It was a Saturday afternoon in September 1989, and I was home alone unpacking boxes when the phone rang. And a woman that I did not know started to interrogate me. “Are you Dr. Lombardi?  Are you Dr. George Lombardi?  Are you an infectious disease specialist?  Did you live and work and do research in East Africa?  Are you considered to […]

“In Niteroi it is possible to smell a sea breeze that carries neither suntan lotion nor the stench of caffeine. Are you thinking that caffeine is odorless? Ask a dog. Be warned, however, that the dogs here speak only Portuguese.” – Mark Helprin, Memoir From Antproof Case, p.9

https://youtu.be/sZdXi9BfZAc?t=5 Want to read “Those Glorious Creative Handcuffs”?

This isn’t a photoshop fake! It really happened! Click here to read the story.

Last Warning: If you click this link it will take you to a webpage where you will see a 7-min video that will freak you out. The footage is real and 81 years old. It shows exactly what happened the last time the pendulum was in this position. When you’re finished, back-click to this page and thenclick my hat to go to the next […]

Origin Stories (Virtual) – January 26, 2021 $750 (Academy alumni receive a 50 percent discount.) Da Vinci and the 40 Answers (Virtual) – February 2, 2021 $750 (Academy alumni receive a 50 percent discount.) To Sell the Truth (Virtual) – February 16, 2021 Online Workshop$750 (Academy alumni receive a 50 percent discount.) If you participate […]

The Twilight of Consciousness I have long been fascinated by twilight. In fact, I often use that word to describe flavors that are complex and muted.  But what is twilight, really? “Twilight is the illumination of the lower atmosphere when the Sun is not directly visible because it is below the horizon. Twilight is produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, illuminating the […]

A beautiful photo, right? Let’s talk about why. First, notice where each person is looking. Second, look at the positions of their legs and feet. Third, the slanted horizon, blue waves at the left, trees at the right with water-blue clouds, low over the trees. But these are the kinds of things you can see […]

Would you like to start at the beginning of Manley’s book? Here’s how to do that.  Do you realize this marvelous book has only 5 more chapters? – Indy

“There is a strange duality in the human which makes for an ethical paradox. We have definitions of good qualities and of bad. Of the good, we always think of wisdom, tolerance, kindliness, generosity, humility; and the qualities of cruelty, greed, self-interest, graspingness, and rapacity are universally considered undesirable. And yet in our structure of […]

An old man meets a young man who asks: “Do you remember me?” And the old man says no. Then the young man tells him he was his student, And the teacher asks: “What do you do, what do you do in life?” The young man answers: “Well, I became a teacher.” “ah, how good, […]

I am a game designer with experience in a very small niche. I create and research games designed to be played in reality. I’ve worked in Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), LARPs, experience fiction, interactive theater, and “serious games”. Stories and games that can start on a computer, and finish in the real world. Fictions designed […]

Would you like to start at the beginning of Manley’s book? Here’s how to do that.  And now for the sad news: this book has only six more chapters. – Indy

In 1977 Gary Gilmore chose to be executed by firing squad. When asked if he had any final words, he said, “Let’s do this.” Meanwhile, Professor Richard Evans of Houston was teaching skills about how to resist peer pressure and other social influences. His solution? “Just say no.” Nancy Reagan decided to champion that slogan and it […]

Attend from Home! These are live, online, interactive virtual workshops! Origin Stories. Participate in this workshop and craft your best ads EVER. January 26, 2021 Martinis and Marketing. Fast-paced, hard work, fun. THIS WEEK. Tuesday, January 12. Da Vinci & the 40 Answers. Every problem you will ever face can be solved by implementing one […]

https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/50388-2/

Check out their little chapel on the prairie currently in progress at a place they’re building called The Brim. They have acquired about 30 acres, the same amount of land as Wizard Academy. They’re running short on funding, but hey, if you could see a clear path to the end from the beginning, then it wouldn’t […]

How ridiculously big is the U.S. economy? According to the Foundation for Economic Education, each of the states on the above map is named for a country whose GDP (Gross Domestic Product) they equal. EXAMPLE: California has a GDP equal to India. New York has a GDP equal to Canada. Pennsylvania has a GDP equal […]

The biggest story in tech no one’s talking about is Uber discovering they’d been defrauded out of $100M – or 2/3 of their ad spend. And all bc Sleeping Giants kept bugging them to block their ads on Breitbart. pic.twitter.com/SiS3MndewS — Nandini Jammi (@nandoodles) January 3, 2021

If you have questions for John, or if you would like to urge him to write more tunes for the rabbit hole, you can contact him at newdrjohn@gmail.com

Van Gogh painted Starry Night sometime between June 12 and June 18, 1889, from the east-facing window of his room at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole lunatic asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise. The painting features rolling hills, a large cypress tree, a crescent moon and 10 bright stars in their correct positions, plus the planet Venus (near the horizon just […]

“I think it was the very first painting where it’s title is the background. Think about that. There’s a town there, there’s a Cypress tree, there’s a church steeple. It could have been called The Cypress Tree. It could have been called Sleepy Village. It could have been called Rolling Hills. But no, it’s called […]

Loyalty is the quality I value most in my friends. There’s not much to say after that. It’s pretty much a one word answer. I am a ‘quote collector’…..meaning I collect quotations on subjects that are important to me. Loyalty is important to me. I will share with you quotations about loyalty that are in […]

Quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I quit smoking more than 45 years ago; before it was known to be bad for your health. It wasn’t until 1964 that the surgeongeneral’s famous report linked smoking to cancer.The tobacco industry refuted it for years. I only started smoking because I […]

Would you like to start at the beginning of Manley’s book? Here’s how to do that. Next week, Manley will take us to a whole new place. You’re going to like it. – Indy

Love and adoration for Indy continues to grow.  In 50 years, I never recall seeing a license plate declaring love for Ken….or Roy, but Indy’s following is unquestionably solid.  Fun fact – the structure in front of car is the ‘Lightning Racer’ dueling wooden roller coaster at the Hersheypark amusement park in Hershey, PA. Ken […]

In 1964, Ringo Starr snapped a photo of some high school students who had skipped class to see the Beatles during their first trip to the US. 50 years later, the group reunited to recreate the photo. (2014) “It appears that the media has determined that baby boomers are destined to relive our lives from 50 […]

CHAPTER THREE “Park here,” said Aloha. I looked at her. I looked at the water. I looked at her. I looked at the water. “But we’re 200 feet away from the water’s edge.” She replied, “High tide,” as she reached up and twisted the key to turn off the engine. “Stay in the truck for […]

Would you like to start at the beginning of Manley’s book? Here’s how to do that. Next week, Manley will begin the final chapters of this adventure. You’re going to love how it ends, I think. – Indy

“What did I miss?” asked Alfie as he hopped down from the glovebox lid onto the seat between Bali and Ha’i. Bali answered, “Look out back.” Alfie scrambled up and peered over the seatback to see Floyd singing Row-Row-Row Your Boat in rounds with the seven blondes. “….merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a […]

“It is books, poems and paintings which often give us the confidence to take seriously feelings in ourselves that we might otherwise never have thought to acknowledge. Oscar Wilde referred to this phenomenon when he quipped that there was no fog in London before Whistler started painting the Thames.”– Alain de Botton, The Architecture of […]

“In medieval Japan, poets and priests directed the Japanese toward cherry blossoms, deformed pieces of pottery, raked gravel, moss, rain falling on leaves, autumn skies, roof tiles and unvarnished wood. A word emerged, wabi, of which no Western language, tellingly, has a direct equivalent, which identified beauty with unpretentious, simple, unfinished, transient things. There was […]

I’ve been looking into “prefiguring” in the Bible.  Isaac as Jesus because the son was sacrificed and carried his own wood. Joseph as Jesus because he was betrayed for silver, and the cupbearer and baker were prefigures of communion and the two thieves on the cross. Cupbearer forgot him. Jesus told the thief he wouldn’t […]

Indy’s Day Off by Indy Beagle Spraytan and Boxwine arrived in a white Cadillac convertible fringed in blondes.  Boxwine slid out the convertible’s passenger door and reached for the nozzle while I was filling up my new Hudson pickup on the other side of the pump. I gave him a steady stare. “What have you […]

The Bounce: How High? How Long? The 2021 we’ve all been waiting for has not yet begun. I was reminded of this when I received a meme from a friend. It said, “Omg, what’s the first thing you’re gonna do when YOU get the vaccine shot?? You’re gonna go back home, wait a month, get […]

Spraytan and Boxwine arrived in a white Cadillac convertible fringed in blondes.  Boxwine slid out the convertible’s passenger door and reached for the nozzle while I was filling up my new Hudson pickup on the other side of the pump. I gave him a steady stare. “What have you done?” “We’re headed to the lake. […]

Change Management, Fri. Jan 8th.Things are definitely changing. One option for dealing with change is to flail your arms like a drowner. Another option is to manage change with the grace of a synchronized swimmer.– Dr. Richard D. Grant Martinis & Marketing, Tues. Jan 12thHurl your enterprise forward in one epic, hard working day – you’ll […]