Growing Bolder Community

Diana moaned softly as she once more turned on her side in the big, empty bed. A California king they called it. Huge. Bill wanted it, he said, so it could be their playground and it was. She smiled to herself, remembering their playdates, wishing he was here instead of in Dallas on business. Dallas. Oil. Money. His career. She opened one eye and checked the clock. 3:42 a.m....

Every so often I'm gripped by the urge to rent a "classic" movie to see what the fuss was all about. In the past couple of years, this has led me to "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (splendid), "Rebel without a Cause" (a tad overdone) and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (I love the word mendacity!!) This week the cop classic "Bullitt" started calling my name as I browsed the rack at Blockbuster, and with...

Talking to one of my best friends Jumbo today kicked up an old college memory of my Physics professor saying "go ahead and use cell phones and help the endangerment of monkeys in Africa" This was 9 years ago now. As you can imagine the whole class was like WTF. He went on to explain that materials in cell phone batteries are mined from parts of Africa and those miners would feast on the...

Sometimes "growing bolder" means you have to stretch yourself in ways you hadn't thought imaginable just the day before. I got the phone call we all dread, a late-afternoon alert that my 85 year old wheel-chair bound mother had fallen and fractured her thigh just above the knee, and my 85 year old dad with Parkinson's and issues of confusion couldn't be left alone. And in my home town of...

There are plenty of phone calls you get from your kids over the years that count as "surprises." Some of them are good surprises, some of them are awful, and a few just rock you back on your heels and make you go "WOW!!!!" The phone call from my art student daughter, Sarah Muehlbauer, last week telling me that she'd just won $20,000 in an art competition sponsored by Volkswagen of America was...

“Y’all come on in here, now – do ‘ya hear me? Supper’s on the table.” “Ma, I ain’t finished watching this cartoon.” “It don’t matter – get on in here.” “Now, let’s get the blessin’ out of the way before we eat. Dear Lord . . . “ “Darn it, ma! Every time we start to eat, that stupid phone rings!” “Well, it’s helpin’ to put food on the table so you...

With my first radio interview scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on October 25th, I spent much of the preceding afternoon pulling together notes and information about questions that I thought the interviewer might ask. Along with that I invested in a new phone and headset that would leave my hands free to find information quickly. I hoped I had everything I needed. The Troy Neff Radio Show...

I don’t feel 40. Not even close, actually. At least I didn’t until February 22, 2010. That is a date that will live in infamy for me. I did something that day that many would just shrug off. Some might even say, “I think you’re losing it, Mike.” Maybe I am. I did something that day that I once told myself I would never do. I COULD NEVER do. I’ve even mocked those who have done it...