Rhyme and Reason

I remember, when I graduated high school, how quickly the “real world” loomed on the horizon. You know what I’m talking about. Figuring out what to do so the parents don’t have to support you anymore. And, for me, college wasn’t a preferred choice. At least, not right away. So, the second choice was…say it with me…go to work. But I soon found out I wasn&#8...

Some of my wacky friends (and in this case, wacky is a term of endearment) are on that keto diet thing. And it’s been around long enough I’m sure you know it’s a low-carb, high-fat and high-protein diet. And that’s just a simplification description. So, don’t send me messages about the finer points. Because I’m not here to tell anybody not to go keto. In fact, I...

Once upon a time, many years ago, a little boy, named Adolph, dreamed of one day becoming a great leader. And then, one day, he actually DID become a leader. But instead of leading his people with truth and love, he chose lies and deceit. In fact, he told some of the biggest lies the world has ever known. And, sadly, his people believed him and helped him destroy millions of lives. ~The End   Lies...

If you’re a fan of (or when you were a kid you were a fan of) superhero comic books, you’re familiar with the ubiquitous dialogue bubble. And it’s also known as a speech bubble, speech balloon, dialogue balloon, and even a conversation cloud. And maybe you’re already saying, “Seriously, Tony? You’re gonna babble on about a bubble?” Well, I don’t thin...

OK, you might as well know up front. I’m gonna preach a little bit here. But I’m gonna go easy on you (sort of) and connect it to music. And the subject for the day is about your new man characteristics. So, ladies…don’t read any more of this. Or even try to sneak a peak over your man’s shoulder. This ain’t for you. Because, well, you’re not a man. So, how...

I was recently did another podcast interview with a young guy named Pablo Acosta. His fairly new show is called Benchin in the Kitchen. And I confess I don’t know what that means. But I picture resistance training with a set of weights. Of course, I could be way off. But that doesn’t matter. Pablo is a guy with an obvious heart for the Lord. And he said some nice things about me. So, h...

I hope you’re not rockin the boat today. Because the world has enough troublemakers without you chimin’ in. And if you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about, then you probably shouldn’t even be reading this. Because you just won’t understand. And it’s probably a matter of your lack of education. Or enlightenment. Or esotericism. Yeah, you just don’...

It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. Typically I don’t watch events such as the confirmation of a so-called “supreme court justice nominee.” And I haven’t actually watched the sequence of events in Amy Barrett’s hearings either. Because we don’t have a TV in our house. And I don’t wanna stream it. Because it’s just weird to watch a bunch of s...

Who has never felt the burning need to be vindicated. And for a little more explanation, check out these synonyms for that word. Acquitted.  A bsolved. E xonerated. Liberated. And the dictionary says an   informal definition is “ let off the hook.” Did you ever do something bad and wish you could be let off the hook for it?  Yeah. Me neither.   But what makes you worthy of being vindic...

R.A.D.S. Last week that acronym came up in my life. And if you’ve dealt with it, you know what a nuisance (at best) it can be. The letters stand for “Reactive Airways Disease Syndrome.” But regardless of what you call it, I can tell you it’s absolutely no fun when you can’t breathe normally.   You don’t know how vital it is to breathe normally until you can&#821...

Comic books were a really big deal to a lot of other guys I knew when I was a kid. And I remember going to a couple of my friends’ houses and being amazed at how many boxes of comic books they had. Every once in a great while, I’d get one. Or I’d spend some time reading theirs. But not for long. And not very often. Because something else sparked my passion much more. Maybe even i...

For as long as I can remember, Autumn has been my favorite time of year. And I know I’ve mentioned that before. But this morning a particular Autumn day popped into my head. And I could practically smell the multi-colored, crunchy leaves as I thought about it. Have you ever noticed how much your sense of smell connects with memories? Yeah, it’s cool how your sense of smell can help you...

Duct tape. Concrete patch kit. Bandaid. What do those three things have in common? Each one is a temporary fix. And they’re awesome for doing what they were designed to do. But when you use them, you know (at least you understand somewhere way back in the corner of your mind) that you’re gonna have to deal with the real problem sooner or later. Right?   So, why do so many people put so...

Since I’m more known for composing (music), it might seem a little weird for me to talk about decomposing. But here I am talking about it. And I’m guessing that you might already be aware of how your DNA starts decomposing the moment you die. Am I right? Well, it does. And apparently before 1990 almost no one believed DNA could be more than about 10,000 years old. But that was because...

Think you’re having a bad day? Or week? Or month? Well, how would you like to set a record while the world is watching? But then you go out a few days later and lose, big time, while the world is still watching. Now, that’s a bad day.   Babe Ruth set a record in a baseball game almost a hundred years ago. He hit three home runs in one World Series game. And then he went out and lost th...

Steve Jobs certainly had an interesting life. And a productive one. I don’t think you could find many who would disagree with that. After all, he had quite an impact on how we use technology now. In fact, I know a lot of my readers and listeners might be reading or listening to this on a device Steve helped create.   And on October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died. His billions of dollars in net wor...

It was only 22 inches around. And it only weighed 184 pounds. But it might as well have been a lead weight the size of Pluto. Because the news and reports of it fell on America like a lead weight. And it had the cutest, little name. Sputnik.   On this day, October 4, back in 1957, Russian launched Sputnik into space. It zoomed around the Earth at about 18000 miles per hour. So, it made a full circ...

Denmark, by most standards these days, is a left-leaning country and government. At least if news articles I’ve read can be trusted. So, it might come as a surprise to you how this little Nordic country stood up for the Jews, during World War II, better than almost any other country.   Why would a Nordic country protect Jews? Well, to start with, for some unknown reason (some say it was for...

Well, it’s October 2, 2020. And I can hardly believe it’s already been a day since I wrote about how it’s hard to believe it’s already October. Uh-oh, I’m spinning in circles of numbers. Somebody stop me before I fall off this merry-go-round.   But seriously (rimshot) October 2 is pretty darn significant. At least if you’re proud to be an American (cue the Lee G...

As I was doing an early morning Google search, I noticed something interesting in the “suggestions” dropdown. My search started with the letter O. And one of the suggestions was “opinions on debate.” So, of course, my first thought was, “Who’s debating?” Seems like the natural first response. Right?   Turns out the phrase, opinions on debate, led to a pres...

I’ve shared the story of my humble beginnings, in the spotlight , before. And you should go read that. It’s hilarious. My glamorous debut at Dinkledorf’s Deli in Kansas City. But one detail I left out in that recollection was how I wrote songs on the spot. And I thought about that again, today, when I saw news about Mac Davis on social media.   “What’s Mac Davis got t...

I remember, from back in 1983, a catchy song by a new wave band, The Fixx. And it popped into my head as I started putting my thoughts together for this article. “One Thing Leads To Another.” If you’re old enough to remember that song, I’ll bet it’s in your head now. Right? But I bring it up because of some things I read about music and heart rate.   And I read about...

I can sing a new song any time I feel like it. And I mean a song nobody’s ever heard before. Because I can write that new song. And I know it won’t be music set in place since before the foundation of the world. It’ll be brand new at the time I write it.   And when I sing a new song I just wrote, it highlights my will. Not necessarily God’s will. Because a lot of music, esp...

I’ve been doing this series of posts based on reading the Psalms. And in case you don’t know, Psalms is one of the sections of the Old Testament in the Bible. I’m up to Psalm 25. And when King David mentioned “the sins of my youth,”I thought, “Wow, I can relate.”  Not only the sins of my youth are forgiven. Thank God for how loving and thorough He is. Beca...

I woke up in the middle of the night, as usual. And while I was still halfway between a dream and awake I heard my own lyrics inside my head. But not just lyrics I’ve already written. No, I also heard rewrites. New words and phrases to replace certain ones in the song. So, I closed my eyes, fell asleep, and moved on.   No, I didn’t move on. I listened to the new lyrics inside my head....