My first boss, Tommy Spires, died October 19 after contracting COVID-19. He hired me to be a cashier at Spires IGA grocery store in my hometown of Lake Butler, Fla., when I was 16. I’ve said multiple times in all kinds of conversations, “I think about my first job — at Spires IGA — almost […]
5 reasons for joy amid the madness
This pandemic, with its undefined end and the constant worries about health, is a constant drain in many ways. Kat Bouska asked us to share five things that are bringing us joy right now, and that’s a good idea. Here are mine: Wedding planning with my daughter Tenley is getting married next May, so we […]
6 letters and a slash mark at midnight
It is becoming more common for people to add the pronouns by which they want to be addressed to their email signatures and other identifiers at work. I did this about six weeks ago. Here’s one explanation via Culture Amp of why people add their pronouns to their email signatures (among other places): If a […]
Peyton Manning tried to be anonymous, but …
I had a celebration (September 10 was my two-year anniversary as an editor at SmartBrief) and a lesson learned (don’t try to attend two simultaneous online conferences without getting your other work covered) this month. These were my favorite stories: BoardSource I love the fact that Peyton Manning tried to make this donation anonymously. The […]
Banned Books Week 2020
Banned Books Week 2020 starts today and lasts through October 3. Since 2014, I have participated in the Banned Books Week Virtual Readout (which, by the way, can be done anytime — not just during BBW). In 2019, I read from The Hate U Give (here’s the recording and my post). In 2018, I read from And Tango […]
Thoughts about church
CHURCH I’m not in a great place mentally about church right now. I realize the practice of going to a church building to worship has been interrupted in many ways by the pandemic, but my lax approach started showing up long before the pandemic. I got the weekly email from the church I still belong […]