I have recently become addicted to a puzzle called “Connections.” The puzzle presents 16 words in a 4 x 4 grid, and you must select four words at a time that are “connected” in some way. The puzzle creators rank the four sets by difficulty and identify them by color once you have selected them…

Edith Head is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history. While viewing an exhibit of her work at the OKCMOA, I kept running into the word “appropriate.” During a career that spanned two major studios and over 400 films in 60 years, Head’s role was to create costumes…

In his book, Surrender, Bono calls himself a Christ follower who’s trying to keep up. I really like that (enough that I have decided to use it). It communicates both a determined direction and the humility to accept our inevitable imperfection. Christ is often used as a leadership example which I find less than useful much…

Extreme is the furthest from the center or a given point. It is the outermost. Radical is characterized by independence or departure from tradition. It is innovative and unorthodox. I was fortunate to hear Jeff Struecker speak recently. His stories about his experiences serving our country and his testimony of faith are incredible, and he made me…

I had the privilege of passing through TSA checkpoints several times over the last week. The TSA (short for Transportation Security Administration) was created as a response to the September 11 attacks to improve airport security procedures and consolidate air travel security under a combined federal law enforcement and regulatory agency. I’m sure we are…

None of us would be here without a dad (and a mom, but they already had their day…), however, many people grow up without a father. Father’s Day was founded in 1910 to celebrate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. It didn’t become a national holiday until President Richard Nixon signed…

In racing, there is a line that, if followed, is effectively the fastest route around a racecourse. If one were all alone on the track, this would be relatively easy (if you were a race car driver). However, during an F1 Grand Prix, there are nineteen other world class drivers on the course with you,…

I loved playing with bubbles as a child. We often made our own bubble solution from dish detergent and water, but the best was when Vera, my grandmother, bought us bubble solution from the store. I didn’t know it then, but the store-bought solution contained propylene glycol which acts as a surfactant to keep the…

I can’t tell you how many times I heard that growing up. Commonly referred to as the Golden Rule, it appears in the Bible in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but variations were present in ancient texts as early as 2040 BC. Sometimes it is used as a question, as in, “How would you…

I vividly remember searchlights waving in the night sky near our house. They were often used to attract attention to an opening, a premier, or a car dealership sale. I found them fascinating. Those old searchlights I saw were arc lamps which produced a white-hot light from an arc between two carbon electrodes. Viktor Frankl,…