But what comes next may be harder than when you walked away. — My wife, Whit, and I have a mantra we live by: If it’s not a fuck yes, then it’s a fuck no. It came to us about two and a half years ago. My wife and I were teaching and had gone through a brutal school year — both personally…

I grew up around vinyl. My dad had this old turntable hooked up to some massive speakers. He’d constantly tweak them to ensure the “right sound” complemented whatever was playing. As a kid, I remember running my hand along the hundreds of records he’d spent his life collecting. …

I dig it. — Like several other writers, I lost some followers this week, but I’m cool with it. I stepped away from publishing on Medium a bit this year and quite frankly, I was surprised my account grew by 500 followers in my absence. Well, let’s put it this way… I was surprised……

And transform the relationship you have with them. — I carefully packed our wagon with sand toys, blankets, clothes, and the remaining food before we started up the mile-long trail to our car. Not even 50 yards down the trail, the wagon hit a rock and tipped over, spilling everywhere. …

Day 3 of the 10-Day Shortform Challenge — Day 3 is about fun facts. I’ll run with the parental advisory label and how it relates to hip-hop. The parental advisory label has an ugly history, but here’s the gist. In 1985, Tipper Gore got offended that her daughter was listening to Prince sing about a girl masturbating and decided that shit had to stop. Tipper founded the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). She teamed up with some other stuck-up ladies — the “Washington Wives” — and pressured the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to push for warning labels to be put on all albums viewed as “obscene” — targeting hip-hop specifically.

There’s a certain satisfaction that comes with finding a piece that speaks to you. — I grew up listening to hip-hop. I watched it evolve over the past 25 years into what it is today. As a kid, one of my favorite past times was listening to “The Underground Show” on Sunday nights. It’s where I found new music. Like any other radio station —…

I’m not saying: “You should do it.” I just wanted to share a different perspective. — In November, Tom Fenske introduced the 10-Day Shortform Challenge. Ten days of writing, ten different prompts, 150 words max with each piece. The challenge was put together to help “make writing a habit” — to encourage consistency. Personally, I love long-form writing. I prefer it because I can squeeze in…

Day 2 of the 10-Day Shortform Challenge —

Day 1 of the 10-Day Shortform Challenge —