Email me
Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal
I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, there are many places I'd like you to see.
To help, ...
Mark as Played
October 19, 2023 • 39 mins
Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place, then come down and shoot the survivors. -Ernest Hemingway
I was 11 when I learned how men will clamor for power and authority. Sitting along side my father I watched men wrangle, argue and get worked up. Cooperation was absent. Collaboration wasn’t even an afterthought. The only objective was, "Who is in charge?" And it was apparent to me that more than more man wanted the rol...
Mark as Played
October 16, 2023 • 44 mins
Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure. - Thomas A. Edison
Please tell a friend about the podcast!
• Join our private Facebook group
• Email me
Help Me Reach My $1,000 Goal
I plan to start vlogging from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas because the place is spectacular.
The scenery will make for a great backdrop. Plus, ther...
Mark as Played
October 12, 2023 • 52 mins
During my first few months at a brand new job - my first job where I wasn't working for my dad - I had a routine. I'd get out of class, drive to work and within minutes of walking into the stereo shop I would make my way to one of the sound rooms (yep, we had actual rooms with various stereo equipment set up; each room had sliding glass patio doors). I'd slip the vinyl out of the jacket, put the record on the turntable, grab a reco...
Mark as Played
October 5, 2023 • 44 mins
Many motivational speakers talk about having had a bad day. Most go on to share how they lost it all, or how life crushed them down below the ground level. Or left them homeless and destitute. But...
The Phoenix will always rise back up.
Never mind that quite a few stories we hear are fabricated. But not all of them.
Let's talk about truth though. True stories. Your story. My story.
Reality.
"You had a bad day."
Pain is ...
Mark as Played
September 28, 2023 • 47 mins
During a recent summertime hike we approached the bridge. A recent storm had blown through and knocked down a tree that fell across the bridge. Not a big deal. We just stepped over it carefully. Thankfully the bridge didn't suffer any major damage. Neither did we. It was an obstacle that wasn't there the last time we trekked through the area. It only slowed us down slightly.
Some obstacles are like that. At first glance we may exc...
Mark as Played
September 21, 2023 • 45 mins
I launched my webcam, put on headphones and sat behind the microphone to record "An Oral History." Parts 1 and 2 were recorded on March 11, 2011. Part 3 was recorded on January 16, 2017. Part 4 was recorded on June 23, 2022. I gave my children copies of Parts 1, 2 and 3. I haven't yet shared Part 4.
Fifteen to twenty years ago I first crafted a document I named, "When I Die." In it, I outlined, in some details, what I most wanted ...
Mark as Played
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