1. Sometimes my brain doesn’t get the message fast enough. I was responding to a local library about doing a speaking event later this summer. I then got a new email from another local museum. My first thought was that it was for another speaking event, which would be awesome. I opened it, and it had a link to an ecard. Thinking it was maybe an invite to some event at the museum, I clicked on it. As soon as it was done downloading, it asked to upload the software. I knew then it was a scam. I deleted the ecard and quickly changed my Google password and turned up my security in my banking app. I got so caught up in the potential of making money selling books that I didn’t spot an obvious scam until it was almost too late. I read that this is something new, where hackers send this type of invite from an email in your contacts, so it doesn’t look suspicious. Just beware.
2. They came late this year, but the allergies have arrived. I had a young client this week who was dragging when he came in. I asked him how he felt, and he said he had a slight sore throat and a stuffy head. I was naturally worried, but he said he thought it was allergies. I told his mother to keep us posted as to how he felt the next morning. She called and had to cancel his appointment because he didn’t feel well. I felt lethargic and a bit foggy the next day. Worried that it might be sickness and not allergies, I went online and checked the pollen reports for New England. Luckily, or not so for me, the pollen count is extremely high this week. I was never so happy to have a couple of clients cancel. It gave me time to stay glued to my chair. Hopefully, the rain coming later this week will knock down the pollen.
3. Sometimes I don’t understand the way things are labeled on Google Maps. I was looking up a place in Plymouth, MA. When starting to zoom in, I noticed a little section of water in Plymouth Harbor was labeled as Cape Cod Bay. What? Then, further out to see the same water was labeled as Plymouth Bay. Ok? Oh, and in the same vicinity, there were also Kingston Bay and Duxbury Bay. Like, wait a minute, does every town there have a bay? Why isn’t all of it Plymouth Bay? How did Cape Cod Bay slip a little extra chunk of water in there? What is this foolishness? Maybe it’s because it was late and I was getting tired that this bothered me so much. I got a screen grab, so you all can feel the same chaos and panic as I did when I saw this.
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| Too many bays |
4. I have had a pretty good-sized white goatee on and off for a few years. I tend to get rid of it in the summer, but the rest of the year, it looks like a bag of alfalfa sprouts on my chin. That came back to bite me this week. I was the guinea pig for a posture screen app for a new employee. You know, being a good coworker and helping out. She had to take 4 photos of my posture: front, back, and both sides. We did this in our gym. The walls of the gym are white. I didn’t think it would matter. When taking the photos, the AI automatically removes the background so that you can focus on the person. What happened was that in one of the side-facing photos, the AI mistook my white beard for the wall and proceeded to remove it. The end result was me looking like I had no chin. It literally went from mouth to neck. I couldn’t stop laughing. I joked I’d make it my social media profile pic. Or even better, use it on a dating site. Don’t worry, I got a photo of it so you can see this abomination.
5. Word travels fast. I had a really fun author event at the West Dennis Library last week. It was for my latest book, which is all about Cape Cod history. It was a rousing success. The event has paid even more dividends as people who were there have spread the word. In just a week or so since that event, I have added 3 more events to my calendar this upcoming summer. It is exciting because I love doing those events. Being involved in some sort of creative field has been the goal for decades. I try everything: podcasts, books, blogs, social media videos, filmmaking. Getting to do some sort of work in those fields makes me feel alive and fulfilled. I have also learned that when it comes to these events, I need to just say yes and figure things out later. I never want to give an establishment a reason to rescind their offer. Luckily, I have a day job that allows me to be very flexible with my schedule. It really is the best of both worlds. Who knows, these upcoming events may not be the only ones to come from that one at West Dennis Library. Also, the new ones I’ve scheduled could lead to many more. I want it to get to the point that I am so busy that I start needing to cut time from my day job.
6. I mention a lot that I am working hard, trying to pursue a career in something creative. Whether writing, podcasting, or film, anything that allows me to use my creative mind to make a living sets my soul alight. That being said, I also make sure to routinely take a step back and appreciate where I am in life. I am very fortunate to be where I am at this point in my life. I have easy access to many close family members. I still have several close friends nearby. I am, for all intents and purposes, in good health as I sadly hurdle toward 50. This allows me the ability to go out and take a long walk on a sunny spring morning on a beautifully scenic route right from my front door. As much as I am working hard and fighting for my future, I am also very appreciative of the life I have now. Things can and do change, so I have to stop and be present as much as possible while I can.
7. Where were you during the great Instagram bot purge of 2026? This week, millions of bot accounts were deleted from the platform. It sent shockwaves through the social media community. Some big celebrities and influencers lost millions of fake followers. Me? I lost around 50. No, I’m not a big celebrity, but I was at least glad that the vast majority of my followers are real people. Now, granted, some of them might be inactive accounts that haven’t been used in a decade. I have no way to know. Honestly, the other major social media apps should follow suit and clear out the bots. I guarantee it would make the whole experience better without fake accounts that are only created to cause chaos and spread misinformation. I might never have deleted my Twitter (never calling it stupid X) account if it wasn’t overrun with bots, oh, and jackasses.
8. For 2026, I have come up with a couple of fun series of articles to write. One is looking back at 1996, the year in general. This is because it’s 30 years ago, and the year I graduated from high school. I look at music, friendships, relationships, and more. The other one branches off from the first. I call it ‘alternate life timelines.’ What does it mean? Basically, I look at seminal moments from my life where a change to what happened would have caused major ripples in my life. I explain reality and also try to guess where I would be in an alternate world. The first article in that series has to do with my choice to not go away to college right after high school. It ended up being a very deep topic that took 2,700 words to finish. I am excited about this series in particular. It’s sort of like getting to live out a fantasy life without leaving my desk. In reality, I believe that I am where I am in life for a reason. Although I might take a brief pit stop in the land of regret, I can’t stay there. A wise man (Kurt Cobain) once said: “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
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| Coming soon... |
9. Because I never feel like I have enough on my plate, I decided to start noodling with a pair of new ideas. One book, one television show. The book would be a children’s book about characters that are half animal and half food. They would get fused together with the food they are eating due to a freak lightning strike. Hey, it’s a children’s book; it doesn’t have to be based in reality. The idea came from my niece Sylvie, who said she found a frog and named it Pickles because its back looked like a pickle, green and bumpy. From there, my wacky imagination took over. The other idea is a comedy show based on my experiences in restaurants. I’d base it in the 1990s and use a lot of scenarios that really happened. I could always embellish some and naturally change names, but I think that would be funny. If I had more free time I’d really push these two ideas but for now I’ve got outlines and some sketches. Which would you want to see first?
10. Happy Mother’s Day this week to my mom, Laurie. She has always been my biggest fan, biggest supporter. I admit that a big part of my drive to succeed in creative fields is so that I can validate all of the support and sacrifice that she made for my siblings and me. She went to school full-time while working full-time, while also being the mother of five kids. I have always tried to show my appreciation for that. I believe that I didn’t as much as a kid, but now, as I get into my late 40s, I realize just what my mom did. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, and thank you. To my sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends who are mothers, I hope the day was as good as it could be for you.
