Way Back in The Long Ago ONE: Way back in the long ago, the maker spoke, and light exploded across the darkness. Energy radiated across the nothing. Time and space and order appeared, from the nothing of the long ago. Bits of energy shot like shrapnel from a bomb into the grid that was created […]

Todd Sattersten is a book connoisseur. He reads, writes, reviews, and publishes books. In his newly released book, 100 Best Books for Work and Life: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You, Todd showcases 100 of what he considers to be the best books, including a wide range of topics, including personal growth, creativity, habits, […]

  Real Men & Coffee Real men don’t drop ten bucks for a cup of milk foam served by a tattooed 19-year-old barista who thinks “latte art” is a career. Real men’s coffee comes in only two forms. First, the Styrofoam cup at the gas pump or the drive-thru at a fast-food joint. The wrench-turners […]

Back in the Stone Age, I taught in the Computer Science Technology department of what was then called Texas State Technical Institute. In most cases, the first day of class consisted of students showing up to get a syllabus and get counted as present, and the teaching would commence the next class day. However, after […]

    This is the complete transcript of Ike Eisenhower’s speech in 1953. The short section of this speech that was quoted in the Monday Morning Memo is highlighted in purple below and appears in the original recording, also below, at 11:10. In this spring of 1953 the free world weighs one question above all […]

“The most honest person I’ve met recently was a vice president at a tech company who told me: ‘I manage a team of 12 people who create documents for other teams who create documents for senior leadership who don’t read documents. I make $200,000 a year. It’s completely absurd, and I’m riding it as long […]

“This isn’t the typical ‘side hustle’ trend where people drive Uber after work or sell crafts on Etsy. These are people systematically reclaiming their working hours to build real businesses while maintaining the security of corporate income. Using the skills, networks, and even office space their employer provides to prototype the work they actually want […]

Glial cells of the cerebral cortex of a child, drawn by Nobel laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934), widely considered the founding father of modern neuroscience. Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) was the Spanish neuroscientist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize for his discovery that the nervous system is made of individual cells, or neurons, […]

“There are in nature two types or forms, the cell and the crystal. One means the organic, the other inorganic; one means growth, development, life; the other means reaction, solidification, rest. The hint and model of all creative works is the cell; critical, reflective, and philosophical works are nearer akin to the crystal; while there […]

“Always remember that to argue, and win, is to break down the reality of the person you are arguing against. It is painful to lose your reality, so be kind, even if you are right.” – Kazuki Yamada

Johnny Mandel wrote the music for the theme song of MASH, that darkly iconic comedy film directed by Bob Altman in 1969. That music is quietly reflective and unsettling, a lullaby for broken souls. It makes you feel melancholy, and oddly serene. It is perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful television theme song ever written. But […]

  Deep reading is in free-fall everywhere in the developing world, as the smartphone has hijacked our brains. Professors at even elite colleges are finding their students have “lost the ability to read at length and in depth…” No wonder the reading scores of American high-school students are the worst since 1992, according to a […]

It’s raining, it’s pouring, what are you ignoring? Are you aware of the current state of weather intelligence? A new era of meteorology has dawned. Weather forecasting is now a form of business intelligence. The weather forecasts of yesterday were notoriously inaccurate. They suggested only what we should wear and whether or not we should wait […]

  “The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.” – Sydney J. Harris, (1982) in his newspaper column “Artificial Intelligence”

Observational humor is the art of pointing out the quirks, ironies, and absurdities that most people have never consciously thought about.  Challenges within the realm of a closed, objective system – such as classical physics, math, or the forecasting of weather – are simple to solve with AI. But subjective challenges that involve human perception […]

Packaging is the art of presentation. Exciting packaging improves conversion. There are two important parts of packaging: WHAT IS IN THE PACKAGE? When package “A” and package “B” are the same price and contain the same basics, they are equal. But when package “B” contains something extra that people would love to have, the sale […]

This short video about AI is the coolest thing you will see this week. Johnny Molson is insightful and entertaining. And his perception is profound. Roy H. Williams Bryan Eisenberg is the brother of Jeffrey Eisenberg who was quoted in today’s Monday Morning Memo.

  Every business owner wants to increase the online traffic to their website, but very few recognize the importance of testing which website designs, which graphics, and which headlines are better at converting website visitors into customers. The ongoing series of controlled consumer experiments that can gather this knowledge is known as “A/B testing.” On […]

  Otis Redding did not see his song reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 16, 1968. In fact, he never heard his song on the radio. Otis Redding perished in a plane crash at the age of 26, shortly after recording the song. He died before it was released.

  Twenty-nine years ago, no one was allowed to own more than 12 AM radio stations, 12 FM radio stations, and 12 TV stations. Those limits were in place to make sure that no one would ever be able to control the news. Those safeguards were overturned by Congress in 1996. The second wealthiest person […]

Peacocks want to be admired. Parrots repeat only what they have heard. Each of us has a little bit of Peacock in us, and perhaps a little Parrot, too. (I admit it about me. You should admit it about you.) Long ago I saw a movie in which an old Greek man says to a […]

  They could see the enormous power of the planet and the virtual irrelevancy of the human lives on its surface. “And yet we’re not irrelevant,” said Issib. “Because we are the ones who see the changes, and know them, and understand that they are changes, that once things were different. Everything else in the […]

What is a Narcissist? The ancient Greeks tell of a nymph named Echo who fell in love with the handsome Narcissus. Narcissus cruelly rejected Echo, who, heartbroken, wasted away until only her voice remained.  The goddess Nemesis witnessed this act of cruelty and decided to punish Narcissus. She led him to a quiet pool of […]

“Dear Reader, When I was 12, I was given a scholarship to a private girl’s school in the town where I lived. All the other girls came from another – wealthier – town. They were driven to school in Jaguars and Mercedes Benzes. They ate artichokes. No way would I ever fit in. In the […]

  Josh Johnson is a young stand-up storyteller with a gift for sharing profound insights before making a really funny point. You might like him. You might not. I took this 2-minute and 54-second clip from a much longer bit I found on Youtube.  I find something to like in all of his episodes. – […]

  “To Sir, With Love” was a very risky movie to make in 1967. Sidney Portier plays a teacher who has been sent to a high school full of white kids. The first video below is a movie trailer that shows several quick scenes to help you understand what he was up against. That second […]

Irving Berlin was born on May 11, 1888, and died on September 22, 1989. Blue skies smilin’ at me,Nothin’ but blue skies do I see.Blue birds singin’ a song,Nothin’ but blue skies from now on. I never saw the sun shinin’ so bright,never saw things goin’ so right,Noticing the days hurrying by,when you’re in love, […]

Well, I’m on my way to the city lights,To the pretty face that shines her light on the city nights.And I gotta catch a noon train. I gotta be there on time.Oh, it feels so good to know she waits at the end of the line Sweet, sweet city woman, I can see your face, […]

Vladimir Putin, Richard Nixon, Saddam Hussein, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, George H.W. Bush, Hosni Mubarak, and Benjamin Netanyahu are just a few of the world leaders that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Karen Elliott House has interviewed during her career as a reporter and top news executive. Karen recently conducted a series of in-depth interviews with “MBS” […]

I wrote this several years ago. I had forgotten about it until just now when it popped up in the Random Quotes: “The tiger doesn’t rely on his strength or speed although he has both in abundance. The wise tiger relies on stealth, creeping low and keeping quiet until he is ready for his plan to become […]

“Christie’s is honored to present an extraordinary historical artifact: Muhammad Ali’s draft card. Issued in early 1967, the card marks a pivotal moment in Ali’s public resistance to the Vietnam War, setting in motion his famous refusal to be inducted into the United States Armed Forces. The first major public figure to take such a […]

  “If you added up every single Starbucks in America and every single McDonald’s in America, it wouldn’t come close to the number of museums there are in America. And if you added up the attendance of every single Major League sporting event and combine that with every single amusement park visit, it wouldn’t get […]

  Marilyn Monroe had an IQ of 168. Despite being typecast as the quintessential “dumb blonde,” she was highly intelligent and had a deep love for literature. She owned over 400 books, including works by Dostoevsky, Freud, and Hemingway, and even took literature courses at UCLA. “Sure we all knew Miss Monroe. She’d come in here […]

  Unlike most experts, Mike Kelley believes that leadership begins with leading yourself. Every investment you make in personal growth will pay dividends at home, at work, and in your community. Mike led the executives at Michelin and Macy’s for more than 20 years before he launched out to coach others on how to grow guide their […]

  TRANSCRIPT OF “History of the Code: Part 1: The Alphabet’s Big Bang” 1. Dr. Frank Moore Cross, Professor of Ancient Languages, Harvard: (00:02): I would put the invention of the alphabet amongthe absolute cardinal inventions of all human history. 2. Dr. Leonard Shlain, Author ”The Alphabet vs. The Goddess” (00:14): The first forms of […]

Computer scientist and 2024 Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton predicted artificial intelligence will spark a surge in unemployment and profits as companies replace workers with AI.  “What’s actually going to happen is rich people are going to use AI to replace workers,” Hinton said. “It’s going to create massive unemployment and a huge rise in profits. […]

Morning Glory Cold-hearted orb that rules the night,Removes the colors from our sight.Red is grey, and yellow, white.But we decide which is right.And which is an illusion. Pinprick holes in a colorless sky,Let insipid figures of light pass by,The mighty light of ten thousand suns,Challenges infinity and is soon gone.Nighttime, to some, a brief interlude.To […]

Late Lament Breathe deep the gathering gloom.Watch lights fade from every room.Bedsitter people look back and lament Another day’s useless energy is spent. Impassioned lovers wrestle as one.Lonely man cries for love and has none.New mother picks up and suckles her son.Senior citizens wish they were young. Cold-hearted orb that rules the nightRemoves the colors […]

ATTRACTION TO THE ICONIC Icons, myths, and archetypes every with every generation. An icon is an artifact that represents an idea bigger than itself. Religious artifacts… Lifestyle artifacts: Tetris, Pong, and Pac-Man were the iconic video games in the early arcade era. They stood side-by-side with pinball machines. Societal artifacts…Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, and Farah […]

  “The master computer could not act wisely without the help of the Keeper; it had to act wisely in order to get to the Keeper. What now? What now? I need wisdom, and yet who can guide me? I have vastly more knowledge than any human can hope to muster, and yet I have […]

Paintings like this one cause us to instinctively assume it’s just one more of those idealized, romanticized memories of a time that never was. But this is the real thing. “Where Past Meets Present” was painted in 1917 when that car was brand new. The artist, Maynard Dixon, was born in Fresno, California in 1875, […]

Who in the world would hire an ad writer who says you shouldn’t expect your ads to start working right away? The smartest business owners in America, that’s who. Mick Torbay is a wildly successful maverick marketer, one of the elite Wizard of Ads partners. He says the biggest problem in advertising is the business […]

Do you remember the ad I told you about in last week’s rabbit hole? This is it: LORI: When you see a woman with an extremely attractive, very distinctive engagement ring, WES: you can safely assume that it’s a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind ring made by the goldsmiths at Ramseys. BOBBY: Bob Ramsey was a famous goldsmith […]

LORI:  I’m Lori Ramsey. My brother Robert and I are the son and daughter of a New Orleans jewelry designer. ROBERT: Looking at the diamond jewelry of Bob Ramsey was like looking at fireworks on the 4th of July. LORI:  Our Dad told us, “We create diamond jewelry as a gift of love.” ROBERT: “Our […]

  If you were going to write an ad using that opening line from Ray Bradbury, this is the simplest, easiest, most obvious bridge that could take you into an ad for any business in any category: “The electrical fireflies were hovering above Mother’s dark hair to light her path. I’ll never forget that night. […]

  This is the opening line: “The electrical fireflies were hovering above Mother’s dark hair to light her path.” Later, we read: “We talked. We did not talk of rockets or space, but we talked of Mexico, where we had driven once in an ancient car, and of the butterflies we had caught in the […]

This still clears as one of the greatest moments ever caught on film. I actually can’t fathom it sometimes. – Elliot Roberts Below is the finished song, performed on a rooftop. You will notice that John is wearing the same fur coat.And look at all the old people in the background,watching from the rooftop next […]

“Nighthawks”, painted in 1942, shows an all-night diner on a city corner. Three customers and a counterman exist together, but apart, each seemingly absorbed in their own thoughts as the empty street wraps around them. Nighthawks is often interpreted as a depiction of wartime anxiety or urban alienation, but Hopper denied any specific narrative, saying […]

“So much of every art is an expression of the subconscious that it seems to me that most of the important qualities [in the art] are put there unconsciously, and little of importance [is put there] by the conscious intellect.”– Edward Hopper He painted his last work in 1966 – “Two Comedians” – himself and […]

  “Even his sunniest pictures touch us where we are most vulnerable, and have a suggestion of melancholy being enacted.” In 1956, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy chose one of Hopper’s paintings to decorate the White House. He even appeared on the cover of Time […]

    “Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!” – Ingrid Bergman

  How Muscular is Your Business? Trevor Bower owns a single brick-and-mortar store with a website in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. More than 80% of Trevor’s customers reorder products from him within 30 days. That’s an enviable achievement for any business. In a brutally competitive retail environment, Trevor has overcome the odds — not with gimmicks or […]

“Media does not report ‘news,’ it creates it. An event happens when it goes on TV and becomes a myth… TV time goes to those with the most guts and imagination. I never understood the radical who comes on TV in a suit and tie. Turn off the sound and he could be the mayor! […]

“Why is it that so many ghosts prefer to travel the halls of night? Ask the living and they will tell you that these spirits either have some unquenched desire or an unaddressed grievance that stirs them from their sleep and sends them out into the world in search of solace. But the living are […]

Do you know the way to San Jose?I’ve been away so long I may go wrong and lose my way. Do you know the way to San Jose?I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose. L.A. is a great big freeway.Put a hundred down and buy a car.In a week, maybe […]

When I was growing up, parents would whack their kids on the ass if they didn’t obey. No one thought anything about it. But if you hit your kid with your fist, you were going to jail. Not cool. In the classic ass-whack, the Dad would grab his kid’s left forearm with his left hand, […]

Bianca D’Alessio is the  #1 real estate agent in New York City and New York State. Her residential and commercial portfolio exceeds 10 billion dollars. She is also one of the stars of HBO Max’s TV show, Selling the Hamptons. Bianca earned her success the hard way. She had to overcome a crippling series of early […]

The Reason History Repeats Itself The advantage of being an old man is that you can remember the past. This gives you a different perspective on current events. But if that old man is foolish enough to share his thoughts, the average person will smile tolerantly and pat him on his head and tell him […]

L.A. proved too much for the man.So he’s leaving the life he’s come to know.He said he’s going back to findwhat’s left of his world,The world he left behindnot so long ago. He’s leaving on that midnight train to Georgia.Said he’s going back to a simpler place and time.And I’ll be with himon that midnight train to […]

Batman, Superman and Jeff Bezos Ryan Deiss taught a spectacular class at Wizard Academy last week and everyone raved about it. Raved. Like crazy people. And then Ryan wrote something to all of his friends that made me understand the kinds of insights I missed when I missed that 2-day class. This is what Ryan […]

  “The editorial decision to include Tito’s quote in its entirety was genius, but closing with ‘a baby alligator’ is what truly made it Pulitzer-worthy.” – Ryan Deiss

Sensei Gary Engels gives business people the discipline and a sequence of steps that always lead to lasting success. His wisdom was not gained in business school but was forged from decades of success on the karate mats. “Sensei Gary” is a successful entrepreneur, an app creator, and a fourth-degree black belt. Having witnessed his […]

Additional Notes About the Ad Copy: Born, celebrates, waiting, undying… “Natural diamonds are rare and wonderful.   Especially when they are perfectly proportioned.”1. I suggested Earthborn Diamonds as a name to consider because:      (A) the name clearly indicate that these are natural diamonds.      (B) anything that is “born” is alive.       (C) Your engagement ring […]

Additional Notes About the Ad Copy: Born, celebrates, waiting, undying… “Natural diamonds are rare and wonderful.   Especially when they are perfectly proportioned.”1. I suggested Earthborn Diamonds as a name to consider because:       (A) the name clearly indicate that these are natural diamonds.      (B) anything that is “born” is alive.       (C) Your engagement […]

Natural diamonds are rare and wonderful. Especially when they are perfectly proportioned. If you are going to ask a rare and wonderful woman to marry you, be sure that her engagement ring celebratesa rare and wonderful, perfectly proportioned, Earthborn® natural diamond. This diamond was born when the earth was formed.It has been waiting millions of […]

Marcy Syms became the youngest female president of a publicly traded company in 1983. Her company sold brand-name fashions at discount prices, generating $350 million a year in stores across 13 states. Marcy’s father, Sy Syms, founded that company on an idea that quickly became an iconic slogan. “An educated consumer is our best customer.” […]

“It’s good to have an uncouth friend or two in your clubhouse. A wild, uncivilized rascal who doesn’t play by the rules. It keeps you connected to your own innate bit of wild & crazy that lurks inside every man. More importantly, it gives you someone for your wife to compare you to.”– Tom Grimes, […]

        “Who was the grandfather of Jesus?”      It depends on who you ask. “What do you mean?”      According to Elton John,      ‘Levon wears his war wound like a crown.     He calls his child Jesus.’ “So if Levon was the father of Jesus,who was the father […]

You definitely want to read the profile of Chris Torbay.

Damon Lembi and his crew have served over 14,000 for-profit and non-profit organizations containing 1.25 million employees. Damon’s company competes with corporate giants hundreds of times his size and Damon usually wins. Do you want to have the mindset to thrive in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace? Join roving reporter Rotbart and his deputy Maxwell as Damon […]

If you read the poem (above) from top to bottom, it feels as though it was woven as a single piece. But the first half was written in 1838. The second half was written 80 years later. And those two famous writers never met each other. This image of Indy and the poem was sent […]

These are the steps for making better online ads: 1. Open big by using short words that project clear images into the mind. 2. Use colors, shapes, and the names of familiar things when you write. 3. Use simple verbs that describe actions that are easy to visualize. 4. Close big by returning to your […]