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“He’s unwilling to be forgotten.” Amazing interview with Billy Crystal. He tells the story of his mentor giving him notes after a performance. “Your act is like Chinese food. It’s really good, but we can’t remember what you ate. You didn’t leave a tip. That little extra something that’s uniquely you, leave it with the audience. That way, even if the show didn’t go that well, they have a reason to…

“It is mankind’s evolutionary obligation to use all the powers at our disposal.” Love this passage from Inferno. It’s a good reminder that we’re much stronger, much smarter and a much more capable than we give ourselves credit for. We just need a testing ground. An enabler. A encounter that shows us what we’re made of. Like playing trivia in a bar. Ever notice how many answers you magically pull…

“It’s not like there’s a limited number of slots.” Aziz proves that the artistic pie has enough slices for everybody. That the path of bitter resentment and bullshit competitiveness is not worth taking. And that every moment we’re lost in somebody else’s orbit is a moment we’re not improving life on our own planet. If your whole schtick is undermining the work of others, that’s not art, that’s fear….

“Nothing is more creative, nor destructive, than a brilliant mind with a purpose.” Genius is a neutral entity. Like tofu, it takes on the flavor of whatever sauced it’s immersed in. The hope is, whoever possesses that brain will channel their power into a positive direction. The problem is, evil usually pays better. And chicks dig danger. Stupid dark side and their amazing perks. Inspired by Dan Brown’s new…

“You don’t need a lot of downtime for your brain to turn on itself.” Action isn’t just eloquence, it’s the antidote to unhappiness. The smartest, healthiest thing we can do when the waves of sadness come crashing in is to start surfing. Or snorkeling. Or painting a picture of the ocean. Whatever. The waves are an invitation to do something––anything––that burns calories, makes meaning and transports us to a…

“Comedians are pastors who aren’t lying.” I’ve always appreciated a good preacher. Not from religious perspective, but as communicators and performers, those guys sure know how to deliver a message. When I used to drive across the country, one of my favorite rituals was scanning the radio dial for sermons from local congregations. I laughed. I cried. I took notes. I ran thought experiments. I even called in once, just…

“I wanted to create spaces where people felt held.” About a year ago, I started tinkering with scale. Not sure why. Probably because I moved to a city that was big enough for me. My first experiment was blowing up photographs to poster size. That changed my entire experience of what a picture can be. Next, I began thinkmapping on twenty-foot dry erase walls. That rejiggered my entire creative strategy…

“Molly makes you feel unplanned, and that’s not a common feeling.” The older I get, the more I feel like not doing drugs puts me in the minority. It’s crazy. Every time I smell pot on the streets or read articles about the high of the moment, another veil gets pulled back. Does everyone do drugs but me? Good lord. And yet, I fully support drugs. People should be allowed to…

“There’s nothing sexier than not having an agenda.” I’m not here to win. I’m not here to prove myself. I’m not here to be seen. I’m not here to get my name out there. I’m not here to be discovered. I’m not here to make money. I’m not here to network. I’m not here to create mutually beneficial relationships. Once I strip away all the striving, all the expectation and all the…

“Everyone who is making progress in today’s economy isn’t doing something with a certified skill.” When I retired as an entrepreneur and starting looking for a day job, the first order of business was to catalogue my assets. The frustrating part was, I had no advanced degrees, no designations and no certifications. And that made it very hard for potential employers to put me in one of their neat little boxes….