Parker Stripped

Have you ever wondered where the ideas that pop into your mind come from? I do, quite often in fact, but usually can’t really figure it out. The other day, though, I did manage to remember where I had first encountered an expression that will probably sound odd to you. I was thinking about how difficult it is for most …

So it’s another new year and it seems like I’ve seen quite a few of them actually. Given what always happens every year I thought this might be a good starting place for 2016: “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. 

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, …

One of the odd things about language is how certain words start out one way and end up another and do so in a fairly short period of time. How and why that happens fascinates me and I want to talk about one such word this month. The word for the month is “judge”, or “judgmental”. When I was young, …

I remember hearing on the news a couple of weeks ago about an “important new finding” in a study. Of course my immediate reaction went something like this, “Oh no, not another stupid study!” I don’t know about you but it seems to me as if a large segment of our population must do nothing but conduct studies and report …

I love reading quotes. Not just ones I agree with either. In fact I believe the best quotes are the ones that make you think. Here’s a good example and the catalyst for this column. [Note: there are several versions of this quote – as there are many well-known quotes – I’m using the one most familiar to me.] It …

This column is late because I took two weeks to get away. Week one I spend running around like crazy at the Marine Raider Association’s annual Reunion. It’s always a busy time, but a good one, and this year was no different. As things ended up I’m now more involved in the Association than ever before. Not what I had …

Louie has reached his goal weight. But he’s not celebrating. Find out why below. In the latter part of July 2015 I reached a goal I’ve been working towards for nearly a year. According to the app I’ve been using it took me 322 days to do it. If memory serves (and anymore it usually doesn’t!) I didn’t start using …

I remember my first couple of years living here on the River. Now that was a long time ago and a lot has changed since then. Like the internet, for example, and cell phones for another. See, I told you it was a long time ago. But two things haven’t changed. One is that it gets really hot here and …

Quite a few years ago I remember hearing someone talk about how they trained sales people and using the expression “ABC – Always Be Closing.” Thanks to the internet I just found out this expression was used in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, a movie I haven’t seen. Well this month I want to share something a bit different with …

Okay so I had this idea for the May column but then I had to pay my taxes on April 15th and everything changed. This isn’t going to be a rant about too much taxation – I have opinions about that of course. Who doesn’t? But that’s not what this column is about. Besides, if you want read the various …