Hey Everyone.

Thanks to many who posted a recommendation for friends to subscribe. At last count we had 236 readers. I’ll update you Monday on how much we’ve grown.

Today is Lisa’s birthday. She’s beautiful and I love her.

I’ve announced that I’m Un-Retired. What that ultimately means even I don’t know. You will know a lot more after reading this.

In 2014 I stepped away from a 25 year morning show. I told close friends that I felt like I was in the movie Groundhog Day. I was trapped doing the same scenes every day.

Most media feels that way lately. A steady diet of News McNuggets dipped in spin sauce.

I needed a new experience.

For a year I taught at Green River College. What an eye opener! And a blessing. To see kids just starting out in this crazy world. So many incredible advances are happening right now at the launch of their adult lives.

And the news for them isn’t all bad.

There are some incredibly good people out there who come from a place of love.

Ironically one of the best is a Billionaire named Bill Gates. He’s the second richest person in the world behind Jeff Bezos (Amazon).

He’s giving all of his money away!

And saving millions of children’s lives. (I guess he didn’t want to be President).

He’s also picked out the next book I’m going to read.

“One of the most important books I’ve ever read ― an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-factfulness-by-hans-rosling-favorite-book-review-2018-4

Even as the curmudgeon in me warns of the pitfalls these days, the positive news is unprecedented.

We’re all on this earth for a very brief period in history. The blink of an eye for the universe is infinity compared to our tiny lifespan.

So why not be happy? Enjoy ourselves? Why do we feel a sense of foreboding in our gut?

It’s those News McNuggets, I tell ya. So far I’m only judging this book by its cover. But I do trust Bill. He walks the walk.

So I’ve had fun for the last few years.

And for 2 years toured with a Heart spinoff band playing alongside Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musicians.

I still pinch myself. And wish I was doing it.

I hiked a hundred miles alone on the Appalachian Trail, and halfway up the state of Vermont on the Long Trail.

What a way to get in touch with yourself.

Be alone in the wilderness. Feel what it’s like to be human. Not influenced by what your apps and algorithms and boob tube serve up to keep you fixated.

Fear was actually invented by nature to keep you from being eaten or murdered by another tribe.

You just don’t feel your real feelings this way without stripping away the modern world.

Lisa and I travelled. We had lots of fun. We also got sick of it. It felt like work to pack, fly and move shit. It was more fun when I was working, because we had the anticipation of waiting for vacations.

We started tapping trees and making Maple Syrup. Beekeeping continues, we sell honey at the local orchard.

We FaceTime a lot. With the grandkids Hazel (who is very smart and inquisitive at 3 1/2) and Georgia, who will be one year old before we know it. And Keith and Andrew. We must have done something right, and they must have overcome what we did wrong, because they have become very good men.

All of this time, I’ve continued to do a weekend radio show in Worcester with my original sidekick and partner Zip. He has a unique kindness and humor about him, and warm deep radio voice that I do not have. The entire 25 years in Seattle I missed him.

This whole time there hasn’t been a day goes by that I’m not looking at the media landscape like a puzzle to be solved.

So yes, I’m willing to go back to Monday – Friday (preferably afternoons) on that Antique Talking Box. And I’m actively looking for the best collaborators. And a few seem genuinely interested.

But as I’ve said here, each one of us is holding a multimedia distribution platform in our hands. And there are a zillion things transmitted every second trying to attract your attention.

So thank you for the gift of a little bit of your time.