25 Important Lessons My Father Has Taught Me About Living a Great Life

21 Feb

Martin and HarveyFor a long time now, my sister and I have (affectionately) given my parents a hard time because they can be kind of square. You know, like ’50s TV parents square.

But the nice thing about having Ward Cleaver for a father is that, just like on Leave It to Beaver, there’s always a lesson to be learned, whether you realize it or not. And over the years, me and the Beav — I mean, my sister — have certainly learned a lot.

Today, on the occasion of my dad’s 70th birthday, I wanted to share a few of those lessons. Most of these my sister and I cowrote and read aloud at a surprise party for him yesterday. But since we didn’t want to speak too long and bore the crowd in attendance, I kept a few extras just for this blog post. Continue reading →

Want to Build Stronger Online Relationships? It’s Really Not That Hard. #CMAD

29 Jan

CMAD videoIf you didn’t know, this past Monday (January 25) was Community Manager Appreciation Day (or CMAD, for short). It was a chance for people and companies to celebrate folks like me — social media managers and others who work so hard every day to grow our businesses and organizations by building stronger relationships with customers, clients, and others using blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other social channels (and offline means as well). And to learn from each other as well.

As part of the day, a social media company called Zoomph reached out and asked me to share a quick tip for building stronger online relationships. I was happy to do so. That video is below. Continue reading →

Finishing Off a Big Movie Year

8 Jan

the-revenantWhile you were out seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens once, twice, three times, or maybe even four, a bunch of other movies hit theaters. Sure, I did already publish my top movies of 2015 blog post, but now that all of these last few have hit theaters nationwide, and since none of them made my year-end list (the good one or the bad one), here are my final movie reviews of 2015. Continue reading →

Keeping Things in Perspective Made 2015 a Great Year

31 Dec

IMG_9182According to multiple reports, 2015 was a great year for the average human being. Well, I must be average because I did have a pretty great year.

Actually, all kidding aside, if there’s one good thing the article I linked to in that first paragraph does, it’s put the year into perspective. Yes, mass shootings, racism, terrorism, and other awful things dominated the headlines, from Charleston to Israel to Paris to Syria to San Bernardino to wherever Donald Trump was speaking. But let’s not forget, there was also much to celebrate: the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the Patriots won the Super Bowl, and in many ways, quality of life for the considerable majority of the planet’s population actually improved this year.

Continue reading →

Putting the Spotlight on My Favorite Movies of 2015

29 Dec

jurassic-worldWhat a great year for the movies 2015 was. Yes, I say that every year, because when you’re looking back on your favorite releases, it’s hard not to think positively.

But the fact is, going to the movies brought me a lot of pleasure this year, and not always due to conventionally good films.

To that end, two of the most enjoyable movies I saw, Jurassic World and, especially, San Andreas, delivered exactly what I wanted them to despite (or maybe because of) dubious quality.

Other films were pleasant surprises, like The Peanuts Movie, Ant-Man, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — and I mention that last film not just because it featured Alicia Vikander’s most adorable, most endearing, and most winning performance of the year.

I saw a lot of excellent documentaries this year, including Sunshine Superman, The Wolfpack, He Named Me Malala, and The Hunting Ground, and I watched as one of my all-time favorite docs, Man on Wire, became a drama: The Walk.

All this is to say, it was fun to be a frequent moviegoer this year. And frequent I was: I saw a total of 85 movies — more than I’ve ever seen in a single year.

Seeing so many movies made it even more of a challenge to narrow them down to my 10 favorites; you’ll notice the ones mentioned above didn’t even make my list. Which ones did make the list? Let’s get to it. Continue reading →

My 2015 Soundtrack Was a Real Head Trip

28 Dec

2015playlistIf you want to get to know someone — to really know what’s going through his mind — the secret can often be found in what music he’s listening to.

That may not be true of everyone, but it’s definitely true of me.

Every year can always be summed up by a playlist of the songs I listened to — the good and the bad.

My time capsule playlist for 2015 is no exception. Yes, I listened to podcasts and other things this year (shoutout to Why I Social, Here’s the Thing, and The Sporkful), but it’s the music on my year-end playlist that fills me with more memories and that will last for a longer time to come. For example …

Continue reading →

These Are the Movie Reviews You’re Looking For

22 Dec

Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-Han-Solo-ChewbaccaA not-very-long time ago, in a galaxy not very far away, I finally got to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. No worries, you won’t find any spoilers here. Only a true member of the Dark Side would do that.

But Star Wars wasn’t the only movie I’ve seen since Thanksgiving. So, with Christmas coming in just a few days, let’s take a look at five new or recent releases that’ll be playing at a theater near you this upcoming holiday weekend, and whether I think they’re worth your time.

(Note: Numbers next to each film refer to the total number of movies I’ve seen in 2015, and the order in which I saw them.) Continue reading →

This Is the Best Christmas Music Playlist of All Time

15 Dec
Photo credit: TSgt Suzanne M. Day/Creative Commons

Photo credit: TSgt Suzanne M. Day/Creative Commons

True story: If you want to know what the best Christmas music is, you should ask a Jewish person.

Why is that? Honestly, I really don’t know. Perhaps it has something to do with, as Sarah Spigelman Richter recently wrote on Mashable.com, a deep-seated sense of FOMO for “a culture that is in no way destined to be mine.” Feeling left out can be hard, so we appreciate the “Americanized, agnostic version of the Christmas season” that much more because it’s not really ours.

Or maybe that has nothing to do with it.

What I do know is that were it not for the Jews, we wouldn’t have some of the best Christmas songs of all time. “White Christmas,” anyone? “Silver Bells?” “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)?” Etc. Etc. All written by Jews. So clearly, we know our holiday tunes. Continue reading →

Time for Thanksgiving Leftovers at the Movies

4 Dec

creed-movieWe’ve arrived at December, and that means it’s time for all the awards-bait movies (and a little something called Star Wars: The Force Awakens). But before we get into all of those, I thought I’d clear the slate and tell you what I thought of the movies I’ve seen in recent weeks since my last collection of reviews — many of which, appropriately enough, were turkeys.

As always, numbers refer to the total number of movies I’ve seen this year. And no, I didn’t see The Hunger Games. Haven’t seen a single movie in that entire series. Continue reading →

Thank You for All of These Things (And More)

25 Nov
Photo courtesy of Paul Downey/Flickr

Photo courtesy of Paul Downey/Flickr

Thank you.

Those are two words that don’t get said nearly enough. These days, we’re so quick to jump on people and businesses for doing things we don’t like, but we hardly ever recognize the good things that make us happy and show our gratitude for them.

That’s just one reason why it’s nice that Thanksgiving exists: Because other than enjoying delicious food — mmmm … turkey and gravy — it’s the one time of year when everyone gets to express how grateful they are. It’s like the great poet Nicole Westbrook once said: “Don’t be hateful, gotta be grateful!”

(All kidding aside, according to a recent New York Times article, being grateful will actually make you happier person.)

With that in mind, I just wanted to take a second right here, right now, to say thank you for reading. Not just this blog post, but any and all posts you may have read over the years. I recently celebrated my tenth blogiversary, a milestone I’d never have reached were it not for the fact that people actually care what I have to say. I appreciate your support and never take it for granted.

And now, to continue my tradition, here (in no particular order) are more of the people, places, and things I am thankful for this year. Thank you to each and every one of them. Continue reading →

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