+++ title = “09” date = 2019 +++ We know it as a get together where all guests bring a little bit of food, and together we have a huge meal to share. In the 16th century, the word meant “food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest.” Our modern definition likely began in the 1930’s. The modern execution of a potluck is based on convenience. I often suggest potlucks when I don’t want to have to cook for a huge audience.

+++ title = “09” date = 2019 +++ The sound of the radio signal in Contact. You know, the signal that Jodie Foster and her team receive that leads them to uncover the plans to build that machine that sends her off into space to meet her dead father? The steady crunch crunch sound it made, like a gigantic robot in the distance crushing trees to get to your house. And then there’s a moment in the film where the noise just stops and there’s an incredible silence that hangs over the team.

+++ title = “09” date = 2019 +++ It’s not just a pride thing, though pride has a lot to do with it. No, it’s more primal than that. A few months after my son was born, I was talking to another parent with a 20 year old daughter. The way that she was expressing her affection and admiration of her daughter sounded exactly like the way I expressed affection and admiration of my own child.

How we welcome new people to the world is important. After all, we were once greeted for the first time and how it happened mattered. The first thing I did with my son when we arrived home from the hospital was giving him a tour of his house. I showed him the bedrooms, bathrooms, the cool lights in the living room, and the hidden crawl space in the laundry room.

… is by definition shameful. If you want to tell the world what you do, and why it matters, step forward and be bold. But to say a plug is shameless? Not if you need to say it.