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What Sana thinks of America
When Sana and I first met and began talking about marriage, I was terrified of what she would think of the culture of the United States. Here’s the accomplished woman of letters; adored by every student she’s ever known and universally respected by her colleagues and superiors in academia in Southeast Asia. Now I’ll be…
Read MoreWhat 5 year old Gabriel taught me about tenacity
August 2019, I drove my son Gabriel to visit my brother and his family in Kentucky. Dave has two sons, and they both get along really well with Gabriel. KY is a 12-13 hour drive from my home in Virginia Beach, so even getting an early start it’s a long, tiring day of driving. We…
Read MoreI didn’t know of dirt until my wife moved in.
Three weeks ago today my wife Sana arrived in the United States, and the phrase “salt on my wound” took on new meaning. I’ll explain. I moved into a small apartment in Virginia Beach this past March and it was perfect for its purposes. I needed something small and without the ironclad contracts and crazy…
Read MoreThis blog post will kill the Covid-19 virus
Sana and I saw something that made us laugh the other day. Someone was throwing out some cleaning wipes in the trash can, and we happened to notice the side of the box said, “Kills the Covid-19 Virus” or words to that effect. So Covid is now used as a selling point for cleaning products.…
Read MoreWhat I learned from my worst interview ever
That headline is not any type of “the worst interview is the one I never did” type of thing. No, this one was a disaster all the way around. Just this past Saturday evening, I had an in-person interview scheduled with a trumpet player who’s from out of town, but was going to be visiting…
Read MoreBe a thermostat, not a thermometer
My son Gabriel and I watched the most recent movie going by the title Journey to the Center of the Earth this past weekend. It was actually really entertaining. I’d never seen any movies based on the novel, nor have I read the novel, but it kind of made me want to do both. The premise basically…
Read MoreWhy we use precious metals to ID our offerings
From James and Sana: We were sitting down one day to begin creating the packages we’re able to offer our clients for podcast production, coaching, social media management, email coaching and what not. Sana suggested we use precious metals to identify each package we offer. It’s typical for businesses such as ours to label each…
Read MoreA Case Study in DDF
Last night, Sana and I watched The World’s Fastest Indian. It’s a movie starring Anthony Hopkins that tells the story of Bert Munro, who through what I define as DDF, (drive, discipline and focus,) achieved something truly remarkable. The movie itself was kind of antithetical to the typical “hero’s journey”. He’s just an average guy with a…
Read MoreYa Just Gotta Start
More potential podcast or other media projects have been undone, be it of my own or others who have been potential clients, by the fear of just getting going. These fears are always disguised as excuses: I don’t know where to begin There’s too much competition I’m just not ready Excuses, being the nails in…
Read MoreHow a mug I bought in ‘Nam is tied to my favorite Bible verse
Last week, I visited the Bat Trang (pronounced “bat chang”) area in Hanoi, which is world-renowned for its exquisite and intricately designed pottery and dishware. I wanted to find a memento by which to remember my time living in Vietnam, and since I’m always in the market for a cool looking coffee mug, I figured…
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