I have spent the last 3 days at the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis and I have returned home exhausted and yet inspired. While there, I said hello to countless smiling people, from "celebrities" in the activity to average fans. I shook many hands, took lots of pictures, shot videos on my phone, posted to [...]
“Kindness is the water that puts out the fire.” I awoke today to this quote from Lady Gaga and I found myself moved by it. We live in a time of unrest and unease and many people are responding with fire….with meanness and intolerance and divisiveness and fear. But “Kindness is the water that puts [...]
In this day and age of instant celebrity online, many people seem to have forgotten that in order to achieve anything, you must sacrifice. It’s human nature to look for the easy way out, the shortcut to achieving your dream, the silver bullet to give you the edge. But ultimately it all comes down to [...]
Today I was excited and honored to pass my evaluation and reach Section Three of Black Belt Training at the Martial Arts Center for Health. This achievement came at the six month mark in my training. But my day started sitting across from a doctor. My doctor asks to check my bloodwork every six months, [...]
Currently in the news, Michael Sam was not signed by any NFL team. A GM of an NFL franchise admitted that he wanted to sign Michael but "was afraid of the media attention." So my thought was that these big bad football types are really acting like a bunch of cowards. This is all the [...]
I’ve been an educator my entire life, and I always loved those moments when I saw the “light bulb” go on in someone’s eyes. I’ve had this happen with students, instructors, even parents I was working with. It’s one of those rewarding elements of teaching. I’ve always cherished when I had one of those same [...]
A friend told me that he recently heard a series of rumors about how I work with bands in South Carolina. Apparently I’m either a giant prima donna or so wildly successful that I can make extravagant demands of my clients!! I must say these all gave me a huge laugh. The rumors say that [...]
I love figure skating and enjoy watching it during the Olympics. But it’s pretty clear to everyone that the judging system is very messed up. As an article in the New York Times points out, even the authorities commenting on the performances in the Ladies Figure Skating finals couldn’t figure out why Adelina Sotnikova beat [...]
One of the most inspiring moments of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games was the performance of Jeremy Abbott in his short program. Jeremy is the current US Men’s Figure Skating champion and was a contender for a medal in Sochi. However, on Jeremy’s first big quadruple jump in his short program he fell, and fell [...]
I recently saw “Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark” on Broadway. It’s not a perfect show, but I had followed its creation, controversial history, and creative story from the beginning and I wanted to see the show before it closed in early January. Despite its flaws, the show was entertaining and the moments of flying were [...]