Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 197

May 29, 2019

First hamburger ever

It took 6 years and 362 days to finally convince the boy to try a hamburger, but the lure of a Happy Meal toy and a love for French fries forced him to commit to at least one bite.

His response:

“Sweet.”

A whole new world has opened up for my son. Just wait until he discovers the joy of a really good burger, complete with cheese and bacon and maybe even an egg.

If and when he ever agrees to try an egg.











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Published on May 29, 2019 03:17

May 28, 2019

Speak Up Storytelling: Live Episode (Part 2)

On episode #51 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling and celebrate our one year anniversary with the second half of our live episode!

In our followup segment, we celebrate the recent success of listeners. 
 
Next we listen to stories by Rachel Leventhal-Weiner and Beverly Brakeman. 

Amongst the many things we discuss include:

Opening scenes that activate imagination

Making a story more about yourself

The power of brevity

Approaching emotional topics from varying angles

The advantages of keeping your story "in the moment"

In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about stealing a Homework for Life moment from Elysha, and he talks about how it might be turned into a story.  

We then answer listener questions about critiquing stories while remaining positive, naming characters in storytelling, trigger warnings, and more. 

Finally, we each offer a recommendation.  

LINKS

Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling

Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne

Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com

Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks 

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter: 
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe

Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter: 
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up

RECOMMEDATIONS

Elysha: 

Dicks Family Ice Cream Adventures

Matt:

Paragone: An Ancient Tactic for Getting the Most From People











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Published on May 28, 2019 02:39

May 27, 2019

What is Alabama thinking?

Two weeks ago Alabama passed a law making abortion illegal even in instances of rape and incest.

Last week Alabama public television refused to air the season premier of Arthur because it featured a same sex wedding.

It’s weird that a state legislature thinks it can permanently role back the clock on progress in an entire state. Right? What are they hoping to achieve? A bastion of bigotry amidst a sea of growing equality? A stronghold where middle aged white men (the entirety of the Alabama legislature who voted for this abortion bill) assert absolute control over women’s bodies?

Are they seeking to be a backward and bigoted state in a country where liberty and freedom is constantly expanding?

Based on polling in 2019 done by Pew, a majority of Americans (61%) support same-sex marriage, while 31% oppose it. That support has grown year over year since 2004 and continues to grow.

Today, 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Support for abortion is at its highest level since 1996.

Alabama also ranks last or nearly last in terms of education and the poverty rate. The state that has banned a cartoon featuring same sex marriage and has made abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest has also failed to educate its citizens and help them to achieve a prosperous life.

I have at least two friends who grew up in Alabama. These are brilliant, bold people who do not reflect the values of the Alabama in the news today. I’m quite certain that they are not alone. There are many progressive Alamabians who share the views of the majority of Americans.

How odd it must be to live in a state so hell-bent on reversing the course of history. How strange it must be to watch your representatives attempt to undermine and eliminate the equality and basic human rights that Americans have come to embrace today.

All while becoming the least educated, most impoverished state in the union.











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Published on May 27, 2019 02:55

May 26, 2019

Things I Do #14: I assume the world has ended.

When I look at my phone and see “No Service” in an area where I know there is service, my first thought - every single time - is, “Oh no. Nuclear attack. EMP attack. Something bad. The world is ending.”

Then two or three bars appear, and I spend the next hour walking around like a man who has just visited the land of the dead.











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Published on May 26, 2019 03:48

May 25, 2019

Someday sucks.

“Someday” might be my least favorite word in the English language.

It’s the word that prevents so many from trying so much. It’s the word that results in lament and regret. “Someday” causes people to live small lives filled with wishes and dreams and delay and inaction.

“Someday” is the word that allows people to wait until it’s too late.

“Someday” is why two of the greatest regrets expressed by people at the end of life (according to hospice workers) are “I wish I’d taken more risks” and “I wish I’d lived my own dream.”

“Someday” is fool’s gold. It’s a horizon that will never come. A wish never fulfilled.

I’m working on a nonfiction book proposal which would effectively eliminate “someday” from a person’s vocabulary. It’s a book about how to make the most of every day in an authentic, realistic, and very doable way.

Oddly, unexpectedly, and unintentionally, it also just occurred to me that my next novel, Twenty-one Truths About Love, is also an assault on the notion of “someday.”

I guess I really do hate the word.











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Published on May 25, 2019 03:48

May 24, 2019

Terrible Twitter and Terrible Maps

Twitter is most often a vapid, seething echo chamber where you’re verbally assault on a daily basis by Trump supporters who are personally offended when you tell the President that he is a racist ignoramus who locks children in cages, brags about sexual assault, and calls Nazis “very fine people.”

It’s weird. When these same people were attacking President Obama for any number of nonsensical (and occasionally valid) reasons, I never felt personally wounded. I didn’t flail about in emotional turmoil and fire off poorly constructed, incorrectly punctuated, and weakly argued insults at them.

I just ignored them. Allowed them to proceed with their mindless trolling.

So why do they become so angry with me?

Still, I remain on Twitter, because despite the cesspool of name calling and digital attacks, I’ve made some genuine friends on Twitter and established some strong professional contacts.

I also get to speak directly to Trump, and since he once blocked me (and was forced to unblock me after losing in court), I know there’s at least the possibility that he will hear me again.

It also makes me feel good to know I’m speaking truth to power.

I also stick around for the occasional bits of joy that you can find on Twitter. The humor. The readers who reach out to offer kind words about my books. The people from around the world who hear my stories and are inspired to connect.

I also stick around for wonderful little gems like @terrible maps, which always makes me smile. I’m a bit of a geography nerd, so perhaps this particular bit of comedy hits my sweet spot, but I hope you find this sampling of maps as heartwarming as I do.

If you do, I suggest you follow the feed.























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Published on May 24, 2019 03:32

May 23, 2019

Chess boxing, people.

I am a founding member of the Blackstone Millville Regional Junior Senior High School chess club.

Quite an accomplishment.

I checked with my alma mater. The chess club no longer exists. Honestly, I’m not sure if it even continued to exist during my time at the school. But for a brief period of time, possibly a couple months, there was a chess club at my high school, and I played a role in its establishment.

As you can imagine, my membership in this esteemed organization did little by way of helping me get girls.

I also played chess with my unorthodox high school French teacher, Mr. Maroney, who I have written about before. I played more chess with Mr. Maroney than any other human being on the planet.

I also taught my wife to play chess while on our honeymoon in Bermuda.

We’re wild and crazy that way.











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Oddly, I have no idea who taught me how to play chess. I have no recollection of my parents teaching me or even playing the game, but by the time I arrived in high school, I understood the game well enough to think that a chess club was a good idea.

I teach my own students to play chess today. They love the game. Many contact me long after they have left my classroom to inform me that they continue to play today.

Chess has been a game that I have enjoyed for a long time, but I would’ve loved it more, and perhaps done better with the ladies, had chessboxing existed when I was younger.

Yes. You heard it right.

Chessboxing.

From a New York Times piece on chessboxing:

Opponents alternate rounds between chess and boxing, between a cerebral pursuit and a savage one. They will win by checkmate or knockout, or the judges’ scorecards.











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Can you believe it? Chessboxing is a real thing. It was invented by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh as an art performance and has subsequently grown into a competitive sport. It’s especially popular in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Russia. It’s also become more popular among young, poor women in India where the sport has been seen as an alternative to traditional roles.

Just imagine:

Advance a pawn or two. Capture a knight. Punch your opponent in the head. Advance another pawn. Protect a rook with a bishop. Punch your opponent in the head again.

This is a sport made for me.

It’s not often that I feel like I was born at the wrong time in history, but this might be one of those rare times.

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Published on May 23, 2019 03:22

May 22, 2019

Never again. But a little sad.

I know this is a ridiculous waste of paper and money, and Elysha immediately went online to ensure that we would never receive a copy of the yellow pages again, but there’s a part of me that also loves seeing something old and nostalgic arrive on my doorstep once a year.

It would be fun to see items of nostalgia arrive every now and then.

Maybe a yellow, Memorex cassette featuring songs recorded off the radio, complete with the chopped-off DJ intros and the occasional American Top 40 theme song.























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Published on May 22, 2019 04:22

May 21, 2019

The most disturbing aspect of a Trump Presidency

The most disturbing aspect of the Trump Presidency has been this:

A President can commit a felony, behave unethically, attack the pillars of democracy, and violate the Constitution with absolute impunity if his party controls even one house of Congress and chooses to do nothing to stop him.

As the law stands today, Trump could rob a liquor store or sexually assault a White House staffer but still retain power if his party chose to overlook the crime.

Even worse, Trump could order a surrogate to commit a crime of any kind and then pardon that surrogate for the same crime.

There was a time when I thought that these were technically possible but ultimately ridiculous scenarios, but now it’s become a reality. Republican lawmakers with the exception of one, Justin Amash, have already and continue to support a man who:

Bragged about sexual assault on tape and has multiple sexual assault lawsuits pending

Promised repeatedly to release his tax returns if nominated by his party and has since refused

Operated a fake university that stole millions from innocent Americans and was forced to make restitution through a settlement

Continues to brazenly violate the emoluments clause on a daily basis, clearly and routinely profiting from his position as President

Paid hush money to porn stars with campaign funds

Committed obstruction of justice, at least in the opinion of more than 400 federal prosecutors who have read the redacted version of the Mueller report and sign onto a letter saying as much

The founding fathers fear a situation like this above all others, and rightfully so. When so much power resides in a single person who acts entirely in his own self interest and absent any shame or respect for the institutions of democracy, terrible things can happen, especially when that person remains unchecked by their coequal branch of Congress.

When lawmakers place their own self interested and self preservation over the rule of law, we enter a dangerous time. Let us hope that Justin Amash is just the first of many Republican lawmakers who will come to their senses and do something to stop this President from trampling upon the Constitution.

I’m not holding my breath.











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Published on May 21, 2019 03:55

May 20, 2019

Speak Up Storytelling: Live Episode (Part One)

On episode #50 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling and celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN OUR FIRST LIVE EPISODE!

In our followup segment, we hear from our friends in Australia, who are attending the show virtually! We also hear from a listener who suggests a way of using Facebook to expand your Homework for Life and from another who makes an interesting comparison between listening to music and listening to stories. 

http://speakupstorytelling.libsyn.com...

ALSO, UPCOMING SHOWS:

June 8: “Nature Calls: Stories of the Outdoors” at Infinity Hall
August 10: Great Hartford Story Slam at Hartford Flavor Company
August 17: Solo storytelling show, Taproot Theater, Seattle, WA

Next we listen to stories by Amanda Coletti and Jack Bourque. 

Amongst the many things we discuss include:

Opening scenes that activate imagination

Avoiding clumping 

Strategies for humor in storytelling 

The advantages of keeping your story "in the moment"

Making your story about something bigger than the story itself

The power of vulnerability

In our Homework for Life segment, Matt tells a brand new story crafted from a recent Homework for Life moment shared on the podcast. 

Finally, we each offer a recommendation.  

LINKS

Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling

Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne

Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com

Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks 

Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter: 
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe

Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter: 
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up

STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2019

July 27:  Storytelling workshop (advanced), CT Historical Society

October 4-6:  Storytelling workshop, Art of Living Retreat, Boone, NC

October 25-27: Storytelling workshop (beginner), Kripalu Center for Yoga and Heath

December 6-8: Storytelling workshop (advanced), Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

RECOMMEDATIONS

Elysha:

Decoder Ring

Matt:

Information Is Beautiful

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Published on May 20, 2019 02:08