Alton Brown’s new Food for Thought book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have long been a huge fan of Alton Brown, who created the Good Eats television show. He has a new book titled Food for Thought: essays and ruminations. On pages 109 and 110 there is an essay titled Children and Food, which you can find at Google Books. It discusses getting them to try foods by employing reverse psychology – “oh, these are only for big people … grown ups.” And on pages 127 to 131 there is another essay titled …Fundamental, which you also can find at Google Books. That one describes a botched photocopying which  missed the part of a recipe at the bottom of an early page telling how to marinate the chicken. He instead added those ingredients at the end as a sauce.

 

There is another essay titled I Hack Therefore I Am which begins on page 151. On page 154 he tells a story about dehydrating foods:

 

“For instance, when I wanted to do a show about beef jerky and dehydrating in general, I discovered I couldn’t find a decent dehydrator for under $200, which seemed crazy. Also, I found that in order to achieve UL (Underwriters Laboratory) certification, dehydrators have to create enough heat to male the food safe, which means most such devices aren’t dehydrators at all but very slow roasters, or even kiddie ovens. So, again, no. But I really wanted to make beef jerky, a favorite of mine from my scouting days, and possibly the only thing I enjoyed of my scouting days other than those rakish red berets they introduced in 1972.

 

So, off to the hardware store. Despite my inability to make wood do what I want it to do, ditto my lack of welding skills, or basic machining skills, hardware stores have always been my cathedrals of problem-solving. My father’s father ran a hardware store and, while I was growing up, I had two or three I hung out in, sometimes for hours, especially on weekends when I was often left to my own devices. So, whenever in doubt … hardware. At the one nearest my house, they don’t even ask me anymore if I need help finding anything, because they know I have no idea what I need until I actually find it.

 

So, I was wandering around the store, and it was fall, so they were pushing the whole ‘time to check your furnace’ thing, and were running a special on square furnace filters. I noticed that, besides the hypoallergenic filters and the fiberglass filters, they also had cellulose based filters and that the cellulose is folded, kind of like a Japanese fan, with a lot of ridges. Interesting. After a few more turns around the store, I noticed that these very filters were the same size as the box fans on discount over in aisle four. Hmmm. I did some quick math, bought a fan, three filters, a couple of bungee cords, and headed out.

 

Once home, I deep chilled a flank steak, cut it into long strips, marinated said strips in a big zip-top bag for about an hour, drained them well, then lined them up in the grooves of two of the furnace filters. I stacked them on the fan with an empty filter on top and secured the stack to the fan with two bungees. I turned the contraption right side up, turned the fan to medium, and left it in the bathroom tub for twelve hours.

 

And thus was born the Blow-Hard 5000.”

 

That description takes license compared an earlier version. In the 2010 book Good Eats 2: The Middle Years he describes it on page 264 in Episode 132 from Season 9 titled Urban Preservation II: Beef Jerky:

 

“Me: Honey, I want to make beef jerky.

 Her: That’s nice honey.

 Me: So, I’m going out to buy one of those dehydrators.

 Her: Oh no, you’re not.

 Me: I’m not?

 Her: You’re not bringing one more piece of junk into this kitchen.

 Me: I’m not?

 Her: Everyone says you’re the MacGuyver of the kitchen.

         So go MacGuyver something.

 Me: Fine, I will.

 Her: Fine.

 

 I stormed off to sulk in the basement, and that’s where I found an old box fan that had served as our sole source of air-conditioning during culinary school. Then I saw a stack of furnace filters and a plan started to form. The resulting rig, christened the Blowhard 3000, was originally utilized in ‘Herbal Preservation’ (episode 90) as an herb-drying device [there called the Blowhard 2000]. Although it excels at that (and other) chores, jerky was in fact the original application.”  

    

The cartoon guy was adapted from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Preply survey on UK attitudes toward and fears about public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a post at the Preply blog from the Preply Language Learning Team on April 3, 2025 titled Speak with confidence: Tackling the UK’s public speaking phobia. But it doesn’t really talk about phobia. Instead  there are results from a survey of 2,007 adults regarding their attitudes.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One bar chart (shown above) has answers for six questions about how they felt about public speaking. 21% both said “it’s fine – I will do it but don’t actively go after opportunities and “I hate it and I avoid any occasion that I have to do it. And 20% said “I don’t like it but will do it if I have to.”   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A second bar chart (shown above) has the top ten settings which caused the most anxiety. A job Interview was first at 32%, followed by Presenting in Public at 25%, and a tie between Speeches and Work Presentations at 22%. Then came Performing in Front of Others at 21% and Talking to Authority Figures at 14%. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A third bar chart (shown above) has the top ten fears while public speaking. Forgetting words was first at 36%. Then at 33% was a tie between Freezing Up and Looking foolish. Fear of Being Judged was third at 32%.

 

The cartoon of a confident female speaker came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Cory Booker delivered the longest speech in the history of the United States Senate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cory Booker is a Democrat and the senior senator from the state of New Jersey. Starting at 7:00 PM on on March 31, 2025 he delivered the longest speech in the history of the Senate – lasting for twenty-five hours and five minutes. There is a Wikipedia page titled Cory Booker’s marathon speech. He protested Donald Trump’s second term as president.

 

There is an article about it by Robin Camarote at Inc. on April 2, 2025 titled Cory Booker and the Art of Authentic Communication. A second article by Suzanne Lucas, also at Inc. on April 2, 2025 is titled Leadership lessons from Cory Booker’s filibuster: Focus on the message, not the spotlight. And there is a third article by Stephen Khan at The Conversation on April 4, 2025 titled The hidden power of marathon Senate speeches: What history tells us about Cory Booker’s 25-hour oration.

 

The portrait of Senator Booker is from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Remembering skeptical investigator Joe Nickell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have long enjoyed reading articles and books by Joe Nickell, particularly his Investigative Files columns in Skeptical Inquirer magazine. There is an article by Blake Smith at The Skeptic on March 10, 2025 titled Joe Nickell, legendary skeptical investigator, dies at the age of 80. A second article by Jonathan Jarry at the McGill Office for Science and Society on March 14, 2025 is titled Remembering Joe Nickell, Skeptical Icon. A longer third article by Benjamin Radford at the Center for Inquiry on March 12, 2025 is titled The Joe I Know. There is a good magazine article about him by Burkhard Bilger in The New Yorker for December 23 and 30, 2002 titled Waiting for Ghosts. Joe wrote about thirty books and hundreds of magazine articles.

 

Among other things, he is known for his work on the holy Shroud of Turin, and having produced a no-so-holy Shroud of Bing Crosby. If you are looking for a skeptical take on several topics for a speech, then look up his 2011 book titled Tracking the Man-Beasts: sasquatch, vampires, zombies and more.   

 

A 2018 portrait  came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Add a hundred or more gestures to your vocabulary with baby sign language

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article in the April 2023 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled Back to the BASICS that has a section on pages 16 and 17 titled 10 Strategies to Boost Your Gestures and Body Language. Under gestures it says five things:

 

1]  Train yourself to gesture more.

2]  Learn from the pros.

3]  Create a gesture for each main point.

4]  Observe yourself in action.

5]  Have a dress rehearsal.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But it doesn’t say where to get those gestures. One good source is American Sign Language (ASL). The alphabet is shown above, and in a video. There is a comprehensive 600-page book from August 2021 (editor in chief Clayton Valli) titled The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language with 3000 entries. And there is a third edition of another shorter book from 2014 by Lottie L. Riekehof titled The Joy of Signing: A dictionary of American signs.      

 

Where can you find a more compact set of ASL gestures to learn? At Open Lines on November 14, 2022 there is a blog post titled Sign Language: How to Teach Your Baby to Communicate describing eleven signs. 

 

And there are books about teaching sign language to babies. My local Lake Hazel branch of the Ada Community Library has a 2018 book by Lane Rebelo titled Baby Sign Language Made Easy and subtitled 101 Signs to start communicating with your child now. Another 2021 book by Diane Ryan is titled Baby Sign Language: More than 150 signs baby can use and understand (easy peasy). There is a preview at Google Books that on page 67 discusses signs for eat and drink:

 

“EAT: Your hand moves back and forth – toward and away – from your mouth as if eating.

DRINK: Pretend you’re holding a glass and taking a sip.”

 

There is a Signing Time Dictionary web site with 400 entries (including brief videos) for both eat and drink.  

 

Images for the first and final gesture for drink, and the ASL alphabet are from Wikimedia Commons.

 

According to a Pearls Before Swine cartoon there are four groups of people

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On January 19, 2024 I blogged about The joy of 2x2 tables, or charts, or matrixes. The Pearls Before Swine cartoon by Stephen Pastis for March 30, 2025 has a line drawing of the graphic shown above (without axis labels), and the following dialogue:

 

Pig: Oh, great Wise Ass, help me to understand humanity.

 

Wise Ass: Of course, my son… All people can be classified into one of four quadrants which look like this…

 

Wise Ass: We love Group(A), tolerate Group(B), and pity Group(C).

 

Pig: That all sounds good, but what about Group(D)? The Dumb and Arrogant.

 

Pig: I know who’s been running our lives.

 

 

Allokataplixis is a recent word for that feeling when travel makes everything new

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In an article by Liam Henneghan at Aeon on September 18, 2017 titled We have a new word for that feeling when travel makes everything new he described the compound word allokataplixis, from Greek words for other and wonder. That article also was reposted at Big Think on February 23, 2021 and again at Pocket. I felt that way when I saw Crater Lake.

 

Another article by Avard Woolaver at The Image Journey on October 3, 2020 is titled Toronto Gone – allokataplixis – seeing the city for the first time. More recently there is yet another article by Joe Walewski at Field Notes – A Naturalist’s Life on March 29, 2024 titled Allokataplixis.

 

I blogged about going to Crater Lake on September 10, 2019 in a post titled Visiting Crater Lake. And on September 21, 2019 I blogged about The joy of travel surprises.

 

Square Units: an amusing comic strip at xkcd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Randall Munroe’s xkcd webcomic on March 19, 2025 there is the comic about numbers shown above titled Square Units.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In it, a message about the area of grass devoured by an insect gets distorted each time it is passed on - as is graphically shown above.  

 

The Explain xkcd web page says that:

 

“In this comic, Megan is using her phone to read about an insect species that consumes (hyperbolically described as ‘devours’) one square inch of grass per day. As it is relayed through a chain of conversations, this measurement gets misinterpreted up to 12 times until Hairbun tells other people that it devours an area of grass equal to two times the land area of Australia per day….

 

This gross error is the result of repeatedly misinterpreting the number of square units as the side length of a square, thus increasing the described area by the power of two.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It’s a wild exaggeration of the old “Game of Telephone.”

 

The cartoon phone woman was adapted from OpenClipArt.  

 

An excellent story about being careful to solve the right problem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design thinking is a set of cognitive, strategic, and practical procedures that designers use. I have been skimming a 2025 book by Fred Estes titled Design Thinking: a guide to innovation. There is an excellent story on pages 86 and 87 that you can read at Google Books:

 

“Case Study: The Town Pool

 

In one Scandinavian town, the community swimming pool had always been a hub of activity, and everyone enjoyed it. But in a brief span of time, attendance dropped sharply. The concerned town council jumped to the conclusion that the pool complex had become outdated and believed a new pool was the answer. They selected an architect and invited him to present design concepts for their multimillion-dollar vision.

 

Yet when the architect arrived at the council meeting, he didn’t bring intricate scale models of a proposed pool complex. Instead, he held up a single sheet of paper. The architect explained that he closely inspected the pool and then talked with the people in town, especially frequent swimmers. After these conversations, he realized an outdated pool wasn’t leading to poor attendance. The sheet he held up? The town’s bus schedule.

 

One of the town’s bus routes ran right by the pool, and most people rode the bus to the pool. But the town’s transportation department had recently changed the bus schedule so that the buses only ran along the route to the pool in midmornings and midafternoon. They dropped the early morning and later afternoon runs – the times when most of the daily swimmers went to the pool before or after work. The architect’s insight was simple – revert to the old bus timetable.

 

Taking his advice, the town saw pool attendance rebound to the previous levels and saved time and millions of tax dollars. This architect had done more than solve a problem. He made sure the town solved the real problem. The town learned the value of placing their ladder against the right wall.”

 

If the pool got outdated, then attendance should have gradually tapered off, and not dropped suddenly.  

 

The swimmer cartoon was adapted from an image at OpenClipArt.

 

 

There may be no warning before a disaster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I was reading an excellent book from 2018 by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Roennlund titled Factfulness, It is subtitled Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world – and why things are better than you think. The fourth chapter is titled The Fear Instinct, and it begins with an essay on pages 101 to 103 titled Blood All Over the Floor:

 

“On October 7, 1975 I was plastering a patient’s arm when an assistant nurse burst through the door and announced that a plane had crashed and the wounded were coming in by helicopter. It was my fifth day as a junior doctor on the emergency ward in the small coastal town of Hudiksvall in Sweden. All the senior staff were down in the dining hall and as the assistant nurse and I searched frantically for the folder of disaster instructions, I could already hear the helicopter landing. The two of us were going to have to handle this on our own.

 

Seconds later a stretcher was rolled in, bearing a man in dark green overalls and a camouflage life jacket. His arms and legs were twitching. An epileptic seizure, I thought; off with his clothes. I removed his life jacket easily but his overalls were more problematic. They looked like a spacesuit, with huge sturdy zippers all over, and no matter how I tried I couldn’t find the zipper that undid them. I had just registered that the uniform meant this was a military pilot when I noticed the blood all over the floor. ‘He’s bleeding,’ I shouted. With this much blood, I knew he could be dead in a matter of seconds, but with the overalls on, I couldn’t see where it was coming from. I grabbed a big pair of plaster pliers [scissors] to cut through the fabric and howled to the assistant nurse, ‘Four bags of blood, O-negative, Now!’

 

To the patient, I shouted, ‘Where does it hurt?’ ‘Yazhe shisha… na adjezhizha zha …’ he replied. I couldn’t understand a word, but it sounded like Russian. I looked the man in his eyes and said with a clear voice, Bce Tnxo Tobapniii Wbenckaya Bojbhniia,’ which means ‘All is calm, comrade, Swedish hospital.’

 

I will never forget the look of panic I triggered with those words. Frightened out of his mind, he stared back at me and tried to tell me something: ‘Vavdvfor papratarjenji rysskamememje ej …’ I looked into his eyes full of fear, and then I realized: this must be a Russian fighter pilot who had been shot down over Swedish territory. Which means that the Soviet Union is attacking us. World War III has started! I was paralyzed by fear.

 

Fortunately, at that moment the head nurse, Birgitta, came back from lunch. She snatched the plaster pliers from my hand and hissed, ’Don’t shred it. That’s an air force ‘G suit’ and it costs more than 10,000 Swedish kronor.’ After a beat she added, ‘And can you please step off the life jacket. You’re standing on the color cartridge and it is making the whole floor red.’

 

Birgitta turned to the patient, calmly freed him from his G suit and wrapped him in a couple of blankets. In the meantime she told him in Swedish. ‘You were in the icy water for 23 minutes, which is why you are jerking and shivering, and why we can’t understand what you’re saying.’ The Swedish air force pilot, who had evidently crashed during a routine flight, gave me a comforting little smile.

 

A few years ago I contacted the pilot, and was relieved to hear that he doesn’t remember a thing from those first minutes in the emergency room in 1975. But for me the experience is hard to forget. I will forever remember my complete misjudgment. Everything was the other way around: the Russian was Swedish, the war was peace, the epileptic seizure was cooling, and the blood was a color ampule from inside the life jacket. Yet it had all seemed so convincing to me.

 

When we are afraid, we do not see clearly. I was a young doctor facing my first emergency, and I had always been terrified by the prospect of a third world war. As a child, I often had nightmares about it. I would wake up and run to my parents’ bed. I could be calmed only by my father going over the details of our plan one more time: we would take our tent in the bike trailer and go live in the woods where there were plenty of blueberries. Inexperienced, and in an emergency situation for the first time, my head quickly generated a worst-case scenario. I didn’t see what I wanted to see, I saw what I was afraid of seeing. Critical thinking is always difficult, but it’s almost impossible when we are scared. There’s no room for facts when our minds are occupied by fear.”

  

We can avoid being dumbstruck from fear by first having a disaster exercise. I blogged about that topic back on September 11, 2012 in a post titled Disasters and triage.

 

As a Boy Scout back in the early 1960s I was part of one of the exercises in Pittsburgh called Prep Pitt. At the Civic Arena I was made up as a casualty with a compound fracture of my forearm. Modeling clay and protruding chicken bones were used. I was sent to the emergency room at Children’s Hospital.

 

And when I was in tech school to be an Air Force Reserve medic in 1972, we had a plane crash disaster exercise. Three years later, I was at Greater Pittsburgh airport when the crash phone rang on a Sunday afternoon. An Air National Guard tanker was going to land on a wet runway with two of its four engines shut down. While we waited beside the runway along with the fire trucks, I sat in the back of our ambulance and thought I’m ready for whatever happens. Fortunately they landed OK.   

 

Ten Far Side comics about fear of public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Larson created a famous single-panel comic strip called The Far Side that ran in newspapers from 1979 to 1995. There is an article by Robert Wood at Screen Rant on March 25, 2025 titled 10 Funniest Far Side comics that will make you terrified of public speaking. He described them as follows:

 

Welcome Inferiority Complex Sufferers

Cow

An Organized Crime Informant

Farmer Bob

His Recent Autobiography

This Cartoon’s Most Esteemed Scientist-Like Character

Science Meets Tabloid TV

The Mammals Are Taking Over

National Association of Prevaricators

Mind Over Matter

 

An image of boys reading the comics was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Anthony Dolan, President Reagan’s chief speechwriter died this month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Rossi Dolan died this month (see an obituary). An article by Lee Habeeb in Newsweek on March 20, 2025 titled Remembering Tony Dolan: President Reagan’s Chief Speechwriter told us:

 

“You probably don’t know his name, but you know his work. He penned or had a hand in some of the greatest speeches of the 20th century, serving as President Ronald Reagan’s chief speechwriter. The ‘Ash Heap of History’ speech. The ‘Tear Down This Wall’ speech. The ‘Evil Empire’ speech. They all had Tony Dolan’s fingerprints, his handprints, all over them.

 

Prior to working for Reagan, Dolan was the youngest journalist in American history to win the Pulitzer Prize for his work at the Stamford Advocate in the late 1970s exposing the Mafia’s grip on the city’s local government – from the local police force straight through to city hall.”   

 

Another article by Amanda J. Rothschild at The Hill on March 22, 2025 is titled From Reagan to Trump, a speechwriter’s legacy lives on in Washington. Yet another article by James Kirchick at Rolling Stone on July 28, 2022, about his gay younger brother Terry, is titled These ultraconservative brothers pulled strings in Reagan’s Washington. Then one of them was outed as gay.

 

Even earlier, as a sophomore at Yale, Anthony had an album of folk songs, described by Wayne Liebman in the Yale Daily News on December 12, 1967 in an article titled Sophomore Cuts Album.

 

There is a thirteen-minute YouTube video with Peter Robinson and Christopher Buckley of the Hoover Institution [at Stanford] reminiscing about him titled Anthony Dolan (1948-2025).

 

The portrait came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Almost all Tesla Cybertrucks were recalled because trim rails might fall off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An article by Matt Ott at AP News on March 20, 2025 is titled In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks. Another article by Bryon Hurd at TheDrive on March 20, 2025 is titled Tesla recalls just about every Cybertruck as decorative steel falls off. An arrow in the above image points to the trim. Bryon said:

 

“Per the recall notice, the Cybertruck’s stainless steel cant rail trim (Easy to remember; it’s the part that can’t stay attached) may separate from the truck at speed, posing a hazard to other motorists.”

 

The NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report on March 18, 2025 says 46,000 vehicles were affected and that:

 

“The Cybertruck is equipped with a cosmetic applique along the exterior of the vehicle, known as the cant rail, which is an assembly comprised of an electrocoated steel stamping joined to a stainless steel panel with structural adhesive. The cant rail assembly is affixed to the vehicle with fasteners. On affected vehicles, the cant rail stainless steel panel may delaminate at the adhesive joint, which may cause the panel to separate from the vehicle….

 

The remedy component uses a different structural adhesive not prone to environmental embrittlement to join the assembly, which is reinforced with a stud welded to the stainless panel with a nut clamping the steel panel to the vehicle structure.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above, there are three possible failure paths – either in the adhesive or along one of the two interfaces. The remedy will depend on the exact path, which apparently was in the adhesive.

 

This sure isn’t rocket science!

 

Is everyone really welcome here?

 

 

 

 

Recently in the Boise area there has been a continuing story regarding Sarah Inama, a 35-year-old world civilization teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Meridian. She was told to take down posters which have been hanging in her class since she started working there four years ago. The story also was discussed in a nine-minute YouTube video from Chris Hayes at MSNBC on March 19, 2025 titled Idaho teacher fights back after order to remove ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ poster.

 

The story was discussed in two articles by Brian Holmes at KTVB7 – one on March 11, 2025 titled West Ada School District teacher ordered to remove inclusive signs from classroom and another on March 12, 2025 titled West Ada issues sports analogy response to teacher told to remove ‘everyone is welcome here’ poster.

 

There also have been a series of brief YouTube videos at KTVB7. One on March 10, 2025 is titled Idaho teacher ordered to remove “Everyone is welcome here” sign from classroom. A second on March 12, 2025 is titled Idaho school district issues memo regarding teacher told to remove “Everyone Is Welcome Here” poster. A third on March 13, 2025 is titled Idaho school district responds after telling teacher to remove inclusive signage from classroom. A fourth on March 20, 2025 is titled ‘Everyone Is Welcome Here’ shirts made by the thousands opposing West Ada’s decision.

 

 

UPDATE March 23, 2025

 

I missed a fifth video from KTVB7 on March 17, 2025 titled “Everyone is welcome here’: Idaho organizations join Wassmuth Center campaign. On October 27, 2024 I blogged about A new building at Boise’s Wassmuth Center for Human Rights with quotations carved in stone.

 

101 Inspirational Stories About Good People

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At my friendly, local public library I found and have enjoyed reading a 2024 book by Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell titled Good People: Stories from the best of humanity. It has six chapters with 101 inspirational stories divided as follows:  

 

The Kindness of Strangers - 16

Learn by Heart - 20

It’s the Little Things - 21

The Kids Are All Right - 14

When I Needed It Most - 16

Away From Home - 14

 

These stories might be the basis for inspirational speeches, like for Toastmasters club meetings. Two stories you can read in the preview at Google Books are Do it for Peggy on page 22 and Hallelujah (about Leonard Cohen’s music) on pages 112 and 113.

 

In Chapter 2, Learn by Heart, on pages 105 and 106 there is a story by Sara C. titled Reading Out Loud:

 

"Reading out loud in class is a literal hell for a kid with dyslexia.

 

Whenever I had to read something, I would shield my face with my hands to hide the bright red embarrassment underneath. Some kids have a gift for sensing weakness in others, so I got made fun of. A lot.

 

In the sixth grade, I had a new teacher: a huge bear of a man with a heart of gold named Mr, Cook. He was a legend in our little town – a veteran teacher who could use his big voice to instantly stop a fight or wrap a crying child in his burly arms. During my elementary school years, a lot of kids didn’t have a dad at home, and Mr. Cook was what every kid aspired to.

 

When my mom struggled to make ends meet or had trouble with my older sister acting out, Mr. Cook lent a listening ear and made sure we had school supplies. When I knew I smelled a gas leak by the oldest part of the school, he believed me and had it checked out. (There was a gas leak, and because he was the one adult to believe me, it was found!)

 

Even though I knew Mr. Cook and was excited to be in his class, I’d never had the experience of being a student in his classroom. So when time came for the awful ritual of reading aloud, followed be requisite mockery from my peers, I expected him to ignore it, like so many teachers had before.

 

I was wrong.

 

Instead, Mr. Cook gently stopped me to deliver a message to the class. In the most solemn voice I’d ever heard him use, he said, ‘Listen to me. We do not make fun of anyone practicing reading out loud. We are all here to learn.’ Then he looked right at me and said,’ You read well. Slow down, and don’t ever be embarrassed to make a mistake.’

 

After that, the teasing stopped. In Mr. Cook’s shielding presence, I was finally able to feel calm in my pursuit of knowledge, an equanimity I hadn’t known before. I began practicing reading aloud to my little sister every night. Eventually, I overcame my dyslexia when I read aloud, because Mr. Cook gave me a safe space to do that.

 

Thanks to this huge bear of a man, my confidence finally came out of hibernation. His is the voice in my head that reminds me I don’t ever need to be embarrassed for making mistakes while I’m learning a new skill.”

 

The community image was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

TEDx talk on how the first sixty seconds make or break a conversation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent 12-minute YouTube video from TEDx Talks on March 18, 2025 titled The 60 seconds that make or break a conversation | Chris Fenning | TEDx Eindhoven, Chris says you need a sentence each on these three things which form the acronym TIP:

 

T = Topic

I = Intent

P = Point

 

An article by Chris on December 9, 2020 titled How to start a conversation at work the right way instead referred to them as:

 

Framing = Context + Intent + Key Message

 

Another article from Chris Fenning on May 24, 2022 titled 10 tips for how to start a successful work conversation was accompanied by brief YouTube videos:

 

Make the topic clear. Tip 1

Say what you need. Tip 2

Put the ‘so what’ first. Tip 3

Say how many topics you have. Tip 4

Give a summary before going into detail. Tip 5

Keep separate topics separate. Tip 6

Ask if they have time to talk. Tip 7

Say how much time you need. Tip 8

Check they are the right person to ask. Tip 9

Don’t forget to be human. Tip 10

 

But I think that to Ask if they have time to talk should come first.

 

In 2020 Chris Fenning published a book titled The First Minute: How to Start Conversations That Get Results. And in 2021 he followed with another titled The First Minute - Workbook:  How to start conversations that get results. Also, in 2022 he published a book titled Effective Emails: The Secret to Straightforward Communication at Work.

 

An image of a statue was modified from one at Wikimedia Commons.